It was Thursday afternoon and Kurt was waiting for his turn to audition for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

He looked down at the piece of paper in his hand again and read the character description one last time.

Puck (AKA Robin Goodfellow) is a servant to the king. A shape shifter and a mischievous prankster with strong magical powers. Boyish and youthful appearance. Fun loving and quick witted. Must be able to move and dance in a strong, acrobatic and graceful way. Must be comfortable climbing on high sets. Puck does the bidding of the King of the Fairies (Oberon) and is the jester who makes Oberon smile.

Kurt was ready.

"Kurt Hummel?"

He took in a deep breath, let it out, and went up on stage to begin his audition.

Friday morning, in his bed in Bushwick, Kurt was dreaming.

Blaine and Kurt were children. They were playing in Kurt's old bedroom, running around the room, jumping off the furniture, laughing, happy.

Blaine saw the little perfume bottle that belonged to Kurt's mother sitting on Kurt's dresser. He picked it up and started tossing it up in the air, laughing when he almost dropped it. Kurt started to chase Blaine around the room, begging him to stop. Blaine was totally indifferent about how fragile the tiny bottle was, and how precious it was to Kurt. Blaine just laughed in his face and ran away from him while Kurt yelled Stop! No!

Suddenly Kurt's mother was in the room. She grabbed the perfume bottle out of little Blaine's hand and put it down gently on Kurt's dresser.

If someone is hurting you, sweetheart, she said, you don't have to keep playing with them. You can just walk away.

His mom and Blaine vanished, and Kurt woke to the sound of his alarm.

Rachel's classes started earlier than Kurt's did today, and she just leaving when Kurt got up and stumbled into the kitchen, where she had left coffee brewing for him. His dream was quickly fading away and Kurt sat down with his cup of coffee. He watched the steam rise from the cup into the rays of morning sunlight shining in the window and onto the table. Kurt hated to leave the apartment when it was like this, sun drenched and quiet, but he had no time to enjoy the peace and solitude of the moment. His life was as busy and chaotic as this bustling city and he had to get out there and take on the day, no matter how exhausted he was, no matter how poorly he had slept.

He had classes today, and his first counseling appointment. The cast list would be released this afternoon.

Kurt got dressed and headed out.

Rushing down the hall to his first class, Kurt saw Adam bounding up to him in the hallway.

"This is for you", said Adam handing Kurt a small white paper bag. Kurt opened it curiously, and the smell of something utterly delicious filled his nose.

"Oh my God Adam, what is this?"

"It's a chocolate croissant from a little French bakery I know. And here's your coffee just the way you like it." Adam handed Kurt the warm cup.

"You're too good to be true," said Kurt, his face cracking open into his first smile of the day.

Adam beamed.

Kurt gently lifted the pastry out of its paper wrapper and took a bite. As the taste of the dark, rich chocolate and the flaky buttery pastry hit his taste buds, Kurt let out an obscene moan.

"I've never tasted chocolate like that in my life," mumbled Kurt with his mouth full. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Adam leaned in toward Kurt's ear. "I don't know if you're aware of this," Adam whispered, "but I have a little crush on you."

Kurt turned pink. "This was so sweet of you. I'm so tired this morning and I could use a second cup of coffee."

"Sleep troubles again?" asked Adam, noticing the tired lines around Kurt's eyes.

"Yeah," sighed Kurt. "I guess I was all wound up last night after my audition."

Adam nodded, his expression thoughtful. Due to their busy schedules, they had auditioned at completely different times. "So how did it go?" he asked Kurt.

"Okay I guess. Winston had coached me on the kind of dance steps and moves they were likely to ask me to do, and I've done dance auditions in high school before on scaffolding and everything...pretty acrobatic stuff..and with all that cheerleading and all those years of dance class, I felt pretty confident about my moves.

And it's not a musical, so I didn't have to sing, so I didn't have to search for a song that showed my voice in its best light. That's always a challenge."

