Kurt and Blaine returned to the party seemingly unmissed during their dalliance. Ironically, even though it was Kurt who'd just received the most mind blowing blow-job of his life, Blaine seemed to be the greater beneficiary of their adventure. He put on a dapper, charming, relaxed air as he worked the room like a pro. Kurt mainly just nodded and made non-controversial chit chat. The entire thing seemed so stiff and formal that he spent most of his energy trying conceal his boredom.

They were in the middle of a long conversation with Blaine's two sisters, Jordan and Skylar, when Kurt started to wonder where his mother had gone to. He subtly looked around for her as Jordan continued talking about her PhD dissertation defense in excruciating detail. Something about semipermeable membranes and nanotubes. It sounded pretty complicated and Kurt wasn't really following. He wasn't the only one who wasn't paying attention. Skylar was texting (discretely, she thought) instead of listening to her sister.

"Sky! Are you listening to me?" Jordan exclaimed.

"Yeah, sure. Chemistry and stuff. It was really hard and you were awesome."

"Stop texting your boyfriend. It's rude."

"Rude? What's rude is you boring us to death at this already tedious affair. Look, I get it, J. You take salt water and turn it into fresh water. That's super awesome. Spectacular. So why don't you just say that?"

"I did."

"In about five thousand extra words," sighed Skylar. "I wish I could just go over to see Danny now. This is so unfair."

"Why don't you?" asked Kurt.

Both girls snorted.

"As if," exclaimed Jordan.

"Attendance isn't optional. Daddy made me show up or I would be with my boyfriend right now. We'd be having way more fun, too."

Blaine sniggered.

"That's not what I meant," snapped Skylar.

"Didn't Blaine explain this party to you?" asked Jordan.

Kurt took the chance and answered, "No." He figured that he could claim he hadn't been paying attention if Blaine contradicted him. Luckily, he didn't.

"You see that young man, over there?" asked Jordan pointing to a man next to her father. "That's Christopher N. Rutherford."

"Yeah, I think your dad introduced us," admitted Kurt.

"Well, officially this is just a social gathering. But unofficially it is a political introduction. Daddy has decided to groom him for state office and hopefully after that, congress. He's young, charismatic, and more importantly willing to take Daddy's advice on the issues."

"Well, I guess that explains why he was trying to rope me into politics. He's barking up the wrong tree. I am sooo not interested in politics."

"Join the club," snarked Skylar. "We all wish he hadn't been bitten by the political bug. General Powell's victory inspired him and now this is his new favorite thing. We can only hope a crushing defeat with squash his ardor."

Jordan laughed and said, "I'll drink to that."

"Do you know where my mom is?" Kurt asked finally, having been watching for her the entire conversation.

No one had seen her in a while so Kurt excused himself to look for her. Blaine wanted to go with him but Kurt managed to convince him to stay. He was about to call her cell phone, feeling a little foolish when he noticed a waiter caring a tray for of food coming from one direction and another with an empty one going in the opposite. On a hunch, Kurt followed him through a door and into an enormous kitchen bustling with activity.

There was his mother, eyes crinkled with laughter talking to...a man. Kurt wasn't sure why but he knew instantly that he didn't like this situation at all. The man was wearing a white uniform and was clearly one of the catering staff. Nothing untoward was going on but he was smiling at Kurt's mom and it just wan't right.

Elizabeth looked in Kurt's direction and exclaimed, "There's my son, Kurt. Kurt come meet Tony. He runs the catering company that does all of the Anderson's soirees. Tony, this is my son, Kurt."

"Pleased to meet you, Kurt. Your mother is a remarkable woman."

"Mom, what are you doing in here?" Kurt asked coldly.

"Oh, we were just talking shop. I know I should be out there mingling but I'm sure no one missed me. I really hate these stuffy affairs. Tony studied at Kendall. In Chicago. Isn't that something?"

"Oh, it's something, alright," muttered Kurt giving Tony a glare. He wasn't fooled one bit by this swarthy handsome 'chef' that seemed to be charming his mother.

"What's that, baby? Kurt is something bothering you?"

"Blaine," Kurt lied quickly. "He was looking for you. He was really getting worried so I came looking for you."

"Oh, the poor thing. I know how he gets at these things. I do wish he and Arthur got along better. Well, I should be going."

