After the show was over, even before he could consider removing his makeup, there was a commotion at the dressing room door.

"Kurt!" he heard a familiar voice call.

It was a voice he'd never thought he would hear at Usdan, and it made his heart skip.

"Blaine?"

Around the edge of the dressing room door, he caught a glimpse of Blaine's dark curls, his eager face as he strained to be seen over the taller crowd. Behind him, there were other familiar faces. Kurt went out in the hallway—and was suddenly surrounded by Finn and a half-dozen other members of Glee club.

"What are you all doing here?" he gasped. The smile felt like it shot right up through him from his heart and onto his face.

"We came to see you perform," said Mercedes, beaming. "Finn told us about the performance, and that you and Puck would both be in it. We couldn't miss it. And you were both amazing."

One at a time, Kurt hugged Tina and Mike and Quinn and Finn and Michael. He managed not to burst into tears until he got to Blaine, who was holding a dozen roses and was impeccably dressed in a suit and bow tie.

"I can't believe you came," Kurt bawled. "Especially after everything I said—the way I treated you."

"You should know me better than that by now," said Blaine, smiling radiantly. "I'm not going to let a little misunderstanding keep me from seeing you perform Romeo & Juliet."

He let Kurt cry all over his suit without one complaint about the makeup stains. Then Blaine kissed him, first his cheek, then his lips, whispering to him how much he missed him. It was almost too much for him to bear.

"There's somebody I want you to meet," Kurt said at last. He took the roses in one hand and clasped Blaine's in the other, turning to the rest of the group. "Come on, everybody."

The lobby was still full of family members hugging their young performers. Kurt had to thread his way through the crowd to get to Asher and Trinity, standing together by the ticket booth. Asher was smiling, but as soon as he saw who was with Kurt, his face went pale.

"This is my roommate, Asher Morgan," he said to Blaine. "Blaine, Asher's going to be a senior at Dalton. He's the boy who was cast as Juror Twelve when I auditioned for Twelve Angry Men. Asher, Blaine."

Blaine smiled in approval. "I remember. You're the other one who decided that show was far too racist to perform."

"Kurt decided the casting was unacceptable, and that gave me the courage to speak up, too," Asher agreed. He shook Blaine's hand. "Kurt's pretty great."

"You're telling me," Blaine said, tucking his arm through Kurt's.

Asher managed to conceal whatever surprise he felt at this turn of events. He also didn't seem to be too bothered by being introduced to a handful of Kurt's closest friends without warning.

"This is my stepbrother, Finn. And this…" Kurt turned to Michael and hesitated, watching Finn for cues as to how to introduce him.

Before either Finn or Kurt could say anything, Michael placed a hand on Finn's shoulder, holding the other out for Asher to shake. "I'm his boyfriend Michael. Nice to meet you, Asher."

That set Kurt's tears off again. He looked up at Finn in amazement, and Finn just grinned and shrugged. "Yeah. But—oh, my god, Kurt, the two of you, everybody was so good!"

"Where's Puck?" Michael looked around. "He was phenomenal, especially considering he only had a week to prepare. Don't tell me we missed him?"

"He doesn't really like curtain calls," said Kurt.

That was all he said, and they seemed to accept that answer with polite disappointment. Then Kurt's dad and Carole appeared, and there was another round of hugs and introductions. Asher watched him interact with his dad and Carole with a kind of wonder.

"I'll tell you, Kurt," said his dad, "I've sat through a lot of musicals with you, and I am pretty sure I have never seen a play where somebody died like that before. Puck made me cry. I'm not ashamed to admit it."

"The two of you were so dynamic together," Carole said, with a big smile. "We all wanted to see you get together at the end, even though it was a tragedy." Then she seemed to remember Blaine was standing there, and her smile fell away. "Uh, that is—"

"That's what actors do, right, Mrs. Hudson?" Blaine said. "They make you believe what's not real, is."

"Well, we're going to head over to the hotel," his dad said. "We're sticking around to see Puck in the Earnest play tomorrow. You're in that one, too, Asher?"

Asher seemed surprise to be included. "Yeah, I'm playing Jack. I'll see you all tomorrow, then?"

