Kurt had asked for the afternoon off several weeks in advance, back before the whole Craigslist mess. Isabelle thought his romantic side was sweet and had quickly agreed. He left campus and stopped by Mercado sin mancha after he got off the subway. He planned to make fajitas mixtas, which were Sebastian's favorite since he could never actually pick a favorite. Kurt smiled just thinking of him. He was so crazy about him.

He walked down the aisle that had the cans of condensed and evaporated milk. He grabbed one of each. From there, he headed into the produce section to pick up a lemon and the vegetables he needed. Lastly, he went to the back to the meat case and bought steak, boneless chicken breast, pork loin, and shrimp. He moved down to the cheese case and bought small bags of shredded Oaxaca and Chihuahua cheese, as well as some crema from the dairy case. Lastly he walked through the bakery area and picked up a pack of fresh tortillas.

Fifteen minutes after he had checked out, he had everything on the counter in their kitchen, except the meat, which he had refrigerated right away. He hadn't dressed up that morning since he wasn't going to Vogue. He slipped his hoodie off, put his apron on, and set out to make their dessert first since it could bake while he prepped everything else. Once he had their dessert ready to go into the oven, he washed and dried the vegetables and left them out to prep them. He opened the dresser they used as a credenza for the TV and pulled out the table cloth he had made from vintage fabrics he had found over the course of several weeks. He ironed it quickly and put it on the table. He smoothed it out and smiled remembering their trips to the flea markets where he found the fabric pieces. He checked the time and went ahead and put the dessert in the oven.

He startled a bit when a key turned in the lock. He turned towards the door and Sebastian was just as startled to see him in the kitchen.

"Kurt?"

"You're home early." Kurt walked over to him and wrapped himself around Sebastian and hugged him. "Surprise?" He said, laughing a bit. "I'm making you dinner. It was going to be ready when you got home at 4:00. I packed us both really light lunches so you'd be hungry earlier than usual."

"I am hungrier than usual. I skipped studying in the library and I called Aunt Izzie to see if I could steal you away from work to take you out to an early dinner. She suggested that I stop at home and change into something nice first."

"She knew I was home making you dinner. She kept you from wasting time going to look for me at Vogue without giving my surprise away." He squeezed Sebastian a little more. "Happy semi-anniversary!"

Sebastian laughed. "That sounds really weird."

"It does." He started to unzip Sebastian's puffer coat. "Six months. It's been amazing."

Sebastian slipped his arms out of his coat and stepped away from Kurt long enough to hang it in the closet. He stepped closer again and ran his hands down Kurt's arms. "I think we might need to move to someplace warmer where you'll wear short-sleeved shirts and tanks all year round."

Kurt chuckled. "You know, I always figured you for more of an ass man."

"Oh, now don't think I'm not very much in favor of your very form-fitting pants. But I do like the rest of you very much."

"Is that so?"

"You know it is."

He pushed Sebastian backwards until he had him pinned to the wall. "Prove it." He pressed his forehead to Sebastian's and put his hands on Sebastian's chest, holding him in place.

Sebastian turned his head to the left towards the counter. "You were cooking."

"Now that you're here and already know, you can help me and it will go twice as fast, so I have a little wiggle room in my schedule."

"Mmm. Wiggle room?"

Kurt began to hum "Sexy and I know It". When Sebastian didn't immediately make the connection, Kurt began to sing.

I got passion in my pants,
And I ain't afraid to show it.

I'm sexy and I know it.
I'm sexy and I know it.

Check it out. Check it out.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

Kurt started dancing around the kitchen, alternating between swaying his hips, doing hip rotations, and twerking.

I do the wiggle, man. Yeah!
I'm sexy and I know it.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely sexy." Sebastian moved up behind Kurt and wrapped his arms around from behind so that they were flush and began to dance. He switched up the lyrics a bit. "You're sexy and you know it." He let his hands slide lower and stopped when he reached the button on Kurt's jeans. "Can I?"

"Please."

"The dessert?"

Kurt turned and looked towards the time on the stove. "Done in 35 minutes."

"M'kay," he said with his nose pressed to the side of Kurt's neck. He let his hand slip lower and used his other arm to keep Kurt pressed against his chest and continued to dance.

Kurt rounded the wall into the kitchen and laughed when he saw that there was one minute left on the timer. Sebastian walked up behind him and ran his hand down Kurt's chest.

