NOTE: There has been a slight edit made to the chapter. I made a mistake in writing something that's very important to the rest of the fic regarding the Wicked aspect. It's in the last section of the chapter, and the change is small, but extremely necessary. Thanks!
Kurt was looking downward and still smirking when he waltzed back into his apartment. . . he truly hoped Will wouldn't follow him inside, though knew the older man probably couldn't. . . there was more than likely a rather pressing issue he had to take care of beforehand. . . Kurt repressed a chuckle and closed the door behind him.
"I put away your milk." Finn said quietly, and Kurt nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise – he had not seen or expected him to be standing there.
"Oh. . . um. . . thanks, Finn." Moving to brush past the taller man, Finn grabbed Kurt's shoulder to stop him.
"We. . . we need to talk."
Oh hell no.
"A-about?" Finn just looked at him, and somehow in that look, Kurt knew. . . oh, he was fucked. Finn heard something. . . he knew.
"What's going on over there?" Burt asked loudly, and Kurt developed the all too cliché 'deer in headlights' look. Finn sighed and poked his head through the doorway.
"Nothing to worry about, Burt. . . just going to go have a bro chat with Kurt. . ." he didn't wait for a response, grabbed Kurt's arm and practically dragged him to the first room he saw with a closeable door. . . which ended up being the bathroom. After closing the door, he spun around.
"What the hell is going on?" Finn hissed and Kurt flinched, then tried to control his features.
"I don't know what you're talking about. . ."
"Bullshit, dude! Ugh! I'm going to have to stick a friggen' toothbrush in my ears to clean that sound out of my brain. . ." Kurt scoffed.
"The nose is an easier access point." He deadpanned. Finn looked at him incredulously.
"Dude. . .Mr Schue? Really? He's. . . old, and our teacher. . . and. . . and he's Mr. Schue!" Finn practically whined. Kurt sighed.
"Semantics." he replied, rolling his eyes.
"I don't know what that word means." Finn said, frustrated. "And I really don't care. . . Couldn't you find someone your own age? Or at least. . . not. . . dude, it's like catching my brother making out with my father! What the hell!" Kurt frowned, momentarily disturbed, then sat on the edge of his tub.
"Please, don't look at it that way. . ." he finally said. The way Finn had put it, it suddenly made things feel. . . wrong.
"How am I supposed to look at it? Dude, you're the closest thing I've ever had to a brother, or ever will have. . . and Mr. Schuester. . . He's my fucking mentor, man! Do you have any idea how weird-ed out this makes me feel?" Kurt shot to standing, eyes blazing in sudden anger.
"This isn't about you, Finn! And when it comes down to it, I'm not your brother, and he is not your father, and fuck! Why is it that I'm getting so much crap from you for going out with an older man, when if I was seeing a much older woman, I'd be king fucking shit?"
"What are you . . ." Finn began.
"Remember Noah? Back when he was like, 16? That fucking kid screwed around with half the MILF's in Lima . . . and you know what he got? Popularity. Slaps on the back. Fucking 'Way to go' and 'You da man!' So why the hell am I getting shit about being 19 years old and seeing someone who's 32, when Puckerman was out fucking 35 year old women at 16 and getting congratulated?"
The bathroom door whipped open in that instant, banging onto the wall with a sickening crack.
The only thought that raced through Kurt's head in that moment was a desperate 'Oh god, no. No.'
'No.'
Burt looked at Kurt for only a second, but it felt like a small eternity. Then the older man turned to Finn, and leveled a look at the tall quarterback.
"You. . . get out of here. . . I need to talk to my son." Having been on the receiving end of Burt's fury before, Finn didn't ask any questions, nor did he argue, but just made his way out the door. Burt looked to Kurt and sighed, then turned around to examine the door, noticing the knob had left a small hole in the drywall. He shook his head.
"Kurt, calm down and sit down, you look like you're about to have a panic attack." he said upon glancing at his boy, then continued. "I'll, um . . .I'll grab some spackling to fix that hole up before I leave. . . don't want you to lose your deposit or anything . . ."
"D-dad?" Burt turned back to his son and smiled, and Kurt just looked at him in confusion.
"He. . . " Burt paused. "He make you happy?" Kurt nodded dumbly, then replied.
"Very."
