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“Hey, Lady Hummel,” Kurt shuts his locker door, turning to face Santana with an already-exasperated look plastered on his face. “Are you and your boy toy doing anything for senior week?”
“Blaine’s a junior,” he replies simply, and Santana rolls her eyes.
“That doesn’t matter; we all know you’re joined at the hip. So you’re really not doing anything?”
Kurt shrugs, and the two of them begin their walk to glee practice. “We weren’t planning on it. You know, with Rachel getting married like two weeks after graduation, it didn’t really cross our minds.”
“Oh my god, Berry’s getting married,” Santana repeats, and Kurt raises an eyebrow, confused. Rachel and Finn’s impending nuptials have been the subject of glee club conversation for way too long for it to be news.
“And?”
Santana sighs annoyedly. “I hate to be the one to come up with this hellish idea, but we should all go on a trip. For senior week, but make it Berry’s bachelorette party.”
“I’m listening,” Kurt remarks, and Santana’s already pulling out her phone.
“Britt and I were already talking about going to her parents’ beach house in Atlantic City,” she continues. “They won’t care if there’s more of us.”
“Wait, so who all are we inviting?” Kurt asks, and Santana smirks.
“I knew you’d be on board. As much as it pains me to say it, we’re Berry’s friends. I think it should be the girls from glee and you and Blaine, regardless of if they’re a senior or not.”
“A girls and gays retreat week,” Kurt nods approvingly. “I’m beginning to see the appeal.”
“Damn right you are. We’ll just need someone to drive.”
Kurt can hear the question behind the statement loud and clear. “Santana, that’s like a ten hour drive! And my car can only seat seven.”
“We’ll pay for gas and we can double-buckle,” she barters. “There’s eight of us total.”
“Blaine gets the passenger seat,” Kurt demands. “He’ll manage directions.”
“Fine,” Santana rolls her eyes again. “You can play favorites as long as it gets us to New Jersey.”
“Blaine is my boyfriend. I’m allowed to play favorites.”
******
“Be safe, check in with me, and don’t do anything stupid,” Burt warns, shutting the trunk to his son’s navigator after Blaine places the final bag into the back. “But have fun, kid. I love you.”
“Love you too, Dad,” Kurt replies, accepting the hug that his dad holds out for him, then moving into Carole’s open arms.
“You too, Blaine,” Burt comments, and Blaine laughs slightly as he’s swept into a hug from each of his boyfriend’s parents.
“I’ll text you when we get there,” Kurt remarks, walking around his Navigator to the driver’s side, Blaine opening the door to the passenger’s side and hopping in.
“If you need anything, just call us!” Carole says.
“Will do,” Kurt answers, turning the key in the ignition. “Bye!”
He and Blaine call out the window as he backs out of the driveway, leaving his parents waving goodbye in front of the house. Before they can head off to the beach, however, they have to make their rounds to pick up their friends.
Mercedes is first, followed by Tina. They both claim the captain’s chairs directly behind Kurt and Blaine, leaving the bench seat for the other four girls to squeeze into. Rachel hops in next, sliding to the far end for a “window seat,” but leaving room for the other three girls to squeeze in.
Both Britt and Santana join them from Brittany’s house, and they quickly agree to take the middle seat to double buckle with the lap belt, leaving the other window seat open for Quinn.
Quinn’s grateful for the more ideal seat, but she offers to switch with anyone who might need it later in the trip. Blaine turns up the songs of the summer radio station, double-checks the address of the beach house with Brittany, and plugs it into his phone’s GPS. With that, Kurt pulls out of Quinn’s driveway, and they’re starting the ten-hour countdown until they arrive in New Jersey.
******
“Okay. I think we need to discuss rooming situations,” Rachel declares, and Blaine turns down the music (as if Rachel couldn’t easily speak over it). “Brittany, how many bedrooms does the beach house have?”
“Four,” she replies. “And all of them have a different theme — my favorite is the turtle room.”
“That’s perfect!” Rachel grins, clapping her hands excitedly. “Two people to each room. Now, I assume that Santana and Brittany and Kurt and Blaine are going to room together —“
“Of course we are,” Santana agrees, and Blaine turns around to look back at Rachel, flashing her a thumbs up. “We are too.”
