After nearly three weeks of rehearsals, the Wizard of Oz had really started to come together. Everyone was off book and they had all learned the music and dances.
Mrs. Shaw called out to everyone as they finished their warm-ups. "If I could get everyone to take a seat, please. Right where you are on stage." She gave everyone a chance to sit down before she continued. "Today we're going to run through the first half of the show from start to end with no breaks. If you miss a line, just keep going like you would if this were a performance. Everyone has made a lot of improvement, so I'm excited to see how this will go. If everyone could move to their places for the opening."
She took a seat about four rows back, along with the choreographer and the vocal coach.
Sebastian sat in the library looking through the stack of books that he had pulled off the shelf to see which, if any, were going to be useful to write his paper for his Art Humanities class.
After about 20 minutes of skimming through the sections he thought most likely to be useful, he selected the four most promising books and took photos of the small parts he had found in the other books, along with a photo of the page with the publication information so he wouldn't need to lug them home with him. Once he had checked the books out and loaded them into his backpack, he headed home.
When he got there, he pulled the books out and stacked them on the shelf next to his desk. He set his laptop up and pulled up the first draft of his paper. After he read through it, he closed the top and pulled out each of the books he'd brought home to read through the passages that he found helpful again and chose a quote from each one. Once he finished, he incorporated the information and quotes he had found into the body of his essay. He read through it once more and decided that it was nearly finished.
He left everything where it was and started a load of laundry. Afterwards, he went to the kitchen to assemble the Tex-Mex casserole he had chosen for dinner. He put it in the fridge and clean up the mess he had made while prepping it. Once he had cleaned up, he went back to his desk and looked his essay over and made a few additions and changes. He put all of his sources into easybib and copied and pasted it to the end of his essay and saved the file. He put all of the library books back into his backpack and put everything away.
He pulled out his Physics book and dropped it on the end of the sofa and put the second load of clothes into wash and threw the first load into the dryer. Once both loads were going, he laid out on his stomach, propped up on his elbows and began to read his Physics assignment.
When the washer beeped, he got up and pulled the clothes out of the dryer and laid them over the back of the sofa neatly. He pulled the towels of the washer and put them in the dryer. He reloaded the washer the third time, and and put the clothes on the back of the sofa away. When he finished, he grabbed his Physics book and switched to the novel for his French Lit course that he had already finished reading. He took a notebook with him and outlined it as a way to review for his midterm the next week.
When the washer beeped the third time, he neatly hung the clothes from the up on their drying rack and out it in their bedroom. He went into the kitchen and put the casserole before going back to grab the towels out of the dryer to fold them and put them away.
He heard Kurt unlock the front door and skittered around the kitchen wall and slid in his socks and stopped quickly, smiling at Kurt from ear to ear.
Kurt saw him and chuckled. "Eager to see me, are you?"
"Always." He intentionally slid again and stopped right in front of Kurt. He wrapped his arms around him and kissed him soundly.
"That was a great Tom Cruise impersonation, but you're much more sexy." Kurt winked at him.
Sebastian shrugged coyly. "How was rehearsal?"
"It went really well." Kurt leaned into Sebastian and hugged him, holding him close. "It smells good in here."
"I made that Tex-Mex casserole we like so much. We can eat as soon as Dani and Chandler get here."
"Mmm hmm." He didn't let go of Sebastian. He nuzzled into his neck and still held him close. "I love you. You might want to consider adding a pair of pants to your ensemble. I'm sure Dani wouldn't care, but I'm not all that fond of you giving Chandler a show."
Sebastian chuckled. "I was doing the laundry and studying. I spilled some soup on my jeans earlier today at lunch, so I tossed them in with the wash and dry load."
Kurt kissed him again. "Thank you for doing the laundry. How's your paper coming along?"
"You're welcome. And it's done, minus a final read-through."
"Excellent. I'm sure it's great." He pulled back enough to kiss Sebastian. He let himself get lost in the comforting familiarity of kissing Sebastian that never got old. He slid his hands down Sebastian's back until they were past the fabric of his shirt. "You are so sexy. I'm struggling to keep myself moving us to the bedroom and having my way with you."
"Well, we have about 30 minutes. I'm sure you can accomplish something in 30 minutes."
"I'm sure I can."
