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“Hello!” Rachel greeted Kurt warmly as he answered the door to the Hudson-Hummel house. She held her binder full of sheet music close to her chest, anticipating the rehearsal they had ahead of them with a hint of butterflies in her stomach.
Maybe because for the first time she had plans with a friend. Not a boyfriend or an adult who she was trying to impress, or a classmate who she knew was only being fake-nice to her but an actual friend.
After their locker conversation earlier that day, Kurt took Rachel up on her offer to sing a duet together for Glee Club. He invited her to his house to hangout and prepare their number. Rachel was surprised by this at first, not knowing what his reaction would be, but when he happily agreed Rachel was thrilled. There’s no one else from the New Directions she’d want to sing this mashup with. She hadn’t told him what songs she had in mind yet as she wanted to keep it a surprise and hopefully amaze him, knowing that just like her Kurt could easily learn the harmonies in one night so they could perform in front of the club tomorrow.
“Come in, come in!” Kurt said, dramatically motioning her inside. “I was expecting you to get a ride with Finn like you usually do. It’s been nearly 2 hours. I almost thought you were going to bail.”
“Yes well, I had to run a few errands before I arrived because I wanted to make sure I had everything ready to go for our duet so it would be perfect.”
Kurt's eyes gleamed with excitement. “Ooh do tell!”
“Hey, Rachel,” Finn said, coming in from the living room. “I knew I heard your voice. What are you doing here? Did we make plans for today? I completely forgot, I’m so s—”
Rachel shook her head. “No, not today. I have plans with Kurt.”
“That’s right. Your daily ‘couples time’ will have to be put on hold. Rachel and I have work to do.”
She and Kurt flickered their eyes towards each other and smiled as if they were keeping in a juicy secret. She couldn’t help but notice a bit of eagerness in Kurt’s tone. It was Kurt’s turn with Rachel. He seemed just as satisfied as she was to be hanging out with a friend.
“Oh,” Finn said, looking slightly shocked. “Okay. That’s… that’s awesome.” Finn’s expression changed to looking glad to be seeing his girlfriend and sort of step-brother spending time together. “Have fun. I’ll miss you though.” He caressed Rachel’s cheek and pecked her on the lips before disappearing back into the living room.
Kurt playfully rolled his eyes. “He acts as if he’ll never see you again. Come on.” He headed for the stairs, leading Rachel down to the basement.
Despite the countless times Rachel had been to their house since last year especially once Finn and Rachel started dating, Rachel never really spent much time in Kurt’s room. The closest she ever got was a glimpse of it during a tour of the house. Finn always opted for them to either hangout in the living room or her house so Rachel never got to fully look at Kurt’s decor.
When they entered Rachel’s eyes went wide.
“Wow…”
Kurt’s room was huge. He had a vanity off to the side of the stairs complete with a medium sized-round mirror and filled with tons of different supplies and products for him to get ready. He even had his own personal couch in the middle of the floor.
Rachel understood why Kurt made those comments about her room last year. She loved her decor but Kurt had a refined taste that made it seem like you were staying in a hotel suite instead of a bedroom. Hers was more teen girl esque, Strawberry Shortcake and Holly Hobbie all the way. With Broadway pizzazz of course. Just like Finn had a typical teenage boys room in the old house he shared with Carole. Dark colors, laundry thrown everywhere, and piles of video games in each corner. Rachel loved him for it, though. It was so like Finn. But Finn's room was nothing like this.
Kurt had photos scattered all over different areas of the room. Rachel roamed around to get a closer view of the portraits until she stopped and stared at one particular picture where Burt and a woman have their arms wrapped around a young boy, unmistakably Kurt, who has the biggest smile on his face.
“That’s my mom.” Kurt said from behind. He came up to stand next to Rachel, admiring the photo with her. “Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth Hummel had long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She had perfect complexion, with a rosy tint in her cheeks. Elizabeth looked content in the photo, having lovingly nudged her head against Burt’s while she held her husband and son close.
“She’s beautiful, Kurt. You have her eyes.” She hesitated before deciding to take Kurt’s hand and squeezing it lightly for comfort. He didn’t seem to mind. It even caused him to give her a small smile.
“Thank you.” He said quietly. “It’s nice to have someone to relate to… y’know… about moms.”
She knew what he meant. “Yeah, it is.” Rachel remembered how supportive Kurt was when she announced to the New Directions that she had been in contact with her mom Shelby. When Rachel told everyone Shelby helped her make her dress for Gaga Week, Kurt smiled the biggest in approval.
“C’mon!” Kurt said, breaking their heartfelt moment by shaking her. “I'm dying to hear what you’ve selected for us to perform. You left me hanging by a thread of suspense at the lockers. Now tell me!”
“Okay,” Rachel said, spreading her hands out to build the reveal. “So you know how I told you it was a combination of everything you and I love right? Well I thought maybe we could sing… THIS. ” she whipped out her sheet music, the title of the songs ‘Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy’ in bold letters at the top.
Kurt gasped. “Rachel.” He grabbed the papers from her hands and looked like he was staring at gold. “Oh my god, yes.”
“I was thinking you could sing Judy’s parts from Get Happy and I could sing Barbra’s parts, of course, from Happy Days Are Here Again. I have an outfit that’s nearly a duplicate of what she wore when she performed it with Judy on The Judy Garland Show and—”
“Yes. Yes.” Kurt nodded, bursting with enthusiasm. “And I have a silver suit that would go similarly with what Judy was wearing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen that performance.”
Rachel laughed and clapped excitedly at him. “I was hoping for that reaction. Let’s get to rehearsing. I already had Brad play it on the piano for me and recorded it so we could practice as if he was here playing for us.”
“Rachel that’s perfect!”
