AN: This is kind of a choose your own adventure story, lol. Each of the next 3 parts are what would happen if he chose each of the locations. Some things are just going to be canon no matter the choice. Some things stay the same, some things have to change. And in a few instances in this particular part it does widely veer away from canon for a reason, mainly because I hated it in canon. There are some things I hate in canon that I have to keep though, unfortunately. This part is largely canon with a few changes and so I won't rehash most of it, just go over it quickly. Though I did think about changing them for the better, aw well. ;)

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Part 2

New York

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This was always the dream. The other offers while intriguing were not for him in the end. He just couldn't see what he would do over there, how he could live a life there and then the headache and hassle for after school visas. They had offered scholarships, NYADA had not. He wouldn't have had to work, only do an internship. Here he did.

NYADA was a delayed start, unfortunately his choice, but it hadn't been a choice at all. His father had a second heart attack and he was not excited to skip town while his father was undergoing surgery and a lot of tests.

He didn't care how many times his dad told him the first one wasn't actually a heart attack. He'd always view it as such and now there was a second one proving his point.

He figured it was a good way to get a start on the financials he would need to support himself in New York. Over the summer he'd already worked at the Lima Bean to earn more money and the garage. Now that Blaine and the others were back in school, he picked up more shifts at the garage to make sure it stayed afloat while his dad couldn't be there. He had just been about to quit the Lima Bean but with his dad's heart attack, he shifted his schedule so he could be there during the rushes and get more tips.

In October, Burt basically shoved Kurt out the door and Blaine gave his permission. Kurt had tried to argue that it was the middle of the semester, it didn't make any sense to go then but Burt shook his head. "Go get a job and work before the semester starts, it'll give you an advantage to be looking at an off time."

That was true, but it was also a lot more expensive living in New York. He had two guaranteed jobs here, although once he started looking at starting wages in New York, he realized he wasn't making nearly enough to live there. Although his expenses were less here. It was a little bit of a headscratcher in some ways but he was going. Money was always going to come and go and he would have to make sacrifices everywhere.

Rachel was miserable in her dorm room. It was like living with Santana, Kitty and Quinn without a Brittany there to soften things for her or soften them. Things weren't as easy or going her way. She had girls and boys in her classes that were just like her, dramatic and expected everything handed to them and wildly talented. They were just as ambitious and were even more cutthroat than she was and would have tantrums and storm off like her too.

Nothing she did was unique nor original nor severe enough to get more than a half-hearted murmur of "wait, no, come back... ok, whatever. And a one, two, three four!"

Kurt needed a place to live, he hadn't picked anything out prior to leaving and he couldn't live in the dorms like originally planned, since he wasn't technically a student yet. Rent would be a lot cheaper when split and so he and Rachel went in on an apartment together way outside the city in probably a little less than desirable area of even that borough. It was a further commute, but it was still in NYC and not New Jersey and the subway was cheaper than rent, even if it meant more time getting places. Kurt learned to do a lot of reading of actual books on the subway, a lot less desirable than a phone if someone was going to try and rob you. They didn't have very many possessions of value so it worked out.

He got a job at a diner, and somehow scored an internship at Vogue.

Blaine cheated within two weeks of being gone, yep, that happened. He came out and apologized profusely but Kurt hadn't wanted to hear it.

A failed wedding, a return to check on his dad and a disastrous attendance of a musical where Blaine played an angel made Kurt realize why he had wanted to get out of Lima in the first place. A fever dream of a Thanksgiving where he separated himself from the amazing party to call Blaine and let him know that he still loved him... well, shit, the whole night was nuts. He called Blaine later in the week to tell him to not look too into it though, he was still hurt and it was going to take time. He hadn't meant to play with Blaine's feelings or get his hopes up, it had just been a weak moment for Kurt who was going through his own emotional ups and downs and insecurities and false bravado and confidence. He missed Blaine but he was also still very upset about it. He knew people cheated and he should get over it but it was hard for him. He had a lot further to fall since his expectations of relationships weren't built in reality. His were a mix of old time movies, fairy tales and his own parents' marriage that had ended tragically short but had been perfect while both were still alive. Kurt thought everyone should strive for those levels.

