.
The future's here today
.

And the next day is chaos.

It doesn't start out quite that way. More like a confusing jumble. When Santana comes home from work, Brittany, in her sleepy state, talks to her a bit too loudly. Rachel wakes up vaguely, just enough to interpret a few words from across the room, but they're muffled and her mind translates them slowly, like she's in a womb or a cocoon and it's not time to emerge yet. Which seems partially true as well, because after several minutes she realizes she kind of is in a cocoon when Quinn shifts slightly against her back and she realizes that, again, they're cuddling in the small bed. It's unavoidable, with the size they're attempting to share, but it's just so warm and nice, and she's able to drift back off to sleep despite Santana's soft whispers and Brittany's child-like, too-loud sleepy voice. By the time she wakes back up, she can only remember that Santana and Brittany were discussing something that felt important, and kept saying New York.

Rachel wakes up by around 8, which is about when Kurt wakes up to go to work, so she decides to get up herself. After all, if Santana coming home didn't wake up those in the living room, Kurt most certainly will. Santana has gotten fairly good at creeping around the house so early, but Kurt is somewhat of a morning person, despite what seems to be constant sleep depravation, and is also a bit high-strung, like her, and she knows how difficult it is to be quiet when there's so much to do.

She untangles herself from Quinn, who shifts and opens her eyes blearily at her before smiling and settling her head against Rachel's pillow, closing her eyes again. Brittany is wrapped around Santana, practically on top of her, and Santana's expression is placid in sleep. She exits the bedroom to find Kurt attempting to navigate around the coffee table temporarily in the kitchen, cursing lightly under his breath as he tries to ready his breakfast. She hears the shower running and light shifting in the living room; someone must be awake.

Kurt ends up crouching at one end of the coffee table, where there's barely enough room for him to eat some toast and have a cup of tea. He tells her quietly that Blaine had decided just to wake up when Kurt did and is in the shower. Rachel sits on the counter next to him, mindful not to swing her feet, as she'll definitely clock him on the side of the head.

"I wish I didn't work," Kurt says, sotto voce, "You do realize we're never going to get even near Times Square? You guys would have to go in like right now to reserve a spot and I'd never get to you after I get out of work."

Rachel sighs, "I know. I never really intended to get to Times Square, even with just Quinn and myself. Perhaps someday, but it just doesn't seem like it will be worth it to stand there all day. Still, we should go out into the city and enjoy the crowds and the atmosphere. Like we did around Halloween."

Kurt nods a bit distractedly, "So we're still meeting up after I get out of work?"

Rachel nods, "Yes. We'll get some dinner all together and just check things out. We can look at the crowd, see how close we can get, but we should watch the ball drop from somewhere inside. Either here, or perhaps there's a club that's letting in those 18 and older that is showing the ball drop."

As Kurt finishes his breakfast and leans as far as he can to slide his dishes into the sink, the shower shuts off and a moment later the bathroom door opens. Kurt squeezes out around the coffee table. "I'm going to see if anyone's awake and wants the bathroom before I use the shower," he whispers.

Rachel nods and they peek into the living room, tiptoeing in until they actually see their guests. They discover Puck and Mercedes are awake, and both grin and wave and gesture at Sam, who is snuggled against Mercedes's side, still apparently deeply asleep. Puck gets up, and Rachel asks whether he'd like her to go to a Dunkin Donuts or something to get some donuts and sandwiches for them all to eat. He nods enthusiastically and she shivers, imagining the weather outside, and heads back into her room to change.

When she comes back in, Quinn wakes up enough to sit up and blink blearily at her, reaching for her glasses on her bedside table. She squints and averts her eyes upon realizing Rachel is getting dressed. "Where are you going?" she whispers.

"To get breakfast for everyone."

Quinn nods, shudders, and pulls back the sheets, "I'll come, too. You'll need help carrying whatever it is."

She swings her legs over the bed and reaches immediately for her contacts case. Rachel shakes her head as she watches Quinn put in contacts with practiced ease. She can barely understand how she can do this, when her eyes had just been so bleary a moment before, but they get dressed quickly and quietly and pull on their coats. Brittany lifts her head a little as they prepare to leave, and Quinn whispers that they're going to get breakfast and they'll try to make sure it stays quiet enough in the living room so Santana can get enough sleep. Brittany nods and nuzzles back into Santana's neck.

Blaine is exiting Kurt's bedroom as they exit Rachel's. He's dressed, though his clothes are a bit rumpled, and his hair is simply wet, not gelled. But he smiles a little tiredly when he notices they're dressed. "You're heading out to get breakfast, right?" he asks, "I'll come with you."

