AN: This story is a sequel to Victorious, and will take us through the boys' Senior year in high school. I hope you will have as much fun reading this as I have writing it. Writing Victorious was such a gratifying experience, and this sequel is my gift to you, as a thank you. I initially didn't plan on writing much more than up to Day of Silence, but the feedback, response, enthusiasm and heartwarming welcome I got for my writing was the sun, water and fertilizer my plot bunny needed to grow. This is a work in progress, indeed, but I wouldn't be surprised if I end up writing 30-40 chapters on this as well...

I hope you won't fall asleep!

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.

The last summer before graduation is supposed to be special, amazing even. Considering it is Blaine and Kurt's first summer with and as boyfriends, you'd think the summer's guaranteed to be glorious. On the contrary, the school break more often than not felt like a very long and trying endurance test for their patience. Kurt and Blaine didn't get to see each other as much as they had wanted; in fact, sometimes it felt as if they had more quality time together during the busy days at Dalton. Sometimes it felt as if Kurt couldn't stand being on a mundane summer break, when all of him was longing to be with Blaine again. But summer days were also busy days.

Blaine had auditioned at Six Flags, and was tied up with his commitments there. There had been two intense weeks with rehearsals, and then for most of the summer he'd work at least four days a week, sometimes more. His schedule altered between day shifts, afternoons and evenings, and weekends weren't sacred either. From Six Flags opened their gates in the bright morning until they close right before sunset, they ran five performances a day. Blaine had lucked out. The afternoon show was nothing but music. For 45 minutes, he got to do cover versions of really whatever he wanted, as long as his set list was preapproved by the stage manager. For the other shows, he reincarnated Pepe LePew, entertaining the kids with his endless odorable pursuits for Penelope's hand. Kurt had, obviously selflessly, offered to help Blaine with the French accent required.

Kurt had also been busy, helping out in the garage as much as he could. His initial reason and motivation was to give his dad some time off to spend with Carole, considering they spent their honeymoon-money on Kurt's tuition. But with Burt running for Congress, he needed every spare moment possible to focus on his campaign.

With the almost two hours drive between Lima and Columbus, spontaneous and quick visits were simply out of the equation.

Six Flags was situated just outside Columbus, and Kurt had spent some of his days off in the amusement park.

Once with Tina, Mercedes and Rachel, gossiping about cute boys the entire day. The three girls had exaggeratedly acted as Blaine's groupies in front of the backstage entrance, and he'd laughingly invited them in. As the good friends they are, the girls had pretended to be extremely fascinated by the Looney Tunes-costumes, offering Kurt and Blaine some privacy to properly greet each other.

Kurt went once with Finn, and it had been a hysterical day, daring the other to the most insane things – it ended up with Finn throwing up pink cotton candy in a bush, and Kurt feared he had a green taint to his own hue for the next two weeks after too many mechanical gravity-defying spins and swirls.

At least it took him that long before he accepted Nick, Jeff, Wes and David's invitation to tag along to embarrass Blaine at work. The four boys had planned to heckle Blaine's performance, but they ended up rolling on the ground, laughing at their friend in his skunk costume so hard they were unable to come up with anything witty, nevertheless say anything at all.

He also went on his own once, although it was utterly boring in intervals. Fun at amusement parks is meant to be shared. He ended up spending most of his time trying to win Blaine a cute teddy bear, but in the end, he might as well have bought Blaine something instead of spending all that money in the booths. But at least Blaine sought him out whenever he was off duty in between the shows. Even though they didn't hold hands or kiss, it was a lot of fun, and gratifying to spend time with his boyfriend. The centrifugal force from some of the rides pressed one up against the other, and it was nothing boring about that. Listening to Blaine talking animatedly about his latest set while eating ice cream was among the moments Kurt treasured, even though he had seen the show, because he loved to see how vibrant and passionate Blaine was about performing, even after an exhausting, repetitive week.

Each evening they talked on the phone to bid each other good night, and they'd exchange good morning-texts whenever they started their day. They tried to make it a priority to spend time together during the weekends Blaine didn't work, but sometimes Kurt had to help out in the garage, or Burt insisted on a family oriented weekend. Then Cooper came to visit, and even though Blaine was unable to ask it of him, Kurt understood what he really wanted, and commanded Blaine to spend the weekend with his big brother, doing their own special brand of brotherly bonding activities.

