New Year's Day, Kurt woke up with Dave's arms wrapped around him. He scooted back and Dave held him a little tighter and kissed him on the back of the neck.

"Snuggling you is even better than I had ever imagined. And I still love snuggling you."

"We can snuggle as long as you like before we get up. It's still early."

Kurt took a deep breath and relaxed. Dave ran his hand along Kurt's right arm and continued to kiss him on the back of the neck. Kurt shivered.

"Do you want me to get another blanket?"

"No, I just flashed back to the first time I woke up in your arms on Christmas Eve morning in my bed."

"Mmm." Dave said. "That was a while ago, Fancy. Two years ago. Let me think. You had been working your cute tush off getting ready for Cheerios Regionals, which you totally killed."

"You're right. I hadn't been on the Cheerios more than a few weeks. It seems like such a long time ago. That was before Sam came, before we won the football State Championship after Coach Beiste came to McKinley. So many things have happened since then. Quinn was pregnant then. She and I hadn't even become friends yet."

"And now we live in New York in our own apartment. I remember you saying that you never wanted to move after we rearranged my room and brought all of your stuff over," he teased.

"Exhaustion. It was the exhaustion speaking. I've wanted to live in New York for a really long time and now we don't have to move again. I like it here. We can go into the City easily. No hassle with traffic. And it's nice here. It's like the best of everything."

"I like it here too, but you're the best part." He hugged Kurt as best he could from the big spoon position. He took a deep breath and let it out. "You asked me to marry you."

"I did. And one day we'll plan a wedding and get married."

"Not if that guy at the open mic night has his way," Dave teased.

Kurt pushed back and turned over. "As if!" He rolled his eyes.

"He's good looking."

"And totally not my type."

"What your type?"

"Completely adorable and sweet."

Dave laughed. "I'm not sure why I'm in bed with you then."

"Uh huh, right." Kurt kissed him. "You're a softy. Totally snuggly and cuddly."

"That's not what the guys on the hockey team at school think."

"Yeah, well they don't sleep with you and feel how gentle you are when you touch me." Kurt started kissing up Dave's neck. He was losing interest in the conversation and focused on kissing the handsome man in his bed. "And the guy at the open mic night is a dense as a box of rocks since he's seen me serenade you I don't even know how many times at this point. Smart is sexy. You're sexy. I love you."

"I know. And I love you. I'm just teasing you about your lovesick groupie. When you get famous, I'm going to have to put up with more of them, I'm sure. You are super hot and I'm sure you'll have plenty of guys trying to get your attention."

"Too bad for them." He moved and sat straddling Dave. He started to sing.

I only want you.

Oh, how I want you.

I only want you.

Oh, how I want you.

I don't care for gold.

I only want you.

In my arms to hold.

I only want you.

Ev'ry waking hour.

Ev'ry minute of the day.

Even in my dreams

You are there it seems.

I can always see your face.

You are my romance.

And at ev'ry chance.

I'm in your arms' embrace

Oh, tell me you are mine.

I only want you.

'Til the end of time.

I only want you.

Ev'ry waking hour.

Ev'ry minute of the day.

He leaned down and kissed Dave.

"Is that one of the songs you've been working on to serenade me with?"

"When they have a '60s night. That's not the whole song, so I didn't completely ruin the serenade."

"You could never ruin a serenade. I love to hear you sing and you could sing the same song more than once and I wouldn't mind at all."

Kurt heard Dave's stomach start to growl. "Let's eat something easy like leftovers and get back in bed."

Less than five minutes later, they were back in their room.

"Well, cold pizza isn't my ideal breakfast, but it got us back in here quickly," Kurt said.

"Mmm hmm." Dave plopped back. He pulled Kurt with him. "Snuggles. Snuggle me."

"Now, who's bossy?" Kurt teased as he snuggled close.

"We can take turns."

"Like we take turns at other things?" Kurt kissed him. He rearranged a bit so they could continue kissing easily.

"Exactly," he said between kisses. "Some other things that I'd very much like to do after we snuggle and kiss more."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

After the final show that afternoon, Kurt stopped by an Indian restaurant to pick up food. When he got up to their apartment, he tapped on the door. Dave opened it and let him in.

"Brr." He handed Dave the sack with the food in it so he could take his coat off. He hung it up in the laundry closet. He left his boots in the boot tray near the laundry closet.

Dave gave him a strange look from the kitchen area when he heard the laundry closet door close.

"It's starting to snow and my coat is a little wet." He looked around the room and saw that Dave had gotten candles. He went to look at the one closest to him. It was a turquoise glass with white swirls through it that was designed to hold a pillar candle. "This is really pretty." He moved to the next one. It had a more industrial feel to it. The glass was clear and it sat inside a silver metal cage. He continued to the next one. The candle was sitting in a pale gray glass inside a metal holder that was a vine wrapped around the glass. Kurt continued around the room examining each of the six unique candleholders, the last one in the center of the table. "The candle lighting is beautiful. Thank you." He wrapped his arms around Dave from behind and leaned into him.

"You're welcome. I've been collecting them the last few weeks from different places around town. I ordered the flameless pillar candles. They're real wax, just battery operated flames, so no risk of catching anything on fire." He put the two plates of food on the table, which he had already set with a tablecloth, placemats, drinks, and utensils.

As soon as Dave stepped away, Kurt washed his hands. He turned back and looked at the table. "The effect is really romantic."

Dave extended his hand to Kurt. "Shall we?"

Kurt reached for Dave's arm and they took the three steps to the table together. Dave leaned closer and kissed Kurt before they sat down.

"Mmm," Dave said, as he took a bite. "I really like the food from this place. I'm glad we found it."

"Me too. Do you have our evening planned? The mood lighting has me curious."

"Well, dinner and dancing. And then I thought we'd play games. We don't have school tomorrow, so we can stay up a little later than usual. I was thinking Risk and then some card games and Uno. Of course, you can shower before we move on to the dancing. I know you won't relax until you get the rest of the make up off and get cleaned up. I actually figured you do it really quickly while I was getting the food plated."

"I got caught up looking at the lovely unique candle holders you found."

Dave smiled almost shyly in reaction to Kurt's praise of what he had chosen. "Oh, I left off the gift exchange. We still have that too."

"After the dancing?"

"Sure."

Kurt ran his foot up under Dave's pant leg. When Dave looked up, Kurt winked at him. Dave's eyes lit up and he smiled. Kurt pulled his fork out of his mouth very provocatively. Dave squirmed in his chair a bit. Kurt slipped his foot up Dave's leg and around the back a little and back down. He licked his lips and pulled his lower lip in between his teeth and let it slip out slowly. Dave lost his ability to focus on eating.

"Do you need a little help?" Kurt picked up a bite from Dave's plate and offered it to him.

"You minx. I can't even think straight."

"Shall I stop?" he asked innocently.

"Never." He managed to feed himself the few bites that were left on his plate. "I think I'd like to join you for that shower."

Kurt smiled. "You have a standing invitation."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt and Dave swayed in time with the beat of the music, barely moving anymore.

Kurt lifted his head from Dave's shoulder quickly. "I have exciting news. I can't believe I didn't tell you last night. I was just so tired and there were so many people here when I got back."

"What's the exciting news?"

"When I went out with my dad, he told me that he's going to pay all of my tuition and for my books."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"That's amazing. I know you've been really stressed about it."

"I have been ever since I realized that we had a month shorter summer vacation. Knowing that he's going to pay my tuition takes a huge load off my shoulders. I'm still going to keep working at Harmon's because I don't want your dad to keep paying for my insurance and stuff once I graduate. I don't even want him to pay now, but it wasn't worth making him angry after how great he's been to me. Maybe I can get a job at a theatre camp this summer or be in some kind of show since I won't have to work full time to save up to pay my tuition."

