Mini Sequel/ Epilogue: Part 2: Senior Year - C

February

Bryan calls the week after Blaine finished his remaining auditions, telling him that things are looking good though they are still waiting for an official verdict.

He doesn't really have time to think about it though with Regionals coming up.

None of their usual competition is in their Regionals' group this year but Ms. Corcoran still works them hard so they'll have another shot at Nationals.

To his surprise she picks him to sing a duet with Rachel – and yeah things have really changed for him since Ms. Corcoran has taken over. The last they had heard about Mr. Schuester was that he moved to New York trying to make it big himself and Kurt is immensely grateful to have a teacher now who doesn't put him in the back and helps him with his technique.

When they aren't rehearsing the seniors mostly talk about their post graduation plans. Santana, Brittany, Mercedes and Puck all have plans to move out West as well and Kurt is happy that he and Blaine won't be in L.A without any of their friends if they move there.

Kurt still hasn't seen any footage of what they filmed in November, so he can't wait to see a screener of the pilot when they visit Cooper during Spring Break. Of course that means that he'll have to talk to Rachel soon and he knows she won't be happy when she hears she might have to go to New York on her own.

Regionals feels like a walk in the park this year – they have an amazing choreography thanks to Mike and Brittany and in his opinion they all sounded amazing. There is no drama behind the stage though Kurt – if he is being honest - didn't really mind showing Sebastian his place the previous year.

To celebrate their win Rachel invites him, Blaine and the rest of the girls to a sleep over and though Kurt isn't sure if it's a good idea to have Santana in a room with Rachel, he and Blaine both agree to spend the night a the Berrys' house.

All goes well at first – the girls claiming their Christmas present spa treatments – until they start talking about college again. Tina's the first one to leave the room because she doesn't want to be reminded of the fact that most of the group will be gone next year and Kurt feels bad for her, because he can't imagine anymore not having ND around at McKinley.

Unfortunately Santana doesn't take Tina pretty much running out of the room as a cue to change the topic and Kurt freezes when she turns to him and Blaine.

"Any plans for apartments already? I thought me and Britt could move in with you and Anderson to save some money." From the corner of his eye he can see Rachel look at them confusedly while Kurt glares at Santana.

"What? Blaine and Kurt and are coming to New York with me," Rachel exclaims and Kurt stiffens. "You are, aren't you?" "Oh wake up Berry," Santana shoots back. "Why would our hobbit here even apply to UCLA if they didn't have plans to go there. From what I understand where one goes the other goes as well."

Rachel looks hurt and Kurt knows he has to do some damage control. "It's not set in stone yet Rachel but there's a chance that Blaine and I will move to L.A this summer," he tells her hoping she'll just be happy for him when she hears about the rest.

"No! You can't do that to me. We have a plan – go to New York and be on Broadway together. Why the hell would you want to go to L.A? There's nothing there for you." Rachel suddenly yells and Kurt shoots another glare in Santana's direction who is offering popcorn to the other girls, while Blaine tries to hide behind Kurt when Rachel turns to him.

"This is your doing isn't it? You want to go to L.A and so Kurt is following you because he can't do anything on his own." Kurt knows Rachel is hurt so he doesn't take it personally when she attacks him, though it still stings.

"This has nothing to do with Blaine, Rachel. If anyone is doing the following it's Blaine," he explains, fighting to keep his voice calm because he doesn't want his first real fight with Rachel to be in front of all their other friends.

"I got asked to audition for a new TV show last summer, got cast and if the pilot gets picked up, Blaine and I are moving to L.A. If it doesn't – well then I hope one of the schools I applied to in New York is going to take me."

Suddenly all eyes are on him and Kurt is grateful for the arm that Blaine wraps around him to support him. "Are you serious?" Santana asks, for once at a loss for words. "Are they making you play a junkie because you are super skinny and super pale?" Brittany asks curiously and Kurt knows that in the past he would have taken it the wrong way. But Blaine has spent enough time in the past months assuring him that his skin was beautiful and that Blaine found him very attractive.