As a result, Cooper took them to the airport, where they jumped on the first flight with two available seats, and thus ended in Charlotte, North Carolina. The brothers had done some serious shopping, as they with Cooper's impulsive streak didn't pack much. Blaine had texted Kurt snippets of his experiences, about Cooper ordering him wine for dinner, their childlike fun at the Discovery Place, the kick ass concert with some local rock heroes they stumbled upon, and Cooper's stint at going back to his roots and taking Blaine to see The Tempest following a passionate speech about the grandeur of one William Shakespeare.

Kurt followed his own advice, and suggested to Finn they hang out. They ended up taking Kurt's Navigator to a reservoir, where they stayed the night in an old tent from when Finn's was young. They fished, something Finn enjoyed and Kurt found disgusting when it came to the gutting, but the trout tasted delicious even if it was prepared primitively over a storm kitchen. They giggled a bit when they compared the fish to pictures of Sam on Finn's phone. They looked nothing alike. In the evening, they made s'mores over the open fire, and talked about everything and nothing in particular. They opened some unhealed wounds, and talked it out. They talked about their dreams for the future, pros and cons to getting out of Ohio, they talked about how happy Kurt was with Blaine, and they talked about how confused Finn was over his relationship with Quinn. They were more asleep than awake when they finally crawled into their sleeping bags in the tent.

Then came the day Mr. Anderson wanted to take his sons on vacation, and they went on a cruise in the Caribbean. Blaine didn't have any reception on his phone, and it was the longest ten days in both boys' lives. No matter how badly they had wanted Kurt to come along, they maturely understood the importance of quality family time. Kurt was always welcome to the Anderson home in Columbus, and Blaine's dad had made an obvious effort to get to know Kurt personally, showing he took their relationship seriously. It wasn't the same open, easy and unquestioned inclusion Blaine had been met with; a warm hug from Carole, a "call me Burt, kiddo," and then no more awkward fussing over the fifth family member. Devon Anderson wasn't a Burt Hummel or Carole Hudson, but with his own manners, he made Kurt feeling nothing but welcome.

It felt as if the summer consisted of nine parts work days and one part weekends, but they cherished and treasured the time spent together. Blaine would spend the entire weekend in Lima, if his dad was out of town on business. He was already considered part of the family, and fell easily into the rhythm of their everyday activities and chores. He even almost lost the habit of addressing Kurt's dad as Mr. Hummel. He had to sleep on the couch, but they didn't care as long as they got to spend time together: Silently stealing kisses and the other's breath while a movie played in the background in Kurt's room. Finn told Kurt it was easier to make out to action movies, because the explosions would drown out most sounds. Sometimes, Finn was the best brother in the world.

They were still taking it slow with the physicality of their relationship. Kissing, making out, hands venturing strictly above the belt, and eventually a daring hand slipping under the fabrics covering skin. But it was also blushing, gasping for air, and rapid tearing apart to focus intently on the TV-screen for a while. With the hot summer weather, came also thinner and fewer layers, and the simple concept of spooning was suddenly so much more exciting, because it was easier to feel more. To feel the dips and curves, the pronounced and the soft, the contours and the lines.

Some days were spent at the Anderson home. Ella, the house keeper, would pop by at random moments if Mr. Anderson wasn't home, so they were never quite safe in the knowledge of being alone. But they really didn't have those kinds of needs. They were happy just spending time together. Making dinner together, or testing a recipe Kurt found for homemade blackcurrant sorbet, with berries from the Anderson garden. They'd lie down together in the hammock, alternating who was the bigger spoon. The sun was scorching, and they were sweating simply from breathing, and being cuddled close shouldn't be comfortable, but they still wanted and needed to.

July 4th was initially spent in the Hudmel house. Mr. Anderson was invited over for dinner, and the six of them spent a few hours enjoying the delicious meal Carole, Kurt and Blaine had prepared.

Just like at New Year's, David was hosting a party for the Warblers. Santana tried to talk Rachel into throwing a party in the Berry basement, but she was of course Wes' date to David's party. Puck thought he could score them somewhere to be, and it worried Kurt. David probably understood Kurt felt conflicted about which group of friends to choose. So he made it easy by extending the invitation to New Directions as well. He'd offhandedly commented it would be nice for the all boys-school attendants to see some girls. Kurt didn't think inviting two lesbians and four girls in straight relationships were what the boys fantasized about. David could be down with logic like that, as he said, and had swiftly invited the girls from their sister school too, St. Elizabeth's.

Kurt had been prepared to beg and bribe his dad to be allowed to go to the party. Burt had simply sighed.

