Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy and Fox, not me.
Will pulled his smoking, clanking car alongside the curb. He picked up the acceptance letter and took a deep breath. "Here goes," he said to himself.
He started up the front walk to the door, running through his speech in his head. The house looked nothing like he had imagined- a square, perfectly symmetrical red brick home with painted shutters and marigolds lining the walkway and several bicycles of varying sizes propped up against the side of the garage. Honestly, he was equal parts surprised and ashamed of himself for imagining some sort of trailer park situation.
He paused at the front door, squared his shoulders, and rang the bell. It swung open almost immediately. "Hi," chirped the spunky preteen. "You selling stuff?"
"Uh…hello," Will said. "Is…is this the Karofsky house?"
"Yeah, you wanna talk to my mom?" the girl asked. She leaned back into the foyer. "Mom! There's a guy at the door!"
"No, actually, I'm…I'm not…" Will paused. "Is Dave here, by any chance?"
"Oh, yeah, he's in his room," the girl said, swinging back on the door. "Never mind, Mom, it's for Davey! Davey, some dude's at the door for you!" She leaned back towards Will, cracking her gum. "So what'd Davey do?"
Dave Karofsky ambled down the stairs. "I didn't do anything, Soph, get lost," he said. "Go annoy Jonathan." The girl rolled her eyes and disappeared. Dave walked up to the door and halted. "Mr. Schuester?"
"Uh, hi, Dave," Will said. "I, uh, didn't know you had siblings."
"Yeah, Sophia and Jonathan are younger, my brother Seth'll be back from college soon," Dave said, sticking his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. "Is this about my Spanish grade? Because I swear, I know I was late handing in my final paper, but I stuck it under your door on the last day of school and-"
"This isn't about Spanish class," Will said. "This is about glee."
Dave stiffened. "What about it?" he said.
"I was really impressed by you during the week that the football team joined glee," Will said. "You've got a great voice, you just don't know how to develop it." He held out the acceptance packet. "There's a great performing arts camp up near Cincinnati, Pinnacle Heights. I sent in applications and audition videos of all my glee kids, and I sent one in for you too. You've been accepted."
Dave stared at the packet. "I've been what?" he stammered.
"You've been accepted to performing arts summer camp," Will said. "Congratulations."
Dave shook his head. "I don't think this is a good idea, Mr. Schuester," he said. "I don't get along with…well, you know what happened at prom, and I…" He sighed. "Look, this glee thing…it just isn't for me."
"That's because you never thought it was an option before," Will said. He nudged the packet forward until Dave took it reluctantly. "You're really talented, Dave. And maybe this camp could lead you to all sorts of other possibilities."
"Maybe," Dave said doubtfully.
"You should at least think about it," Will said. He clapped Dave on the shoulder. "Well, in any case, I'll see you in Spanish class in the fall, right? Senior year."
"Yeah," Dave said. "See you then, Mr. Schue."
Will smiled and headed back down the walkway. Dave still stood in the doorway, staring at the large, slightly creased envelope like he didn't know what to do with it.
Burt stared down at the papers spread across the kitchen table. He and Carole had stayed up late the night before, after the boys had gone to bed, going through their finances. They had enough money to send one of the boys to summer camp and still go on their belated honeymoon in late June. But at the same time...
It just didn't seem fair to anybody. They could send both boys to camp, and he could tell his wife that they just didn't need a honeymoon. Or they could send one son to camp, and let the other son stay home while his brother had fun with all their friends for eight weeks and his parents gallivanted off to the Florida coast.
Maybe everybody should just stay home that summer. Keep things fair.
Burt sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. At the same time, though, he couldn't bear the thought of taking this away from Kurt. His kid had gone through too much. This school year had nearly killed him, with that damn heart attack and all the bullying and the transfer to a school where he didn't belong. Kurt had kept calm and carried on, just like always, but Burt Hummel knew his kid. He knew what it meant when Kurt's mouth got tight and he started picking at his fingernails. It was never good.
And with that Blaine kid, well, at least that made him happy. But even that couldn't save the whole prom fiasco. Burt would rather sit through the Sound of Music a million more times than see his kid bawl like that again.
Besides, Kurt had already paid his dues spending summer at home. Other kids went to the pool and sleepaway camp and the beach and their friends' houses for playdates. Kurt had spent every summer since his mother's death playing by himself in the office at the garage, or, when he was older, helping Burt fix cars.
Yeah, Kurt deserved a fun summer like this.
Burt picked up the phone and punched in the camp's number, frowning a little when it played a jaunty show tune instead of the normal ringing sound. It picked up quickly.
