When they got back to the apartment that afternoon, Marley and Jillian laid out the clothes they had brought back from the Vogue Vault.

Marley said, "You knew about this ahead of time. That's why you hardly packed anything and told me to do the same, even though you brought the same size suitcase that Isabelle just gave me." She imitated Jillian, "'They have a washing machine and it's easier to travel light.' Right. Umm hmm." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"I did know. Aunt Izzie loves to have fun with fashion and I asked her to keep back whatever was left of the not-so-dressy stuff from the summer shoots when we were in Florida at the beginning of July. She said she had already kept back quite a bit of stuff, but when she saw my true taste in clothing, she went back and went through the men's stuff. So, I got these amazing shorts with awesome pockets." She picked up a shirt and held it up to herself. "And this shirt is amazing. Kurt said he could put darts in the back to make it fit a little better." She put it down and picked up another shirt. "And I love this."

"It does look really cute on you."

Kurt knocked on the open door.

"Come on in," Marley said. "You were in on this too, weren't you?"

"I was. I admit it. After Jillian said she wanted to go to the Vault for your birthday, I did go through the dressier stuff and brought those four more dressy dresses back in for you two to try on. I know that Jillian has adopted a more casual look this summer, but I figured that each of you owning a really lovely summer dress could never hurt. I mean, who knows, you could get invited to a dinner at a fancy restaurant or to go out dancing or something." He winked at Marley.

"Oh, my God. You did not."

"Did not what?" Sebastian asked from the doorway. "He probably did if it had something to do with spoiling the two of you."

Kurt turned and looked at Sebastian and gave him a look reminiscent of his Ice King glares.

Sebastian pretended to be wounded, putting his hand over his heart to protect it from the ice glare, "You know I'm right." His expression changed quickly to a genuine smile. He stepped into the room and wrapped his arms around Kurt from the back to test the waters of how Marley would react and nothing changed about her expression at all.

"Well, I'll freely admit that I'm not good at letting people do things for me," Marley shared.

"Me neither," Kurt said. "Sebastian can attest to that. But I've found it a lot easier to accept once I'd spent enough time with him to realize that he was never going to lord it over me. I was used to being around people who rarely did anything nice just because they wanted to. There was always a payback or the 'favor' was called in for something in return, along with the ever present 'you owe me' attitude."

"I'm getting there with Jillian," Marley said. "It's just overwhelming."

"The longer you're around people who value you as a person, the less overwhelming it feels. I promise." He leaned back into Sebastian.

"I can't believe she just let me have all the stuff. And this leather sling mini backpack." She picked it up and slipped it on. "It's the perfect size. And it matches these boots. Frye?... They're beautiful."

"They are, but they're too rugged looking for most of the people who work there to be interested, but they're like a super nice version of the boots you wear a lot."

"That came from Payless and are nearly shot."

"Which is why it's the perfect time to get a new pair," Jillian said. "Put them on and put on one of your dresses you usually wear with boots and go look. They are a little more rugged like Kurt said, but I still think they'll look good."

"I'm sure they will." She looked over at the suitcase Isabelle had given her. "That is not what I had envisioned." She ran her hand over the purple material. "It's so regal and much bigger than I had expected for a 'small' suitcase."

"It's Isabelle's favorite color. Aubergine," Kurt pointed out. "It's the perfect size for travel. And the matching carry on is really nice too."

"It is. I'm going to put my school backpack, which I actually love and found at a Goodwill brand new with the tags on it that said, $89.00 on them and I paid $10 for, and my duffel in the suitcase with everything else. It will be easier since the suitcase has wheels and the carry on slides down over the telescoping handles. I'm transferring my stuff from my backpack to this gorgeous new one" She switched into her British accent. "I'll look very posh and high-society."

"And I will be skater-chic with my new black Vans with the gum soles and the gold eyelets that I could not find anywhere in Columbus-" She paused and looked at the tag. "-and this mini 'painted palm' Herschel's backpack that I scored this afternoon when we went to get your socks. They also had the tan shoelaces I've been looking for. I love that store by the way." She took the tag off the bag. She pulled the white laces out of her burgundy Vans she had on and put the dark tan ones in.

