22 Therapy Sessions and Realizations, & a Decision Chapter Eleven Part 2, a glee fanfic

Chapter Eleven - Final Chapter, part 2

This time, it should have been Kurt's turn for a day of pampering to prepare for the dance. Unfortunately, there was a last minute issue with the dessert caterers, and his study partner for Chem had roped Kurt into baking. (The fashionable boy had once thanked Tony in the form of a plate of miniature gourmet cupcakes, and Tony was now addicted to Kurt's cooking. It wasn't unusual to find the male hanging around their dorm's kitchen in hopes Kurt would be in. And since he had been in charge of hiring people for the dinner and dessert, and the pastry chefs had backed out…)

The countertenor was grateful for the opportunity, at first. After all, he probably would have spent at least part of the day stress-baking anyway. This way, he came away feeling more calm and with the money in his pocket that had been set aside for the original chefs.

But when he finished off the last of the cupcakes and pies, he glanced up at the clock and discovered he had less than two hours to get ready. Panicking, he had stumbled out of the kitchen, covered in flour, sugar and cocoa powder, running for the Warbler common room. He knew that one car load of the McKinley glee club had already arrived and would probably have been ensconced there. Bursting in, he caused everyone inside to flinch. When Finn started laughing, Kurt glared, then growled out, "Shut up right now, brother dearest, or I'll never cook you anything ever again." Finn choked and literally reached up to cover his own mouth, eyes wide with panic. Nodding dismissively, Kurt scanned the room a little frantically. Before he even had time to call for them, the two he needed were at his sides. Quinn gingerly grabbed his right arm, Mercedes his left, and they all headed quickly towards the dorm rooms. Moments like that, Kurt missed having his girls close enough that they could just come over to his house to plan an outfit, or watch a movie, or talk.

… …

Kurt stood at the top of the familiar stairway, momentarily distracted as he checked his hair one final time. Then Blaine began moving up the steps to meet him. As their eyes met and locked, he felt his heart flutter in his chest. Kurt knew exactly why Blaine had asked to meet him here, as déjà vu swept over him and he remembered calling out to ask where everyone was going.

The stranger had turned around and Kurt had been shocked at the kindness in the boy's hazel eyes. The words about the glee club being popular were a surprise, but then the boy was taking his hand and running with him through the halls. Kurt had come across a reference to the anti-bullying policy on the school's website when he went searching to see what their uniforms looked like. Up until that moment, when the few people they passed just laughed and smiled, he hadn't believed it. Then he was being drawn into a room, and the boy -Blaine, his name was Blaine- was teasing him, but there was nothing mean in his words or expression, just friendly curiosity. And when he started singing, Kurt felt like a weight had lifted off his chest, one that had been there so long it wasn't almost suffocating to suddenly be able to breathe so easily. Every grin and lyric sent his way made him melt a little, inside. He tried to fight it. Everything with Finn, from the argument in his bedroom before Burt kicked him out, to the way he had convinced Kurt not to sing with Sam, to when he and the other boys had blown the slim male off the day before, was still recent. He couldn't afford to fall for another straight guy. His heart couldn't afford it. But Blaine was singing a love song. To Kurt. And in that moment, hope forced its way into his thoughts and emotions. And it made Kurt glow, just a little.

An enormous grin stretched across Blaine's face as he watched Kurt stop still on the stairs and smile, the slightest blush staining his porcelain cheeks.

When someone had spoken behind him, Blaine turned around and was struck momentarily speechless. The boy was stunning. And his eyes… God, Blaine wasn't even sure. One moment they had looked light blue, the next they were darkening to a pale grey. Blinking, pulling himself together and hoping this unfamiliar male hadn't noticed his reaction, he smiled and explained what was going on. As he looked over the boy, Kurt he said, a little more closely, he noticed the lack of blazer. Not a student, then. Blaine didn't have a clue why he had decided to sneak into a boys private school, but at the moment he didn't care. While he mentioned the performance, Blaine took a chance and caught one of those long-fingered hands in his own. It was a little forward, but guiding him through the halls was just an excuse to touch him, to connect their hands. Likewise, he couldn't help flirting just a bit, before joining the rest of the Warblers. The singing started, and as he focused his attention on Kurt, he nearly lost his breath in the second he watched the boy seem to light up.