"Good. . . He uh. . . he. . . seems like a good guy. I like the way he sticks up for you." Burt nodded as if confirming to himself what he had just said was alright. "I'm going to go talk to your idiot friend about his double standards again. Come on out when you're ready." Kurt just stared at his father, first in shock, then melting into nothing short of pure adoration. He couldn't help the tears that came; he truly had the best dad in the world. He walked over to give his father a hug.
"I love you, Dad." Burt laughed.
"Me too, kiddo . . . Let that guy know though, in the spirit of fair warning . . . if he hurts you, and I'm not talking the minor, stupid fights you'll inevitably have. . . but if he hurts you . . . I'll drag him back to Lima myself and string him up by his toenails on the goddamn goalpost. Got it?" Kurt smirked.
"Loud and clear." Burt nodded and left the room, and Kurt slid down the wall in his relief. His dad knew. . . he was okay with it. . .and damn was he glad there was no heart attack involved with him finding out. He himself had probably been closer to one when his father had stormed the door. He was about to get up when Mercedes came running into the room, concern etched on her features.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked and Kurt nodded.
"Yeah. I think I underestimated my father." he smiled. "How's he doing with Finn?"
"They actually having a pretty toned down conversation. . . Oh man, Kurt, I tried to stop him from rushing on in here like that, but he heard everything. . . you guys were yelling way to loud. . ." Kurt shook his head.
"It's fine." He laughed. "I can barely believe it, but it's fine. I'm honestly more worried about Finn right now."
"Why? What . . ." Kurt frowned.
"He's kind of disgusted. . . I mean, I'm used to his little homophobic comments by now. . . but this was more than that. . . there's something else bugging him. . . I think I'll wait for him to cool down a bit before I talk to him, though. He's having a little trouble processing the whole thing." Kurt sighed, and Mercedes shrugged.
"He's going to have to get used to it, Kurt." She smiled. "I really don't see you and Mr. Schue breaking things off anytime soon. What the hell happened in the hall, anyway?" Kurt blushed.
"I, uh, I got a little carried away." Mercedes raised an eyebrow and Kurt continued. "He's probably not going to be back for a while. . . I think I got him a little worked up." The young woman shook her head and smiled.
"You're terrible." She laughed. "Poor Mr. Schue."
"He didn't complain too much." He smirked.
"I wouldn't think he would. . . you are fabulously adorable, and I know enough from our little girl talks that you're just about the biggest freak I know." Kurt slapped his friend playfully on the arm and grinned.
"You flatterer! I assure you, though, I'm an angel. Completely sweet and innocent." She scoffed.
"Yeah, angel, right. . . more like a succubus with a halo wearing leather hot pants in July." Kurt laughed.
"Ugh, leather hot pants, Mercedes? Really?"
"That's the part you choose to deny?" Kurt just chuckled.
"Alright, alright, enough . . . I'm starving, let's go make lunch." Mercedes rolled her eyes.
"Hell no, I'm going to order us some goddamned Chinese or something – it's your day, and you are not cooking." He smiled, nodded, linked his arm with his best friend's and headed back to the parlor.
Will had opted to take a walk, desperately in need of a distraction from the events that had just occurred in the hallway outside of his boyfriend's apartment. Good god. . .did Kurt have to be such a tease? The guy went from affectionate to predatory in seconds. . . and the goddamned name thing. . .
He had almost lost it when Kurt had spoken his parting line. . . if the younger man hadn't run inside the moment he had, Will had a feeling that his partner would have been the one pushed up against the wall, and Will would have been the one to put him there.
God, his own name had never sounded so . . . dirty. . .
He growled inwardly. Distraction! He had to stop thinking about this . . .
Birthday. It was Kurt's birthday . . . well fuck, what do you get for someone you've been dating for two days, have known for years, and who was driving you completely out of your mind? He blinked.
Emma. He'd call Emma. She'd know what to do. . . at least he hoped so. He frowned momentarily. It was a school day. Should he really call her at work about something like his? Dammit, but he needed to talk to someone. . . Fuck it. He dialed.
"Guidance office, Emma speaking." he let out a breath and smiled. Right. Guidance office. Perfect.
"Emma, it's Will. Do you have a minute?"
"Oh! Hi! Just one second, okay? I just have to give a student a few pamphlets she requested. . .hold on." He waited. "Okay, back. Oh, Will I was going to give you a call a little earlier. The most amazing thing happened. . ." Will blinked.
"Really . . ." he was interrupted before he could ask what was going on.
