Road To Love: Epilogue

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, the air filled with the scent of damp earth and wildflowers as Blaine and Kurt strolled down the path to the lake.

The lake had quickly become one of their favourite places to spend their time over the past year. It was a little out of the way, so they didn't go there very often, but when they had the time they loved to bring a picnic and lie on the grass, soaking up the sun and talking and kissing languidly. Occasionally, they'd find a more sheltered spot in a grove of trees to make love, slowly and sweetly, like they'd done the first time they visited the lake together.

Of course, sometimes the Hummels decided to accompany them, and on those days the boys kept things decidedly more G-rated. Those were the days for sunbathing and eating and having water-fights with Burt and Finn. Blaine and Finn eventually convinced Carole to allow them to tie a giant rope-swing from one of the trees so they could swing into the deep water below. Kurt had teased them for being big children, but after a lot of sad puppy-eyes from Blaine, he tried the rope swing for himself and it took Burt hours to convince the three of them to leave.

Today was Blaine's eighteenth birthday. When Kurt had asked him what he'd wanted to do, naturally, he'd said that he wanted to go to the lake one last time before they headed off to New York in a couple of weeks. So here they were, their hands clasped between them despite the awkwardness of also carrying a picnic basket and a cooler, ready to spend a quiet day at the lake together…or at least, that's what Kurt had let Blaine think.

"Only two weeks now," Kurt said with a grin. "Two weeks, Blaine."

Blaine shook his head in amazement. "I can't believe that I got into Juilliard," he said. "I mean, it's freakin' Juilliard. I can totally believe that you got into NYADA, I knew you would. But I never thought that I could get into such a prestigious school. And I still don't know exactly what I want to major in yet...I know that musical theatre isn't right for me, but I still love singing and performing, and I just really want to -"

"-Hush!" Kurt said, reaching out to press a finger to Blaine's lips. "First of all, don't sell yourself short. You're an amazing singer, a brilliant actor, and a fantastic musician – you'll be great at whatever you choose to do. And don't stress about it right now, you don't have to figure it out just yet. There are so many options - you could end up being the next Lady Gaga, for all we know."

Blaine snorted. "I'm not sure I could pull off the meat suit."

Kurt giggled, before coming to a sudden stop. "Wait a sec, I recognise that weird-looking tree. We're almost there."

Blaine raised an eyebrow questioningly. "So…?"

"So, you need to put this on," Kurt said, pulling off the pale blue bandana that he had worn around his neck. "I'm going to blindfold you."

Blaine smirked. "Kinky."

"Shut up and put the blindfold on."

A minute later the blindfold was firmly secured, and they were continuing along the path again, only this time Blaine was being lead rather than walking alongside Kurt. "Babe, seriously, why am I wearing this?" he asked as he stumbled over a tree root. "Should I be worried?"

"Perhaps," Kurt said. Blaine cursed as he walked into a branch, and Kurt apologised, pulling him close to his side so he could make his way unscathed. After a few minutes, Blaine felt the sun bathe his body in warmth, and he knew that they had stepped out of the shade of the path onto the grass surrounding the lake. Kurt led him a little further before moving behind him to remove the blindfold.

"Okay, we're here. You can open your eyes."

Blaine blinked, wincing at the brightness of the sun, and then let out a startled squeak when a loud chorus of voices shouted "SURPRISE!"

Blaine stared at the group of people in front of him, open-mouthed.

Quickly scanning the crowd, Blaine realised that almost all the Warblers seemed to be present, plus the entirety of New Directions. The Hummels were there too, and so was Blainers the dog, who was yipping excitedly and running in circles on the grass. At the back of the group, Blaine spotted his own family – his mom, his dad, and – Cooper.

"COOP!" Blaine exclaimed, and everyone laughed as Cooper threw his hands up in the air triumphantly.

"I told you all he'd be most excited to see me!" He said, running up to Blaine and pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. "It's good to see ya, Squirt."

"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked, still surprised at seeing everyone in one place, all at once. Cooper grinned, releasing him from his chokehold.

"Well, I couldn't just miss your surprise party, could I little bro? I gotta give you my present. And besides, you're 18. That's a big one."