He found others' relationships juicy and full of gossip but he had never wanted to be part of that himself. Had thought their relationship was solid and would weather through a month apart, Blaine hadn't even lasted two weeks. In addition to everything that went down before they got together and their petty fights when they were together, it was hard for Kurt to see a future. But the good times were so good.

Then Blaine was there with his dad less than a month later for Christmas and that hurt but was also nice to see them get along so well. They hadn't until then. He realized that Burt didn't know, just thought both of them were missing Kurt. Thought the long-distance thing got to them.

Kurt didn't upset his dad by going into details, couldn't just then. He hadn't found any time to be appropriate to tell Burt that.

He was too busy to date and then he was starting the spring semester in January. He had a lot of classes to catch up on and had taken a couple of crash courses during the break and a few community classes where he could fit them in since October. Miss July wasn't as critical or harsh on Kurt who showed up early and stayed late every day and tried hard to do well in her class. She actually had to tell him to take breaks otherwise he'd hurt himself.

He looked through options now that his Vogue internship had ended, wondering if there was an after school activity that he could get involved in. He joined Adam's Apples despite Rachel's insistence that it was the wrong move. It gave him a community for a little while. He met the guy who formed the band- Adam- and he was a nice guy and in another life, maybe Kurt would have done more than be friendly with him. Though his compliments were nice to hear and were a balm to a burn he didn't know he was still sporting. Adam was leaving in a few months to go back to England. Kurt didn't need that kind of drama at the moment.

He was too busy wrapped up in other drama, namely with a Blaine Anderson. Also a drama unfolding with his roommate Rachel, her current boyfriend Brody and Santana. Thankfully it wasn't another Jesse St. James debacle but there was still some subterfuge and cheating going on. Rachel had all the bad luck there, didn't she? Finn, Jesse, Brody, Puck, all of them couldn't figure themselves out or stick with one girl. They all claimed to love her (except Puck) but they all also had ties to other women that they couldn't sever.

Kurt supposed he didn't have much better luck with guys-Dave- closeted gay who forced a kiss on him and then tried to ask Kurt to date him in secret while already dating another guy, Blaine who cheated after two weeks of being apart among a whole host of other things, and Cody- a mall Santa who robbed them after giving Kurt a fun evening. It was the one and only time that Kurt did a one-night stand. He hadn't been looking for more, he just wasn't looking to be robbed too. At least he wasn't robbed in that way. He'd definitely been rewarded for being a good boy as he licked those washboard abs and saw them in action in other ways, seeing how he'd formed them.

Kurt would keep that memory to himself, personal and prized and let Santana and Rachel think that he had been tied up against his will. He surprised even himself with how adventurous he was with Cody and how much it didn't bother him in the slightest he went there. He supposed when it was his idea attached to a hot body giving him exactly what he wanted, things were a bit different.

Kurt also got another job. It was already a full time job wrangling in the two toddlers he lived with but it didn't pay the rent. Though, he supposed Santana didn't pay and Rachel's dads basically paid for it already. He just needed a little seed money to invest in his other projects.

The semester was going fast and he would have to think long and hard about what he was going to do and what he wanted to do about the incoming wave of Freshmen from Ohio. Many of them had plans to move to The City and had already been accepted by schools here.

Blaine had told him on the phone that he could always change his mind, that he could turn NYADA down, just let him know. Kurt was on the fence about that, NYADA was a very small school. Yet he didn't want to interfere with Blaine's future. He had every right to pursue acting at the best school for the stage and had earned his place there with his audition and extracurriculars.

They could be friends, right? It wouldn't matter that they were at the same school together and had a history. They could attend classes and share hall space without it becoming something else. Time was ticking for him to make up his mind.

Memories though would assail him in different directions and he had an epiphany one day while he was stretching in one of the dance rooms. Blaine was going to choose to do whatever he wanted to do regardless of what Kurt said. Even if he asked Blaine to attend another school, he would still choose to come to NYADA or go to whatever school he wanted to go to. Even offering Kurt the option to say no was his way of forcing the situation, tipping Kurt's hand. If he said no, Blaine would definitely be here.

So Kurt kept quiet. Besides, even if Blaine wanted to go to NYU and became an actor through their own impressive program, Kurt would have to see Blaine in the Broadway circuit. He might as well get used to it now.