Adam frowned. Kurt was an amazing singer, didn't he know that?

"The acting was probably the hardest," Kurt continued. "But I think I did okay. I hope I did okay. I've heard they don't cast freshman very often at NYADA."

"That can be true," nodded Adam, making a mental note to ask Kurt about the cheerleading later. "But you have to try, right?"

"Right. I wish they'd put up the cast list already!"

"I know," agreed Adam. "Professor Giordano is old-fashioned and doesn't send out emails. She posts the list outside her office instead."

"And she doesn't do call backs, right? She just chooses on the first round of auditions?"

"That's right," said Adam, reaching to brush a few flaky pastry crumbs off of the collar of Kurt's dark blue wool coat.

The little gesture made Kurt feel cared for. Except for a little bit of cuddling at their lunch table on Wednesday, their schedules hadn't allowed them to even touch each other since the Apples meeting on Tuesday. Adam had been sending Kurt sweet little texts all week, but they were no substitute for this, for being with Adam in the flesh and feeling that electricity shoot through him when Adam looked at him with those beautiful blue eyes.

Kurt and Adam got lost in each other for a moment.

Adam reached his thumb out to swipe a bit of chocolate off of Kurt's mouth and licked it off his thumb. "Mmm, that is good,"said Adam, his eyes full of warmth.

He took out his phone and checked the time. "I have to get to class, Kurt. We're meeting to see the cast list at four, right?"

"Yeah," said Kurt a little breathlessly. "See you then." His hands were full of coffee and pastry so he could only gaze helplessly at Adam as Adam gave Kurt's bicep a squeeze and raced off down the stairs.

Rachel's two minions walked by at that moment, sneering at Kurt and snapping him back to reality.

"I could never eat those," said one loudly to the other. "Some of us think about our hips."

Adam seems to like my hips just fine, Kurt thought viciously.

Shake it off, he told himself, and headed to class with a smile, feeling grateful for Adam's sweet gesture of bringing him breakfast.

After only a few steps down the hall, Kurt ran into Rachel. "Good morning Kurt!" she chirped brightly.

She looked like she wanted to hug him but his arms were full. Her eyes were merry and her smile was enormous.

"You look happy."

"I am! My acting teacher just gave me a glowing review for my work on a piece I presented in class and I am positively giddy."

"Good for you," said Kurt.

"And how are you Kurt? You've been glowing all week. Well, not right now, frankly, you look exhausted. But..." she leaned in and whispered, "things are going well with Adam I hope?

"He's amazing," said Kurt, smiling. "He just zoomed by and gave me these," he said, holding up his coffee and his pastry bag. "He is just the sweetest man."

Rachel squealed, and Kurt flinched, because it was much too early for that kind of noise.

"And what about your audition?" she asked. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you about it all week."

"We find out this afternoon. I hope it went well, but who knows. Adam helped me pick a monologue, and my friend Erin helped me practice my lines, and my friend Winston helped me with the dance portion of the audition...do you know who I'm talking about?"

"There's an Erin in my acting class. Long sandy hair? Wears long skirts?"

"That's her," said Kurt.

"I don't know anybody named Winston though."

"Winston is a new friend of mine. He and Erin are in my costume design class. And I found out recently that Winston is actually Mike Chang's cousin!"

"You're kidding! That's...wow, what a small world."

"I know! But back to my audition, I couldn't have done it without Adam's help, and Erin's, and Winston's. It was a lot of work preparing for it, especially the dance moves."

Rachel looked hurt for a moment, but then she smiled again. "Well I'm glad you're' making new friends Kurt. And if the director has any brains at all he'll pick you."

"She. And I hope you're right. I've heard she doesn't cast freshmen in her shows very often. But I have to try, right? Otherwise what am I even doing here?"

"Absolutely!" said Rachel. "Rejection is a part of being a star! It will only make our successes that much sweeter! I was just telling Brody that..."

"I'm sorry Rachel," said Kurt, cutting her off, "but I have to get to class."