Rachel's sure that he'd much rather be fixing his hair at the moment, but she has a feeling Kurt requested that Blaine accompany them, so she beams and acquiesces, while Quinn eyes him impassively. Rachel puts a hand on Quinn's forearm and Quinn smiles reflexively. It dawns on Rachel a little bit that Quinn barely knows Blaine; she certainly hadn't spent the last year or two tagging along on Kurt and Blaine's coffee dates and movie nights. It doesn't make sense that Quinn would be unwelcoming of Blaine's company, however, because she's never given any indication that she dislikes him. Perhaps it's Blaine's typical cheer. Rachel can imagine that his combined with her own could be a little grating.

It's freezing outside, which isn't at all surprising, and it turns out Rachel is glad to have both of her friends along. It's nice to have some company on her trudge down a couple of blocks in the dreary early light, the sun struggling through the streaks of gray clouds in the sky, threatening flurries. She huddles close to Quinn so their shoulders bump as they brave the cold, which feels more acute with how recently they were warm in bed together. Blaine ends up on her other side, and for whatever reason, the cold seems to invigorate him.

About halfway there, Blaine turns to her with a touch of sadness in his eyes and says, "I heard, you know. About how you and Finn are completely done."

Rachel's breath catches, more in surprise than in a well of emotion, which is good. It means she's moving on.

"Yes," she responds matter-of-factly. "It's what's best for both of us. I'm moving on now."

Blaine must feel that he's overstepped his boundaries, because little frown lines appear between his brows and he jokes, "Well, you know what they say. The best way to get over your ex is to get under the next!"

"Blaine!" Rachel laughs, and next to her, Quinn chuckles quietly. Blaine's smile reappears, relieved.

When they get there, she lets Quinn and Blaine pick out donut flavors while she gets a variety of egg sandwiches with all kinds of disgusting pig flesh on them. Quinn eyes her carefully, "What are you getting?" Rachel gets a bagel for herself and flashes Quinn a smile, which Quinn returns uncertainly.

By the time they return, Kurt is still in the bathroom, and Puck has figured out how to work the coffee machine so the apartment smells incredible; when they come in, he's awkwardly straddling the coffee table while stretching up to get mugs out of the cabinet. Brittany is lounging on the couch and Mercedes seems to be gently waking up Sam, who is propped on his elbows blinking sleepily while she smoothes his hair back from his forehead.

They eat breakfast all together with smiles and low chuckles, and Rachel slips back into the kitchen to brew another pot of coffee, since the first isn't nearly enough for everyone. By the time Kurt is ready to go to work, everyone jumps up to hug and, in the case of Blaine, kiss him goodbye, and he smiles slightly, his cheeks a little pink, "This completely makes up for my depressing and cramped breakfast in the kitchen this morning. See you guys this evening."

The day passes quickly. Santana wakes up, early for her, a little after noon and eats the last donut. They listen to music, watch TV, talk, laugh. They even play a little bit of Super Smash Bros, in a tournament that quickly turns into epic Quinn vs. Puck matches. By 3, Puck is extracting the alcohol he brought—and he brought a lot—so they do all of the above while tipsy, too.

They go for simple peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, which isn't all that filling, so they're pretty drunk by the time they shuffle out of the apartment at 7:30 to attempt to meet Kurt. They'll be meeting at the last open subway stop on the line, since a good deal of the system is closed down to accommodate the crowds. The subway itself is packed and moves slowly, and Rachel keeps shouting at everyone the name of the stop they're getting off at in case they're separated and encourages everyone to use the buddy system. Santana and Puck both roll their eyes, and Mercedes giggles a bit maniacally into Sam's shoulder as Rachel acts pretty much like a high school chaperone. Only Blaine seems to pay much attention to her, his dark eyes remain trained on Rachel and he tries to stay as close to her as possible.

They make it to their designated subway stop without anyone getting lost in the subway system, but it's almost impossibly packed here, as well. Rachel surfaces enough to call Kurt, who by this time is probably just getting out of work, and attempts to shout over the noise of the crowd that they're there waiting for him. Fifteen minutes later, he calls back and they finally find him.

Puck is the first to notice him in the crowd, and jostles through to people to him. Surprisingly, he wraps Kurt in a hug; Kurt's startled eyes find Blaine's over Puck's shoulder. Mercedes stifles more giggles. Puck whispers something, laughs, and drags Kurt back to the others.

Blaine gives him a hug and a furtive kiss as he asks, puzzled, "What did he say to you?"

Kurt shakes his head and grins, "That he's sorry that Rachel didn't allow him to bring me any alcohol."

