I don't even know where to start.
I never thought, nearly a year ago when i started writing this, that it would ever get this long, or that i would still be writing it now, but i guess this is where my insanity took me.
Also, i guess i need to thank some people. First off, my friend Charlotte, who might be reading this (should be reading this!) and whose help i enlisted to get me started all those months ago, and who also gave some of the chapters a once over for glaring mistakes when she had the time. Also, to some of my more diligent reviewers: Chasing Aspirations, though she has seemingly disappeared from FF dot net, was a huge help to me for the mjaority of this story, and her praise was always wonderful, and to DylanDahl, for her help with Mercedes and he unending exuberance in loving this fic, to JustAStrangerPassingBy (now Hummel-Evans) again for her awesome and always welcome reviews, she has been the inspiration for many a scene, to JasonDragon64 for being there right from the start, and always being positive, and to Gold-Stars-Are-Kinda-My-Thing, for her praise and the TOTALLY AWESOME youtube video she did of the song she posted as her review a few chapters ago, i couldn't ask for more from any one of you, or any other of the multitude of fantastic reviewers i have! You are all wonderful, and deserve some sort of metaphorical cookie as a present :) Also, to all the lurkers, or those without an account, thank you for reading and sticking with this fic to the end!
Well, here goes...
Without further ado, i present to you, the Epilogue.
Over and out xxx
"Sam, come on, we're gonna be late!" Kurt yelled back into his house as Sam struggled to insert his arm into his sleeve, resulting in him dancing around in circles madly trying to manage it.
Kurt sighed exasperatedly and then rolled his eyes, stepping quickly back in off the porch to catch the edge of his jacket and pull it onto his shoulder properly, stopping his crazy spinning. Sam blinked and looked stunned for a moment, then smiled sheepishly at his boyfriend and shrugged helplessly, saying "What? I fin it hard to put my own coat on sometimes, okay?"
Kurt giggled and pecked him on the lips, before taking his hand and dragging him out the house and down the drive to his car, standing shiny and black at the kerb.
Tripping over his own feet as he tried to keep up with Kurt and not fall over, Sam reached the passenger door and managed to climb in without making a fool of himself. Not that Kurt's entire family hadn't seen him make a fool out of himself more than enough times, he's so clumsy that Burt, Carole and Finn have all watched their fair share of accidents, normally ones where he falls over his own feet or clothing, or some item of furniture that he should have been able to avoid, and somehow managed to walk straight into.
Kurt had slid into the drivers side and was grinning at him as he started the ignition, letting the car roar into life one second and then adding the bubbling sound of the radio over the top of it in the next. They always argued over which radio station to listen to, Kurt having finally found one that played literally nothing but show tunes and he himself favouring either the normal chart following one or the oldies station that played old sixties and seventies stuff that his parents had listened to.
"Whose turn today Kurt?"
Kurt smirked across at Sam with what he suspected was an evil glint in his eyes, saying "You've had the pick of the station three times already this week, I think it's my go, don't you?"
Sam groaned quietly and then capitulated, jokingly sinking his head into his hands as Kurt searched for his station.
However, when they found it the song was one that Sam actually recognised and quite liked. His mom had played a lot of Phantom around the house and it was one of his favourites of her CD.
As Sarah Brightman's velvety voice kicked in, starting off low and smooth and them swooping up into those blessed high notes only he could pull off, Kurt smiled to himself a little, and at the same time felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes.
'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' was one of his favourite musical show songs, but it always reminded him of hi mother, and he got a pang of sorrow in his heart that she hadn't been there to witness the last eight or so months of his life.
When he had finally got a boyfriend, the most perfectly wonderful guy who somehow managed to get everything done well, to say all the right things, and even when the going had got tough neither of them had run. Fight or flight had kicked in and they had both firmly took a stand and fought, rather than running and hiding and denying themselves to the world.
And they had certainly faced adversity together, but they had overcome it, and that was all that mattered. He and Sam had grown even closer while they had struggled for peace and acceptance at their school, and he couldn't forget the Glee club as a whole and all they had done for them, all they had achieved.
But he was the happiest he had ever been, and his own mother wasn't there to share it with him.
It left a slight bittersweet taste in his mouth that had them sitting listening to the radio in mostly comfortable silence for the rest of the quick drive to McKinley, both sneaking little sidelong, smiling glances at the other for the whole journey but neither wanting to break the magic of the moment.