"That would be fun. We should start doing research on what kinds of things go on around here in the summer."

Kurt kissed Dave. "Are you ready to lose at Risk?"

"Ha! The question is whether you're ready to lose at Risk." He pecked Kurt on the lips and went to grab the game. They set it up on the table. After Dave won, they switched to Uno for a while.

"How about poker? We haven't played that in a while." Kurt said.

"Sure." Dave took the Uno cards with him and brought back the hammerhead shark card deck.

"That was a fun day, a fun weekend actually. We went to those car museums with my dad and you taught me to swim. And we went to the aquarium the next day."

"That's what we haven't done. We printed out photos from different places to make a collage, but we never did it. Where are all of those photos?"

"They're in one of those small art storage boxes in the closet in our study. We'll start looking for a collage frame." Kurt shuffled the cards and started to deal.

At almost 9:00, Azimio texted Dave and challenged him and Kurt to play Halo.

"Do you want to play Halo against Azimio and Sam?"

"Not really, but it's been a while since we played against them. We can watch the movies tomorrow. I'll have fun once we get started. I just have to switch gears."

Dave texted Azimio back. Kurt put the cards away while Dave set the game up.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt woke up before Dave Monday morning and quietly got out of bed to go to the bathroom and get a drink. He raised the Roman shades above the sink halfway to look outside. He finished his water quickly and practically jumped on the bed.

Dave opened his eyes and sat up quickly. "Are you okay?"

Kurt climbed over him and sat on his legs. "It snowed!"

"You said it was snowing when you came in yesterday, so I'm not surprised…"

"No, it SNOWED!" Kurt was practically vibrating with excitement. "There's enough to make snowmen and snow forts and have snowball fights."

"I see." Dave eyes glowed with love. "We'll go out and play. How about five more minutes of snuggles?"

"M'kay, but I'm really excited."

"I know. You love snow."

"I wonder if Nick is at Quinn's. We could team up. Us against them."

Dave pulled Kurt close to him in hopes to get more than five minutes, but not counting on it. "Sounds fun. You can text her and see."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour later, the four of them were working on two forts and making snowballs. They got Paul to help collect up the snow from the driveway into their wheelbarrow and dump it in the front yard for them to make snowmen out of. Judy started working on making warm treats for when everyone came back inside.

Kurt sat down in the snow carefully and made a snow angel. He got up even more carefully and turned around to see how it turned out. Dave came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him.

"It's perfect. Just like you." He turned Kurt around and just stared into his eyes. He could see the snowflakes on Kurt's long eyelashes and the gleam in his eyes from the excitement. He leaned forward and kissed him gently. "I love you."

"I love you too."

FWAP!

Kurt startled.

Dave kissed him again gently before turning around. "Alright! Which one of you is going to get it?" Dave asked, jokingly.

Nick and Quinn looked clueless, sincerely clueless. Dave turned back around and pulled Kurt close again. Just as he was about to kiss him again, he was hit in the back of the head.

FWAP!

He turned quickly again. Nick and Quinn looked just as dumbfounded as the first time. All of a sudden both Kurt and Dave were being hit with snowballs from the end of the garage. Jeff and Sebastian came running into the yard when they ran out of snowballs.

Kurt laughed. "How did you two get here?"

"We walked," Jeff said. "We don't live that far from here. Nick told us you were going to have an epic snowball fight."

"Well, you can team up with them. Sebastian can be on our team."

Sebastian jogged towards them and started to help make snowballs. He saw Kurt's snow angel. "I haven't ever made one, at least not that I can remember. It never snows this much in Paris." He lay down a little ways from Kurt's and made his. He got up and looked at it and smiled. He took his gloves off long enough to pull his phone out of his interior pocket and take a picture of it and of the two snow forts with everyone making snowballs and piling them up behind the forts. He slipped his phone back in quickly and put his gloves back on to help.

After they ran out of snowballs, they went around front and began to work on three snowmen and two snow ladies, to represent the members of the family. Kurt had prepared for the first snow of the season. He went in the garage to get everything once they had finished the bodies. Dave carried the box of arms around to the front and Kurt took the other box of items.

"What's that?" Sebastian asked.

"We're dressing them, of course," Kurt said. He opened the box and got out a vest, a beat up hockey jersey, and two tops for the snowladies and handed them out.

"I have arms. Pick your arms and let's get them dressed," Dave said.

Sebastian chuckled and shook his head and took some branches from the box. Once they had the clothes on, Kurt pulled out more accessories. He had a pipe, some sunglasses, some old reading glasses with no lenses in them, a few scarves, and various other small items.

Judy came out when she saw they were nearly done and handed Quinn a bowl with carrots, grapes, and some strawberries sliced lengthwise for the eyes, mouths, and noses on the snow people. Once they were done, Kurt used the shovel to smooth out the snow in the yard so it looked nice again. Sebastian stood in the street and got a photo of all of the snow people. Afterwards, they all piled together and took a selfie on at an angle that showed the snow people in a row behind them.

They went in through the garage, took all of their wet stuff off, and hung it up before going into the house through the studio. Judy had hot chocolate and spiced cider waiting for them. She pulled out a loaf of banana bread and applesauce bread from the oven where she had left it on warm after it finished baking. She sliced the loaves up and put them on plates.

"This smells so good," Nick said. He took one slice of each.

Everyone else helped themselves and they warmed up from the inside out.

"Both of these are really delicious," Sebastian said. "Thanks for making them for us."

"Oh, you're welcome, honey. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Now that you've finished with the snow people, what are your plans?"

They all sort of looked back and forth at each other.

Kurt spoke up. "Dave got us Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. We were going to watch the first one and then the second one. We could bring them down and watch them in the studio."

"That sounds fun," she said. "Can the two of you stay?"

They nodded.

"I'll put some soup on to cook in the crockpot and we can have it between the movies."

"Thanks, Mom," Quinn said. "You and Dad can come watch with us, if you want."

"I'll get him. You all can get studio set up. We'll be right in."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

About noon, Kurt got a call from Mr. Harmon telling him not to come in. He was running the two tow trucks and not opening the shop itself that afternoon. Kurt checked the school website and saw that school had already been cancelled for the next day. When they stopped between the two parts of the movie for lunch, he let everyone know.

Once they finished the second part of the movie, Kurt and Dave went back up to their apartment. They got out their reading bolsters and their lover's cape, and then curled up together in bed to read Goliath and The Death Cure, the books Kurt had gotten for them.

After a while, Kurt scooted closer to Dave, turning sideways and putting his legs over Dave's and leaning onto his shoulder.

"Comfy?"

"Working on it." He took the pillow he had on his lap and put it up behind his back and shoulders. He wiggled a little more to get his head comfortable and opened his book back up to read.

Dave turned and kissed the top of Kurt's head. "Are you sleepy?"

"Nope. Just feeling extra snuggly."

"Well, maybe it's time for a snuggle break then." He put his book on his bedside table. He reached out for Kurt's and put it with his. "Move your legs for a second." Dave pulled his left leg up. "Turn on your side a little more and slip your legs back through." He waited, and then he moved his left arm so that Kurt could scoot closer. He wrapped his arm around Kurt's back and held him close. "Better?"

Kurt tipped his head up and kissed Dave. "Definitely."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The Monday after they went back to school was the first day back for Dave's college classes.

The following Monday was the first day of final exams. The hockey team played Tuesday night and Saturday afternoon. The whole family, plus Nick, Jeff, Nina, Sugar, and Sebastian went to watch on Saturday. The team won both games.

The following week they didn't have school on Monday because of MLK day. Kurt, Dave, Quinn, and Sebastian spent Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the resource room reviewing for the Regents Exams that started the next week.