"Great," said Finn. "Awesome job, bro." He gave Kurt one more hug, and said quietly, "We'll talk later."

"We're staying at a motel tonight," said Tina. "But we're driving into the city tomorrow before coming back to see Puck. We'll see you back home after that. I am so proud of you."

Quinn gave him a tight hug, then clasped his hand, smiling.

"Sunday in the Park is definitely not as good as this, but I'm glad you get to come see it next week. We are having a great time, all of us." She included Finn and Michael in her statement. From their glowing expressions, they looked like they agreed with her.

"See you tomorrow." Blaine leaned in for a kiss on the lips. It was quick enough that Kurt didn't think he had legitimate grounds to try to duck it. In any case, it made him feel more good things than bad, so he didn't say anything.

Asher's eyes were full of questions, but Kurt took a few steps back toward the dressing room, saying, "I probably should—" and Asher waved him off.

"Just text me and let me know if you want the room tonight."

Kurt shook his head. "You need sleep. Your performance is tomorrow."

"So is Puck's," he said, looking at Kurt with a pointed expression. "I can find another place to sleep. Text me."

Kurt thought about it the whole time he was taking off his makeup. It was a tempting offer, no matter how weird their week had been. He knew how hard transitions were for Noah. He had no expectation of continuing to have what they had here back in Ohio. All of those people from home, showing up for his performance, that was bound to throw him off. Maybe he should try to apologize, or at least to find him and attempt to listen. But Noah didn't respond to any of his texts asking him to spend the night, not even when they got a little more graphic than Kurt usually did in text.

"Hey, Kurt!" He looked up to see Anthony behind him in the makeup mirror, standing with Oliver. "We're having a party in my room. Wanna come?"

He smiled, seeing Oliver's starstruck expression as he gazed at Anthony. "I think I'm just going to head back to my room and get some sleep. It's been a long week. But if you see Puck, would you tell him to find me?"

"I think he's out there talking with Bryce and his dad?"

"His—?" Kurt pushed his chair out in a hurry. "Oh! He's here?"

He followed Anthony's pointing finger to the hallway, turned the corner, and saw Bryce, Aaron, Felix, and Noah gathered together. Sarah leapt out of Noah's arms and charged him.

"Kurt!" she said joyfully.

Kurt laughed and leaned down to hug her. Noah observed it happen with pained embarrassment, but Kurt was pretty sure he saw a grin pass briefly over his face.

"Did you come with your dad?" he asked Sarah.

"Yeah, and Felix." She hung on his arm. "We flew in an airplane. You played a girl part!"

Aaron watched Sarah and Kurt together with obvious surprise and pleasure. As Kurt drew near, he reached over Noah to shake Kurt's hand. "That was a gutsy performance, Kurt. Groundbreaking. Have you met Felix?"

"I saw you in Twelfth Night and Pygmalion a few years back, in Dayton," said Kurt, turning to Felix, "but we haven't ever spoken. Puck and I go to school together."

Felix nodded in recognition. "I really enjoyed your interpretation of Julian, Kurt. You have a future in theater."

"Tomorrow morning, Kurt," Bryce intoned, "we shall follow the age-old advice of actors the world over." He raise an eyebrow at Aaron.

In unison, Aaron, Felix, and Noah all said emphatically, "Never read the reviews."

Kurt laughed. "People write reviews of camp productions?"

"They do of Bryce's productions," Felix said. "All of them—and especially this one."

"Although the scope of the reviews will be limited, there were some industry reporters here tonight. I am going to warn you, the reception to my casting decisions may not be positive. And…" Bryce smiled sternly at Kurt. "That will not be due to any inadequacy on your part. You were very, very good."

Kurt felt the warmth rise into his cheeks. He took one peek at Noah, who was cool and sardonic as ever, then smiled at Bryce. "Thank you so much. For believing in me."

Bryce tilted his head. "I think that could just as easily go the other way around, Kurt."

"I'm gonna get out of makeup," said Noah, indicating the dressing room.

Aaron nodded. "We'll be here tomorrow night for Earnest. Congratulations again, guys."