"I'll call you," said Tony brightly.

"I'm looking forward to it," Elizabeth chirped as she walked away with Kurt.

"Mom, what do you think you are doing? You hardly know that man!" Kurt hissed when they were out of earshot.

"Kurt, what do you think you're doing? We're just going to have coffee and talk shop. He was impressed with my ideas. Not that it is any of your business."

"What about Dad?" Kurt answered hotly.

"You're dad would want me to be happy," she answered softly. "I would want him to be if I were the one to go first."

"That's different," Kurt insisted.

"How?"

Because he waited eight years. But Kurt couldn't say that. His father's loss was too fresh for Kurt but for his mother it had been more than two years. Instead of answering, Kurt just hugged her close and said, "Please, Mom, just...not yet. I can't deal with it." She sighed and squeezed him tight.

"It's just coffee, baby, but I'll tell him that I'm too busy. But we need to talk about this."

"Not now," he insisted.

"I know. But soon."

Eventually, the dreadful party came to an end and Kurt's mom said her goodbyes leaving Kurt to spend the rest of the weekend with Blaine at the Andersons'. Apparently, everyone was used to Kurt and Blaine sleeping together and that arrangement didn't even warrant a bat of the eye.

Kurt was a little nervous given his promise the night before but, luckily, Blaine's mood had changed and he wanted more tender affection from Kurt which he gladly supplied. Kurt had come a long way sexually from where he'd been when he met Blaine. He'd been scared of sex - freaked out by messy concept of it. Now, he was more comfortable with his own sexuality but still not as confident as he'd like to be with Blaine. He was well aware that Blaine was much more of a sexual creature than he was, perhaps no more than an average teenage boy but still more so than Kurt. He just hoped that when Blaine wanted to be fucked instead of made love to that he be able to deliver.

04 September 2011

Kurt finally got to sleep late as the two boys spent a lazy Sunday morning. Kurt absolutely loved sleeping with Blaine. He'd only spent two nights with him but they were perfect. He loved the way that Blaine seemed to want to be touching him all the time. The way he would immediately roll over to stay with Kurt when he moved around. Kurt spent much longer than he would normally lying awake in the morning snuggling because he wasn't ready to get up even though he was completely awake.

After a quick breakfast, Blaine settled on his bed with his guitar while Kurt browsed the internet trying to get a handle on this new universe. He didn't get bogged down too much in pop culture. Ten years of difference was too much to catch up on. Perhaps it was sort of a defense mechanism for Kurt that he tended to like classic movies and Broadway musicals more than the latest trends. That way the things that he loved the most were always the same in every universe. Everything that happened before he was born was solid, since he only jumped between universes that split after he was born. He didn't really know that it was impossible to go further but he thought so. At least, he wasn't in danger of ending up in a universe where human served their giraffe overlords. Well, he supposed that wasn't impossible either but he sure hoped it was unlikely.

He would have liked to avoid the topic of politics as well but, unfortunately, Kurt was sure he'd need to know at the least the rudimentary basics - like who was president. As he'd heard at the party, it was Powell - General Powell. Apparently, the country was ready for an African American president regardless of the other differences. Kurt didn't recognize the man from his pictures but he really didn't follow politics or he would have realized that he'd been prominent in the other universes that he'd lived in. More surprising than the fact that the current President wasn't Barack Obama was that the previous President had been Al Gore.

Kurt wondered if Al Gore had been President in the universe he'd left behind when he was eight. He knew that he ought to know but he didn't. An eight year old should be aware of who the President is but when he thought back to that time, his memories of the world outside his immediately family were hazy. He could picture his mother clearly. Everything about her was sharp in his mind right down to the way she smelled. Likewise, his father and the house they lived in but when he cast his thoughts further, it was just a blur. At least, that explained why he drove a Prius and why his mother drove a REVA which he discovered was an Indian car. SUVs like his baby weren't strictly outlawed but it was clear he wouldn't be getting one here.

Gay rights had progressed only a little further. He had to laugh at that irony. The conservatives were always decrying the liberal agenda and how the Democrats were going to make everyone gay. If they only knew that in alternate universes, things just weren't that differnt. Ten states that recognized gay marriage was better than six, if disappointingly meager.

