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So, I've created a SPOTIFY playlist(s) for this story. As of 9/19/2021 I'm at chapter 4 with it, it's Mariposa ch … I've also got Mariposa complete up. If you see Mariposa Fic List, that's just a holder for the songs in relative order but not greatly well-timed. Chapter 14 is one of the ones that I want to really get the timing down right with. I was going to wait until it was finished to release this chapter, but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer.

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Chapter 22: Forward In Time (Epilogue)

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Hit after hit, Kurt wracked up the Tonys and accolades. He was one hot commodity in Broadway that had excited so many writers. To be blunt, Broadway and Hollywood were hotspots to find gay artists. This was different, Kurt was different, nobody had seen someone like him before.

In some ways he was the run of the mill stereotype plastered on TV but he was also the Original that sparked all the imitations. Yet nobody quite reached him. There were definitely unique characters on TV that brought out a different aspect of the conversation and broke stereotypes in their own ways and were their own people and just were. They didn't even have to try to be different to be different, just being themselves was different enough.

He had a softness and a strength and a kindness and a bite. He was young and he was old. He was innocent and he was experienced. Could be goofy or serious. He could play any role or conform the roles to fit him while still staying true to the heart of the role, it's core.

He also had the range. He could go low and deep and high and pure. He wasn't able to do every type of music but he could do a wide range of songs.

Writers knew they could ask him to try just about anything and he would do just that, or make it better. Singing or physical, it didn't matter, Kurt gave it a try, much to Sebastian's heart palpitations when he saw some of those physical acts in person.

Kurt was a long way from perfect but he cared about people and about his craft(s) and that showed through. People could forgive many things that might irritate them about him because his heart was in the right place, even if his mouth wasn't always.

Except his mouth, where ever it was on Sebastian's body was always in the right place.

His mouth against Adam's was not.

One Christmas party about 2 years after Sebastian and Kurt married finally saw Adam with his fantasy come true. He and Kurt had darted under an overhang to get out of the sleet that came at them in a sheet. It had been an odd year weather-wise, it kept warming up and then dropping temperatures quickly.

Above them in the eaves was a mistletoe. Adam had blushed and started to give Kurt an out but Kurt pressed in and placed a chaste kiss on Adam's mouth. Adam had placed his hands around Kurt's waist and center of his back and pressed him in closer and had gone a little further.

Sebastian had cleared his throat right in Adam's ear and Adam had jumped a mile and had backed off with hands raised in peace. He looked terrified of Sebastian and booked it upstairs quickly with a mumbled apology to both and a vow that it wouldn't happen again.

Sebastian looked at Kurt in disbelief. "And we always thought I would be the problem."

"You never thought that, you were steadfast in your beliefs and quick to reassure me at every turn that you were going to remain true; at least as long as you felt that way about me."

"You're right, I was always sure that you were the end zone, the real deal, that there would be no one else for me after you entered my life. It's still true and will always be that way. I thought people would at least try to tempt me and that I might be curious."

"You did have people try to tempt you." Kurt pointed out, people even tried or succeeded in kissing him.

"Yeah but they got over me after I said no." Sebastian shook his head. "I never expected the universe to be so against me as to press the issue in such a way from all sides so long and constant. Not that I'm surprised people remain in love with you for life. I certainly find you that loveable."

Kurt melted in his shoes all over again. "'Stien, you're so ridiculous, I can never be anything but mush with the things you say." He pressed up against his husband and slid a hand into his hair and attempted to give him a kiss.

"Adam-"

"Does that really matter to you, be honest?" Kurt lifted a brow and Sebastian laughed.

"No." With Sebastian's free hand his slid onto the back of Kurt's neck and closed that distance to give Kurt a devastating kiss.

A small mewl of reminder from the occupant of the carrier in Sebastian's other hand tore each other apart and Kurt bent to release the cover protecting the occupant from the storm. He cooed at the little girl in the carrier and took her out. She was a year old and was absolutely stunning. She had Kurt's eyes; and dark brown hair. Tamsin had agreed in the end to carry their babies.

They had mixed up the samples but it was easy to tell who the father was. She was pregnant with their second child and this time they just provided a sample from Sebastian.

