Fic: The Time Machine (24/24)
Title: The Time Machine
Genre: Romance, Humor, Fantasy
Pairing: Klaine, Brittana, Rory/?
Rating: PG - PG 13
Spoilers: none.
Disclaimer: : I own nothing...and do not claim to.
Summary: In a moment of what could be called absolutely brilliance or stupidity, Rory Hummel-Anderson decided that the only way to get his Papa back was to go back in time and stall him, or stop him from getting into the car at all. The only problem is, his Aunt's time machine is still just a prototype and he can't even specify a time. But Rory uses it anyway and suddenly he's back in 2011 and he has to pretend to be an exchange student while he waits for Aunt Brittany to build the time machine again and get back home. In the meanwhile he gets to know his parents as teenagers and even help their relationship along when they hit a bump in the road.
Chapter Twenty Four
Sugar’s Back
Three months later it seemed like everything was back to normal. Rory was back going to school and both his dads were working. They were all still worried about Rory's appearance in the past but were still trying to figure out if Rory had to go back any time soon. It wasn't a secret that none of them wanted Rory to go back in time. Sugar had left a month and a half ago but she had yet to come back and that was another worry though they were sure she would turn up eventually. Aunt Santana was holding a grudge against his dad. She needed someone to blame and Rory thought she also resented him because Rory had come back so quick and Sugar still hadn’t.
"Hey, Rory," his dad said coming into the kitchen, "what are you up to?"
Rory was looking through all the notes that his dad and Santana had made about time travel. Some of them were absolutely silly and Rory was almost positive that they had been kept only because they were funny. Others were confusing. Some were just questions.
"Trying to see if there's anything about Sugar's return," Rory said.
"You're not going to find anything," his dad said, "I've told you everything. Most of that stuff's useless. She'll turn up soon enough."
Rory nodded. "I know. And what about me and nationals?"
His dad shrugged. "I think we should wait for Sugar before doing anything about that. Now, don't you have any homework?"
"Finished it."
His dad kissed the side of his face and continued towards the fridge with his glass and filled it up with water.
“Well,” his dad said, “I want you to stop thinking about all of this. Everything will happen as it happens, alright? You’ll go back eventually or we’ll figure something else out.”
“I just don’t understand how you couldn’t remember that I was there,” Rory said.
“Sweetheart, I don’t think we interacted much the second time around and I had so much else going on. My audition. Prom. Graduation. Nationals. Not getting into NYADA.”
Rory nodded. He understood why his dad might not have remembered him. Maybe when he went back he stayed away deliberately and that was why they didn’t notice him. Yes, that had to be it. They were meant to not remember him. They hadn’t actually told Aunt Santana and Aunt Brittany about the video yet, but Rory couldn’t help but wonder if they remembered him and Sugar or if anyone else did.
The day that Sugar returned was a Saturday so Rory was home just lounging around in his pajamas. His papa was playing music from the music room, something new that was becoming old as he played it yet another time. His dad was making brunch which was the usual for Saturday mornings. They used to have them with Aunt Santana and Aunt Brittany but that had stopped for the past month or so.
The phone call came when his dad was calling them to eat. All three of them in pajamas sat around the island in the kitchen. His papa picked up.
“Hello,” he said and then, “she is? That’s great, Santana. Do you want us to come over?”
His papa mouthed “Sugar” at them while he listened to whatever was being said.
“We’ll see you later, then.”
“She’s back?” Rory asked, “Sugar’s back?”
“Yes,” his papa said, “but Santana said she would bring her over in a few hours.”
Rory couldn’t wait. Back before he went to the past, Rory wouldn’t have been as excited to see Sugar, but since sharing that experience with her, he had started to sort of miss her. He wanted to see her again and laugh at being back first even though he’d left later. He also wanted to finally discuss everything in the video with his aunts and Sugar and try and figure out what it all meant.
- - -
“I did only know he was older because he told me,” Kurt said.
Sugar had just come home from their nationals completion. It was apparently the same older Rory that had gone to see him about Blaine cheating that had appeared in those last few weeks of school. It was relief to know that Rory wouldn’t be leaving again for a while.
“So, I’ll time travel again when I’m twenty?” Rory asked.
Kurt nodded and sipped at his water. “It appears like that is what happens.”