Kurt smiled. "I knew you would." He turned to Marley. "You should show Jillian the video of you being Posh."

She shrugged. "It's, well… you'll see." She pulled her phone out and let Jillian watch it.

Sebastian let go of Kurt and went to stand behind Jillian to watch too.

When it finished, she said, "Oh, my. That was something. You five were really good. Better than the Spice Girls definitely." She started turning the clothes inside out.

"You're just saying that." Marley followed what Jillian was doing and got the clothes she had picked ready to wash.

Jillian moved on to swapping white laces in her new black Vans for the dark tan laces.

Sebastian said, "No. I agree. The five of you sounded great. The New Directions have always been really good. That's why I was hell bent on coming up with something to distract them when I first joined the Warblers."

Kurt said, "I think that you just don't understand how they worked. Distraction requires previous focus to be a successful method of sabotage. Our first Sectionals our set list was stolen. We came up with two new songs in an hour. We never practiced like the Warblers did. When I was Dalton, the New Directions wrote the two songs they sang the week before Regionals. You came at it from the same angle that Jesse St James did. It didn't work for Vocal Adrenaline, and it didn't work for you." He paused and looked at Marley. "I bet the girls didn't work on that for more than a day."

"We chose the song, and then we played around with it while we looked through the costumes in the storage area. We took what we found home with us, added to it, and practiced with the jazz band at lunch the next day, which is when we performed for the guys after school."

Jillian transferred her stuff from her pockets to the mini backpack. She pulled some stuff out of her carry on and put it in as well. She started collecting up the trash and putting it in the empty shoe box.

Kurt shrugged and scrunched his nose a bit they way he did when he knew he was right about something. "See what I mean? You can't distract people who are just naturally super talented and already have the attention span of a gnat." He wrapped his arm around Sebastian's waist. "You came closer to succeeding with the blackmail. That really upset Finn. And doubly so because Rachel wasn't willing to bow out to keep the photos from being posted online. She took a hard 'no negotiating with terrorists' stand."

Sebastian laughed. "I can just see her tiny self pointing her index finger up at him."

"You got it. Plus, we dealt with Coach Sylvester constantly. There is no one that rivals her shenanigans." He side hugged Sebastian and squeezed him. "You are far too young to be as devious as she is. She's got like 35 years experience on you."

Sebastian shook his head. "Well, I've given up my pursuit of villainy. I like snuggling a lot more." He moved back around behind Kurt again and wrapped his arms around him, propping his chin on Kurt's shoulder.

Jillian snorted she laughed so hard. "Oh, how the great and mighty Sebastian has fallen."

"Fallen in love, for sure. Best thing to ever happen to me." He kissed Kurt on the neck.

"Now, you're just being a sap," Kurt said. "Where's my snarky, smartass boyfriend?"

"I can't show you my smartass," he teased. "We're in mixed company. You'll have to wait."

Kurt's face flushed. "Why don't we get started on dinner? You two can get this stuff in the washer. "

"Sure."

"Why don't you stay and help them. Dinner is super easy." Sebastian let go of Kurt and walked out of the room.

"He was always so closed off. It's fun to see this side of him," Jillian said.

Kurt went in the closet and pulled brought the hangers they had bought for guests out with him and laid them on the bed. "You can use the dresser, if you haven't already. The shorts could go in there when they come out of the dryer later."

"We did, but there's plenty of room for the shorts."

"Jillian?" Sebastian called out from the kitchen.

She left to see what he wanted.

Marley took the new packs of socks out of the shopping bag. She took them out of the packaging and put them in the second dresser drawer. "I'm tossing most of mine." She pulled out a stack and sorted through them. "They were old anyway." She picked up another pack. "I like the taller ones for my new boots. My mom's going to think I've lost my mind spending so much money on socks, but at least they were on sale. Buy two packs, get one free."

"I've told myself that so many times," he chuckled. "They were 'buy one, get one half off' when I went. But the socks really suit you. When I saw them, I just had to get them. And you said your old ones needed replaced."