Blaine grinned, looking at everyone assembled before him. "Wow," he said. "Well, it's safe to say that I'm definitely surprised. Thanks for showing up, I know you guys must all be really busy."

"Thank Kurt, man," David said. "He's the one who organised it all. He damn near beat my ass when I told him I had to go to my aunt's wedding today. Good thing she called it off."

Blaine turned to his boyfriend, and reached out his hand. Kurt stepped forward and took it, and Blaine leaned in until their foreheads were touching. "Thank you," he whispered.

The moment was broken was David met a loud retching noise. Everybody laughed, and Blaine turned to frown at his friend. "You guys are disgustingly cute," David whined, rolling his eyes. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Guess you'd better avoid the birthday cake, then," Kurt teased.

"Never mind, I suddenly feel much better."

Half an hour later and the kids (and Cooper) were all seated on the grass, laughing and talking and soaking up the sun. Blaine looked deliriously happy to see all of his friends, and Kurt was having a fantastic time catching up with Nick and Jeff, who were planning to take a gap year in order to travel before deciding where to apply for college. Kurt let out a jealous whiney when he heard about their plans to visit Europe, and Blaine laughed and promised to take him all the over the world once they graduated.

A hand tapped Kurt on the shoulder, and he turned around to see Dave Karofsky grinning at him.

"Dave!" Kurt greeted, pulling the boy into a hug, genuinely happy to see him. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Me too. Thanks for inviting me." He turned to Blaine. "Happy birthday, man. How are you guys?"

Blaine grinned. "Really good. We're headed to New York in a couple of weeks."

"Yeah, I heard. I'm really happy for you guys."

Kurt smiled. "What about you, Dave? What're your plans for next year?"

Dave's face lit up excitedly. "I got offered a football scholarship at Michigan State, so I'm going to study there and then apply for law school. I want to be a sports agent."

"That's awesome, Dave, congratulations! I'm so glad that things are working out for you."

"Thanks!" Dave said, grinning. "I'm really excited about it." Suddenly, Dave glanced over Kurt's head, and glared. "Fuck. What is he doing here?"

Kurt turned around to see what Dave was talking about, and his eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw Sebastian Smythe crossing the field, headed their way. He nudged Blaine and nodded in Sebastian's direction. Blaine's face went from happy, to surprised, to angry and guarded in the space of about five seconds.

David showed up at their side, looking angry and protective. "I can't believe he had the nerve to show up here," he muttered.

"What does he want?" Kurt asked.

"Fuck if I know," David responded. He turned to Blaine.

"Blaine, should we get rid of him?"

Blaine seemed to debate the situation for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, I want to see what he wants."

A few seconds later, Sebastian was standing in front of them. "Hi, Blaine," the boy greeted in his usual annoying drawl. "I'm sorry I missed the surprise."

"What are you doing here, Sebastian?" He asked, and Kurt glared at the boy standing over him.

"I was told that all the Warblers were invited, so I decided to stop by."

"I thought it went without saying that you were not included in that invitation," Kurt snarled.

Sebastian's self-assured grin faded as he looked between the two boys, and the expression on his face transformed into something akin to – nervousness? Embarrassment? Whatever it was, it really didn't suit him.

"Actually," Sebastian said, "Can I talk to you both in private? Please? It's important."

Despite his suspicions, that caught Kurt's attention. He had to admit that he was curious. He caught Blaine's eye and nodded, and they got to their feet. They walked until they were far enough away that nobody at the party would be able to hear them, and then they stopped.

"Ok, Sebastian," Kurt said, "what do you want?"

Sebastian was standing awkwardly, hands in his pocket and eyes trained on the ground. He took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, I guess I better just…cut right to the chase," he said. "I came here because I wanted to apologise for the way that I treated you guys last year. It was…cruel, and disrespectful, and I shouldn't have done it. And, I deserved the trick that you pulled on me, Kurt. I was actually quite impressed, once I got over the humiliation."

Kurt stared at Sebastian in open-mouthed shock, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Wait," he said, "you actually mean to tell me that you feel some sort of remorse for what you did? Is this some kind of joke?"

Sebastian shook his head. "No, it's not a joke. I'd have nothing to gain from messing with you guys now. I'm trying to be a better person."