"Oh okay. Are you busy tonight?"

"I'm going to Callbacks with some friends. Do you want to come?"

"I'm going too, with Brody. This is perfect! Are you bringing Adam?"

"No, he's working tonight. I'm going with Winston and Erin and some of the Apples."

"Brody and I will be there too. I'll see you later Kurt!"

"It's a plan!"

After a full day of classes, Friday afternoon arrived at last, but Kurt's day wasn't over yet. It was finally time for his counseling appointment. He felt overwhelmed, mentally exhausted, scared, brave, proud of himself and ashamed all at the same time. His heart was pounding in his chest as he headed over to NYADA's health clinic.

When he got inside the lobby, he followed the signs until he got to the Behavioral Health Services department

Kurt swallowed nervously in front of the sign and checked it three times to make sure the name on the sign matched the name om the piece of paper he was holding.

Dr. Allison Martino.

Maybe this is a mistake.

Things aren't that bad are they?

Yeah. They are. I'm doing this.

Kurt opened the door and walked into the office and toward the receptionist. She looked up and saw Kurt, and opened a sliding glass window to talk to him.

"May I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel and I have an appointment."

"Welcome. Do you have your insurance card?"

Kurt pulled it out of his wallet.

"I'll just need to make a copy of that for our files. Here is some paperwork we need you to fill out." She handed him a pen and a clipboard with a two page form on it.

Kurt was halfway through the form when another woman came into the lobby and called his name. She was probably in her thirties, with long, shiny straight black hair. She reminded him of Cher a little which made him smile.

"Kurt?"

He stood up and followed her into her office. "I'm still filling this out..."

"That's fine. Just bring it with you."

"Okay," he answered.

He followed her into the office and sat down in the chair she offered him. He looked at the clipboard to give him something to do.

"Hi Kurt. I'm Doctor Martino, but you can call me Allie if you prefer. Either one is fine. Why don't you tell me a little bit about who you are and why you made an appointment."

Kurt took a deep breath and began.

"I'm Kurt Hummel. I'm from a little town in Ohio and I'm in my first semester at NYADA. I also finished an internship at Vogue, working on their web site, in December."

She listened.

"I love to sing, and dance, and act. I love fashion. And I can tear apart a car engine and put it back together."

"Wonderful," she said.

"And I'm gay. I hope that's not going to be a problem." Kurt frowned.

Dr. Martino smiled. "Not at all. Please go on."

"I saw one of your pamphlets in the men's room, the ones that ask if you're in an abusive relationship. And I realized I could answer yes to maybe six or seven of the questions. About my ex-boyfriend. We broke up."

Kurt paused.

"But it's still having an impact on you," she said.

"Yeah. At first he was very sweet, but then things started going really badly. And..."

Kurt hesitated again.

"And?"

"And I'm honestly not sure if he was abusive or not," said Kurt very quietly.

"I see," she said and wrote something on her note pad.

"It's...are you sure it's okay to talk to you about men and being gay and stuff?"

"Absolutely, Kurt. But if you'd like we have other counselors here too. Including a colleague of mine who is an out gay man and is fine with me telling you that. Do you think you might be more comfortable talking to another man?"

Another man.

Kurt wasn't used to being called a man.

He had a good feeling about this woman.

"And I don't usually reveal such personal things to my clients, but my uncle is gay, and I adore him, and I consider his husband to be my uncle as well."

"Husband?"

"Yes, they were married a few weeks after marriage equality became legal here in NY," she answered.

She gestured to a picture on her desk of a large, formally dressed group of people. In the center of the photograph were two plump silver-haired men in tuxedos, one fair skinned and one darker skinned. The two of them were beaming as they held each other.

"That's wonderful," said Kurt.

"I thought so too," said Dr. Martino. "But I understand if you prefer to talk to someone else. I can give you his card," she said, reaching for something on her desk.

"Thank you," said Kurt, accepting the card when she handed it to him. "But I think I want to talk to you."