"I most certainly could not approve of such inappropriate risks," Rachel butts in, "The streets are full of police and the last thing any of us need is to be arrested for underage drinking on New Year's."

Kurt gazes at her and then chuckles into his hand, "Oh god. You are all already drunk, aren't you." It's really not a question.

Rachel sniffs almost haughtily, "At least I am a good enough actress to conceal it."

Kurt's expression betrays his heavy skepticism, so Rachel ignores him, and the group pushes their way out of the subway station.

The streets above are just as packed, but they attempt to make their way toward Times Square anyway. It's not long until they see police barriers and lines of policemen ahead. Rachel absolutely panics and spins on her heel to go the other way. Quinn grabs her arm and laughs, "We're fine! We'll be fine. We won't get any closer."

They stand in a tight bunch, letting the experience sink in. The crowds of people all around them, jostling into them (Blaine nearly gets knocked over multiple times), the noise, the lights, the buildings. Whatever is happening, they really can't see or hear much, just the white noise of the crowd and flashes of lights. It's just a giant mess.

Quinn extracts her camera from her bag and commences taking pictures—of the crowd, of their friends, of the streets. When she lowers it, Rachel feels Quinn shudder slightly. "Are you cold?" she asks, leaning in to whisper in Quinn's ear. Quinn shudders again, but shakes her head. A possibility dawns on Rachel, "Oh God. Is this triggering your claustrophobia?"

Quinn shakes her head, "No, I promise, I'm fine. But it is…well, a little overwhelming. I've never been in a crowd like this and we're just on the outskirts."

A group huddle later, and it's decided that they'll find a food truck or something else easy to get some dinner, but most people have had enough. It's impossible to get closer and just not that exciting to watch the mass of people that stretch further than they can see. So they'll head back and watch the ball drop from the safety and warmth of the apartment, where they can all drink in peace and ring in the New Year together. They push their way back through the crowd in an amoeba form, linking arms and hands.

They decide on a tiny, hole-in-the-wall Middle Eastern place a good number of blocks away that is still serving food despite the steady stream of people in and out of it—though the crowds are thankfully thinner here—and get little Styrofoam trays piled high with falafel, hummus, grape leaves and baklava. There isn't even enough room for them all to sit inside the tiny place, so they eat as they walk, slowly, mostly because Kurt is lagging. By the time they get to a subway station, everyone's finished and the cold is really starting to bother them.

Back in their apartment's neighborhood, Kurt is positively limping. "I should have known better than to break in my new boots on a work day," he groans. Rachel glances at his shoes; she hadn't noticed they were new. Must have been a Christmas present.

Puck gets in front of Kurt and crouches, "Come on, man," he laughs, "I'll carry you!"

"Seriously?!" Kurt squeaks. He glances at Blaine, who looks shocked, and then wraps his arms around Puck's neck, "I can't believe I'm considering this sober." Puck lifts him, staggers a step. "Oh, god!" Kurt shrieks, clinging tighter, "Tell me you're not too drunk for this!"

"I'm good!" Puck grunts, "you're just heavier than you look, bro!"

Soon, Puck is circling the rest of the group as Kurt hangs onto his back, galloping around like a fool. Santana eventually says loudly, "Gee, I'm really tired, maybe if I complain enough, I won't have to walk either!" But when Sam gamely offers his back, she just laughs at him. Kurt and Puck have no reaction to her ridicule, just continue laughing. Rachel glances at Blaine, who is just wearing a tight smile as he watches the two. Puck puts Kurt down once they get inside the building, apologizing about the steps. Blaine comes forward then to wrap an arm around Kurt's shoulders as they ascend the stairs.

It's nicer inside, out of the cold and, as Puck proclaims, where they can drink. They stream the New Year's celebrations through the Wii and only half pay attention while they sing along to music, laugh, talk. There's somehow so much to talk about, from what they're each doing now, to school, to what the New Directions are working on, to Schuester's wedding, to people Mercedes has met in LA, to high school memories ("Kurt, remember that time you wore a trucker hat and flannel for like a week?" "Puck, your dress!" "God, Rachel, remember when you wanted Quinn's nose?!" "Quinn, I'm not gonna lie, girl, you were kinda hot with pink hair." "San, remember that time we spied on Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury—" "Britt, shh!" "Blaine, your fluffy prom hair!" "I still can't believe you were in juvie, Puckerman." "Oh my god I just remembered when Zizes was your manager, Mercedes!" "I cannot believe I busted your car windshield, Kurt, Lord Almighty…" "Oh God, when you were on the football team, Rach! And Mercedes!" "Remember Coach Sylvester's cannon? That was insane." "Shit, I just flashed back to Mr. Schue dancing with us at that pep rally, that was disturbing." "Trouty Mouth!" "Hey, that song was brilliant!" "No comment"). Rachel ensures she remains merely tipsy through the evening and does her best to monitor the drinking of her friends. Quinn stops drinking entirely after one drink, to her surprise, but she still seems to be having a great time, so Rachel's glad.