"Remember Noah Puckerman? Stayed back last year, behavioral problem . . ." Will stopped mid-stride, and ducked himself under an awning, away from the other pedestrians on the street.
"Of course I do . . .what did he do?"
"Well he came into my office with a bunch of other students . . . like thirteen or so of them, and had a motion signed by Figgins . . ." Will gulped . . .this wasn't . . .
"Glee club's been reinstated into the curriculum. . . and until we get a more appropriate director, I'm heading it." The smile that broke onto Will's face was enormous.
"That. . . that's incredible! Puck, huh? Damn, who would have thought." he mused, and Emma chuckled.
"It's probably part of some scheme to get girls or something, I know . . . I really don't mind though."
"Oh wow. I can't wait to tell Kurt! This is . . . Emma, I'm so . . . Thank you. And thank Puck for me, too."
"Of course." She laughed. "Speaking of Kurt, how are you two doing?" Will sighed, and leaned up against the building he was standing next to.
"Em, he's . . . fantastic. . .but he's driving me absolutely crazy. . . I can't stop thinking about him. . . the whole thing's a little insane, but I just can't bring myself to care. . ."
"Aww." She replied. "Will, I'm so happy for you. . ."
"He's actually the reason I called. . . It's his birthday, and I'm completely stumped about what to get him."
"Hmm. . .Well I wouldn't go too crazy Will, maybe a CD or some lotion or something."
Will blushed. Oh god, there was no way in hell he was getting Kurt lotion. . . the implications of it. . .
"I'm not getting him lotion, Em. Not happening. And . . ."
"Why not? He seems to be pretty focused on . . . Oh!" she paused and must have come to a realization. "Oh, you're right . . . probably not the best choice. Um . . ." Then she laughed. "There's always those books you're teasing me about reading."
"Emma!" he turned beet red. "No! Trust me, he does not need any more encouragement in that department."
"Oh Will, you're so fun to tease." Will bit his lip and shook his head in amusement.
"Yeah, Kurt seems to think so too. Seriously though, I need some ideas . . ." Emma sighed.
"You're thinking too hard, Will. Just take him out for a nice dinner or something. Something classy. I think he'd like that." he shook his head.
"I think his father has something planned for tonight. Oh, I didn't tell you about that . . . Burt, Finn, Mercedes, and Rachel are here visiting . . . I'm assuming for the week, but I don't know for sure."
"Oh that's right! It's spring break for them, isn't it? We had ours last week . . ." she sighed. "Oh . . . Will . . . oh that must be uncomfortable with Kurt's father around."
"It is a little, the worst of it so far has actually been with Rachel . . . Kurt landed a part yesterday and Rachel found out this morning and completely flipped out on him. . . and then I ended up yelling at her pretty badly. . ."
"How bad?" He sighed.
"She accused him of sleeping his way in, and called him talentless. . . I feel a little bad about making her cry, but she really needed to be put in her place, you know?"
"Will" Emma said. "She respects you. Highly. Hard truth coming from you is probably the best thing you could have done for her at this point. Don't feel bad about it. . . she wouldn't have started crying if you hadn't hit home. . . this could really turn out to be a good thing." Will chuckled.
"Em, you definitely chose the right profession . . . you're incredible at what you do."
"Why thank you. . .ooh, I have to go though, there's a student at the door. Call me again soon, alright?" Will smiled.
"Will do. Bye." He grinned, and turned to head back to Kurt's apartment, dialing his boyfriend as he walked.
"Hummel looney bin." Kurt answered, smiling into the receiver. His guests were enjoying their lunch, thankfully in a rather drama free manner. Will chuckled.
"Do you always answer your phone like that?" Kurt laughed.
"Only when I feel like it, and I had a feeling it was you." He smirked. "Feeling better?"
"Relatively. I took a little walk and had a chat with Emma. . . there's a few interesting things going on back at McKinley." Absently playing with the phone cord, Kurt grinned.
"I never pegged you for a gossip, Will, but please . . . continue." Finn's head rose in hearing the name, and then went back to poking at his lo mein.
"Noah Puckerman went and revived Glee club." Kurt's eyes widened.
"Are you serious?" he exclaimed, and then paused. "Wait, what's his angle?" Laughing, Will sighed.
"Emma seems to think it's probably some harebrained scheme to seduce women." Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Probably. . ." The younger man scanned the room, and realized that the others within were probably eavesdropping. . .well, Mercedes and Finn anyway. He sighed. Oh well, best to warn the man before he showed back up.