"Why?" Blaine asked incredulously. "What brought this on?"

A pained look crossed Sebastian's face, and Kurt swallowed uneasily. Sebastian took a deep breath. "You guys remember Adam, right?"

"You mean the boy that you manipulated into sleeping with you and then dumped?" Blaine accused. "Yeah, I remember. He's one of the sweetest guys around, and he didn't deserve what you did to him."

Sebastian nodded, doing his best to avoid making eye contact. "I know," he said in a choked voice. He paused for several seconds, and Kurt was startled to see that his eyes were wet.

"Sebastian…?" Blaine asked, concerned. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Sebastian took several deep breaths, and when he spoke again, his voice shook. "I'm okay, it's just…hard to talk about this."

"It's okay," Blaine said, his voice soft and caring. "Take your time." Kurt was filled with a sudden rush of affection for his boyfriend, who didn't have a vindictive bone in his body.

Sebastian nodded, and continued to speak, his voice trembling.

"When I first met Adam, I saw him as…just another game. I played him for months. I told him I loved him, and when I got what I wanted, I laughed in his face and sent him packing. I didn't care who I hurt - all I've ever done is played games with people. It's easier to act like you don't give a fuck about anyone than it is to admit that you care."

Kurt and Blaine shared a glance of concern and confusion. "Sebastian, what...?" Blaine asked, and the boy blinked back tears before continuing.

"He tried to kill himself," Sebastian whispered. "His roommate found him in time, thank god, but he – he said it was because of me. He said that I made him fall in love with me. I didn't even know that someone could fall in love with me. I didn't want – that." Sebastian reached up to wipe tears from his eyes. "It's all fun and games…until it's not. I completely fucked up, I almost killed the person that I lov-"

Sebastian stopped talking abruptly, but it was too late. He'd let it slip.

"You loved him," Blaine whispered, realisation dawning on his face.

"Love," Sebastian corrected. "Present tense. I didn't recognise it for what it was at first, but yeah. I love him."

"Are you two…?" Blaine asked, and Sebastian smiled. Actually smiled – not a smirk, or a cocky grin, but a genuine, happy smile.

"I don't know how he forgave me," he said. "I sure as hell didn't deserve it. But I am so fucking thankful that he did."

Kurt found himself smiling, despite himself. He couldn't bring himself to hate Sebastian at this moment.

"The reason I targeted you two," Sebastian continued, "is because I was jealous. I didn't realise it at the time, but I wanted to badly to have what you two have. I wasn't brave enough to chase after it for myself, so instead, I tried to ruin your happiness. I know it makes absolutely no sense, but at the time…what can I say? I was a mess. Funnily enough though, in the end, after my attempts at breaking you guys up completely failed…you guys sort of inspired me to go after what I wanted, and I've never been happier. So thank you – and please believe me when I say that I really am sorry."

"We believe you," Kurt whispered, smiling softly at the boy in front of him.

Sebastian let out a deep, shuddering breath. "Thank you," he said, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his eyes. "Well…I guess I better be going now, then. Happy birthday, Blaine. I really hope everything goes well for you guys in New York."

Sebastian turned to leave, but after a few steps, Kurt turned to Blaine and they shared an understanding glance.

"Wait!" Blaine called, and Sebastian turned around.

"You should stay," Blaine said with a smile. "You have to try my mum's mini quiches, they're amazing."

Sebastian's face immediately lit up, and Kurt knew that they had done the right thing. Sebastian happily followed them back to the party. When the other boys glared at him, Kurt and Blaine shook their head, letting them know that he had permission to be there.

Kurt found himself unable to stop smiling. Despite his ability to hold a good grudge, in the end, he was still just a silly romantic. He suddenly wished that he'd gotten to know Adam better when he was at Dalton, if he managed to have such an effect on Sebastian.

Kurt had a sudden urge to kiss Blaine and tell him how much he loved him, when suddenly he was spun around, and a pair of lips were on his. "I love you," Blaine whispered as he pulled away.

Kurt smiled. "You beat me to the punchline," he said, leaning in to kiss Blaine again.

Blaine groaned as he leaned back against his boyfriend's chest, clutching his stomach. "I am never going to eat ever again. I am having a food baby."