The second week of the spring semester was filled with more studying and taking their first round of Regents Exams. That Thursday evening, they went to Dave's final hockey game of the regular season. The team won again and they celebrated by going out for pizza as a family afterwards. The end of that week marked the beginning of their weeklong February winter break.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Early Saturday morning, Kurt leaned over and gently kissed Dave. "I'm sorry I couldn't get this morning off too. I'll be back a little after noon. We'll start our vacation then." He kissed him again. "I love you."

"Love you too." Dave pulled Kurt's pillow towards him and snuggled it.

Kurt arrived at the shop at 6:00.

"Sorry to pull you in so early, Kurt." Mr. Harmon said. "I just need to get to that auction by 8:00. They listed a bunch of things we use a lot of."

"I know how it goes. Sometimes my dad would drive out of state for a good auction. I hope you get all the stuff you're going there for. I'll get to work. We'll open at 8:00 when John gets here."

Kurt got busy on switching out the light bulbs in the taillights that were listed first on his to-do list. He worked through the list and left at noon. When he got home he jumped in the shower.

When he came out of the bathroom, Dave was sitting on their bed and wolf whistled.

Kurt smiled and swaggled over to their closet. "What should I wear?"

Dave hopped up and stood behind Kurt. He wrapped his arms around him and puts his hands on Kurt's chest. He ran his fingers along Kurt's skin gently. "I like what you have on."

"Mmm hmm. It's a little chilly to run around in just boxer briefs."

"I could turn the heat up."

Kurt chuckled. "You could."

Dave started to kiss the back of Kurt's neck.

"I'm not sure you have much interest in helping me get dressed."

"Maybe not." He took a deep breath. "But I'm going to because I have plans." He stood on his toes and reached over Kurt's shoulder. He pulled out a pair of gray jeans and handed them to Kurt. Then, he looked until he found the penguin hoodie Kurt had gotten at the aquarium.

Kurt took them to the bed and laid them down. He pulled out a singlet and socks and put them on, and then put the clothes on. "Now what?"

"Boots."

"Fashion or utilitarian?"

"Not completely fashion. There's still slop outside, but we're not going hiking in the woods in the snow or anything."

"Got it. Keep my feet dry." He grabbed a pair of boots from the closet and laced them up. He struck a pose, and then did a 360o spin for Dave.

Dave winked at him. "Yep. Let's go." He moved closer. "Well maybe, not yet. We have enough time for a few kisses."

Kurt smiled and stepped closer. He wrapped his arms around Dave and kissed him.

Dave held him close for a minute. "Alright. Now, let's go." He stepped into the living area and opened the coat closet and pulled out their letterman jackets. He handed Kurt's to him. "I think it's pretty cool that the other competitive clubs can get letters at Roosevelt.

"It is." Kurt slipped his on and grabbed the Gryffindor scarf and fingerless gloves and put them on. He put his earmuffs in his pocket. "I've gotten used to the burgundy jackets with gold sleeves. And these have no negative feelings tied to them, so I feel more comfortable wearing this one than I did the one I had from McKinley.

"You just like them better because they're the Gryffindor colors." Dave winked at him before wrapping Kurt's scarf and kissed him when he finished. He grabbed his Roosevelt hockey beanie hat and his gloves and put them on. "Ready?"

"Lead the way."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they pulled up to their destination, Kurt said, "I didn't know there was an outdoor skating rink around here."

"Surprise," Dave teased. "Our skates are in the back."

They got out and grabbed their skate bags and walked down to the entrance. They paid the skating fee, rented a cubby for their bags, and put their skates on.

"Hey, Dave! Good to see you. Hey, Kurt. Glad you could make it," Jared said.

"Thanks," Kurt said.

They headed out onto the ice and Kurt saw the rest of the hockey team skating around in their letterman jackets. The ones who had girlfriends had brought them as well. After about 45 minutes of skating, they left and went to a local arcade and played around for a while before heading to a Chinese buffet for late lunch.

After they finished eating, Dave drove them around to a few secondhand places and they found a collage frame that they liked. Kurt found a vintage Dior shirt that he picked up for a steal.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt took their laundry basket and started washing clothes, while Dave emptied the dishwasher. Once Kurt got the load started, he sat down at the table.

"Did you get offers from any recruiters? I heard a couple of guys talking about it at lunch."

"Nah, I was never going to get recruited. I mean I'm sure there were some scouts who saw me play that were interested initially, but once they got any details about me, they would have moved on."

"What do you mean? You're a really good student, no disciplinary issues, and you're the top scorer this season."

"I'm gay."

"No one seems to care about that."

"No one at Roosevelt cares about that. Or if they do, they keep it to themselves because they want to play and the school has rules against bullying. But there are no out gay guys in the NHL."

"None?"

"Nope."

"I didn't realize that."

"I didn't really know either until I started looking into colleges more. I looked to see which schools had good hockey programs with a decent number of guys getting drafted into the NHL. I did a lot of research. I found some players at schools I would consider attending on Facebook and sent them private messages asking whether there were any gay guys on their teams. I didn't get a 'yes' from anyone."

Kurt got up and hugged him. "I'm sorry."

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"If I had known… I mean we could have kept it out of the public when we moved. You could have just pretended to be single. I wouldn't have broken up with you. We could have just kept everything private. Being with me ruined your chances to play professional hockey."

"Being with you is the best thing that ever happened to me." He stepped back just enough that he could look Kurt in the eyes. "Hey, listen to me. Even if I had gotten drafted into the NHL after college, I might have played for one game before I got hurt too badly to ever play again. I might have been able to play for 15 years. I looked it up. The average NHL career lasts five years. That would have meant ten years in the closet if I started playing right after college. Ten years of not being able to marry you or go out with you in public on dates or trips. That's not the life I want. If I could have both, I might have given it a try. You remember asking me and I told you that I had considered it, but it's not like I've been training since I was six with playing in the NHL as my life goal."

Kurt nodded, sadly. He stepped closer again and wrapped his arms around Dave. "I'm still sorry that you can't do it for a reason that makes no sense whatsoever. Who you love has no bearing on whether you can hit a hockey puck into a net."

"I'm happy with how things are. Don't feel sorry for me, okay? You can be aggravated about the injustice of people still be denied the possibility of participating in things just because they're gay. But I don't want you to feel bad or pity me or something. I'm not heartbroken or depressed."

"Okay. As long as you're sure."

"I'm sure. It's exciting to play and I like it, but I was never going to do it for a lifetime. You are forever." Dave kissed him gently. "You and me forever."

"Yep. That's the plan." Kurt nuzzled his nose into Dave's neck. "I believe we had cooking together on our list of activities."

"We do. We definitely do. I went with Mom and Dad to Costco and I have all of the supplies we need. Mom, Nick, and Quinn are going out tonight and Dad will be up here at 6:30 to eat and watch whatever movie he's bringing."

"Good deal. Then let's get chopping since we settled on a taco buffet."

"In a bit," Dave said as he kissed Kurt, this time full of passion.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Tuesday morning, Kurt got out of bed quietly and made heart-shaped pancakes and eggs, along with turkey sausages for a breakfast. He plated everything as silently as possible and put it on their breakfast tray.

"Sweetie, wake up."

"Hmm?"

"Sit up. I made you breakfast."

Dave slid up in the bed and Kurt put the tray down in front of him. He kissed Kurt on the cheek before he stood back up. Kurt sat down and faced him.

"Happy Valentine's Day. I know you planned something, but I wanted to do something for you too."

"It looks great."

They both ate without talking much. When they finished, Kurt took the tray back and loaded the dishwasher.

"Come back and let's snuggle for a while. We don't have to leave just yet."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

An hour later, they pulled into the lot of the Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk.

"An aquarium? This should be fun." Kurt reached out and took his hand. "This is an awesome way to spend the day."

"You've been talking to Sam again."

Kurt chuckled. "That's true. They're gearing up for Regionals just like we are."