"I guess that's how it's gonna be soon. I'd better get used to my little boy growing up and making his world bigger. No alcohol and fireworks combined, okay?"

It was actually Mr. Anderson who had put his foot down, jeopardizing their party attendance.

"Burt and Carole invited us for dinner. It simply isn't polite to skip merrily off after dessert to look for other fun somewhere else."

Blaine had dejectedly agreed and told Kurt, who explained to Finn why he'd have to go alone. Finn had told Carole, who in turn had a few words with Mr. Anderson. Nobody knew what she had said, but it had worked.

"I was perhaps a bit harsh on you, Blaine. You're young enough to want to have fun, but sometimes I forget you're also old enough to have your own networks and obligations." Translated from Mr. Anderson-business-code to Mr. Anderson-dad-efforts it meant go see your friends, grow up, make sensible choices, and don't forget me on your journey to adulthood.

The party was a success, in many ways. Santana and Brittany spent most of the night dancing closer than Babe and Johnny ever did, making out and not giving a damn. Kurt smiled fondly at them when he noticed Flora looking at them wide eyed. He saw longing, but also something looking like admiration. He pulled Blaine out on the dance floor, next to Nick and Jeff. With Sharon dancing with her boyfriend David, Lana didn't have her sister available as her go to-dance partner.

"You have unhappy feet," Brittany told Lana in passing. "You should dance with the pretty flower," she said, nodding towards Flora.

Kurt was kind of in love with Brittany then, and her oblivious perception. Flora looked like she'd fallen down from the moon, and he winked at her over Lana's shoulder.

Fortunately, Mr. Anderson stuck to his promise about helping the Hudmel's with the campaign for Congress, which led to frequent visits to Lima. Blaine tagged along as often as possible. Kurt and Blaine would sit around the dining table with the grown ups, listening to the strategies, and adding their five cents of worth. It was Blaine who suggested Burt use twitter to communicate more instantly, (carefully planned out) spontaneously, efficiently and rapidly with the younger segment of his potential voters. Kurt patiently taught him to tweet with his phone, but also made sure to have access to his dad's account so he could assist him on the social media-part of his PR work.

Kurt and Blaine even contributed with cases and legislation from other states and from European countries concerning LGBTQ rights. It was, after all, part of the platform Burt run on.

When the strategy meetings turned to money talk and plotting dates for meetings, debates and appearances, Kurt and Blaine would politely excuse themselves, and retreat to Kurt's room. If they were lucky, their parents would stay up long into the night plotting, before remembering both they and their sons should be in bed by now. Spending the next day inhaling coffee and squinting through narrow eyes was worth it, when it consequently came from getting a few extra hours together.

Right before summer ended, Puck invited to a pool party. One of his clients was on vacation, and had booked him to clean their pool while they were away. Puck being Puck had decided they might as well throw a party before he did the job. None of the New Directions-members lived in homes with big enough gardens for a pool, so it was a welcomed luxury. They spent the entire day barbequing, eating fruit and snacks, sun bathing and playing in the pool. Blaine was obviously invited in the capacity as Kurt's boyfriend, so was Wes as Rachel's boyfriend, and thus came also David, Nick and Jeff.

Kurt grew suspicious when he saw Puck munching on a watermelon the boy had placed carefully on the table. Kurt would have expected him to be clawing barbarically on spareribs, or downing a beer from the keg he brought.

"I carried a watermelon!" he enthusiastically yelled.

Kurt was right in being suspicious about the melon. Unfortunately, Blaine had already eaten a couple of slices when it came out in the open that it was a vodka soaked watermelon. Kurt had been furious about the incognito booze, while Puck insisted it was the only way to eat watermelon, and anybody older than 13 knew that.

Blaine, being a lightweight and out in the burning sun, was already fairly tipsy, and Kurt decided that maybe he didn't need to drink any of the beers. Blaine agreed, but promised he wasn't upset with Puck, how could he be when he felt so fantastic? Kurt sighed exaggeratedly, and warned him playfully against kissing Rachel.

"Why would I kiss Rachel? Wes isn't going to kiss you," he argued, and Kurt wasn't sure if it was a compliment, until his boyfriend continued. "Nobody but me gets to kiss you. You're awesome. And only mine, at least as long as you want me. Do you want to be my boyfriend even though I'm a bit fruity loopy?"

At that, Kurt could only laugh, and he reassured Blaine he still wanted to be his boyfriend, while steadying him.