They were all sitting in the living room. Santana and Brittany had taken up the loveseat and Sugar was not far from them in an armchair. It was nice to have them back in their lives and to not have Santana yell at him. They now knew why Sugar had taken so long. The machine had taken her on a little detour.
“I was really surprised when I got there and the house was the same. I went upstairs at once and I knew Rory was gone. Mami knew I was there and she told me to lay low. She thought you might think Rory was in trouble since I was the only one still there.”
Sugar explained how later she’d run into Rory. A just slightly taller Rory who had pulled her into a broom closet and explained that they had to stay out of the way and not be remembered by his parents. Sugar didn’t tell them a whole lot about older Rory, but she had a strange glint in her eyes when she talked about him.
“I really wanted to come home,” she said, “it wasn’t fair, but Rory told me we were stuck there until after Graduation and Nationals.”
She was home, though. At last. Her moms were happy again and what made Kurt happier was knowing that Rory wouldn’t just be going to the past all of a sudden again. It would be four more years before they had to deal with it again and by then Rory would be technically an adult and they might all be more prepared. What Kurt wasn’t looking forward to was Rory’s reaction to Blaine cheating on him. Kurt wondered if Sugar knew. He and Blaine had agreed to let him find out on his own, but Kurt still worried. They had always given Rory this false look at his and Blaine’s relationship - although really past those two instances with Chandler and Eli, no big issues had come between the two of them so it was all like what they’d told him.
Not having to worry anymore relaxed all of them and they had a nice afternoon catching up, slowly falling back into normalcy. This was how things should have been.
After Sugar and her moms left, Kurt decided to get back to doing some work. He had a few more designs to approve and even more to redraft from the scribbles he’d managed earlier because the ideas had been coming too fast and he’d been a little worked up about Sugar being back.
Now, he could really focus on his work.
Kurt didn’t come out of his office until dinner time and only because Blaine entered the room and kneaded at his shoulders until Kurt put his pencil down.
“You work way too hard,” Blaine told him, “I ordered food. Also, Cooper just called me. He’s apparently in town. Heard we were shooting something with Artie and is demanding to know why he wasn’t called.”
Kurt laughed and rolled his eyes. It was a classic Cooper move. They had been steering him away from Artie for years because Artie was still just as honest as ever when it came to what he said to his actors and they all knew that he would destroy Cooper. Cooper seemed to know that though, because he didn’t actively pursue him.
“Is Ally with him?”
Ally was Cooper’s wife. She was a writer and getting more and more popular. She wrote the kind of books that were popular among teenage girls and had written a good thirty or so books and Kurt would forever be astonished at her good fortune of being published because she wasn’t very good. Ally and Cooper worked well together that way though. She wasn’t a very good writer making it good, and he a bad actor going from guest spot to guest spot and from commercial to commercial. But, he’d gotten better than when Kurt had first met him, taking some cues from Blaine and probably some references too.
“Yes. Cooper tells me she has a deadline so she might be writing all weekend. Apparently her next book is about time travel and of course the heroine ends up with some dashing boy. Let’s not tell Sugar she’ll be around.”
Sugar was of course a big fan and if anyone got her nervous it was Ally.
“I’m glad. She’ll keep him in check. It might be nice for her, actually, after all she’s been through.”
Blaine shrugged. “They’re coming over later, Ally needs to get to a certain number of words or something.”
Cooper and Ally arrived after they had finished eating and Rory was the first to the door, hugging his aunt and uncle and Kurt suddenly remembered that Rory had been around when Kurt met Cooper. He almost blushed. That tiny crush had disappeared years ago, but his son now knew that there had been one and he definitely looked like he wanted to ask about it.
“I haven’t seen you guys in ages,” Cooper said after they were in the living room, “and I still can’t believe you didn’t even want me as an extra. I’m in desperate need for work.”
He really wasn’t. Kurt couldn’t imagine what might have happened to Cooper if he hadn’t been born an Anderson, or if he hadn’t met Ally who made more than enough money to support them because he certainly wouldn’t have been able to put food on the table.
“It was very last minute,” Kurt said, “I didn’t even think I would do it. And anyway, it was cut - Artie decided on going in a different direction.”
After that things got a bit calmer.
“Anyway, what are you going to do now, Squirt?” Cooper asked.