"That's how we ended up in the shower and needing to do laundry," Kurt said as he leaned back and relaxed his head back onto Sebastian's shoulder. He put his hands over Sebastian's and removed them from his chest. He stood back up straight and crossed the room and reached the stove just as the timer started to beep. He pressed the timer to stop the beeping, opened the oven, pulled the baking dish out, and sat it on a wire cooler on top of a silicone heat pad on the counter. He left the second baking dish with the water in it inside the oven and closed the door. He turned the oven off and turned around to find himself facing Sebastian. "Close enough?" he teased.

"Not quite yet, but getting there." He raised his left eyebrow, put his hands on Kurt's hips, stepped closer, and smirked.

"I thought you didn't want to do that without being able to kiss."

"I miss being with you. I guess I felt like it would be all Pretty Woman and make me feel weird, but if it won't make you feel that way, I do want to. I don't want what happened to me to take something away from us anymore."

"If you're thinking that I'm going to feel less loved, I won't. If I didn't know what had happened and you just kept refusing to kiss me, then I would begin to wonder."

"Really?"

He stepped even closer and looked him directly in the eyes. "Sebastian, I love you, and I'm fine with it because I love you so much."

"I'll go get ready while you finish up whatever you need to do with the dessert."

Back in the kitchen for the third time, Sebastian was being more of a baby chimpanzee than a help, hanging on Kurt and looking over his shoulder at the various items laying on the counter.

"So, meat or veggies?" Kurt asked.

"You," Sebastian answered in a low voice.

"Me? You just had me."

"You again."

"Okay. Just let me put the meat back in the fridge then."

Sebastian let go of him and moved around him quickly and grabbed all four packages of meat, put them in the fridge quickly. "Done." He turned around with a smirk on his face. "You're insatiable."

"You love it. Come on." He dragged Kurt by the hand back to their bedroom.

As they past the laundry closet, Kurt said, "We'll have to get everything into the washer before Santana gets here. Our clothes are a mess from earlier in the kitchen."

Sebastian pushed their bedroom door closed once they were inside. "I had planned to take you out, so we're meeting them there." He got back in bed.

Kurt followed him and sat down straddling him and began to run his fingertips across Sebastian's chest.

"I love kissing you – don't think otherwise, but it was exciting for you to touch me in so many places." He looked down at his chest. He struggled to keep his eyes open. "That feels so good."

"I'll keep that in mind." He moved his hands to Sebastian's shoulders and down his arms. "I'll make sure to not miss any spots."

Kurt turned the heat off under the large cast iron skillet he had used to prepare the ingredients for their fajitas. Sebastian picked up a plate, put two tortillas on it, and handed to Kurt. He took it, but stepped to the side.

"You first. I chose to make this dinner for you."

"Thank you." he filled his tortillas and stepped back towards the non-cooked ingredients and added some salsa, tomatoes, cilantro, and some of the crema over the top and sat down.

Kurt added the same things to his and sat across from Sebastian in his usual place. They both ate their first fajita without talking since they were both famished. Once their hunger had been sated a bit, they started to talk again.

"These are really good. I think yours are better than the ones at the restaurant inside the market."

"That's high praise indeed. I'm glad you like them. I think they're delicious too. We can make them the next time my dad comes. I'm sure he'll love them. Carole too."

Sebastian looked around the room. There wasn't a single area of the room that didn't have Kurt's imprint on it. "You know the first time Santana came to see me, she told me that I should let you work your charm on this place."

"Oh, really?"

"I got my first, and only, 'Don't hurt him.' speech from her not even a week after you moved in here."

"That was not quite nine months ago."

"It was. When I called her and cancel our regular Monday afternoon date, I had to promise to buy her dessert at Vibes tonight as an apology."

Kurt laughed.

"She was right, though. I look around and I see you everywhere. You made this place a home for us."

Kurt blushed a bit from the praise. It still caught him off-guard for people to make positive comments, but Sebastian had been the one to achieve what Adam had started – getting Kurt to accept compliments without shrugging them off. "I know we're not going to be here for Christmas itself, but what would you think of getting a Christmas tree and decorating it together? We could make the ornaments or go out and find unusual ones and buy a few and collect more each year."

Hearing Kurt talk about them adding more each year made Sebastian's heart practically jump out of his chest. "I'd love to."