What he had not agreed to was Rachel inviting Blaine and Artie and Sam to come move in with them. "We can't sustain 6 people in the house plus any guy you or I bring home or woman or guy Santana brings back."

"It'll be nice to have more guys around." Rachel countered with a small frown that said that she was settling in unit she got her way. Rachel always got her way in the end and Kurt should just give up here and save himself a headache and a fight. Kurt didn't give in so easily. He still always tried to see if he could win or out maneuver Rachel. In the end, he would still give in, he knew he would before he even shifted his stance to read bring it. Maybe it was defeatist or self-sabotage but he had to at least try and he would be able to say he voiced his opinion loud and clear. Maybe this time he'd actually win the argument.. He would still do whatever he wanted usually, like joining the Adam's Apples, he just let Rachel think she won that one.

He'd be right in the end and they wouldn't be able to sustain 6 of them plus whoever else showed up out of the blue or happened to be dating one of them. He'd be able to lord that over Rachel at least if she got her way now, that he was right, that he was always right and next time she should listen to him and do what he said without a fight first.

If things hadn't imploded due to Rachel's grand scheming, then Kurt would have had to move out himself. It hadn't started out so well and that was mainly because of what happened prior to the trio moving to NYC.

It was graduation day for most high schools, and apparently it didn't matter if it was private or public or a boarding school. Kurt came back to help celebrate his friends' achievements and the group of them headed to the Lima Bean prior to the main event.

They hadn't been alone in that plan. Sebastian bumped into Blaine and they shared a warm familiar smile and greeting. Kurt groaned. "Honestly, this is an hour and a half away from Dalton. Why do you all insist on coming here? There are plenty of better coffee shops closer to you."

"Aw Kurt, I knew I couldn't go without seeing your adorable face one last time before heading out of the country." Sebastian reached out to squeeze Kurt's cheek in mockery but Kurt batted his hand away and moved back to avoid it.

"Seriously though, why so far away?" Kurt insisted, he needed an answer after so much time and misery.

Sebastian shrugged. "Blaine never told you? Jeff's mom lives in the area. We're here whenever his mom has custody of him, apparently it's been that way since Freshman year and she has a massive house and entertainment. The boys just naturally gravitated toward her house."

Kurt turned wide eyes onto Blaine. "You came out here for years prior to us meeting? You would have been out here anyway? You never told me Jeff and Nick were also in town so much? Why the hell would you come to the Lima Bean for coffee when there's a mansion that probably has a better machine and people to wait on you without you paying a cent of your own money?" He was mostly flabbergasted by the last one. All of his points were valid. He could have had a much better relationship with the Dalton boys if he'd known they were in his town once in awhile on the weekends. It had been too hard and expensive to go back to Dalton if he didn't have to for school.

"Yeah and she let Blaine stay there for the last two years during the week."

Kurt's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "But we always went to your parents' house if we didn't go to my house."

"Ooh, looks like I stepped in it." Sebastian laughed and went to pick up his coffee. "And there's just something good about a cup at the shop vs at home. We have both when we're in town but sometimes it's nice to get off property." Then he gave a jaunty salute and a saucy smile and headed out. "Nice to see you again." He tossed over his shoulder a tad softer than he probably meant as he crossed through Kurt's bubble, bumping into him on purpose but not spitefully. Then he was gone.

Kurt had so many questions for Sebastian but he didn't press. He had far too many other questions and recriminations to pin Blaine down for.

Blaine tried his hardest to side-step all of the issues Sebastian's words stirred up but it just didn't fly with Kurt. Eventually Blaine was the one storming off offended and hurt and playing the victim. Kurt sighed and dropped his face into his hands as he sat there at the Lima Bean, an all too familiar scene had just played out. He wondered if it would ever change and stick.

He didn't know what he was expecting when a body dropped into the chair across from him. A wild thought circulated through his head that it was Sebastian back to apologize for his behavior. Kurt got an apology but from Blaine when he lifted his eyes to see who occupied the spot across from him. "Blaine?" He asked a bit confused and hesitant.

Blaine sighed heavily. "I've messed up again, haven't I?"

"I don't know, maybe, it wasn't a great scene just now." Kurt gestured to the shop's interior as if rewinding the events and replaying them for Blaine. "I'm tired." He could finally admit it out loud. He was exhausted and he'd been home for a few days already. He should be better now, at least a little.