Their second child was a boy. Neither knew what to do with a boy, despite both of them being boys themselves. He was turning into a real tom boy and that just put Kurt and Sebastian even further out of their depths. Thankfully Finn and Burt did, and were able to talk to him about his interests, like sports and girls as he grew older. He was also interested in singing and Broadway and cars and medicine. Sebastian and Kurt could talk to him about that stuff too. They could even teach him how to respect girls, Kurt had enough of them hanging off of him to be a good role model there. Finn and Burt were ecstatic to have a boy in the family since Finn and Rachel only had 3 girls.

Kurt and Sebastian stopped at 2 even though they had room in their hearts for a whole sports team. Kurt brought home a cat and a dog on two different occasions and Sebastian had stared at him in shock for so long, Kurt thought he was etched in stone. Neither animal seemed like something Kurt would do but at the same time, it had been fitting. Sebastian always thought he'd be the one who would pick up a dog some day but had never done so. Every time he thought about actually doing so, he remembered he would have to share Kurt's attention with it and he would decide against it. Kurt was so against mess of any sort but at the same time, he took in strays left and right..

Sebastian was also the one who found the pets to be really messy, worse than their children. Kurt had held the dog out toward Sebastian. "Don't you think she's just so sad? I want to make her happy!" He'd held the cat close and explained how it had been in the shelter for nearly a year and it was just too sad to pass up.

"Why were you even in the shelter?"

"Um... research? Press?" Kurt rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't even remember. I forgot everything when I saw his face." He pet the cat and didn't complain about the fur that was likely sticking to every inch of their house and his clothes. That was probably the most surprising thing of all.

Yet Kurt never complained about any of that or the mess or the cleaning or the chores. The kids loved the animals and squealed and played with them all day. Sebastian eventually warmed up to them but declared no more pets, ever. Except when Kurt brought home another cat... and probably whatever else Kurt would bring home over the years. Kurt was the one who put all the decals up so none of the animals or kids ran into the glass.

Every other year they went to France for Christmas and the other years they went to Lima or they all stayed in New York. Both sets of parents were always in attendance. Every year for their anniversary they went to France and spent time with Sebastian's extended family. Sebastian's parents were so incredibly happy about that.

Sebastian was over the moon with the arrangement, so was his grandmother, and when they started bringing around the little ones, she was even happier, and smug. Sebastian definitely got that from her.

Sebastian's wedding gift had taken some time to procure, he had wanted all the right things, needed it to be perfect. It was, it was a vineyard in New York with row upon row of vines. So many rows for so long and wide that it would take forever to walk the entire grounds. It was the most peaceful thing that Kurt had ever seen in his life. He had never imaged himself to be a country boy but this had changed him. He still loved his city and would never give it up full time. He brought the animals there with him every time, even though Sebastian worried about the cats, but they always came back. What wouldn't come back to Kurt?

Kurt's gift to Sebastian was to request that he wouldn't have to go on tour anymore. Sebastian told him that he doubted that even he, master of a contract, could get Broadway to agree with that. Kurt was too hot of a commodity to let him dictate that kind of term.

Surprisingly, he got his wish, his name was far more important than touring. If people wanted to see the show the exact way it was meant, the extra magic, then they could come to New York and see it. Which they definitely did, so many shows were sold out that they couldn't even line up tour dates because they were too busy in New York.

To capitalize on this, they let Kurt and part of the original cast stay in New York while they filled in the empty spots with understudies and new cast members so they could have both the New York show going on and a tour.

Kurt had known how hard it was on Sebastian for him to be on the road so much. As they started having kids, that became even more of a priority for Kurt. He shared the burden and the joy equally with Sebastian. Both were able to be there for them at all times and in any way.

The friends all took turns dropping their children off with their 'aunts' or 'uncles' for extended weekends or a week long trip somewhere, so the couples could still get away for some 'adult time' and some 'quiet time'.

Eventually Burt and Carole gave up the pretense and just moved to New York when Burt completed his third term. He sold the garage, bought one outright in New York and spent a lot of time with his kids, all of them and all of his grand kids. He had done what he'd set out to do as a congressman and now was enjoying the rest of his years close to family. If it was in New York, so be it. Carole had no complaints, she got to see her kids and grandkids too.