“So that leaves four of us,” Rachel deduces. “How do we want to split up?”
“I’ll room with you, Rachel,” Quinn offers. “If you’d want to.”
Rachel beams. “I’d love that, Quinn. Is that okay with you guys?”
She looks to Tina and Mercedes, who are both smiling and nodding. “Yeah, that sounds great,” Mercedes agrees.
“How many beds do all the rooms have?” Tina asks. “I don’t mind sharing, but we should plan so the couples definitely get one bed.”
Kurt points in her direction. “Please. I don’t want to be pushing twin beds together like we’re kids in a clandestine relationship.”
Britt shrugs. “I think they all have queen beds. I don’t really remember. We can look when we get there, as long as I can have the turtle room.”
She glances to Santana. “It has a big bed, I promise. I sleep in that room every summer.”
Santana grins, pecking her cheek. “Sounds perfect, Britt.”
“But Kurt and Blaine need to get the dolphin room,” Brittany adds. “Dolphins are just gay sharks, so they’re practically their mascots.”
“Sound logic,” Blaine grins over at Kurt, admiring how stunning he looks in the bright midday light, his stylish sunglasses only adding to the summertime-teenage-dream atmosphere of it all.
“As long as I’m with you,” Kurt replies, reaching across the center console to take Blaine’s hand in his, earning a bright beam in return.
“Cuteeeee,” Mercedes coos, and Kurt shoots her a death glare that’s rendered nearly ineffective by his dark sunglasses, but she knows him well enough to get the message. That doesn’t stop her from laughing, and it definitely doesn’t stop Tina from taking a picture of them.
Kurt pretends he doesn’t notice, and Blaine doesn’t even try to hide that he finds the whole situation endearing. Especially not when he brings their joined hands up to his lips, kissing the back of Kurt’s.
“I’m so single,” Mercedes laments, and that’s enough for the rest of the car to immediately discuss why she’s not with Sam if she doesn’t want to be single — but also why she should stick to being an independent boss.
“You’re so gorgeous,” Kurt, for some reason, feels like throwing out compliments to his (deserving) boyfriend without any semblance of privacy — an unusual gesture for him. Maybe now that’s he’s officially left McKinley in the dust, despite his on-hold plan for New York, he feels a little freer.
Blaine obviously has no issue with this, blushing prettily and returning the sentiment. This small vacation marks the first real adult trip together without supervision, and as exciting as that should be, the overwhelming feeling between them is utter contentment.
If only for now, they can savor it.
******
“Kurt, when’s our next stop?”
He sighs exasperatedly. “Tina, I swear to god, if you have to pee again —“
“I’m sorry! It’s not like I’m able to control whether or not I have to pee!” She retorts.
“We were just at a McDonald’s like forty-five minutes ago! Did you not go then?”
“I did,” Tina explains. “But then I drank the large sprite I got at McDonald’s, and now, what do you know? I have to pee again!”
Blaine leans over the center console, tilting his phone in Kurt’s direction so he can glance at it. “There’s a gas station ten minutes away from here. We could stop there and refill, too.”
Kurt looks at the gas gauge, noting how the meter is nearing where the level where the gas light will come on. “Fine,” he decides, no less annoyed. “We’ll stop at a gas station in ten minutes.”
Cheers erupt from the rest of the car, and Quinn, seemingly the only other source of reason at the moment, pipes up. “We should probably get food while we’re there, like sandwiches and snacks. It doesn’t make sense to stop again until we get there.”
“How much longer are we going to be driving for?” Mercedes asks, and Blaine checks the GPS.
“If traffic stays the same and we take no more stops after this next one, we’ll get there in two and a half hours,” he relays. “I’d say we should stick it out the best we can.”
“I don’t want to stop again,” Kurt agrees. “And unless one of you is literally dying, we will not be doing so. So take a bathroom break at the gas station.”
“Okay, Dad,” Tina whines, and Kurt rolls his eyes.
“I will turn this car around!”