"No, I don't Brittany," he replies, trying not to snap at her because he knows she didn't try to be mean. "It's like High School Musical for TV, only a lot more snarky," he repeats what Bryan told him last summer. "And I'm playing a new student at school who tries to keep his head down so people will leave him alone, but then this new young teacher overhears him sing and tries to get him to join the school musical."

He isn't sure how much he can tell them but the cliffnotes version of his character should be all right. All of a sudden, he finds himself with a lap full of Mercedes who his trying to hug his last breath out of him. "I'm so proud of you," she tells him and Kurt can't keep the smile of his face.

He's going to miss Rachel a lot next year if they are in different cities even though she can be a handful at times, but at least he'll still have Mercedes around.

One by one the girls come over to give him a hug – apart from Quinn and Santana who both look bored already again – and when Kurt opens his arms to a still sulking Rachel, she uncrosses her arms after a few seconds and wraps her arms around him as well.

"I'm happy for you, I promise. I'm just going to need some time to accept that you won't be in New York with me next year," she whispers into his ear and Kurt shakes his head. "Like I said, Rachel. Nothing is set in stone yet."

A fond smile on her face, Rachel pulls him closer once more. "Oh please, Kurt. If the rest of that cast is only half as talented as you are, then you'll be in L.A in a few months."

"Thanks, Rachel. Promise you'll save me a seat for your Broadway debut," he whispers back before sinking into Blaine's arms again, willing the rest of the night to be less stressful.

"Are you and Rachel okay?" Blaine asks when they are sharing a sink in Rachel's bathroom, getting ready for bed. "We will be," Kurt replies. "And you don't have to tell me I told you so. I know I should have told her months ago that we might not go to New York with her."

"No, I get it that you didn't want to jinx anything. I'm sure they'll keep it a secret for now if you ask them too," Blaine replies and Kurt can't stop himself from chuckling.

"Dream on, Blaine. Three of the biggest gossips in school were in that room. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone at school already knows about it."

Fortunately, the girls apparently only spilled the beans to the Glee boys, because none of the other students are talking to him on Monday like usually though he has to deal with a pouty Finn who seems to be convinced that he and Kurt are step-brothers now and that Kurt should have told him first.

Puck's giving him a business card as soon as they are in the choir room to pass on to the 'Hollywood Hotshots' because he plans to expand his pool cleaning business to L.A and Artie has his resume printed out for Kurt to pass along as well, because he wants to go to film school once he is done with high school.

Other than that, everything seems calm though Rachel is still a bit mopey around them, but he knows not to push her and let her come to him. After all they have still months to go till gradation and leaving Lima. Plenty of time to earn her forgiveness.

March

It's the first week of March when Kurt gets his all important phone call and if Blaine thought his boyfriend's voice could go high before, well he knows better now. Kurt's shriek is more effective than any alarm clock he has ever owned and by the time he manages to get downstairs, Kurt is already enveloped in his dad's arms who looks just as excited as Kurt sounds.

"The pilot?" Blaine asks just to make sure and Kurt pretty much tackles him to the floor in his haste to get to him. "Bryan called. We start filming the last week of July," he gushes and Blaine smashes their lips together, ignoring that his dad is still in the room, because he couldn't be happier for Kurt. Nobody deserves this more than his boyfriend does. He would feel better if he had already heard back from UCLA though Kurt is sure he is a shoe-in.

"Julliard is so going to regret not accepting you once you make it big," he tells his boyfriend once they have picked themselves up from the floor and Carole is making a huge celebratory batch of pancakes in the kitchen while Finn hovers awkwardly. He knows Kurt was disappointed when he got the no from the prestigious school, though he isn't sure Kurt would have been too happy to just study voice.

Kurt just rolls his eyes however. "Fuck Julliard," he says, causing Blaine's dad's eyebrows to go up, because Kurt normally doesn't swear. "We're moving to L.A." He sounds so certain when he says it that Blaine doesn't have the heart to remind him that he hasn't heard back from colleges yet – apart from Julliard which had been a no for him as well.