"All right." She smiled. "Please go on."

"So all these questions I have about my ex boyfriend...

It's making it hard to move on. With the new guy I'm sort of dating. And I have a lot of trouble sleeping. I mean that's not just about Blaine, I have a lot of other stresses in my life, my dad's been through a heart attack and now he has prostate cancer, and it's really competitive here, but my ex has a lot to do with my stress."

She wrote something in her notepad.

"Let me ask you something, Kurt."

"Okay."

"If you could have the life you wanted, what would it look like?"

Kurt took a moment to think.

"I'd be working toward a happy and successful career," said Kurt. "I'd be in a healthy relationship."

Dr. Martino nodded.

"And my dad would be okay." Kurt's voice cracked.

"I'm so worried about him," said Kurt, a few tears slipping down his cheeks.

Dr. Martino handed him a box of tissues.

"Those sound like wonderful goals," she said. "Please tell me more."

About an hour later, Kurt rushed into the lobby of the building where Adam was waiting for him. Kurt's eyes and nose were red and Adam looked at him with concern.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Adam asked tenderly.

"I'm okay. First counseling session," Kurt whispered.

"Good for you," Adam answered softly, spreading his arms wide, offering a hug Kurt gladly moved into.

"I liked her," Kurt told Adam from his spot in his arms. "I'm just a little exhausted."

"I bet you are."

After holding Adam briefly, Kurt stepped back and steeled himself. "Okay, let's do this."

"Time to face the music," Adam agreed.

They walked down the hall and found Professor Giordano's office. The list was hanging on the wall in the hallway nearby.

His heart pounding, Kurt stepped up to read it.

And found his name at the bottom of the page.

Kurt Hummel: Ensemble. Understudy for Puck.

He didn't get it.

Adam was Oberon, the king of the fairies.

Erin was his queen.

Tommy was one of the dukes.

And Winston was Puck.

A wave of disappointment and sadness washed over Kurt.

He was already feeling fragile after his counseling appointment, and it was hard to keep it together. But then he saw how happy Adam was and knew he had to pull himself together for Adam's sake. He didn't want to ruin Adam's moment.

"I'm sorry Kurt," said Adam. "I know how much you wanted to be Puck."

"It's okay. At least I'm the understudy," said Kurt, forcing a smile he didn't really feel onto his face.

"I know, but you're allowed to be disappointed."

"Congratulations, Adam. You must be so pleased."

"I am," Adam said with a gentle smile. "But I don't want to be a jerk about it and make you feel bad when you're having a hard day."

"Thank you. But this is a happy moment for you and you should enjoy it."

The professor came out of her office. "Congratulations, you two."

"Thank you so much," said Adam enthusiastically, looking like he'd just won the lottery.

"Thank you," said Kurt, a bit more quietly.

"Kurt, I want to thank you for auditioning," said the professor. "I expect any understudy to work just as hard as a lead actor, if not harder. If you choose to accept the role in the ensemble as well, you will have to rehearse for both parts, which will take up a lot of time. Are you up for it?"

"Can I work on the costumes too?" said Kurt.

She laughed. "If you have time! Aren't you taking on a little bit too much?"

"Well, my friends told me we can get some of the work done in our Costume Design class."

"Yes, that's true."

"And I worked at Vogue last fall and I have a lot of ideas."

"That's wonderful. Yes, talk to Professor Norris and she'll help you get set up."

Kurt was starting to feel a little better.

"And Kurt...I haven't cast a freshman as a lead role, or even as an understudy to one, in seven years. So please know that I was very impressed with your audition."

"Thank you so much!" said Kurt.

"Just show me a little More Kurt Hummel in the future, and a little less Mickey Rooney and you'll be just fine. I'm looking forward to working with you Kurt. And congratulations to you too Adam. Welcome back."

"Thank you again," beamed Adam.

Professor Giordano walked away and Adam turned to Kurt with a bright smile.