"I'm generally a fan of live trees that can be replanted or at least turned into some useful mulch, but since we have no way to make either of those things happen and we'll be gone for part of the time, we could get a nice looking narrow artificial one and place it in the corner where our instruments usually sit. We could move them to the sides of the credenza."

Sebastian looked to where Kurt was indicating. "That would work. Do you have a lot of homework?"

"I don't have any."

"Me either."

Kurt looked at him and winked. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He watched Kurt as he ate his second fajita. A feeling of warmth flowed through him and he smiled unconsciously. He had enjoyed every bit of the six months they had been together and the three before that where they got to know and trust each other.

Kurt looked back at him after having spent several minutes contemplating what type of tree he thought would look good. "What's that smile for?"

"Oh, just thinking about you and us."

"I've been thinking about us all day. I think we went into being a couple in a good place. I was still wounded, but I was healing and you were the salve that healed a lot of my wounds. Seeing a counselor helped, even if sometimes it was just hearing myself explain a situation and realizing that there was no way to explain it so that it was okay or that it made sense. That helped me see the gaps were – where I had just accepted that things were the way they were with no expectation of it making sense or being a healthy way for me to live." He took a few more bites. "Like this afternoon. You opened the door expecting to change and leave again to meet me to take me to dinner, but when you saw what I was doing, you quickly changed gears and took my surprise in stride and changed your plans with no complaining or whining, and no automatic expectation for me to change my plans."

"We can still do my plans another day. You had bought all fresh food and that doesn't just keep indefinitely. Plus, I really like cooking with you. I would have planned something similar, but I didn't think I'd have time because I thought the best I might get would be to manage to steal you away from Vogue an hour early, which would not have given us time to go to the market and cook together. I loved this. I've gotten to spend a couple of hours with you. And our food is delicious."

"I agree. So, we're just meeting everyone at Vibes?"

"Mmm hmm." Sebastian finished swallowing before he finished. "Isabelle is bring a friend of hers. Sam's meeting us tonight too."

"Ooh, who is Isabelle bringing?"

"I'm not sure. If she said a name, I didn't catch it. Sorry."

"It's fine. I just wondered if it's someone I know. I'm still a bit hungry. What if we wait to eat dessert until we come home. I'd really like some more of the vegetables we made."

"That's fine with me. I'll have another one too with just the vegetables. We can use the rest of the meat to make our lunches for tomorrow, except the shrimp. I'm adding those to my vegetables."

"Sounds good. We have those pita chips we bought and didn't end up opening the last time we had Jace and Landon over. I have an idea that will work with those."

"Your ideas are delicious."

When they got to Vibes everyone else was already there, which was unusual, but they sat the instruments out of the way, took their coats off, and put them over the backs of their chairs. Sebastian sat down, but Kurt went up to the sign up sheet first.

Santana leaned into Sebastian. "I want to sing our duet that we postponed that night that Blaine was here."

"Sure."

"Do you have anything you want to sing?"

"I do, but I'm just going to play Dani's guitar."

"I'll sign you up a few slots above our duet then."

"Thanks."

Kurt and Santana crossed paths on her way up to the sign up sheet. She looked him over and smirked. "Happy is a good look on you." She turned back and walked with him to put his name on the list.

His smile grew. "Thanks. The same is true for you. I'm glad for you that you found Dani."

"Yeah, me too. We'll see how far we make it. She's more than just my 'Miss Right Now', but time will tell if she's my 'Mrs. Right'. I'm pretty sure that you've found Mr. Right."

Kurt nodded and picked up the pen. They walked back to the table together. It didn't take long for Sebastian's name to come up. He picked up Dani's guitar and headed to the stage.

"I know the regulars are used to us singing original songs, but I'm going to sing an oldie with a few minor lyric changes." He adjusted the stool and began to play.

There won't be another heartbreak.
No more reasons to cry, no.
No more learning the hard way.
Baby, hello! No more goodbyes.
You got me like a rocket,
Shooting straight across the sky.

It's the way you love me.
It's a feeling like this.
It's centrifugal motion.
It's perpetual bliss.
It's that pivotal moment.
It's, ah, impossible.
This kiss, this kiss.
Unstoppable.
This kiss, this kiss

Cinderella said to Snow White.
"How does love get so off course?" Oh.
"All I wanted was a white knight,
With a good heart, soft touch, fast horse,
To ride me off into the sunset."

