New New York
It's a little bit of a big adjustment living in New York compared to Lima, but he adapts quickly. He's never had his own bathroom anyway so having to share one isn't that much of a big difference. The only thing he really had to get used to was having a shower that was wheelchair accessible for Artie.
He has to drive about an hour and twenty minutes every morning to get to class, but he doesn't mind. He knows Blaine and Artie have to do the same distance transiting so it doesn't bother him, and at least he's in the comfort of his own car.
University is different. The class sizes are way bigger, but his program isn't heavy on English so he doesn't struggle as much as he did in high school. Classes strictly about space and planets? Definitely school heaven on Earth.
And the football team is awesome. He's not the quarterback of the team, but he's fine with that. He likes being a running back better, there's less pressure on him if the team loses.
And an added bonus is his girlfriend sits in the stands every game next to Blaine and Artie with his jersey number painted on her cheek.
It's an hour and a half drive from New Hempstead to New Haven, so they found a restaurant half the distance for both of them to meet at every Thursday night for date night because those are the only days both of them are available, even though he always ends up following her back to New Haven afterwards for dessert.
Yeah, you can say post secondary is awesome.
xxx
He decides to get a haircut two months after settling in. October is the perfect time for change, and his hair is reaching down to his shoulders now. He can tell Quinn is starting to hate it because she scrunches her nose every time he asks her for a hair elastic for his hair.
He's still new to the city, so he doesn't exactly know any good barber shops. Kurt knows someone from Vogue that cuts his hair and as much as he appreciates Kurt offering him a friends discount, even with that it's a little out of his price range.
So he goes to the place Adam does and shows the hairdresser a magazine cover of Brad Pitt as inspiration. It doesn't take that long at all, but his head still feels lighter when it's done. It's weird running his hand through his hair because half of it is gone, but he can't deny, he looks good.
He sends a picture to Blaine who sends him back two thumbs up. He knows Blaine will probably say more about it when they're back at their apartment, he's just in class right now.
The one person's stamp of approval he does want is currently about to attend a lecture in New Haven. So he picks her up her favourite Starbucks drink and drives the hour and a half so he can surprise her.
He throws on a baseball cap he finds thrown in his back seat to hide it and ends up pulling into the parking lot fifteen minutes before her class ends. He has absolutely no clue where he's going, and after asking three different people he finds her lecture hall twenty minutes later.
She's one of the last ones out of the hall, not that he's surprised. She's always been a better student than he has. He waits against the wall so she doesn't see him right away and pulls her arm when she walks past him so she spins around and almost crashes into him.
"Sam!" She gasps when she realizes it's him. "What are you doing here?" She asks and he grins.
"Bringing my favourite person a coffee." He tells her. He gives her a peck before handing her over the coffee.
She snorts. "I'm pretty sure that's your mom." She teases, but then moans gratefully once she takes a sip of the coffee. "I'm pretty sure this means I'm cheating on Susan." She jokes, referring to her boss, the owner of the cafe she works at.
"How was class?" He asks as they begin walking out of the building.
She groans. "Ugh, remind me why I decided to take Introduction to Politics and Government again?" She asks him and he chuckles. He couldn't even if he tried, Quinn's decision-making skills are beyond him.
He decides now is probably a good time to show her his haircut, so he takes off his cap and tucks it into his back pocket.
It takes her a second to notice because Quinn has always loved observing other people, but when she finally looks over at him she gasps. "Sam, your hair!" He just laughs.
"What do you think?" He asks her as she runs her free hand through it to inspect it.
"It's shorter." She says, stating the obvious. He just chuckles.
"Yes baby, that's the point of a haircut." He says slowly and she gives him a dirty look.
"I like it."
Well there, he has it, his girlfriend's stamp of approval.
xxx
They have lunch together in her dorm. She has basic cooking skills, anything that comes in a box she can handle, but anything beyond that she can't do so he makes them lunch with the little groceries she and Sarah have.
They decide to watch a few episodes of Gossip Girl, a show that Quinn has become obsessed with when he gets a call from an unknown number.
"Sam Evans." He answers and Quinn snickers at him. He just rolls his eyes in response.
"Who was that?" She asks when he hangs up the phone and he blinks a few times before answering her because he's still kind of processing it himself.
"I, uh, just got a modelling gig I think?" He tells her and she shots upwards, spilling some of the popcorn on the couch.
"What?! Sam, that's amazing! What's it for?" She asks him as she moves to properly sit up and place the popcorn bowl on the table in front of them.
"Some company called Bubble. They're like an underwear company I think."
He had told Quinn how Rachel had recommended he take up modelling as a part-time job because he won't have time to work long shifts at say a retail store. She'd been supportive, not that he doubted she wouldn't be, she always is.
"I want to come!" She tells him excitedly.
"Huh?" He asks, confused. Why would she want to come?
"It's your first gig right? I want to come!" She says, bouncing a bit on the couch causing him to laugh.