Reaching out, Blaine's fingers twined with Kurt's, and he pressed a gently awed kiss to the taller male's lips.

"Kurt, you look… amazing," he whispered after pulling back.

"So do you," the countertenor responded softly. Then he drew in a deep breath and announced, quietly and firmly, "I'm never saying goodbye to you."

The next kiss when Blaine fit his body tightly against Kurt's, was longer, deeper. Eventually, they parted and Blaine appeared to shake himself, before linking their arms and leading them down the rest of the stairs.

… …

-Saturday, the reception hall and ballroom of the Dalton Boys Private Academy, 7:04 p.m.-

Everything was perfect. The food and decorations were professional and subtly stunning. All the students and their dates were enjoying themselves. The lighting was intimate without being scandalous. The dancing was elegant and fun. And the music…

While Kurt and Blaine took a moment to sit and catch their breath, the old ND member watched his friends perform. They had been staggering some of the numbers so that everyone could have some downtime to enjoy themselves, and Kurt had already taken a turn around the floor with Brittany. Now, everyone was on stage, swaying a little as they sang. Tina and Santana were front and center, their voices blending surprisingly well in the lead notes.

"O-oh, o-oh."

"Evacuate the dance floor!"

"O-oh, oh."

"I'm infected by the sound!"

"O-oh, o-oh."

"Stop, this beat is killing me! Hey Mr. DJ, let the music take me underground!"

When Artie rolled forward for the rapping part, Kurt blinked and realized he genuinely missed hearing that.

"Now, guess who's back with a brand new track that got everybody in the club going mad? So everybody in the back, get your back up off the wall and just shake that thang! Go crazy, yo lady, yo baby, lemme see you shake that thang! Now drop it down low, low. Lemme see you take it to the dance floor!"

And the way Brittany and Mike were spinning and twirling and throwing tricks up on the stage was mesmerizing. He had always enjoyed when they would drag Tina and him into the choir room during lunch to learn new steps.

The moment of nostalgia passed, and Kurt found himself watching fondly as Blaine bounced in his seat, the smile he had worn all night still broad and excited.

The next performance was a duet by Rachel and Finn, and they stepped back onto the floor, taking the waltz position, even though they were standing far too close and were only swaying back and forth.

"Without you, the ground thaws. The rain falls. The grass grows. Without you, the seeds root. The flowers bloom. The children play. The stars gleam. The poets dream. The eagles fly, without you. The earth turns. The sun burns. But I die, without you.

"Without you, the breeze warms. The girl smiles. The cloud moves. Without you, the tides change. The boys run. The oceans crash. The crowds roar. The days soar. The babies cry, without you. The moon glows. The river flows. But I die, without you."

Kurt wanted to feel nothing but Blaine's arms around him. Still, the words were painfully familiar.

"The world revives-"

"Colors renew-"

"But I know blue, only blue. Lonely blue, within me blue-"

"Without you."

He was safe at Dalton, and happy. He had friends, and the classes were challenging, and the teachers were kind. With a school like Dalton on your transcript, it would be much easier to get into a good college.

"Without you, the hand gropes. The ear hears. The pulse beats."

"Without you, the eyes gaze. The legs walk. The lungs breathe."

"The mind churns!"

"The heart yearns!"

And the strongest argument – Blaine was here. At Dalton.

"The tears dry, without you. Life goes on, but I'm gone 'cause I die, without you."

"Without you."

"Without you."

"Without you!"

None of that changed how he ached to be back in the McKinley choir room, surrounded by the group of misfits who had become his family, dancing and singing and goofing off like they didn't have a care in the world.

As the next song started, Artie, Puck and Sam doing a cover of the appalling "Friday" song, Kurt felt someone grab him and spin him out of Blaine's grasp. Turning, he found Lauren winking at him and announcing, "You can have him back later, Eyebrows." Then she pulled him towards a well-loved group of girls, who crowded around him as they all danced together.