Baby, I'm forever yours.
You can kiss me in the moonlight,
On the rooftop under the sky.
Or you can kiss me with the windows open,
While the rain comes pouring inside.
Kiss me in sweet slow motion.
Let's let every thing slide.
You got me floating, you got me flying.

It's the way you love me.
It's a feeling like this.
It's centrifugal motion.
It's perpetual bliss.
It's that pivotal moment.
It's, ah, unthinkable.
This kiss, this kiss.
It's criminal.
This kiss, this kiss.

It's the way you love me, baby.
It's the way you love me, darling. Yeah.
It's the way you love me.
It's a feeling like this.

Sebastian made his hands into a heart shape on his chest, and then pointed at Kurt with both hands before blowing him a kiss.

He saw Kurt roll his eyes, which is exactly what he expected when singing a song about kissing. He was so tired of waiting for the test results.

The audience clapped as he bowed just slightly. He exited the stage and went back to sat down next to Kurt.

"You're such a tease," Kurt said directly into his ear. "You sing to me about my amazing kissing skills and I can't show them off here in front of everyone."

Sebastian turned to look at him and asked quietly, "In front of everyone?"

"You never know. I might have. If I could."

Sebastian sighed and put his hand on Kurt's thigh and drew a heart on his leg before he began running his thumb along his leg gently.

Isabelle spoke up. "I wanted all of you to meet Andrea. She's an up and coming photographer who is the new intern in the photography department. She's an NYU student. She asked me if I could introduce her to some beautiful people who might be willing to let her photograph them, at no cost, to build her portfolio. And so, I brought her here to meet all of you. I also thought you might consider having some group photos taken for whenever you all finally get around to cutting a demo."

"That's a not very subtle hint, Aunt Izzie."

"It wasn't meant to be subtle." She winked at him. "If you're interested, Andrea can pass her phone around and you all can put in your contact information."

Andrea nodded. She passed her phone to Sam, who was sitting to her left.

"Sam Evans," he said as he put his info in.

Each of them introduced themselves when they took the phone as it got passed around.

When it got back to Andrea, she said, "Thank you. I was hoping to get even a couple of people. Seven people will be amazing. If you want group photos, maybe we could meet before you come here on Mondays?"

"I think probably Sundays after we rehearse would work better," Chandler said. "I come here from class."

"Okay," Andrea said. "I can work with that. Where do you rehearse?"

"At NYU," Elliott said. "Chandler and I both attend there and we switch off signing up for rooms. We can only request one of the larger rooms twice a month."

"That makes sense."

Dani said, "Sorry to interrupt, but Kurt's name is up. We'll be back."

Everyone followed her up to the stage. She took a seat at the keyboard and adjusted her mic. Everyone else moved mic stands to form a semi-circle with the keyboard in the center. Kurt was the one to introduce the song. "This song is a new one. Several of us worked on it together. I wrote most of the lyrics, but we all worked on the music and the harmonies."

Dani began to play chords on the keyboard at the end of the first phrase.

(Sebastian)
I won't just survive.
Oh, you will see me thrive.
Can't write my story,
I'm beyond the archetype.

(Kurt)
I won't just conform,
No matter how you shake my core,
'Cause my roots, they run deep. Oh.

Oh, ye of so little faith, (Sebastian)
Don't doubt it, don't doubt it. (Kurt)
Victory is in my veins. (Sebastian)
I know it, I know it. (Kurt)
And I will not negotiate. (Sebastian)
I'll fight it. I'll fight it. (Kurt)
I will transform. (Sebastian, Kurt)

(Elliott)
When, when the fire's at my feet again
And the vultures all start circling
They're whispering, "You're out of time."
But still, I rise.

(Chandler)
This is no mistake, no accident.
When you think the final
Nail is in, think again. (Elliott, Chandler)
Don't be surprised, I will still rise. (Chandler)

(Dani)
I must stay conscious,
Through the madness and chaos,
So I call on my angels
They say,

Oh, ye of so little faith (Santana)
Don't doubt it, don't doubt it (Dani, Sebastian)
Victory is in your veins (Santana, Elliott)
You know it, you know it (Dani, Sebastian)
And you will not negotiate (Santana, Chandler)
Just fight it, just fight it. (Elliott)
And be transformed. (All)

(All)
When, when the fire's at my feet again,
And the vultures all start circling.
They're whispering, "You're out of time."
But still, I rise.