"Yeah, Azimio told me. I don't know how much of a chance they have without a music teacher, but they're doing their best."

"Sam said that they ordered the actual choir sheet music for the songs they chose. Rachel and Artie taught everyone to read music. Brad's still there somehow. Mike and Brittany are doing the choreography."

"Z did say something about Mercedes giving everyone voice lessons to help them learn their parts."

"That too. She's still working on her mom to convince her to let her come here with Azimio during our spring break."

"Z's mom already said 'yes', so he's hoping that Mercedes' mom will give in."

They got their tickets and went inside. They wandered around through the exhibits until lunchtime.

"This town has a bunch of interesting restaurants. I thought we'd try one. You can choose one for lunch." He pulled his phone out and showed Kurt.

"Let's go to this place. We've never been to a real Italian place before."

"Sounds good."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They went back to the aquarium after lunch. Kurt waited for Dave to come around the end of the truck and took his hand.

"That was really good. Breadstix is a total imposter. I knew it was, but wow. We have to take Azimio and Mercedes there when they come. It was really good."

"It was. And you're right, they would like it a lot."

They finished looking through the exhibits and stopped in the gift shop. Kurt was looking in the jewelry case.

"What's caught your eye?"

"That pewter jellyfish lapel pin." He pointed.

"Can I help you with something?" The clerk asked.

"Yes, I'd like that pin, please."

"Sure." She opened the case and handed it to him. "Anything else?"

"Nope, this is it." He followed her back to the register, paid for it, and fastened it to his vest lapel. "Thank you."

"My pleasure. I hope you come back to see us soon."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

When they got home, Kurt made them hot chocolate and put the casserole they had prepped the night before in the oven while Dave got the futon ready for the movie. Kurt handed both mugs to Dave before he turned the lights off and sat down. He took his mug back and Dave pressed play.

"The Penguins of Madagascar? This should be funny."

"We're going to see Journey 2 with Nick, Quinn, Jeff, and Sebastian Thursday, so I thought funny would be a good option for tonight."

"Definitely."

When they finished the hot chocolate, Kurt scooted closer and Dave wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder. They stayed snuggled up through the movie. When it was over, Dave turned on all of the candles and sat them around the room and put the tablecloth on and set the table while Kurt got the casserole out and plated their portions. Kurt poured them sparkling cider in fluted glasses and put them on the table.

Before they ate, he picked his up, and said, "To many, many more Valentine's Days with you."

Dave lightly tapped his glass against Kurt's, and then took a drink. "It's our third Valentine's Day together."

"I remember our first. The night before you made me a beautiful dinner."

"And on Valentine's Day you took me to a hockey game in Columbus."

"I did. And we had fun."

"We did."

Kurt started playing footsie and when Dave looked at him he gave him an innocent look.

"Mmm hmm. I got that bubble bath you've been looking for. That's where we're headed next."

"It's been out of stock for ages."

"Not online," Dave winked at him.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt had Dave's feet in his lap, switching back and forth massaging them. When he finished, he put his feet in Dave's lap and let him massage him while he continued to run his hands along Dave's calves.

"These inflatable tub pillows with the suction cups were a great idea," Kurt said. "A+ on the Valentine's bathtub pampering idea."

"It's been ages since you painted my toenails," Dave teased.

"I can do that. I miss them still. I really do like it here, but I have no one to play with," Kurt whined. "Nick and Jeff and Sebastian don't have any little brothers or sisters. And I lost all of my little playmates after The Wizard of Oz ended."

"Maybe you should put up an ad somewhere as a babysitter."

"That could be fun. I need to start doing the summer camp or show research. Just let me know when you don't have something planned and we can do it then. Maybe you could work at a middle school football camp or something."

"Maybe."

"My feet feel great. Thank you." He bent his knees to reposition. "But I want to sit on that side with you now." He got up and moved so that he was leaned back on Dave instead of the tub pillow. "You're much better than the tub pillow, even though I like it a lot." He ran his fingers across Dave's thighs, caressing him gently. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Dave slipped his arms under Kurt's and wrapped them around his chest. Kurt moved to caressing his forearms. He slid his upper body to the left and turned his head so he could kiss Dave, gently at first with the intensity building.

"You ready to rinse off and take this to our bed?" Kurt asked.

Dave kissed him and answered. "Yeah."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The two weeks after they went back to school, Singspiration worked diligently on their pieces for Regionals the first Saturday in March. The hockey team held extra practices as they prepared for their Regionals game the second week in March.

All of Singspiration's hard work paid off when they won Regionals. They were headed to Nationals in Chicago in May. They found out later that afternoon that the New Directions had won as well.

The next week the hockey team edged past their competition 6-5, with Dave scoring three goals again. They moved forward to the State Semi-Final game.

The Harmonichords won their Regionals and were set to compete in the City in May.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt spent the next week preparing for his live audition for NYADA. It was one of the private schools he had applied to on the very limited chance that he could get a scholarship. Rachel had also applied to NYADA, saying that Miss Pillsbury told her it was the premiere Broadway training school. Kurt's audition was scheduled on Friday at NYADA. Rachel's was the following Wednesday in Columbus in a small theatre on the OSU main campus.

Kurt designed his outfit for the audition to be a breakaway suit with a very slim-fit black dress shirt and gold lamé pants underneath.

"Kurt Hummel."

Kurt walked in from stage right to the center of the stage and performed both of his monologues – one dramatic and one comedic.

Next, he performed 32 measures of "Dream a Little Dream" as if he were serenading someone he was imagining center stage. When he finished, he moved stage right about halfway between the grand piano and the front of the stage. The intro started and Kurt began to sing 32 measures of "Not the Boy Next Door" with just a few steps. When he got to the part in the lyrics about looking the same, but being someone new, he ripped the tear away suit off to show the outfit underneath. He began to move his hips and get into the choreography. He used the piano and the whole stage for his movements. He danced, jumped, and showed off his flexibility in both his body and voice.

Madame Tibideaux had remained stoic during his entire performance, but at the end of the song congratulated him on how well he had done, pointing out that even Hugh Jackman would have been impressed. Kurt smiled and bowed, thanking her as he left the stage to change into his ballet shoes. He returned quickly and performed the 3-minute combination jazz, modern, and ballet piece he had prepared.

Kurt had found out from Mercedes, who called him the following Wednesday evening, that Rachel had taken Tina and Mercedes with her to Columbus. She sang "Don't Rain on my Parade" flawlessly. For her second song, she sang 32 measures of "Get it Right". Mercedes sent him a video that she took.

The next day was the State Semi-Final hockey game. The whole family went to watch Dave play as well as their group of closest friends. In a disappointing turn of events, the opposing team scored a last-second goal and won the game 5-4. Dave scored twice.

Kurt waited for him outside the Navigator. When he got close enough, Kurt hugged him. "You were top scorer and you were amazing."

"Thanks. It's disappointing to lose, but we did better than the team at McKinley ever did. And it's been fun. Let's go."

Dave had invited the guys on the team that he had made friends with over to the house to celebrate with pizzas and movies.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The auditions for the spring musical, Once Upon a Mattress, were held the last Friday in March. The following Monday, the cast list went up, but not until after Dave had left for his class at the college. Quinn and Kurt went to look together.

"I'm Princess Winifred!" Quinn nearly squealed. "You're Prince Dauntless. This is going to be perfect. I can totally pretend to be in love with you." She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"As can I, my dear." He took her hand and kissed the top, but didn't let go. They walked down the hall and turned the corner and nearly ran into Nick, Nina, and Jeff.

"If I didn't know better, I'd be jealous. And just why is it that the girl I love is walking around in the hall holding hands with you instead of me?"

"Well, I am her Prince Charming, well, Prince Dauntless that is."

Nick wrapped his arms around her and spun in a circle. "You got the lead!"

"I did."