"I need to call Cooper," Kurt suddenly says and Blaine lets him go and slumps down next to his dad on the couch. "Hey, that musical you wrote for school was great. Any school would be lucky to have you," his dad tells him, knowing of course that exact right thing to say.

Later that day, he and Kurt head over to the choir room to share the good news with the rest of New Direction but when they get there, people are already celebrating.

"What's going on?" he asks Tina who is sitting in one corner, looking sad. "College letters," she says and jerks her head over to where Mercedes and Rachel are embracing one another.

It takes him a while to decipher what's going on, separating noise from actual words but what he works out is this: Quinn got into Yale, Mike got accepted into dance school in Chicago, Rachel has been accepted to both NYU and the Manhattan School of Music and Mercedes into Berklee and UCLA.

It makes his heart drop into his stomach when he hears that others have heard back from schools he applied to as well when he hasn't because it sounds like a bad omen.

But then Kurt is next to him, intertwines their hands and leads him out of the choir room. "Let's go home. You know the mail man doesn't come by our house before noon."

Blaine hasn't thought of that – has forgotten that they are one of the last houses covered now that they have moved, and he hopes that is the only reason why he and Kurt haven't gotten their letters yet.

The driveway is empty when they get back to the house and Blaine races to the mailbox as soon as Kurt has put the car into park. His hands are shaking when he extracts a stack of bills, but then he spies them – hidden between Kurt's Vogue and his dad's car magazines – five letters, two for Kurt and three for him.

"Open them first," he asks Kurt as soon as they are upstairs in his bedroom, because he is scared to open his own. He knows that he would probably go to L.A anyway even if he doesn't get it – get a job and reapply - but he knows his dad would feel much better about him moving west if he actually went to college.

Kurt rips the envelops open without any ceremony because by now it doesn't matter any more if he got accept or not. The huge smile on his boyfriend's face tells him however that he would have made it in New York as well.

"Now yours," Kurt tells him with an encouraging smile. "We're going to be okay, whatever they say. I promise." It's all he needs to carefully open the first envelop from NYU, planning to open UCLA's last.

It's an acceptance letter fortunately and it already makes him feel better, though he doesn't plan to go there either. His second one tells him he got waitlisted but again, it's not important.

When he's trying to open the last one – the only important one – his hands are shaking so badly, Kurt is taking the letter opener out of his hand and opens the envelop for him before handing it back. Blaine takes one look at Kurt and pushes the letter back into his hand. "You read it."

Kurt doesn't asks if he is sure, just carefully pulls the letter out and scans its content. Pokerface in place, Blaine can't tell if it's good news or bad news from Kurt's expression, but the moment Kurt tackles him for the second time that day, he knows that they have made it. They will be together in the foreseeable future unless they somehow manage to screw up their relationship.

It's a good thing that no one is home, because in their haste to celebrate the good news they don't even manage to close Blaine's bedroom door.

His dad takes the family out for dinner later that night, to celebrate all three of them getting into college even though only he and Finn will actually go, unless Kurt does find the time to take some classes during the months he has off.

He knows his dad is happy that Finn is staying in Ohio, because he'll still be able to help out in the shop once he and Kurt are gone but he also knows it will feel weird to think of his family back home as his dad, Carole and Finn. On the other hand, he can't wait for him and Kurt to be their own family, sharing their own apartment, though he isn't sure about that just yet, because Santana keeps asking him if she and Brittany can move in with them when they move to L.A.

There's a much higher chance of Kurt agreeing to move in with Mercedes than Santana and if he is quite honest, he is looking forward to it just being him and Kurt. After all, money won't be a problem for them as long as Kurt is employed and Blaine gets a part time job so Kurt won't have to pay the rent on his own. Blaine knows his dad would pay his share in a heartbeat but if they are doing this – moving in together – he wants to be able to pay for their apartment without his dad's help if possible.

April

They fly back to L.A – courtesy of Bryan and 'The CW', the network that is producing the show – the last day of school, opting to stay in Cooper's apartment again while his brother is out for most of the week. Like last time, a car picks them up at the airport and drives them to a beautiful house – after they drop of their bags at Cooper's – for dinner with Bryan and his partner David.

