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Kurt never really learned to take a compliment. Looking back, he would probably guess it was because he came across as endlessly confident in high school, so no one thought he needed the validation. And he didn’t – he was always perfectly adept at analyzing and cataloguing his own strengths and weaknesses, mastering the ones he could, and accepting the ones he could not. But that didn’t mean he was without insecurities.
The only person he could remember ever really complimenting him was his dad, and as loving and cherished as those moments of praise were, they were also few and far between. That was simply the relationship they’d always had: love was apparent in actions, not words.
So two weeks of this…thing with Adam had been like a crash course.
Since that first coffee date, they’d seen each other outside of practice and brief hallway encounters five times, each time stretching just a bit longer than the last, and every time Adam had found something new and praiseworthy about Kurt that he just couldn’t keep quiet about. His voice, his outfits, his hair, his taste in music, the interior design in his apartment, his skin, his eyes, his nose.
And just like that first time in the ballet studio, he never let Kurt talk around them or casually disagree; would only smirk a little and repeat the compliment until Kurt nodded and said ‘thank you.’
It was driving Kurt crazy. Thinks-casting-Lindsay-Lohan-as-Elizabeth-Taylor-is-a-good-idea crazy.
He should have known that volunteering to take over for the Apples’ flu-ridden piano player would be too much for his new one-man fan base to resist. “But of course you can play the piano like an angel. With hands like yours, it would almost be a tragedy if you didn’t,” he said, reaching over to casually thread their fingers together and squeeze Kurt’s hand as they walked out of practice. He let go to push the exit door open, but Kurt barely felt the February cold surround him for how warm he’d gone.
They were very nearly off campus, on their way to an early dinner, when Adam spoke again. “You know I won’t stop. Even if you decide not to date me, we’ll be friends, and I’ll spend the entire time we know each other convincing you how fucking brilliant you are.” When Kurt looked over, Adam was grinning, completely serious but still so lit up, and he couldn’t help but grin back.
“Thank you,” he said, and just soaked it in when Adam threw an arm around his shoulders and laughed.
*
Practice with the Apples was more fun than Kurt had had since the early days of New Directions, before the choir room was more a forum for group politics and relationship drama than the actual love of music. The Apples were just as much a mismatched, ragtag team of misfits from across the majors, but they were all there for the love of show choir, which was something that could never be said about New Directions or the Warblers.
But nothing surprised Kurt more than when Adam posted the set list for their first public performance of the semester – specifically, that they were doing eight songs and not a single lead singer was repeated. Kurt himself even had one, singing lead on Mika’s “Happy Ending,” something one of the girls had asked him to sing on a whim his first practice.
He guessed he’d been staring for a while, because he felt Adam appear beside him and nudge their elbows together. “Did I miss something? It wouldn’t surprise me, I don’t think I’ve put one up yet that didn’t have some error or another on it, but I tried really hard on this one.”
“No! No, really, it’s great! I guess I’m just…not in Kansas anymore,” Kurt said, looking up at Adam and letting his mouth twist into a wry smile. Adam laughed and pulled him along to the front of the practice room, where everyone else was gathered in loose groups, talking.
“Wait, does that make me Toto or the Wicked Witch? I can get behind either, but if I’m going to be Elphaba I think I’d rather you as my Fiyero, not some bint who tries to kill me.”
“Fair enough.” Kurt was trying not to beam obnoxiously at him, but it was hard. “I suppose I’m just not used to someone who doesn’t play favorites.”
Adam just shrugged. “I did play favorites, when they auditioned. Now that they’re in, I figure it doesn’t matter who does lead as long as it sounds good. We may be Adam’s Apples, but if I sang every song we’d never have an audience because we’d be dreadfully dull after two songs. If I wanted to be in a band, I’d have formed one, yeah?”
“Incredible,” Kurt said, legitimately dumbfounded. This guy was the anti-Schue and the anti-Rachel rolled up into one very, very hot package.
Adam smirked, and for a second Kurt was afraid he’d said some or all of that out loud, so he cut off any potential response with a cleared throat and a, “So you worked really hard on this one?”
The smirk only grew. “I did at that. Got someone to impress, haven’t I?” And before Kurt could respond to that, he had planted a quick kiss against Kurt’s lips and bounded into the center of the group, calling practice to order.
