I

In his world when he graduated High School, Kurt Hummel was pretty much at the top of the food chain. In his Senior year The New Directions, McKinley High's Glee Club, had won Nationals and they were no longer having slushies thrown in their faces whenever they walked down the hallway. Along with that his relationship status had not been 'single' for the past two years and he had been accepted at the best Fashion College in New York City; he was on top of the world. But like most people, lets forget about the cheerleaders and football players for now, he had worked his way up from pretty much the bottom. He'd earned his place in the Glee club, with an audition that knocked the rest of them out of the water. Well, all but one. All but Rachel Berry. Rachel was a character, she was one of these people who knew what she wanted and she wasn't going to stop until she had gotten it. That was one of the things which Kurt really liked, admired even, about her. No matter how many times she got knocked down she would get back up. The two of them had been, for lack of better word, Frenemies, when they had started McKinley and Glee, but soon enough the enemy part of the friendship disappeared. It was almost like they had both come into school one day and something had just changed. They were no longer fighting for the awards for the best singer and best performer, but instead they were working together; Kurt and Rachel's voices together were unstoppable, something which they had learnt the hard way, but learnt it none-the-less. They were suddenly always there for each other, spending all of their free time together, rehearsing duets. The one thing which neither of them could explain to anyone though was the moment when their relationship went from Best Friends to dating.
That being said, their relationship had never been entirely stable, and this was partly because they both knew inside that there was still that battle to be on top, and even though they had tried to put their differences and competitive streak aside in order to be together, it wasn't always that easy. There were always times when their relationship came under more strain than was healthy; this would always be around competition. They both fought hard for the solo's, and when the other would be victorious there always had to be a loser, and the bitterness showed. Their diva off's were legendary in the choir room.

Kurt had known from the very beginning that their relationship was only based on the fact that they were both lonely, they were the only two people in the school who would be able to put up with each other's crazy, which somehow turned into the pair of them kissing on Rachel's couch after Kurt had gone back to hers to try out some songs for their first trip to Nationals. The longer the relationship lasted the more Kurt was starting to believe that Rachel truly did have deeper feelings for him than just a crush, which to him felt weird, yet rather amazing at the same time. He'd been though his life until this point with no one ever showing him anything other than friendship, and now he was starting to feel that people could love him in the way that he had always wanted. It wasn't as though Kurt didn't have those feelings for Rachel, because he did, he just wasn't entirely sure that he was falling for her in the same way she was for him. She was the first to say 'I love you' and he knew that he couldn't say it back, because it wasn't true. He loved her, but not in that way, but his feelings for her were far more than just friendly. It was fair to say that he was a little confused about the whole clichéd situation of falling in love with your best friend. Yes, he knew that you didn't chose who you fell in love with, but the amount of times he had watched one of those extremely predictable, cheesy, romantic comedies with Rachel, he knew that his life was turning into one, and as romantic as he was, and could be, that was not the path which he had wanted his life to take.

During the middle of their senior year Rachel had gotten into The New York Academy Of Dramatic Arts and begged for Kurt to go with her. She knew that, even though his voice was the thing of magic, he wanted to keep the singing as something to do in his spare time; he didn't want to make a career out of it. She still wanted him to go, there was something about the idea of a long distance relationship that she hated. Of course she trusted Kurt, but she knew that she wouldn't see him as often as she did now, or as much as she would like. Long distance relationships were hard at the best of times, and just the thought of it hurt more than it should have, there was no way she was letting him stay in Lima. Kurt had always been into fashion, ever since he could choose his own clothes and dress himself he had an eye for anything that was out there, different - he was his own style, and he took pride in it. With all of her pushing he decided to apply to a few, not too big colleges, but once again one Miss Berry would not want her boyfriend to be anything less than perfect, therefore, almost pushing him to apply for the best of the best. It wasn't as though he didn't want to go there, it was more that he was scared. Scared of the rejection. Scared of not being able to go with her. Scared that if he did move to New York he would have nothing to do; and he knew that he was going to have to get over this, if not for himself then for her.