"I'm sorry for adding to it." Blaine shifted uncomfortably, never one to really be in the hot seat, either forgiven quickly in the past or his bad behavior just completely overlooked, but at least he was trying now. "I should have told you the truth years ago, I just... I wanted you for myself, especially when you moved back to your old school and already knew everyone. I had to fight for your attention in a way I didn't have to at Dalton. I didn't want to bring even more people who knew you into a better position and hold on your life and attention. I also didn't want to lose their focus on me."

"That's surprisingly... introspective." Kurt eyed his one-time boyfriend skeptically.

"After I cheated on you after two weeks, Cooper suggested I go to therapy. Let's just say I got a long way to go and a lot to work on." Blaine also gestured at the shop's interior relaying Kurt's prior message as his point as well. "I'm not going to be perfect, I'm not going to be instantly better and I might still make a lot of mistakes and errors in judgment and regret, really regret. I'm also probably going to still annoy you."

"The things that annoy me were always small compared to the things I liked about you, admired even or found adorable. You're not a terrible person Blaine, you have a lot of enviable traits that I'll never have nor want to try to emulate but still wish came naturally to me. Though I am glad you're in therapy, you do kind of self-sabotage in a lot of ways." Kurt made a face, hoping to take the sting out of his words, he didn't want Blaine storming out again because he was being a bit too honest.

Blaine nodded, looking only mildly put out about the fair assessment. "I know. Are you mad?"

"There's a whole world in a different universe that was denied to me by your actions but I'll never know what that ended up looking like It's no use crying over it, we all could have tried harder to reach out to each other. They knew I lived here even if I didn't know they were here. My world is so far removed from them now that it doesn't make sense to go back. If we're meant to be better friends than we are, we will be." Kurt shrugged. "Doesn't make what you did right though, it'll never be right but I do understand where you were coming from in some ways. I don't completely get it, but I'm willing to believe that there is some twisted logic in there that makes some sense. I'm not without my own flaws, no one is." Kurt held up a hand. "I don't want you to think that means you can point them out now."

Blaine closed his mouth and nodded. "And I'm really only sort of sorry." He tacked on. "About the boys from Dalton, I mean."

"Yeah, I know." Kurt was fairly mellow in response to Blaine's most recent confession. He did know, had always known that Blaine had purposefully kept them from connecting too much. Kurt had let him weaken those bonds by not reaching out himself. He'd made his own mistakes when it came to this relationship.

Blaine asked if they could try the boyfriends thing again before Kurt was due to go back to New York, a few weeks prior to Blaine coming out too. Kurt swallowed, already knowing they'd be living together and with a strength he didn't know he had, he said no. He had found out more information that Blaine had withheld from him and the trust just wasn't there yet. Blaine was working on it but even this was given to him by an outside source.

Blaine was pouting and didn't take the no very well. When he came to New York and moved in, he seemed to make it his mission to be as obnoxious as Rachel. Kurt was already looking at different apartment and had very nearly called one of them when Blaine announced he and Sam were going to move out and into a different space together. It was too hard to see Kurt all day long without being in a relationship with him.

Same city, same school, different apartments was actually the trick. They were able to get some space from each other and they slowly became good friends again.

Sam moved back to Lima to move in with Finn and Puck. Puck went and joined the military though not long later. It was a weird choice and could have blown up for all of them, especially with his record, but it surprisingly did him well.

Rachel reconnected with Jesse St. James and he was introducing her to all the people he was working with and they were giving it another go. Kurt wondered briefly if maybe she was using him for the connections? But he'd used her loads in the past, so that was actually a pretty balanced relationship.

After graduation, Kurt and Blaine attempted to start dating again and it was going well so far. They had both grown a lot through each other and having dated other guys, they'd had to, neither would have been content to settle down having only been in one relationship. It was a more solid footing they were starting from and had worked through their issues. There were still a few snags in the fabric on occasion but nothing they couldn't snip off or smooth out.

They'd moved in together after Blaine graduated. That went ok, they'd each had difficult roommates but they were learning that it was different too. It wasn't a roommate they were living with but a partner. They had to treat it differently than how they might with a roommate.