Kurt decided that he didn't really want to know more than that. If asked, he'd simply claim a disinterest in politics. It was true after all. Kurt closed his lap top, put it on the floor, and glanced and his boyfriend who was still engrossed in his composing.

"Whatcha writing?" Kurt asked with a flirty smile.

"Huh?" Blaine mumbled distractedly.

Kurt rolled over on his stomach and put his chin on his hands.

"Is it a sappy love song?"

Blaine looked at Kurt and smiled.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

Kurt laughed.

"Who's it about? Is it about me?" Kurt teased with a giggle, kicking his legs playfully.

Blaine put his guitar down and gave Kurt a lingering sweet kiss.

"My songs are always about you. I love you so much."

"Yeah?"

"You know I do."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why do you love me?" Kurt asked seriously. Kurt had the advantage of knowing that Blaine had pursued and won other boys in other universes and sometimes he felt uncertain of Blaine's feelings. Kurt knew all too well that Blaine was desperate for affection and that he sometimes confused sex with love.

"Is there something going on with you, Kurt? You've been acting strange all week. You know that I love you. Why would you ask me that?"

"I just...maybe I just need some reassurance. We were so young when we met. Young, lonely, vulnerable...Are we together because you didn't think you had any other options?"

"No! Kurt, how can you even think that? You're adorable. Beautiful. And sexy. I'm sorry if I don't tell you enough. You're my world and I adore you."

"So what you're saying is that you only love me for my physical attractiveness. Because I'm so fabulous," teased Kurt.

"Yes," Blaine teased back as he pushed Kurt on to his back and straddled him. "I only want to ravish you day and night and never do anything else."

Kurt giggled as Blaine started tickling him instead of making good on his ravishing threat.

When the tickling and giggling subsided, Blaine answered seriously.

"I love how fierce and loyal you are. How amazingly strong you are. You're witty and smart and more than any thing else, you put up with me and all of my stupidness. That's why I love you."

"You aren't so hard to put up with," answered Kurt softly as he ran his fingers through Blaine's hair. "The only annoying thing about you is that you don't seem to know how perfect you are." He chuckled softly. "Actually maybe that's a good thing because if you knew you'd be impossible."

"Oh my god, my eyes!" exclaimed Jordan as she walked in to see the two boys tangled on the bed together. "Don't you two ever stop that?"

"J, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" complained Blaine as he disentangled himself from Kurt. Kurt sat up blushing furiously even though both of them were fully clothed and hadn't actually been doing anything.

"Haven't you ever heard of closing your door?" she retorted. "Anyway, I just came to see if you two want to have lunch with Sky and me. Mom took Dad to the airport and won't be back for a while. We're bored and thought we might interest you in a game of canasta after."

"Yeah, I could eat," answered Kurt. He had no idea what canasta might be but he guessed that he could figure it out quickly enough.

Canasta turned out to be a card game and Kurt looked a little confused when Skylar put a stack of cards in front of Kurt.

"Don't tell me that you forgotten the rules already? It hasn't been that long since we played," she said as she put cards in front of her brother and sister as well. Everyone started shuffling their stacks then passing around halves to mix the cards more. So Kurt did the same. "Keep score for us, Kurt?" she asked handing him a notebook and pen. Kurt opened it and was pleased to discover a set rules to the game neatly written in his own handwriting on the first page. Subsequent pages seemed to be score keeping from numerous games, also neatly written in his own pen. The last one dated in May.

"Shall we draw for partners or are we just going to do boys against the girls?" asked Jordan.

"Kurt and I will be partners," Blaine insisted and Kurt smiled at his boyfriend. The game turned out to be mostly a straightforward game of luck with a little strategy. More than anything it seemed to be an excuse to sit around chatting. Jordan mostly talked about her job prospects while Skylar talked about her boyfriend and the upcoming year in college.

"...so it really comes down to whether I want to work at a small start up company or if I'd rather have the security of working for the DIT. Would you stop texting Danny and pay attention? It's bad enough you did that the entire party last night. Jeez, you'd think you hadn't seen him in months instead of days."

"Multi-tasking. I can listen, play cards, and text at the same time. I'm talented like that."

Jordan snorted her derision.

"Relationships. I don't see what the big fuss is," the older girl groused.