"Who am I?" Nick asked.

"You'll have to go look. Come on. We'll go back with you."

Kurt, Jeff, and Nina followed them.

"Excellent!" Jeff proclaimed. "I am the jester." He pretended to juggle invisible objects.

"And I'm the Minstrel," Nick said. "This is going to be so much fun."

Nina said, "I'm Queen Aggravain! No way!"

"Wes is the King. He'll be great at that. He's bossy with just the way he looks at people," Jeff said. "A bunch of the guys in the Harmonichords got roles."

Quinn said, "Let's go to the cafeteria. I'm hungry." She pulled Nick by the hand gently. She grabbed Kurt's hand as well.

Nick wrapped his arm around Quinn's waist and took Nina's hand. Jeff caught up and walked next to Kurt.

"So, Kurt's having yet another salad with chicken on it," Jeff teased. "It's a celebration. Live a little."

"I'll get the Green Goddess dressing instead of Italian."

Quinn laughed and Jeff just rolled his eyes.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Rehearsals weren't set to start until after spring break, but with the cast selected, the Costume Design Club was able to take everyone's measurements quickly at their meeting that week. The Set Design Club had already completed their designs and had started building.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

That Friday, Kurt went straight home after school. Dave got there a few minutes after he did.

"It's here," Kurt said. He went into their study and sat at his desk. "I don't know why this is so nerve-wracking. I already got into my first choice school." He grabbed the other two envelopes that he had put in his desk drawer.

"If money were no obstacle, I'm pretty sure that one of those places in your hand would be your first choice."

"I don't know. That's what makes it so weird. I really do like the program I picked out. I want to go some place where I can learn and gain skills and confidence, not constantly be looked down on. Maybe I could find that at these places. Who knows? I think I just feel like I would be the underdog and after this school year at Roosevelt, I'm not ready to move back to the role of underdog. I haven't had years of private voice lessons and a lifetime of dance training or any acting lessons other than my class at school this year. I feel like 'premier academy' means a place for people like that. I'm just going to open them." He took his scissors out and cut the ends off of all three envelopes." He pulled the letter out of the first. "Pace. I got in." He read through the letter. "No financial aid offer." He moved on to the second envelope. "Tisch. I got in." He scanned through quickly. "Some financial aid, but nowhere near what it would take to bring the cost down to affordable. The tuition there is over $50,000 a year." He pulled the last one out. "NYADA. I got in." He switched to the second sheet. "Decent financial aid offer compared to NYU, but still not enough to bring it down to affordable." He put all of the letters back into the envelopes and stacked them at the back of his desk. "So, there's that. No more wondering."

"Would you have gone if one of them had brought the cost down to what it will be where you chose to go?"

"I think I probably would have arranged more campus visits so I could skip school without getting into trouble and I'd go spend the whole day at whichever place it had been and I'd do the same with where I've already chosen. I'd want to make a head-to-head comparison like I did when I picked initially. I might even go twice to each place, but I would definitely stay longer to be really certain."

"That makes sense. We should start to get letters back from the scholarships we applied for soon."

Kurt nodded. "Yeah. I hope Quinn gets enough to go to Yale like she wants."

"Me too."

"Homework until we leave for open mic night."

"That's the plan." He got up from his chair and kissed Kurt before he grabbed his history book off his shelf.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The two of them were dressed in their line dancing outfits and headed out for country music night at the open mic night. When they got inside, they found everyone sitting where they normally did. They both went and signed up to sing before sitting down with everyone.

"Nice outfits," Jeff said. "You two always show the rest of us up."

Dave just smiled. "The perks of having a boyfriend who can sew and knows a lot about fashion most of the time, but we used to go out line dancing and square dancing in these outfits. We haven't found anywhere around here to put them to use, so we pulled them out for tonight."

They ordered food and watched their friends sing. Kurt name's was called. When he got up on the stage, he tipped his hat and put it back on. The music started to play.

Wherever you go,

Wherever you may wander in your life,

Surely you know,

I always wanna be there.

Holding your hand,

And standing by to catch you when you fall,

Seeing you through,

In everything you do.

Let me be there in your morning.

Let be there in your night.

Let me change whatever's wrong and make it right.

Let me take you through that wonderland,

That only two can share.

All I ask you – is let me be there.

Watching you grow,

And going through the changes in your life,

That's how I know,

I always wanna be there.

Whenever you feel you need a friend to lean on,

Here I am.

Whenever you call, you know I'll be there.

He went back to sit down with everyone. He kissed Dave when he looked up as he sat down. Dave wrapped his arm around the back of Kurt's chair again. They watched the next few people perform. When Dave's name was called, he headed up to the stage.

Dancin' in the dark, middle of the night,

Takin' your heart and holdin' it tight,

Emotional touch, touchin' my skin,

And askin' you to do,

What you've been doin',

All over again.

Oh, it's a beautiful thing.

Don't think I can keep it all in.

I've just gotta let you know,

What it is that won't let me go.

It's your love.

It just does somethin' to me.

It sends a shock right through me.

I can't get enough.

And if you wonder about the spell I'm under.

Oh, it's your love.

Better than I was, more than I am.

And all of this happened by taking your hand.

And who I am now is who I wanted to be.

And now that we're together,

I'm stronger than ever. I'm happy and free.

When Dave sat back down, he slipped his hand under the table and put it on Kurt's leg. Just a few seconds later, Kurt put his hand on top of Dave's and slips his fingers between Dave's and squeezed lightly. Dave looked over at him and Kurt winked at him.

When the open mic time ended, they all said their goodbyes for the evening. Kurt hugged Quinn before they left.

"Have fun and stay out of trouble," Kurt told her.

"Mom and Dad already gave me this talk," she smarted back.

"Yes. I'm sure they did. Because they love you and they want you to stay safe." He kissed her on the cheek. "We'll see you next Friday."

Nick came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Ready, beautiful?"

"Yep. New Haven here we come!"

Jeff followed along behind them and they left together.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The next day when Kurt got off, he went home to help Dave set up for the board game day and cookout they were having with their friends from school that weren't heading out of town for spring break. Andrew came over to help Paul with the hosting duties and Claire and Judy went out for the day

A couple of the guys brought folding tables and chairs with them and set a few them in the studio. They put the food they brought with them on the counter in the kitchen and once the meat was ready, everyone got in line and served themselves. Once they finished eating, they set the board games up.

Everyone stayed through dinner and they ate leftovers from lunch. They all left around 9:00. Dave, Kurt, and Sebastian helped clean everything up. Claire and Judy came back right as they were finishing up. Andrew, Claire, and Sebastian left together.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Sunday, Kurt and Dave prepped for their crazy spring break week. They quit working at 5:00 to have their scheduled Sunday evening time together, which would be the last evening they'd have alone until the following Sunday.

Monday morning, they drove to LaGuardia to pick up Mercedes, Azimio, Sam, and Noah. Azimio texted Dave and got directions on where to meet. When they came outside Kurt hugged Mercedes first, and then Sam and Noah.

"No hug for me?" Azimio said.

"You want a hug? Then, get over here."

Azimio hugged him. "You got a cake for us, right?"

Mercedes elbowed him. "Azimio Adams. We haven't seen them in eight months and the first thing you do is ask him for a cake?"

"Hell, yeah. I missed those cakes."

Kurt shook his head. "There's a cake at home."

"Now, see. Now, I know Kurt loves me. Let's get this stuff in the back and go eat that cake. I'm starving."

Kurt opened the back and let them put their bags behind the seat.

"Mercedes Jones, I told you to pack light."

"I did. I did," she insisted.

"Well, one of those suitcases is going to have to go in the third row seat with Noah and Sam."

They went around the side and put the back seats down. Sam climbed in. Noah handed him Mercedes' suitcase, and then climbed in. They put the backseats down and Mercedes and Azimio got in.

