AN: There is a lot of college talk going on in this chapter but it's one of the most important topics for high school students, so it's very important for my Gleeks as well. After all, they could all end up in different cities and not see each other again for a long time.

March - Part 1

When his college letters finally arrived early March, Kurt decided it was time for a long overdue sleep over with Rachel and Mercedes because if he couldn't open them with Blaine he wanted to at least have his closest friends with him. Rachel and Mercedes agreed to not open theirs as well until they got to Kurt's, so two days later they were all sitting together on Kurt's bed in their pjs a box of half eaten pizza next to them.

"So who's going to go first?" Rachel asked. Kurt shrugged. He didn't know if going first or last would be best.

"Let's just throw them all together and take turns reading them out loud", Mercedes suggested and both Rachel and Kurt agreed. Between the three of them they had nearly twenty letters because Rachel and Mercedes had applied to plenty of schools as well.

Once their letters were in a pile, Mercedes stuck her hand in and pulled out the first.

"So the first one is for Kurt from Berkeley. You applied to a school in San Francisco, Kurt?" she asked her eyebrows raised at Kurt. "What, Blaine and I applied to some of the same schools before we decided to go for the school we really wanted. Just read it to me," Kurt defended himself.

He wasn't surprised that he was accepted as he always had had good grades but he hadn't applied for a music program there and it had really just been another back up school in case Blaine decided to go to California.

Mercedes put it on the side of the bed where she wanted to put the yes pile and Kurt grabbed the next envelope.

"It's for Rachel from the Manhattan School of Music." Kurt quickly scanned the contents of the letter. "It's says they would love to have you but they have to wait list you for the fall semester. You'd have a guaranteed spot for spring though," he told her and Rachel's face fell a bit.

Kurt knew his best friend was ambitious and it sometimes surprised him that they were still friends when most of the time he, Rachel and Mercedes competed for the same things. Rachel had been confident that she would get into every school she applied for but Kurt knew that wasn't very likely. Different schools were looking for different things in people and while Rachel was an amazing singer, she – just like Kurt – wasn't the best dancer and some schools might not take her because of that.

Rachel quickly regained her composure and picked up the next letter. "Another one for Kurt," she said before reading the letter and Kurt cursed her poker face. It was the first important letter of the night for him as it was from AMDA – the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Once she was done reading Rachel looked up to him a sad smile on her face. "Sorry Kurt, but it's a no. They say you're welcome to apply again for second semester."

Kurt tried not to show how sad he was to get rejected and quickly moved on to the next letter. It probably made him a bad friend that he secretly felt happy for a second when Rachel got rejected by Julliard, his absolute dream school.

Mercedes got accepted into Berklee School of Music in Boston, her first choice, where she wanted to major in music therapy. All three of them got accepted into Ohio State, their back up school none of the three of them wanted to go to because although it was a great college, they all wanted to get out of Ohio.

Mercedes and Sam had already decided that they would give this whole long distance relationship thing a try if she got into a college out of state and Kurt hoped it would work out for them. Tina and Mike would be thrust into a long distance relationship as well because Tina was only a junior and Kurt was immensely grateful that Blaine had begged the Dalton headmaster to let him start as a freshman even though he missed a lot of school after he got beat up after a school dance in middle school.

Yes, there was the possibility that they would go to school in different cities but at least they would have shared experiences, as they were both in college.

Mercedes added two more letters to her yes pile but she had already made up her mind that Boston was it for her. To his surprise Kurt got an acceptance letter from Berklee as well and was even offered a full ride. Rachel on the other hand got a yes from AMDA and Kurt could feel jealousy rear its ugly head again because he was still waiting for a yes from a school in New York. Maybe he should have applied to NYU as a back up school as well.

The Manhattan School of Music put him on their waiting list as well, but Kurt wasn't surprised because he felt he could have done better on that audition. It had been his first and he had been incredible nervous. Nerves he hadn't been quite able to shake off until the end.

Finally they reached the most important letter of them all – Julliard – and Kurt decided he wanted open this one himself.

He carefully slipped the letter opener through the flap and pulled out the piece of paper. He longed for a day where the thickness of a letter told you if you got in or not, but most schools nowadays only told you if you got in or not and sent you the rest via email. He was surprised they still got acceptance letters.