(All)
This is no mistake, no accident.
When you think the final nail is in, think again.
Don't be surprised, I will still rise.
Don't doubt it, don't doubt it.

"You're out of time", but still I... (Kurt)

Rise. Rise. Rise. (All)

You're out of time, (All)
But still I rise. (Kurt)

The audience was quiet at first, but then applause broke out. Everyone took a small bow and went back to their seats.

"I really liked that one," Andrea said. "Do you all perform a lot of original music."

"Yes, mostly," Elliott said.

"I think Ms. Wright is definitely right. You all should make a CD. I'd buy it."

Kurt smiled. "Maybe at some point, but we'd have to come up with a name for the band first."

Andrea smiled, "Well, based on that song, I'd call the band 'Phoenix Ascending'. It sounded like you've all had your battles with adversity of whatever types, and you've all pulled through. And you're all coming back to life in a bigger, bolder way than you could have imagined."

Isabelle said, "I like it. The artwork could be amazing. And it has this edgy, dark side to it that's still hopeful."

"I could totally do some amazing phoenix drawings," Sam said. "I mean, if you'd want me to."

Kurt's heart hurt. He had said that he'd forgiven Sam and that they could be friends again, but he had let their friendship slip down his list of priorities the last month after Blaine had re-entered the picture. "I think that'd be great."

Sam perked up. "I'll work on some this week, and I'll bring them next Monday."

"Thanks," Dani said. "None of us have the type of artistic talent that you have."

"How did all of you meet?"

Santana and Sebastian told the story while keeping a tight rein on the details that were staying in the past. By the time they finished, Santana's name was up.

"Okay, so this is a surprise for Kurt and Dani. It's Kurt and Sebastian's 6-month anniversary and our 9-month anniversary was last week. So, the band met without Kurt or Dani knowing and we have a song to sing to them. So, come on and let us sing to you on stage."

Sebastian stood and reached out for Kurt's hand. When they got on stage, Santana moved two stools up near the mics. Kurt sat on the one near Sebastian and Dani sat near Santana. Once they were seated, she took her mic. "Back in high school, Sebastian and I sang an amazing duet, but it was basically a vocal duel. Our voices sounded great together, but we were mortal enemies. Now, he's my best friend. Life is so weird sometimes."

Some of the crowd laughed.

"So, we've worked on a new song to sing together, but not to each other. We hope you enjoy it."

(Santana)
Yeah, I've met your demons, but they do not scare me.
I know they'll be angels once they learn to fly.
I've seen all your seasons, your cold February.
I know you'll be blooming in a matter of time.

(Both)
What I'm saying is I get you, get you,
Nothing we can't get through.
If I see you going down that road,
Then I won't let you.
I'll catch you no matter how far you fall.

'Cause the best of me loves the best of you.
And all the rest, I can see right through.
You trust in me and I'll trust you too.
'Cause the best of me, loves the best of you.

(Sebastian)
You've seen my dark side and danced with my shadow.
You never run from, run from a fight.
Now, I'll be your ally through all the battles.
And I know, and I know, and I know it'll be alright.

(Both)
What I'm saying is you know me, know me.
Wrestled with the old me.
Saved me at my lowest, all you had to do was hold me.
Console me, no matter how far I fall.

'Cause the best of me loves the best of you.
And all the rest, I can see right through.
You trust in me and I'll trust you too.
'Cause the best of me, loves the best of you.

When the music stopped, Kurt stood up and hugged Sebastian. He saw over Sebastian's shoulder, that Santana had stepped towards Dani and kissed her gently on the lips. They audience clapped and cheered.

As they approached the table, they saw that there was a tray of beautiful cupcakes in the center. They all looked at Isabelle.

"Fine, fine. I ordered them from my favorite bakery and had them delivered. They're delicious. You'll love them. They're my early Christmas gift to all of you. I know that finals are soon and I won't see some of you until after winter break." She pointed. "The one with the tiny blueberries on top is yours, Sebastian."

"Thank you," he said, as he picked it up.

"There's a guide on their website." She told everyone the name. "You can tell from there what kind each one is." She reached out and took one for herself.

It didn't take long for the tray to be mostly empty.

Sebastian sang "This Kiss" by Faith Hill.

Kurt's "original" song is Katy Perry's song "Rise" as covered by Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Brian Justin Crum, Mario Jose, and Mary Lambert.

Sebastian and Santana's duet is "Best of You" by Andy Grammer with Elle King.