“Don’t call me that,” Blaine answered, “I don’t know. I’ve been writing some songs again, but I don’t think I’m ready to commit myself to anything with that, they’ll want a tour out of me. I finished the show in New York last year and I don’t think I could handle doing that again any time soon.”
Ally spoke up then, “you don’t want to be away from your family,” she said.
Blaine shrugged. Kurt knew she was right. They had never been afraid to go after their dreams no matter where they took them. Long distance didn’t scare them anymore and they had the means to be at each other’s side at any time. They had agreed a long time ago to put that in front of everything else and it had been working. It had worked during the year Blaine was on Broadway and Kurt had remained behind in Ohio with Rory, and the three months that Kurt had had to live in Paris.
“I don’t,” Blaine said, “I think it’s time we stick close together for a while. This guy,” he pointed at Rory, “is getting older and soon he’ll be off to college and out in the world on his own and it’ll give me some time to just work on my music.”
“Well,” Ally said, “I think that’s commendable.”
Ally and Cooper had no children though Kurt thought that Ally would have made an amazing mother. Their kids would have been damn attractive too. She was a tall leggy blond with amber eyes, pouty lips and a button nose. Ally oozed warmth.
“I think so too,” Kurt said and reached for Blaine’s hand, “it might be the best thing I’ve heard all day.”
- - -
“You’re really not going to tell me anything,” Rory said.
Sugar shook her head. “It’s better if you don’t know, don’t you think?”
Rory sighed. He’d been pestering Sugar for hours about the last few weeks of his dads’ senior year but Sugar wouldn’t tell him anything except that he would leave during the Thanksgiving break of his sophomore year of college. She wouldn’t even tell him what school he’d be attending.
“I don’t think it’d be better, actually,” he said, “I mean it, Sugar, wouldn’t it be better to be prepared?”
She shook her head again. “If that were the case your dad would have told you why you go back. And no, I don’t know. They do.”
There would be no getting anything out of his dads. Rory rolled his eyes but he sighed and nodded. “Fine. I guess four more years isn’t that long a time.”
“It’s really not,” she said and then, “I’m so glad everything worked out. Uncle Blaine is alive and we didn’t change anything.”
“You still don’t know who your dad is,” Rory pointed out.
Sugar licked her lips. “Actually,” she said, “I do. You told me, actually.”
“Oh,” Rory said and then, “are you going to tell me?”
“Nope.”
“But of course.”
Rory liked that it had gotten easier to hang out with Sugar. They had this sort of bond because they’d both gone to the past and experienced seeing their parents as teenagers, and it made it all the much easier for Rory to be comfortable around her which wasn’t the same way he felt around anyone else in school.
Before going to the past Rory had had a few good friends from the Warblers and couple outside of the a cappella group, but not being able to really share that he’d gone on this crazy adventure made it hard to talk to them. All they cared about was the latest video game or movie and the ones in the Warblers were always discussing music and competitions. They had made it past Regionals and Rory was actually pretty excited about being able to go to Nationals. His dads were as well and Rory was pretty sure that he was going to get a verse of one of the songs to himself
Sugar seemed to be feeling the same way he was but to a much higher degree. It probably had more to do with knowing who her dad was. Sugar had always wanted to know. Rory on the other hand had never been keen on finding his mother. He knew that his dad’s had chosen to have him via surrogate, but that they had asked someone specifically to be the egg donor. A part of him just didn’t want to know. His dad and papa were more than enough.
“My moms were really worried, huh?” Sugar asked.
Rory nodded. “You know, I got back before you left and Aunt Santana really didn’t want you to go. She got over it though and I think she really regretted it when you just didn’t come back quickly enough.”
“Well, I don’t think I’m going anywhere near that machine ever again.”
Rory laughed. He couldn’t say the same. It would be four more years, but he would be back with the machine and into the past. A part of him wanted to just get it over and done with, but a bigger part wanted him to just enjoy the four years he had before he was back in the past.
“Lucky you,” he said.
Sugar shrugged her shoulders. “Stop worrying about it so much.”
“I would if you told me anything.”
“I can’t,” she said and stood up, “anyway, I have a bunch of homework to catch up on so I should get going.”
He nodded.
Sugar actually hugged him before she left and then she paused at the door, looking back at him with a thoughtful look.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing.”