After that, Kurt took quick spins around the dance floor with- Well, it felt like everybody. Nick and Jeff tag teamed him several times, one dancing at his back, the other holding him from the front. Flint joined him in a smooth box step, and Santana insisted he partner with her when Finn sang "Tonight I'm Lovin' You". Rachel whined until he agreed to dance a quick jazz number with her, and Sam kept spinning Kurt around and around until he was dizzy and laughing. Trent pulled him close for a slow dance, and Tina taught him some of the choreography from the "Thriller/Heads Will Roll" mashup from earlier in the year. Artie insisted Kurt sit in his lap as he rolled them around, popping wheelies, and Puck had full-on started grinding up against Kurt during "Till the World Ends" (performed, of course, by Brittany). By the end, he wasn't even sure who he had and hadn't danced with. The last two before he was returned to Blaine were Mercedes and Finn, who both finished with a hug and quiet declarations of "We miss you".

When Kurt's hand was placed back in Blaine's, he could tell that his boyfriend knew something was different. Kurt was fighting back tears. He didn't want to choose. He wanted everyone he loved to be at one school, all together, safe and popular and having the time of their lives.

Life didn't work that way, though.

When Quinn started singing "Ordinary Day", Blaine gathered up his boyfriend and led him in a gentle waltz. Near the end, he leaned in and whispered, "Whatever you choose, they'll all still love you. And you'll always have me."

That earned a little smile and nod. Even if he did decide to transfer back, it wouldn't be until next year. But it felt like he needed to make his decision tonight, or he would miss some important moment.

Then the last song of the night was about to start and the ND members dragged him up to sing with them, and he knew.

"Dreams – that's where I have to go to see your beautiful face anymore. I stare at a picture of you and listen to the radio.

"Hope, hope there's a conversation where we both admit we had it good. But until then, it's alienation. I know that much is understood. And I realize…"

It was his choice, just like Blaine said, and he still didn't want to make it. The Warblers were, after all, making progress. They had learned that change and spontaneity could be good.

"If you ask me how I'm doing, I would say I'm doing just fine. I would lie and say that you're not on my mind. But I go out, and I sit down at a table set for two, and finally I'm forced to face the truth: No matter what I say, I'm not over you. Not over you."

Those lines struck, and his head and heart came to the abrupt agreement that it was time to go home.

"Damn, damn girl, you do it well. And I thought you were innocent. Took this heart and put it through hell, but still you're magnificent. I- I'm a boomerang, doesn't matter how you throw me – I turn around and I'm back in the game, even better than the old me. But I'm not even close without you."

The song was sweet and sad and the relationship it described perfectly fit the way the McKinley glee club interacted. They could be horrible to one another, but in the end there was no one they trusted more or would do their best to protect and support than each other.

And he would miss Blaine. He fully expected being separated from the other boy would cripple him for a while. Kurt would make it, though. They would still see each other, text and call and chat online. They would still go on dates and sing silly songs together.

They were the high school relationship that would last. Some people might think it was impossible or naïve, and that as they grew and matured they would become too different, but Kurt truly believed that what they had was meant to last. He had told Blaine the truth when said he was never going to say goodbye to him.

"And if I had the chance to renew, you know there isn't a thing I wouldn't do. I could get back on the right track, but only if you'd be convinced. So until then…"

Come the end of summer, though, Lima was where he belonged. He had made his decision.

Kurt Hummel wasn't done with McKinley just yet.

… …

Decision: For my senior year, I'm transferring back to William McKinley Public High School. I'll still be friends with the Dalton boys, but I need to be with my family. And that's New Directions.

I talked with the Warblers, and they said they would miss me. New Directions, on the other hand, is over the moon.

And Blaine… When I told Blaine, he smiled and simply said, "I'm never saying goodbye to you, either."

… …

end.

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a/n Thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in this story! This is the end of this fic, but I have one final fic to finish and post that goes along with this 'verse. It will be entitled "22 Moments and a Life", and will cover the end of the school year, the summer in between, and on into the very beginning of Kurt's senior year. Hopefully it will be up within the next two weeks.

Again, thank you!