After dinner, during which Bryan and David ask them all kinds of questions about their senior year and Blaine's college plans, Kurt finally gets to see the pilot. It's weird at first, having to watch himself on screen and hearing himself talk because it sounds different than how he hears himself, but he is also surprised by how not amateur he looks.

"So what are your plans for the week?" Bryan asks them after they finish watching the pilot. "There is a photo shoot I need you to do on Wednesday and a few other meetings I need you to be at but otherwise you are free," he explains while Kurt writes down the dates in his calendar.

"We're going to look for an apartment. Hopefully somewhere close to campus so we only have to bring one car," Blaine replies, because they had agreed that this would be the best solution.

"I can give you the number of our real estate agent. She might know who's covering this part of town," Bryan offers and Kurt nods because he and Blaine have no idea where to start – other than Craigslist.

They soon discover though that the houses close to campus aren't exactly built for just two people and as much as it pains him to say it, he knows they probably need to get roommates if they want to live close to campus.

They meet with a group of college seniors Friday before they need to head back who are planning to move out of their house as soon as the semester is over and it is sort of perfect if you need to have roommates but want to have privacy as well.

There's a big kitchen downstairs next to a large dinning area and spacious living room, two adjacent rooms on the second floor and a bathroom, and the same set up on the third floor.

"What do you think?" Blaine asks him after they finish their tour and Kurt sighs because he really didn't want to live with Santana.

"I guess it could work. We could take one floor – use one room as bedroom and the other as a study/ music room – and give the other floor to the girls. Just be prepared that we are probably going to have to pay for the whole thing for a while because I don't think Santana or Brittany have a plan what they actually want to do out here. I'd ask Mercedes but her parents insist she lives in a dorm at least her first year and I think Puck might make an even worse roommate."

It takes a few calls to Burt, Santana and Brittany, but by the end of the day Kurt has paid a deposit with the money he has earned from filming the pilot and he and Blaine co-sign a one-year lease starting in June.

The Saturday before they fly back, he meets up with the rest of the cast for a photo shoot while Blaine explores the area around their new apartment so they'll already know where to get food and coffee from once they move.

The clothes they put him in are more fancy and more expensive than he has ever worn and he wonders briefly what sixteen year old is supposed to be able to afford clothes like that.

At first it's a bit strange being called Kurt Hummel per his request but it also puts a huge smile on his face because it makes him feel like a real part of the Hummel family.

They are exhausted when they get back from L.A – Kurt with even more papers to sign and a whole list of meetings he has to attend once he and Blaine finalize their move – but they don't have much time to rest because Nationals is only three weeks away.

His boyfriend is a nervous wreck for most of the time, because Ms. Corcoran picked one of his original songs again for the second round of competition, but Kurt isn't worried at all because he knows how talented his boyfriend is.

Nationals that year are being held in Chicago and he and Blaine use the few hours they get off to explore areas they didn't have time for the last time.

They make it through the first round of competition – beating the Warbler's who come in twelfth and are without Sebastian – who, according to Trent got transferred to another school after some complaints about him – and receive a standing ovation after they finish Blaine's original piece.

Once again, Vocal Adrenaline is in final three with them but they don't seem as intimidating as they did the first time they faced them.

Kurt's standing next to Finn and Blaine backstage, waiting for the results to come in when Finn growls next to him, glaring in the direction of Vocal Adrenaline.

"What is she doing with him?" he hisses and when Kurt follows his line of sight he sees Rachel embracing a handsome boy he isn't familiar with. "Who is that?" he asks and Finn growls again before he answers. "Jesse St. James."

Kurt raises an eyebrow because he didn't think the famous Jesse St. James would look so non-threatening. "I didn't know that was the Jesse she was talking about," he says and Finn whirls around to glare at him. "Why is she talking to him."

"I think they met again when Rachel went to New York during Spring Break to check out the NYU dorms. He is a sophomore there after he transferred in from UCLA. She just told me she met a guy again she knows from Ohio and that they hung out a lot while she was there." When Finn just keeps glaring, he adds. "You need to let it go. It's never going to work out between the two of you. You can't imagine living in New York and Rachel would never stay in Ohio. I'm sure there are nice girls at UDayton as well."