"Dear Mr. Hummel," Kurt read, "we regret to inform you that we can not guarantee you a place for fall semester 2012. However, we have put you on the waiting list and should other students decide not to attend you will be number six on the list. We are pleased to inform you though, that we can offer you a spot for spring semester 2013. Should anything change and we can offer you a place for the fall semester we will contact you immediately."

Kurt let the letter fall onto his bed and barely noticed how Rachel and Mercedes were basically fighting over it until he felt himself being pulled into Mercedes strong arms.

"You okay Boo?" she asked and Kurt nodded his head mechanically. "Sure, it's not the end of the world. Someone could still not attend and there are only five people in front of me on that list. And hey, Boston is pretty cool too. At least it has you," he told her willing his tears to stay away.

Yes, Boston was pretty cool and the music program was great as well, but it wasn't New York. And now that Blaine hadn't gotten into Harvard he would probably end up in New York and Kurt wouldn't. But it could be worse he reminded him again. At least Boston and New York were only a four-hour bus ride apart.

"I think that calls for some ice cream," Rachel exclaimed and Kurt wholeheartedly agreed. He was allowed to wallow in some self-pity, at least until he and Blaine got together to announce their final decisions. Then he had to be strong for both their sakes.

When Blaine had heard about Kurt's college letter opening sleep over he had decided that it would be nice to have someone with him as well when he opened his remaining ones. His friends on the Warblers were out though because those of them that were graduating as well had already heard back from colleges earlier this year and he wanted to share the experience with someone who had no clue about his or her future either.

That's how he ended up in Kurt's former bedroom with Santana. They had become good friends since she moved in and at least she wouldn't sugar coat things for him if the letters turned out to be a disaster.

"Okay, prep boy. Hand them over so I can see what preppy schools want to have you," Santana demanded and Blaine handed all his letters over to her, but only after she grudgingly handed him hers.

Santana treated opening the letters like ripping off a Band-Aid. She quickly divided them into yes, no and maybe piles before sitting back and looking at him expectantly.

Blaine gingerly picked up the small no pile. In addition to Harvard and Yale he had gotten a no from Dartmouth and Princeton. Dartmouth had never been a real option for him anyway because it was his father's alma mater and he wasn't too sad about Princeton either.

He decided to leave the lone maybe letter for last and turned his attention to the yes pile. The University of Pennsylvania quickly joined Cornell University and Brown University – which was Blaine's first choice if he couldn't get into a school in New York. He was ecstatic when he saw the acceptance letter from NYU but quickly discarded it because they didn't offer him a scholarship. NYU wasn't on his grandfather's list and unless he came into a lot of money the next couple of months, there was no way he and his mom could afford it, even with the money from the divorce settlement.

That only left one school and Blaine's smile dropped because he knew it had to be the maybe letter. It wasn't a no, but he still had held out hope that Columbia would accept him on his first try. At least he had a guaranteed spot for spring semester and if he didn't get in in August he would just have to find a job in New York for the first few months.

At least he and Kurt would be together now, because he was certain that Kurt had gotten into one of the schools he had applied for in New York, because his boyfriend was crazy talented.

He decided he would tell Kurt the "goodish" news when they went up to Columbus for the Katy Perry concert, his mom, Burt and Carole had gotten him tickets to.

He was startled out of his musings by Santana who still hadn't opened her letters. "Do you want me to divide them for you as well?" Blaine asked her and she nodded, surprisingly looking anxious as well.

There were only three letters and he quickly put two into a yes pile and one into a no. Santana picked up the no first and quickly scanned the contents, before balling up the letter and throwing it into the direction of the trashcan.

"Never liked Chicago that much anyway," she mumbled. Blaine had been surprised when he saw she had applied to Northwestern but didn't comment on it because the other two schools had been a surprise as well.

One was from a college in Kentucky and when Santana caught his expression she immediately tensed up. "Coach Sue made me apply to this one, but I'm gonna be beyond happy if I never have to see a cheerleading uniform again,"

Blaine picked up the last letter and handed it over to her. "Than you're going to like this one. I'm pretty sure no one will wear a cheerleading uniform at this school."