Even he, Elliott and Jerald were close.

Puck and Mercedes and, even Sam eventually, established themselves in L.A. Puck and Rachel's mom didn't work out but he did get to spend every day with Beth regardless. He and his brother owned a pool cleaning business and were doing quite well for themselves. Sam had been given gigs as a model and an actor in equal measures and he and Mercedes finally got married. They had 5 kids of their own.

They saw the New York crew once a year at the Ohio get-togethers. It wasn't even New Directions or McKinley anymore. It was anyone who had grown up in Ohio and wanted to attend basically, but was mostly McKinley kids and Dalton kids all grown up, and Isabelle on occasion.

Quinn married some uptight no fun guy and had 3 boys and then divorced him and took most of his money..

Brittany and Santana had one more kid, also a boy and Santana carried him. They'd repeated the process that Brittany had done with a mix of donations and just which ever ended up being the lucky donor was the father. Sebastian swore it was Puck who won out with Santana, that kid was a hellion. Kurt insisted that it was Santana's influence alone but Brittany totally carried Sam's kid. Sebastian thought Brittany had lucked out with Kurt's DNA. Finn and Rachel each had their own guesses but nobody ever knew for sure, those kids were healthy and didn't need donor info. They wouldn't do any blood tests to find out for sure, unless something popped up medically.

Finn and Rachel were so completely blissfully happy it was sickening if it wasn't so great. Rachel had mellowed so much but if she got it in her head to be mama-bear, watch out.

Elliott and Jerald had 2 kids total as well and they were both sweet as pie, Elliott became a PT and Jerald made a lot of money doing his thing, when he wanted to.

Artie had finally, finally settled down, and it was with Tina of all people. They realized that even after talking about how neither had actually broken up with the other all those years ago, that they still hadn't done so and had accidentally cheated on each other over the last two decades. They decided that since they were still 'technically together', that they'd give it another chance when she and Mike didn't work out for a second time. This time Tina and Artie stuck. They'd started out together and now they were together for the rest of their lives. Tina had learned how to put Artie in his place when he was being an ass.

Mike was in New York too, he was an instructor at NYADA now, teaching dance. He'd done so many other things, so many places, but he was happiest now. Kurt popped in on occasion much to the NYADA students and teachers' delight, waxing lyrical about when Kurt had been their pupil. Mike and Kurt gave each other a hard time and told the students about what they'd been up to as kids.

He was married now too but they only had one kid, but they were so incredibly besotted by their kid that they hadn't needed any more.

Nick and Jeff were happy and most importantly, healthy. Other than what they'd been through when they were younger, neither had really fallen sick again. They were still unmarried and childless but that made them happy and nobody judged. They were so cute together.

Adam was single but he wasn't overly concerned by that, he was making in through the Broadway channels. He was focused on that for now.

Isabelle was also still single but she was happiest that way and maybe eventually she'd find someone but if she didn't, that was ok too. She figured her life was pretty great and sustainable and if some guy could fit in easily, then he'd be worth it, but if he required her to change, then buh-bye.

Sebastian was perfectly happy where he was at work, it was a sweet niche where he could basically do whatever he wanted without being in firing range in any capacity. He'd put a stop to his own out of town traveling.

Nobody would dare fire him anyway.

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About 12 years after they married, Kurt and Sebastian were taking a stroll through New York. Kurt had given their bodyguards instructions on where to go and Sebastian had smiled when they arrived at their once favorite cafe. It had weathered many storms and somehow still stood, a testament to people and their need for coffee and willingness to pay whatever they had to. It was such an American thing and Sebastian was proud to be part of that tradition.

He thought they'd get back in the car and head somewhere else but Kurt had started to wander down familiar streets. Sebastian's heart started fluttering in his chest, worry in his gut as it twisted as they walked through that shady park. It didn't seem quite as shady as it once had. It should have seemed more shady now that they lived in a better part of town and he wasn't as used to seeing it daily.

Kurt kept going.

He stopped in front of the building that housed the loft. Sebastian hung back, wondering what this was about. Kurt had chosen to come here for a reason. He put his hand against the brick of the building and just stared at it, then looked up to the fire escape just out of reach for most people.

