The next day, everyone enjoyed a nice lie in after forcing themselves to stay awake long enough to fight off the jet-lag. They had decided at dinner the day before that they’d go into the nearest city, Lagos, as a group and have lunch there before splitting up. LeRoy and Hiram wanted to take Burt and Carole to a local artisan stonesmith to look at tile samples for the new bathrooms, while the teens were going to explore the old town before heading to the beach.

Finding a place to have lunch took a little bit as Rachel ruled out a few places after looking at the menu and Kurt vetoed a few others by the way they looked. Eventually, they settled on a traditional Portuguese restaurant tucked away in a side street and sat down in the shade. 

“Oh god,” Kurt groaned as he got a better look at the menu. 

“What’s wrong?” Blaine asked worriedly.

“Nothing,” he sighed, “Just… Did you look at the name of the restaurant? 

Blaine closed his menu to look at the front and let out an identical groan, “Don Sebastião. Great... The food had better be fantastic then.” 

They ordered their food which, thankfully, was delicious and Kurt and Blaine made a note of its location for their date night later in the week. They paid the bill and said goodbye to their parents before setting off, deeper into the historic old town. 

They ducked in and out of tourist shops, trying to find the kitschiest souvenirs to take back for their friends at home, and Finn in particular had a lot of fun picking out anything with a rooster on it after he learned it represented the Old Cock of Barcelos. 

The going was slow as Rachel insisted on posing in front of every statue and historical landmark, but eventually they made it to the surf shop where Rachel took her lessons and browsed the other activities they had to offer. 

“To be honest, there are a lot of companies offering all sorts of excursions, but it can be really hard to find the right one because everybody wants you to book theirs, but the quality of what they deliver can vary so much. I’ve done some preliminary research and I know from experience that this shop offers quality for reasonable prices, so if you guys don’t mind, I’d prefer to just book everything here so we can spend more time on fun stuff than on comparing them all.” 

“We’ll trust your judgement, Rach,” Blaine said before turning away to look at a poster advertising a combined kayaking and snorkelling trip. 

Finn and Kurt were looking at brochures for a Quad Bike tour while Rachel arranged the Bom Dia boat tour of the coastline and grottos for the next day that they were all going to go on. After a quick call to Carole, it was decided that they would do the Quad tour with just the four of them, so they booked that for the day after tomorrow and took home brochures for other activities the shop offered. 

“Hey guys, could we stop for some ice cream soon? I feel like I’m melting.” Blaine said as they stepped out of the air conditioned shop and back into the summer heat. 

“There’s a pretty good ice cream shop near where we parked the car. If you want, we can head in that direction and then afterwards go home to cool down at the local beach.” Rachel offered.  

“That sounds perfect.” 

It did not take them very long to find their way back to where they started and before long they were sitting in the shade enjoying their ice cream. Kurt and Blaine were alternately feeding each other from their chocolate and strawberry waffle cones respectively, while Rachel had a mango sorbet and Finn was consuming an entire bowl full of no less than five different flavours of ice cream. 

“So what’s the plan for the rest of the day then?” Finn asked around a mouth full of ice cream. 

Kurt wrinkled his nose and handed his brother a napkin, “Dad said that they were probably going to be out all day and eat something on the way, so we’re on our own for dinner.” 

“The local beach is just at the bottom of the village and very close to the pizzeria, so we could just spend the rest of the day at the beach and pick up some pizzas when we’re hungry.”

Having finished their snacks and made their plan, they walked to Rachel’s car and drove back to Burgau. 

It was on the drive back that his exhaustion caught up to Kurt. He had never been able to really rest on planes and always needed a bit of time to adjust when sleeping in a different bed, so having two interrupted nights in a row was taking its toll. 

“Would you mind if I laid down for a nap before we went down to the beach? He asked, nearly cracking his jaw with the force of his yawn. 

“Did you not sleep very well? Was it the room? Or the bed? Just say the word and we’ll try out another mattress,” Rachel worried as she signalled right to turn onto the dirt road leading to the villa. 

“Nah, the room and the bed are fine, don’t worry. The past few days are just catching up to me a bit and I’d rather nap in bed than accidentally fall asleep in the sun and risk getting sunburnt.”

Blaine looked up from where he was leaning against the window, trying to take in the countryside, “I could really do with a lie down myself, actually. I’ve never been good at combating jet lag. What if you guys went ahead to the beach without us and we’d come down later when we’re a bit more rested?”

“Yeah sure, if that’s what you want. The beach is just at the bottom of the village, so if you follow the road to the west and take a left at the end you should come across it eventually. I’ll write down the directions just to be sure.”

“That'd be great thanks.”

Having arrived at the villa, Rachel waited patiently for the electronic gate to open before she parked in her spot and they got out. The thirty minute drive in Rachel’s air conditioned car had been just long enough to make them forget about the sweltering heat outside. They quickly grabbed their purchases from the trunk and escaped indoors where the white walls naturally kept the heat out and the tiles underneath their bare feet provided a welcome cool contrast. 