She turned a couple over and showed him the holes in the heels and toes on several of them. She tossed them into the shoe box where Jillian had been collecting trash.

"I don't think your mom will be upset. It's not like you went and bought a $75 bow tie."

"Is that how much bow ties cost?"

"Most of the one's you've seen did," he said. In an attempt to divert the topic in a different direction, he moved on quickly. "You know, I've been where you are," Kurt said. "When I needed a place to go to get out of the loft after the proposal that day, Sebastian offered to let me stay here. I couldn't afford to pay rent on a second place until I could get Santana, or someone else, to take over my half of the rent on the loft. And I felt really guilty for living here without paying any rent."

"Yeah, I bet."

He grabbed the whole stack of clothes and carried them to the washer, while she waited for him to come back after he started the load.

"And then once I had the loft issue settled, Sebastian still didn't want me to pay him anything. He owns this place. His parents gave it to him as a graduation gift. No one else knows that I'm not splitting costs. I mean his family knows, but no one in the New Directions does. It took me a while to come to grips with it. I felt like a mooch for quite a while." He walked past her and sat in one of the chairs they had put in front of the window.

She nodded. "I just don't want to be a charity case. I've felt like that so much of my life." She sat down as well.

"I can guarantee that Jillian doesn't see you as a charity case. She picked clothes she wanted too. She really just wanted to do something fun. It didn't cost anyone anything. I know you're struggling, but if you can let it go, you'll feel a lot better. Jillian's and Sebastian's families both have money. Jillian's less than Sebastian's, but they aren't classist or elitist. Think about it. If one day you work a job that pays a lot of money and you have a daughter with a best friend, would you be the least bit bothered by paying for both of them to do something together?"

"No."

"Then there you go. Have you ever paid for something for someone else?"

"Sure."

"Did you want them to enjoy it or feel bad about it?"

"Enjoy it, of course. I get what you're trying to get me to see. Jillian's grandparents spending money on me doesn't affect them financially like it would me. Them paying for my ticket to Disney World is like me buying someone a gumball or something."

"Yeah, in one of those old-fashioned gumball machines that takes pennies."

Marley smiled.

"I think you just have to think about the fact that generous people are generous within their means. Really think about how you'd feel if someone rejected your 'lesser' generosity. When someone who can afford to buy their kid an apartment in New York City offers to pay for your $20 dinner, it's really not a big deal to them. I'm certain if we're both still around in five years, they'll begin to expect us to pay for our own dinners. Right now, we're still kids to them. It just so happens that you and I grew up long before a lot of people do."

She nodded and sighed. "I'll stop. I don't want to make Jillian uncomfortable. Her parents pay for most everything still. And I want this next week to be fun. I'm getting to do things I've only barely let myself daydream about."

"You and me both. But one of their grandparents' graduation gifts was for the two of them go get to take a friend to Disney World for a week. Everything paid for. But they opted to negotiate."

Marley chuckled. "Who negotiates their gifts?"

"Sebastian and Jillian obviously. So, now were doing two days, one night at Disney in a shared room in the least expensive hotel with one character breakfast and regular meals otherwise. And you know what we're doing with the rest."

"Something I can't even say out loud because it sounds so ridiculous."

"Exactly."

"Dinner's done," Jillian called out.

Kurt got up and held out his arms and offered Marley a hug, which she accepted. He let her go and they headed out to the kitchen to join the other two.


Kurt had everyone in the group introduce themselves to Marley and Jillian.

"Wait," Marley asked Kurt. "Chandler's from Lima? Is he THE Chandler?"

"I am indeed THE Chandler," he teased. "At least I'd like to think I'm that cool. I actually have no idea what you're talking about."

Marley looked at Kurt, who nodded.

"Oh," Chandler got it. "You're asking if I'm the one Kurt supposedly cheated with. That's me. Me and my ridiculous puns. Kurt and I texted for a couple of days and then he blocked my number without saying why. We met back up several weeks back. I got to NYU."

"So he sent you texts with puns in them?"

"Yeah, like the kind that go on Valentine's for elementary kids. 'You must be an astronaut because you're out of this world.'"