Loud laughter erupts from the rest of the car, and Kurt can’t help but crack a smile. As annoying and demanding as they may be, these are some of his best friends, and he can’t stay mad at them for too long — especially not over a bathroom break.
******
Kurt sends Blaine into the gas station with a request of an iced coffee and some sort of sandwich, trying to give him a ten dollar bill, which he of course brushes off. Even if it’s only gas station food, Kurt knows his boyfriend likes to treat him.
Just as he’s finishing pumping gas, Quinn emerges from the gas station alone, shaking her head amusedly. “I don’t know how we’re going to get to New Jersey without another stop with the amount of drinks they’re buying.”
Kurt sighs. “I should’ve known. We’re not even a week into semi-adulthood and it’s suddenly a free-for-all.”
Despite the faux-disappointment that tinges his voice, they share a fond laugh as Quinn gets back into the car, Tina and Mercedes following close behind.
As Kurt’s about to swipe his card to pay for the gas, Tina slides up next to him and holds out hers.
“As if,” she scoffs. “You’re not paying a cent for gas for the whole trip; that was what we agreed on! Besides, you made two pee stops for me. It’s the least I can do.”
She grins as he willingly relents. “Also, I’m kind of surprised you let Blaine go into the gas station unsupervised.”
Kurt stares at her confusedly. “Why would that be an issue?”
“Oh my god, Kurt! They have gummy everything in there!”
As Blaine and Brittany hurry out towards them, he quickly gets his answer.
“I couldn’t decide between the sour gummy worms and the gummy sharks, so I just got both,” Blaine beams, holding up the two bags of candy. “They also had gummy bears, but those are boring. Here —“ he holds out Kurt’s coffee and ham and cheese sandwich.
“Gummy bears aren’t boring,” Britt protests, already snacking on her bag of what appears to be gummy turtles (how appropriate). “But you have to be careful with how you eat them. Always decapitate them; it’s more humane.”
“Thanks, B,” Kurt replies, taking the food and drink from him. “Did you get actual food for yourself?”
Blaine proudly produces a grape uncrustable. “Yep, I’m all good.”
“Blaine, those are horrific,” Kurt says, disgusted. “How do you like them?”
He shrugs. “They’re delicious.”
“You are so lucky that I love you.”
“I absolutely am,” Blaine agrees, grinning. Santana finally joins them at the car, complaining about how long it took them to make her coffee. Once they’re all buckled in and ready to go, Kurt pulls out of the parking lot, taking a long pull from his drink to get the caffeine started.
It’s going to be a long rest of the drive.
******
“Oh my god, a bed,” Kurt groans, dropping his suitcase carefully in the far corner of the dolphin-decorated room, making a beeline for the bed.
“Wait, wait—“ Blaine remarks, and Kurt watches amusedly, sprawled out on the bed, as he pulls the door shut with a dramatic flourish. “Privacy.”
“Hm, I love those girls, but we were in a car for ten hours with them,” Kurt comments. “Space has never felt so good.”
“I’m exhausted,” Blaine says, setting his suitcase next to Kurt’s and climbing onto the bed, unceremoniously flopping next to his boyfriend so he can rest his head on his chest, an arm sprawled across his stomach. “I can’t imagine how tired you must be. Thanks for driving, by the way.”
“I really don’t mind it,” Kurt admits, subconsciously tracing lightly across Blaine’s back. “But I honestly haven’t been this tired since the night after Nationals. I wasn’t kidding when I said that we might not come back out of this room because we’re going to bed.”
Kurt pauses. “Not that you have to go to bed just because I am. I just assumed you might want to after you were trying and failing to not fall asleep on the last half hour of the drive.”
“I stayed awake the whole time, thank you very much,” Blaine retorts. “I was just resting my eyes a bit.”
“Uh huh,” Kurt smirks. “You were practically snoring.”
Blaine scoffs. “I do not snore.”
“You do. It’s really quiet, kind of like a puppy,” Kurt teases fondly, and Blaine rolls his eyes, grabbing Kurt’s hand and licking a stripe across his palm.
“Ew, Blaine!” Kurt snatches his hand away, but he’s laughing. “You are disgusting.”