Sebastian didn't know if he should touch Kurt, but he wanted to be there for him.

The door opened and a couple walked right passed the two of them without seeing either. Kurt caught the door before it could shut completely and Sebastian was right on his heels as he slipped in.

"Kurt-" Sebastian finally spoke. "What are we doing here?" Sebastian had never wanted to come back in his life. He hadn't thought Kurt would either.

Kurt didn't answer as he was pulled by an invisible force up the stairs at a speed that Sebastian was surprised he was unable to keep up with. He did reach him just as Kurt put his hand on the handle of the loft.

Sebastian placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. "What are you doing?"

Kurt struggled out of his hold and Sebastian released him without much of a fight. Not here, never here.

He went back to the door and slid it open. The loft had been transformed once more to a restaurant/bar, like the original intention and design. Sebastian had not been expecting that and he wasn't sure how he was feeling.

Someone was hanging out in one of the booths and they got up and stretched and walked toward the two of them. "Can I help you? We don't start serving until 5."

Kurt shook his head and smiled ruefully. "We used to live here, ages ago now. I guess I was curious what became of my once home." He looked around. "You did a nice job with the place."

"Lived here, huh?" The owner looked Kurt over. "As a vagrant? You don't seem the type."

"No, it was our lease fair and legit. At one point it was rezoned to be occupied as housing rather than just a service venue."

"That was..." The man's eyebrow lifted. "Over a decade ago. Things would change in that time."

"I know. I..." Kurt ran a hand along the door frame. "I wanted to see how it changed and while things have, it's also got a lot of the same things from even before I moved in."

"Did you want to look around?" He asked finally, knowing Kurt wasn't going to leave by unspoken request.

"Sure." Kurt walked in and Sebastian closely followed, worried.

Kurt checked out every inch of the place, knowing where the walls closed in the space. He even poked around in the bathroom, noting that the shower was still there. Sebastian was ice cold as he followed his husband. He was reliving what he'd spent years trying to forget. How could Kurt be so casual and cool about all this?

"Thank you." Kurt said after he spent some time staring out at the fire escape and beyond. Then headed for the door.

"Yeah. Come back some time after 5, have a meal with me."

Sebastian's first instinct was to say no. Kurt just smiled at him softly. "I'll think about it."

Before they could fully leave, as Kurt was shutting the door, the owner spoke again. "You're incredibly brave."

"Just nostalgic." Kurt replied almost sadly. "There were a lot of good memories here for some time."

Sebastian was trembling as they walked out of the building and the bodyguards were there with the car idling. They got in and Kurt pulled Sebastian to his chest and let his husband sob and breakdown.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought you there. I thought it would help us fully heal." They'd each had nightmares on occasion but usually they were mostly unaffected. Sebastian had a more visceral reaction to thunderstorms. Except thunderstorms could find them anywhere, they'd avoided this part of New York for years.

"You're not melting down." Sebastian pointed out as Kurt stroked his hair.

"It was my idea, I had time to think about it, plan it, wrap my mind and heart around it." Kurt reassured. "I sprung it on you. I'm sorry."

"Why did- I mean-"

"I wasn't lying. We had so many good memories there first. We truly became a family there, all of us living together, so many good and happy times. I wish you could see those there too."

"Is that all you felt while there?" Sebastian clung to the shirt at Kurt's waist and he didn't complain about Sebastian stretching it out oddly.

"No." Kurt had felt the bitterness and the bittersweet as well. "But then I remembered Marie running around and giggling. Santana and Brittany making out on the couch. Santana and Finn arguing about the ruined birthday cake they'd tried to make me one year. You coming to the rescue with a store bought cake and them all being mad at you. My dad helping me move in. Rachel and I riding bikes around the large empty space..." Tears filled Kurt's eyes. "It had been so much fun and filled with such love and joy, excitement and hope for the future."

Sebastian tried to view it that way, he really, really did and maybe some day he might see it the way Kurt did.

–

14 years after their wedding, Sebastian looked down at all the bodies on the couch with him. He had no idea how it had gone from being on his own, seeking out his own pleasure and then slipping out of a sticky situation, to this.

