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As soon as Kurt arrived home and threw his leather messenger bag into a corner of the room carelessly, Adam knew what was up. He winced. Today was Announcement Day-the day Kurt had been fevering about for weeks; on which he would find out if he was a part of the cast of NYADA’s traditional autumn week rendition of the Scottish play. Kurt had worked very hard on his audition. He had even had one of Adam’s friends help him work on a Scottish accent for the part through endless Skype sessions. But judging by the way he handled his loved (and expensive) bag, the outcome hadn’t been favourable.
“Cuppa?” Adam offered, rising from the couch.
Kurt shrugged listlessly.
“I made cookies?” Adam added. A versatile recipe for celebratory or consolatory purposes.
Kurt just sighed and walked to the fridge. He opened it, stared at the contents for a moment, and then closed it again.
Adam walked up to him and put his warm hands on Kurt’s shoulders, rubbing circles over the muscles of his neck with his thumbs. “Didn’t you make the cast?” he asked carefully.
“Worse,” Kurt replied.
Adam frowned. “Worse…than…. not being cast?”
Kurt turned around to face him. “I got cast. As one of the weird sisters.” A raging fire briefly sparked in his eyes before it went out and emotions faded off Kurt’s face again. “I thought they were different. I thought that at NYADA, people would stop playing these kind of games. But no- let’s all have a laugh at the turtleface and his lady-voice and cast him as a witch! Ha. Ha. Ha. Hilarious.”
Adam could hear the accumulated grief of years of abuse in Kurt’s voice and it nearly broke his heart. As he was looking for words, Kurt continued.
“I mean, there are plenty of male parts. They didn’t have to cast me as McBeth, even if my audition was perfect. They could have given me Banquo, or a Thane- or even the bloody porter!”
Adam nodded. “But it’s a speaking part?” he tried.
Kurt rolled his eyes.
“And the witches are pivotal for the plot…”
“Just save it, Adam. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’ll go in tomorrow and refuse the part.”
Adam bit his lip. Then he remembered something, and walked over to their bookcase. He took something out and handed it to Kurt without speaking.
Kurt took it, and closed his eyes tightly to stop the tears from spilling out. Adam quickly put his arms around him and hugged him tight.
“Shhh,” he hushed. “I know it’s not fair. And you have every right to throw that cast sheet back in their faces. But think about how disappointed they’ll be if all the critics mention in their reviews is your performance. You can blow them all away, Kurt, even with 3 scenes.”
“Right,” Kurt sniffled, leaning into Adam’s arms. “They’re going to be fucking sorry they underused their show-stealer,” he whispered.
“I’ll get all the Apples to come and we’ll only applaud when you are on,” Adam promised solemnly.
Kurt chuckled a little “Okay,” he agreed. “And I’ll be the prettiest witch of them all too.” He placed his Prom Queen tiara on his head and raised his chin. “Cookie, please.”
“Coming up, sir,” Adam said, and kissed him soundly before hurrying to the kitchen.