To: Anderson<3
I think I'll go to Boston.

From: Anderson<3
I think I'll start a new life.

Kurt giggled. Blaine would turn anything into a song.

To: Anderson<3
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name.

From: Anderson<3
Did you really wake me up at 8:30 to sing through texts? Because, while that's adorable, 8:30?????

Oh, no. He'd started it. He'd have to suffer it now.

To: Anderson<3
I'll get out of California. I'm tired of the weather.

From: Anderson<3
Kurt.

To: Anderson<3
I think I'll get a lover, and fly him out to Spain.

From: Anderson<3
KUURT.

To: Anderson<3
I think I'll go to Boston.

From: Anderson<3
Kurt, it's 8:35 in the morning, and if you don't either talk to me or let me go back to sleep, I will show up at your house with a blowtorch.

To: Anderson<3
Ouch. I'm done.

From: Anderson<3
So...why?

To: Anderson<3
Why what?

From: Anderson<3
Why did you wake me up at 5 in the morning to sing a 7-year-old Augustana song via SMS?

Kurt chuckled.

To: Anderson<3
A.) 8.30. Not 5. B.) Via SMS? What are you?

From: Anderson<3
A.) 8:30 IS 5 when it's July. B.) ADORABLE. I am adorable. C.) WHY?????

To: Anderson<3
A.) Lazy. B.) I'm sorry, but we both know I'm the adorable one in this relationship. C.) I think I'll go to Boston.

From: Anderson<3
A.) Maybe. B.) I'm not disputing that, actually. C.) Stop. Not again.

To: Anderson<3
A.) Yes. B.) I'm blushing. C.) No, really. I'm pretty sure I'm going to Boston tomorrow. Me and the girls. And Finn Hudson.

From: Anderson<3
A.) Meanie. B.) Good. You're cute when you blush. You're cute when you everything. Cutie. C.) Aha.
From: Anderson<3
Waaaaaaaait. Why FINN HUDSON? He's the captain of the junior varsity football team, Kurt. Jocks and weird Glee club novelties who sing with the purpose of being ironic aren't supposed to be friends.

To: Anderson<3
I don't know. The girls are friends with him. And my dad knows his mom. She comes in to the shop sometimes.

From: Anderson<3
But...but...but...Kurt! I don't trust him. Not around you and the girls. He'll be mean. Jocks are mean to Glee kids.

Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed.

To: Anderson<3
If you're so worried about us, why don't you just tag along.

From: Anderson<3
Okay. So, I get that the lack of a question mark in that sentence is the text message equivalent of a giant sarcasm sign, but I think I will.

To: Anderson<3
Will...tag along?

From: Anderson<3
Yes.

To: Anderson<3
For fun or to protect me?

From: Anderson<3
Both. Mostly the latter.

To: Anderson<3
I'm blushing again.

From: Anderson<3
Adorable.

"Money?" Burt asked. He tucked his own wallet into the pocket of his jacket.

"Check," Kurt smiled, holding up a wad of cash, waving it around jokingly, and then tucking it into the back pocket of his white skinny jeans.

"Jacket?"

"Check." Kurt raised his red rain jacket, then deposited it back into his messanger bag.

"Phone?"

"Check." He pulled his iPhone out of the pocket with the money, showed it to his father, and slipped it back in.

"And everyone's parents confirmed everything? I'm not...kidnapping or anything, am I?"

Kurt chuckled. "Dad, calm down. I talked to Blaine's parents, and Chloe's mom, and Winter's dad. And you talked to Carole, right?" Carole Hudson was Finn's mom.

"Yup, first thing this morning."

"Dad, it's 3 am. What would you consider first thing this morning?" Kurt yawned.

"Come on. We have to get going. You have your suitcase?"

"Yes." Kurt followed his father out the front door, mumbling about "I don't know why we have to leave at three in the freakin' morning."

*****

1 NEW MESSAGE FROM: KURTSIE
Hi. Wake up.

To: Kurtsie
No.

From: Kurtsie
Arggh. You make me angry. So angry I make pirate noises. Get your ass out of bed and grab your suitcase. We're like ten minutes away.

To: Kurtsie
I don't travel with pirates. Sorry.

From: Kurtsie
If you don't get up now, you're not coming to Boston with us.

