Kurt paused from practicing the piano in the dance hall, which he had surprisingly found empty, and pulled his phone out of his pocket as it buzzed for the third time quick succession.

-Good afternoon, darling.
-I hope you're enjoying your much-anticipated free time.
-I can't wait to hear what you've got for us this afternoon.

Kurt smiled at the properly punctuated texts from his favorite person in the world. He replied back quickly.

-I'm still working on it. I think I've almost got it.
-I'm meeting with Aliander and RaeAnne an hour before rehearsal to get the guitar and drums parts settled.

Adam texted back just as quickly.

-Where are you meeting them, darling?

Kurt laughed.

-Nope. Nice try, sweetheart. Not going to tell you. The song is a surprise.

He got another series of texts back quickly.

-Can't blame a bloke for trying. My curiosity is getting the better of me.
-I'll let you finish up, darling. I'm looking forward to hearing it.
-We're still on for dinner afterwards, yeah?

Kurt rolled his eyes.

-Of course. Wild horses couldn't drag me away.

-Is that a hint, darling?

-No hints. I'll see you soon, sweetheart.

Kurt went back to his work at the piano. He started the intro again. In his mind, he tried to imagine a guitar and some steel drums playing along to the calypso beat. He ran through it a few more times to feel more confident. He recorded it his last time through and sent the recording to Aliander and RaeAnn. He packed the sheet music into his satchel and sat on one of benches that ran along the windows and at the sandwich he had packed before meeting with the others.

Once he finished eating, he wound his way through the hallways until he got to the smaller practice rooms. He was a few minutes early, so he sat on the wooden bench in the hallway and leaned back against the wall. Just as he sat down, his phone buzzed with a text. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was from Finn. Kurt's expression changed to confused as he read it.

-Miss P is flipping out because u havent said if ur coming to the wedding

Kurt sigh and replied.

-I responded. I marked that I wouldn't be coming on the online form she included in the e-invitation.

-But Blaine marked down a +1 she thinks he means u so she thinks u hit the wrong button on accident.

-It's "by accident", Finn.

-Oh so ur coming?

-What? No. I'm not coming.

He gave up texting and called Finn.

"So, you're not coming?" Finn asked.

"I'm NOT going to the wedding. When I said 'by' I was correcting your grammar. It's 'by accident' and 'on purpose' not 'on accident'."

"Whatever, Kurt. I don't care about that. She's freaking out about the seating arrangements. And if you don't come, there will be an empty seat at the table she put you and Blaine at together."

"Not my problem, Finn. I can't just leave in the middle of the week to go to a wedding in Ohio. Who scheduled the wedding on a Thursday? It makes no sense."

"I think that was Miss P's doing. Anyway, why aren't you coming? You'll be, like, the only New Direction member that's not coming. It's going to be a great reunion."

"Finn, listen carefully. I have work. I have school. I can't leave midweek and miss two days of classes and four days of work."

"I know Burt would love to see you. He hasn't seen you since Christmas. That was like–"

Kurt cut him off. "Is he okay? Is he actually asking to see me? Or are you just using him as a way to guilt me into doing something I don't want to do and can't really afford to do."

"Dude, you know he'd love for you to visit. You haven't been home except once in the fall since you left last September. And I heard him say that he'd pay for a ticket any time you wanted to come home."

"He needs that money to pay his medical bills. I'll Skype him more often. I'm not going to the wedding." He saw Aliander exit a different practice room. "I have to go. I have to work on a piece."

"Yeah, sure. But think about it. You can still get a ticket. I'm not going to be the one to tell her that there will be an odd number of people at that table. No way."

Kurt huffed. "I'll talk to you later." He slipped his phone back into his pocket.

The person that had been in the practice room came out. "Oh, hey, Kurt."

"Hey, Rob. We'll see you in a bit. I'm excited to hear your piece and Melanie's too."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing which of us has come up with the most opposite version of the song we chose. Maybe one of them will be better than 'Baby Got Back'."

"I'm not sure that's possible. That was the most hilarious 'serious' rendition of a ridiculous song I've ever witnessed."

RaeAnn slipped past Kurt and Rob into the room.

"We'll see you later," Kurt said, as he followed her in.

Aliander followed them with his guitar.

Kurt closed the door behind Aliander. "Alright. Thank you two for coming to help me."

"Yeah, sure. No problem," Aliander said.

"I'll play the recording of the piano part and listen to your ideas. Hopefully we can hash something workable out in the next hour."

RaeAnn said, "I'm sure we can. This is just for fun. If Adam picks it to add to our line up, we'll sit down and write out the guitar and percussion parts and get them set."

"Sounds good to me." He plugged his phone into the stereo system and pressed play.

An hour later, the three of them emerged from the practice room and headed to the small auditorium where the Apples rehearsed.

Once everyone had arrived, they all quieted down.

Adam stood up and leaned against the front of the stage. "So, today we're going to hear three songs. We'll vote afterwards to choose one of them to add to "Baby Got Back" to our "Opposites" pieces for our spring performance. "Up first, we have Melanie."

Everyone clapped as Melanie headed up to the stage.

She did a mournful rendition of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration", which was really well done. She got a lot of laughter and applause at the end.