By the time they had reached McKinley's parking lot it was quite late and there were hardly any spaces left, but with some impressive manoeuvring, Kurt managed to get his Navigator in one fairly close to the main entrance.
Getting out, Kurt circled the car and met Sam on the other side, taking his hand and then walking towards the doors of the school together. Sam noticed Mercedes, Puck and Artie stood by the ramp leading up to them and waved, using their entwined hands so that Kurt did too. As their friends smiled at his goofy attempt at a hello, Kurt turned slightly and winked at him, smiling in that tiny, secretive way that he had.
The rest of the student populace was milling around and going in and out of the doors, pushing past them and letting them push past themselves in equal parts, just an average day in high school. Sam watched out of the corner of his eyes as a group of footballers in Letterman jackets passed them by, chattering away loudly about their next game and throwing him a smile and a nod as they did so, a couple of the band kids who sometimes helped them out with performances waving to Kurt as he grinned at them.
No one was even interested in whose hand he was holding and which people he was about to walk into school with.
Okay, so there were still a few people who gave him dirty looks, or the cold shoulder in the hallway, but he was going to get that for the rest of his life, and it wasn't something he was worried about.
It still boggled his mind every day, even so far down the line, that the rest of the school had quickly got to the point where they just acknowledged it like anyone else's relationship and continued on with their lives like it was nothing different' He supposed seeing Azimio get expelled from school and sent away by his dad to a military academy in Washington State might have made some people back off, but the majority of people didn't even blink as he gave Kurt a kiss on the lips and then let go of his hand to hug Mercedes, then fist bump with Artie and Puck.
"You guys ready for this?" He asked, smirking when Puck grinned and Artie just scoffed at him.
Then Kurt took Mercedes' arm and his hand, and they walked in together, laughing and giggling, talking their way down the corridor as they headed to lessons.
It was the last period before the end of the day, and somehow it had ended up on the timetable as Glee practice, so Sam and Kurt met up again outside the door and hugged a little before going in, Kurt rolling his eyes at Mr Shue bobbing about on the balls of his feet at the front of the room, obviously wanting to get started on their lesson.
They sat down between Rachel and Mike, the rest of the group chatting noisily, and Kurt looked up just in time to see Quinn come in and close the door, being the last one in the room. As she sat down, next to Puck, Mr Shue clapped his hands and then bounced his way to the middle of the room, coughing to get everyone's attention.
"Okay everyone, well, I know it's another year over, but I want you all to be very proud of what you've all achieved this year!"
He had paused for breath and was about to start talking again, but Puck had yelled "Hell yeah!" and started everyone off laughing and clapping, and by the time he had got them to calm down, he had an even bigger smile on his face.
"Woah, guys, leave the cheering for the end, okay? I just wanted you all to know how great a year it's been. Sure, we didn't win at Nationals, but we got there. We made it, and we made it into the last ten! Sixth is an amazing place, and you all deserve to be proud of yourselves for that. And even more so, of the way you've acted outside this choir room and the competitions too, because I know it's not been an easy year for many of you. Not you Santana," he looked at the Latina girl, sat with her pinky linked with Brittany's on the back row, and nodded, then glanced back towards the front, "And definitely not you, Kurt, Sam. But you've all stuck together and worked together, and the things you have achieved this year are things I never thought I would see in this school, not now at least."
He stopped again, just to look around the room, and it truck him just how much actually had changed in the last year, less than that even. Kurt, someone who he had thought would have to get out of the backwards town they lived in to ever find love, had found Sam, an amazing kid who was just perfect for him, and then won over the school. Santana had found her soft side and finally stopped trying to convince herself that hiding in the closet and trying to deny herself was the right thing to do. Rachel had somehow mellowed down and started allowing other people to help make decisions on Glee club, a method that made them even better for having a decent sounding board for everything, and even Quinn and Puck, who he had never thought would ever wake up and realise their feeling for each other, had finally got together again. Though he suspected some meddling from the other members if he was honest.
"So I wanted to make sure that, even though we didn't achieve everything we wanted, we did amazing things this year, and I know next year is the last for quite a few of you, but I promise you, if we work like this then, we can do anything we believe we can."
The whoops and cheers and clapping started again, Puck and Finn even stamping their feet on the floor, and Mr. Shue just laughed, the sound of it infectious as it carried around the room, until eventually everyone calmed down enough for him to add one last thing.