"Awesome," Blaine whispered, and leaned in to kiss Kurt. He lost his balance, and pushed Kurt against the wall, locking him there with heavy arms on his shoulders, and kissed him senseless. Kurt wanted to object, but part of him liked this loose Blaine, part of him enjoyed being at a summer party with his friends and acting like one of them – a normal teenager with a hot boyfriend. Part of him was also slightly mortified, but it was so easy to drown in Blaine. Maybe it had been something in the diet coke he'd been nursing?

So Kurt wrapped one hand around Blaine's neck, digging his fingers into his boyfriend's curls, loose and moist from an earlier dip in the pool. The other hand landed on his hip, thumb playing with the naked skin where his shirt rode up. Blaine pushed a leg in between Kurt's, and it was impossible to hide how much they enjoyed kissing, but it didn't feel as terrifying to feel and acknowledge it now as it had been so far in their relationship. Maybe they really were drunk, the both of them? No, they couldn't be, because Kurt was still aware of their surroundings, and he used both of his hands to steady Blaine and separate their hips somewhat. He didn't interrupt their kissing, though, and tried to give as good as he got, but then Blaine nosed under his jaw, tilting Kurt's head to the side, and starting laving and sucking at his neck. Kurt wasn't so sure he would be able to stay on his feet for much longer.

Their impromptu make out-session didn't go unnoticed and garnered reactions from their friends. Everything friendly and encouraging, though. Or, you know, as friendly as Kurt's friends could be when they put their wicked hearts to it.

"Didn't know you had it in you, Blanderson. Me gusta!" Santana hollered from her sun bed, sprawled next to Brittany.

"That's hot," Lauren stated at the same time as her… Puck… yelled at them to "get some."

Mercedes and Tina giggled, waving at Kurt, who could have seen them over Blaine's shoulder if he hadn't been so distracted by Blaine's lips and hands.

"Get a room, y'all," Artie snickered as he rolled past them in the ugliest shorts ever made.

Eventually, Kurt's modesty overruled, and he managed to steady Blaine back on his own feet, both boys panting and looking slightly wild at each other. Blaine reached out a hand to run a finger over a spot on Kurt's neck, which most definitely would turn into a hickey.

"I'm sorry," he said, smiling crookedly, and looking anything but.

"Come on, Blainers, I think you need to cool down," David had advised, dragging the Warbler with him to the pool.

Kurt sunk down into one of the sun beds, knees weak, wondering if it was possible to get drunk from kissing someone's vodka lips.

"I take it everything's fine between you," Nick winked, and offered him a high five.

Kurt cleared his voice, and put on his sunglasses from his pocket.

"We're way better than fine. We're fabulous," he snorted, answering Nick's five.

"That's my boy," Nick giggled.

Kurt spent some time pretending to relax, adding random comments to the conversation going on around him between Santana, Brittany, Jeff and Nick. The truth was, his eyes were fixed on the pool, where Blaine and most of the boys were busy with some kind of volley-polo-basket-wrestling-combo. They were in the pool and out of the pool, they were running and swimming, sitting on each other's shoulders and ducking each other under water. They were using five ping pong-balls, and Kurt didn't even try to imagine the rules. What he did, was checking out his boyfriend discreetly through his dark Ray Bans.

Throughout the summer, Blaine's pants had crept up and further up his legs. From his high cuffed pants showing off some ankle, to shorts ending just below his knee caps. In similar ways, he'd reduced the layers, and more and more of his arms had been visible day by day. Then the bowties went, and he had been leaving the first buttons unbuttoned or wearing v-necks, giving Kurt a sneak peak to neck, throat, clavicle, the hints of chest hair and more. But now Blaine was strutting around shirtless, and with swim shorts that stopped mid thigh. And it was impossible not to stare, but Kurt was of course too much of a gentleman, and maybe also still too shy and awkward about bodies and nakedness and things that could lead to thinking about sex. So he only let himself really look when he was resting nonchalantly with his sunglasses, surrounded by friends he was faking a conversation with.

He should have known better than to let his guard down around Santana.

"Hey, Hummel? We all know what big, dark sunglasses are used for. Your spying days are over. Let go of the fake eyes, so you can get a proper look of your mandy."

"Mandy?" he said, trying to avert attention from being caught red-handed staring at his boyfriend.

"Man candy," Santana rolled her eyes as if it was obvious.

Kurt had blushed, fumbling with the sunglasses, and mumbling something incoherently.