Marley snorted. "That's it?"

"Oh, I invited Kurt to meet up with me once we both moved to New York to go around the city and visit every place we've ever seen in a movie."

"So, planned sightseeing and puns? Tina told us that you had cheated on Blaine first, but that he took you back after you sang an apology song."

"God, not all of this again," Santana said as she came in. "Sorry I'm late. We had to stay after for some notes from the matinee. One of the guys has to have some surgery and his understudy messed up some stuff this afternoon. Hey, Marley and Jillian, I presume."

Marley nodded. "So Tina lied?"

"Tina repeated what Blaine said. It doesn't matter. Chandler is our drummer and we're all friends and I've never cheated on anyone. Next topic. Tonight we're going to practice Dani's original song 'Nightingale' and see if we can get it ready to perform tomorrow evening."

Jillian and Marley sat down and watched. Kurt sat down at the keyboard. Dani picked up her electric guitar and stood next to Santana. Elliott grabbed his acoustic guitar and stood to the other side. Sebastian stood with the bass, ready to come in. Chandler tapped his drumsticks together four times and the music started.


When they got back that evening, Kurt went straight to study more for his Statistics final. Marley and Jillian took turns ironing their clothes and rehanging them in the closet while the three of them watched Downton Abbey after Marley saw that they had the first and second seasons on DVD.

They all got up early the next morning and went with Kurt to campus. While he took his exam, the other three walked around the campus. They stopped and got smoothies on the way to the subway. Kurt went to work his shift at Vogue, while the other three continued on and went on an official NYU tour for the afternoon.

Before Kurt got home from work, they worked together to prepare dinner. Once they had finished eating, Kurt and Sebastian changed into black and red clothing and the girls changed to go out to hear the band play. Isabelle picked them up in a town car making it easier for him to take his electric double bass. They stopped to pick Santana and Dani up on the way.


"Have your driver's licenses ready," Kurt said. "The three of us will get carded for sure."

"I didn't realize that it was a bar," Marley said. "I don't have a fake ID."

"Neither to we," Sebastian said. "You can get in with your driver's license. You just can't drink. New York rules are weird. If the place serves food and alcohol, anyone over 16 can go in. Some places have their own rules requiring everyone to be 21 or 25, but the place we're going doesn't. You show your ID, you get a stamp on your hand – a smiley face if you're 21 or over or the word NO stamped on your hand if you're not."

"Don't worry," Kurt said. "Your mom knows. That's why Isabelle is coming with us."

The car pulled up and they all piled out and got in line. Chandler and Elliott were waiting right inside for them.

They found two tables and pushed them together. After Kurt did the introductions, Elliott went up and signed them up to sing. They ordered some appetizers and drinks. When it was their turn, they sang Dani's song and the crowd really got into it. They all took a small bow and went back to sit down. They talked and enjoyed a few of the other singers that performed.

Sebastian's name came up, and the rest of the group got up with him. Kurt looked at him.

He leaned over and kissed Kurt. He spoke directly into Kurt's ears. "This one is for you. I wrote the words. Elliott and Dani wrote the music. I love you."

Kurt managed to pull his phone out and record them. When they were on stage, Sebastian sang for Kurt, keeping his eyes on him the whole time.

Seeing monsters out your window.
I know you can't sleep. You pretend though.
You don't have to play the hero.
Cause I got you like you got me.
When the earth shakes, when the bombs scream.
'Til our last breath, every heartbeat
You know I'll come running.

If you go to war, then I'm going with you.
Pick up my sword. Yeah, there's nothing I won't do.
When you sound the alarms and the chaos is rising,
Leading the charge, yeah I'm coming out fighting.
I swear on the breath that I breathe.
I'll never retreat. I'll be your army.

Ah-ah, ah-ah, army.
I'll be your army.
Ah-ah, ah-ah, army.

When your nightmares turn to real life,
And the ground's filled up with landmines,
We will face it standing side by side.
You know I'll come running.

When you need, I'm coming.
You know I'll come running.

