Being friends with someone like Rachel Barbra Berry was always an adventure, as Kurt could tell you. She could be incredibly self absorbed and abrasive at times, but then be the best friend ever the very next day. Despite all their struggles and frustrations, Kurt knew his life was better with her in it, and never more so than right at this moment. 

It was no secret that the Berry’s were well off, but what was a little less well known, was that they had been searching for a vacation home by the sea. They had been on the hunt for a few years already, trying to find that elusive dream home that fit all their demands. 

The US was ruled out in their first year of searching for not being exotic enough and the Caribbean was too popular, but Europe felt just right. They had already spent many a summer, vacationing in Greece, Croatia and the French and Italian Rivieras, trying out Spain’s Costa del Sol, and even Bulgaria’s Gold Coast. But finally, after years of searching, they found a place that felt right, located in Portugal’s southern region, the Algarve. 

The area was popular enough that they could easily rent out the property all year round, but not so much that the local culture was in danger of disappearing under catering to the tourists. The people were friendly, the cuisine to die for, and the weather pleasant, even in winter. 

They had found a villa for sale online, and decided to go down to visit it when Rachel was on her spring break in her senior year. The property was located on a cliff,  and only accessible by a dirt road, but the views and privacy more than made up for it. With 7 bedrooms in the main house, plus a separate apartment, a private heated outdoor pool and games room, the villa offered everything they could wish for, even if it all was a little dated. 

All the Berry’s had fallen madly in love with the property, so they made an offer on the spot and took possession of it barely a week after Rachel had graduated high school. 

Despite having planned to spend the entire summer in Portugal, fixing up the villa and enjoying the sun and the sea, LeRoy and Hiram were not so oblivious that they could not see that an eighteen year old girl might not want to spend the entire summer before college with only her dads for company. 

They had always gotten along with Burt and Carole, first as fellow members of the PTA, then as parents of Glee club members and finally as true friends when Rachel and Finn began dating. Knowing there was more than enough space in the villa, and just how handy Burt was, the solution was obvious and they had invited the Hudson-Hummels to join them for a vacation. 

Carole and Burt couldn’t take the entire summer off from work, but plans were soon made for them to join the Berry’s for ten days in late July. 

Burt knew that Blaine’s workaholic parents would not be home much all summer, so after talking to Carole and the Berry’s about it, they had decided to extend the invitation to Blaine as well. As expected, Alan and Pam Anderson did not object to the plan and when the time came to leave for Portugal, they sent him off with a credit card and a ‘see you in a few weeks’ before leaving for work. 

As a special treat, the Berry’s had insisted on paying for upgrading the tickets to first class, so while the transatlantic flight was no less long or tiring, at least everyone besides Finn had sufficient legroom and there were no screaming children nearby. The flight had landed at ten in the morning local time, but after flying through the night and with the five hour time difference, it was an exhausted group of travellers who stood in the burning sun outside Faro International Airport. 

They shielded their eyes against the sun’s bright rays as they looked around, trying to spot Rachel and her dads when they heard an excited shout coming from behind them.

“Bom dia! Bem vindo a Portugal!”

Having had the foresight to come with two cars, all the luggage was loaded into the SUV along with all the parents while the teens joined Rachel in her car, and before they knew it, they had started the hour and a half drive to Burgau.

“I’m so happy you guys made it!” Rachel exclaimed as she exited the airport’s short term parking lot. She looked carefully around her before stepping on the gas pedal and squeezing into a gap in traffic. The roads around the airport were teeming with cars and Kurt felt the urge to brace himself more than once as they swiftly moved through the lanes filled with locals and tourists alike. 

“We’ve been busy getting your rooms ready for you. The villa wasn’t in a really bad state, but it really needed a good deep cleaning and most of the bedrooms were super old fashioned.” Rachel honked at a car that tried to cut her off and continued calmly as if they hadn’t just almost crashed. “Sorry about that, driving here has definitely been an adjustment. Some rules are treated more like guidelines and if you’re gonna sit and wait around for someone to let you in front, you’ll be sitting there for hours. Daddy actually refuses to drive here if he doesn’t have to, but Dad doesn’t mind. I’ve been getting in a lot of practice driving back and forth to Lagos, where my singing coach is. Did I tell you about that yet? I had my dads set up Fado lessons for me with a local instructor. Fado is a traditional Portuguese style of singing that sounds really pretty and is very different from what I’m used to, so I’m hoping it will give me a leg up on the competition when I start at NYADA in the fall. I’ve got a few CD’s back home that I can lend you. Cristina Branco is a really well known Fado singer and her voice is just to die for, even if I haven’t got a clue what she’s actually singing about.”