"Listen, Lady Hummel," the Latina had interfered his awkwardness. "You're entitled to appreciate your man. I can't blame you, either, good job landing a piece of ass like that. I'd say I hope you're a top, but I've seen the pants you wear, so I'll say I hope you both switch."

Kurt hadn't needed any assistance from the sun to shine bright red at that, groaning and squirming in his bed. He'd have fled for the pool to cool down, if it wouldn't look as if he flew to Blaine.

"Kurt," Santana had sad softly, uncharacteristically using his first name and leaning in, while Brittany explained to Jeff and Nick about dolphins, "look around you and take in the number of couples here. Then study how they act around each other. Then remember we're still your friends even though you've been away to Gay Fantasy #17 since November. Nobody cares. And I know what kind of shit you're dealing with in this world, but you should be safe among your friends. If this isn't a place to unwind, where is?"

Kurt hadn't known what to say, so he'd fumbled out a thank you, hugged her briefly, which Brittany enthusiastically joined, before heading to the food table for something cold to drink.

He discussed with himself whether to try one of Rachel's pink wine coolers or another diet coke – he was 18 now, it was the summer before his Senior year, he's allowed to live a little. But they'd need someone to drive later on, and he didn't particularly enjoy the idea of sleeping in a stranger's house without their permission.

"You having fun?" Finn asked from next to him.

Kurt looked at him closely. He'd broken it off with Quinn earlier in the summer, explaining he didn't love her like she deserved. She'd been furious at first, but then accepted it with the grace only she could soar with. Finn, on the other hand, had seemed heartbroken, and Kurt had spent some late evenings with him and two mugs of hot milk. Finn loved Quinn, but probably more as a friend than a future partner, and their dissimilarities were showing more and more. He wanted to be happy, and he wanted to make a relationship work. But he couldn't with her. Kurt had supported him, and sworn never to tell anyone he'd seen Finn cry. He'd told his new brother that he deserved to be happy, and sometimes being responsible for your own happiness meant doing difficult things like breaking up with someone. Kurt had told Finn he was strong for doing it, and that he had better things waiting for him in the future.

"I am," Kurt said, smiling honestly. It was a good party. Nobody so drunk it was embarrassing or difficult to keep a conversation. Everyone was just pleasantly buzzed or entirely sober, and enjoying this summer day.

"And you?" he asked in return, eyes quickly darting over at Quinn talking with Tina and Lauren.

"I'm cool," Finn said. "I'm keeping it low, to keep an eye on Puck and make sure he doesn't do anything to jeopardize his business."

"That's sweet of you."

"Yeah, well…" Finn had said, scratching his neck and looking shy. "I also saw you and Blaine, earlier."

"Oh God, I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm sure you don't want to see your brother acting like that, and we were being completely disrespectful rubbing our gayness all over, and…!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Finn interrupted, physically shaking Kurt by the shoulders. "That's not what I meant, at all! You saw me with Quinn plenty of times after we became brothers. And seriously, worrying about rubbing your gay in? I thought we were past that," Finn said, sounding hurt.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"No, just let me freaking say this, okay?"

Kurt blinks repeatedly at his agitated brother, but keeps his mouth shut.

"I just wanted to say I think it was cool to see Blaine and you like that. Not because I'm some creepy perv, but because I haven't seen you like that before."

"Like what?" Kurt asked nervously, wondering if Finn was thinking about adjectives like drunk, horny, reckless, shameless.

"You looked so carefree, as if your guards were finally down, and you just let it all go, and simply was for a while. I want that for you, you know. You deserve happiness too."

"Thank you, Finn," Kurt murmured, and felt embarrassed for completely new reasons.

"And don't get mad, but I talked with Burt about the two of you. I told him how you never hold hands or kiss or grope or… No, I didn't say grope," Finn hastily adds at Kurt's mortified expression, "but I tried to explain how you didn't act like boyfriends when I've seen the two of you around in Lima. So I asked him if maybe he shouldn't be so harsh on your curfew. I didn't tell him, but I know you sometimes park somewhere dark to make out after your date. I've seen you when I've snuck in from my own dates, and my room has a view to the curb."

Finn's right. They'd often end a date in a frantic lip lock in the car, as if to make up for all the hours spent together not touching or kissing. Sometimes they lost track of time, and Kurt came home later than promised. Not by much, never more than half an hour. But Burt rarely said anything. And he didn't say anything when Kurt and Blaine spent hours and hours in his room. Not that Kurt would ever do anything like that while his dad was around, but he'd expected him to check in on them, be a bit weird about Kurt's first boyfriend, or something. But no, Carole and he'd even knock before entering if they had something to say. Burt was being really laidback, and not the I have a shotgun in my closet if you touch my innocent kid-kind of dad.