He hadn't known his heart could be this big and full. He'd definitely been conditioned by Kurt and his makeshift family. It had prepared him for his life now, curled up on the couch with both their children, Kurt and their three pets. He had to share each of his family members with the pets but he still got to hold Kurt close and breath him in and close his eyes in contentment when he felt his child's little belly pressing into his side as they breathed.

He hummed a love song to the sleeping man on his chest and stroked both the heads of the children cuddled up against them

He may have been overly warm but he wouldn't trade his spot for the world. This was his family, this was his Kurt, his husband and nobody would ever get between any of them. He claimed all their extended relatives and friends too. He would jealously protect all of them if it came down to it.

Sebastian was still a possessive ass and he didn't feel guilty about it whatsoever.

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The End

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EAN: So many things to address. A lot of these things I was waiting to comment on until the end. I broke mold a couple of times by having a rare AN here and there, but I was trying to let the story go on it's own with the wrap up explanation just at the end.

1. The title of this story is not from Still Into You, it's not, it's from the actual song Mariposa which was playing when I sat down to write this fic. I've always viewed Kurt as a butterfly and there's so many songs about it (like Wings: Spread Your Wings, My Little Butterfly) Little Mix, even some of the songs referenced in here or were playing while I wrote this had a mention of Butterfly and I like the word Mariposa and then I remembered they both spoke French so Papillion was added to the title...

The kids at the end are 12 and 10 BTW.

2. I feel very guilty about the fact that I stole a song in a totally made up story from a totally fictional character and gave it to another one, and while I wanted to find a way to make it work for Kurt, I just couldn't get it to fit better for him even though the lyrics make more sense for him to sing. I tried replacing Never Ever Getting Back Together with Keep It To Yourself but it just didn't fit right, I wrote that scene with that song in mind. Sebastian just humming it throughout the visit was just so spot on, that I couldn't help but give it to him. It's just what happens sometimes, even when you write the song for another person, someone else can come in and just hit it out of the park. Then I stole a song from Sebastian to give to Blaine... very much a dark move on my part there. I was going to make it a love song and then I decided, yeah, I was going to make it a love song, just a very, very dark version of one. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was so sweet and moving and then I looked up the lyrics and I read them and the verse I used popped out at me and I knew it had to be Blaine's after that. Listening to that song again (Glee version) it was a lot darker sounding even though it was supposed to be sweet and loving and calm, it had a more disturbing edge to it that time. Listening to Roberta Flack's though went back to being a pure love song.

3. This fic was inspired in part by the fact that I cannot find ANY stories where Kurt and Sebastian are together and Sebastian just gets insanely jealous of Kurt's time with Elliott. I've found ones that have the two characters in the same story, but never in that way. Granted, Elliott doesn't show up until Chapter 11 but like I said, inspired in part. I just couldn't help it, I've wanted to write a Kurtbastian for awhile and I've got a lot of ideas kicking around upstairs but the idea of Sebastian being super possessive of attention lathered on Kurt and taken away from him (when it comes to Kurt's) was just far too tempting to pass up. (Stories have a life of their own, I go into it with 1 intention and it comes out a different way).

And... 4. I know I made Blaine an incredible douche in this story and that's partly because of Sebastian being the way he is, how he views Blaine and what he's done to Blaine. Also what I imagine Blaine's total meltdown would look like if he was passed over for Kurt by an incredibly hot guy who was first out to get him and then never, ever, being able to get back together with Kurt. I've written a lot of Klaine stories so I do love them together, and sometimes I think they're the OTP and then I see an episode or scene with them and Blaine's in this totally ridiculous funk or attitude and I just get annoyed with him. I love him and I love Darren Criss, it's just...sometimes I just want to trash his character and this let me do so. It's just a matter of lens on situations and diving off into the deep end from there. Sometimes the car scene is totally innocent and sometimes it's really rather creepy, it all depends on how you spin it and in this story I wanted to spin it as a pattern for Blaine, something that he'd attempt to do again and again with the right building blocks in play. Which is why he didn't do anything for years but the right things happened at the right time for him to go 'totally out of character' or so he thinks but it's been there in him all along, and he's tried it before but was incapacitated to get as far as he gets that time. I did think about cutting the story off after the 1st Broadway play but it was never my intention to leave it there, I decided against it even if it could have naturally ended there with a few loose ends. Except I had a few scenes planned in my mind and there was no way to add them earlier and I decided to stay with my original plan. Smooth Criminal did come back on at the right time which made for a much more dramatic scene between Kurt and Blaine than I had originally planned (I was just going to do a more aggressive car scene) but that song begged me to go even further (chapter 14 originally it was going to be chapter 13 but that's a little on the nose, isn't it? Bad things happening in chapter 13, but if anyone is Korean or know Korean culture, they might pick up that it's in chapter 14 now that the bad things happen, I know because I lived there for a year, not that it has anything else to do with the story other than cultural references only I and a few other people might pick up, lol; and it was totally an accident that I found amusing)).