Sarah gave Noah one more hug before he walked away. When Kurt followed, Noah didn't object.

"I didn't expect to have to deal with reviews," Kurt admitted.

Noah snorted quietly, seating himself at the mirror and picking up the tub of makeup remover. "Bryce is a big fucking deal. Believe me, when he does something this edgy, everybody's going to pay attention."

Kurt nodded slowly. He hesitated before saying, "So… this would have been a really important role for Chris, starting out in professional theater."

Noah set his jaw. "Or it could have typecast him for eternity."

"Not as Romeo. Not even a gay Romeo. He said, Romeo is—" Kurt frowned. "Romeo is for actors like you."

"What are you saying, Kurt?" Noah gazed at him in the mirror, stony-faced.

"I'm not saying anything."

"Yeah. You've been not saying anything all week." He set the tub of makeup remover down hard on the counter. Kurt took a step back. "Fine. How about you not say anything somewhere else, and let me finish this by myself?"

Kurt hurried out of the dressing room, smiling vaguely at all the people who stopped to congratulate him. As quickly as he could, he made his way back to his room.

Asher looked startled to see him, but opened the door for him.

"You don't have to go anywhere tonight," Kurt told him, trying not to let the tears escape. "I'm just going to turn in early."

Asher nodded. "Did you get a chance to talk to Puck?"

"Briefly. His dad was here, and his sister. I think Bryce flew them in to see the show."

"Wow." His eyebrows went up. "That's a lot of pressure. Is he okay?"

"I'm not sure. He's not out to anybody else at home. Technically, he's not even out to some of the people who came with my family, although I think by now he must know none of them would judge him."

Asher nodded silently. He wandered around the room, getting ready for bed.

"I'm not sure how it would feel to have my family want to come see me perform," Asher said after a while. "Stressful, for sure. Confusing. I wouldn't know how to be, who to trust."

Kurt nodded. "I think that's how Puck feels all the time."

"Do you think you're going to have to deal with the fallout when you go home?"

It was an honest question. Kurt wasn't sure how to answer. "Puck's been working on himself. This was the way we agreed we could be here, together, this summer. There wasn't any understanding of what it might be like when we went back. This… this was all we had." He sighed. "I do think we need to talk. But he's not responding to me. Maybe I should expect it to be like that by now."

Now there was no way he was going to stop the tears. Asher stood back and watched him for a moment, but when he offered a hug, Kurt accepted it gratefully.

"So…" Asher asked, when he was calm again. "What's going on with Blaine?"

Kurt groaned, shaking his head. "Don't ask. I didn't even know he was planning to come. Really, I should have expected it. He's big on surprises."

Asher gave him a little smile. "It didn't look so bad from where I was standing."

"I don't know," he said again. But it was true. From where Kurt stood, it didn't look so bad to him, either.

As instructed, Kurt did not look at the reviews the next morning—but everybody else did, and they insisted on telling him the choice details over breakfast.

"Romeo and Julian are terrific when they kiss," read Bethany, as Kurt hid his face in dismay, "and they do so with a frequency perfectly in synch with their characters' savage love. But when they're apart, the weight of their roles seems to push them down."

"The young stars bring a sweet passion, if no ear whatsoever for romantic poetry, to their immortal roles." Grace made a face. "That's bull. You guys did a really good job with the iambic pentameter."

Oliver tapped Anthony's arm as he scrolled on his phone. "Oh, here's one about you. As Romeo's disenchanted, provocateur pal, Mercutio, Anthony Gordon languidly delivers his razor-sharp lines."

Bethany took a drink of orange juice, still reading, her eyes wide. "The worst stuff is from the blogs, and it's about Bryce, not about any of you. They're saying he went beyond over the top and into child endangerment."

"Right, because teenagers aren't allowed to be sexual as long as they're gay," Kurt said, making a face. "What did he do that was so remarkable? Put two people in a romantic situation?"

Regardless of how unremarkable it seemed to him, Kurt saw several parents visiting Usdan that morning who looked more than a little upset. None of them confronted him, but he did nearly run into two of them, a man and a woman, both blonde, waiting outside Bryce's door and talking to Trinity in clipped tones. He caught her arm as they headed into Bryce's office.