"Maybe you just haven't met the right man," Kurt suggested. "Or woman." he hastily amended.

Blaine's eyes widened and he shook his head to stop Kurt but it was far too late.

"Really?" snapped Jordan. "Kurt, there is nothing wrong with me and I don't need to be fixed. I wish everyone would stop telling me that. I'm twenty-six, not twelve. How would you like it if I told you that you'd become straight if you just meet the right woman?"

"I wouldn't," he admitted not really understanding what he'd said wrong. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"I know," she admitted. "you'd think that I'd be used to it by now but I just didn't expect that from you. My parents, sure, but not you."

"Asexuals have relationships, too," interrupted Skylar. "What?" she said when they stared at her blankly. "I researched it, OK. Sometimes they do and even marry each other. Not all romantic relationships are sexual. So, J, sweetie, I'm sure that's what Kurt meant. Not that you'd suddenly become someone that you're not - just maybe someday you'll meet another asexual and want to have a relationship. I won't pretend that I understand what that means but it happens." She looked at Kurt and said. "That's what you meant, right?"

Oops. No wonder she was offended.

"Yes, exactly," agreed Kurt gratefully.

"OK, if we've completely beaten the dead horse of my sister's asexuality, let's just play cards shall we?" interrupted Blaine awkwardly.

Apparently, all was forgiven as they played several more rounds, getting back into the groove of teasing and gossiping together.

"That's 18000 points for us and you two are still under 10000, do you want to concede?" asked Kurt as he tallied the latest hand.

"You cheat, I don't know how but I know you do," exclaimed Skyler.

"Prove it," smirked Kurt. He did of course. If he thought about it, he might realize that it was wrong on some level but he never did. He might rationalize it by saying that he was keeping his skills sharp but he didn't. It was as natural as breathing to him so he didn't even think about it.

"I can't but... come on... how likely is it to get a wild card canasta in every hand?"

"That same as everything else," he responded.

"What?" Skylar asked with a confused look.

"Every hand is unlikely. You think that the winning hands are more unlikely because we ascribe special meaning to them. Losing hands may be more numerous but each one of them, regardless of the cards, is incredibly, astronomically, unlikely, and yet you always draw something," explained Kurt.

"That doesn't make any sense at all," countered Skylar.

"Actually, it does," corrected Jordan. "I have a PhD in physical chemistry so I had to study that sort of thing and he's right. If you draw fifteen cards from a randomized deck, every outcome is equally likely. Stop being paranoid. Blaine and Kurt are just having a lucky streak."

"Well, I didn't know you guys studied statistics at Dalton."

"We don't," answered Blaine looking at Kurt thoughtfully.

"It's just a topic that fascinates me," admitted Kurt.

"Learn something new every day," mused Skylar. "If you boys don't mind driving yourselves there tomorrow, I'm going to head out and spend the night over at Danny's."

"No problem," Blaine answered. "I'll borrow Mom's car since I left mine at Dalton."

"So are you going to spend the entire day under an umbrella again, Kurt?" Skylar teased.

"I have delicate skin," Kurt insisted. His calendar had the simple entry 'picnic' for the next day so he figured they'd be in the sun somewhere.

"Well, as fun as this has been, I better get going too," added Jordan. "I'm flying out to California tomorrow for my interview on Tuesday. I need to practice my presentation a few more times," she insisted nervously.

"You'll be fantastic," Blaine assured her with a hug.

05 September 2011 Labor Day

It was a long drive but at least they weren't taking Kurt's Prius. Mrs. Anderson's Mercedes was electric but it was still the very definition of luxury. Blaine had programed the address in the navigation system and Kurt had discovered that they were going on a 90 minute drive west of Columbus to a destination that seemed to be smack dab in the middle of nowhere. He'd surreptitiously searched his contacts in his phone and discovered that the address belonged to none other than one tall blond Warbler - Jeff Stark.

Jeff and Nick were Kurt and Blaine's best friends in this universe, a fact that didn't surprise him - they'd been friends of sorts in most universes. Kurt had never been close enough to actually visit Jeff's house, though. Obviously, it wasn't something they did often even in this universe since Blaine had to use the navigation system to get there without getting lost.