And Finn had contributed to that?

Kurt flung his arms around his taller brother, engulfing him in a warm hug.

"Thank you! Just… Thank you!"

The uniform clad elephant wasn't mentioned directly for most of the summer. Blaine was being a true gentleman, stating he'd support Kurt no matter which decision he made for his Senior year. Still, it was impossible to avoid the topic completely, when one of them during a particularly hot July day would reminisce about the nocturnal snow fight when the first snow came. It was impossible not to think about what could change their Senior year, when Blaine for a moment forgot, and mentioned a duet they should audition with for Sectionals. Kurt never said anything, but simply kissed Blaine and thus turned the conversation – or focus – in a new direction.

Keeping the question about the transfer silent between them, didn't mean Kurt didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it when he was on his own. It was after all a big decision to make. Everyone in New Directions knew about Karofsky's transfer, and they were all rooting for Kurt to come back. They were far from discreet and subtle, and not displaying an ounce of patience. The topic would always come up in conversation, no matter who he met and for what occasion. Tina and Mercedes staged a Gleentervention to convince him to come back

Through Rachel, Wes knew about Kurt's new possibilities, and thus the entire Warbler Council knew. Wes had told Kurt they appreciated his uniqueness as a countertenor, and had been looking forward to an entire school year with his particular quality. Then his professional Council façade had cracked, and he'd told Kurt what a good friend he was, and how much he'd be missed.

Kurt found it to be honest and the right thing to do, telling Jeff and Nick about his former enemy's leave. They'd looked at him with disbelief when they finally understood he was seriously considering his options. What about them? What about the Warblers? What about their plans and dreams for a fantastic Senior year? And what about Blaine and their relationship?

He spent time talking through his pro et cons with his dad and Carole. Initially he though it would be an obvious decision to go back to McKinley because of money. But Burt had reassured him it wasn't something to worry about. If Kurt wanted another year at Dalton, they'd make it happen. Kurt's wellbeing was by far more important than anything else, and he might have a saving account with Kurt's name on it – literally. When Elizabeth died, the life insurance money was deposited on an account Kurt would be given access to after high school. But considering he was 18, and circumstances led to him needing money, Burt wouldn't stop him from using it for a year at Dalton. Burt and Carole would also try to contribute. If Kurt decided on spending his Senior year in Westerville, they could work out some kind of down payment, from father to son, as the older Hummel was insistent on helping his son through high school, at least.

It was a generous offer, and it took the older Hummel some time to make sure Kurt stopped adding money to his list when weighing his options. When money finally was no longer an issue, it was simply a matter of deciding what his heart was set on. It would of course influence his economic situation when he went for college, but Kurt hadn't expected to go off to (hopefully) New York with a brimming bank account anyway.

He had missed his friends at McKinley, but he had made new friends at Dalton he'd miss. No matter what, he couldn't spend his final year in high school with all of his friends. He would be far from his Lima friends, but if he stayed at Dalton, he'd see so much to Blaine he could spend more of the weekends with New Directions. He'd see less to his family as well, but with Burt campaigning for Congress, he wouldn't be much home until the election in November – and if Burt was elected, that would keep him away from home even more.

Going back to McKinley might help Kurt keep a better GPA, but he loved the intellectual and academic challenges offered at Dalton. It was one of the things he'd complained to Mr. Schue when the man had tried to care for and figure out Kurt. The Dalton name might probably contribute to some plus points in itself.

But if he went back to McKinley, he could apply to college as member of a team that won Nationals. Not that Kurt had been on the team at the time… But Rachel has that maniac gleam in her eyes, and stated she would do everything in her power to win Nationals again, and handpick her successor to lead New Directions to three more victories, and thus beat Vocal Adrenaline's four consecutive National trophies. Ambition like that could be something to be a part of, Kurt muses, while remembering Blaine's reassurances during the live streaming that they'd be at Nationals themselves next year.

It wasn't an easy choice, but it was an easy decision when he'd thought it through. His brain and heart both knew what he wanted.

The difficulty was to tell all of his friends where he'd be next year. The summer which once seemed so slow paced and difficult to endure, seemed to suddenly rush away from him, and within soon school was starting up again.