Rory rolled his eyes. He doubted that he would ever understand Sugar.
“Was that Sugar?” his papa asked, coming into the living room.
“Yeah,” Rory said, “she’s so frustrating. She won’t tell me anything about what happens when I’m in the past a second time.”
His papa laughed. “Of course she won’t. Some things you’re supposed to experience on your own. Do you think for one minute that things would have turned out the same if your dad and I told you everything before you went to the past? It was your reactions and how you dealt with things that was important about you being back there.”
“Right,” Rory said.
His dad was in New York for the week for some fashion thing. Rory was glad that his papa had opted to stay behind with him which wasn’t something they always did. Rory liked that he got to spend some time with him on his own. It was even better because with his papa not working, they could literally do nothing for days. All that his papa did ask for was that the house be kept clean.
“Your dad would kill us,” he’d said.
“Anyway,” his papa said, “it’ll be more fun if you don’t know what’s coming.”
“She told me you knew what makes me want to go back,” Rory said.
Blaine nodded slowly. “I think you figured out that your dad and I don’t tell you everything that happened in the past, right? This is one of those things. And, Rory, anything going on between you and Sugar?”
“Papa!”
His papa only laughed. “I really did think you liked her back then,” he said, “and your dad and I wouldn’t be opposed if you did. Might have some trouble with Santana.”
“I don’t like Sugar like that,” Rory said, “besides, she’s like my cousin.”
“Not by blood,” his papa added.
Rory shook his head. “Not interested in her, papa. I’m still a little lost on the whole relationship thing.”
“I know,” his papa said, “as much as I want you to find someone that you can see in that way, well, I think it’s good that you don’t lose yourself to someone else.”
Rory tilted his head a little. He didn’t really understand. His dad had given him a very long speech once about sex and love that had involved a lot of blushing from Rory and his dad alike, and that had eventually ended in his dad telling him to not throw himself around and that he mattered. It sounded a lot like something Grandpa Burt would say. This was different.
“What do you mean?” Rory asked.
“I think all this talk of the past has left me thinking about everything,” Blaine said, “and it’s just something I wish someone had told me back then.”
“But, you and dad, you were always just with each other right?”
Blaine nodded at once a little too fast, “It’s about your dad, Rory,” Blaine said, “and I know you’ve wanted to ask about Chandler.”
Rory had. He hadn’t know just how to bring it up thought.
“What I’m saying,” his papa said, “is that you have to be able to be you and to know who that is while being able to fit with another person. That’s what your dad and I had to figure out long after you left and we’ve managed it pretty well.”
“What about Chandler then?” Rory asked.
Blaine smiled. “He was nothing,” he said, “it was your dad running away from his problems and finding an escape because I was pushing him away and because your dad loved you so much even when we were in high school that he couldn’t handle thinking about you leaving. Yes, it was a form of cheating, and your dad admitted that no one should have been able to make him feel happy and good about himself that way, but in the end it was innocent and inadvertent and we never really talked about it again after it happened.”
“Oh,” Rory said, “is that why you never told me?”
“It just wasn’t important.”
Rory nodded. He felt like there was something more there. His papa looked like he was still thinking about something else, but he didn’t say anything. So, Rory decided it was time to change the subject.
“What are we getting for dinner?”
“We could go out,” his papa suggested.
Rory shrugged. “Alright.”
“Be ready in an hour,” his papa added before Rory was out of the room.
An hour later he heard the door open downstairs. Rory had just finished putting on his shoes, so he headed downstairs. His dad was there. He pressed a finger to his lips.
“Where’s your papa?” he asked.
“Your room.”
Rory watched his dad head up and then he heard laughter and loud kissing, but he just smiled because that was his family and he was the happiest person in the world knowing that he got to have both his dad and papa in his life. He walked back up the stairs and towards the master bedroom. The door was wide open and his dad stood behind his papa in front of a mirror, fixing the bowtie. Rory watched his dad peck his papa on the cheek.
The End
Author's Note: So, this is the end. And I can't believe I got here. Wow. But there will be a sequel. The sequel will cover the last few episodes of season 3 (in a way), but it won't be very long or cover absolutely everything like this one did, and there are a few other things dealing with season 4 that will be dealt with as well. I don't know when it will be up, but I will be posting it here. Hope you liked this one and stick around for the next one. Thanks for reading.
