A/N: Hi there! Welcome to my mostly fluffy Klaine/Finchel future fic. I more than welcome any suggestions you might have! Thank you so much for reading and you'd make me the happiest girl ever if you'd review and let me know what you think!

"There is no way we can afford this apartment."

Finn and Rachel said the words simultaneously.

Finn let out a breath. "Thank goodness you agree. I was worried you were going to give me a really sad speech about how we've always beaten the odds."

Rachel paused just long enough to scowl briefly at her boyfriend. "As much as I wish we could live closer to the heart of the city, I realize that with our fledgling careers and meager funds, it simply isn't possible." Rachel looked down at her white flats, then back up, smiling. "We'll just have to work up to this. We'll look at it as a challenge!" She planted her feet and looked up at the building towering above her. Finn couldn't help but smile just a little at how tiny she looked, gazing upward in the street. "Do you hear that apartment? We will be back for you!" she announced with a feisty finger-point. Finn wrapped his arms around her as they walked down the street to the subway.

"There is no way we can afford this apartment." Kurt rubbed his temples as he said the words, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I know. I just hoped, that if we really, really cut back and maybe rinsed out Ziploc bags -"

"You aren't making this any easier, you know." Blaine grimaced and looked down, and Kurt instantly regretted his words. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just really upset, too. We're going to have to look for something in another borough and I'll just commute. It's nothing we can't deal with."

Blaine looked up. "I promise you we'll be living here someday. I don't know when, but we'll make it."

Kurt smiled. "You're so adorable when you're being optimistic."

"Only then?"

"Put that cheesy grin away before my lactose intolerance shows up. Come on, let's go apartment hunting." Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and dragged them down the street.

Carole Hummel-Hudson got the calls about four hours apart. First was Kurt, moaning inconsolably about the unsanitary living situation in the few semi-affordable Queens apartments he and Blaine had visited.

"We're talking the sort of garbage-strewn staircases that little Asian women lead you up for fake Versace bags in Chinatown, Carole. With hobos sitting on them. I swear I think I saw a homeless woman's boob today."

"No, you didn't," Blaine called from the bedroom.

"Just one of them?" Carole asked.

"And they're still not cheap! I don't want us paying big money to live in the equivalent of the Lima crack district! But I don't know what to do! I'm supposed to start in two weeks and we're still living out of this bedbug-ridden Jersey motel."

"He boiled the sheets, Carole, I'm sure we're fine," Blaine interjected, sticking his head into the tiny motel bathroom where Kurt was perched on the counter, his phone in his hand.

"Do you hear what I'm dealing with?" Kurt shooed his boyfriend out of the room, toeing the door shut behind him.

"If you're really worried, honey, you know you can come home any time."

"And pass up this opportunity to work on Broadway? I don't think so! It's once in a lifetime."

"I know. So you'll find SOMEWHERE to live, and you'll tough it out for a while, just like the rest of us, until you make it big."

Kurt's jaw fell open. "But I thought you said -"

"Yeah, you can come home whenever you want, and your dad and I will welcome you with open arms. But you've got an incredible chance here, and you shouldn't ruin it being picky. Be safe, but don't be a snob."

"Well, okay." Kurt stammered.

"Kurt, honey, I've got to go, your dad's calling, but good luck and keep me updated on the hunt!"

"I will!"

"And remember, no snobbishness!"

"OK, Carole, I - tell Dad I love him. Bye!"

Kurt started when Blaine opened the bathroom door. "Have you ever heard of knock -" He was cut off when Blaine came to stand between his legs and kissed him, pressing him back against the mirror with hands on his shoulders.

"How were your parents?" Blaine asked when Kurt was sufficiently breathless.

"Carole told me not to be a snob."

"What?" Blaine giggled. "Is that even possible?"

"Hey!" Kurt pushed the shorter boy and he bounced back like a helium balloon. "She said we shouldn't be picky about the apartment."

"She's probably right."

"I don't remember you falling in love with any of the many classy neighborhoods we visited today."

"I know." Blaine sighed and heaved himself up next to Kurt on the little remaining counter space, Kurt suddenly thankful for his boyfriend's tininess. "I just wanted our first place together to be perfect, Kurt. For you. And for us. No offense meant here but I'm a musician. I'm used to broken down mattresses and showers that run more cold than hot and, well, homeless people. But I wanted you and I to have someplace beautiful, where you do all the decorating and we frame

Playbills and hang vinyl on the walls and just enjoy each other." Blaine turned his gaze from the ceiling to look Kurt in the eyes. "I'm just sorry we can't make that happen right now."

"Oh, you beautiful boy." Kurt crushed Blaine in a hug so tight Blaine started to see stars. "I will… learn… to deal with a dodgy apartment if you're in it. I love you."

Blaine blinked back at him with a puppy-like smile, his long black lashes briefly obscuring his cinnamon eyes.

"But I think I heard you say something about hanging vinyl on my walls. You damn hipster."

Finn's call to Carole was a little less whiny. "Hey Mom. Yeah. We're good. Uh, yeah, yeah. The hunting is going okay…"

"It is not going okay, Finn!"

"What, Mom? Oh, sorry, I guess you can hear Rachel too. Uh, we've looked at a couple of places but they're all a little expensive, or rough." Finn got quieter, tilting the phone closer to his mouth. "I mean, I know Rachel will be coming home from rehearsals alone sometimes and I want to be sure she's safe."

"Safe? Safe, Finn? I am facing the horror of mold and mildew infestations in every one of the apartments we looked at today. Do you know what effect that could have on my voice?" Rachel flounced out of the room, fluttering her hands in frustration.

Finn watched her leave, his mouth hanging slightly open. "Um, yeah, Rachel's not handling it all that well right now, but we're going to figure something out, I'm sure."

"Can I call you right back, sweetie?" Carole suddenly asked.

"Oh, um, sure. OK. Love you." Finn tossed his phone on the bed. The confusion on his face was erased a moment later when Rachel burst back into the room.

"What are we going to do? I've got rehearsals in less than three weeks and your classes are going to start and we're never going to find a place to live!" The tiny brunette was pacing like a rhino.

"Rach –"

"Did you see the last place we tried? I saw two cockroaches in the bathroom, Finn. Two."

"Rach."

"And there were SIX locks! Why would any place ever need six locks?"

"Rachel."

"I can't even begin to imagine what will happen if we're not in an apartment by – "

Finn stopped her pacing with an outstretched hand and pulled her against his chest. "Rachel." She went rigid, then relaxed into him, looking up, blinking slowly. "How many times have we been up against something that seemed impossible? And how many times have we pulled it together to overcome whatever obstacles were in our way?" The tiniest hint of a smile lifted the corners of his girlfriend's lips. "We can do anything together, Rachel. And even if we can't have an awesome apartment right now, we'll make it work. We always do. But one day we're going to have that perfect place. I promise."

Rachel leaned up and kissed him. "I'm sorry I was being crazy. I love you, Finn."

"I love you too, Rach." He bent to kiss her again, but his buzzing phone stopped him. "Hey, Mom. Oh, OK. That's awesome." He put a hand over the mouthpiece. "Mom says Kurt and Blaine are looking for an apartment here, too, and Kurt's going to call –" A tinny version of "For Good" sounded and Rachel answered her phone. Finn put his phone back to his ear. "OK, yeah, he just did. Thank you. Tell Burt hi. I love you."

Rachel lowered her phone. "How do you feel about adding a couple of roommates to our apartment search?" she asked, beaming.

"Tell Kurt and Blaine we'll meet them in the morning."

Rachel squealed and bounced away to make her plans.