The four of them talked about their classes and different projects they were working on while they ate dinner. They packed up leftovers for Dani to take home to Santana for when she got back from the theater and for Elliott to eat once he arrived. While Kurt and Sebastian finished clearing everything away, Chandler set up his electric drum pad and Dani got her guitar out and tuned it. The four of them warmed up by singing a bit. Once Kurt and Sebastian finished, they joined them.
"So, I've been working on the song you sent me," Dani said to Sebastian. "Here's what I have." She handed him some handwritten sheet music. He took it and she sat down at his keyboard. "This one just has keyboard and drums and the four of us singing like Sebastian wanted, a sort of acoustic feel that builds into an anthem feeling. Chandler will have to reach into his upper register, but I think it will sound really good."
Kurt looked at the music. Seeing a song that had been written for him always felt surreal. Sebastian had written it for him fairly recently and he had heard Sebastian sing it several times, but seeing it written out on the staves with the harmony parts, it felt so real. Not that he doubted how Sebastian felt because he had never wavered after admitting his feelings for Kurt, but the tangible nature of the printed song sent sparks through Kurt as he turned the pages.
"Everyone ready to give it a go?" she asked.
"Yeah," Sebastian nodded.
"We'll start with just Sebastian singing the first couple of times through with just the keyboard so that you two can focus on listening in for where you come in. Hum along quietly like usual.
The first time through was a little rough as usual, but the second time went much smoother. By the fourth time through, it sounded pretty good.
"Okay," Dani said. "Let's record ourselves and give Chandler about 10 minutes to listen through it and work on the percussion."
Once they had recorded it, the three of them left Chandler to work on it. Just about the time they started pulling out dessert, Elliott knocked on the door. Kurt let him in and hugged him as soon as he stepped inside.
Sebastian turned to them. "Are you ready to eat or do you want to eat dessert with us and have your food later?"
"Ooh, definitely dessert first," he said with a gleam in his eye. "What are we having?"
"I made it last night and I haven't tasted it yet. It's my first attempt at making Tres Leches cake."
"Sounds decadent. I'm in."
Sebastian cut pieces and put them on the plates that Dani was holding. Chandler joined them once everything was out on the table.
"How's it going?" Elliott asked.
"We're getting there. You can listen and tell us what you think after we finish. How's what you were working on coming along?"
He sighed. "It's tough, but I think I've finally got it. I put up an ad for a couple of people. They'll be coming Sunday. I appreciate you all being willing to be my band for the song."
"No problem," Kurt said. "I hope we can do your song justice and your professor ends up liking it."
"You and me both. It's nerve-racking." He finished his piece of cake quickly. "Everyone's good with all black for the recording, right?"
Chandler nodded.
"Yeah," Dani said. "We're good."
"Were you able to get our tickets for the Wizard of Oz yet? Elliott asked.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. I bought them this afternoon. They're in my bag." He put his plate and fork in the dishwasher and went to get the tickets. He sat down and looked at them, separating them into piles. "I'll be right back." He came back a minute later with three envelopes and put tickets in each of them. "Okay. These are for Sunday night. Two for Dani. And one for each of you." He handed one to Sebastian, Chandler, and Elliott. He separated the rest of the tickets into the envelopes to keep them organized.
Everyone put their tickets in their wallets and gave Kurt $20.
"I got the best seats I could. They're in the center about 15 rows back."
"Sounds perfect," Chandler said. "I like to be able to see the whole stage without having to turn from side to side."
Dani said, "So that following Monday, we'll be singing songs from our ever growing repertoire without having a rehearsal Sunday, right? We're not going to try to rehearse after the show are we?"
"Definitely not me," Kurt said. "I'll be ready to go out to dinner with everyone to celebrate getting my first lead role." Kurt took the money and envelopes back to their room and put them on his desk.
Sebastian collected up everyone's plates and forks.
"Shall we?" Dani asked.
Elliott moved to the sofa and the other four performed for him.
I love it when you just don't care.
I love it when you dance like there's nobody there.
So when it gets hard, don't be afraid.
We don't care what those people say.
I love it when you don't take no.
I love it when you do what you want cause you just said so.
Let them all go home, we're out late.
We don't care what those people say.
We don't have to be ordinary.
Make your best mistakes.
'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry.
So, babe, be the life of the party.
I'm telling you to take your shot. It might be scary.
Hearts are gonna break.
'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry.
So. babe, be the life of the party.
Together we can just let go.
Pretending like there's no one else here that we know.
Slow dance. fall in love as the club track plays.
We don't care what those people say.
Come out tonight, come out tonight.
There's no one standing in your way.
