AN: One more part after this one I think :( If there is anything else you want to see in this 'verse, let me know - I'm always up for one shots.

Epilogue: Part 3: Through the Years… - A

Summer 2013

Their first year in L.A had been a bit chaotic to say the least. As Kurt had projected, he and Blaine were the only ones paying rent at first, while Santana was out doing god knows what and Brittany was trying to find work as a dancer.

Kurt's hours were crazy with recording songs for the show, dance rehearsals and filming and most days he just collapsed next to Blaine once he got home. It was rewarding though especially once he started doing interviews and talked about his past – the bullying and the reason why he and his boyfriend had the same last name even though they weren't married – because suddenly he was getting letters from teens going through similar things, telling him he was their idol. Once he had gotten a twitter account, he got even more messages and though he sometimes felt a bit overwhelmed when people told him they looked up to him, he was glad his story was helping other kids.

Blaine was busy as well his first year at UCLA – joining as many clubs as possible and taking shifts at the restaurant he had worked before again. When Kurt was at work, he often hung out with Cooper, who unfortunately was still struggling to find a decent job, or with other members of a choir group he had joined.

They tried to make time to hang out with all their friends in L.A. – Kurt encouraging Mercedes to find a bar to sing in and Blaine advising Puck to take business classes to help him expand his pool cleaning business – went back to Ohio for Thanksgiving and Christmas and hosted Burt and Carole in L.A a few times. During one of those visits in early March Burt announced that he had asked Carole to marry him and that they would get married in July.

Kurt wanted to volunteer his help but he just didn't have the time to fly back and forth, especially because they were doing a few concerts with the cast in June and July.

It was Blaine who came up with the idea to use the current and former members of New Directions as entertainment for the wedding and Kurt immediately agreed because it had been a while since he had seen everyone.

When their lease ended they agreed to renew it for another year because Kurt was barely home anyway and Blaine liked having company when he studied or did homework. Kurt invited all his friends to their season one wrap party where they celebrated Blaine and Mercedes finishing their first year of college and Kurt's show being renewed for two more season. It was Santana though who had the biggest surprise of the night. She announced that she had gotten into UCLA and was going to do pre-law. Kurt had been surprised but kept his mouth shut and raised his glass to Santana.

Six weeks later, he and Blaine are standing in the McKinley High auditorium to rehearse their songs for the wedding. It feels great seeing the rest of the group again, the people he hasn't seen in over a year. There are kids he doesn't know, the ND newbies as Tina and Artie call them, but they know him if the not so subtle glances in his direction are anything to go by.

Later on, when they are satisfied with the way they sound, they all head out to Breadstix to catch up. Finn has brought his girlfriend of the month, a tall redhead named Carly, while Rachel has brought Jesse St. James. Kurt keeps an eye on Finn because he knows how he feels about Rachel dating her ex-boyfriend again, but fortunately no one is causing any trouble.

He forgets the names of the new kids as soon as they tell him, concentrating on his friends who only just graduated. They discover that Artie is joining them in L.A come fall, going for a double mayor in screen writing and directing and that Tina has gotten into school in Chicago for Stage Management and that she and Mike are trying to give their relationship another shot.

Everyone but the L.A gang is surprised to hear that Puck is attending community college so he can get a business degree and that Santana wants to be a lawyer.

Quinn shows up late to their dinner, after having missed their rehearsal, telling everyone about her engagement who asks about the ring on her finger. Kurt isn't sure how serious she is because they are a bit young to get married and also wonders what she is doing at Yale if she had time to find a potential husband.

Mercedes comes up to him a bit later looking sad and after some prodding she tells him that Sam will attend OSU in the fall and that they've decided to break up because one year apart was hart enough.

Two days later, Kurt, Blaine and Finn head to the Lima Pacific Pavilion together where they are meeting up with the rest of New Directions. The service is nice, and thankfully without a lot of religious mumbo-jumbo and Kurt does feel touched when Finn calls him and Blaine his new bros.

They dance through the night with the happy couple before Kurt pulls Burt aside. "I know you wouldn't accept any checks my dad sent before, but he's been sending more since Christmas and I want you to take that money and use it for a honeymoon for you and Carole," he tells Burt once they are alone and when Burt starts to argue, Kurt cuts him off.