Santana nearly ripped her acceptance letter to NYU out of his hand and gave him a huge smile. "Tish, huh?"

Santana nodded. "Though I'm not even sure I really want to major in theater or something like that. But it's great to know I got in. I can still change my major if I find something more interesting."

Blaine was happy that he would have another friend with him in New York, because even though he and Rachel got along, she was mostly just Kurt's friends whereas Santana and Kurt had gone back to bitching at each other after Santana moved out of the Hudmel house.

"So what are Brittany's plans?" he asked her after they had ordered a celebratory pizza. Santana stiffened for a moment and Blaine guessed it was a sore topic.

"She refuses to tell me. All she says is that we'll be together next year and not to worry, but I can't help but worry," she confided in him and Blaine quickly came up with a plan.

The next day at school, he and Santana stopped Brittany before she could leave the choir room after Glee rehearsal.

"Brittany, you kind of have to tell Santana where you have applied for college, because what if yours is in different city than Santana's," Blaine tried to convince the blond who looked at him confusedly.

"I haven't applied for college. I knew San would get into NYU because she is amazing and I was just going to come with her and be a dancer."

Both Blaine and Santana looked at Brittany in shock, but Santana's girlfriend wasn't done.

"I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to graduate because my grades really suck so I didn't think I would get into a college."

Santana suddenly started yelling in Spanish end even though Blaine only knew a little he knew that wasn't good. He quickly left the room to give the two girls some privacy and once out in the hallway he quickly sent out a sos text message to the glee club so they could come up with a plan to help Brittany graduate. They had done it before with Puck who was in danger of having to repeat his junior year, so they could do it again.

The glee club was a family after all and no man or woman got left behind.

Finn had hoped he could escape the whole college acceptance letter madness by inviting the boys over for a COD marathon. Mike and Sam had already heard back from colleges, so they had nothing new to talk about, Artie was only a junior and Puck didn't seem like the type of guy who would be interested in talking about college.

Kurt was upstairs with his girlfriends, Blaine was apparently busy with Santana and he had to admit he had totally forgotten about the newbies when he sent out the invite. His parents and Ethan also wouldn't be back for a couple more hours, so it was the perfect evening for mindless computer games to get his mind of the college thing.

Or so he thought until Puck the traitor started asking Sam if he was really going pre-med because that came kind of unexpectedly. Finn agreed with him on that one but didn't voice his skepticism because he didn't want to hurt Sam's feelings.

"Don't listen to Puck. I think that's awesome dude," he assured Sam. "Puck's just jealous because you are getting to go to college," Finn added, joking of course because Puck being jealous about colleges was kind of ridiculous.

"Who says I'm not going to college. If I want to expand my pool cleaning business I kind of need a degree and I really don't want to be a Lima loser forever. I want Beth to be proud of me when she gets older," Puck shot back and Finn raised his arms in surrender.

He had never met Puck and Quinn's daughter because that had happened while he was still in Lima, but he knew Puck was visiting his daughter from time. He just hadn't known Puck was considering going to college for her.

"Where would you even go?" he asked Puck, curiosity taking over, as he avoided getting killed by the zombies on the screen.

"University of Dayton," Puck announced. "And you should come with me dude. I know you got in as well." Finn didn't know how Puck knew it, but he was right. To his surprise he had gotten into college. He just wasn't sure if he was going because he had no idea what he should major in.

"I don't know. I was thinking I could just work for my dad until I figure out what I want," Finn told Puck before handing the controller over to Artie, who like the other boys, was listening to their discussion but was staying out of it.

"It's not like they expect you to tell them what you want straight away. Come on dude. The two of us would rule this place. I know you are with Sarah, but think about all the chicks. Older, experienced chicks."

Finn had to laugh when he saw Puck practically drooling over his controller. And maybe Puck was right. He would be missing out if he didn't go to college. Maybe attending would help him figure out what he wanted out of life and Dayton wasn't too far away from Lima. He could still work in the shop in his spare time or hang out with Sarah.

"Why not," he told Puck and was immediately forced to fist bump all the guys in the room.