“Told you.” She shrugged playfully. Excluding Finn and her parents she’d never made someone smile so much before. It felt nice. He genuinely liked her idea.
...
After their second run through they both took a break to drink some water and rest their vocal chords. The song didn’t require choreography since the lyrics displayed all the emotions for them. During the performance Kurt and Rachel were going to sit and enjoy each other’s presence like Barbra and Judy did.
“You sound incredible, Kurt. I have chills. See?” She stretched out her arm to show him and he laughed.
“That’s quite the compliment coming from Barbra’s protégé.”
Rachel tilted her head affectionately, touched by his comment. “Well that means a lot, coming from you.” He truly thought she could level up to the brilliant woman that is Barbra Streisand. Rachel went to give him a hug to say thank you but at the slightest touch from her fingers to his left shoulder, Kurt winced.
Noticing Rachel had seen his reaction, he tensed up and started stammering.
“Sorry. I—I didn’t realize you were going to… it’s nothing. Just a tiny bruise.”
He stayed quiet for a minute, glancing up at her. Knowing Rachel wasn’t going to stop giving him a look until he gave her a real explanation since a tiny bruise wouldn’t elicit that big of a jump, he sighed. “I try to brace myself for the inevitable locker shove of the day from Karofsky but I didn’t get so lucky earlier...”
Rachel gasped. “Kurt.”
The thought of him getting shoved every day into the hard McKinley lockers shot a bolt of anger through her. She witnessed Karofsky and his horrible and only friend Azimio throw slushies at Kurt just like they had done to her and their fellow Glee clubbers. She knew they harassed him horrendously about his sexuality and choice of fashion in the past and they bothered Kurt during Gaga Week until the club collectively stood up to them. After that Rachel thought they had finally backed off. She hadn’t heard anything from Finn about it recently.
Kurt looked away, embarrassed about what he just admitted. It was clear he didn’t know how to go about talking about this subject. He shut down again. Quiet, like he had been acting for the past couple of weeks since Junior year started.
Rachel chose her words carefully, not to make Kurt feel uncomfortable or upset him. It made her sad knowing that he hadn’t received a hug or physical touch from anyone else to notice he was in pain. He probably tried to make sure no one got too close to him so they couldn’t tell. Finn most likely wasn’t aware. Burt either, or else Rachel knew they would have intervened. There was a reason Kurt was being silent about the physical violence.
“You know… you can always talk to me about it. I understand. I mean, I could never fully understand what you have to go through but I’ve heard what my dads had to, and still have to face. Not to mention the things I’ve been told. My gay parents encourage me to be rebellious. I should be sterilized. Karofsky’s a jerk and his taunts mean nothing. His so called ‘popular’ status will amount to nothing in the future, while your talent will cause you to soar. I meant what I said at the lockers. We’re going to win Nationals because we have you.” She saw Kurt’s eyes tearing up again, just like they did earlier when she told him that.
“You’re a star Kurt. And stars have a way of finding each other.”
To Rachel’s surprise, Kurt pulled her in for a hug. Rachel opted to wrap her arms around his waist instead to avoid his bruise.
“Thank you.” Kurt said. His voice was shaking.
“I’m really glad we decided to do this.”
“Me too.” Rachel agreed. She didn’t know whether or not he was referring to starting a friendship, hanging out, or planning to sing a duet together, but Rachel was grateful for all of the above.
Suddenly they heard footsteps trailing down the stairs to Kurt’s room.
“Kurt, dinner’s ready.” Burt’s voice echoed as he reached the bottom of the steps and was greeted by the two of them hugging. He gave the same shocked expression as Finn did earlier when he walked in from the living room and noticed Rachel at the door. “Oh hey there Rachel, how are you?”
Kurt subtly tried to wipe his eyes and they let go of each other’s embrace so they could face Burt. Rachel could see Burt watching him carefully, he must’ve been able to tell Kurt was crying.
“I’m fine Mr. Hummel, thank you for asking. I’m really excited for Kurt and I’s performance in Glee Club tomorrow. How are you feeling?”
“Much better, especially with this one looking after me.” Burt said, motioning to Kurt. “He won’t let me digest anything without approving it first. It’s been hard not being able to sneak a candy bar here and there like I used to.”
In an instant, Kurt reset his emotions. He stood up a little straighter and lovingly scolded Burt.
“Dad! We talked about this. You’ve got to watch how you eat. I’ve pre made a list of all the desserts you can go to town on and they’re just as delicious as a candy bar would be. Better, actually. And healthier.”
“What did I tell you Rachel? He’s the boss around here.”
Rachel smiled at their banter. Burt was equally gruff and kind at the same time. So different from her fathers personalities.
Burt chuckled and put his hands up to concede. “Well anywho Rachel you’re invited to stay for dinner if you’d like. I know Carole and Finn would love your company.”
Kurt turned to Rachel. “Can you?” He asked with a hopeful tone. “And afterwards we can practice one more time for tomorrow?”
Rachel nodded and smiled brightly. “Deal.” She admired his hard work ethic. Most of all she admired his heart. It felt gratifying to finally have a friend. She hoped this wouldn’t be the only time they’d sing together. She pictured this to be the beginning of a long, beautiful friendship.
…
The next day in Glee Club while Kurt and Rachel were performing their duet, Rachel took Kurt’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Sure, their two muses did the same thing during the end of their live performance but not only was Rachel trying to recreate an iconic performance, she took his hand to send him a message.
She was there for him. She was his ally. She couldn’t put into words how genuinely happy she was to be up there performing with him. The songs they were belting out to the club had a double meaning because it represented exactly how she felt. She’d be honored to get the chance to sing with him for the rest of her life, and most of all to have him as her best friend.
Kurt squeezed Rachel’s hand right back.