"I hope that wasn't about Romeo and Juliet."

"No." She sighed. "At least not this time. That one was about what happened with Chris."

"Those were his parents." Kurt nodded slowly. "What did happen?"

"You know I can't tell you." She didn't look mad about the question. "I'm pretty sure I don't know all the details, either. Have you been to visit him?"

That startled him. "I didn't know we were allowed?"

"It's a long train ride. You might want to drive, if you can find someone with a car to take you." She squeezed his hand. "I have to go."

She didn't even wait around long enough for him to tell her to break a leg. Kurt was just about to walk away when he heard Noah's voice behind the closed door of Bryce's office, saying, "I'm not saying any more."

Kurt sank down to sit on the floor against the wall, listening. There were no further outbursts, but eventually the door opened and Bryce and Chris's mother and father and a sullen Noah emerged. When he saw Kurt, his eyes flashed, but he didn't say anything.

"I believe it will be up to Chris," said Bryce.

"If he's able," said the man. He shot Noah one more look of pure anger before taking the woman's arm and leading her away.

"He's an adult," said Bryce to Noah. "His parents can't require it of you."

"I know, I'm just—" Noah shook his head. "Whatever. I don't care what they think about me. They hated me before this, anyway."

Kurt waited where he was until Bryce beckoned to him. Bryce gazed down at both of them, but he spoke to Noah.

"One more performance. It has been a week of achievements. Please, do not consider it any less than that."

Noah's eyes closed, and he nodded. Bryce returned to his office and closed the door, leaving them alone in the hallway.

"What do you want?" Noah asked Kurt, his eyes still closed.

"Nothing. I heard you talking in Bryce's office and I thought I'd wait for you." Kurt put as much space between him and Noah as he could without having to shout. "I want to help, or at least not make it worse. Is there anything—"

"No." Noah had put away whatever anger or other feelings he'd been experiencing, and was back to being that terrible blank persona Kurt had seen backstage at Romeo & Juliet. "Nothing."

"Fine." Kurt shook his head in irritation. "You can close yourself off to me all you want. Whatever you think you need to do. Just don't expect me to know when you're ready to talk to me again."

"You can ask." Noah turned away. "But I'm not always going to have the answers you want to hear."

Blaine and Kurt's family and everyone from Glee club joined him at dinner on Saturday night, which was apparently another Usdan tradition. Noah did not appear. The dining room was so full that most of the campers and their families ate outside under the trees.

"The city was so crowded and hot," Tina told him. "Not like when we went to Nationals. I guess it is July. Did you get to go at all while you were here?"

"Last Sunday. I went with… some friends." Kurt ate slowly, thinking how long ago that day felt. "We saw a street performance of A Comedy of Errors."

Blaine smiled at him. "This has been quite a summer for you."

"I learned so much. A lot of the classes were good. All the other campers are incredibly talented. And Bryce, the director of the two productions, is amazing."

Finn and Michael didn't bring up Chris, though Kurt could tell Finn was watching him closely. He guessed his dad and Carole probably knew, too, considering how loathe Finn was to keep secrets.

"Now that it's over, does it feel weird to know you're never going to do that show again?" Blaine asked.

Kurt shook his head. "You know, I think I will, someday. Probably never Juliet again, but a different part in that play. Certainly I'll do more Shakespeare. All the things I learned, I'll carry them with me."

He sat between Finn and his dad at the performance of Earnest, fielding questions about what was going on with the convoluted plot, but he was also watching Aaron and Felix, who were sitting with Sarah two rows ahead of them. Aaron never took his eyes off the stage when Noah was performing.

Everything went smoothly, brilliantly, and Kurt rose without hesitation to give them a standing ovation at the end. Noah and Asher held hands and took the final bow together, smiling at the house, then turned and shook hands as brothers.

"I think Puck was even better in that one," said Mike, his eyes enormous. "Jeez. I remember hearing about that production you guys did in Brit Lit, but this…"

"He's a real actor," said Tina. She smiled at Kurt. "You are, too."