To: Kurtsie
But...but...but this is important! 

From: Kurtsie
Get. Up.

To: Kurtsie
GET UP, GET UP, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

From: Kurtsie
NOT TILL YOU GET OUT OF BED!

To: Kurtsie
You're cruel, using One Direction songs against me. And I don't even like boy bands.

From: Kurtsie
C H L O E. Wake the hell up.

Chloe rolled out of bed and rushed to her closet, where she pulled out her pink skinny jeans and Nightmare Before Christmas T-shirt. 

To: Kurtsie
I'm up and I'm not happy about it.

From: Kurtsie
Boo hoo. I woke up at three.

She wriggled into her jeans, threw her T-shirt over her head, and put her hair into a high ponytail with her a sparkly white scrunchie.

To: Kurtsie
Don't care. Need coffee.

From: Kurtsie
We can stop at Starbucks before we get you.

To: Kurtsie
Tall nonfat mocha. Black.

From: Kurtsie
(Hi we have the same coffee order.) What's the magic word?

To: Kurtsie
IJUSTWOKEUP.

From: Kurtsie
Close enough. You know what the others want?

To: Kurtsie
Winter doesn't. Medium drip for B.

From: Kurtsie
Do you speak English?

To: Kurtsie
Non a trois heures du matin, je vous remercie.

From: Kurtsie
But you do speak French...at three am...you're a genius.

To: Kurtsie
Oui. Et tu me tues. Il est trop tot.

From: Kurtsie
Are you doing this without a dictionary or translater or anything?

To: Kurtsie
Oui. Peur?

From: Kurtsie
What does that mean? Pear?

To: Kurtsie
Non.

From: Kurtsie
Stop.

To: Kurtsie
Pas jusqu'a ce que vous obtenez ici.

From: Kurtsie
Five minutes.

To: Kurtsie
Bein.

"I swear to God, you have every song ever written on here!" Blaine exclaimed, scrolling through the albums on Chloe's iPhone.

"Eh."

"She does," Kurt agreed. "She's the only person I've met who has Misfits and Les Mis on the same playlist."

"I like music. It's four am."

"Do you need more caffeine or something?" Winter asked. "Because, you know, I didn't even drink any and I'm awake, so - "

"You had three bags of Swedish Fish!" Blaine laughed. "Don't hate on us caffeine junkies!"

Finn squirmed in his seat (which was next to Blaine's and behind Kurt's, closest to the passenger window). He'd never really talked to any of these kids. Well, he knew Blaine, but that was only because he'd dated the head cheerleader. Either way, he didn't really know what to say right now.

"Do you like music, Finn?" Chloe asked, snatching Kurt's coffee cup out of his hands and taking a not-so-dainty gulp.

"Well, yeah," he nodded. "Who doesn't?"

"Gandalf?" Blaine shrugged.

"Nerd," Kurt mumbled.

"What kind of music do you like?" Chloe asked, disregarding her friends' idiocy.

"Like...Mellencamp?"

Chloe, Winter and Kurt laughed. "What?" Finn asked.

"Oh, wait," Winter said between giggles. "He's serious."

"You won't hear that in this car," Burt grumbled. "They're all about the show tunes."

"Not always!" Kurt whined.

"Yeah, sometimes we listen to to movie-musical versions," Winter snickered.

"Is it possible to die of bitterness?" Chloe quipped.

"If you could, we'd both be long gone."

Kurt and Blaine laughed at their friends' banter, and Finn supressed giggles. Burt sighed fondly.

"I'm exhausted," Kurt admitted. "I want to sleep."

"I can trade spots with you," Finn suggested. As entertaining as the Glee kids were, he was feeling a little claustrophobic, considering he was one of four people in a back seat that was meant to fit three.

"Yeah?"

"If Blaine wouldn't mind."

Blaine grinned. "Wouldn't be a problem."

So Burt pulled over and Finn and Kurt climbed out of the car and switched seats. As the car started to move again, it started to drizzle. Kurt shivered involuntarily.

"Cold?" Blaine asked. Kurt nodded. Bllaine pulled his "McKinley Titans" sweatshirt over his head and handed it to Kurt. Kurt pulled it over his own head and nearly drowned in it, then leaned his head onto Blaine's shoulder, drifting effortlessly into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.