"Funny you should mention Puck. . . he came up in conversation over here, too." Kurt said.
"Really . . ." Will began. "How'd that . . ." The young man bit his lip.
"Finn and I had a little fight." Upon hearing his name, the tall man's head shot up. Mercedes shot Finn a glare, as if daring him to say anything.
". . . that's . . . What happened?" Schuester questioned. Kurt sighed.
"We're busted." A sharp intake of breath was heard on the line. "Finn overheard us in the hall and wasn't impressed. . . and then my Dad heard Finn and I screaming at each other in the bathroom. . ."
"Oh god. . ." Will began. "Is everything alright? Are you okay?" Kurt smiled fondly.
"Dad took it amazingly well. Finn. . . not so much." Will sighed.
"Put him on the phone." Kurt's brow furrowed. "Finn, I mean. I want to talk to him before I come back over there." The young man looked to his stepbrother and sighed, then put his hand over the receiver to speak to him.
"Finn . . . um. Will wants to talk to you. You mind?" Finn let out a heavy breath and pushed himself away from the table. Then he walked over to put his hand out for Kurt to hand him the phone. Kurt did, and then took a few steps away, finding himself not knowing what to do.
"Come and eat, honey." Mercedes piped in, and Kurt nodded, sitting himself down. Finn walked as far away as the cord would allow, which was just enough to make whatever he was saying to Will an inaudible mumble. Five minutes stretched to ten, and Kurt nearly dropped the packet of soy sauce he was fidgeting with when he heard the sound of the phone being replaced onto it's base. Finn came up behind him and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, he's on the way up." The affectionate smirk Finn threw at him made Kurt's worries float out of him, and he nodded, following the other man to the door. Will was on the other side when Finn opened it, and the older man smiled, holding out his hand for a handshake.
"We good?" Finn nodded and shook. Kurt looked to the two of them in surprise. . . this was certainly a turnaround. Looking to Will, the hazel eyed man just shook his head. "Sworn to secrecy, Kurt. . . I'm sorry." Confused and slightly irritated Kurt went to close the door. . . and a familiar female voice shot from down the hall.
"Wait!" Rachel yelled while sprinting and Kurt briefly contemplated just slamming the door on her. . . what the hell was she doing back?
She must have seen the expression on his face, because she continued.
"Please? I . . .need to talk to you." Kurt sighed.
"You've got two minutes. We were just about to serve the cake, and I'm not going to be late for my own little choir." he said. Rachel pulled her oversized handbag off of her shoulder and reached inside, pulling out a small square object, unwrapped and placed in a plastic bag.
"I . . . um, I didn't get to wrap it. I would've but, I wanted to make sure to catch you before you did whatever you were going to do tonight . . . and um . . ." Kurt held his hand up and pulled the thing out . . . then put his hand to his chest and looked at her in no small amount of surprise. "It's the whole thing. . ." She said. "I mean, it's a bootleg . . . Broadway would hardly put out a CD with the entire production . . . but." She smiled. "I figured it'd be easier to practice Elphaba if you had material readily available to you. . . I . . ." Kurt bit his lip and felt his eyes start to water.
"T-thanks Rachel . . . this is . . ." he shook his head. "This is really nice . . ."
"I . . . just wanted you to know how sorry I am for the way I reacted earlier." She rolled her eyes at herself. "I was just . . . I was so jealous. I, um . . . I actually had just been turned down for a smaller production of Wicked in California, for Elphaba, no less, and . . . now that I think about it . . . it probably had something to do with the way I presented myself." She looked to her feet and shook her head. "I was too cocky." she smiled sadly. "I mean, it's no excuse for the horrible things I said to you . . ."
"Stop, Rachel." he smiled. "I get it. Diva war's on hold." Rachel smiled hugely, then paused, seeming to remember something.
"There was one more thing . . . um, if you don't mind." She reached back into her bag and Kurt watched her curiously. Out came something that resembled a journal, black and littered with gold stars. "This . . ." Rachel said. "This is one of my treasures . . . I've got signatures from only the people I really respect and admire in here . . ." She smiled, and handed Kurt a sharpie marker. "I would be honored to have your autograph, Mr. Hummel."
Kurt put his hand to his mouth, touched, then held his hand out and took the book from her, flipping through the pages and looking through the names. It was an impressive list. Suddenly, he laughed.