Blaine went on and on about Asher as they filed out of the auditorium. "Kurt, he was so funny! Do you think he sings? Maybe he'd like to audition for the Warblers."

"I know he's a dancer," Kurt said, "but I've never heard him sing. I can ask."

Quinn and Michael were whispering and laughing about something. Kurt moved to walk beside Finn as the crowd slowly dispersed.

"Michael and Quinn are friends now?"

"They kind of are," Finn said, grinning. "If Quinn wasn't already dating Scott, I might worry about them getting together."

Kurt raised both eyebrows. "Scott? You mean the bass player from jazz band? Is he really her type?"

"He's in Sunday in the Park, too. He's playing Jules." He shrugged. "I really think she's just using him for his pot."

"Quinn?" Kurt choked. "God. Sounds like a lot of things happened while I was here. You and Michael?"

Finn nodded. "Me and Michael. You and Puck?"

"I would have said yes until a couple of days ago."

He dropped his voice. "What about Chris?"

"He's in the hospital. I want to go and see him before we head home, but… I don't even know what happened. He's not answering my texts. Everybody thinks Puck had something to do with it, and he won't say."

"Well, I'm sure mom and Burt would be fine stopping at the hospital, if that's what you want to do."

Kurt looked back over his shoulder at Blaine, talking with Tina. "I really have no idea what I want to do. But I think I should at least do that."

They all went to the stage door, where they managed to find both Asher and Puck, out of costume but not out of makeup. Puck suffered through hugs and handshakes, being reasonably gracious to everyone who told him how fantastic he was, before saying, "I should probably talk to my dad," motioning to the auditorium, and escaping inside.

Noah's abrupt departure was overshadowed by the appearance of Grace and Anthony, and Kurt facilitated yet another round of introductions. Meanwhile, Blaine had cornered Asher and was grilling him about his singing ability.

"I can sing," Asher assured him. "We were just focused on other things while we were here."

"Seriously, you guys spent six weeks together and you didn't even do karaoke?" Blaine demanded. "How is that even possible?"

Kurt thought he did a pretty good job of staying engaged with the conversation, but at some point Michael leaned over and murmured, "Kurt, just go look for him already."

"I'm really not waiting for him," he said.

Michael gave him a skeptical look. "You're waiting for something."

"We're gonna head back to the motel, Kurt," said his dad. "This was great. We'll see you in the morning."

Blaine gave him one more hug. "We'll talk when you get home." His gorgeous smile made Kurt feel like smiling, too, even on top of all the other things he was feeling. "I love you so much."

"I'll walk them back to the parking lot," Asher told Kurt. "Maybe I'll see you at the cast party."

The auditorium was completely empty by now. The stage crew had moved the props and furniture into the wings, leaving the stage bare. Kurt strode out into the center, finding the tape marks to indicate the placement of the picnic table, then moved further downstage, to the spot when Romeo had noticed Julian for the first time.

He opened his mouth, but he it wasn't lines from Romeo and Juliet that came out, but the song he'd sung on another New York City stage, months before:

I've heard it said that people come into our lives
For a reason, bringing something we must learn
And we are led to those who help us most to grow
If we let them, and we help them in return…

Kurt stopped singing when he noticed Noah standing stage right, in the shadow of the curtain.

"You don't have to stop," Noah said.

He laughed uncertainly. "I can't believe I spent all this time here and never once sang on this stage." He took a few steps forward, to the place where he'd caught Noah's hand and kept him from falling. "I guess my priorities have changed."

Noah began a slow walk, heading downstage left. "Or maybe you were just distracted from the things that matter."

"You think I shouldn't be focusing on acting?"

"That's not what I said."

"Well, if you pay attention to the reviews—" He held up a hand when Noah frowned. "—which were read to me, not by me—we didn't do all that well."

"No critic ever gives productions of Romeo & Juliet good reviews. Bryce said we did a good job, and I believe him."

"And what do you think? Did we do a good job?"

"You know what I think." Noah gazed at him across the stage. "I'll never forget this."

Kurt faced him. "Even with everything else that happened?"