"Okay, okay. You can come." He tells her, planting a kiss on her head.
xxx
The agency does like a get to know the other new models! thing that is mandatory for all the new models so the transition is easy and they can share their struggles with each other or whatever. It cuts into his video game time with Artie which kind of irritates him, but he guesses he can spare an hour or two to get some connections.
He meets a girl named Sam which kind of freaks him out, and he's eighty percent sure she offers him drugs for his first gig.
All of the other guys frown at him when he tells them he's not actually planning to pursue a career out of this, he just needs the extra cash.
He decides that even an hour is too much and gets Artie to call him with a fake emergency forty minutes in. He's sure his boss can see right through his lie but he's too done with all of these people to care.
xxx
He hears from Blaine that Mercedes is moving to New York as well and requires all of their help to move into her apartment. They all find time on a Saturday and he and Blaine are somehow roped into having to do all the heavy lifting.
The minutes go by what feels like hours. Quinn had a shift at the cafe this morning so she won't be here for another two hours. He thought the time would go by quickly because he would be distracted with moving everything, but unfortunately not.
Eventually Adam takes over his shift of carrying the heavy things inside with Blaine which is as awkward as one thinks it would be so he decides to go inside to help Mercedes and Rachel with the building of everything.
Rachel and Mercedes talk about Mercedes' plans for New York and he works in silence, but he doesn't mind. He likes it better that way. That is until Rachel decides they all need coffees and heads out to go buy them all some with Artie. Mercedes doesn't seem bothered, she just continues the conversation like he had actually been a part of it.
xxx
She's exhausted. The cafe had been super busy all day and she had gotten off twenty minutes after her shift was supposed to end. That and stupid traffic she gets caught up in means she's an hour late to meet everyone to help Mercedes out with her new apartment.
She parks her car behind Adam's against the sidewalk and hops out just as Rachel and Artie are coming back with coffees. She sees Kurt, Adam, and Blaine, but no Sam.
"Quinn, you look adorable!" Kurt praises as soon as he sees her. She's not wearing anything special. Just a pair of jeans and a white tank top with one of Sam's light blue flannels overtop. She stole one of Sarah's blue bandana's to throw in her hair along with the pigtails she put her hair in.
"Thanks Kurt." She says, trying to look around for her boyfriend. "Hey, where's Sam?" She asks them when she comes up short.
"He's inside with Mercedes." Artie answers and the others glare at him.
"Oh." It's not a big deal. He's allowed to be friends with an ex, her and Finn were great friends until he passed, but she still finds herself slightly irked that her boyfriend is inside helping his ex-girlfriend settle into her apartment alone.
She walks up the stairs to enter the apartment. She knocks on the door first, but then asks herself why the hell am I knocking on the door? My boyfriend is inside.
She opens the door and steps inside. Sam looks bored out of his mind listening to Mercedes who is telling him about her record company and her new ideas for her next album. She giggles which catches his attention and he drops the screwdriver he was holding to run up to her and spin her around.
"God I missed you." He whispers in her hair and she laughs.
"My turn!" Mercedes shouts once Sam puts her down and she squeals as she hugs Mercedes.
"You and Rachel in the same city, how will any of us survive?" She teases and Mercedes just rolls her eyes.
But the truth is, she's so glad to have everyone back. Tina is only a few hours away, Santana and Brittany will be back before she knows it; it feels like her family is back together again. For once, life finally feels like this is how it should be.
Bash
The homophobic assault that happened recently in New York puts everyone on edge. Only Rachel, Kurt, and Adam knew Russ because it was their neighbours friend, but it still hits close to home. It makes him worry about Blaine and Kurt, even Adam.
He attends the candlelight vigil with Blaine and lays a rose at the scene where Russ was beat up. He also tries to be discreetly more protective and aware of what Blaine is doing by asking him where he's going and when he thinks he'll be back.
He doesn't understand it, he grew up religious and so did Quinn, and they accept everybody. Maybe it's because Sam loves everyone and Quinn's three best friends are gay, a lesbian and bi-sexual, or maybe it's because they were apart of glee club, but he can't understand why someone would feel the need to beat up someone else just because they didn't fit in that person's definition of normal.
Quinn tells him it's because some people just don't have the hearts that they all do. Some people are cruel, so they do cruel things, and as unfair as it is, there isn't much they can do about it.
He still thinks it's bullshit even if it's the truth.
xxx
He waits for Quinn to come to his apartment and throw her overnight bag in his room before he takes the four of them to Kurt and Rachel's apartment for their weekly potluck dinners.
They decided to change the tradition a little bit because Kurt grew tired of cooking for everyone and Santana was really the only one interested in playing board games. He and Kurt are the best cooks out of everyone so they always cook the main meal. Adam supplies the alcohol and Mercedes and Blaine make side dishes. They give Artie the exception because he can't exactly reach their kitchen in the apartment. Sometimes Sam gets him to help him with dinner so he feels included.
Quinn is always in charge of dessert, each week she brings a different treat she baked when she found the time. They drink, they laugh, they play games and then everyone heads home. Quinn crashes at his apartment for the weekend and it's a nice little routine they all fit themselves into.