They caught up with each other on the drive back. About 45 minutes later, they were back at the house. They hauled everyone's stuff up into Quinn's apartment. Mercedes' stuff went into Quinn's room. Azimio was staying in her guest room. And Sam was taking the sofa bed, but put his suitcase in the guest room to keep it out of the way. Once everything was settled, they went to Kurt and Dave's place. Noah put his stuff in their study and would be sleeping on the futon.

"Oh, wow. This looks completely different from Quinn's place," Mercedes said. "I like both, but it's wild how they don't look a thing alike."

Kurt gave them a quick tour. While they were taking turns in the bathroom, Kurt and Dave went to the kitchen, washed their hands, got out the egg salad sandwiches they had made and put them on the table. Once Mercedes came out of the bathroom, Kurt asked her to take them back to Quinn's. He had taken the cake over the night before. Dave and Kurt followed everyone back to Quinn's and brought their desk chairs with them.

"There's milk and juice in the fridge. The glasses are in that cabinet to the left of the sink," Kurt said. "When we're home, we'll eat here. Quinn got the table that they had in their house, which has a leaf as you can see. We can all sit here together. Our table only seats four easily."

"Works for me," Sam said. "This is good. Thanks for making us breakfast."

"You're welcome," Kurt said. He sliced up the cake and put it on the table as well.

"What kind of cake is that?" Azimio said.

Sam answered, "It's an apple cinnamon bundt cake. It's the kind he made me for my birthday. He got the recipe from my mom, who got it from her mom. My mom said it never came out right when she made it when I asked her to make me one. Kurt made it and it came out perfect, just like my grandma's."

"Well, it smells good," Azimio said. "You know I'm fond of chocolate, but I'll give it a try." He put a slice on his plate after he finished his sandwich. After he took a bite, he said, "Your grandma's recipe is good. I like this. It kind of reminds me of cinnamon rolls."

"I'm glad you like it. What about you, Noah?"

"It's good. I've never had one of your cakes that I didn't like."

Once they finished, they cleaned up quickly, and headed out.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got Noah to ride with him in Dave's truck. The other four got in the Navigator.

"You've been quiet," Kurt said.

"I'm not sure how to be. It's been so long since I've seen any of you. They call me Puck and no one's called me that since I left Lima. I've changed a lot and being back with people who knew the old me is kind of disorienting. I'm fine around you and Dave. You saw more of who I want to be than the other three."

"I've changed a lot too. I finally made it to the goal I had of being able to walk into a room and not assume that everyone will shun me. My first week at school, the leader of the a cappella group I'm in sat down at lunch and said, 'You should audition for the lead.' I looked up to see who he was talking to. I automatically assumed it was not me. Now, after being in a couple of musicals and getting the lead with Sebastian and just everything at school, I don't feel like that anymore. I feel like a guy now. No one here lumps me in with the girls, ever. I suggest that you just be yourself. The other three will understand that you've made changes to your life over the last eight months."

Noah nodded. He looked out the window as they drove. "It's nice here. It doesn't look as different as I thought it would."

"It will once we get along the shore. How's your school year been? I know you're still super busy and we don't get to talk much, and it's usually while we're shooting things."

"School's been good. I joined the choir. The school is big enough to offer some automotive courses and I've been studying to take some more certification tests. Your dad helped me get a job. I'm taking classes with the smart kids now and they know nothing about my previous punk ways. The clothes we got have worked well. The football team was decent. We didn't make it past the second play-off game, but it was fun. I'm not playing a spring sport. I wanted to sort of take it easy this semester and have time to spend with Sarah and Carlos. This summer, they're going to spend three mornings a week at Nana's and the other two mornings at Silvia's mom's. Three afternoons a week, they're going to an art, music, and theatre camp. I'm going to work three 10-hour shifts on those days and I'm going to watch them in the afternoons the other two days. That way, it takes the pressure off financially because they both wanted to go to that camp so badly. They both started taking dance lessons, which they love."

"Good. They sound happy."

"They are. They're not at all like regular siblings because they're super sweet to each other because they were best friends already. They share and rarely argue with each other. They don't fight for attention. Sarah's just happy to have a mom and dad that care. Silvia's family has taken to Sarah as their own. She calls Silvia's parents 'abuela' and 'abuelo' and she's learning Spanish with Carlos. She's catching on pretty quickly. She's speaks it better than I do after studying it for two years at McKinley."

"She's young enough that she will sound like a native speaker too. That's cool."

"It is. So, where are we going and why did you drive separately?"

"We're going to see the natural side of this area and I drove separately because unfortunately I couldn't get off today. I need the money. Paul only lets me work one evening a week and every other Saturday. He also insisted on covering my food, insurance, and my phone, so I don't need a lot of money, but I refuse to go to him for an allowance. He can make the rules for living in his house, but I just can't go to him and ask him for money for stuff. At the beginning of the school year, he paid for all of my choir stuff, my PE clothes, and I'm just not okay with him paying for me to go out to eat or for me to buy a shirt I like or art and sewing supplies."

"I get that. It's weird enough for me not to be paying rent since I'd been planning on it all this time. I don't have to work as much during the school year now, but I'm still going to work as much as I can over the summer to cover my books and whatever else I need for school in the fall. And I'm going to pay my insurance on my truck for the whole year just in case college is really hard and I have to work even less."

"I did that last school year and it was a really good idea. You save overall too because you don't get the fee for paying monthly. How do you like living in the studio?"

"It's good. I don't need a lot of space. It's huge compared to my last bedroom. I've got a comfortable bed and couch. It's definitely better than a dorm and by far more economical than living anywhere else. It's really the perfect solution to a problem I thought had no solutions. Silvia includes Nana in a lot of things. Carlos has always called her Nana, but now Silvia and Gabriel do too. He's great with Sarah. I thought it would be hard to let her get close to him, but it's been great. She's so happy."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They spent Tuesday in the City going around to some of Dave and Kurt's favorite somewhat less touristy places. Tuesday evening they left for Washington D.C. after about 6:00, successfully avoiding the worst of rush hour traffic on their 4-hour drive.

They spent the rest of the week staying in Burt's apartment while he was back in Lima spending the holiday week there. They went to the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the National Zoo, and Burt got them tickets to tour the White House while they were there.

Saturday morning, they headed back to New York. They met up with Nick, Jeff, Quinn, and Sebastian at the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn. They spent the evening playing games and eating pizza and another cake that Kurt made after they got back.

Sunday, Quinn went with them and they drove into the City and went back to Times Square, visited the M&M shop, Kurt's favorite music store, a fun vintage clothing place he had found, and back to Central Park for a while before they had to head back to LaGuardia.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

They had a family dinner for Quinn's birthday the night before her birthday since Kurt had to work Monday evening, and she and Nick had plans to go out on her actual birthday. She was surprised when she opened the box that Paul and Judy gave her. It had a Yale hoodie in it.

"Does that mean I can go?"

"It does. Paul and I sat down and went through all of the scholarships and the financial aid. You'll have to work this summer for your spending money for the school year, just like Kurt and Dave, but yes, you can go to Yale."

"Oh, my God! Thank you! I swear I will work hard and I won't let you down."

"I know, sweetie," Judy said.

Paul said, "We're so proud of you. You put a lot of work into applying for the grants and scholarships. That showed how much this means to you."

Quinn opened the envelope and unfolded the pieces of paper inside.

"You need to sign those and put it back in the envelope so I can mail it tomorrow," Paul said.

She smiled and nodded. She got up and used the pen from the refrigerator to sign it. She gave the envelope to Paul, and then hugged him. "Thank you." She sat down.

"Close your eyes," Kurt said. He went in the office and brought his gift back. "Open them."