Rachel paused to take a breath and Kurt and Blaine shared a look from where they were seated in the back. Finn’s eyes had glazed over about halfway through and he was just humming in acknowledgment in places. 

Before she could continue, Blaine spoke up for the first time since they had gotten into the car. “What’s there to do around here?”

“Oh loads! The house has its own private heated pool and a games room with a pool table and everything, and the local beach is only a 15 minute walk away. The beach isn’t very big, but that’s because we are a little outside of the main touristy areas. There are a few really pretty beaches nearby that we can take day trips to, and I also booked a whale watching tour which should be really exciting.” she paused for a breath and smiled, “Lagos is the closest city and it’s about half an hour away. It has a really cute historical centre and lots of really good restaurants. I’ve also been taking surfing lessons from a local surf shop, if you wanted you guys could join me for that?”

“Yeah, I’d love that! It sounds really fun. What about you, Kurt?” Blaine gives his boyfriend his best pleading face. “Will you come surfing with us?”

“Ugh. Fine. Put those eyes away before you strain yourself. I swear, someday I will be able to say no to you, mark my words.” 

“I love you,” Blaine says, batting his eyes and laying his head on Kurt’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, yeah. I love you too, suck up.” Kurt kisses his hair and leans his head on Blaine’s. “How much longer till we get there, Rach?” 

“There’s a bit of traffic up ahead, so at least an hour I think. I’ve got suction shades in the seat pockets if you want to block the sun a bit so you can take a nap.”

“Thanks, I think we’ll do that. We got a few hours of sleep on the plane, but that's never enough, especially when you take into account the time difference.”

Kurt put the shades on the windows and grabbed his travel pillow from where he had stashed it by their feet. He put his arms around Blaine, who had already been nodding off on his shoulder and closed his eyes. 

After what felt like ten minutes, but was actually closer to two hours, Kurt was woken by Rachel shaking his shoulder. 

“Wake up sleepy heads, we’re here.” she said before moving away to open the front door for Finn to carry the suitcases through.

With a jaw cracking yawn, Kurt sat up slightly, being mindful of Blaine where he was slumped against him, still fast asleep. He took a look out the window, but all he could see were the walls of the property to their sides around the parking spaces and the dusty road beyond the gate in front of them. He turned to his boyfriend and gently ran a finger down the side of his face. 

“Time to wake up now, sweetheart.” He whispered, knowing how hard it was to wake Blaine up when he was out cold. 

“Mmmno. Don’t wanna.” Blaine mumbled, burying his face in Kurt’s neck and tightening his arms around him. 

“I know, sweetie, but we’ve arrived. C’mon, let’s get our stuff inside and take a look around. I’m sure the view here will be a hundred times better than what we saw from the plane.”

Blaine grumbled a bit, but he did finally open his eyes and sit up. He rubbed a hand over his face and stretched his legs out as far as they could in the cramped space of the backseat. 

“Oh I’m going to feel that in my back later. Did I really sleep the entire drive?”

“I think so, I know I did at least,” Kurt said as he stepped out of the car and stretched out properly. He raised his arms high above his head, making his shirt ride up and exposing a strip of skin that Blaine had trouble looking away from. 

Kurt saw where his eyes were locked and gave him a smirk, “If you want, I can help you work the kinks in your back later.”

“You know I would never say no to that,” Blaine said as joined Kurt outside and wrapped his arms around Kurt. Eyes twinkling mischievously, he planted a passionate kiss on Kurt’s lips before pulling away abruptly. “But for now I can hear the other car around the corner, so we’d better get our bags inside before your dad gets more of a show than he, or we, would want him to see.”

Kurt shook his head playfully and swatted Blaine’s ass lightly, “You’d better hope our room is on the other side of the house then, because I’ll hold you to that.”

Thankfully, their rooms were indeed located at the opposite side of the house to their parents’ rooms. With the house being built half on and half into the cliff, it was divided into multiple levels and it had been decided that the adults would have rooms on the upper ground floor by the living room, while the teens would share the lower level with the games room and direct garden access.  

The teens had expected to have single rooms and to sneak around at night, so everyone was very surprised when Burt and LeRoy sat them down for a little talk after they had finished with the tour of the house.