Rachel quickly wrote down the directions while Finn loaded up a cooler with some drinks and snacks before getting changed. They shouted a quick goodbye to Blaine and Kurt before leaving the house. It had been decided to leave the car behind since it was such a short distance and so they could have a drink if they wanted to, so Finn hefted the cooler on one arm and clasped the other with Rachel’s as they set off to the beach on foot. 

Down in their room, Kurt had just closed the curtains to block out the bright midday sun when he heard Rachel and Finn leave. Shouting back a quick response, he stripped down to his boxer briefs and joined Blaine in their bed. 

“I really want to cuddle with you, but it’s so hot already and I’m afraid we’ll stick together,” he whispered as he laid on his side and touched his forehead to Blaine’s.

“I don’t care,” Blaine answered, scooching forward to stick his leg in between Kurt’s as he tucked his head underneath his chin. “It wouldn’t be the first time things got sticky between us, so we’ll just enjoy it while we can.”

Kurt chuckled, “Whatever you want, love,” and he wrapped his arms around Blaine, pressing their bare chests even closer together. “I’m so happy you got to join us on vacation.”

“Yeah, me too. It’s going to be really hard with you away next year, so I’m glad we have this time to just relax and have fun together.”

“I know. I wish I could just pack you in my suitcase and take you with me, but we’ll still have Skype and we’ll visit each other as often as we can.”

Blaine leaned up on one arm and looked down on Kurt with twinkling eyes, “Did you just make a short joke?” 

“Ha, no. Though, I probably could find a suitcase big enough for you to fit in, so don’t go giving me any ideas,” Kurt smiled impishly. “You are perfect just the way you are. Exactly the right size to fit in my arms, so come lie back down and let’s get some sleep.”

Blaine nestled back into Kurt’s embrace and pressed a kiss over his heart, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, darling. Always and forever.”

A few hours later, Kurt and Blaine were walking down to the beach hand in hand. The nap had rejuvenated them physically and spending some quality time together had reaffirmed their love for each other and strengthened the determination to make their relationship work, despite the obstacles they would encounter in the future. 

Arriving at the beach sometime after 3pm, meant that the heat was much more manageable as the sun began its journey downwards. It did not take them very long to spot Rachel and Finn lounging on their beach towels under a parasol. They were not the only ones there, but with the size of the beach and its location in between much bigger and more popular beaches, it was far from crowded. 

Blaine had brought along a set of badminton rackets they had found, and it did not take much persuading to get Finn to join him for a game after he and Kurt had set up their own towels and parasol. 

To Finn’s big surprise, Blaine handily won their match, but he was then soundly defeated by Kurt in the next round, proving that just because he did not like to watch sports, it did not mean he could not play them. The rest of the day was spent playing in the hot sand and swimming in the cooler ocean until Finn’s stomach rumbled so loudly it could no longer be ignored. 

After drying off, Rachel and Finn left to pick up their order from the local pizza place, while Kurt and Blaine laid down on the beach loungers they had rented. Kurt pushed his sunglasses up as he looked around him. The beach was starting to empty due to the later hour and besides himself and Blaine there was only a family left on the other side of the beach, near the walk up to the village. The sun had been steadily making its way across the sky, and while it would not set just yet, it would soon disappear behind the high cliff to their right.

Determined to enjoy the last rays of the sun, Blaine had collapsed their parasol and laid down, smiling as he tilted his face towards the sun. As he looked over at him, Kurt was struck by the beauty of his boyfriend and grabbed his sketchbook from his bag. This would not be the first time he sketched Blaine, and it would definitely not be the last. Kurt had notebooks full of drawings at home, all full of Blaine in various poses. Some were innocent, and some were not so. He had made numerous sketches of his eyes, trying to capture all the emotions that Blaine so readily let shine through them. The elegance of his hands as he played the piano and the upturn of his mouth as they shared a little inside joke. 

The more risqué sketches he carefully hid away in a locked drawer in his desk. Blaine may not mind it if Kurt drew him while he slept, draped across his bed with the sheet drawn down to expose the naked skin of his back and the rounded curve of his butt, but those drawings were for their eyes only. Blaine had often lamented his lack of artistic skills and how unfair it was that Kurt got to have those private keepsakes, until last Christmas when Kurt had given him a Polaroid camera and plenty of film. Neither one of them felt comfortable with full nudes, but this way they both collected enough pictures to fill a scrapbook to help them get through the year they would have to spend apart. 

Kurt had been drawing furiously, trying to capture Blaine’s hand as it dug through the sand and let the grains fall from between his fingers, when he noticed Blaine had opened his eyes and was smiling back at him. 

No words were needed as their eyes said it all. They could not know what the future would bring, but in this moment, they were utterly and incandescently happy. They felt strong and secure in themselves and their relationship, and they knew that they would be able to overcome any obstacles in their path.