Mercedes asks about the flyer about supporting Russ as they're about to eat dinner. Rachel and Blaine fill her in on how their neighbour's friend had just been walking down the street when some men jumped out of a truck and beat him up.
It's depressing, it's unfair and it makes him angry. He lets the rest of them talk about it as he settles in his seat next to Quinn.
The conversation completely bums Kurt out so they change the subject to some midwinter thing and NYADA.
After dinner and after Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes, and Quinn have had many glasses of wine the four of them settle into some made up game of guess the song/karaoke. They all laugh hysterically and he is not looking forward to figuring out how he's going to take Quinn away from Rachel and Kurt once he's finished drying dishes with Adam.
That happens to be about seven minutes later. Artie is already yawning by the door with his coat on and Blaine doesn't seem to mind if they leave or stay as he's sitting at the table talking to Adam about NYADA clubs.
"Okay Madonna, let's go." He says helping his girlfriend off the couch, referring to when she sang a slurred version of Like A Virgin when her turn rolled around ten minutes ago.
"BOO!" Kurt and Rachel shout at him and he just chuckles as Quinn sways beside him as he helps her put on her jacket.
"Remember when you used to sleep over all the time Quinn, look what he's done to you!" Rachel cries and Quinn pouts at him.
"Do you want to stay?" He asks and he can tell she's actually thinking about it so he whispers something in her ear and she blushes.
"Sorry Rachel." His girlfriend shrugs and Rachel frowns.
"Whatever he offered you I can do it too! I'll cuddle you in my bed!" Rachel tells her and Mercedes pats her shoulder while telling her no honey, that's not what he offered her.
Both she and Artie fall asleep ten minutes into the ride so he talks to Blaine the entire way back about how school is going.
xxx
She finds out from Kurt that Rachel quit NYADA. Yes she agrees with Kurt that it's really irresponsible, but she kind of sees where Rachel is coming from. She was shocked to find out that NYADA wouldn't cut one of their students some slack because they were able to manage to land a main role on Broadway.
She listens to Kurt rant to her as she makes herself pasta for dinner for the third time this week. He and Rachel have dinner plans this evening so he tells Quinn about how he plans to lecture Quinn there.
Rachel's rehearsals don't end until eight-thirty so their reservation isn't until nine. Normally she would stay up to hear about how it went, but she has an early class the next morning and knowing Kurt and Rachel their dinner probably won't be done until at least eleven so she tells Kurt to text her all the details on how it went because she's probably going to be asleep by the time their finished.
xxx
He gets the phone call from Mercedes.
He frowns when he sees it because yeah they're friends, but they aren't exactly close. And it's like midnight which makes it even more odd.
"Hey." Is all he says. He was going to ask her what's up, but he can tell immediately she's been crying.
"Something happened to Kurt, somebody beat him up or something." She says frantically. "We're all on our way to the hospital now, I think Rachel's already there, I know for sure Adam is. I tried calling Quinn, but she didn't answer."
"She's asleep, she has an early class tomorrow. Don't worry about her, I got her." He tells Mercedes before hanging up. He curses and throws his phone across the room, livid that this happened to one of his best friends.
He tells Blaine who's at the apartment and gets him to call Artie who's at his film school he's pretty sure while he tries to get ahold of Quinn.
He picks up his phone and calls her a bunch of times, feeling relieved when she finally answers the fourth call.
"Sam, it's midnight, what on Earth could you possibly-" She starts to ask him, but he cuts her off.
"Baby, something happened to Kurt." He says softly, trying to comfort her as much as possible before he tells her everything.
"What? What happened?!" She asks him and he can tell she's beginning to panic.
"Apparently some asshole beat him up, I'm not really sure." He tells her and he can hear her get up and move around.
"My-my car is getting work done, how am I-I don't even-" She's panicking, he can tell she is. Quinn panics when she feels she has no control over a situation where he rambles, so he bites his tongue and takes a deep breath because he needs to be strong for the both of them.
"I'll come pick you up." He tells her.
"NO!" She shouts and he moves his ear away from the phone. "No, you need to be there to give me updates. I'll get Sarah to drive me to the train station." She says and hangs up before he can object.
xxx
She doesn't change, just runs to wake up Sarah and grabs her purse before leaving. She sprints to go buy a ticket, but the seller just informs her that the train leaves in ten minutes and they don't have any more.
"The next train will be here in a couple of hours." He offers but she just shakes her head.
"No, you don't understand my friend. He's in the hospital, someone beat him up. I need to be on that train!" She's crying now, but the man just gives her a sympathetic look and tells her there's nothing he can do.
"Please!" She cries, but he just shakes her head.
She sits on a bench and sobs, debating if she should just call Sam to pick her up or spend the money on a cab and worry about it later.
Someone taps her shoulder and she looks up to see an elderly man holding a ticket out to her.
"Miss, you can have mine." He says and her eyes widen.
