A New York State of Mind
Chapter 1
"Rachel Berry."
Rachel crossed the stage, flashing a wide smile at her fellow Glee clubbers, who were applauding for her. A few chuckles, giggles, and a groan (from Kurt) were heard when a two year old Rachel Berry appeared on the projection screen sporting a pink plaid skirt, a green turtleneck sweater with an owl, and a bedazzled microphone in hand. She kept walking across the stage to where a smirking Sue Sylvester stood.
"Congrats, Barbra," Sue said, holding out a roll of paper with a ribbon around it, "when you make it to those bright and cruel lights of Broadway, you and Porcelain better remember you wouldn't be up there without the help of one Coach Sue Sylvester."
The Jewish girl grinned, "oh, don't worry Coach Sylvester. There is no way we would ever forget about you. Thank you." Rachel shook her hand briefly, followed by Principal Figgins and Mrs. Shuester; the former Ms. Pillsbury. She returned to her seat next to Artie, who had already received his diploma. The Glee Club would receive their diplomas first since they had a performance after the rest of the graduating class received theirs.
Their names were called up, one by one. As Finn sat down with a goofy grin, Kurt's name was called. Kurt rose up from his seat and crossed the stage, scanning the audience for the familiar heavily-gelled head of Blaine Anderson. He found his boyfriend sitting by his dad and Carol, and smiled at them. Dalton's graduation had happened just a week prior to McKinley's. Kurt had attended, of course. ("Since I can't show off a fabulous outfit at my own graduation, I'll show it off at yours!" had been his reasoning behind it.) He saw his boyfriend laugh as a picture of a two year old Kurt wearing khaki shorts, a white button up, and a red bowtie. Things haven't changed, thought Blaine. Kurt turned his attention then to his former cheerleading coach.
"Congrats Porcelain. I already talked to Barbra about this, but you and her better make me proud up there. And oh, tell Mini-Shuester," she glanced at Blaine, "over there that he should stop smiling so much. It makes me sick to see someone that happy."
"Thank you Coach. I'll tell him," Kurt smiled and shook hands with the three teachers up on stage. Sitting back down, Finn put a hand on his shoulder.
"Bro, we made it."
Kurt smiled at him. "Yes Finn, we finally made it."
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"Where are all of you guys going now?" Mr. Will Shuester asked his now-former Glee Club students. He and Emma had taken them all out to Breadstix the day after their graduation.
"Well, I'm headed off to Dartmouth," Artie started it off. "I'm majoring in Computer Sciences."
"Tina and I'll be going to Oberlin. I'm majoring in Biology and have a minor in Interdisciplinary Performance," Mike said. Tina continued on, "and I'll be majoring in East Asian Studies and have a minor in Psychology."
"I'm staying in Ohio too," Finn said, "I'll be at OSU. Football scholarship." He had been smiling since he found out. Burt and Carol had been so proud of him, and Kurt as well.
"Same here, except Lima campus. So Mr. Shue, you'll still be seeing me around," Puck grinned.
"Same as Finn," Sam said, putting his arm around Mercedes, "except I'll be majoring in Biology with a minor in athletic training."
"University of Chicago," Mercedes said. "Not quite sure what I'll be majoring in yet, though."
Quinn was next. "Early childhood education at Xavier." She had a dreamy look on her face as she said this. It was no secret that despite her calm and cruel demeanor, she loved children.
"Well, Britt and I here are headed to the sunny beaches of Cali! Stanford for me, and USC for Brittany," Santana smirked. Although it wasn't obvious during the past few years, Santana was one of the brightest students in their grade. She and Artie had actually competed to be valedictorian, but he had gotten that prestigious spot.
"Pitt in PA for me." Lauren said, proud of herself.
"You guys are all going to be great, I know it," Mrs. Shuester chipped in.
Mr. Shue had already known where all his students would be going (Mrs. Shue, being the guidance counselor and all, knew it all). The only two students who he did not know about were Kurt and Rachel. "How about you guys, Kurt? Rachel? You're the only two who haven't answered," he asked, looking at his two students. Out
The two friends had wanted to keep it a secret. They had talked to Mrs. Shue about not telling her husband. She had willingly said she would try and keep it a secret. Coach Sylvester and her were the only two in the school who knew. "Well," Rachel started off. The other members groaned because they knew she would be going on one of her rants with her holier-than-thou tone, "Kurt and I are going to NEW YORK CITY!" She had spread out her arms from all the excitement that she was finally able to release.
"Oh, wow! That's great guys!" Mr. Shue should've known that they would go there. Back in their junior year when they went to the Big Apple for Nationals, he knew that the two had snuck out and explored the city on their own. Just trying to memorize for when they actually lived ther, he thought and chuckled. "What college are you guys going to?
"I'll be attending Julliard, of course. I was able to get a pretty good scholarship there since we're ranked fifth in the nation," Rachel grinned. They had made it to Nationals again this year, and placed in the top ten. "And we've both already signed up for some auditions on some off-Broadway shows!"
"And I'll be attending NYU. With Blaine," Kurt couldn't help but let out a content sigh. "But all three of us are living together in the Anderson's apartment there. They only use it when they're in the city, which is not too often. It saves a lot of money for Rachel and I since we won't be paying for dorms." He smiled thinking about how he and his boyfriend would be living together, even if Rachel would be sharing everything with them. It took a lot to convince Burt that he should live with Blaine, but Burt realized that he would be saving a lot of money if he didn't have to pay for the dorm and food. Mr. Hummel had seen that Blaine and Kurt truly loved and cared for each other. They were still together after a year and a half, despite going to different schools.