Genre: Romance, Humor, Fantasy
Pairing: Klaine, Brittana, Rory/?
Rating: PG - PG 13
Spoilers: none.
Disclaimer: : I own nothing...and do not claim to.
Summary: In a moment of what could be called absolutely brilliance or stupidity, Rory Hummel-Anderson decided that the only way to get his Papa back was to go back in time and stall him, or stop him from getting into the car at all. The only problem is, his Aunt's time machine is still just a prototype and he can't even specify a time. But Rory uses it anyway and suddenly he's back in 2011 and he has to pretend to be an exchange student while he waits for Aunt Brittany to build the time machine again and get back home. In the meanwhile he gets to know his parents as teenagers and even help their relationship along when they hit a bump in the road.
Chapter Twenty Four
Sugar’s Back
Three months later it seemed like everything was back to normal. Rory was back going to school and both his dads were working. They were all still worried about Rory's appearance in the past but were still trying to figure out if Rory had to go back any time soon. It wasn't a secret that none of them wanted Rory to go back in time. Sugar had left a month and a half ago but she had yet to come back and that was another worry though they were sure she would turn up eventually. Aunt Santana was holding a grudge against his dad. She needed someone to blame and Rory thought she also resented him because Rory had come back so quick and Sugar still hadn’t.
"Hey, Rory," his dad said coming into the kitchen, "what are you up to?"
Rory was looking through all the notes that his dad and Santana had made about time travel. Some of them were absolutely silly and Rory was almost positive that they had been kept only because they were funny. Others were confusing. Some were just questions.
"Trying to see if there's anything about Sugar's return," Rory said.
"You're not going to find anything," his dad said, "I've told you everything. Most of that stuff's useless. She'll turn up soon enough."
Rory nodded. "I know. And what about me and nationals?"
His dad shrugged. "I think we should wait for Sugar before doing anything about that. Now, don't you have any homework?"
"Finished it."
His dad kissed the side of his face and continued towards the fridge with his glass and filled it up with water.
“Well,” his dad said, “I want you to stop thinking about all of this. Everything will happen as it happens, alright? You’ll go back eventually or we’ll figure something else out.”
“I just don’t understand how you couldn’t remember that I was there,” Rory said.
“Sweetheart, I don’t think we interacted much the second time around and I had so much else going on. My audition. Prom. Graduation. Nationals. Not getting into NYADA.”
Rory nodded. He understood why his dad might not have remembered him. Maybe when he went back he stayed away deliberately and that was why they didn’t notice him. Yes, that had to be it. They were meant to not remember him. They hadn’t actually told Aunt Santana and Aunt Brittany about the video yet, but Rory couldn’t help but wonder if they remembered him and Sugar or if anyone else did.
The day that Sugar returned was a Saturday so Rory was home just lounging around in his pajamas. His papa was playing music from the music room, something new that was becoming old as he played it yet another time. His dad was making brunch which was the usual for Saturday mornings. They used to have them with Aunt Santana and Aunt Brittany but that had stopped for the past month or so.
The phone call came when his dad was calling them to eat. All three of them in pajamas sat around the island in the kitchen. His papa picked up.
“Hello,” he said and then, “she is? That’s great, Santana. Do you want us to come over?”
His papa mouthed “Sugar” at them while he listened to whatever was being said.
“We’ll see you later, then.”
“She’s back?” Rory asked, “Sugar’s back?”
“Yes,” his papa said, “but Santana said she would bring her over in a few hours.”
Rory couldn’t wait. Back before he went to the past, Rory wouldn’t have been as excited to see Sugar, but since sharing that experience with her, he had started to sort of miss her. He wanted to see her again and laugh at being back first even though he’d left later. He also wanted to finally discuss everything in the video with his aunts and Sugar and try and figure out what it all meant.
- - -
“I did only know he was older because he told me,” Kurt said.
Sugar had just come home from their nationals completion. It was apparently the same older Rory that had gone to see him about Blaine cheating that had appeared in those last few weeks of school. It was relief to know that Rory wouldn’t be leaving again for a while.
“So, I’ll time travel again when I’m twenty?” Rory asked.
Kurt nodded and sipped at his water. “It appears like that is what happens.”