"So where's Kurt going? Off to some fancy school?" Puck asked a bit later and Finn glared at Puck even though he knew that Puck wasn't trying to be mean.

"I don't know. They are opening their letters right now." Now that he thought about it, it was oddly quiet upstairs. He had expected some squealing.

"Doesn't sound like it's going well," Puck observed and Finn hoped Puck was wrong because Kurt deserved to get into the school he wanted after working so hard for it.

It was only a few minutes later when Rachel came downstairs and walked straight into the kitchen. Finn quickly followed her because he needed to know what was going on.

"Everything okay up there. Did Kurt not get in?" he asked once he spotted the ice cream in her hands. Rachel shook her head and Finn's face fell.

"He got wait-listed for the New York schools," she explained. Finn looked at her puzzled.

"That means other students have to decline their acceptance so Kurt can get in. He'll get in for sure though in January or he could go to Boston."

"Oh," Finn didn't know what to say to that. It didn't sound too bad for him, but Kurt was probably devastated.

"Can you let him know I'm here if he wants to talk," he asked Rachel who gave him a fond smile, one he would have obsessed over when he first moved to Lima.

"You are a good brother, Finn. Who knows what could have happened if you had been like that when we first met and I wasn't with Jesse."

Finn stared after Rachel as she made her way back upstairs to cheer up his brother before shaking his head to get the image out of his mind. It didn't matter. He was with Sarah, who he was in love in, and he and Rachel would probably never have worked out anyway because they wanted totally different things out of life. He and Sarah only worked so well, because she was younger and college wasn't an issue for them yet.

When Finn got back into the living room, he and Puck valiantly tried to reach the next level of the game, but again they failed.

"Don't sweat it dude," Puck tried to cheer him up. "We have four years of college to get there."

Ethan was sitting at the dining room table doing his homework when Burt came back from another two-day trip to Columbus. As expected, Ethan flinched when he saw Burt, but relaxed when Burt smiled at him and sat down as well after getting some soda for the two of them.

"Where is everyone else?" he asked the kid. Ethan only looked up briefly before focusing on his book again.

"Kurt and Finn have friends over and Mrs. Carole is shopping," he explained. Burt sighed. He and Carole had been trying to convince Ethan for weeks now that it was okay if Ethan called them Burt and Carole but the boy hadn't taken them up on the offer yet.

"You know, you can have friends over as well, if you want," Burt offered instead of commenting on the Mrs. Carole. Ethan shrugged. "Don't have any," he mumbled. "Yet", Burt tried to assure him. "Kurt didn't have a lot of friends either when he was your age and he has someone over all the time now. Just give it time, okay."

Burt got up to fix a sandwich and quickly stopped himself from squeezing Ethan's shoulder on the way to the kitchen because after all the progress they had made he didn't want to startle the kid.

Kurt had been a great help so far, and Burt was glad that his worries that Kurt might get jealous, because Ethan was getting treated like Kurt wasn't when he was a kid, were unfounded. Kurt had even laughed when Burt had asked if he was okay with Burt trying to make things right this time, assuring him he would never be jealous about something like that and that he was glad Burt was finally doing the right thing.

Once he finished making two sandwiches, Burt went back into the dining room and put one of the sandwiches in front of Ethan. "Go ahead, I'm sure you must be hungry," he told the young boy who immediately closed his book and dug in. They ate in silence while Burt was racking his brain for something else to say. Why was dealing with kids so hard?

"Have you made up your mind about afterschool activities?" he asked once they were done. Ethan pushed away his plate and fiddled with his pen and Burt gave him a reassuring smile.

"Maybe I could learn how to sing and dance and," he stopped there and looked at Burt as if to judge his reaction. "Go on," Burt encouraged him. "And I've always wanted to learn how to play football, but my dad said I was to small for that and the other kids would only laugh if they saw me," Ethan continued, his eyes back on his plate.

"Hey," Burt said causing Ethan to look up, "if you want to play football you'll get to play football. You're only nine, who says you won't be really tall in a few years. And even if you aren't, there's always the kicker, who is the smallest player on the field."

"Really?" Ethan asked with wide eyes and Burt nodded emphatically. "Really. I told you, you tell us what you want to do and we'll see if can't make it happen. All we care about is seeing you happy."