"We both know that I make enough money now to cover my living expenses so please let me do this for you. This is not about me paying you back for letting me stay with you – I just want to do something nice for you and Carole."

It takes another two days to fully convince Burt, but in the end he gives in and he and Carole get last minutes tickets to Paris, because Carole has always wanted to go.

Kurt's a bit jealous of course, because he has always wanted to visit Paris as well, but he also knows that he makes enough money now that he and Blaine can go there as well in the foreseeable future.

They head back to Los Angeles after the wedding, Finn coming with them because he had never been before, where they just relax and hang out with their friends during the few weeks Kurt has off, before they start filming his second season.

For the first time in his life he thinks he actually misses Ohio, because he misses his privacy, misses being able to go out with Blaine without having to look out for paparazzi. He doesn't mind people coming up to him as long as they are friendly and don't invade his personal space, but some days he does wish to be anonymous again, as much as he loves his new life.

January 2014

Blaine couldn't be prouder of his boyfriend when the nominees for the Golden Globes are announced. Kurt's show is only in it's second season and while the show has been nominated as well, Kurt is the only cast member to have received a nomination.

His boyfriend is of course convinced he is never going to win anyway so he doesn't even prepare a speech, but Blaine has seen the episode Kurt is nominated for too many times to count and he is certain his boyfriend has a real chance of taking home the best supporting actor trophy.

It's not their first award show, after attending two Emmys, and Blaine is glad to see that them appearing together isn't a big deal anymore. Now that their relationship is pretty much old news, they can both relax a bit and Kurt actually gets to talk about the show when he is being interviewed on the red carpet instead of being asked about his date.

Bryan and his fiancé David have brought their eight and a half months pregnant surrogate and her daughter and when he looks at them he just knows that he wants to have what they have one day with Kurt. But they are both only twenty so he is aware that there is no rush, that they have all the time in the world to enjoy their lives as they are.

There are so many people Blaine admires and he knows he could use Kurt's fame and go introduce himself, but he stays right next to Kurt at all times, hoping to one day meet his idols when has managed to make a name of himself as well.

When Kurt's category comes up, Kurt is clutching his hand so hard, Blaine is afraid for the circulation in his hand for a moment. They don't kiss in public so much anymore, now that Kurt is famous, but when he is announced the winner, he can't help himself and kisses Kurt right in front of the camera filming Kurt's reaction, ignoring that millions of people all over the world are watching them.

Kurt looks paler than usual when he pretty much stumbles on stage, deer caught in headlights look on his face, but then he straightens up and gives the audience his most dazzling smile.

"Ah, wow. I really didn't expect that. You can ask my boyfriend who kept trying to force me to write an acceptance speech just in case. Never in a million years did I ever expect to stand up here one day, not with my past and people telling me I'm wrong most of my life. I want to thank the two most important people in my life first. My boyfriend Blaine and his dad Burt who have taken me in and made me part of their family when I was at my worst.

And I want to thank Bryan Collins for casting me in the role that I always say would have been my life if Burt Hummel had been my father. I want to thank everyone who ever believed in me – my old Glee club and my teacher Ms. Corcoran, Ulrich Roberts for inviting me to an audition, my brother Cooper, without whom I would have never come to L.A in the first place.

I hope this award shows all the kids out there who are or were in situations similar to mine that it can indeed get better. Please don't keep quiet when someone is hurting you, because if you are lucky you will find the people in your life that really care about you. And to all the people who have told me no my whole life. Screw you. And before the music is going to kick me off stage, I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for giving me this award."

By the time Kurt finishes and is escorted behind the stage, Blaine has tears in his eyes. He really hopes his dad is watching back home, that everyone who loves Kurt is watching and maybe more importantly that those who have put him down in the past are watching. He wants everyone to see how amazing his boyfriend is and that no one gets to push Kurt around anymore.

Kurt's eyes are a bit red as well when he returns to his seat a while later, but he doesn't get to stay seated long as SING takes home the award for best show in the musical category as well.

After the award show is over they all get together to celebrate, but their celebrations are cut short when Bryan and David's surrogate's water breaks during a toast to the cast and crew of SING.