They were all sitting in the living room. Santana and Brittany had taken up the loveseat and Sugar was not far from them in an armchair. It was nice to have them back in their lives and to not have Santana yell at him. They now knew why Sugar had taken so long. The machine had taken her on a little detour.
“I was really surprised when I got there and the house was the same. I went upstairs at once and I knew Rory was gone. Mami knew I was there and she told me to lay low. She thought you might think Rory was in trouble since I was the only one still there.”
Sugar explained how later she’d run into Rory. A just slightly taller Rory who had pulled her into a broom closet and explained that they had to stay out of the way and not be remembered by his parents. Sugar didn’t tell them a whole lot about older Rory, but she had a strange glint in her eyes when she talked about him.
“I really wanted to come home,” she said, “it wasn’t fair, but Rory told me we were stuck there until after Graduation and Nationals.”
She was home, though. At last. Her moms were happy again and what made Kurt happier was knowing that Rory wouldn’t just be going to the past all of a sudden again. It would be four more years before they had to deal with it again and by then Rory would be technically an adult and they might all be more prepared. What Kurt wasn’t looking forward to was Rory’s reaction to Blaine cheating on him. Kurt wondered if Sugar knew. He and Blaine had agreed to let him find out on his own, but Kurt still worried. They had always given Rory this false look at his and Blaine’s relationship - although really past those two instances with Chandler and Eli, no big issues had come between the two of them so it was all like what they’d told him.
Not having to worry anymore relaxed all of them and they had a nice afternoon catching up, slowly falling back into normalcy. This was how things should have been.
After Sugar and her moms left, Kurt decided to get back to doing some work. He had a few more designs to approve and even more to redraft from the scribbles he’d managed earlier because the ideas had been coming too fast and he’d been a little worked up about Sugar being back.
Now, he could really focus on his work.
Kurt didn’t come out of his office until dinner time and only because Blaine entered the room and kneaded at his shoulders until Kurt put his pencil down.
“You work way too hard,” Blaine told him, “I ordered food. Also, Cooper just called me. He’s apparently in town. Heard we were shooting something with Artie and is demanding to know why he wasn’t called.”
Kurt laughed and rolled his eyes. It was a classic Cooper move. They had been steering him away from Artie for years because Artie was still just as honest as ever when it came to what he said to his actors and they all knew that he would destroy Cooper. Cooper seemed to know that though, because he didn’t actively pursue him.
“Is Ally with him?”
Ally was Cooper’s wife. She was a writer and getting more and more popular. She wrote the kind of books that were popular among teenage girls and had written a good thirty or so books and Kurt would forever be astonished at her good fortune of being published because she wasn’t very good. Ally and Cooper worked well together that way though. She wasn’t a very good writer making it good, and he a bad actor going from guest spot to guest spot and from commercial to commercial. But, he’d gotten better than when Kurt had first met him, taking some cues from Blaine and probably some references too.
“Yes. Cooper tells me she has a deadline so she might be writing all weekend. Apparently her next book is about time travel and of course the heroine ends up with some dashing boy. Let’s not tell Sugar she’ll be around.”
Sugar was of course a big fan and if anyone got her nervous it was Ally.
“I’m glad. She’ll keep him in check. It might be nice for her, actually, after all she’s been through.”
Blaine shrugged. “They’re coming over later, Ally needs to get to a certain number of words or something.”
Cooper and Ally arrived after they had finished eating and Rory was the first to the door, hugging his aunt and uncle and Kurt suddenly remembered that Rory had been around when Kurt met Cooper. He almost blushed. That tiny crush had disappeared years ago, but his son now knew that there had been one and he definitely looked like he wanted to ask about it.
“I haven’t seen you guys in ages,” Cooper said after they were in the living room, “and I still can’t believe you didn’t even want me as an extra. I’m in desperate need for work.”
He really wasn’t. Kurt couldn’t imagine what might have happened to Cooper if he hadn’t been born an Anderson, or if he hadn’t met Ally who made more than enough money to support them because he certainly wouldn’t have been able to put food on the table.
“It was very last minute,” Kurt said, “I didn’t even think I would do it. And anyway, it was cut - Artie decided on going in a different direction.”
After that things got a bit calmer.
“Anyway, what are you going to do now, Squirt?” Cooper asked.