"Now, seeing as it's your last lesson... Anyone who wants to can come up and take the floor. No life lesson, no theme, just whatever you feel like. Let the creativity flow!"
Everyone looked at each other for a moment. As if they weren't sure what to do, and then Sam stood up, shrugging his shoulders as he went and saying "Well, I have a song, and this is a good a time as any. Guys, I love you all, okay? Especially you Kurt."
And then he grabbed his guitar from the corner of the room, slung the strap over his shoulder and, with a nod to Mr. Shue, started to play.
You're the direction I follow to get home
When I feel like I can't go on, you tell me to go
And it's like I can't feel a thing without you around
And don't mind me if I get weak in the knees
'Cause you have that effect on me, you do
He played with his head down, looking at the strings as he played and sung, and only raised his head at the end of the verse. If it wasn't totally obvious from his words before the song, he was pretty sure that everyone would know just how much he loved Kurt. He meant every single fucking word, right down to the last letter, because his relationship didn't make him who he was, it strengthened what he already knew he could be.
Everything you say, every time we kiss
I can't think straight but I'm okay
And I can't think of anybody else
Who I hate to miss as much as I hate missing you
Brittany, sat next to Santana as she always did since Santana had outed herself, smiled as she watched Kurt and Sam lock eyes over the top of his guitar and smile. She knew exactly what he felt like, because she knew she would never love anyone as much as she did the tiny brunette sat next to her with her arm around her waist. And they might still get nasty things shouted at them, but she didn't care because she had her SanSan. And she always missed Sanny when she wasn't around.
Months going strong now, and no goodbye
Unconditional, unoriginal, always by my side
Meant to be together
Meant for no one but each other
You love me, I love you harder so
It was the turn of all the other couples in the room to look at their significant other as the song continues. Rachel and Finn, Tina and Mike, were smiling reservedly at each other, knowing that they had survived enough time together to be sure of at least some part of their future. Santana and Brittany were giggling quietly, and Kurt's eyes were still locked to Sam's as he softly sang the words under his breath, but it was for Puck and Quinn that those lyrics really meant a whole deal.
They had been together before and broken up, said goodbye and thought it was for good, and the fact that they had made it work, and made it work so well, was so important for them. They had felt like they were meant for each other the first time, and not their beliefs were only being reinforced.
Everything you say, every time we kiss
I can't think straight but I'm okay
And I can't think of anybody else
Who I hate to miss as much as I hate missing you
Sam's face, that had been so sombre and serious up until then, slowly started to morph as the corners of his mouth crept up a little, distracted by the adorable way that his boyfriend was singing under his breath. Getting up off the stool he was perched on, he stepped forwards and pulled Kurt up off his chair, pulling him forwards so that he was stood at his side, the boys both facing each other as Kurt started to sing for real, echoing Sam's wonderful melody with his own harmonies.
So please, give me a hint
So please, give me a lesson
On how to steal, steal a heart
As fast as you stole mine, as you stole mine
And both of them grinned as they recalled how they started. How unreal and silly and fantastic it had all seemed to them at the time. They really had stolen each other's hearts from the very beginning, they just hadn't realised until much later.
Oh and everything you say
Every time we kiss, I can't think straight
But I'm okay and I can't think of anybody else
Who I hate to miss as much as I hate missing you
Sam stopped playing his guitar as they hit the last two lines and let it drop, hang around his neck, then clasped his hands with Kurt's, still marvelling after the six or so months they had been together about how perfect and smooth and pale they were. Kurt, at the same time, felt the warmth of Sam's palms and just looked up into his eyes and felt like he was home. Like he could be happy and content and sink into their warmth forever.
So please, give me a hint
So please, just take my hand
Both of them knew that as they went out of school that day, went on with their lives, made mistakes and fucked up and learnt things they never could in school, they would be able to rely on each other to be there for them. To pick them up when they needed them, and to pull them down when they needed that too.
Because through it all, they had each other.
They had Glee club, and every single person in it. And that was all that mattered.
A/N: The song is 'Six Months' by Hey Monday, who are an awesome band! Also, i don't own it, and i DON'T OWN GLEE EITHER GUYS! CONSIDER FFY DISCLAIMED!
Well, that was shorter than i intended it to be, but it just seemed like the right place to stop. I hope you can all forgive me and that you agree on that.
I don't know, i can't quite believe this is the end. Don't worry guys, i'm sticking around for one-shots, you won't get rid of me that easily :D
Love you all xxx