"How much do you want for it?" She asks, ripping her purse open to pull out her wallet, but he just shakes his head.
"If my friend was in the hospital and there were no train tickets left, I would want someone to do the same thing." He tells her and she hugs him while crying.
"Thank you." She whispers before running on the train.
xxx
He drives himself and Blaine to the hospital. Everyone is there when they get there and he tells Mercedes that he was able to get ahold of Quinn and she's on her way. Rachel tells them that he called Burt and he and Carole are on the next flight here.
They debate on who else they should tell, but decide to tell his closest friends because if it was them they would want to know. So Rachel calls Elliot who tells her that he's out of town for the night but will come to the hospital the second he's back and then calls Santana.
He can hear Santana yelling and cursing from where he's sitting across from Rachel. He thinks they both start crying, but he tries not to eavesdrop too much because he knows the three of them shared a special bond when they all lived together and deserve their privacy.
He falls asleep for an hour and twenty minutes. Fifteen minutes he hears someone arguing at the front desk asking to see her friend. He recognizes the voice instantly, but when he hears her shout "his name is Kurt Hummel! Just look on your stupid computer to check where his room is!" He knows it's Quinn.
"That would be my girlfriend." He says to everyone, getting some laughs as he gets up to grab her.
"Q we're over here!" He says and waits for her to appear.
She comes around the corner wearing pink pyjama pants with little teddy bears on them and one of his hoodies, her hair disheveled and her eyes rimmed red.
"Any updates?" She asks as she walks into Sam's open arms.
"Not yet." He says into her hair and guides her to the chairs where the rest of them are waiting.
She curls into his lap as they wait for Kurt's doctor to come out, and he strokes her hair soothingly as something to do with his hands.
Eventually a doctor comes out of Kurt's room and Adam flags him down.
"How is he?" He asks.
"He has a hairline fracture above his right eye socket and some other cuts and bruising. He's alive, and he will be okay. He's sleeping now from the morphine, but you can see him." The doctor says and he can feel Quinn's death grip increase on his hand.
She tugs him into Kurt's room and they all gasp when they see him. The doctor did tell them about the cuts and bruises, but it's so much more real once you see it in person.
Adam goes to sit with him on the end of the bed and he can feel Quinn bouncing on her heels just standing at the side.
Adam must notice because he chuckles and tells Quinn it's okay, she can come sit too.
He leads her over and she crawls into the bed next to Kurt, careful not to move him and cries as she traces some of his cuts.
"I feel so responsible. We had this huge fight right before this happened." Rachel announces and Adam just shakes his head.
"He would have done it either way, that's just who he is." Adam says and at least that's something they can all agree on.
"I want to kill whoever did this to him." He says, his fists clenched at his side.
Blaine tells him not to say that, that he doesn't really mean it, but he does. If these people are willing to end Kurt's life just because he's gay, why can't he end theirs? The world would definitely be a much better place without people like this in it.
xxx
They wait for another hour, but a nurse comes in and tells them that Kurt probably won't end up waking up tonight due to the morphine.
He can tell Artie is tired by the way he keeps yawning and Blaine looks a little on edge, so he offers to drive those who need a ride home.
Rachel says she wants to stay, she doesn't want to be home at an empty apartment which he understands, and Mercedes has her own driver and tells him not to worry.
He sighs and looks at his girlfriend who is still glued to Kurt's side, stroking his cheek. He gently tugs on her hand. "Come on baby, there isn't anything we can do for him while he's sleeping." He says, knowing she's probably exhausted.
He helps her up off of Kurt's bed, but she stops and looks at Adam and Rachel. "You'll call me when he wakes up?" She confirms and they both nod.
"The second." Adam tells her and she hums satisfied.
He throws an arm around her waist to steady her because he's pretty sure she's half asleep and leads them all out of the hospital. Quinn falls asleep immediately once they start driving so he ends up having to carry her into his, Artie, and Blaine's apartment. She stirs awake when puts her down on his bed, so he urges her to quickly email her professor that she won't be able to attend class tomorrow due to an emergency.
When they're both settled into bed she's still awake and her lip begins to quiver when he turns around to face her, so he does the only thing he can do right now: hold her while she cries.
xxx
He wakes up at nine the next morning in an empty bed and hears noise in the kitchen. He prays that Quinn isn't making him breakfast because as much as he loves his girlfriend he doesn't own any breakfast foods that come in a box.
He walks into the kitchen and immediately freezes because of what he sees. His kitchen has somehow turned into a bakery overnight. Scattered onto tables and countertops are plates of cupcakes, cookies, muffins, brownies and whatever else his eyes haven't reached yet. Artie sits at their kitchen table eating a cupcake.
"Quinn what the fu-" He begins to ask her as she turns around finally noticing his presence.
"I couldn't sleep." She shrugs and begins to mix something in a bowl.
"Can we keep her?" Artie asks, as if his girlfriend is some sort of dog or maid. He glares at his roommate.
"Q, babe, how long have you been awake for? There are like a hundred desserts here." He says and she rolls her eyes.