Come out tonight. Come out tonight.
We don't care what those people say.
We don't care what those people say.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Life of the party.
So don't let them keep you down.
Oh, you know you can't give up.
'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry.
So. babe, be the life of the party.
When they finished, Elliott said, "I like it. A lot. I know when you wrote this."
Sebastian nodded, remembering the night they all went dancing with a group of people Elliott and Chandler knew from NYU at a regular club and a couple of guys there took it upon themselves to hassle Kurt, but Sebastian stood firm and danced with Kurt like they didn't exist and brought Kurt back from the edge of pulling back into himself.
"I liked what you did with it. I don't think I'd add anything to it. It really sounds just right the way it is."
"Thanks," Dani and Chandler said at the same time.
Kurt said, "So the four of us will practice this more after you leave to go finish up whatever you'll need to Sunday evening, Elliott."
Elliott nodded.
Kurt continued, "We'll run through a few of the old songs that we'll sing Monday evening. No more new songs this week besides this one. We'll work more on the newer ones next weekend."
"Sounds good to me." Elliott pulled his phone out to check the time. "I hate to eat and run, but I really do need to. Would it be okay if I go ahead and warm up whatever you served for dinner?"
"I'll get it," Sebastian said. He put Elliott's bowl in the microwave, warmed it up, and put it on the table.
Elliott moved to the table. "I wish I could stay and watch the movie."
"We get it. Schoolwork before movies. Midterms are bearing down on all of us."
"I'm really glad I took those classes this summer. I would definitely be drowning if I had another class this semester. I absolutely love the orchestration class, but, man, is there a lot to learn." He ate without talking, finishing quickly. "Thanks for feeding me. I'll see you all on Sunday evening." He got up and headed to the door.
"You're welcome," Sebastian said. He locked the door and went back to the living room. "Movie time?"
"Yep," Chandler said as he plopped down on the sofa and cuddled up against Dani, who was sitting next to Kurt.
Sebastian grabbed the remote and squished into Kurt other side.
Saturday morning, Jace and Landon arrived right after breakfast. Jace and Sebastian settled into the spare room to study for their Physics midterm. Landon brought his laptop and set up at the kitchen table while Kurt set up his lap desk with the attached embroidery hoop at the end of the sofa closest to the table. He moved the ottoman and started to work on the roses on the buttons on a shirt he had gotten for Marley. He had some schoolwork to do, but he was putting it off until after lunch since it wouldn't take more than an hour. Unlike the others, most of his midterms were performance based.
"What are you working on now?" Kurt asked. He had found Landon to be a great conversationalist who loved talking about the different projects he was working on.
"I'm still working on that space mining story. Even with studying for midterms, I did manage to finish another chapter this week. And I got another few scenes done on the gay Roaring '20s play. I wrote a few poems this week too. Right now, I'm doing more research on victory gardens. What are you working on?"
"We told you that Sebastian's family is coming to watch the musical."
"Yeah."
"Well, I found this adorable vintage mulberry button-up shirt with a Peter Pan collar for Marley, but it has these really ugly buttons on it." He held it up for Landon to see.
"The ever popular off-white that never looks cream or white."
Kurt chuckled. He had forgotten that Landon had been there when he had changed the buttons on one of the vintage shirts he found that was white. "Yes. The very ones."
Landon smiled. "Well, at least I can sleep peacefully knowing that you are righting the wrongs of the button industry one shirt at a time."
Kurt rolled his eyes and thought about how Landon fit right in with Kurt and Sebastian and their snark. "I'm glad it helps you sleep. Letting Sebastian sleep in my bed solved that problem for me."
Landon covered his ears defensively " !"
Kurt chortled. "Right, right. I'm sorry to offend your sensitive side, Mr. I-love-to-make-Kurt-blush."
"I might consider that for my new business cards."
"Whatever," Kurt smarted back. He completed the third rose pattern. "I need to look for some more buttons. What I need to see is if there is a Goodwill that sells the clothing by the pound somewhere close enough that I could take the subway."
"By the pound?"
"Yes. Things that never sold in the retail stores. Stuff with stains and holes. But I used to go and buy shirts that had all of the buttons on them still, in nice colors – black, gray, red, brown, pearlized, anything unique. That way I would have complete sets to use when I found really nice shirts in Goodwill that were missing buttons. If you buy buttons at the store, it gets really pricey to change out a whole set because the bigger ones come with four to six buttons on a card. You have to buy two or more sets, and then you have to get a set of smaller ones that match for the cuffs and neck. It makes finding a really cool shirt that's missing a button not much of a bargain."