*
Kurt comes into the relationship with very few firsts left to give, but it works out better than way, because so does Adam. As nice as it was for all of Blaine’s firsts to be with him and vice-versa, he didn’t think he could really be with someone who hadn’t experienced at least some of the things he had – hadn’t fallen in love, hadn’t had their heart broken, hadn’t made some stupid mistakes.
He understood very quickly why so many people preferred to date older. Kurt’d had a pretty good notion of the person he was for a long time, but he also knew that wasn’t the norm, because when was he ever the norm? Blaine had still been trying to figure himself out during the course of their relationship, and Kurt liked to think he helped a bit with guiding him in the right direction
Twenty-two may not have been much older than nineteen, but there were things about Adam that Kurt recognized from himself. Adam knew what he wanted from life, and how to fight to get it. He knew the kind of person he was, and wasn’t inclined to apologize for it to anyone.
And for Kurt, that certainty of self was refreshing.
*
Adam didn’t watch reality tv. He didn’t read Vogue, he’d never spent more than twenty minutes shopping for clothes, and he had no concept of proper skincare. Talking about shared tastes in music and musical theater would carry them for a couple of dates, but by all accounts Kurt figured they should have run out of things to talk about by date three at the latest.
But somehow they never did. Instead, two months and twenty-seven dates in, Adam had a small selection of Kurt-approved skincare products, they got together every week to watch Project Runway (the teams season was a train wreck, just as Kurt knew it would be, but he watched out of fierce loyalty to Tim Gunn), and Kurt had sat through two seasons of Sherlock and was starting season three of Doctor Who.
Frowning, he made a disgusted sound from where he was curled into Adam’s side on the couch. “Am I supposed to irrationally hate this woman? Because she needs to back off Rose’s man before I cut her.” Adam and his roommate, who was sprawled out on Kurt’s other side, both cracked up, so Kurt just huffed and ignored them.
Kurt actually got along quite well with Tom (Irish, studying political science at Columbia – walking across the threshold into their apartment was like entering auditory heaven), which was good, because he’d been spending more and more time there since Brody officially moved in. He and Rachel were still together, and their pattern of loud fighting and louder sex had remained constant.
There were some things Kurt had never wanted to know about his best friend.
“You’re just grumpy because Captain Jack isn’t back yet. Don’t worry, love, he’s coming.” Kurt flapped a hand at him.
“Oh, don’t even pretend you aren’t just as into John Barrowman as I am. I remember the night we watched his first few episodes.”
“He’s right, Adam,” Tom piped in. “If I remember right, you came pretty fast that time.” Kurt dissolved into laughter as Adam reached over him to whack Tom with a throw pillow.
“Oy, you shut it!”
Honestly, Kurt got along pretty well with all of Adam’s friends. He’d even talked to his mom and sister over Skype a couple of times and they’d been just as effusive with their praise as Adam ever was. It was incredible, and so different from anything he’d come to expect. With Blaine, he’d never really been friends with the Warblers, just cordial acquaintances if anything, and his relationships with Blaine’s family members were even farther removed. He’d met Mrs. Anderson once, just long enough to introduce himself, and it took over a year just to find out Cooper’s name and what he looked like. He never met Mr. Anderson, which he’d always assumed was for the best.
Kurt knew Blaine had good reasons, that his relationship with most of his family members was barely above “estranged,” but he’d never realized how much less involved in Blaine’s life he was until he had something to compare it with. He liked feeling connected to so many parts of the person he was with.
And he was thinking about inviting Adam to Lima for Spring Break.
*
Rachel waited an entirely uncharacteristic three months to offer her opinion on his relationship with Adam. One day, she simply hopped up to sit on the kitchen counter while he was cooking and said, “I like him.”
“Well, I would hope so,” Kurt replied. “With the amount of sex you’re having, I would be concerned otherwise. I’m almost concerned anyway.”
“No!” She slapped his shoulder. “Not Brody, Adam! I like him.”
Kurt paused in his cooking to look over at her. “Oh?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
Kurt shrugged, looking back down at his sauce pot, because at least part of him had thought exactly that. “I don’t know. I suppose I just always thought you saw this as a rebound and were waiting for Blaine to reappear and sweep me off my feet again.”
Rachel sighed dramatically. “While I will admit that our brief and ultimately unsuccessful romantic endeavor has left Blaine and I with an eternal bond of friendship, I’m not blind, Kurt. Adam makes you happy. Happier than you ever were with Blaine.”
“I was happy with Blaine,” Kurt protested. “I loved him!”