Rachel had an implosion and moved back to Lima to try again with Finn. Things didn't end up working out long term with Jesse but not until after he convinced her to have a kid with him. Finn had still been single and was weary but they'd kept in contact over the years and agreed to try.

Sam married a girl who was 4 years younger than him they'd met at one of the Glee reunions 3 years after she graduated college.

Blaine had hoped to convince Rachel to carry his genes on but with her no longer in New York he had to rethink things. Kurt had rolled his eyes at Blaine when he admitted as much. "You know it'd be easier if you and I were married, right?" They were already engaged but hadn't talked children until now. "I'm happy being uncle Kurt."

"Is that all you want though? You don't want to raise a child of your own one day?" Blaine questioned but it was a serious one. Kurt had thought Rachel and Jesse's kid was a terror from basically day one. "You're such a parent otherwise." Blaine tacked on and Kurt thought about that too.

"Let's get a dog first." They already had several plants that Kurt had taken over in keeping alive and cleaning up after. A dog didn't live as long as a child.

"You want a dog?" Blaine asked disbelievingly.

"The right dog, sure." Kurt had eyed up several low-shed breeds that didn't drool massive strings all over the place. "I get to pick." Because apparently Blaine was going to pick everything for their child, including the fact that they were going to have one.

"Yeah, ok." Blaine gave in surprisingly quickly. Kurt settled back against Blaine, going back to reading about the latest fashion trends. Blaine kissed the top of Kurt head. "I have an idea for a new play."

Neither were doing exactly what they thought they'd be doing on Broadway when they set out. Blaine had moved to writing brilliant scripts, music and lyrics. Kurt directed and oversaw the wardrobe and lighting departments. He would veto or change things with Blaine's work that he didn't think would work or would change the setting if he thought something else would work better.

Occasionally one or both took to the stage but they were making a name for themselves as a partnership churning out hits after a couple of potentials that didn't quite make it. Now they were a reliable name and if someone saw theirs then they were agreeing to front the money and put them on stage. Nothing had lasted as long as some of the greats yet, but they were presentable in how long they stayed in the theater. Each one lasting longer than the last and word was spreading. More than the Broadway elites and fanatics knew their names now, and even outside of The City.

Blaine's idea was a very close hitting story about growing up gay from a lot of different perspectives and explored expectations vs reality. Not everyone's story ended well and not all were the harrowing journeys seen again and again in media. There were stereotypes and traditional views of their community, subversive and honest, true representation across the whole spectrum. Some had overlap and some were so different than the others but each were distinct characters.

Kurt agreed to work on it.

He also agreed to Blaine's thoughts on marketing it to a younger audience as well. Get them involved, get them learning and interacting with them and the theater world and the ideas presented. It was an interesting line they were going to toe. Kurt knew with his eye they wouldn't go over it but could get people of all ages to fall in love with the play. It was rare they didn't have a musical and there would definitely be musical element but it wasn't going to be a musical, another subversive.

Kurt didn't see it until they were coming back from an elementary school in Queens. Blaine had set them up for several talks with different classes around New York. They went from Elementary school to College kids and it was his way of subtly convincing Kurt that a kid wouldn't be all that terrible.

They were married now and had a dog. Kurt sat down with him after the third attempt to show Kurt that kids weren't that bad, that Rachel and Jesse's kid was just special, considering who the parents were. Kurt agreed, he'd been thawing on that front anyway. He had a lot of love to give and could see having a couple of kids.

Blaine came down with a bug and so Kurt made a trek out to Brooklyn on his own to talk to a middle school class. They had been fine, much better than he'd expected for that age group even. He suppose it got them out of actual classes and studying. Still, it was on that trip back that Kurt looked at himself in the window of the subway as it ushered him back to the main island that he wondered about the man looking back at him.

He liked his life. It was nothing like he expected when he dreamed of New York. There were wrinkles already in the corner of his eyes and he had a few gray hairs. Blaine was younger but looked older in all ways, had always looked older. He was in his beloved city, working on Broadway, married to his high school sweetheart and with a child theoretically on the way. On paper it followed exactly what he'd set out to do. In actuality all things were tweaked from the original plans.

For the first time in years, he wondered what his life would have been like had he chosen any of his other options. What would it have been like in London? Paris? Somewhere else completely?