By the time they're counting down to midnight it's pretty much been decided…screw noise complaints. No one has said anything so far, and when midnight hits, Brittany wraps her legs around Santana's waist to kiss her, Kurt plants a sloppy kiss on Blaine and Sam and Mercedes trade multiple little chaste kisses and smiles.

Rachel watches, feeling slightly left out, until Puck leans over the back of the couch between her and Quinn and says loudly, "For my single ladies!" and leaves a wet smack on each of their cheeks.

"Gross, Puck!" Quinn laughs.

For her part, Rachel squeals, "Noah!" But she laughs. It's nice, sort of. She looks at Quinn and grins and leans into her.

Not too much later, it's time for bed. Their guests will be leaving in the morning, aside from Quinn, so Rachel feels compelled to enforce bedtime, despite eye rolls and mockery. Even Santana gets in bed—it's not as though she can hang out in the living room. Rachel is on her back in bed, Quinn on her side beside her, listening to the loving whispers across the room as Santana describes to Brittany a beautiful dream she could have, and she turns over to face Quinn, their knees nudging together.

"Quinn?" she whispers.

"Hmm?" Quinn asks, opening her eyes.

"Happy New Year," Rachel whispers.

Quinn grins shyly, "Happy New Year."

"I just wanted to say I'm looking forward to it," Rachel explains, "Last year was just…" she shakes her head, and watches flickers of dark emotion pass over Quinn's face. So much had happened…to both of them. Rachel had almost gotten married. Quinn had almost gotten killed. "Last year was a mess," she admits, thinking now, about how Quinn is at Yale, and by all accounts, enjoying herself, and how she herself has finally moved on from Finn Hudson, maybe will be ready to open her heart sometime in the next year. "I just know this year will be better than last year," she finishes.

Quinn just looks at her, a little half-smile on her face. "Yeah," she breathes, "I think it'll be a pretty good year. We're both shaping our futures. I know it will be, Rach. The future is ours. This year is ours."

Rachel slips an arm around Quinn and burrows into her happily. Quinn sighs and returns the embrace, and Rachel falls asleep with those words in her mind. The future is ours.

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Of promises and masquerade
.

He's probably a little tipsy, because since Blaine got him into bed, all he's been able to do is talk.

"I can't wait until you're here with me later this year," he says for probably the eighth time. Blaine smiles indulgently and runs a hand through Kurt's hair. "I mean, I know now that it's probably not possible for us to live in this city unless we share rooms, so like, the way I see it, we get a three bedroom, and you and I share one, and Britt and Santana, and then Rachel has hers. And we should easily be able to afford that. We shouldn't have to work as hard as we've been working, because, you know, did I tell you? I start my new job in a couple of days. Or is it tomorrow? I don't know. But I just can't wait. I miss you all the time, you know. Did you apply?"

Blaine chuckles, "I did, Kurtsy. NYU, Juilliard, NYADA. Plus a few others schools."

"Backup options, right?"

Blaine shrugs and says, "In a sense. Other good schools I wouldn't mind going to."

"In the city?"

"Not necessarily."

"Oh." Kurt tries to make sense of this, but then lets it go. Blaine's applying to so many places, he's thorough. "I'm glad you have a lot of options. I really should have had backup schools when I applied. I was just so sure that NYADA was all I wanted. I'm sure if my dad and Carole weren't so focused on the campaign and on the fact that Finn had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, they'd've forced me to apply elsewhere. I was stupid. I'm glad you're not stupid, Blaine. I'm glad you're gonna be here. All of those school are gonna accept you. You're a leading man. My leading man." Blaine smiles, and Kurt continues, "And did Britt finish her applications?"

"She's still working, but she has some time. She'll get them in. We're all helping her—Mike, too. And Tina, since she did a lot of Mike's applications. He's helping her prepare for her auditions—which she will get."

"She's a dancing queen," Kurt nods, then cackles.

Blaine shushes him gently with a kiss, "Get some sleep, honey. We both need it."

"Okay, okay," he acquiesces, kissing Blaine again. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Blaine whispers against his temple a moment later.

.
Tell me something without any lies that cover my feelings
.