“Don’t call me that,” Blaine answered, “I don’t know. I’ve been writing some songs again, but I don’t think I’m ready to commit myself to anything with that, they’ll want a tour out of me. I finished the show in New York last year and I don’t think I could handle doing that again any time soon.”
Ally spoke up then, “you don’t want to be away from your family,” she said.
Blaine shrugged. Kurt knew she was right. They had never been afraid to go after their dreams no matter where they took them. Long distance didn’t scare them anymore and they had the means to be at each other’s side at any time. They had agreed a long time ago to put that in front of everything else and it had been working. It had worked during the year Blaine was on Broadway and Kurt had remained behind in Ohio with Rory, and the three months that Kurt had had to live in Paris.
“I don’t,” Blaine said, “I think it’s time we stick close together for a while. This guy,” he pointed at Rory, “is getting older and soon he’ll be off to college and out in the world on his own and it’ll give me some time to just work on my music.”
“Well,” Ally said, “I think that’s commendable.”
Ally and Cooper had no children though Kurt thought that Ally would have made an amazing mother. Their kids would have been damn attractive too. She was a tall leggy blond with amber eyes, pouty lips and a button nose. Ally oozed warmth.
“I think so too,” Kurt said and reached for Blaine’s hand, “it might be the best thing I’ve heard all day.”
- - -
“You’re really not going to tell me anything,” Rory said.
Sugar shook her head. “It’s better if you don’t know, don’t you think?”
Rory sighed. He’d been pestering Sugar for hours about the last few weeks of his dads’ senior year but Sugar wouldn’t tell him anything except that he would leave during the Thanksgiving break of his sophomore year of college. She wouldn’t even tell him what school he’d be attending.
“I don’t think it’d be better, actually,” he said, “I mean it, Sugar, wouldn’t it be better to be prepared?”
She shook her head again. “If that were the case your dad would have told you why you go back. And no, I don’t know. They do.”
There would be no getting anything out of his dads. Rory rolled his eyes but he sighed and nodded. “Fine. I guess four more years isn’t that long a time.”
“It’s really not,” she said and then, “I’m so glad everything worked out. Uncle Blaine is alive and we didn’t change anything.”
“You still don’t know who your dad is,” Rory pointed out.
Sugar licked her lips. “Actually,” she said, “I do. You told me, actually.”
“Oh,” Rory said and then, “are you going to tell me?”
“Nope.”
“But of course.”
Rory liked that it had gotten easier to hang out with Sugar. They had this sort of bond because they’d both gone to the past and experienced seeing their parents as teenagers, and it made it all the much easier for Rory to be comfortable around her which wasn’t the same way he felt around anyone else in school.
Before going to the past Rory had had a few good friends from the Warblers and couple outside of the a cappella group, but not being able to really share that he’d gone on this crazy adventure made it hard to talk to them. All they cared about was the latest video game or movie and the ones in the Warblers were always discussing music and competitions. They had made it past Regionals and Rory was actually pretty excited about being able to go to Nationals. His dads were as well and Rory was pretty sure that he was going to get a verse of one of the songs to himself
Sugar seemed to be feeling the same way he was but to a much higher degree. It probably had more to do with knowing who her dad was. Sugar had always wanted to know. Rory on the other hand had never been keen on finding his mother. He knew that his dad’s had chosen to have him via surrogate, but that they had asked someone specifically to be the egg donor. A part of him just didn’t want to know. His dad and papa were more than enough.
“My moms were really worried, huh?” Sugar asked.
Rory nodded. “You know, I got back before you left and Aunt Santana really didn’t want you to go. She got over it though and I think she really regretted it when you just didn’t come back quickly enough.”
“Well, I don’t think I’m going anywhere near that machine ever again.”
Rory laughed. He couldn’t say the same. It would be four more years, but he would be back with the machine and into the past. A part of him wanted to just get it over and done with, but a bigger part wanted him to just enjoy the four years he had before he was back in the past.
“Lucky you,” he said.
Sugar shrugged her shoulders. “Stop worrying about it so much.”
“I would if you told me anything.”
“I can’t,” she said and stood up, “anyway, I have a bunch of homework to catch up on so I should get going.”
He nodded.
Sugar actually hugged him before she left and then she paused at the door, looking back at him with a thoughtful look.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing.”
Rory rolled his eyes. He doubted that he would ever understand Sugar.