"Don't be dramatic Sam, the next batch will hit one hundred." She says like it's no big deal and he tugs on his hair to keep himself from freaking out at her.
She looks like she's lost her mind. She's standing wearing her pink pyjama bottoms, a grey cotton robe and has flour on her cheek. Her hair is a mess, sticking out in every possible direction, and don't even get him started on her eye bags.
"Quinn, how long have you been awake for?" He asks, forcing her to put the bowl down.
"Since five." She shrugs again and his eyes widen.
"Five?! Quinn we got home at like three-thirty." He tells her and she furrows her brows at him.
"I know, I said I couldn't sleep." She tells him. He opens his mouth to lecture her but she talks again before he can start. "You have class at eleven, go shower. You can't exactly go shirtless Samuel." She tells him and he shakes his head.
"What the hell." He hears from behind him and the both of them look back to see Blaine who has just woken up and noticed the catastrophe in their kitchen.
"Morning Blaine." Quinn greets like she isn't the cause of said catastrophe.
"What happened?" He asks, walking around all the different baked options.
"Quinn couldn't sleep." Artie answers and Quinn smiles.
He opens his mouth again, but she shakes her head and points to the digital clock on their oven. He glares at her. "I'll deal with you when I get home." He says before heading to the bathroom so he can shower.
xxx
He's on edge the entire day. Between worrying about Kurt and his girlfriend going crazy he can barely focus on any of his classes. Sometimes he stays after his two classes finish and throws a football around with some of his teammates, but today he heads straight home.
He prays that there aren't a million baked goods in his apartment when he gets home. He knows she'll be the only one there because Blaine and Artie have both gone to class.
It's quiet inside, so he assumes she's done for the day but you can never be too sure with Quinn. He unlocks the door and finds her asleep on the couch. She's changed into one of his red McKinley t-shirts and a pair of his grey sweatpants, flour still on her cheek and her hair still all over the place.
The baked goods have been assorted into disposable containers and the kitchen is clean, probably cleaner than before she started using it. He throws his bag in the kitchen and fixes himself up a snack so she can rest some more. He's halfway finished his sandwich when he gets a call from Rachel.
"Hey, I tried Quinn, but she isn't answering." Rachel says and he lets out a sigh of relief because he probably knows it's because Kurt woke up.
"She pulled a Martha Stewart and baked for an entire school bake sale. Tired herself out, so she's asleep on the couch currently."
Rachel just laughs. "Of course she stress baked. Well when she wakes up you can let her Kurt is awake." Rachel tells him and he thanks her before hanging up.
He knows Quinn would probably kill him if he waited until she woke up to let her know that Kurt's awake so he shakes her shoulder gently to wake her.
She grumbles at him and he chuckles, shaking her shoulder a tad bit harder. "Q, Kurt's awake." He whispers and she immediately sits up.
"He is? He's okay?" She asks and he nods. She gets up from the couch and begins running around, mumbling things about if she needs a purse and where her damn shoes are.
"Hey, you still have flour on your cheek." He informs him and she pauses for a second to swipe it off before she starts running around again.
She grabs about five of the containers before heading out the door and he chuckles, shaking his head before following her.
xxx
She gives a container to Kurt's doctors to thank them for taking care of him and then gives a container to Burt and Carole who are inside talking to Kurt. She nearly drops them all when she sees Kurt sitting up and talking so he takes them from her so she can go see her best friend.
"This is how you all must have felt when I was in my accident." She says while hugging Kurt and they all laugh.
"Dear God Quinn Fabray, what are you wearing? That is the ugliest colour combination I have seen." Kurt cries and she frowns looking down at her outfit. She's wearing the same thing she was before, but now with Sam's green jacket thrown overtop.
Burt and Carole take the containers from Sam and tell him they'll distribute them to Adam and Rachel and exit the room to give them some time with Kurt.
He places the remaining container on Kurt's bedside table and takes a seat in the chair beside his bed as Quinn sits on the edge of his bed.
"This might be really selfish of me to ask, but please there are people like that everywhere Kurt. You're a good enough person to not have to save everyone. Please don't try too." Quinn tells him, and Kurt keeps a blank expression on his face.
"Sometimes people need protecting." Is all he says in return.
"But you don't need to be the one protecting them." Quinn says, grabbing Kurt's hand softly. "You're already a hero in my story, you don't have to be in everyone else's." She tells Kurt, but by the look on Kurt's face he knows he and Quinn will never quite understand.
He changes the subject to ask Kurt how New York hospital food is because all Quinn ever did when he went to visit her in the hospital after her accident was complain about the food.
xxx
They leave and let Kurt rest after an hour of visiting and he decides now is probably a good time to drop Quinn off in New Haven. She immediately starts protesting when she sees him pass the exit towards his apartment.
"Q, you gotta pick up your car and get your notes and stuff from the class you missed." He tells her, but it doesn't stop her pouting.
"Alex already sent them to me." She tells him and he hums.