"I see."
"I know. You've never dealt with it or thought about it, and that's fine. Neither has Sebastian. I also make pieces and having a full set of buttons is good for that as well. I used to take the shirts that weren't wearable and cut them into rectangles or squares and hem them and take them to my dad's shop to use as rags. That way he saved on having to buy rags."
"You were very industrious. I actually think it's really cool. When you finish, come over here and I'll let you read the poems I wrote this week."
"I think some of your poems could be turned into songs."
"You mentioned that before. I'll consider it. You pick one and show me, okay?"
"Really?"
"Yes. You've piqued my interest in the idea."
Midterms, work, and rehearsals kept Kurt overbooked for the following two weeks. Sebastian had spent a lot of time with Jace, Landon, and Sam, who had started spending several evenings a week with Sebastian to get help with his math course.
The morning the musical was set to open, Sebastian managed to sneak out of bed and make breakfast for them. He brought Kurt's cup of coffee back to the bedroom with him to entice Kurt out of bed. He leaned down and kissed Kurt gently on the forehead, placing the cup close enough that the aroma would make it to Kurt's nose.
"Mmm. Coffee," he mumbled. He rubbed his eyes and stretched a bit. "I smell coffee." He opened his eyes to see Sebastian standing beside the bed.
"Come eat. It's just 10 minutes before the alarm was going to go off. I made you an omelette."
Kurt stood up and wrapped his arms around Sebastian and hugged him. "You're so sweet to me. Thank you."
"My pleasure." He kissed him on the forehead again before he took a small step backwards.
Kurt reached down for Sebastian's hand and interlaced their fingers. "I miss holding hands with you."
"Me too. I miss everything about you, but I'm so glad you got a lead in the musical. I'm excited to go see you tonight. And Friday. And Saturday. And Sunday." He reluctantly let go as they sat down to eat.
Kurt smiled and shook his head. "You don't have to come four times."
"But I want to go to the opening. And with my family. And yours. And then with our friends." He leaned into Kurt and kissed his shoulder.
"You can't come all the time if I get a role on Broadway. It will eat up my entire paycheck," Kurt teased.
"We'll have to manage to get everyone to come on the same day. And I'm going to be there for opening night. I'm going then for sure."
"You seem very sure of that."
"That you'll make it big on Broadway? I think that if you keep that as your goal that you'll achieve it. You work hard and you're super talented."
"I wasn't fishing for compliments, but thank you. I was referring to being there."
"Oh. I'll take the day off or whatever I have to do to be able to make it. I always will, even for non-Broadway shows."
"Like I said. You're super sweet to me."
"You're not still surprised by that are you?"
Kurt reached out and put his hand on Sebastian's thigh. "Absolutely – and not at all."
"Is this a free-riddle-with-breakfast morning?" He slipped his hand over the top of Kurt's.
Kurt smiled. "No. I'm absolutely surprised because I'm still not really used to people being genuinely kind. So, the surprise isn't because you're being kind. It's because I would be surprised by anyone being kind for that long. As you recall most of my experience with kindness put it in the manipulation category. People were kind for a reason, to achieve a goal. Once they had achieved their objective, the kindness vanished. And the not-at-all answer is because since we met again in March, you've been nothing but supportive and kind, so I don't expect anything different."
"That makes sense."
"We have a good group of friends now, so I'm slowly getting over my trepidation. Even Santana has stuck with turning over a new leaf. I'm really glad you asked Jace and Landon out. They're a lot of fun."
"I agree. Chandler's been dating Victor for a few weeks now. I think we're going to have to specifically tell him that Victor can hang out with us too, unless he's keeping his time with us and Victor separate for some reason, which is fine."
"I asked. He said that he wants to keep his friendship with our group separate for now. He said that they're just casually dating. They're both pretty busy and they're just eating lunch or dinner or going out to do something together for a couple of hours once or twice a week right now. He said that if they moved to dating exclusively and being boyfriends, that he'd start to bring him along after winter break."
"Okay. I can see his point." He got up and cleared the table. "We did things a little backwards with living together to start with."
Kurt stood up and stretched again. "But it's worked out fantastically. I think I'm going to jump in and take a quick shower. Care to join me?"
"For a quickie in the shower?" He started stripping.
Kurt stepped closer and pecked him on the lips and took off for the bathroom.