“You said I’m like a puppy,” Blaine grins, and Kurt shoves him off of him gently.
“Okay, that’s enough. You’re making me hot, and I’m always cold.”
“This room is super hot,” Blaine agrees. “I hope the air conditioning is on.”
“I’m sure it is. We felt it coming into the house, remember? It must not be as strong on the second floor,” Kurt reasons. “Do you actually want to go to bed right now? Maybe not sleep, but watch some TV and wind down for the night?”
Blaine nods. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”
“Okay. I’m going to take a shower,” Kurt remarks. “Are you planning to take one?”
“Is that an invitation?” Blaine waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “We have an en suite.”
“Sure, but only if you can control yourself,” Kurt warns good-naturedly. “I know we’ve only got a week away from our parents, but I don’t want to prolong getting into bed too much.”
Blaine hops off the bed with a mock salute. “Can do. I get it, no worries. We have a whole week together.”
Kurt smiles as Blaine pecks his cheek in passing, leaving the bathroom door open for him to follow.
******
“There’s no way I am wearing actual pajamas with how hot this room is,” Kurt quips as he flips off the light to the en-suite, putting the folded pajamas he had initially brought to wear back on top of his suitcase. “I’m sleeping in my underwear. I can guarantee you that even I won’t get cold.”
“You won’t hear any complaints from me,” Blaine replies, cracking the window open. “I’m doing the same.”
“You run so hot already, I can’t imagine,” Kurt says. “If you get too warm and clingy tonight, I might exile you to the edge of the bed, fair warning.”
“Aw, I feel so loved,” Blaine jokes, sliding under the light blanket that they left on the bed. “How domestic.”
“Shut up,” Kurt retorts with a grin, smacking his shoulder lightly as he climbs in next to him, accepting the television remote that Blaine hands him.
Suddenly, both Kurt and Blaine are startled by a rapid knock on their door. Kurt pulls the blanket farther up around them, although they’re definitely not indecent.
“Come in!”
“Hey, does your room have —“ Santana stops in her tracks, fake gagging. “Oh god, I didn’t think you would let me in if you were fucking!”
Kurt just raises an eyebrow, feeling Blaine suppress laughter next to him. “I don’t know how it works for girls, but merely cuddling while watching TV is not even close to that.”
“There’s a lot less dick involved, I’ll tell you that,” Santana retorts. “Which is a very good thing. The same can’t be said for you two.”
“Neither of us are even naked, Santana,” Blaine informs. “It’s totally innocent. Now, what do you need?”
She sighs exasperatedly. “I was wondering if your room is the one with the air conditioning controls for the hallway. Britt says they’re in a bedroom, but we can’t remember which one or where. She’s calling her parents and I’m going door-to-door, because I’m sweating my boobs off.”
“No, not our room,” Kurt answers. “As far as we know.”
Blaine pats Kurt’s arm once, sliding out of bed. “I’ll help you look. My house has a system similar to what you’re looking for.”
Santana grimaces at Blaine. “Ew, god, please put some pants on. Jesus Christ.”
Blaine grabs a pair of pajama pants out of his suitcase and slips them on over his boxers. “Happy?”
“As happy as a lesbian who no longer has to see men in their underwear,” Santana declares, leading him out the door. “Oh, but Kurt, considering that you’re probably an ass man, you’re tapping a nice one.”
She winks over her shoulder and shoots him a finger gun accompanied with a smirk, Blaine just shaking his head as a blush tinges his cheeks.
“I’ll be right back,” he calls apologetically to his boyfriend, following Santana out of the room.
Kurt just sighs, flipping through the various game shows available on cable TV, finally deciding on Jeopardy.
******
“OH! OH MY GOD!”
At the sound of frantic high-pitched screeching, Kurt and Blaine both bolt out of bed, practically running to the hallway to see what’s wrong.
Rachel, dressed in her bathing suit and clutching a dry towel and book with one hand, is shielding her eyes as she hurries away from the glass door at the end of the hallway that leads to the balcony. “You can’t be naked in there! It’s for communal use!”
Blaine glances to Kurt, utterly confused and very concerned. He just shakes his head in agreed bewilderment.
