Chapter 1

"Kurt, come on, we are going to be late," a teenager currently looking through the window of his now painfully empty room heard his father's voice and with a last glance left the place.

The room held many precious memories but it wasn't the same now that it only had his bed and a few more pieces of furniture that were staying in the house. Once very nicely decorated room didn't reflect his personality anymore and was as blank as the boy felt inside.

Kurt Hummel was leaving France. He had known this for a while now but it didn't make him feel any better. He had a nice life there. His scrapbook was full of photos of him and his friends, accompanied with concert tickets, postcards, anything that held any importance to their friendship. More than one tear was shed the night Kurt looked through the book before putting it into one of the many boxes that were sent to the States later that week. He only hoped that his new scrapbook, dedicated to his new life, would be as rich of beautiful memories, as his former book was.

"We are not going to be late," Kurt said firmly when he finally went downstairs to see his dad ready to leave. "We have plenty of time."

"You never know what may happen on the road," Burt Hummel said.

He was a man who liked to take precautions. If there was a chance that he could be late, he would do anything in his power to avoid such situation. Being late for their flight was something he really didn't want to experience.

"Yeah, I'm sure there is a huge alien on the road that won't let us pass," Kurt smirked at his dad as they left the house and the older Hummel locked the door.

"In that case you would be happy that we left early because it would give us enough time to take another route to the airport," Burt laughed and quickly went to their neighbour's house to hand him the key, which would later be collected by someone from the letting agency that would be taking care of their house for as long as they wanted to rent it to strangers.

It was weird for both of them to think of other people living in their house, sleeping in their beds. Despite that, it was still better to know that one day if they wished, they could come back to their old place. Even though it wasn't likely to happen.

Kurt moved to France at the age of nine, a few months after his mother died of cancer. Burt's brother, who was married to a French lady and had been living in Paris for a while, invited them to stay for a bit until they recover from their loss. When they were about to go back, neither of them wanted to leave. That's when Burt made his decision to move to Europe and soon they were building a new life far away from their home town Lima, Ohio.

Seven years passed and now they were going back. It was ironic that the death of their beloved one made them leave and now the death of another relative forced them to come back. It wasn't like they didn't have another choice though but when they found out that Burt's uncle left his business to his nephew, the Hummel men had a decision to make. Since Burt wasn't doing all too well financially, they decided to take a chance and go back to Lima to run the garage that now belonged to them.

"Well, say goodbye to our old house," Burt forced a smile as he sat in the car behind the wheel.

"I bet you had a long chat with it," Kurt teased his dad but his voice betrayed him.

Burt placed his hand on Kurt's shoulder and sighed. "I know it's hard to leave but it will be okay, I promise."

"Did the house tell you that?" the teenager grinned hoping that his dad would drop it because he knew he would start crying if he kept his emotional speech.

The man shook his head and started the engine.

The ride to the airport was long and silent. Neither said a word as they were both lost in their thoughts, reliving the best moments of their lives in France. Just when they were boarding the plane, Kurt promised himself to make new, even better memories.

The flight took forever. At least that's how it felt for Kurt. He tried to sleep but it never came and when their pilot began the landing, he was tired and his body was aching.

"Dad, wake up, we are landing," the teenager nudged his dad and Burt slowly opened his eyes and yawned widely. "Are you trying to eat that chair in front of you?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Burt said and tried to sit more comfortably.

"Sir, could you, please, put the seat belt on?" the stewardess asked politely when she reached them during her check-up. "Thank you."

As the young woman left, Burt looked at his son and Kurt was surprised to see a serious look on the man's face. "Kurt, I know we talked about this already like million times–"

"Is this about the slavery?" Kurt sighed.

"Yes. I know you are aware of the slave trade in the States but it's one thing to read about it and totally different to see it for yourself."

"Dad, I lived in the States, you know? I remember what it's like," Kurt said, trying hard not to roll his eyes at his dad. They had been through this one too many times.

"You were too young to really remember, Kurt. It's going to be different now," Burt said. "I just want you to come talk to me if anything upsets you, okay?"

"Like I don't do that all the time anyway," Kurt laughed.

One of the greatest things in his life was his relationship with his dad. His friend always said they envied him because he could talk to Burt about everything and anything. If the man didn't understand what Kurt was going through, he would hug him and be there for him at that moment and later he would go on the internet, read some articles or blogs of teenagers' until he could offer an advice to his son. The memory of coming out to his dad was the one he always remembered with fondness in his heart.

"Let's order pizza," Burt suggested one evening.

Kurt was fourteen year old then and he had been building his courage to tell his dad that he felt attracted to men, not women. He knew his dad had a big heart and loved him but he had read many stories on the internet where parents stopped loving their children after they came out of the closet.

"Do you want a veggie or a meaty one?"

It wasn't how Kurt had planned to do it but he couldn't hold it anymore and just blurted it out. "I'm gay."

"A meaty it is," Burt said and closed the delivery menu.

Kurt almost choked at his response and tears started running down his face.

"Now you listen to me," his dad said looking straight at him. "You get yourself a boyfriend, you bring him here so I can see if he's good enough for you. Understood?"

The teenager nodded and hiccupped.

"Though I don't think any guy would ever be good enough for you. You are too good for all of them," Burt said and wrapped his arms around Kurt's shaking body. "I love you, kiddo."

"L-love you too," Kurt managed through his sobs.

That night Burt could hear his son crying in his bed and Kurt could hear an old computer in the study running loudly as his dad slowly typed something from time to time. Neither got any sleep that night.

"Did we ever have a slave while we lived in Lima?" Kurt asked after a while, when the plane landed and began to slow down.

"No. Your mother didn't believe in slave trade and neither did I," he said and there was a silence between them for a moment. "Kurt, have you ever wanted to own a slave?"

Kurt instantly shook his head. "Never."

Little did he know that soon he would.