It's a small wedding because between Mr Schuester and Miss Pillsbury neither of them have many friends. As soon as Kurt arrives he knows with a distinct feeling of dread that he is going to have to talk to the people he once knew. It has only been a year (not even that) but it already seems like there is an ocean between him and these people. Between all of them really. He remembers thinking he wouldn't be able to wait for this day, it would be the first time the whole club would see each other again, he would get to see Blaine, he had imagined sing-alongs and hugs and everything the way that it was but a little more grown up. Now he is counting down the minutes until he can leave. He is not ready to see Rachel or Blaine or even Mr Schue who he has come to resent over the course of the year, maybe if he'd pushed him, supported him, encouraged him to apply for more colleges, given him a solo every now and then, been a good teacher. Curiosity is starting to seem like a flawed reason for coming. His wounds are still raw and seeping, becoming septic where he stands. It's like they haven't had time to heal before he is being thrust back out into the real world, in fact he feels as if this is the car crash he is involved in on the way to the hospital.  Just his luck that he would be injured before he's recovered. A bruise upon a bruise. History repeating itself.

Kurt and Mercedes instantly find each other at the wedding, like the opposite ends of a magnet.

‘Avoiding Sam?'

‘Avoiding Blaine?'

They laugh like perhaps this isn't awkward and uncomfortable or depressing and a reminder of something they can never get back.

‘Remember when we were sophomores and desperate for boyfriends'

‘We were innocent and naïve and idealistic'

‘We were happy'

‘Are we not now?' Kurt gives Mercedes an unreadable look that could mean everything or nothing, so she drops it.

‘Remember the summer between junior and senior year when we both had boyfriends?' They smile wistfully as their eyes search for these ‘boyfriends' while simultaneously trying not to find them.

‘We were really happy then'

‘We went on double dates and shopping trips and realised just how dorky our boys were... are'

‘We'd spend hours talking about the way they kissed us' They laugh at themselves, wondering if they still wish they were those people.

‘Remember Senior year when everything fell apart'

‘Boy troubles and petty rivalries and the rest of our lives'

‘It all seemed so big and daunting, exhilarating and terrifying'

‘It's not all it's cracked up to be'

Something has changed within him, imperceptibly and unnoticeably. Where he was once the unsure cygnet learning how to not to be an ugly duckling, he is now a fully-fledged and exceptionally bitter swan, beautiful and regal, melancholy and jaded.

The wedding is... sweet. Kurt sits between his dad and Carole (two of Will and Emma's only adult friends) trying to pretend that he can't see them both glance at him when the glee club comes on to sing (because of course they would sing) and that the way both of them keep squeezing his knees and touching him anyway they can isn't threatening to make him cry. Will cries and Emma cries (because he's allowed to call them Will and Emma now) and although Kurt thinks asking Finn to be best man was one of the stupidest decisions Will Schuester had ever made- and that man had made a lot of stupid decisions- he actually gives a really sweet speech, it's all about role models and being a man and Kurt doesn't quite agree with it, but it's sweet nonetheless. 

Kurt has a lot of conversations ranging from touching and only mildly uncomfortable to Oh-My-God-Get-Me-Out-Of-Here-Now. He spends most of his time with Finn and Mercedes, because if the three of them are together it's easier to avoid the people in their lives that they don't want to think about. He and Finn are in a joint fight to stay away from Rachel Berry and since Sam and Blaine appear to have become close friends it's only natural that Kurt and Mercedes should avoid them together. Puck joins them for a while, he's still trying to convince Finn to move to California with him, and he and Mercedes are discussing their favourite restaurants.

***

‘So what are you doing these days Kurt?' Mr Schue (just because he can call him Will doesn't mean he has to) sidles up to Kurt while Mercedes has gone to dance with Puck of all people and Finn is getting another drink. Kurt smiles and repeats what he has been telling people all night, only cringing a little at the arm that has been slung over his shoulder.