"Yeah, well, there are a few things I'd rather forget, but… you take the good with the bad, right?"

He took a step toward Noah. "You know what people are saying about you."

"I've heard them."

Kurt watched his implacable face with mounting frustration. "That you came back with blood all over you. That you—took advantage of Chris."

"What exactly are you asking, Kurt?" Noah stared at him in disbelief. "You really think I'm capable of that?"

"You're actually asking me that? After you tossed me in the dumpster and slushied me for months?" Kurt refused to look away. "I used to be scared of you, you know? Ever since you threw a chair at Kevin Waterford during rehearsals for Grease."

"So you're telling me it doesn't matter what I say, you're not going to trust me?"

"No, but—" He shook his head insistently. "I'm having a hard time reconciling what I heard about how you treated others with what you're telling me now."

"Treated others?" he scoffed. "Like Kevin fucking Waterford, who deserved it?"

"No, like Ian, who clearly didn't!"

"This has nothing to do with Ian, or what he deserved." Noah narrowed his eyes. "Trust me, whatever you think went down that summer, you don't know anything about what happened between him and me."

"I know what Chris told me: that you intimidated Ian into a nervous breakdown."

"Fine. We've established I'm a violent prick who needs to exert control over others to feel good about myself." He made a little bow-and-flourish. "Happy?"

"Not really." He put his hands on his hips. "And you didn't answer my question."

"You want to know the truth?" Noah glanced around the empty auditorium, and lowered his voice as he drew closer to Kurt. "Chris texted me in the morning because he was too scared to tell the police what really happened—and I didn't tell anybody, because I promised I wouldn't, and I'm not telling you either. I hitchhiked into Queens, saw what kind of shape he was in, and called an ambulance. That's the truth."

"All right," said Kurt, trying to keep his voice steady. "Which leads me to my second question. Even if it wasn't you doing the—the hurting. Did you take advantage of it so you could have his part?"

Noah tilted his head. Then he nodded very slowly, his lip curling.

"Ah. So that's how you see me."

"That's how other people see you," Kurt snapped. "I'm asking you for the truth. Tell me that never crossed your mind."

"And so what if it did, Kurt? So what?" Noah rushed at him, spitting the words like they were poison. Kurt flinched, but held his ground. "I mean, you know what Chris says about taking every possible advantage that's handed to you. Why wouldn't I feel great about having this part fall in my lap? So what if all I can see when I close my eyes is his battered face, blood everywhere, his black eye, his punctured lung? For that matter, who cares how many people are talking about me behind my back, wondering just what you're accusing me of now? Since when am I in theater to make friends?" He pointed at the set, the wings, the stage. "It's the truth. This is what I'm here for. This is the only thing I am good at, Kurt. There is nothing else in the world I can do but this, and I shouldn't let anything stand in my way." He spread both his arms in violent totality as his voice rose to fill the space. "It's the ultimate quote from Hamlet, right? This above all: to thine own self be true."

As Kurt's heart pounded dully in his throat, Noah laughed. It rang through the theater, a terrible sound. He turned back to Kurt as his hands fell to his sides.

"Except that quote is said by Polonius, the shittiest hypocrite of a human being Shakespeare ever invented. Nobody thinks about that when they say it: that the point he was making was that good advice doesn't mean shit if it's coming from somebody you can't trust."

He wheeled slowly, looking up into the fly tower, then back to the house.

"Maybe that's just how it is. Maybe I get to be Polonius and not Hamlet." His voice was quiet now. "I would rather follow Hamlet's advice any day. Let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action. He said that acting can't be too subtle or too overblown, but somewhere in between. It has to feel natural, because the purpose of theatre isn't to tell a story, but to imitate nature, to reflect its truth to the world."

He turned to Kurt, with no trace of a smile. His eyes were so sad, and the disappointment was written plainly on his face.

"The truth, the god's-honest truth, is that no matter how much crap I knew I was going to get for taking over Chris's part, I wanted it. I wanted to play Romeo opposite your Julian so badly because there was no better way I could think to show the world how much I love you, Kurt. Even if I can't do it out there, where nobody trusts me and everything is impossible, I thought I could do it in here, in this place. This theater, where I had Bryce telling me I was good for something after all. I thought I could count on you to tell me that, too." He took a step back, shaking his head. "I was wrong."