Finn sighs and Kurt wonders when he has become the person Finn talks to about his relationship problems. "You're probably right. Might be more fun to be single in college anyway, no offence."

"Non taken. Blaine and I, we are happy with each other. We don't need to see what else is out there as long as we are happy together."

Before they can continue the conversation they are called back on stage.

2012 is the year New Directions finally wins Nationals.

May

There's huge article about the Glee club and Kurt when they get back from Chicago. "McKinley's own Kurt Anderson heading to Hollywood" the headline reads and Blaine wonders who has spilled the beans before Santana shows him an article on E!Online about next falls new TV shows include a picture of the cast of SING. It explains why the sub headline asks if he and Kurt had gotten married over break, because Kurt is billed as Kurt Hummel in the article.

It's interesting what perceived fame does to people because suddenly students he and Kurt have never talk to before come up to them and tell them what a great couple they make and how amazing Kurt was in the musical.

None of those things are lies in his opinion but he knows that those are not things the McKinley High population usually says or thinks about them.

"They are probably all worried you'll call them out as bullies as soon as you are doing talk show interviews," he jokes but Kurt suddenly goes pale and Blaine has to pull him into an empty class room because Kurt looks like he is on the verge of a panic attack.

"What's wrong Kurt," he asks while Kurt is trying to calm down, clutching a chair and breathing heavily.

"Oh my god, you are right. They'll probably force me to give interviews. I can't do that – I'm going to make a fool out of myself and people will hate me. I mean, I was bullied enough when only a few people knew I was gay but if the whole Nation knows… I don't even want to know what people will say about me then."

Blaine understands his concerns but he also thinks that no one who knows Kurt, really knows him, would be able to hate him. "They are going to love you, and those who don't, well screw them. And you know, you don't have to tell anyone you are gay. Just because you are playing a gay character doesn't mean you have to be out yourself."

Blaine's all for being true to yourself but he would understand if Kurt chose not to be out in the public. It's actually a relief that he has chosen a profession that will probably keep him out of the public eye unless Kurt's out.

But Kurt shakes his head. "No. If my parents couldn't force me back into the closet then no one can. I'm done hiding who I am. And you are right. If they don't like it, screw them. I don't need people around me who are negative. I've had enough of that in Ohio."

So they both ignore the increased interest in them and study for their final exams because they still have to graduate high school before anything else can happen, and prepare for their senior prom.

His dad volunteers to chaperone again, but Blaine convinces him to take Carole out instead because he is sure no one in school is going to do anything to them now that they actually fear Kurt.

And he is right in one respect. The students don't do anything bad to them. They, however, instigate the biggest ass-kissing event ever. They vote them dual prom kings.

Blaine can barely believe it when he and Kurt share their first dance as prom royalty, both with crowns on their heads, still dumbstruck from their names being announced.

"So did they manage to by your silence?" he quips when he and Kurt take a break from dancing and get a glass of yet unspiked punch.

"I'd never have said names anyway, but if anyone asks, I will talk about the bullying you and I dealt with in school, because maybe raising awareness will help others like us," Kurt replies, looking older than his barely nineteen years in that moment and Blaine is reminded again why he loves his boyfriend so much. Because Kurt always thinks about others first, always wants to help those who can't help themselves, probably because he knows what it's like to be helpless.

"You know, if I had someone like you to look up to, things might have been easier for me at times," he confesses because as much as he has helped Kurt, Kurt has helped him as well.

"You want to get out of here?" he asks after they slow dance again and Kurt nods, both of them exhausted by the continued ass-kissing of their peers.

The parking lot is empty when they step outside and for a moment he flashes back to five years ago, but then Kurt's hand slips into his own and he raises his head high as they walk the short way to his car.

Ohio has taken a lot from him, has caused him a lot of pain, but it has also given him the best thing in the world. And now they are both getting out of there, not without scars, but stronger than they were in the past.

The scariest part was already over in Blaine's opinion – now it was time to face the future head on.

End of part 2. Part 3: Through the Years…