Yeah, he's met Alex. Decent guy, he seems nice. He doesn't like how he and his girlfriend have study sessions alone because it's clear Alex is into Quinn. He doesn't blame him, who doesn't fall in love with Quinn after meeting her? But Alex seems like the kind of guy who respects their relationship and won't act on his feelings knowing she has a boyfriend.
He knows he might sound controlling or overprotective, but can you blame him? Quinn claimed she and Finn were just friends in his sophomore year and look what happened with that.
She's aware of his insecurities. They try to communicate more about their feelings more, he thinks it's kind of stupid, but her therapist recommends it and when has he ever been the one to deny her anything?
So she arranged for him and Alex to meet so he can see he has nothing to worry about. He wishes Alex would get himself a girlfriend so he knew for sure he had nothing to worry about, but Alex is a cool dude, no complaints from him (at least out loud).
"I just want to be there when he's released." She says, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Q, we're going to see him for our weekly Monday potluck. Rachel and his dad and Adam will all be there to help him settle back in, we don't want to overwhelm him either." He tells her and she still grumbles under her breath while crossing her arms across her chest. "Besides," he adds. "I think you've scarred him enough already with that outfit."
Her jaw drops and she gapes at him. "Jerk! These are your clothes!" She says while smacking his arm.
"Hey! No injuring the driver." He says in response. She just rolls her eyes.
xxx
Rachel tells Quinn not to bother with dessert because they still have leftovers from the containers she brought both Kurt and Rachel, but she brings one anyway for their weekly dinner at the loft.
"What am I supposed to do with all of them?" She asks him when he gives her a pointed look.
He bites his tongue from asking her why she made so many then.
He can tell she put a bit more effort into her appearance this week, probably because of what Kurt said about her outfit when they went to visit her in the hospital. He's lucky he wasn't awake when she came running in wearing her teddy bear pyjama bottoms, Kurt would have had a field day.
"You look beautiful." He tells her to boost her confidence as they walk to his car. She smiles and looks down at her outfit, a simple black skirt and white sweater.
"Quinn!" Rachel shouts when she opens the door. "I told you not to bring anything. We're still drowning in cupcakes and brownies."
"Give it to your neighbour who knows Russ." She offers as she hands Rachel the container. She slips off her boots and immediately goes to chat with Kurt who is in the kitchen starting to prepare dinner.
He joins them so he and Kurt can start on the main dish. To his surprise, Quinn offers to help.
Kurt looks at him with panic stricken across his face because even he knows Quinn and cooking are two things that definitely do not belong together. He knows she just wants to keep an eye on Kurt. He knows his girlfriend, she feels like she let Kurt down by not protecting him from this. They both know there was nothing she could have done to keep this from happening, especially all the way from New Haven, but he also knows she's going to practically be glued to his side for the next few weeks.
"Babe, you already made dessert, don't worry about helping us with this." He says, but she shakes her head and tells him she doesn't mind.
Kurt looks at him nervously and she catches Rachel's eye who is snickering at him along with Mercedes. Help me, he mouths to Rachel who nods.
"Quinn, come look at who Mercedes met this week at her recording studio. She has pictures!" Rachel says, whisking Quinn away from the kitchen. He gives her a grateful smile.
Dinner goes by smoothly. No more heavy topics. They toast to Kurt and Rachel invites them all to his midwinter critique at NYADA or whatever it's called that's tomorrow he's pretty sure. To be honest, he wasn't really listening. He was too busy thanking God for making sure everyone in his life is okay.
xxx
He borrows one of Blaine's three piece suits because apparently these things are extremely formal and he has no idea why. He would much rather be wearing his regular flannel, but Blaine tells him everyone dresses up to these things.
He picks a navy one because black makes him feel like he's going to a funeral and Quinn told him he was going to wear a navy dress. She's planning to meet him there, already in New York city because she's getting ready with Rachel and Mercedes at the loft.
Blaine is already at NYADA because he had a class earlier in the day and decided to stay to have lunch on campus with someone. It's just him and Artie in the car and he has no idea where to park, what the room or auditorium or whatever it's called looks like or which building it's in or which section of the building it's in.
He calls Blaine in a panic and tells him he has no clue where he is. Blaine tries to give him directions, but Sam's dyslexia acts up when he's nervous and Artie is no help so Blaine has to end up finding them and then guides them where to go.
They barely get there on time, not that he cares. He doesn't feel like seeing any of the other students anyways. Burt is there so the two of them talk about football until they have to return to their tables.
It's only two to three people per table which also makes no sense to him so he and Quinn sit at one table, Burt and Adam at another, Blaine and Rachel, and then finally Artie and Mercedes.
Quinn's still on her phone even as Kurt walks to the middle of the room and he's about to ask her what the hell she's doing because she's always the one who's lecturing him on theatre etiquette, but then he sees Santana's face appear on the screen and Quinn turns her phone around so it's facing Kurt and leans it against a fake candle on the table.