Kurt stayed where he was, afraid to move, to even breathe, until Noah had left the stage. He heard the back door open and close. Then he turned around and carefully made his way down the steps to the house and up the aisle to the back. He turned and took one last look at the vacant stage. It hurt to think this might be the last memory he had of the Usdan auditorium, but he supposed he deserved it.

But then you never would have known the truth, he thought. And, even worse: Maybe you still don't.

Kurt learned at breakfast that Puck had left without saying goodbye to anyone. Nobody seemed all that disappointed about it. Kurt got plenty of hugs, though, and he exchanged phone numbers with all the people he wanted to keep in touch with.

"I want to hear all about NYADA," he told Anthony. "And don't let Oliver's quiet act fool you, okay? He likes you."

Anthony grinned. "I think I'm pretty convinced of that. Whatever happens, we'll stay friends. You let me know how things go with Puck. I thought, after neither of you showed up at the cast party last night, that maybe…?"

"No," said Kurt. He took a deep breath. "I think that might be over. But it's okay. I'll figure it out."

Bethany presented him and Asher with little origami flowers she'd made for them to take home.

"I'll miss you guys," she said through tears. "So much. Please tell me you're planning to come back next summer? I'm hoping to be Bryce's summer intern."

"I'll be here." Asher gave her another hug. "I wouldn't miss it."

"I'm not sure yet," said Kurt. "I think it'll depend on—a lot of things."

He tried not to think about the things as Finn helped him load his luggage into the Navigator. They picked up a copy of the camp photo from Mrs. Brewer at the front desk, rows of familiar and unfamiliar faces standing in front of the auditorium. Kurt found himself, and Asher and Bethany, and Anthony and Grace, and Oliver with Noah's roommate Peyton and the rest of the underclassmen. Noah and Chris were mugging in the back.

"You want to do anything else before we head out?" Carole asked. "Anyone else you want to see?"

"Can we stop at St. Joseph Hospital on the way out of town?" he asked. "I really have to talk to Chris, even if he doesn't want to talk to me."

It wasn't a long drive. Michael and Finn stayed in the car while Carole and his dad rode with him in the elevator to the sixth floor.

"We'll wait at the nurse's station," his dad said. "You let us know if you need anything."

Kurt eyed the security guard as he approached Chris's room. He paused before knocking on the door, noting the label Janssen, C., NPO on the sign on the wall. Then, still feeling uncertain, he went inside.

The first thing he saw was the figure in the bed. He could tell it was Chris because of his fine blonde hair, but that was about the only way he could be sure. Most of the surface of Chris's face was swollen and bruised and covered with tiny plastic stitches, sticking out in all directions like pine needles. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was open. There was a mask over his mouth, and a tube coming out of it ran to a machine beside the bed. There were so many machines.

Kurt put his arms around himself and hugged tightly, willing himself not to run out of the room. It was so much worse than when his dad had his heart attack. At least with his dad, he could see his face.

Then he became aware of a second figure, sprawled on the vinyl-covered recliner in the corner. It was Noah, sound asleep, his chest rising and falling in a regular rhythm.

Kurt stood there for a long time, wondering if he should be there at all. When a nurse came in, he left before she could ask him any questions.

He rode the whole way home in the back of the Navigator with his headphones on, listening to the same playlist over and over on repeat. Every now and then Carole would look at him with worried eyes over her shoulder, but he didn't say anything, and she didn't ask him to.

They stopped for dinner at a family restaurant. He knew it was meant to provide him with a chance to get out of the car and walk around, but Kurt asked, "Would it be okay if I stayed in the car and rested? I'm feeling a little under the weather. You can get me a salad to go."

His dad looked like he wanted to object, but Carole put her arm firmly through his and walked him inside. Michael and Finn went with them, leaving Kurt alone in the car. It took him about thirty seconds to start crying, and about fifteen minutes to stop again. After that, he just wrapped his arms around his head and tried to stop thinking about anything.