Kurt chuckled, and Blaine titled his chin up to glare at him. "Don't laugh at my pain."

"I'm sorry, I just don't think I've ever seen you eat so much," Kurt said. It was true – Blaine had gone through about five plates of food, and they still hadn't cut the cake yet.

"I couldn't help it!" Blaine whined. "It's all so good."

Kurt had to admit that the food was amazing, and even he had gone back for third helpings. Carole and Amy had apparently been cooking all night, because they had come laden with massive amounts of delicious, very unhealthy food. Burt had also brought a portable barbecue with him on which he and Edward had cooked sausages and pork chops and corn-on-the-cobb, most of which had been practically inhaled by Wes, David, Finn and Puck.

Kurt, in the meantime, was smiling as he watched Burt and Edward sharing a 6-pack of beer, laughing and playfully insulting each other's favourite football teams. Carole and Amy were seated not far off, gossiping and giggling like a couple of teenage girls.

"Look at our parents," he said, nodding in their direction. "They're like best friends."

Blaine let out a contented sigh. "I never thought I'd get to see my dad like this again," he said. "It's all thanks to you."

"My dad, actually."

"You and your dad. God, I owe you guys so much."

"Stop it. You don't owe us anything. That's what family is for." Blaine hummed happily, closing his eyes and snuggling down further into Kurt's arms.

"No, no," Kurt protested, pushing Blaine up despite his protests. "Don't you dare fall asleep - you still haven't opened your presents!"

It wasn't long until Blaine found himself completely surrounded by crinkled wrapping paper, with a rather large pile of gifts next to him. It seemed that almost everyone had gotten him something, the most common gifts being bowties and hair gel. Blaine didn't mind that they weren't the most original gifts in the world because quite frankly, he didn't think he'd ever have enough bowties and hair gel.

His favourite gifts thus far had been an antique pocket-watch from David, a retro vinyl record player from Nick and Jeff, and a pair of ridiculously expensive brown leather loafers from Wes.

The only gifts still left to be opened were from Kurt, Cooper, and his parents.

"I'm next!" Cooper exclaimed, shoving an envelope under Blaine's nose. "Open up."

Blaine tore through the envelope and quickly extracted its contents, letting out a loud squeal when he saw what he got.

"Tickets to see Katy Perry perform at Madison Square Garden! Oh my god, oh my god, are you serious? Cooper! I get to breathe the same air as Katy Perry! I can't – oh my god!"

Everybody laughed loudly at Blaine's excitement.

"Wait…" Blaine said, frowning into the envelope, "There are three tickets here."

"Well, I'm coming too, of course," Cooper said.

"But you don't even like Katy Perry."

"She has a fantastic rack."

Blaine rolled his eyes fondly as he hugged his brother.

"Mom, dad, give him your gift now!" Cooper called to Edward and Amy, grinning excitedly.

"Blaine, I want you to think of this gift as both a birthday present, and a farewell present for you and Kurt," Edward said, "and, as an apology from me." He coughed awkwardly, glancing around at all the people whose attention was focused on him. "Blaine, I….I haven't always been a good father to you," he continued. "Over the past couple of years, I let my fears get in the way of what's really important…love, and family. I promise you that from now on, I will always put those things first. So…your mom and I decided to team up with the Hummels to get you and Kurt this gift …from family to family."

Blaine swallowed around the lump in his throat, smiling up at his dad as he handed him a plain white envelope. Blaine stared down at it, achingly curious to know what was inside, but suddenly nervous. He took a deep breath before opening the envelope, and pulling out the piece of paper inside.

Blaine stared at the piece of paper for an indeterminable amount of time. His mind seemed to go blank, until Kurt reached out and gently touched his arm. "Blaine?" he asked, and Blaine looked up, meeting his boyfriend's eyes. He swallowed, and his hands were shaking slightly as he handed the piece of paper to Kurt.

"They bought us an apartment," Blaine croaked.

"What?" Kurt exclaimed, staring down at the piece of paper and skimming over the contents. He gasped. "Oh my god."

"They bought us an apartment! In New York!" Blaine repeated, louder this time, as his face broke into a wide smile. He heard gasps and excited chattering from the people around him. "Oh my god, Kurt. An apartment. We have our own apartment."