If you go to war, then I'm going with you.
Pick up my sword. Yeah, there's nothing I won't do.
When you sound the alarms and the chaos is rising,
Leading the charge, yeah I'm coming out fighting.
I swear on the breath that I breathe.
I'll never retreat. I'll be your army.

Jillian looked at Kurt, who had tears streaming down his cheeks. "I've never heard that song before," she said.

"He said he wrote the lyrics and Dani and Elliott wrote the music." He wiped his cheeks. "It was perfect."

Sebastian slid back in the booth next to Kurt, who pulled him close and kissed him, which shocked Sebastian to no end because Kurt wasn't usually that forward in public. He kissed back quickly once the shock wore off.

"I loved it. Thank you."

"You're welcome. There's an acoustic guitar part that will make it sound even better, but I wanted to surprise you first, so Elliott played the keyboard part." Sebastian wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders.

"Well, I was surprised for sure." He scooted as close to Sebastian as he could. "A good surprise." He said quietly, reminding himself. "When did you practice?"

"In the mornings when you were in class. First, Dani, Elliott, and I met to work on it. After we had it mostly figured out, Chandler reserved a room at NYU and Santana came and we all worked on putting it all together."

"You were very sneaky and I loved it. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They rejoined the conversation that was going on at the table and enjoyed the other performers for a while before Kurt managed to convince Marley to go up and sing 'Chasing Pavements' with them backing her up.

When they sat back down, Jillian said, "That was amazing. I've never heard you sing live. You should definitely go back up and sing something else before we leave."

"I'll think about it," Marley said. "That was so much fun. Thank you for pushing me, Kurt. I just needed to get over my nerves. Everyone is so much closer here. It's more nerve-racking than a stage where you can barely see anything because of the bright lights. But I loved it."

About a half-hour later, they went back up and performed Kurt's song again. It had become a crowd favorite of the weeks that they had gone to the club.

Marley had put her name on the again and sang "New York State of Mind".

When she sat back down, she said, "That was fun, but it was a lot more fun to sing with you guys."

"I recorded you both times so you can show your mom," Jillian said.

"Thanks," she reached over and hugged Jillian. "She'll love that.

Isabelle said, "I'm glad I came. I do feel woefully under-talented now, but you all are really amazing. I would totally buy a CD if you ever get around to recording your songs."

"CDs take a ton of effort to get recorded for distribution," Kurt said. "I know that Mercedes has been working on hers ever since she went out to LA a year ago. We'd have to get a label to back us for something like that."

"Not necessarily. There are recording studios here that you can just rent by the hour. Once you've got enough original sounds for a full CD, like maybe eight, you could just go in and record them. They don't have to be perfect for you to give out to friends and family to listen to. I know it wouldn't make you any money or make you famous, but it would be a fun way to remember and record this time in your lives. Some people make scrapbooks or photo albums to keep. You could make a CD."

Santana said, "You know, that's actually a really cool idea. We should see how much it would cost. If we had eight songs, we could record each one three times and choose the one we like best and still spend less than two hours in a studio. I'm going to look into it."

"We have a sound studio at NYU," Elliott said. "I'll see how much it costs to use."

Isabelle smiled as the conversation got more enthusiastic about the idea.


Tuesday morning, Sebastian, Marley, and Jillian took a tour of Columbia while Kurt stayed home to study for his World History final. They came back for lunch. Afterwards, Kurt went to work and the others left again to go visit Hunter College and Baruch College to check out the programs.

For dinner, they met up at the High Line and browsed, each ending up choosing food from different places. They found a place to sit and eat while they listened to a string quartet play.

When they got back that evening they did laundry and packed for Florida. Kurt did a last study session while the other three watched a movie quietly.


A little after 3:00 on Wednesday, they boarded the Disney-provided bus at the airport. Marley and Kurt were practically vibrating with excitement. Sebastian let Kurt have the window seat. Jillian did the same with Marley. She watched Marley more than she did the view.

"This is going to be SO amazing," Kurt said. "I just know it."


A/N: The "original song" by Sebastian is actually "Army" by Basomorph & Arcando & Neoni.
"Nightingale" is by Demi Lovato,