Now that Kurt’s roommates know about Blaine, there’s no need for secrecy or planning around them whatsoever. This means that Kurt can go all out with showing Blaine around. A week is short, so Kurt wants to make the best out of it.

On Blaine’s second day, they go to Kurt’s favourite local restaurant. The owner always recognises Kurt, so when Kurt introduces Blaine as his partner, they get some extra bread on the side.

On the third day together, they manage to get discounted rush tickets for a Broadway show. It was a bit unplanned, and they even have another show they are going to see later down the week, but it is a welcome change of plans.

On the fourth day, they go out for breakfast at Tiffany’s. It’s one of the first things Kurt did when he moved here from Ohio and it meant something to him back then. It was a sign that he could chase his dreams. He loves to share it with Blaine.

Of course, between all these bigger activities, they also have enough downtime. They love sleeping in, next to each other, just like in Ljubljana. They love making dinner together. They even love chilling with Santana at the very few moments she’s at the apartment.

And on the fifth day, Kurt wakes up to an e-mail from his advisor. It’s still breaktime for the students, but some staff members have started working for some reason, including this student advisor Ms. Joling. She asks if Kurt can meet today. She apologises for it being so last minute, but Kurt doesn’t mind, because he’s the one who sent her the e-mail during summer break after all. He really was that excited. He had hoped that she would see it the moment she went back to work, and it worked!

The thing is that today, Kurt and Blaine are going on a shopping spree. Blaine wants to buy something nice for Quinn and Denise, and also for himself, of course, to remember the trip. Kurt and Blaine both hope they’ll see each other more often, but for now, it’s nice to have something to remember their time here.

“Alright,” Blaine walks into the kitchen, “I am ready to hit the town!”

“Hit the town?”

“Go around the block? Make this city mine? See the sights? What else can I say?” Blaine says and his eagerness and enthusiasm makes Kurt’s heart melt.

Which means it’s better to just rip off the band-aid and tell Blaine about the small change in plans.

“I kind of need to tell you something,” Kurt starts. He really hopes Blaine won’t mind that he’s willing trading in their time together for school stuff.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t be mad, but I have a last minute appointment with my student advisor,” Kurt says.

To Kurt’s surprise, Blaine starts laughing.

“Funnily enough, I was trying to figure out how to tell you that I have a meeting at the New York office,” Blaine says through his laughter.

“Oh my God.”

“Looks like my bad humour as an icebreaker wasn’t needed,” Blaine pretends to lament.

“I still appreciated it, darling.”

“Besides, it’s important to talk to your advisor,” Blaine says.

Oh, if only Blaine knew.

Blaine’s off to the New York office and Kurt’s sat at home. His appointment with the student advisor is online, which is fine by Kurt.

He fixes his hair and waits for the call to start.

“Hello Kurt,” Ms. Joling says when she appears on screen.

“Hi. Hello.”

After exchanging some pleasantries, they get right down to business.

“Alright, so we’re here about your internship, is that right?”

Kurt nods.

“And you are looking into options in Los Angeles.”

Kurt nods again.

“In your e-mail you said that you want to learn more about theatre outside of New York, since, as we all know, the New York theatre scene is a lot in different ways, but why are you specifically interested in Los Angeles?”

Because my boyfriend lives there, Kurt mentally answers, but he is pretty sure his advisor isn’t ready to hear that.

Good thing Kurt’s an actor, because he starts talking convincing nonsense.

Okay, that might be a bit much. Kurt does like the idea of LA. Even if he hadn’t met Blaine, he would’ve loved to visit it. It is literally on the other side of the country, and being there is so different from what he knows. But he never thought about studying there, or even moving there.

But there’s also no denying that Blaine is the main reason.

Ms. Joling makes notes and also looks at some things on her screen.

“Alright, I see you are majoring in musical theatre,” she says, “But you are also following electives on directing and scriptwriting.”

“That is true.”

“Now, we encourage our students to have a variety of skills, so as you may know, it is possible to use your internship for your major, but with approval from the examination committee it is also possible to work on something else that will fit within your overall education. Have you thought about that?”

Kurt has. He’s not completely unprepared! If he wants to go to LA for Blaine, he needs at least a good reason. He’s once directed a production at a nursing home, which was cool. Maybe he can do something like that, albeit it more professionally. He loves the big theatre world, but the idea of bringing theatre to smaller audiences excites him.

And he loves to be on stage, but he also loves the idea to write for the stage. He has stories to tell. He believes that there should be more room for different ideas on the stage and he’d love to contribute to that.

He’s already looked up some possible internships in LA in all kinds of different categories.

So yes, he’s definitely passionate, but he can do those things in New York as well.

And that is the thing his advisor points out after Kurt finishes his small speech.

“Hm. I believe you want to go to Los Angeles,” she says, “I mean, otherwise you wouldn’t seek out advice during your summer break.”

“True,” Kurt laughs, aiming for casualness.

“But when I hear your arguments for what you can contribute to the threatre world compared to your arguments about why you specifically want to go to the other side of the country, it’s obvious that the latter is… How do I say it?”

Not well thought-out? Kurt thinks, Bullshit, career-wise?

“Forced,” Ms. Joling eventually says, which is true as well, “Your passion to go out into the theatre world is clearly there, Kurt, so I don’t want to discourage you. If this truly is what you want, I will do my best to help you, but I do want to know for sure.”

“I’m sure,” Kurt answers quickly. He’s sure because of Blaine.

“Okay,” Ms. Joling adds more notes, “Then here’s the plan, Kurt. You send me the internships you’ve found, and I will look at whether or not it’s possible to do something with it. Meanwhile, you keep refining your arguments to go to Los Angeles, because these companies and other institutions will probably have questions about that too. Alright?”

“Yes,” Kurt says. He knows he hasn’t fully convinced her, but it’s a start.

The two of them discuss some more logistics, but then their time is up and they say goodbye. The moment the call ends, Kurt pushes his laptop away. This entire plan isn’t smooth sailing. In fact, there’s probably a dent in his sail.

He wants to go to LA, but his advisor picked up on some hesitation. It reminds Kurt of what his dad said. Even if it’s temporary, it’s a big decision to make, especially since Kurt’s planning on staying with Blaine. He and Blaine are solid, so Kurt isn’t afraid that they’ll break up while he’s in LA, but he does need to think this all out. As solid as they are, it’s still only been four months and Blaine still has all the things he needs to work out with Quinn.

Kurt sighs.

That’s all for later. Now he needs to wait for Blaine to come back and they need to enjoy spending their time together. Once Blaine’s on a plane to LA, it’s time for all of this.