Kurt let out a squeal of delight, and launched himself at Blaine, knocking him to the ground and peppering his face with kisses. Blaine laughed joyously as Kurt scrambled to his feet and ran over to Burt, hugging him enthusiastically as the man laughed at his son's enthusiasm.

Blaine realised that he should probably get up off the ground and thank his own parents, but he was still in shock. He scrambled rather clumsily to his feet, and his dad immediately pulled him into a tight hug. Blaine could feel himself shaking with happiness and love and gratitude. "Thank you so much, dad," he whispered, swallowing around the lump in his throat.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you, son," Edward replied, "for never giving up on me."

Blaine eventually released his dad from the hug, and went to hug his mom, bending down to kiss her on the cheek. "I love you, mom," Blaine whispered.

"I love you too, sweetheart," she said, smiling brightly. "I'm so proud of you."

"Hold up, hold up!" David said, and everybody quieted down. "We still have one present that needs opening. Although I pity you, Kurt, having to follow THAT."

Kurt blushed, and grabbed a parcel about the size of a large textbook. "Umm…I'd actually rather give this to Blaine in private, if that's okay with you guys."

There for a few moans of protest, and Santana loudly asked if Kurt had bought Blaine a sex toy. Burt choked on his beer.

"It's a rectangular parcel, Santana!" Kurt replied, blushing as he grabbed Blaine's hand and dragged him away where they wouldn't be heard.

Kurt was a little nervous about giving Blaine his gift. He had wanted to get him something really special, and he figured he had two ways of going about that. He could (1) blow all his savings in order to get Blaine something very expensive or (2) get him something with sentimental value. Kurt had opted for the sentimental route, because Blaine wasn't very materialistic and he was, quite frankly, a big sap.

They sat down on the grass, and Blaine smiled at Kurt lovingly. Kurt handed Blaine the parcel with a soft smile, and twisted his fingers together nervously as Blaine opened it.

Kurt had found the beautiful leather-bound scrapbook in a small arts and crafts store, and he knew he'd chosen well when Blaine gasped upon seeing it. He opened it up, to reveal a carefully-chosen picture of the both of them that had been taken not long after they'd made their relationship official. It had been taken by Wes on one of their many visits to the Lima Bean, and Kurt loved it because neither of them knew that the picture was being taken, and they were both looking at each other over the rims of their coffee cups, with small smiles on their faces and love in their eyes. It was, in a nutshell, KurtandBlaine. Around the outside of the picture, Kurt had pasted two pieces of cardboard that he had cut out of the Lima Bean coffee cups, that read 'Kurt' and 'Blaine' in the barista's messy scrawl.

Blaine looked up at him with wide eyes. "It's a memory scrapbook." Kurt pointed to the cups. "Those are from the first coffees we ever ordered together," he said, blushing slightly under Blaine's gaze. "It's sappy, I know."

"No, Kurt," Blaine said, running his fingers over the pieces of cardboard. "It's…amazing. How long have you been planning this?"

"I usually keep little things that have strong sentimental value to me, but I only recently decided to put the scrapbook together. Turn the page, there's more."

On the next page were pictures of them in the garage, taken on Kurt's iPhone. Most of them were just of Blaine, dirt smudged on his cheek as he worked. Blaine continued turning the pages. There were hundreds of pictures of them together from the past year. Some were taken by them, some by others - some of which he'd seen before, most of which he hadn't. Occasionally there would be little tidbits pasted to the page, along with a small caption explaining their significance.

There was a receipt for Breadsticks with the caption first dinner date, next to a picture of Kurt eating a slice of cheesecake. Blaine remembered taking the picture on his phone, and refusing to delete it when Kurt protested.

Blaine laughed when, a few pages later, he found a condom wrapper stapled to the page with the caption the first time. "Hush," Kurt said, smacking him on the shoulder. "That is a romantic condom wrapper." And Blaine had to agree when he saw that next to it was a picture of them from that night, drinking champagne on the grass, not far from where they were seated right at that moment.

There was a whole 10-page section dedicated to their trip to New York. There were pictures of them from all over the city, along with their airline tickets, the stubs from their Wicked tickets, and the numbered label that had been attached to Blainers' collar when they bought him.