“Was that Sugar?” his papa asked, coming into the living room.
“Yeah,” Rory said, “she’s so frustrating. She won’t tell me anything about what happens when I’m in the past a second time.”
His papa laughed. “Of course she won’t. Some things you’re supposed to experience on your own. Do you think for one minute that things would have turned out the same if your dad and I told you everything before you went to the past? It was your reactions and how you dealt with things that was important about you being back there.”
“Right,” Rory said.
His dad was in New York for the week for some fashion thing. Rory was glad that his papa had opted to stay behind with him which wasn’t something they always did. Rory liked that he got to spend some time with him on his own. It was even better because with his papa not working, they could literally do nothing for days. All that his papa did ask for was that the house be kept clean.
“Your dad would kill us,” he’d said.
“Anyway,” his papa said, “it’ll be more fun if you don’t know what’s coming.”
“She told me you knew what makes me want to go back,” Rory said.
Blaine nodded slowly. “I think you figured out that your dad and I don’t tell you everything that happened in the past, right? This is one of those things. And, Rory, anything going on between you and Sugar?”
“Papa!”
His papa only laughed. “I really did think you liked her back then,” he said, “and your dad and I wouldn’t be opposed if you did. Might have some trouble with Santana.”
“I don’t like Sugar like that,” Rory said, “besides, she’s like my cousin.”
“Not by blood,” his papa added.
Rory shook his head. “Not interested in her, papa. I’m still a little lost on the whole relationship thing.”
“I know,” his papa said, “as much as I want you to find someone that you can see in that way, well, I think it’s good that you don’t lose yourself to someone else.”
Rory tilted his head a little. He didn’t really understand. His dad had given him a very long speech once about sex and love that had involved a lot of blushing from Rory and his dad alike, and that had eventually ended in his dad telling him to not throw himself around and that he mattered. It sounded a lot like something Grandpa Burt would say. This was different.
“What do you mean?” Rory asked.
“I think all this talk of the past has left me thinking about everything,” Blaine said, “and it’s just something I wish someone had told me back then.”
“But, you and dad, you were always just with each other right?”
Blaine nodded at once a little too fast, “It’s about your dad, Rory,” Blaine said, “and I know you’ve wanted to ask about Chandler.”
Rory had. He hadn’t know just how to bring it up thought.
“What I’m saying,” his papa said, “is that you have to be able to be you and to know who that is while being able to fit with another person. That’s what your dad and I had to figure out long after you left and we’ve managed it pretty well.”
“What about Chandler then?” Rory asked.
Blaine smiled. “He was nothing,” he said, “it was your dad running away from his problems and finding an escape because I was pushing him away and because your dad loved you so much even when we were in high school that he couldn’t handle thinking about you leaving. Yes, it was a form of cheating, and your dad admitted that no one should have been able to make him feel happy and good about himself that way, but in the end it was innocent and inadvertent and we never really talked about it again after it happened.”
“Oh,” Rory said, “is that why you never told me?”
“It just wasn’t important.”
Rory nodded. He felt like there was something more there. His papa looked like he was still thinking about something else, but he didn’t say anything. So, Rory decided it was time to change the subject.
“What are we getting for dinner?”
“We could go out,” his papa suggested.
Rory shrugged. “Alright.”
“Be ready in an hour,” his papa added before Rory was out of the room.
An hour later he heard the door open downstairs. Rory had just finished putting on his shoes, so he headed downstairs. His dad was there. He pressed a finger to his lips.
“Where’s your papa?” he asked.
“Your room.”
Rory watched his dad head up and then he heard laughter and loud kissing, but he just smiled because that was his family and he was the happiest person in the world knowing that he got to have both his dad and papa in his life. He walked back up the stairs and towards the master bedroom. The door was wide open and his dad stood behind his papa in front of a mirror, fixing the bowtie. Rory watched his dad peck his papa on the cheek.
The End
Author's Note: So, this is the end. And I can't believe I got here. Wow. But there will be a sequel. The sequel will cover the last few episodes of season 3 (in a way), but it won't be very long or cover absolutely everything like this one did, and there are a few other things dealing with season 4 that will be dealt with as well. I don't know when it will be up, but I will be posting it here. Hope you liked this one and stick around for the next one. Thanks for reading.