"Oh, my God, Kurt. It's the dress I showed you that I liked. I'll be right back." She came back a couple of minutes later wearing a sleeveless cornflower blue dropwaist dress. "You made this dress."

"I did. It looks beautiful on you. You should be able to wear it to one of those family events you talked about going to with Nick's family this summer."

"I love it. It's beautiful. Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek on the way out to change back. She was gone longer the second time. She came back wearing the Yale hoodie.

Dave said, "My gift is that I made your favorite turtle cheesecake."

"Thank you. You two are the best brothers ever."

Judy said, "The hoodie isn't your birthday present. I just thought it would be a fun way to let you know that we got everything for Yale worked out." She slid a card across the table.

Quinn picked it up and opened it. At first she was confused, but then she realized what it was. "You made reservations for me at that bed and breakfast you showed me the pictures of that I said I would love to go and stay at? The one with the fancy French breakfast and the big garden? The one that's like a block from the ocean?"

"That's the place. It's for the Monday and Tuesday after school lets out."

She got up and hugged Judy. "That will be so relaxing and fun. It will be warm enough to get in the water by then. Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetie."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Three weeks after spring break, it was time for Senior Prom. A roaring '20s theme had been chosen. Kurt worked on their outfits starting with pinstripe suits he found at secondhand stores. He found a vest for Dave and used one he already had. Quinn's a simple '20s sleeveless dress looked great with Nick's suit. She added black accents and he accented with blue. Jeff and Sebastian decided to go as friends. They all met at the Karofsky's and split the cost of a limo.

Claire took pictures of the three couples and group photos as well. She and Andrew went out with Paul and Judy once everyone left.

They arrived to find a red carpet entrance into the hotel event room. They stopped along the carpet and had their pictures taken in pairs and as a group like an opening night premiere. Once they were inside, they found their table and took their seats. After they finished eating, they moved to the dance floor.

Kurt stepped closer to Dave and they danced together for most of the evening, taking small breaks here and there to talk to people. The music changed from '20s music to modern music as the evening went on.

After it ended, Nina and Braden stayed at the hotel. Dave picked Kurt up from the hotel when had taken the Navigator to the hotel lot after he got off from work. The rest of them went back to the Karofsky's. Jeff and Sebastian went home. Nick stayed with Quinn.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The following weekend was Nationals in Chicago. Kurt had told Mercedes about Singspiration's plans to go to the Shedd Aquarium and to the Museum of Science and Industry. She persuaded Coach Beiste and Miss Pillsbury to take them the same days.

Kurt got a chance to talk to Rachel during their visit to the Shedd Aquarium. She had been conditionally admitted to NYADA. She had to go to summer classes to improve her dance skills to be ready for her classes in the fall. He told her that he had been offered a place, but he didn't accept. He explained how being given a chance to become his best was better choice for him personally than attending classes with the best of the best. She didn't understand his reasoning, but eventually dropped it.

Quinn introduced Nick to Tina. She and Mercedes hung around with Quinn when the groups were together.

Mercedes told them about how she got offered a position as a back-up singer on an indie label and that she was moving to LA after graduation. Dave took Azimio down a ways and asked him what he was going to do. He smiled and slapped Dave on the shoulder and told him that he was going to school in LA to train to be a security guard.

In the end, the New Directions placed third. Singspiration placed first.

The following day, both groups went to the Museum of Science and Industry. They learned that Mike would be heading to the Ailey School in New York City. Finn wasn't going to go to college and would be starting at the shop full time as soon as school got out. Brittany and Santana got cheerleading scholarships to the University of Louisville.

Before they had to leave for the airport, Kurt hugged everyone he had been friends with. He kept himself together until they got back home late that night.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Kurt got directly in the shower when they got home. Dave paused and threw their clothes into the washer, but didn't start it. He put their suitcase back under the bed and joined Kurt in the shower. He grabbed Kurt's shampoo and began to wash his hair since he was just standing there. Kurt leaned back to rinse his hair out, and then leaned into Dave.

"That was it today. We'll probably never see some of them again."

"I know. It hasn't quite sunk in yet. Z's going to L.A. with Mercedes. L.A. I never in a million years would have guessed that Z would move to L.A. I was sure he'd keep working for his brother for a while until he figured out what he wanted to do."

"I guess he figured it out." Kurt took a deep breath and let it out. He reached for Dave's shampoo. They finished up and got out. They went straight to bed and snuggled up, falling asleep quickly.

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

Dave had finals for his college classes the following week. It was also the week of the spring musical, which had five shows.

They had postponed celebrating Mother's Day because they had been in Chicago the previous weekend. Paul and the three teens made a big brunch. After they finished eating, Kurt and Quinn left to get to the school to get ready. Dave and Paul did the clean up, and then the three of them went to the school to watch Kurt and Quinn and their friends perform.

When it was over, the actors came out the stage door into the hallway still in costume for a special meet and greet with any kids who had come. When Kurt stepped out, he heard "Kurt! Kurt! Kurt!" from a group of the kids. A bunch of the kids from The Wizard of Oz had come to see the show. They crowded around him with their programs and wanted him to sign them. He got the rest of the cast to sign them as well. He posed for pictures with anyone that asked. After the meet and greet, the kids were ushered into the lobby for snacks.

Dave stayed behind and waited for Kurt.

Once they were on their way out of the parking lot, Dave said, "You were really good. You and Quinn were very convincing and Wes was really funny."

"I had a lot of fun. Working with a big group of people I knew was a lot of fun. In the fall, I didn't really know many people. Then with The Wizard of Oz, I didn't know anyone either. But this was like being on a team at the end of a season, even more so than going to Nationals with Singspiration. This and being in the Harmonichords this year has made my senior year really great. I like Singspiration, but since it's a class, we didn't talk to everyone like I did in the Harmonichords."

"I'm glad we moved. I wouldn't have gotten to do what I did this year either. College classes, AP classes, playing hockey with people who appreciated my talent and didn't care that I don't like girls."

"I'm really glad you don't like girls," Kurt teased. He put his hand on Dave's thigh.

Dave smiled. "Me too. That's the other thing that's changed since we moved. I don't feel bad about being gay. I'm really fine with it. I love you. You love me. And I like that. I enjoy being in love with you and people saying negative things about being gay now just slides off. Going to see Dr. Clarkson really helped."

"So, a '5-star – would recommend' on being gay now, huh?" Kurt teased.

Dave chuckled. "Definitely."

[][][] – [][][][] – [][][]

The week after the musical, the clubs met for the last time to organize everything for the fall.

The end of that week was the last weekend in May. Kurt and Dave packed up to go camping and headed out to an area near one of the local lakes that had bathhouses and campsites with fire pits since neither one of them wanted to camp primitive style.

They spent Saturday hiking, reading, and studying. The started a fire and grilled out for dinner. Once it was nearly dark out, they put out the fire and showered quickly. Once they were in the tent, they took off their sweats and slipped into the sleeping back. Kurt sprawled out on Dave on the air mattress.

"Comfy?"

Kurt kissed him. "Yep." He took a deep breath and relaxed. "I'm feeling antsy. It feels like school should be over the end of this coming week. Four more weeks feels like a long time."

"It does. We took the AP Exams three weeks ago. And those were designed to be comprehensive for the whole school year. I don't know what we have left to learn, but maybe we'll have extra time for kissing now."

"That's a good point." Kurt ran his fingers along Dave's ribs. "More time to tickle you."

Dave squirmed. "How about more snuggles?"

"Deal."

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A little before lunch the next day, Dave and Judy arrived with the boat. Nick, Jeff, Sebastian, Braden, Nina, and Quinn showed up right after they did. They had packed picnic food to take out on the boat with them. Later that afternoon, everyone headed back to the Karofsky's for a sleepover. Kurt and Dave stay at the lake and went back home late Monday morning in time to get ready to go to the Memorial Day cookout at the Duval's.