Kurt does amazing, not that any of them are surprised. Santana of course jokes with him after on FaceTime and tells him he was a little choppy. They go out for dinner afterwards to celebrate Kurt and he gets a new lock screen picture of him and his girlfriend.
This might have been one of the scariest weeks of his life, but once again proves to him that after the pain has passed there is so much pleasure behind it.
Opening Night
Kurt tells her that he is keeping Rachel unplugged for the next week so she tells Susan she needs the week off and drives to Rhode Island to pick up Tina before driving to New York City.
They're all done with finals for the semester so their main focus is on Rachel who Kurt tells her is having a lot of anxiety about opening night.
Mercedes whisks away Tina after she's managed to stick her foot in her mouth only after being there for five minutes. She offers to make Rachel tea, a recipe Mercedes' mom showed her when she was pregnant that always managed to calm her down.
"The two moms of the group taking care of me, how did I get so lucky?" Rachel asks as Kurt makes her some soup. Nothing scratchy or hard to go down because she thinks it will affect her vocal cords.
She gasps as she places the mug in front of Rachel. "I am not the mom of the group." She protests and Rachel and Kurt just smirk.
"Hate to break it to you babe, but you so are." She hears from the door and rolls her eyes as Sam walks inside.
Tina squeals from where she's sitting on the couch and flings herself at him and Quinn smiles, admiring their relationship. It takes her back to senior year when the four of them had been so close. Speaking of which..
"Hey Sam, did Mike tell you when he gets in?" She asks him as she takes a seat across from Rachel on the table.
Tina freezes a little bit while hugging Sam, which she doesn't miss but also doesn't comment on.
"Uh, two days before the show I think? He and Puck are planning to stay in the same hotel so they're getting here the same day." He says and she nods.
"It's the day before. Puck had an assignment he had to finish that wouldn't allow him to come any sooner." Rachel corrects. Huh, she didn't know Rachel and Puck were close. But then again they were always close in highschool because they're both Jewish or something so she guesses she shouldn't be too surprised.
xxx
The first few days went by well. They manage to distract Rachel by catching them up on their lives. They watched Artie's short film on the film festival's livestream. Now all they had to worry about was keeping Rachel distracted for the final day before she went on stage and everything would be fine.
She stays in Santana's old room. They decided it was probably best for Tina to stay with Mercedes because she clearly has no filter. She's surprised with the amount of fighting Santana and Rachel did that their bedrooms are so close together.
She hears voices that wake her up again and she's about to storm over to Adam and Kurt's section of the loft and tell them if they don't keep it down she is going to sleep between them to make sure they do.
But then she realizes it's a female voice, and she hears rustling from Rachel's section of the loft and she curses and quickly throws back her blankets.
"Kurt!" She screams as she runs to Rachel's section and rips back the curtain to see newspapers, tablets, and computers open and playing videos criticizing and ripping Rachel to shreds.
"Oh honey." Is all Kurt says when he appears beside her.
"Rachel, what the hell are you doing?" She asks as she begins to take away the newspapers and closes the computers.
"I needed to know what Tina was talking about." Rachel sniffles and she just shakes her head.
"Rachel, these people weren't even on Broadway, they have no idea what they're talking about. If their opinions mattered at all they would be posted somewhere other than Youtube." she says, climbing into bed with Rachel and stroking her hair as she cries softly into her shoulder.
Kurt goes to make Rachel some tea which she drinks after they both urge her that it will help with her vocal cords.
She falls asleep quickly after on Quinn's shoulder, but she refuses to leave Rachel just in case she wakes up the minute she's gone and goes to watch more stupid videos.
When she wakes up the next morning, Rachel is still asleep so she joins Kurt for breakfast. Hours pass, but Rachel still doesn't wake up so Kurt goes to check on her. After about five minutes, he returns.
"She won't come out." He says, looking drained. She raises an eyebrow.
"What do you mean she won't come out?" She asks and he sighs.
"Of her room, her bed. She won't leave." He says and she gets up from the table. "I'm going to call everyone to see if they can help." He says while she walks to Rachel's room.
"Rach, what's going on?" She asks, sitting on Rachel's bed.
"I can't do it." Is all she says. "I don't even know how to explain it Quinn, I just can't do it."
"Rachel," She says, stroking her hair. "If there was anything you were born to do, it's this." She tells her, but Rachel doesn't move.
"Alright, alright. I'm here." She hears from the door and stops. She gets up and runs from Rachel's bed and crushes Santana.
"What the hell! What are you doing here?" She asks. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back you bitch!" She says, slapping Santana's arm causing her to laugh.
"Jesus Fabray, cool your lady boner. Britt and I were obviously not going to miss Rachel's opening night, but Lady Hummel here called me and said Rachel was going into hibernation, so I'm here to pull her out." She says, throwing her bag at Adam and walking into Rachel's room.
A second later Sam walks in carrying a bouquet of flowers. "How is she?" He asks as he goes to sit next to Adam on the couch after she takes the flowers from him to put in a vase.
"Not good, but Santana's in there now." She says and his eyes widen.
