Something about the room in the counseling center felt empty today, even though the group was present, a breastfeeding Emma included. The ceiling seemed higher, somehow, and the chairs seemed older. The air was thick with commencement, and they all shifted in their seats waiting for Emma to speak.

"Thank you all for being patient during the past few weeks with my scheduling. Although I am technically on maternity leave, I felt that it was necessary for me to be here to conclude this semester's group. So, today I am going to ask two questions, and you can answer one or both. You can be as reflective and philosophical, or as literal as you would like. The first one is what have you learned about yourself by participating in this group? The second is what have you learned about invisible illnesses?

"I am going to begin by reading something that Blaine gave me." Emma held up a single sheet of paper with a handwritten note that Blaine had delivered in person earlier that day, before proceeding to read it aloud.

I want to thank each one of you for your insight and your friendship. I am not exaggerating when I say that you have changed my life. You have made me a more courageous person in my academic life and in my personal life. I have learned from all of you that when I come across someone who doesn't understand illness, it is my job to be a teacher instead of a victim.

Kurt looked over when he heard Sugar sniffle. She was crying openly, and she said through her tears, "I want to go next."

She was wearing a red sundress patterned with cherry shaped poka dots and a large red bow, which she took out of her hair and fiddled with as she spoke. "I feel the same way, really. I always figured that I wouldn't have anything in common with other sick people because I never thought of myself as sick. I get what I want when I want it, and I know my family is always gonna love me no matter what. I learned that I'm part of a group of people that need to talk more about being sick. There will probably be a day when a guy wants me to talk to him about all this stuff before we get married or whatever, and now I think I will be able to."

Quinn smiled at that and Deera rolled her eyes but kept quiet.

"I'll go next," Artie said, but waited several seconds before beginning. He looked thoughtful and solemn, but nowhere near tears. "I still don't trust anybody new to know how to talk about illness, or to even know how to react to it. But from this group I learned that not all people are that way. I think the biggest thing I will take from this is that I will tell more of my friends about what my life is like, day to day, and ask for more help. But forget about colleagues and employers, they are still being kept in the dark. I need a job and I am not going to diminish my chances by giving someone an opportunity to be ignorant at my expense." He paused again. "But I trust all of you, and that is new for me. So that's what I learned. To trust friends more."

That turned the conversation into a description of one of Artie's recent job interviews and whether his answers were appropriate. They all wished him luck with it. A few minutes later, they got back to the topic. Deera decided to speak next.

"I came into this thinking there was a problem with how I talked to my friends and family about illness. And now I know that there isn't. I learned that from all of you. All of the indignation I have felt on your behalf in this group has showed me that I already have a huge capacity to stand up for myself and for others. All I need to do is tap into it and use it more often. I really agree with what Blaine said in his note, about being a teacher all the time instead of a victim."

Kurt found himself drifting a little, as he thought about how he could be a teacher if he got famous. He could be like that Jonas brother with diabetes, or like those actors in the mental health commercials that talked about their family. Could he do it? Or would he have to keep it hidden. To say the conversation he had had with Ryan Murphy was enlightening was an understatement. It was still his choice, what he decided to reveal to the world. He half-listened to the rest of them, and was returned from his daydream with a jolt.

"Kurt," Emma said, tilting her head a little, "you're the only one who hasn't shared yet. Do you want to answer one of the questions?"

Kurt cleared his throat. "Yes. I want to say that you all are my spark."

"Your spark?" Sugar looked confused. "Is that like a drug?"

Kurt grinned at her. "Nope, not a drug. More like fuel. When I couldn't get up in the morning and felt like cocooning myself in bed all day, you are what got me up and out." He made sure to make eye contact with everybody in turn as he spoke. "I need to have people in my life that count on me, but that also understand me. One without the other isn't enough. I want to keep all of you as friends if I can, and I want to find more people like you wherever I go. You are the spark that has ignited me this year. I don't even know how to thank you."

Kurt was not a group hug person, or even a hug person in general, but he let everybody hug him then. It felt a little awkward, but that was okay. He would get better at hugs.

On his walk home, where Blaine was waiting for him with dinner, he reflected on the last week. His life was about to change in good ways, but his life had already changed in more important ways. He already found Blaine, and from now on all the looking he was going to do would be for success for both of them.

---AAIGAAIGAAIG---

Two days before the last group session, Blaine and Cooper sat facing each other silently, as they had for the past 10 minutes after the waiter took their orders and their menus. This celebratory dinner might not have been the best idea, come to think of it. Well, at least the Knickerbocker always had good food, and did a good job of making it the way Blaine wanted.

Their steaks came, and they ate them silently. Blaine started listening to the conversations around him. There was a family celebrating a birthday for their teenage daughter. Next to them, there was another family who all seemed drunk on champagne celebrating their son's graduation from college. There was also an older couple whose soft words Blaine couldn't quite make out, but they shared their entrees and their kindness, and their love was unmistakable. He thought of himself and Kurt being like that one day. Strangers would see these two fabulous old men, dressed impeccably, dining together at a nice restaurant. They would say to themselves, those two men are so obviously in love. Their love story must be epic.

By the time desert came, Blaine was frustrated enough with Cooper's silent pouting that he caved in and spoke first.

"So, he got the part."

Cooper sighed dramatically. "Yes, I know."

"You made it happen, Cooper. You helped him, and I love you for it."

"I didn't do anything. I just put Ryan in the right place at the right time. At great expense to my personal credibility."

"Thank you, Cooper."

"I am never doing that for you again."

"Thank you, Cooper."

"You're welcome, Blaine."

Blaine felt nourished and energetic, the way he always felt when he ate good food in the right portions, so decided to head to the gym later that night. When he felt this way, he tried to commit it to sense memory so the next time he was tempted to cheat on his diet, he would remember what health and vitally felt like. He wished that was always enough to stop him.

When he arrived at his room, he had an email from Emma with a picture of herself, the new baby, and her wife, Shannon. They looked tired and happy. She had asked him to write a goodbye to the group, and in his current state of alertness and clarity he knew exactly what to say.

---AAIGAAIGAAIG---

After a dinner where Blaine had cooked Kurt only things that were not on his diet, and cooked himself things that followed his diet to the letter (a fun exercise that Emma had suggested), they said goodnight at Kurt's door.

"I want you to stay here tonight."

"Kurt, I just stayed here last night, I can't do any more celebrating. I still have exams next week."

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" Kurt asked again, already knowing the answer.

Blaine sighed. "Yes."

They walked back inside Kurt's apartment, hand in hand.