***

Rachel was sitting, cross legged on her bed, flicking through the television channels on her new flat screen TV her dad's had brought for her birthday, while Kurt was looking at prospective colleges, some of which staying in Lima, and the others else where. He bit his lip in thought, seriously considering a couple and tossing the others aside. When Rachel glanced over she frowned slightly,

"Babe?" She asked as she picked up one of the prospectuses that he had thrown down at the foot of the bed, "What's wrong with this one?" She flicked through it, having a quick look before looking back up to Kurt, who shrugged,

"You really think I'm going to get into there, Rach. It's like the most amazing college for fashion in America, possibly the world. I won't even get called for an interview." He was still looking down at the book that he had in his hand, "This one, on the other hand, is much more likely to take me." Kurt held it up, waving it at her.

"But it's here in Lima." Her voice was quiet, and slightly accusing, "I thought we'd already agreed that we were going to New York, Kurt. Together." She moved up the bed so that she was sitting in front of him, looking into his eyes, "I don't want to have to move to New York without you, and you know how much I want to go there. I've as good as got in already, and I need you to be with me." Rachel took the boys hand in hers and squeezed it, "And you have got to start believing in yourself, babe. I do. I believe in you, and I believe that you can do it. You can get into that school, and you'll graduate the top of your class."

Listening to her speak he felt a sharp pang in his chest with the words she said to him, to know that she had that much faith in him, but part of him was telling him that she was only telling him so that he would go with her, and the kiss at the end of the speech made him think that she just wanted him by her side. But why would she say all of that, if she didn't mean it?

Eventually he gave up and agreed to apply there. When it came down to it he could apply to other places as well, as back up. If he didn't get in then it wasn't the end of the world, right? The end of their relationship? Maybe. But not the end of the world.

"Fine, okay. I'll do it. I'll apply, but just so you know, I am only doing this for you, and I'm not expecting to get in."

***


As it happened Rachel was right, Kurt was good enough to get into the top college, and soon after they had graduated they were both on their way to NYC, together. Kurt was finally, for the first time since winning Nationals, truly happy; he was following his dream, with a girl, who now he was sure he had fallen for, on his arm. After their Nationals win, watching Rachel with the sparkle in her eye, the way she had looked so happy, like she was glowing, had made him realise that he had been too closed off, he was afraid of being hurt, but in that moment he had opened himself up to her completely and now he was in he greatest city of them all, with her. Right at that moment when they reached the city that never sleeps he knew that this was the exact point he wanted to be.
It wasn't long before they had found a small apartment - they didn't need anything big, it was only the two of them, and it would be a lot cheaper to find something cosy, rather than something huge that they didn't really need and couldn't afford.

Unlike Kurt, Rachel took a bit of time to get used to NYADA. It was completely different to school, and that was something she wasn't used to. There would be nights when she would get home, curl into Kurt's arms and cry to him about her day. Kurt, on the other hand, seemed to fit right in. He had made a bunch of friends, and for once he had started somewhere and not been on the bottom of the social ladder. He was pretty sure that there was no social ladder. When he first walked into the studio on his first day he had seen that everyone, all genders, ethnicity, background, sexuality, were all together, and he knew that this was something which during High School he had never seen. At first he was a little taken aback by how every body was so comfortable and he couldn't help wonder whether it was just all an act, but throughout the day it seemed, to him, that the people here were amongst those most accepting that he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was surprised to see that everyone was equal, he's not seen anything like it before, but that's what comes with going to a public school in Ohio. Clearly there were things which he missed about Ohio, his dad to name one, and his friends in Glee Club, but he knew, as did his girlfriend, that this was where they wanted to stay. Another advantage of being in NYC was that their relationship was stronger than it ever had been, there was no battle between them anymore, but that definitely had something to do with the fact that they were no longer in school together, and Kurt had chosen a different path. Minus that, they had both matured, but there was no doubt that if Kurt had followed Rachel to NYADA completely, things would have blown out of proportion.


It was during his second semester of his first year that Kurt was approached by Vogue, who asked him to model for him. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening to him. Him, Kurt Hummel, just a normal boy from Lima, Ohio, being asking to model for Vogue! It was an opportunity that he could not pass up, and soon enough he was being called to a photo shoot. To Kurt it was all happening so fast, and it was totally out of this world, he felt as though he was going to wake from a dream and he'd be asleep next to Rachel in their apartment. They only thing about taking the job with Vogue was that he would have to quit college. He had never wanted to be a college drop out, and he had promised himself that he would never do it, but he had never anticipated that anything like this was ever going to happen to him.