“I’m not saying you didn’t. You clearly loved him, and with your whole heart, because that’s the only way people like you and I can love. But after seeing the way you are with Adam, I’ve come to realize that you were always more…content than happy.” She nods as if this all makes perfect sense, but Kurt’s head is spinning.
“Is there really that big a difference?”
She grinned at him, leaning into his space but keeping clear of the stove. “You know, I can always tell when you’ve seen him, because you’ll spend the whole night smiling, and I’ll usually get a kiss on the cheek when I get home. And I always know when he’s here before I even open the door, because I can hear you laughing.” She leaned back, suddenly serious. “You never laughed like that in Lima, Kurt. You can’t settle for anything less than someone who makes you feel like that. As your best friend, I won’t stand for it.”
“I’m happy,” Kurt confirmed, and allowed it to happen when Rachel squealed and threw her arms around his neck. “I really am.”
"I told you, Kurt! There’s nothing better than being in love in New York City.”
*
Towards the end of May, Blaine texted Kurt a picture of himself holding up a sheet of paper with a clear NYADA letterhead and beaming at the camera. The message attached said “I got in!!!!!”
“Well, of course you did,” Kurt mumbled, sending back a “CONGRATS” and trying not to feel too bitter.
“Bloody hell, I hope that face isn’t for me,” Adam said, dropping down next to him on the bench. “I’m not that late, am I?”
Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled over at his boyfriend. “It’s not for you. My ex just got his acceptance letter, because not even NYADA can say no to Blaine Anderson.”
Adam made a commiserating sound and pulled Kurt into his lap, right there in the middle of campus. Another thing Kurt had had to get used to: PDAs.
“Sounds to me like you could use some good news, then.”
Kurt hummed, slipping his arms around Adam’s neck. “Always.”
“I know you’ve been worrying about what happens after I graduate and my school visa expires, even if you haven’t said anything…”
Kurt felt his arms tighten a bit. He had been worried, more and more as time went on and giving Adam up seemed less and less feasible.
“This grand university of ours has decided that, in lieu of finding another Adam to run Adam’s Apples, they want to pay me to keep doing it instead. I’ll essentially be doing exactly what I do now, I just won’t be participating in the public performances and they’ll be paying me instead of the other way around.”
He pulled back so far and so abruptly that he nearly toppled to the ground. “Are you serious?” When Adam only beamed at him, he laughed delightedly. “So this means…”
“This means that as soon as my school visa expires, I’ll have a brand new work visa waiting for me. And since you’re stuck with me now for at least the next few years, I just have two questions for you, Kurt Hummel.”
“Oh?” Kurt asked, somewhat breathlessly. Blaine’s text message was so far away it was barely a speck in the distance now.
“Yes,” Adam teased. “First: how do you feel about London in the summertime?” Kurt’s mouth fell open and Adam laughed, dropping a kiss at the corner of his lips. “I talked to my mum and dad last night, and they mentioned that part of my graduation parcel would be an extra aeroplane ticket home. Dad wants to meet the mythical Mr. Kurt Hummel, and I think mum and Sarah just want to see how much more gorgeous you are in person.”
Kurt could barely catch his breath. “What – what’s the second question?”
Adam grinned. “How many more times do you think you’ll have to listen to Rachel and Brody fucking in the next room before I can convince you to take Tom’s room after he moves out?”
It felt like his eyes had gone so wide they were in danger of falling out. “You want me to meet your family,” he confirmed slowly, “and then move in with you?”
Adam put on a mock-considering face for a couple seconds, then nodded. “That’s about the gist of it, yeah. So what do you think?”
Kurt thought he was dreaming. Possibly hallucinating. It wouldn’t be the first time he wondered about Rachel’s “secret vegan ingredients.”
“I think I should say yes before I wake up,” he said, and let himself be pulled into a hug – picked up and spun around, his legs clinging around Adam’s waist for dear life as his boyfriend gave an exuberant shout. Once they stopped spinning and the laughter stopped bubbling out of Kurt’s throat, he had to ask: “You’re not taking this job just for me, right? I’ve been there before, and it didn’t end very well.”
Adam set him back down on the bench and leaned over him, kissing his face every few words. “I’m taking the job because I love New York, I love NYADA, and I love show choir. Loving you is just a really brilliant bonus.”
Kurt beamed so hard he was surprised his face didn’t hurt, no longer concerned about looking obnoxious. “I love you too.”