"You signed your own name in here . . ." Rachel shrugged and grinned. Kurt shook his head in amusement, uncapped the marker, and proceeded to sign his name right next to hers on the page. Then he handed the book back to her and gestured her inside.
Will was leaning on his shoulder on the wall, having seen the whole thing take place, and was grinning from ear to ear. Rachel had paused in the doorway, and looked at him shamefaced. He then walked up to her and embraced her.
"I'm proud of you, Rachel . . ." He said simply, and let go. She positively beamed.
"Thanks, Mr. Schue. . . I really am sorry, and that means a whole lot. . . especially from you." Will nodded and then cocked his head in the direction of Finn. Rachel ran to her boyfriend and squeezed him. Finn smiled, returned the gesture, and kissed the top of her head.
"That's my girl." he said to her affectionately, then looked to Kurt and Schuester. "So who wants cake?"
"You outdid yourself, Mercedes." Kurt said appreciatively. . . his best friend had managed to find quite the cake, beautifully decorated with fondant sculptures and supremely delicious. Mercedes laughed.
"It's not like I made it myself, Kurt." He shrugged.
"Thanks the same . . ." he said, and proceeded to blissfully suck a rather large dollop of whipped cream from his fork and into his mouth. He nearly burst out laughing when he noticed that Will was quite openly staring at him. He winked at him, and the curly haired man looked away a bit too abruptly. Mercedes rolled her eyes.
"Ugh, you two. Get a room."
She realized her mistake almost instantly, and Kurt's eyes widened as he slowly turned his gaze to Rachel.
Rachel looked shocked . . . but not as scandalized as he would have expected. She blinked a few times, and looked from him, to Will and back again. Then, to Kurt's utter surprise, she smiled.
"That's . . ." She said. "That's kind of cute." Kurt's jaw dropped. The woman was smiling, hands clasped together in her lap and was bouncing a bit on her chair. "I mean, my Dads are like, ten years apart too . . ." A serious look overtook her eyes, and Kurt braced himself. "Mr. Schue is a good man Kurt, you'd better not hurt him." It took the young Hummel nearly a minute to gather himself from his shocked stupor.
"God, are you bipolar or something?"
Will and Burt's simultaneous and rather firm, "Kurt." made him quiet, and Rachel just laughed.
"No, Kurt . . . but, I mean, come on. . . you were there for that week that I had a crush on Mr. Schue. I totally understand." Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, I do remember that . . . it was horrifying." Kurt said and Will promptly choked on his cake. Kurt grinned and patted Will on the back as the older man tried to hold back his laughter and stop coughing. "You alright there?" Will nodded.
"I think it's time for a change of subject." Burt said, and Will agreed. Finn spoke up.
"How's the biz, Mr. Schue? They still casting for that deal that Kurt's in?" Schuester smiled.
"They're actually just making their final decision on Fiyero," he looked at his watch. "Should be getting a call about that soon, actually. . . then rehearsals start three weeks later."
"I hope he's at least good looking." Kurt said, and Will shot him an hurt look. "Oh come on, Will, give me a break. If I have to be making eyes at someone else, at least it'd be good to find them semi-attractive. It makes it more easy to be believable." Kurt rolled his eyes. "It's not like the script demands Elphaba to kiss the guy."
"Are you kidding? Elphaba and Fiyero's scenes are so sweet. . ." Rachel interrupted and sighed. At Kurt's look of disbelief, she grimaced. "Oh . . .I'm not helping, am I?"
"You have no tact at all." Kurt said and shook his head. As fate would have it, Will's phone took just that opportunity to ring. He went to get up to take the call in another room, and Kurt pulled him back down. Will shrugged and answered.
"Schuester. . ." he paused, listening. "Awesome, who . . ."
Then his face morphed with something a cross of shock and horror. He looked like someone had sucker-punched him in the gut.
"Wait. . . wait. . . say that again?" he bit his lip and looked to the ceiling. "What are his credits?" Releasing his lower lip from his teeth in the silent word 'fuck,' Will said his farewells and ended the call. Kurt looked to him, concerned.
"What's wrong?" Will looked to him, and sighed.
"They cast Fiyero. . . I had to double check if I was understanding them correctly. . . but. . ." Kurt frowned. . . why did he look so upset?
"So . . ." Kurt began, "What's the problem? Who is it?"
Will looked around the table, frowning heavily and then shaking his head. Finally, he answered.
"Jesse Saint James."