“We are very aware that you are all eighteen years old and leaving the nest soon, so we are willing to relax the rules a little bit. You will be allowed to share a room as a couple, but we do not want to know or, god forbid, hear any details, got it?” Burt said, giving them all as stern a look as he could manage through his awkwardness. 

Red-faced, they all nodded their assent and made to get up and leave when LeRoy spoke up. “Rachel knows this already, but seeing as you are all over the legal drinking age here, we will not object to you having the occasional glass of beer or wine. We do expect you all to keep things civilised and not get absolutely smashed, agreed?”

Everyone eagerly agreed and they were finally allowed to go down to their rooms and unpack their suitcases. 

Rachel had already claimed a room just off the kitchen with its own access to the garden, and Kurt and Blaine were assigned a room on the other end of the hallway, near the games room. The bedrooms were all basic, with all the necessary furniture and bedding, but they were functional enough for now and Kurt was looking forward to learning a bit more about Portuguese interior design and helping pick out some new furnishings. 

Once all their clothes were packed away and the suitcases safely stowed in the nearby storage rooms, they headed upstairs to the larger patio for a late lunch. The octagonal shaped table was set up in the shade and covered in dishes filled with local delicacies. 

From where they were sitting, they had a magnificent view of the garden with the ocean glittering in the distance just beyond it. The sun was shining brightly and they could see tiny little sailboats bobbing on the waves while birds flew overhead. 

Conversation during lunch ranged from ideas for the house, to plans for the vacation and they were unanimous in deciding the rest of that day would be spent lounging around the villa. 

Everyone helped clear the table after lunch and Carole and Hiram installed themselves on some sun loungers at the other end of the patio with a pitcher of Margaritas and a stack of magazines on the table between them. Burt knew he would not be able to rest easily after sitting still for so long, both on the plane and in the car, so he and LeRoy were going to go through the house to take stock of all that would need to be done by professionals and which things they would be able to do themselves. 

As soon as they had put the last of the dishes away, Finn looked to the others and called out, “Last one in the pool is a rotten egg!” before sprinting away to get changed. 

Cursing, Blaine threw his towel on the counter and gave chase. His smaller frame was to his advantage as he squeezed past Finn when he rounded the corner and ducked into his and Kurt’s bedroom. Thanks to Kurt’s foresight, their swimsuits and towels were already laid out on the bed and Blaine changed quicker than he had ever done before. 

Kurt and Rachel had shared a look in the kitchen and silently mutually decided to let their goofy boyfriends race while they took their time. Kurt was just rounding the corner to their room when Blaine came barrelling past him. 

“Sorry about the mess, I can’t let him win again! Love you!” he shouted as he ran outside and jumped into the pool with a big splash. 

“YES! I win! Suck on that, Finn Hudson!”

Kurt chuckled and peeked around the open door to Finn and Rachel’s room, only to see Finn disappear out of their patio door. He and Rachel calmly got changed and cleaned up the messes left in their bedrooms before helping each other put on a coat of sunscreen and joining their boyfriends outside. 

They laid out their towels on the padded sun loungers next to the pool and sat down in the shade that a nearby parasol provided. 

“Now this I could get used to,” Kurt said, lounging back and closing his eyes. 

“Right? I must have spent at least half of my time here so far just lounging in the sun and relaxing for a change. I was so stressed after finals and having to wait so long to hear back from NYADA that I never even realised how much I needed to slow down and recharge for a bit.” Rachel said as she pulled a pair of magazines and two bottles of water out of the tote bag she brought along before offering one of each to Kurt. 

“Thanks,” he said, taking a grateful gulp of the cold water. “When are you going back home?”

“In a couple of weeks, I think. I want to have at least two weeks at home to pack everything up before we move to New York. I’m so excited! We’re going to take NYADA by storm and all of Broadway will know our names before long. I’m so happy I get to share it all with you, Kurt.”

Kurt was about to respond when he caught sight of his boyfriend jumping up in the shallow end of the pool to catch the ball Finn threw at him. Water droplets glittered in the sun as they stuck to his chest  and his previously loose fitting swim shorts now stuck to his firm thighs, highlighting the rounded curve of his butt. 

“Yes, yes, same. Excuse me, Rachel. I gotta go ask Blaine something.” he said, never taking his eyes off of Blaine as he stood up to join him in the water.