"Santana?!" He says surprised and she nods, grinning.
Five minutes later Santana walks out and tells them to give her five minutes.
True to her word, Rachel indeed walks out and they all let out a sigh of relief.
xxx
"I don't know why I have to wear a suit to all these things." Sam complains as she fixes the lapels of his blazer. "You guys never have to dress up to my football games." He points out and she rolls her eyes.
"Your football games don't take place on a Broadway stage." She argues and he scoffs. "You're lucky I'm allowing you to go without a bowtie or tie." She adds. Sam had complained about having to wear a suit for the second time in a month, so she allowed him to keep the first few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned for a more relaxed look.
"How are you even going to be able to walk in that?" He asks her, referring to her floor length black dress she bought just for the show.
"How dare you Sam Evans, that is a Vogue exclusive." Kurt says, joining them by the door.
Sam just laughs at Adam who rolls his eyes behind Kurt as they all wait for Santana who appears five minutes later.
They walk out to the town car Rachel got for all of them and meet the rest of the alumni. Mercedes tells them about how Mr. Shue had to leave early because Emma went into labour and they all gasp surprised.
They walk to their seats and she notices an empty one beside them at the end of the aisle. "Are we missing someone?" She asks Kurt who is sitting beside her. She's pretty sure everyone is here, her, Sam, Kurt, Adam, Santana, Brittany, Tina, Mercedes, Artie, Blaine, Mike, Puck, Rachel's dads, Burt and Carole. She's not sure who else they could be expecting since Mr. Shue managed to sell his ticket at the last minute.
"It's for Finn." He whispers to her and she nods, smiling.
"Oh-ohmygod is that Sue?" She asks as Sue gets up and walks out with some other guy she's never seen before. Kurt follows to where she's looking at his jaw drops.
"Oh no, oh no no no, I hope Rachel doesn't notice." He says.
"Kurt, they're the only two people standing up and walking, she's going to notice." Adam points out and she glares at Sue when the two of them make eye contact. She knows Sue always had a soft spot for her, so she hopes it hurts when she gives her old cheerleading coach a disappointed look.
Her grin is wide until Rachel starts singing Who Are You Now? and that's when the tears begin. Rachel looks towards the empty chair beside Sam and begins crying herself and Kurt hands her a tissue, one used already for himself.
She's on her feet jumping up and down once the show ends, dragging Sam up and forcing him to whistle loudly for her because she can't. They all run up to her dressing room after everyone has bowed.
They all hug her and once her turn rolls around, she whispers in Rachel's ear, "he would be so proud of you."
Their eyes both prick with unshed tears and she gives Rachel a giant smile. Rachel tells them she doesn't feel like going to the casting party since all they're going to be doing is talking about the play which is going to put her on edge about the review that determines whether the show continues, so Blaine suggests they go to a place he knows.
"Is this a gay bar?" Sam whispers to her once they arrive and she elbows him. She jumps on the dance floor with Santana and Brittany as the bartender tries to convince Rachel to sing something.
They're already dancing when Rachel starts singing Pumpin' Blood and Tina points out Sam who has taken over the DJ booth halfway through the song. She pulls out her phone and gets a thirty second video of him at the turntables before the DJ kicks him out.
He joins her on the dance floor and all of them dance until the early hours of the morning. They don't get back to Kurt and Rachel's until six in the morning and her feet ache, gravel stuck between her toes because she and Brittany took off their heels immediately after leaving the club.
Sam falls asleep the second he hits the couch so she gets a blanket from Kurt and throws it over top of him while she heads into the kitchen to help Rachel make coffees for everyone.
"I'll take mine black."
Both of them turn around to see the man who walked out of Rachel's show wearing one of Kurt's robes, and two seconds later Sue walks out behind him.
"That's disgusting." She gags as Rachel points out how he's the guy who walked out with Sue.
"Dear God, Sue had sex on your bed." Tina shudders to Kurt and Sue tells them she had sex everywhere in the apartment, including the couch.
She hears Santana yell a bunch of no's before shaking Sam to wake him up and get him off the couch. She leads him to Santana's old room so he can sleep there as Rachel tells Sue off.
She walks out just to see Puck sleeping where Sam was and she shakes her head while silently laughing. She ends up having to wake Sam up twenty minutes later so they can all walk down to the newspaper stand and read the Times review.
She walks out in a pair of flip flops with everyone else, freezing her ass off and waiting for Rachel to get the courage to read the review.
"Screw this, give it to me." Santana says, ripping the paper out of Rachel's hands and reads the review with Kurt as Rachel leans into her side for support.
As soon as they realize the review is a good one Sam and Puck buy all of the newspapers at the stand and they all take turns reading the review to her.
"I bought tickets for the next week." She tells Rachel who grins at her.
"Thank you guys, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you." She says, and she smiles and gives Rachel a side hug.
But the truth is, she knew Rachel would be able to do it on her own. If anyone was meant to be a star, it's Rachel Berry. Sometimes she just needs a little push to see it.