Plus I really wanted to have Sebastian have his fully powered rage scene (Grant Gustin does it so well) after he finally starts relaxing about things and people hitting on his man. Though I purposefully held off on it from fully coming out too because Sebastian is growing and like I said within the chapter, he would have gone to jail. The only one who deserved to go to jail was Blaine. There were other scenes too that I really wanted Kurt and Sebastian to have that if I ended it at the end of Spring Awakening then I wouldn't have been able to have/share. It had to be Blaine, even with all the forewarning and bad behavior, you just instinctively trust Blaine. If it had been Karofsky, you would have been waiting for it. Elliott is just too good of a guy/friend and kind of, just, there. Adam Lambert did a good job but he just didn't get the scenes/character development he deserved. Couldn't be Adam or Chandler either, both were not present in their lives much since they were introduced. You just trust Blaine, even though he's done a lot to not deserve it at all. Like I said though, I do love Darren Criss and Blaine, if you look at my playlist of stories, they're all Klaine so far other than this one and I will probably go and write some more incredibly sappy chapters between those two... maybe even more stories. This won't be the last Kurtbastian one either. There's just something about those two together that I like together. You might one day get a SebKlaine out of me... though it'll be hard because I view Kurt as a 1 man at a time type of guy... I'll make it work. I had the scene in my head, then I wrote it while Smooth Criminal played and knew I had to ramp it up, loved it but hated where I went with the following chapter and so rewrote it to what you have here. I will release the original afterward as Snapshots and What Might Have Been or Originals. I'll think about it. Anyway, I rewrote the chapter so I could have a bit more leeway with the following chapters but I almost took it from Sebastian altogether. I almost, gave it to Adam the second time through, Adam is coming for a visit and hears a scuffle inside and goes inside, not knowing what to expect but not that. Except... It was always going to be Sebastian's scene, had to be, there was no other real option to that. Besides, Adam and Blaine didn't really know each other, it would have lost it's impact.

5. Can I just say how much I love Barry Allen and he's gotten into my head and made Sebastian Smythe somewhat between Sebastian of the show and Barry Allen but still staying true to Sebastian of the show? Grant Gustin is good at switching between dark and light. And YES, that was a Flash song that I used in there with Kurt and Sebastian. I thought it was nice homage as well as fitting for them. It was only later that I realized that Grant Gustin actually wrote the song himself, haha, perfect. I watched a lot of the Flash when it first came out then rewatched a lot in 2018/2019 along with Legends of Tomorrow and I had seen Darren Criss in A Very Potter Musical in 2010 and may have even seen Hollywood before I started watching Glee in 2020, so it was very interesting watching them in that order.

6. Yes, there are a LOT of references to other shows/movies/pop culture that have nothing to do with Glee... Apartment 42B anyone? And come on, Spring Awakening? Both Lea and Johnathan were in that. However, (speaking of Spring Awakening, Skylar), some might think it but it was already planned long before Zoey's Playlist did it, Make You Feel My Love was actually inspired by my stumble across If I Loved You/Make You Feel My Love sung by Aaron Tveit. This story was going to happen despite the music choices in it, but the music choices came upon me at the right times to be inserted and make it more Glee! than just a story, what's a story in the Glee-verse without songs? They fit perfectly and I think made the moments more powerful. Also Sweet Melodies for anyone who picked it up or didn't was by Little Mix, which is why it's italicized and the lyrics of the song fit that chapter pretty well, don't you think? And Little Mix... oh they're responsible for a lot of my thoughts/feelings through the years, including the song Wings. I just absolutely love that song.