‘I got accepted into Parsons, fashion design course, where I start this year and I have an interview for an internship with vogue next week, I probably won't get in you know, there's a lot of competition out there, but it'll be good experience anyway.'

‘That's great Kurt! I always worried about you, not getting into NYADA; I always wished I'd helped you more, been more supportive. And that thing with Blaine, completely changed him, you should have heard some of the solos he was singing, heart breaking.'

‘Yes, well-‘

‘And I always thought you two were for the long run, you know you never seemed to get involved in the petty drama like everyone else, I still can't believe you broke up'

‘Well I have boyfriend now' Kurt isn't trying to be insensitive but he just really really wants to detach Mr Schue from his shoulders and go drink some more alcohol (the bar tender is being pretty lax on the whole checking for ID thing)

‘Really? I think Blaine's still mourning the loss of you, poor thing, who did the breaking up anyway?'

‘Come on curly, we may as well get this dance out of the way before the suspense actually makes me throw up all over your life size ice sculpture of you and your poor  ginger sex slave' Sue Sylvester winks at Kurt as she extricates Will from his shoulders and drags him to the dance floor with a grimace.

Kurt watches her cajole him to the dance floor and then begin her tear down of his moves, while Carole and Burt watch in amusement. Over to the side Tina and Mike are being as sickeningly cute as they always were, dancing and smiling and laughing, and Puck is kissing Mercedes on the cheek and letting her go in favour of dancing with Emma.

‘You wanna dance?' Mercedes steps up beside him as Puck spins Miss Pillsbury (Mrs Schuester now) and leads her into a dip. She follows his gaze to the dance floor and grips his hand in hers.

‘I would be honoured' Kurt smiles and leads her over to stand next to Tina and Mike, they smile at them and start dancing together.  It's silent for all of twenty seconds and then Kurt can't help himself anymore.

‘You know I got accepted into NYADA?'

‘That's great!'

‘I'd already decided I didn't want to go but I still went to my audition. I sang defying gravity'

‘I'm sure you were amazing'

‘Oh I was. And you have no idea how satisfying it was to turn down my place.'

‘Wait you turned it down?'

‘Yep. I got into Parsons, I didn't think I was going to, you have no idea how long I spent obsessing, but I did and it was the perfect opportunity to say screw you to NYADA' Kurt gives her this adorable I'm-so-happy-I-could-burst smile and twirls her.

‘They don't deserve you anyway. But I just want you to know that when you become a famous fashion designer I expect free samples of all your clothes'

‘Of course'

‘Wait you turned down NYADA?' Tina jumps in as the song comes to an end and a more upbeat one begins to play.

‘I thought it was your dream?' Mike asked, they both crowd round him and Mercedes and the four of them end up just sort of swaying together.

‘So did I?' Kurt smiles wistfully ‘But I have a new dream now'

Kurt and Mercedes catch up with Tina and Mike, they all stay well away from the subject of other glee members and then Kurt finds himself talking to all of his old glee friends in turn. He has a touching if slightly awkward conversation with Puck, where the other boy's condolences are expressed towards his break up with Blaine and Kurt ends up with a list of phone numbers of women whose Husband's turned out to be gay if Kurt's ever looking. He gets hugged by Quinn. A lot. And he adds her to his list of prospective clients for the future. He has a rather traumatising conversation with Santana and Brittany where he learns that although they agreed to take a break and date other people, ‘no one can do something-that-Kurt- is-never-willing-to-repeat quite like Britt can', and that the two of them are going to live together in New York next year (they also agree to call him, despite Kurt's protests, if they ever meet any hot gay men they think he'd like) Artie and Sam say hi, it turns out the bartender knows they are both in high school and they just wanted to know if Kurt would buy them a drink, they seem to be on Blaine's side of the breakup (not that Kurt knew there were sides to pick from)

He's actually beginning to enjoy himself. He and Finn are staying with their parents for a few days, it's great to see Mercedes again, and he's beginning to remember why he loved these people. He's wondering what he was so worried about, this isn't so bad.

Oh how wrong he is.