"Hello, Pinnacle Heights administrative office, this is Evangeline, how can I help you?"
He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, hi," he said. "My kid got accepted to your camp, so I guess I've got to pay for it."
"Sure. What's his name?"
"Kurt Hummel," he said. "His middle name's Elijah."
He crossed his arms and paced across the kitchen as the sound of keys clacked in his ear. "All right, here he is," she said. "Kurt E. Hummel, birthday April 17, 1994? Accepted for musical theater?"
"Yeah, that's him," he said.
"And you want to pay his camp tuition?' she asked.
"Yeah, that's right," he said. "I can do that by card, right?"
"Mr. Hummel, Kurt's tuition has been paid in full."
Burt choked. "He what?"
"His tuition's already been paid for," Evangeline said. "Room and board, tech fees, everything. He even has money deposited in his spending account."
"Is this…is this like a scholarship thing?" Burt stammered.
"Well, it looks like he did receive a scholarship, yes, but a separate bank account paid for everything else," Evangeline said.
Burt sagged against the kitchen counter. He could hear his boys talking loudly as they came in from their afternoon of yardwork, bickering playfully about something, he couldn't tell. Kurt hopped into the kitchen first and stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh my god, Dad, are you okay?" he demanded. "Is it your heart? Should I call an ambulance?'
"Want me to get Mom?" Finn ventured.
Burt shook his head, waving his hand to make them be quiet. "So…so you're sure he's paid for?" he said.
"Everything is in order," Evangeline reassured him.
Burt took a deep breath. His sons stared at him wide-eyed. "Then…I want to pay for my stepson," he said. "He got accepted too. His name's Finn, Finn Christopher Hudson."
He looked at the kids and grinned. There had been few times he'd seen his son struck speechless, and it was always amusing to watch. And Finn looked like you could just poke him and he'd fall over in a daze.
Burt answered all of Evangeline's questions, giving her all the information to make sure Finn was paid for. Finally she confirmed the payment and said her cheerful goodbyes; he hung up the phone and looked at the boys. "So you two finished the yard?" he said. "That was fast. Finn, did you remember to put the lawnmower away this time?"
"Dad," Kurt breathed. "Oh my god. Is Finn going to camp?"
"Did you, like, sell a kidney or something to pay for it?" Finn said. "Because you didn't have to do that. You should…you should keep it, and…"
Burt put his hands on Kurt's shoulders. "Somebody paid for you," he said. "Your tuition's covered."
Kurt covered his mouth. "Oh my god," he mumbled. "I feel like Cinderella. Oh my…oh my god…"
"Who did it?" Finn said.
"I don't know, but I would bear their children," Kurt gasped, fanning himself frantically as he sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "Oh my god."
"Since Kurt's paid up, I figured we could pay for you too," Burt said, turning to Finn. "That was a big thing you did, giving up your summer for Kurt, and I know you were pretty bummed."
"Well, yeah, but….are you sure?" Finn stammered. "Like…really?"
"Really," Burt said, grinning broadly. "You're both going to camp this summer."
"Dad, right now I am sweaty, and disgusting, and I smell like grass, but right now, I just really want to hug you," Kurt said, clasping his hands together.
Burt held out his arms and beckoned him forward. "C'mere, kiddo," he grinned.
Kurt flung his arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Burt hugged him back. Suddenly another pair of arms wrapped around them. He glanced over Kurt's shoulder to see Finn embracing them both, eyes squeezed shut. Burt patted his back.
He cleared his throat. "Okay, boys, if you've got your yard work done, you'd better clean up for dinner before your mom gets home," he said, squeezing Finn's shoulder and ruffling Kurt's hair. "Go on, get."
The boys let go of the hug and headed upstairs, Kurt already launching into his running list of "things to purchase for camp." Burt leaned back against the kitchen counter and grinned.
Author's Notes:
HOLY. SWEET. HELL.
YOU GUYS ARE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS! WHICH IS MAKING ME EXCITED ABOUT THIS! IT IS A VICIOUS CYCLE OF EXCITEMENT!
So yeah, shorter chapter today, and it'll be a few days till the next chapter, but once everyone is at camp, things will pick up quickly.
AND NOW FINN GETS TO GO TO CAMP!
BUT WHO PAID FOR KURT?
AND WILL DAVE KAROFSKY ACTUALLY GO TO SUMMER CAMP? TO SING? AND STUFF?
I am very capslocky right now. No clue why. But yes. Thank you all so, so much for all of your alerts and faves and most of all, your reviews! They are like water to a man in the desert.
So I hope you liked this chapter, and more will come soon!