He and Kurt agree to watch her daughter while Kurt's boss rushes the young woman to the hospital and though the evening doesn't end the way he has envisioned it – they have booked at room at the Beverly Hilton to ensure their privacy – the night is still magical in his eyes because they end up seeing Bryan and David's baby boy only hours after he is born.

"One day that's going to be us, right?" Kurt asks when they are finally back home and fall into bed together. Blaine just pulls him closer until Kurt's head is resting on his chest. "There's nothing I would want more."

May 2016

Burt, Carole, Finn and all their friends show up for Blaine's graduation in early May and help them the next day with the move to their very first own apartment. It's in a nicer part of town though they still chose a small one because they want to stay down to earth and not become a Hollywood cliché.

Kurt's so proud of his boyfriend who has gotten an offer to compose the score for an independent movie right out of college but he hasn't been worried in the first place because Blaine has written plenty of music for student films while he was in college.

They both have six weeks off thankfully as Kurt for once doesn't have to do concerts with the cast of SING and he can't wait for their trip to Europe. Money hasn't been an issue for a while now, but they had both decided to wait until they had enough time to spend a month for a Eurotrip.

Before they go however there is something he will have to take care of in Ohio. Kurt had been contacted by the Ohio Department of Corrections a few weeks earlier about his father's parole hearing and had been informed that his father wanted to speak to him. He and Blaine had debated for a few days whether Kurt should actually do it or not, but in the end he had decided that he wanted to so he could finally have real closure.

They fly back with the family after they spent a few days in L.A., settling into Blaine's old room in the Hudmel home now that sharing it is not an issue anymore.

Finn's very pregnant girlfriend is there as well and Kurt still can't believe Finn is planning to marry the one night stand he has accidentally gotten pregnant. Everyone can tell that they just don't work together, and while he commands him for doing the right thing, he knows a betting pool exists about the longevity of the marriage should they go through with it.

Whenever he sees Finn now it reminds him of the fact that as much as he wants to have biological children with Blaine, he is also glad that they will never have to deal with an unplanned pregnancy.

He keeps himself busy with helping out in the shop the days leading up to his father's parole hearing, reveling in the relative anonymity he still seems to have in Lima. Those who do recognize him mostly look the other way, probably because they don't want attention drawn to the fact that they were less than friendly to him when they were still in school and the vindictive part of him enjoys seeing them working jobs he once told them they would have after high school.

Blaine and Burt both offer to accompany him to the prison when the day arrives but Kurt knows that this is something he has to do on his own. After handing a guard his cellphone, wallet and other contents of his pockets he is led into a small room where a man is already waiting for him.

Kurt barely recognizes him at first – his hair is a lot greyer, his face not swollen anymore and he has slimmed down considerably. But his eyes are still the same color as Kurt's and Kurt swallows hard once before sitting down opposite him.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me Kurt. I know you didn't have to." "What's this about?" Kurt asks once he gets his throat working again, stealing himself for any insults that might come his way.

"I didn't ask you here because I want to convince you not to argue against my parole, if this is what you are thinking. If you think I should serve the rest of my time I won't try to convince you otherwise," his father replies and Kurt frowns for a moment because he hadn't even thought of that until his father mentioned it.

"Then why am I here?"

"You're here because I have to apologize to you again. It's part of my twelve step program and even if it weren't, I owe you this much. When I was younger I promised myself I would never become my father, but in the end that was exactly what I became, maybe even worse."

Kurt swallows again. He has never met his paternal grandfather, only knows he died in a car crash long before he was born after he left a bar and lost control of the car. No one ever talked about him, and Kurt so far had believed it was because he would have hated what his son was doing to his grandson.

"What was he like?" Kurt forces himself to ask, because he has read the statistic, knows that victims of abuse sometimes later abuse others as well. It scares him to think of his grandfather like that because what does that mean for him?

"My father was a drunk and he raised me pretty much on his own after my mother ran out on him. He'd come home from the local pub and if something wasn't to his liking at home he would beat me. The worse he got the more I started acting out, which in turn only made him treat me worse. I was dead set on getting out of there, finishing school and getting a decent job but then I got my high school girlfriend pregnant.