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The Harmonichords practiced after school as usual on Tuesday, but added a Friday rehearsal in preparation for Nationals on Saturday.

Paul, Judy, and Quinn took the train into the city to watch them compete. Their flawless arrangement of "Some Nights" won them the high school title. They stayed to watch the college division compete. Afterwards, Kurt and Dave didn't go back to the school on the bus. The five of them went out to dinner together before taking the train back.

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The following Friday night was Roosevelt's spring concert, which included performances by Singspiration, the Harmonichords, the other choirs, the jazz band, the orchestra, and few string quartets. The dance classes performed as classes and as small groups, and a few duets, including Kurt and Quinn. The cast of Once Upon a Mattress sang "Song of Love."

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They made it through the next three weeks of writing papers, studying for the Regents Exams they hadn't taken yet, and studying for their finals. The last day of school, Kurt took a cake to the resource room as a thank you to the teachers who had helped all of them learn what they needed to know to pass all of their Regents Exams.

After their last final ended, they met up at Frozen Moo to celebrate the end of the school year. Quinn stood with Kurt leaning back against his chest. He had his arms wrapped around her. Dave and Nick sat at one of the long tables so they'd all have a place to sit. Kurt and Quinn carried their food back to the table. Quinn slid half of the foot-long Coney dog across the table to Kurt. Dave took his corn dog and grabbed his and Kurt's shakes from the carrier and pushed it over to Nick. The rest of the group joined them one at a time. They all went to the park together and played on the playground equipment while it was still empty since the high school let out earlier.

Dave and Kurt stopped by the library on the way home and picked up two books from the new release display.

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On Friday, they all went to the end-of-year senior picnic the school hosted at the football stadium at the school. They took their yearbooks and Kurt's camera.

When Kurt and Dave got back home, they prepped a casserole for dinner. They cleaned the apartment while they waited for Burt to arrive. They served dinner as soon as he got there since it was already late.

"So, what are your plans for the summer?"

Kurt answered, "I got that job working as a theatre day camp counselor, plus I'll still work at Harmon's. Quinn's going to be working at the camp too."

"I'm going to work at a football camp for 12-14 year olds. It's an interesting camp. They work all morning on physical training and teamwork on the field. In the afternoons, they'll get tutored in Math and English and they'll work on teamwork in other situations besides football."

"Sounds interesting."

Kurt said, "They seem to have a high success rate, so the program is really popular."

They continued to talk about random things throughout the meal. Once they finished, Dave cleared the table and Kurt put the linens on the futon, but sat it back up afterwards.

"You can watch TV or whatever you'd like. You know how to put the futon back down. We're going to shower and get ready for bed. I'll make breakfast for all of us before we have to leave in the morning. You can follow Paul and Judy or ride with them."

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Once the superintendent and the valedictorian had given their speeches, the graduation processional began.

"Kurt Hummel." Kurt crossed the stage, shook hands with the principal, and took his diploma folder from Miss Klassen. He exited the stage, had his picture taken, and re-entered the stage on the risers.

"David Karofsky."

"Quinn Karofsky."

Dave and Quinn followed the same pattern.

Once everyone's names had been called and the seniors were all on the risers, the principal said, "I present to you the Roosevelt High School Class of 2012."

The graduates moved their tassels to the other side of their caps. Everyone in the audience cheered and clapped. The seniors filed off the risers and into the hallway. They had a little time to get photos in their caps and gowns with family and friends before they had to turn in their robes.

Kurt introduced his dad to his friends before the two of them left so they could spend some time alone together before the graduation open house started. They both sat on the futon.

"I'm happy for you. You finished high school. You're going to college this fall. You found someone to spend your life with. I can't say that I had imagined you together with someone like Dave. I had always pictured you with someone a lot more like you. But you seem genuinely happy and you've lived together as a couple successfully."

"Does that mean you flipped back to being supportive, like when we first started dating?"

"No. This time I mean it. The first time, I think I responded so openly because I actually enjoyed spending time with Paul and you were becoming a real teenager for the first time. You were interacting and you were laughing and I hadn't seen that in so long. I wanted that for you. But then when I started dating Carole, it became really clear to me how un-parental I was acting. I was torn. I won't dredge up the past. There's no way to know how things would have turned out if I had reacted differently. I made wrong choices, but I'm not even sure that I could do it right even if I were given unlimited chances to choose differently. I'm proud of how hard you've worked. This school was the type of school you needed all along. I'm working on improving things in Lima so no one else will feel the need to escape. I'm going to run for re-election in the fall."

"I hope you win."

"Me too." Burt pulled his wallet it out. "Finn wanted me to give you this." He handed Kurt a folded up sheet of notebook paper. "And before you ask, I didn't ask him to write anything."

"Thanks. I'll read it later." He put it in his vest pocket and stood up. "Are you ready to go downstairs to the open house? If not, you can stay up here for a while if you want, but since it's my party too, so I want to get downstairs. Some people will just stop by for a few minutes so they can make it to other open houses."

"I'll be down in a bit."

Kurt nodded. He went down the stairs, but stopped at the bottom and took Finn's note out of his pocket and read it.

Kurt,

I don't really know where to start. My counselor and I have talked a lot this year and I told him how I wished I had acted differently back in sophomore year. He said I could write you a letter and tell you how I feel.

I did a lot of screwed up things that year and even the next year. I've done better this year. The new counselor made a lot of comparisons to sports and that helped a lot. He told me that being an adult is kind of like being on a varsity team that travels compared to a junior varsity team that just has scrimmage games at home. To get on the varsity team I had to learn to do all of the adult stuff at a certain level. Like in football, I had to be able to throw a certain distance in a way that could be caught by the receiver.

The medicine helped a lot. It helped be able to notice things that just never stayed in focus long enough for me to really see it. For me everything is kind of like one of those really hard I Spy books. Like there's just so much stuff all the time that I could never remember any of it. I was always looking for something. Where was my coat? Where was my math book? Where was the sandwich I just made? Half the time I forgot what I was looking for because I'd find something else I was looking for before.

Now I can focus better and I get why people get frustrated when other people move things. They knew where it was and could go right to that location and find it. I never knew that. I mean kids just know their own lives and they don't know how other people think.

I just felt stupid a lot. I got told to just try harder. I had to stay on top socially through football because otherwise I would be a bottom feeder and get terrible grades. Being the quarterback really was everything. You couldn't understand that. We didn't understand each other at all. I didn't want to try. You tried. I refused.

Anyway, I don't know what else to say. I messed everything up. Burt says you're probably never coming back to Lima. He's really sad about that. He told me that it wasn't all my fault and that it was mostly his fault. I still wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't think I'd forgive you if you lived with my mom and Burt and I had to live with another family. I just want you to know that if you do come visit sometime that I won't act like I used to.

Finn

He folded it, put it back in his pocket, and went into the studio to the graduation party.

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Kurt and Dave lay in the hammock together after everyone had left.

"We did it," Kurt said.

"We did."

"It's over, but it feels more like a beginning." Kurt started to sing.

I'm so glad you found me. I'm not gonna lose you.

Whatever it takes I will stay here with you.

Take it to the good times.

See it through the bad times.

Whatever it takes is what I'm gonna do.

Let 'em say we're crazy.

What do they know?

Put your arms around me.

Baby, don't ever let go.

And we can build this dream together,

Standing strong together.

Nothing's gonna stop us.

Nothing's gonna stop us now.

Kurt rolled towards Dave, who repositioned his arm up so Kurt could lay his head on Dave's shoulder. He tipped his head up and gently kissed Dave. "I love you." He reached out and took Dave's hand and interlaced their fingers loosely on Dave's chest and relaxed.

Dave didn't open his eyes. "I love you too."

Completely content in each other's embrace and ready to face their future together, they relaxed and fell asleep.