Burt hadn't even noticed Kurt coming downstairs but when he looked up, he saw Kurt standing in the doorway, a fond smile on his face. When he saw that Burt had spotted him, he gave Burt a thumbs up. Burt gave him a grateful smile before turning his attention back to Ethan, who was also smiling for once.

Later that night he told Carole about his conversation with Ethan and Kurt's approval. Carole gave him a proud smile.

"See, I told you you can do it," his wife told him and finally he was starting to believe her.

Carole was glad she and Burt were able to get along with Ethan better now, because there was something she wanted to talk to him about early – his parents' trial and a possible adoption.

She knew that wouldn't be an easy talk to have, but one they needed to have. Carole picked up Ethan after his voice lessons that day and together they drove to a small diner, Burt took Kurt to from time to time, where they ordered milkshakes and curly fries.

"So, how are you liking your new lessons?" Carole asked once they were seated.

"They are great, and I can't wait to start with football when it gets warmer," Ethan enthused and Carole was glad he looked so happy and was making plans for the foreseeable future.

"There's actually something else I need to talk to you about," Carole told him after they had finished their food, which had arrived before they could talk some more. Ethan looked up, a frown on his face.

"Is it a bad thing?" he asked, his voice small and Carole shook her head, even though she wasn't so sure about that.

"To be quite honest, I don't know," she told him then. "In a few months, there will be a trial where a judge will decide if you can go home to your parents or if you are going to stay in the system," she explained, not wanting to sugar-coat things. "How do you feel about that? Do you want to go back home?"

Carole hoped his answer was no because she didn't believe anyone could change that fast. Hell, it had taken Burt more than a few months to truly accept his son. On the other hand she also understood that the boy might want to be back with his parents, because it had taken Blaine a while to stop loving his father after he had been kicked out.

Ethan looked down to his empty plate before he spoke, keeping his head down. "I want my mom and dad to be nice again, so I can go home. I like staying with you because you don't hurt me, but you are not my mom and dad."

Carole squeezed his hand reassuringly because she didn't want to pressure him.

"But, but if they stay mean I'd like to stay with you if I can," Ethan continued still not looking at her, so Carole got up and sat down next to him, so she could pull Ethan into her arms.

"We'd love that. In fact, Burt and I might want to adopt you one day if you can't go back to your parents," she told him as the young boy pressed his head into her shoulder. Ethan looked at her in surprise. "Adopt me?"

"That just means that you could stay with as long as you'd want, as part of our family," Carole explained and she saw a few tears trickle down Ethan's face.

Ethan was subdued the rest of the day but Carole decided to give him some space to deal with the information she had dropped on him. It couldn't be easy for the boy who clearly loved his own family still, to hear that a court would decided whether he could live with them again or whether he had to keep living with strangers.

She just hoped that should his parents not come around, Ethan would decide he wanted to stay with them.

The young boy looked happier again the next few days, and another visit with Ethan's social worker went well, but Carole could tell there was still something that was bothering him.

Finally, she couldn't wait any longer for him to come to her, so she sat down next to him on his bed before tucking him in. "You want to tell me what's been bothering you?" she asked, as she fluffed his pillow and smoothed his hair.

Ethan shook his head first but then nodded shyly. "This trial thing, do I have to be there?" he asked and Carole looked at him sadly.

"Yes, because they want to hear stories about your parents from you. But you won't have to do that in front of other people, okay? And you have to be honest. You are not allowed to lie to a judge even if you want to protect your parents so you can come home with them. Everyone is just trying to protect you," Carole explained, hoping she would get through to him, because the only way Ethan was going back home, was because his parents had truly learned their lesson, not because Ethan lied for them.

"Okay," Ethan whispered as he let Carole tuck him in. Carole's heart broke for him not for the first time, but there was nothing she could do but be there for him.

"Can you come with me when I have to talk to the judge," Ethan stopped her, just before she could turn off the light and leave the room.

"If you want me to, of course," she promised, hoping that was allowed. Ethan had a small smile on his face when he closed his eyes and Carole smiled a bit as well. She would do anything to make sure the smile stayed on his face.

Hope you like my college decisions for everyone :)