I got out of there all right when he found out because he kicked me out and so I dropped out of high school and found some low paying job. Her parents didn't want anything to do with us either because she insisted on keeping your half-brother and at first we seemed to make it work. But I didn't have an education, so I barely made any money. Fell in with the wrong crowd who took me drinking with them and I discovered that alcohol helped me deal with the shitty hand life had dealt me.

I don't know when things started to get out of hand, but I had lost another job, ended up drinking with my buddies before heading home and then there was Cooper's mother, berating me for not trying harder, for being a Lima loser and l lost control and struck her. Cooper must have realized at some point because he started doing things that pissed me off and drew me away from his mother and toward him.

When he was nearly eight, I met this woman at a bar – your mother – and we seemed to just click. She wasn't a nice person, but she didn't make me feel like shit and didn't give a damn if I had a job or not as long as I would buy her drinks every now and then.

When Cooper's mother found out I was seeing her, it must have been the last straw for her, because when I got back from the bar the next day, she and Cooper were gone. I got served the divorce papers a few weeks later with instructions to never contact her or Cooper again unless I wanted to deal with the cops.

Your mother and I moved in together and I tried to forget all about them, thought things would be easier now that I didn't have them in my life anymore. Two years later you were born and I thought I'd make it right this time, but then you turned out the way you did and I couldn't deal.

Your mother was convinced we could make you right with a strong hand and so I ended up doing the exact same thing I promised myself I wouldn't do anymore after Cooper. Your mother didn't like striking you herself, she preferred to use her words, but we were both drinking heavily and I thought it was the right thing to do.

I didn't think I was doing anything wrong until I was thrown in jail, got forcibly removed from alcohol and had to attend meetings with a therapist. That's why I pleaded guilty because I knew I was. I had ruined your life, Cooper's life, my first wife's life. Your mother, she stopped visiting once I told her we had been wrong, told me she would take things into her own hands if I was too much of a pussy and that was the last I saw of her apart from the trial. Got divorced again a few months afterward."

Kurt had listened in silence while his father talked because whatever he had expected to hear, this wasn't it.

"Why are you telling me all this. If it's pity you want," he says before trailing off.

"No! The last thing I want is make you feel sorry for me. I just didn't want you to make the same mistakes I made one day. But I can see you are nothing like me. You are stronger, you managed to get out, you found people who actually deserved to have you in their lives. What I'm asking is to stay in contact after I get out if you can find it in your heart to grant me that wish. I don't expect you to give me an answer right now and if you want me to stop writing I will."

Kurt doesn't know what to say to that. He thought he would come and see his father to get closure not to let him back into his life.

"What are you going to do once you get out?" he asks because he doesn't have an answer yet.

"Find a job, continue going to AA meetings. I got my GED while I was in here so I'm hoping a stable job will help me stay sober. I still don't understand everything about you but I'm willing to work on that, I'm willing to learn."

Kurt feels lost. He doesn't know what to do, if he wants to give the man who ruined his childhood and teenage years another chance. He needs someone else's perspective.

So he calls out to the guard in the corner of the room and asks him for a piece of paper and a pen before writing down Burt's address.

"You can write to him once you are out and I'll see if he is willing to talk to you. I trust his opinion a lot and if he thinks you are truthful, then maybe we can start talking again. This is all I can give you for now," he says before getting up to leave.

"Thank you, Kurt. This is more than I hoped for," he hears his father say before he leaves his room.

Later that night, he, Blaine and Burt are sitting in the living room together like old times where Kurt recounts his meeting with his father. Blaine is livid at first, and Kurt understands because he knows how much Blaine hates his parents, but Burt looks thoughtful.

"I'll talk to him," he concedes, "and if I believe he wasn't bullshitting you to get your sympathy I might offer him a job to keep an eye on him if this is something that you want. Only you can decide if you want him in your life, but this is what I can do."

Kurt doesn't know if he wants his father in his life again but he trusts Burt's judgment. And if Burt thinks his father can be reformed, he might find it in his heart to let him back in one day in the future.

AN: Let me know what you think about the way I'm handling Kurt's dad. Hope you don't hate it.

AND: External fic rec: If your not reading 'All the other ghosts' yet - go visit Rainjoy's writing Livejournal. It's a-fucking-mazing! As are her(?) other stories.