Adam stood briefly. "Next up we have Rob."

Rob performed a massive bass version of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive". He didn't actually change the tempo or anything else about the song other than singing it three octaves lower. By the time he finished, everyone was smiling and clapping.

As he sat back down, Adam stood up again. "And for our final presentation, Kurt."

He took the stage. Aliander and RaeAnn followed behind him and took their places. RaeAnn tapped her drumsticks together for four counts to start the intro. Kurt began to sing in his best bright, upbeat voice.

You don't bring me flowers.
You don't sing me love songs.
You hardly talk to me anymore,
When I come through the door at the end of the day.

I remember when,
You couldn't wait to call me,
Used to hate to leave me.
Night after night,

I don't hear from you now.
And I'm feelin' alright.
I can just roll over and turn out the light,
Cause you don't bring me flowers anymore.

It used to be so natural,
To talk about forever.
But used-to-be's don't count anymore,
They just lay on the floor till I swept them away.

I remember,
All the things you taught me.
I learned when to laugh.
And I learned how not to cry.

Well, I learned how you love.
And I learned how you lie.
So I needed to learn,
How to tell you goodbye.

You don't bring me flowers anymore.

And now I've learned,
How to tell you goodbye.
You don't say you need me.
And you don't sing me love songs.

You don't bring me flowers anymore.

When he finished, he got a rousing round of applause mixed with a lot of laughter.

Adam went up on the stage and wrapped his arms around Kurt. He spoke quietly into his ear. "Darling, I would have never imagined that song could be sung cheerfully. That calypso style was bloody fantastic."

He turned to the audience. "So, that was amazing. All three of you did a great job. Now, we'll vote by secret ballot." He placed some slips of paper there on the front edge of the stage, along with some pencils. Write your choice and put them in a pile. I'll count them as soon as everyone's finished."

He turned back to Kurt, who, as a contestant, couldn't vote. He took his hand and led him to the back of the stage where no one could see them easily or hear them. He kissed Kurt gently and stepped back a half-step. "Darling, I hope you win because I loved yours. I especially love what it means. Or at least I hope it means."

"He hasn't sent me a gift, or flowers, or texted me, or emailed me in 20 days. I'm counting it as a win, even though I found out that he's still giving my old Glee Club, the director, and his fiancée the idea that I'm going to attend their wedding this Thursday as his plus one."

"That's a ridiculous day to hold a wedding with a lot of out-of-town guests."

"It is. And I'm not going." He glanced towards the front of the stage. "It looks like everyone's finished voting."

Adam turned and saw that Kurt was right. He let go of Kurt, went to the front of the stage, and collected up the slips. He took them to the side of the stage where no one could see him counting. When he finished, he turned back around. "Kurt has come out the winner this time. Let's practice 'Baby Got Back' again and we'll have Kurt perform his calypso version of 'You Don't Bring me Flowers' again. We'll record it so we can start to work on the harmonies, dance moves, and the orchestration."

The rehearsal let out about 45 minutes later. Kurt waited for Adam in the hallway outside the door, giving him the privacy he might need to deal with people who stayed after to talk to him. When Adam came out, he found Kurt so engrossed in the book that he was reading that he hadn't heard the door open and close.

"That must be an amazing book."

Kurt tipped it so that Adam could see.

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, again I see."

"After your compliment, I went for it. I know it's just a play reading club, but I got Brick."

"Excellent."

"We're going to act out one of the scenes tomorrow, so I wanted to know my lines rather than reading from the book."

"I'm sure you'll be fantastic. I might even try to sneak in and watch." He leaned in and kissed Kurt softly before he offered his hand.

Kurt smiled. In the three weeks they had been dating, he had already gotten comfortable with Adam's open displays of affection. He quickly put his book in his bag and stood up. Adam had grabbed Kurt's coat and held it up for him to slip his arms in. Once it was on, Kurt buttoned it, adjusted his scarf, and put his bag up on his shoulder. Adam's hand slipped into his comfortably, as if that was where it belonged.

"So, shall we head to the library for an hour, and then go out to dinner? Or my place for an hour of studying before ordering in?"

Kurt turned to face him. "Ooh, Mr. Crawford that's such an easy decision. Your place, definitely your place." Kurt stepped forward and kissed him. "Shall we?"

"Yes, of course, darling." He began humming Kurt's calypso interpretation and wrapped his other arm around Kurt's waist and began to dance them towards the exit.

Kurt's smile spread across his face as he joined the dancing while humming a high harmony part.

When they got to the stairs, Kurt opened the door and ushered Adam through and gently pushed him towards the wall in the empty stairwell and kissed hims soundly.

"Mmm," Adam hummed. "You are such a tease."

"Not a tease. Just offering you a preview of dessert," Kurt deadpanned.

"Oh, well, then I know just the place we can order from. There's this Jamaican restaurant that serves the most amazing food that's both spicy and sweet." Adam smiled and slipped his hand behind Kurt's neck and pulled gently to kiss him again. "Your dessert will pair quite well with the food." He quickly grabbed Kurt's hand and led them down the stairs.

"What's the sudden rush?"

"I just remembered it's opposites day." He squeezed Kurt's hand. "Which means dessert first, darling."