Blaine quickly flipped through the rest of the pages. There were some more recent pictures from prom, and graduation, and some of them just sitting and laughing with their friends. It represented their journey – a story of everything they'd been through together over the past year and a half.

When Blaine turned to the next page, it was blank, but there were at least half the pages of the book still left. He looked at Kurt questioningly, and Kurt smiled. "Those ones are yet to be filled," he whispered, and Blaine felt his heart swell in his chest.

"Kurt, this is so, so perfect," he said, gently closing the book and pulling it to his chest. "Thank you. It's the most amazing…I just love you so much." Kurt leaned in and kissed him gently, and Blaine hummed against his lips.

"But…" he said, when Kurt pulled away, "I think we're going to need to buy several more of these books. This is just a year and a half's worth of pages. We've got our whole lives ahead of us."

"Hey, you're back!" Finn called as Blaine and Kurt returned to the group, hand-in-hand. "We were just about to cut the cake."

"Wait, I want to see what Kurt got Blaine first," Mercedes protested, and made to grab the book from Blaine's hands.

"Nuh-uh," Kurt said, stepping in to block her. "That's private. Maybe you'll get to see it someday, but not today."

"Why?" Mercedes asked, looking at the book suspiciously. "Does it have sex stuff in it?"

Kurt glared at her. "You people need to get your minds out of the gutter. It's just very personal, that's all."

"Alright, alright, fine," Mercedes sighed.

"So…does that mean we can cut the cake?" Finn asked.

"Finn, you just ate enough food to feed an entire family for a week," Kurt said. "How can you even think about cake right now?"

"Actually, I could use some cake," Blaine said. Kurt stared at him incredulously.

"Blaine, an hour ago you were telling me you'd never eat again."

"An hour is a long time in terms of digestion!"

"Fine, FINE, let's cut the cake."

After everyone had sung Blaine happy birthday and they'd all had a piece of cake, Puck suggested that they go swimming.

"Puck, you're supposed to wait twenty minutes after eating before you swim," Rachel protested. "Otherwise you'll get cramps."

"Pfffth, old wives' tale," Puck said. "Toughen up, Berry. I'm going to go try out that rope swing."

The day was warm and the cool lake water looked very appealing, and pretty soon everyone was peeling off their clothes to reveal their bathing suits underneath, and then running off to splash in the lake.

Except for Rachel, that is.

"Hey Kurt, you coming?" Blaine asked as he tossed his shirt onto the grass.

"Yeah, just…give me a minute," Kurt said, nodding in Rachel's direction. Blaine nodded, and kissed him on the cheek before running into the lake and promptly tackle-hugging Nick into the water.

Kurt walked over to Rachel and sat down by her side, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "You okay?" He asked.

He knew that she wasn't really okay right now. She and Finn had broken up a month prior, because their plans for the future were just not compatible. Kurt knew that it would take Rachel a while to get over her first love, but he also thought that it was for the best. She and Finn were too different, and their constant break-ups and make-ups had left Rachel emotionally exhausted. But he needed to be here for her right now, while she nursed a broken heart. That's what best friends are for, after all.

Rachel sniffled, and Kurt pulled her closer to his side. "The worst part," Rachel said, beginning to cry, "Is that I think I saw it coming for a really long time, but I wanted so badly to believe that everything would work out."

"I know, sweetie," Kurt sighed, stroking her hair. "But you did the right thing."

"I don't even have NYADA anymore though, Kurt! I choked at the audition and I didn't get in. I'm nobody. I have nothing."

"That is not true!" Kurt protested, tilting Rachel's chin up so she was forced to look at him. "You have me. You have all your friends and family who love and support you. And come on, you're Rachel Berry! Do you really believe that not getting into NYADA is going to stop you from living your dream? You are a STAR. One way or another, you will get your spotlight."

Rachel smiled through tear-filled eyes. "My dad has connections at NYU," she said. "He performed with the head of the musical theatre department in 1985, and he said that he could get them to consider me for late admissions. I could study there for a year and then try again for NYADA next year."

"Rachel, that's great!" Kurt said enthusiastically. "That's the Rachel Berry I know and love! We are going to have a BLAST in New York. Just you wait."