When Tina suggests they do something to celebrate New Year's, Mike looks at her with surprise. "But that's not until the end of the month!"

Tina stares in confusion and just as it starts to give way to frustration, Mike grins, "I couldn't resist. Of course I'd like to ring in the New Year with you. And if I were actually home for the Lunar New Year, I'd celebrate that with you, too." He kisses her.

She's surprised, because while Mike had made an effort to branch out from "Asian" activities after she'd complained about them her Sophomore year, he had continued to be very interested in his culture, almost to the point of reverence. She's not sure she's ever heard him make a joke about being "too Asian" before, and…it's a change. She knew college would change Mike, but she didn't expect to feel so hurt by this first, tiny change.

It's stupid to feel hurt by that.

Just after midnight on what had just become New Year's Day, after exchanging celebratory kisses with Mike, his phone rings. He glances at it, grins a bit and answers, "Hey, Kate! Happy New Year!"

They don't talk long, but Tina watches his face. He's grinning. And even though one of the first things he says is, "I'm celebrating with Tina," and then rolls his eyes and says, "No, not Kurt, Tina, my actual girlfriend? Since I don't have a secret boyfriend?" and he laughs, Tina feels a bit left out. She makes Mike smile all the time, tenderly mostly, lovingly, but she doesn't make him laugh much.

After a couple minutes he shakes his head, laughs, says goodbye, and hangs up, still grinning a little, "Sorry," he says, "Just Kate, wishing me a Happy New Year."

Tina nods, "I kind of figured," she says, slightly coldly. Mike twists his mouth, clearly not sure what to say, and Tina finally says hesitantly, "Tell me about Kate and Sandra."

Mike looks perplexed, but he does. He even gets out his laptop and shows Tina their Facebooks. Tina can't help but notice that they're both…pretty. They have dancer's physiques, obviously, as it is dance school. Sandra appears to be of Indian descent, while Kate is a tall Amazonian blonde. She hadn't seen them because Mike didn't allow pictures of himself to be tagged on Facebook, due to his parents having access to it (literal access; they had his password), so she'd never seen pictures of them all hanging out, but they're always laughing together, with other people—more statuesque dancer women and groups of men, most coiffed and dressed in ways that screamed gay.

Tina feels painfully jealous after a minute and finally says, "They're gorgeous."

Mike shrugs, a touch helplessly, "I guess so," he agrees half-heartedly.

Tina stares at him a moment, "No, seriously, Mike. You have to be attracted to these girls. There's just no way."

Mike looks trapped and holds up his hands, "Tina, calm down. What is this about? I'm just friends with these girls. Please, trust me."

"I know that. I do. I just…" Tina squeezes her eyes shut, "This is getting hard. I keep having these thoughts. Like, things I might do if I were single." She shakes her head rapidly, "I love you, I really do, but it's just getting so hard to be so far away from you. And to hear you talk, you're coping just fine, even staring at what would be temptation for anybody else on the planet every day and you're just…you're fine! You don't even think about them!"

Mike meets her eyes and says softly, "I want you to listen to me a second, because I need to apologize. I lied to you, during Thanksgiving. Of course I want other girls sometimes, Tina, I'm a human being, and a teenage boy. But every day, I make a choice, and I make the choice to love and be with you. Every single day. And for me, it's not a difficult one. It's human to want other people, but it's ethical to honor our commitment to each other. For me, it's the difference between being a human and being a man."

Tina stares at him, and overwhelming love for him stabs her in the heart, but guilt remains. She takes a shaky breath. "What if…what if I can't stop the thoughts I'm having? I don't…I don't want any other men but you, but I…I keep thinking about…something you can't give me."

He closes his eyes a moment and then says, almost painfully, "Do you…want to take a break? Revisit this relationship later?"

Tina doesn't even think before she repeats, "No! I love you, Mike. I don't want to give up on you."

Mike's jaw is tight and he nods stiffly. He swallows thickly, "I don't want you to have any doubts about us. But. I understand what you're asking me. If you do anything…don't tell me." The croak of his voice betrays him. He doesn'tlike the idea.

But he loves her.

"What will you do?" she asks softly.

He shrugs, "The same I have been. Choosing you. Every day."

"I'm so sorry," she sobs, suddenly wracked with guilt and feeling out of control.

He holds her, "It's okay. I understand, I think."

Somehow, it feels both like she's stabbing him in the heart and that's it's okay that she does. But the way he holds her, that will always make her feel better.

A/N: Chapter titles from Shiny Toy Guns, "Rocketship," We Are The World, "Clay Stones," and A Band of Bees/The Bees, "Listening Man."