“First of all, this is private beach house,” Santana retorts angrily, and she’s suddenly rounding the corner into the house, holding a towel around her waist but leaving nothing to the imagination above it.
Blaine sucks in a gasp and cringes away, not disappearing back into their room but definitely turning so as not to get a face full of Santana’s chest. Kurt just groans, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.
“And secondly, this is Britt’s house. So if we want to skinny dip in the hot tub, we can get it on rent free.”
Quinn walks into the hallway in her pajamas, glancing from the half-naked Santana, now flanked by Brittany, who has at least thrown a baggy sweatshirt on, to Rachel, who is still hiding behind her hand, and then to Kurt and Blaine.
Despite their occasional differences and Quinn’s bouts of mild instability, Kurt’s always felt like they just get each other. When Quinn smiles in that “who thought this trip was a good idea, but also this is hilarious” way, he grins right back, shaking his head.
“What the hell is happening out here?” Mercedes questions as she joins the rest of the group in the hallway, Tina following her closely.
“I was going to have a nice, peaceful midnight soak in the hot tub to read a little before bed,” Rachel explains in attempted calmness, her voice just on the edge of a screech. “But instead, I walk in on Santana and Brittany hooking up in the hot tub!”
Santana’s blessedly crossed her arms across her chest, and she scoffs. “Oh come on, don’t be such a prude. We weren’t even doing anything. We were just skinny dipping.”
Tina suddenly starts to giggle softly, which sets Mercedes onto her own fit of laughter, growing in volume and force as the situation really sets in. Suddenly, the two of them are laughing hysterically, leaning against each other for support.
Quinn’s next to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. Rachel looks to her in betrayed horror, then turns that glare on Kurt and Blaine as they both can’t help but join in. It’s past midnight, the whole situation is ridiculous, and they’re all exhausted from a day of travel.
“Santana?” Rachel rounds on her, finally daring to look her in the eyes without covering her own. “Would you please put something on?”
It’s as if the dam breaks, because before she can even respond, Rachel catches onto the laughter, unable to maintain a straight face. Brittany’s already giggling away, and finally, Santana grins and laughs along with them.
“Oh my god,” Tina cries. “Oh my god, this is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“I need to sleep,” Quinn adds, swiping away a tear. “Good god, I’m going to bed, Rachel. Just skip the hot tub tonight.”
Rachel nods, following her back into their room. “I think we need to set a few rules, however —“
Quinn helpfully shuts the door behind them, allowing Rachel her space to let off steam away from everyone else.
“I need —“ Blaine sighs on the edge of a laugh. “I think I need to go to bed too.”
“Aw, did I just take your boob virginity, Blainers?” Santana teases, and he shakes his head, his cheeks tinging red.
“I’m too gay for this,” he mutters, and Kurt snorts, rubbing his back sympathetically as he follows him back into their bedroom.
“Not exactly what you thought a girls and gays summer vacation would be, huh?” He quips, and Blaine laughs, flopping back onto their bed unceremoniously.
“Look. The female form is beautiful! I appreciate it, and totally think that they should be able to flaunt it if they want to,” Blaine defends. “But that was more of Santana than I ever wanted or needed to see.”
“Well, you’d better get used to it,” Kurt remarks sympathetically. “Welcome to being the gay best friend to girls who have little to no shame.”
“I’m honored, I guess,” Blaine decides. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure,” Kurt replies, a little confusedly. “What do you need?”
Blaine grins cheekily. “I really don’t want to go to bed knowing the last naked person I saw was Santana.”
Kurt rolls his eyes. “Smooth, B. Very smooth.”
“I try. I think that’s the sexiest verbal foreplay I’ve ever initiated,” Blaine jokes. “You know, the longer we’re together, the more creative we have to be with those things.”
“Is that so?” Kurt replies, purposefully leaning away from Blaine as he shrinks the space between them. “Tell me some of your creative ideas.”
Blaine swallows, hard. “Um. Really?”
“I’m suddenly not so tired anymore,” Kurt says, imploring him to continue. “Maybe after we’re done talking, you’ll get your favor.”
“Oh my god. Okay.”