Blaine was in a bubbly mood that was infectious. Kurt couldn't help but smile at the enthusiastic way his boyfriend kept switching between singing along with songs he played on the car's sound system and gushing about the latest obscure band he'd discovered. Blaine was like that and Kurt loved him for it. In every universe, even the worst ones, he had an almost naive love of life and an ability to smile and find joy in the simplest of moments. He wasn't perfect, Kurt knew that very well but he loved Blaine for all his flaws as much anything else.

More than anything, he marveled at the way Blaine seemed to utterly adore him. Looking at Kurt with so much love after all this time. How could he be so lucky?

"Oh my god, Kurt! You have to listen to this band. I just found them and they are my favorite band of all time. OK, did you hear that? Those tight harmonies? How do they do it..."

Kurt chuckled and said, "Blaine, you said that about the last ten bands."

"I did not. These guys are totally unique in the way they sound."

"No, not that part. I mean about how they are your favorite band of all time. They can't all be you favorite," Kurt teased.

"Uh, yeah...they can," Blaine insisted irrationally. "Because that was ten minutes ago and this is now."

Kurt laughed because Blaine was only half kidding. The trip was long and there was plenty of time for playfulness. Eventually, the topic turned to the future and college.

"What do you think about Chicago?" Blaine asked.

"Seriously? Why? It's much too cold in the winter and honestly not far enough away from here," objected Kurt.

"It's a good school," countered Blaine.

"Wouldn't you rather go to New York? We could get a little apartment in Soho. The glamour, Broadway...New York is everything I've ever dreamed of."

Kurt couldn't help but think about his trip to New York with the New Directions and then his time there with the Warblers. Singing with Rachel, then getting to sing Defying Gravity on stage thanks to Thad. He wondered how Thad was doing. He'd checked and he was at Harvard in this universe, too. They were friends but obviously not very close. Kurt hoped that he found love in this universe. He deserved it. And Rachel. He'd promised to move to New York with her but now he wasn't even friends with her in this universe.

"Obviously," chuckled Blaine noticing the dreamy expression on Kurt's face. "But New York seems rather impractical for college. Expensive and...I just don't know. Maybe we should aim for that after college."

"Impractical?" asked Kurt. "Isn't your father going to pay no matter where you go?"

"Probably not. He'll pay for my education but he expects me to be practical about it."

"You could get a scholarship. Besides, a fine arts degree from a university isn't any more practical than one from a performing art school is it? I mean it's still a fine arts degree. He isn't expecting you to become a chemical engineer like your sister is he?"

"No, that'd be pretty unrealistic of him," Blaine sighed.

"It's OK, we have awhile to decide where we're going. We don't have to decide today."

"New York," Blaine mused. "What school were you thinking of?"

"Julliard, of course. Aim high, I say."

"Kurt, I don't know...that seems so...", Blaine hesitated taken aback by Kurt's suggestion.

"You don't think we could get in?" Kurt asked.

"Well, it just doesn't seem like the type of place that we'd want. It's for classic training and I thought we both want to explore musical theater and my style isn't exactly classical. You could probably study opera with your voice but that isn't what I thought you wanted. I mean...it's just...you never mentioned it before."

Kurt looked at his confused boyfriend and realized that he'd blundered. Of course, they'd talked about life after high school before and apparently he was throwing out something completely new. He should have done some more research on schools. Why had he thought Julliard was an option? He'd never even spent time researching it and he was a senior for god's sake. Kurt took Blaine's hand and pressed his palm to his lips.

"I don't care where we go to school as long as we're together. I was just throwing out crazy ideas."

Blaine smiled.

"You really want to go to New York, though, don't you? You meant that part."

"Yeah," Kurt admitted. "I do, but it can wait until after college if you think that's what we should do."

"I think we should do whatever the fuck we want to," exclaimed Blaine triumphantly. "We're seniors on the council of The Warblers. We're like rock stars. We should add New York to our list of places to research. There have to be a ton of schools with good musical theater programs there."

"That's fantastic. Our senior year is going to be magical, Blaine. Magical!"

They fell back into an easy light conversation after that. When they arrived at the Stark house, it was every bit as remote as the map had indicated. The entire extended family was there and they were a rambunctious lot. Luckily for Kurt, he wasn't expected to know anyone. He got the impression that this was their first time visiting Jeff in his family's home. He met the boy's older sister, a freshman at Ohio U, and his older brother, Danny. The very same Danny Skylar had been raving about but in a strange twist of fate, it turned out that she hadn't met him through Blaine. They'd met at college and hadn't even known their brothers knew each other before they started dating.