"Wow, really, that's fantastic. Congrats to you both. Congratulations to all of you!" Mr. Shue was forming tears in his eyes. This was his first Glee Club, and he knew they would be the most memorable part of his life.
"Aww, Mr. Shue! I'm going to cry now!" Mercedes got up out of her seat and hugged Mr. Shue, "thank you so much for everything you have done for all of us. Without you, we wouldn't be who we all are today. You helped us realize that we're all great people, and we can't listen to all the negativity around us and let it bring us down. High school really is hell, but thanks to you, we made it all out." Everyone got up and formed a line to give a hug to Mr. Shue. There were many "thank you's" and tears as everyone took their turn to hug their teacher.
"I'm so, so proud of all of you. You have all also taught me so many things that have made me a better person. You all gave me the courage to finally admit my feelings," Mr. Shue glanced at Emma, "and I have also become a better person because of you all."
"Mr. Shue, you never stopped believing in us, even if we drove you nuts," Santana piped in. "even if the world seemed to be against us, you still fought against them and proved that we weren't losers."
"We're still losers though," Sam said and everyone laughed.
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"Kurt! Hurry up! The Berrys are already here, and if we don't leave now, we won't get there till 6 with all the traffic I've been hearing about!" Burt called up to Kurt.
"Just a minute! I'm almost done fixing my hair!" Finn groaned while Carol laughed. Burt walked outside to talk to the Berry dads.
"Hey Finn," Rachel walked in. She gave him a little smile.
"Hey Rach," Finn smiled back. The two weren't in a relationship, but they both knew the other still had feelings for them. They were taking a break for now since Rachel was worried that distance would be too hard for them ("But look at Kurt and Blaine! They live two hours apart and they've been together for almost two years!" Finn tried to reason with her).
"I'm ready to go!" Kurt sang as he descended the stairs.
"Kurt, dear, I really hope you'll be comfortable in that. You'll be in a car for almost eight hours…"Carol warned him. She saw that he was wearing his favorite knee-high boots, black skinny jeans, and a tight grey t-shirt with a black vest.
"Oh, don't worry Carol. I'm so used to this," he proceeded to walk over to Rachel and give her a kiss on the cheek. "Is everyone ready to go?"
"I believe so," Blaine came in, dressed as dapper as he usually did. He walked over to Kurt and put his hand with his boyfriend's. "Your dad is outside talking to Rachel's dads. Do we all know whose cars they're going in?"
"I'm with my dads, Finn's with you, and Kurt's with his parents," Rachel said. She smirked at Kurt who looked a bit forlorn since his parents wouldn't let him ride with Blaine. Burt said he didn't want Blaine to "be distracted" while he was driving. The Anderson parents were currently out of the country, so they couldn't accompany them. Luckily, Blaine had been there on his own or with his friends from Dalton that he knew the whole eight hour trip there by memory.
Carol quickly ushered all the kids out, "C'mon! New York City, here we come!"
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"Kurt! Rachel! Come to the living room!" Blaine called out. He was sitting on the largest and comfiest couch in the room, staring out the windows. It was almost 10PM, and it was finally dark outside (or as dark as New York City could get). It had been a couple hours since the Berrys and Hummels had left to go back to Ohio, so Kurt, Rachel, and Blaine had been organizing all their belongings.
Blaine had finished first, being as he had a lot of stuff already here. Rachel and Kurt were finishing up. "Hey Blaine! Sorry to keep you waiting!" Rachel came in, taking a seat across from him. "Kurt said he was going to shower real quick."
"Oh, ok. Well, I just wanted to show you guys something," Blaine said, slowly stretching his arms, "oh, here he comes." Kurt came down the stairs, clad in sweatpants and a t-shirt; more specifically, Blaine's sweatpants and t-shirt. "C'mere, Kurt." Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and dug his head into his neck. "How do you always smell so good?"
"Ah, some secrets I cannot divulge," Kurt whispered. "But anyways, why'd you call us here?"
"Stand by that window and close your eyes." Kurt grabbed Rachel's hands and led her to the biggest window in the room and they closed their eyes. Blaine turned all the lights off and opened the curtains. "Open your eyes now."
Rachel and Kurt gasped. They couldn't believe their eyes. They both knew that the Andersons were a family from money, but this didn't expect that much money. They could see the Met across the street, and all the hustle and bustle of the city at night. It was such a gorgeous sight to see. The two had dreamed of New York all their lives, but they still couldn't believe their luck. They couldn't believe they'd be living in the Upper East Side. They couldn't believe that they'd already snagged auditions for off-Broadway productions. Kurt couldn't believe he was here with his boyfriend and it was all thanks to Blaine that he and Rachel were there.
Apparently, Rachel was thinking the same thing. "Oh Blaine, you really are Prince Charming. You have pretty much given me everything that I've wanted in my life, and even more. If you weren't Kurt's boyfriend and straight, I would be the one to propose to you. Screw traditions."
"Ok, Rachel, I think that's enough. Could you leave us two alone for a minute?" He asked her. She nodded and happily skipped off to her room, which was on the first floor. Kurt and Blaine were on the second floor, in the master bedroom. "Blaine." He put his head on top of his boyfriend's. Despite the almost two years they had been going out, Blaine had not grown that much, so Kurt still towered over him quite a bit.
"Yes Kurt?"
"I love you so much."
"I love you too, Kurt. And before you start, don't thank me. This isn't even a big deal because this apartment is my family's. It's not a problem or anything, so don't give me that talk." Blaine smiled and raised his face and gave a quick kiss to Kurt. "Trust. Me. It is NOT an issue at all."
Kurt just sighed, content. All my dreams are coming true.