"I hope my mum can fly in for this. She adores this play. But I'm not sure she can. I'd better email her right away."

"She's going to be so proud of you," said Kurt.

"Thank you sweetheart," said Adam. "So. What are your plans tonight Kurt? Do you have time for dinner before I start work?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm going to Callbacks with Erin and Winston, and some of the Apples are going too. But we're going to see each other tomorrow night, aren't we?"

Adam looked pleased. "I wouldn't miss it. What would you like to do?"

"Something fun."

Adam's phone buzzed.

"Hello. Yes, this is Adam Crawford. Yes I did.

You're fucking kidding me!

Thank you so much! Of course. Hold on. You have my email? Okay. Yes. Thanks again."

Adam raised his fist and pumped it in the air.

"What is it?" asked Kurt. "Did you audition for another show?"

"No," said Adam with a laugh. "I wouldn't swear at a director! I just won two tickets to see The Shocking Mistakes and it's tomorrow night! They sold out months ago!"

"You have a poster of them in your room," said Kurt.

"Yes, you wonderful observant boy, I do." Adam pulled Kurt into his arms and squeezed him and lifted him off the ground.

"They are my absolute favorite band, Kurt. Would you like to go? It's tomorrow night."

"Uh...sure. I don't know them, but...of course!"

"I'll send you some song links tonight while I'm working," said Adam. "Come on, let's go eat."

"Okay," said Kurt, a little breathless after that big squeeze from Adam.

Meanwhile, in Bushwick, Santana Lopez was climbing the stairs up out of the subway.

Me and my big mouth, she thought.

She wanted to apologize to Kurt. She was ready to grovel.

She was also ready to take on New York.

But first she needed to find something to eat.

While Kurt was eating dinner with Adam, and Rachel was off doing God knows what with Brody at his apartment, Santana was sitting in a great little pizza place in Bushwick, her suitcase parked under the table, bored out of her mind, checking her phone every few minutes to see if Rachel had answered her text yet.

"I can't believe I left Kentucky for this and nobody's freaking home," she muttered to herself.

"What was that, honey?" yelled the guy behind the counter with a leer.

"You wish!" shouted Santana back at him, rolling her eyes.

Kurt sat next to Adam in the dining room in Adam's building. He was happy to finally have time to be with him, and the warm reassuring press of Adam's leg leaning on his own was comforting after his emotional afternoon.

Kurt reached under the table for Adam's hand and Adam squeezed it back and turned to smile at him.

"So Kurt, congratulations," said Tommy from a few seats down. "Giordano almost never casts freshmen in her shows, not even in the ensemble, let alone as an understudy."

"Thanks," said Kurt. "Congratulations to you too Tommy. And you guys too," he said, turning to smile at Winston and Erin.

"Thank you!" said Winston.

Erin just smiled, her mouth full of her dinner.

"Honestly Kurt, you're here so much you should buy a meal plan," said Winston.

"What Kurt needs is the Adam meal plan. All the Adam he can eat," said Tommy.

Adam giggled and Kurt let go of his hand and gave him a death glare.

"Sorry," said Adam.

"You are not," said Kurt.

"No, not really," said Adam with a huge grin. "I'm much too happy right now."

Tommy muttered something that sounded like get a room under his breath and Kurt ignored him.

"So we'll see you at Callbacks, right Kurt?" said Erin.

"Yeah, I just need to go back home and change first."

"Alright, see you there," said Erin, getting up and carrying her tray over to the trash.

"Bye Kurt," said Winston, following her.

While Kurt was kissing Adam down in the basement at the bottom of the stairs, Santana finally reached Rachel on the phone.

"Santana! What are you doing in New York?"

"Look Rachel, I don't want to get all mushy about it, but I came to apologize to Hummel. He blocked me on every kind of social media and he won't answer my texts. Besides, Kentucky got old the minute my new suite mates found out I was a lesbian. I had to get out of there. So I'm giving New York a try."