Kurt spend most of the day sitting alone under his umbrella watching the activity. He felt strangely adrift. It was like he was floating in an alien sea and the scenes around him weren't exactly real. He couldn't help but compare it to the Memorial Day picnic at the Hudmels. He'd been surrounded by his friends and his family but now he was in a strange place surrounded by people he didn't know. Worse than the stuffy party because that had been so formal and no one really knew each other. This was a family gathering but it wasn't his family. Blaine kept returning to him and begging him to join in in this or that game but he managed to rebuff his attempts without upsetting him.

He didn't really know why he was so morose. So far, he'd had a wonderful weekend with Blaine but that seemed to evaporate as soon as they weren't alone. That was it really, when they were alone together, Kurt couldn't imagine things being any better but he couldn't seem to translate that to the rest of the world.

"Hey, Kurt, what is going on with you? You've hardly moved all day," said Nick as he slid next to the boy. He put his arm around Kurt and gave him a squeeze. "What's going on?" he continued with clear concern. "There has been something up with you all week."

Kurt looked at him with surprise. Nick's hazel eyes were filled with concern and he kept his arm around Kurt as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Kurt was used to how tactile Blaine was but he wasn't usually OK with other people touching him. Something in Nick's eyes told him to allow it.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," Kurt insisted with a tight smile.

Nick gave him a skeptical look before continuing.

"Don't give me that. There's been something off with you all week, Kurt. Look, you're my best friend, besides Jeff, and I'm not about to ignore how mopey you've been acting. Did something happen this summer? Is there something wrong between you and Blaine? You can tell me anything, you know. I won't tell Blaine if you want to talk about something that involves your relationship with him." He brushed a stray hair from Kurt's forehead in a simple affection that spoke volumes about their relationship. Kurt didn't usually allow anyone to touch his hair but Nick seemed to take the privilege for granted.

"Nothing happened, Nick," Kurt insisted. At least nothing I can tell you about. He thought that his entire relationship with Thad might qualify as something but what happens in other universes doesn't count, does it?

"I'm fine. I've just been thinking about my future. It's our senior year so I'm freaking out a little about how everything is going to change."

"That's all it is?"

"Yeah, that's all."

Nick removed his hand from Kurt's shoulder and patted him on the back. Kurt expected that he would leave after that but instead Nick pressed his palm against Kurt's and entwined their fingers in a casual intimacy that startled Kurt. Nick didn't press the issue but sat silently holding Kurt's hand. It was strange, holding hands with a boy who apparently considered himself Kurt's best friend. On one hand, this sort of acceptance was everything he'd ever wanted but on the other he felt that it wasn't earned on his part. What had he ever done to deserve Nick's trust and affection?

"Do you ever wonder about your place in the world? Do you ever ask if you belong where you find yourself?" Kurt asked after a while.

"Sure," admitted Nick. "Who doesn't? But we're young, Kurt. There's plenty of time to figure it out. Are you talking about Blaine or something else?"

Kurt looked out at Blaine who was talking excitedly to Jeff. His boyfriend was waving his arms and literally jumping up and down with excitement in a way that bought a smile to Kurt's lips.

"Blaine is the only thing that I am sure about. It's everything else that is confusing sometimes."

"Well, we have that in common," laughed Nick. "Everyone thinks we're crazy because we fell in love when we were children, really. But Jeff and I are meant to be. I know that with all my heart. So don't worry, the rest will come with time."

"Speak of the devil," commented Kurt.

Jeff and Blaine approached. Jeff was dressed only in a pair of cargo shorts and sandals despite the crisp fall air. He reached out and pulled Nick to his feet and into his arms.

"Dudes, quit being so lazy," exclaimed the tall blond. "We're putting together a street hockey game. Come on, we still need two more players."

Kurt snorted.

"Me? Hockey? Not a chance."

"Come on baby," whined Blaine. "We need you." Blaine gave Kurt his irresistible puppy dog eyes and Kurt's heart melted.

"I'm going to regret this," he muttered as he let them drag him into the cluster of boys they'd assembled.