Rachel pulled Kurt into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered. "You always know what to say."

"That's because I'm always right," Kurt said, and she laughed.

"True."

"So, what do you say, Berry?" Kurt asked, pulling off his shirt. "Race you to the water?"

"You're on."

Kurt sighed contentedly as the warmth of the sun dried the water on his back. The grass was soft beneath his body, and he felt completely relaxed, as Blaine gently stroked his fingers through his damp hair.

After an hour of playing and swimming around in the lake, Kurt was feeling pretty tired. It had been an amazing and exhausting day, and right now, he was content to just lie there by the lake until the sun went down.

"Hey, Kurt, Blaine, wake up." Kurt forced himself to open his eyes and sit up at the sound of his dad's voice.

"It's getting kind of late," Burt said. "The rest of us are thinking about heading off. You coming?"

Kurt looked down at his boyfriend, yawning as he slowly sat up. "I think we're gonna stay here for a few minutes," Kurt said. "We'll catch you guys up."

"Okay, but don't stay out too late. Come and say goodbye to everyone before they go, it might be a while before you see them all again."

The boys nodded and got to their feet, sharing hugs and tearful farewells with everyone as they slowly trickled off. Eventually, everyone was gone, and it was just Kurt and Blaine and the lake. The sun was sitting low in the sky, and Kurt figured they had about an hour before sunset.

Kurt lay back down on the grass with a sigh, and nodded towards their pile of clothes. "We should probably put those back on," he said. "I don't want my car seats to get damp."

"Wait," Blaine said, leaning over Kurt kissing him on the neck. "Not yet." Kurt giggled as Blaine kissed him passionately, and began to tug on the waistband of his swim trunks. "One more time, for old times' sake?"

Kurt nodded, bending his head to suck at that spot beneath Blaine's ear. "For old time's sake."

13 days later

Blaine sighed, reaching up to wipe the sweat from his brow as he closed the trunk of the truck he was working on.

"You done?" Kurt asked, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Mhm," Blaine responded, turning to look at his boyfriend, who had several dark smudges on his face. He smirked. "You're so sexy when you're all covered in grease."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well, take one last look," he said. "You won't see it again for quite some time. I have to say, I'm not too upset about the fact that I'll never have to wear these horrendous coveralls ever again."

"Oh, come on," Blaine said, "you know you'll miss this place. If I hadn't started working here, we never would have met."

"Hmm, I suppose you're right. One day, when I am a Broadway star, I will look back on my days as a lowly mechanic and remember how I met the love of my life. It's oddly romantic."

Both boys turned around at the sound of the door opening as Burt walked in, a camera in his hands. "I am taking one last picture of all of us before you guys leave tomorrow," he said, setting up the camera on top of one of the shelves. "Go stand in front of that Subaru."

"Daaaad," Kurt moaned, "My hair is a mess and I have dirt all over me!"

"I don't care," Burt said, "you and Blaine are leaving me here all alone, the least you can do is take a picture."

Despite his joking tone, Kurt could tell that his dad was really very sad about their imminent departure. "Dad, that's not true. We'll call you every day, and we promise to visit whenever we can. We're not disappearing!"

Burt sighed. "I know. It's just going to be lonely here in the garage without you two to keep my company. Even if I hire someone else, it won't be the same. I'm going to miss you kids."

Kurt stepped forward to hug his dad, and gestured for Blaine to join them. The three of them shared a long hug before Burt pulled away, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "Okay, okay, let's take this picture before I'm sobbing all over the place. I'm setting the timer, get into position!"

He ran back to where the boys were standing and stood between them. They smiled, and the shutter clicked.

The next morning, Kurt and Blaine stuck the picture in their memory scrapbook before packing it away in one of the many boxes littering Blaine's room.

"That's the last of it," Kurt said as he sealed up the box. Blaine twined an arm around his waist and pressed a kiss to his temple.

"Are you ready to go?" He whispered.

Kurt paused for a minute, taking a last look around the room. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah. Let's hit the road."

They left the room hand-in-hand, both scared out of their minds. Yet somehow, they still knew that despite whatever twists and turns the future may bring, they would be just fine.

THE END