"Well we're going out to tonight, so why don't you come with us?"

"If that's okay with Hummel I would love to. Where is he anyway?"

"Probably off with his new beau," said Rachel.

"At least one of us is getting some," muttered Santana.

"Make that two of us," said Rachel with a giggle.

"Great," said Santana, "just great. So where is this place we're going tonight?"

"Do you remember that video someone uploaded of Blaine singing Teenage Dream and crying over the piano? It's that same club."

"Ouch. Yeah, how could I forget," answered Santana dryly.

"Well get your butt over here and I'll tell you all about it," said Rachel.

"Text me the directions," said Santana. "I'm at Sal's Pizza on the corner of...hey you, what's the address here?" Santana yelled over to the smitten guy behind the counter.

Alone.

At last Kurt was alone with Adam and they were in each other's arms and had their lips on each other. Finally. He hadn't been alone with him in four days.

Whatever challenges the day had brought him, being in Adam's arms was quickly making him forget them.

Their mouths moved together while Kurt's hands rested on the denim on Adam's hips.

He slowly moved one of his hands around to the front of Adam's jeans and rubbed Adam's cock through the thick fabric. Kurt felt Adam harden under his hand.

Adam let out a moan.

"You like that?" said Kurt giving Adam a little squeeze.

"Oh God," said Adam.

Kurt pressed his open lips to Adam's again and licked into Adam's mouth.

"Hold on Kurt," said Adam, pulling away from the kiss. "I have to go to work. I can't go back up there looking like this," he said, gesturing toward the bulge under his zipper.

"I know," sighed Kurt. "I just...I haven't been alone with you in days. I miss you."

"I've missed you too, you beautiful man," said Adam with a happy laugh. "You could always drop by after Callbacks you know."

"But you won't be done until what, three in the morning? There's no way I'm going to last that long."

Adam let out a chuckle.

"I meant that I can't stay awake that late, you pervert," Kurt said into Adams mouth.

"I understand," said Adam, with a sad little sigh.

"Besides..." said Kurt, before getting distracted and pressing his lips to Adam's again.

"Besides?" asked Adam when he finally pulled back.

"I have to rest up for tomorrow."

"The concert you mean?"

"Among other things," said Kurt. "Can we go back to your room after?"

"Not sure that's a good idea. There's going to be a party on the floor that I'm not supposed to know about it. And even though it's my night off, if we're in my room I'll get roped into disciplining everyone if something goes wrong. And trust me, something will."

"You're hot when you talk about discipline," whispered Kurt in Adam's ear.

Adam laughed. "What about your place, Kurt? It's closer to the club we're going to anyway."

"Well," answered Kurt, moving his lips along a long tendon on Adam's neck, "the walls of my room are just pieces of fabric. You're welcome to sleep in my bed though. It's big and soft and comfy." Kurt continued to move his lips along Adam's neck.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"...but the only way we can have any privacy is if we lock ourselves in the bathroom for a little bit. It's the only room with a door. Or walls."

"Works for me," said Adam. "But won't Rachel be upset if we're in the shower?"

"Rachel? She scolded me when I complained about Brody walking around the loft naked. I think she can handle it."

"Oh, well then," said Adam.

"Mmm, I can picture you in the shower now," said Kurt, "all soapy..."

"It's a date," murmured Adam. "Your place after the show. We'll have to pay attention to the weather though. I hear another storm's coming in on Sunday."

"Is that a euphemism?" asked Kurt.

"No seriously, we're supposed to get a blizzard."

"Mmm. How many inches do you think we'll get?" asked Kurt, gripping Adam through his jeans again.

Adam could only gasp.

"Maybe we'll get snowed in together,"said Kurt. "If I'm lucky."

"I like the way you think, gorgeous. And now I really, truly have to go to work."

Adam pulled away completely, breathing hard, his pupils blown.

"Okay," sighed Kurt. "Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow," agreed Adam.

When Adam could walk again, they headed back up the stairs.