7. TOTALLY unrelated to this story but something I noticed when I was finishing up with it, trying to find a specific Elliott/Kurt picture and got distracted by Klaine – both Kurt and Blaine had to kind of just go full deep end crazy for a moment and then they could pull back and be different and themselves but at a more moderate pace – Kurt with his clothes, Blaine with his "stereotypical pouty dramatic gay" - it's like they just had to let it out since they'd been holding it in for so long and once they got it out of their system they could be a better balance. I say this because as time goes on Blaine gets more hip out, dramatic with his style and behavior and arm throwy. Kurt too slowly goes deeper into his fashion choices but he did it earlier on while in Lima and once he did that, he kept up the ascot, vests, jackets but was mostly jeans, sweaters and button ups. It's like someone who is pretty mellow and mild most of their life and then slowly it builds on them and they just need to let out a massive scream and bawl and then they're able to move on but everyone now knows not to push that hard on them, maybe let them breath for a minute. They did what they were supposed to do – experiment in high school and college and then settled on who "they are" but it doesn't mean they can't keep growing or changing but it's probably not as dramatic (until they're 40 or something, maybe, lol). Oh! What I found, lol, got distracted – in all the pictures, Darren Criss is touching Chris Colfer very appropriately, even when they're kissing. His hand isn't gripping Kurt or anything like that, it's just resting, fingers out, even the car scene and if you look at the one after they get back together after the marching band and they're kissing, Blaine's hand is just resting there because it's supposed to, he's not tugging Kurt into him or holding him in place. If you look carefully at other pictures too, his hand might be resting on Kurt's cheek or in his hair but he's not gripping it and the hand is not in an inappropriate place or even caressing. He does all his inappropriate behavior with his eyes when he's looking at Kurt but when it comes to touching, he's still very polite and PC. The only times you really see a stronger grip is when they're not kissing, like the side hug between the actors, not the characters if you do a dive through images. I don't know why I like how polite that is... I again really, really, really like Darren Criss but I flip-flop on Blaine. And I may be a teeny-tiny bit obsessed with Kurt/Chris Colfer... I'm getting better. I am. He's just so adorable and talented and funny and has a fun attitude and... and I only obsess over Kurt for the most part but I have bought all of Colfer's books and on audio too... He's just gotten a fair amount of money out of me but like I said – he's talented and if that's the only way to hear his voice these days, well, I'll do it. It's just such a soothing and unique voice.

8. Also not related to this story, but again found by accident due to 'research', lol. I was looking into the actors who played different roles. I kept stumbling across Santana and Sebastian's Smooth Criminal meme where they say that these characters were both gay and had the best chemistry and that was because they were actually both straight. Elliott and Kurt were the only reoccurring gay characters played by gay men that I've found/stumbled across (I didn't actually go looking, mind, so I'm sure there are more that I've missed). Whereas Jesse and a few others who were supposed to be straight were played by gay men... I'm of two minds on this and won't go into it here. I'll just say: I like Sebastian and Blaine and the actors who played them, but couldn't you see Jonathan Grott playing Sebastian too?

9. I know I'm just following a trend, but when did Sebastian become Isabelle's nephew? I know I used it too because it's just too perfect, I've loved it since I read it the first time. Still though, where was this originally started? There's always a starting point for it to take off from. Like Niff, that wasn't a show canon thing, neither is the Isabelle-Sebastian relationship. It's become almost fan-canon. I see it all the time in Kurtbastian stories. I don't read Seblaine stories so I don't know if there is a connection there in that fandom too. It's not so prevalent in the ones I've read that are Klaine... but then again most Klaine fics are either after their married or in high school... I don't read much of the intermediate years except for if they meet as adults in New York (never having met earlier) and those don't go into the Vogue storyline usually. People try to make Wevid a thing too, and for some reason it doesn't stick. I've read far more where those two are just friends, with varying levels of curiosity in Kurt. Some people try to make Niff a friendship but far more end up being a couple. It's just kind of an interesting thought train, or at least it is to me.

10. I won't do it, but I was tempted just recently to write this from Blaine's POV, hahaha...

Final EAN: Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing my humble little fic. I enjoyed writing it. :)