Kadam Week 2021 Day 3 ~ I did not plan for this, but I'm glad you found a solution
This is me trying to not start something on a platform only to post solely somewhere else aka AO3 and ff.net  you can find the complete list of Kadam Week 2021 prompts and you might find more stories on the Kadam Week 2021 AO3 collection
That said, the third prompt is Love Letters
During most of the story Kurt and Adam are either away from each other or working at a summer camp around kids there's not much on the side of the description of them being all coupley but I think you could tell anyway they are more than just friends...
I still hope you'll give this a chance and have a good time reading it, so here we go, I present to you I did not plan for this, but I'm glad you found a solution (or read on ao3)
When Kurt signed up for a theatre summer camp for kids as a summer work project, he had honestly thought it was going to be in New York, for he was absolutely sure there was no mention of the camp being strongly discouraging taking electronics especially phones due to lack of data and mobile coverage.
He did recheck once he got home, nowhere it was written that they would have the camp in the middle of nowhere, where the no electronics rule was happily enforced by Mother Nature.
And to make things even worse Adam was flying back to the UK for two of the six weeks Kurt was going to be at the campâŠ
So even if Kurt managed to go into the town on his free day, and somehow the quaint small town, that was not yet willing to join the XXI century, still had a serviceable land phone, trying an international call was out of his walletâs options.
Not if he was to take into account just how much he would miss his boyfriend.
It was even worse when Adam just patted his back when both of them met to go together at the airport before flying to their respective destinations.
To his immense surprise, once he reached the camp and his bungalow the campâs director had a grin on her face and offered him a letter.
Upon taking a closer look a surprised smile appeared on his face.
It seemed his boyfriend had taken notice of how down he was about the whole situation and sent him a letter.
Knowing he had something to look forward to, Kurt managed to concentrate on getting familiar with the place and the other camp counsellors and instructorsâŠ
The lighter heart had been a blessing, and while he hadnât suddenly acquired new bffs, he did manage to learn that the camp had every year an influx of three to five new counsellors.
Mostly all freshmen or second semester students, who had been fibbed into accepting the position, usually those were the ones who had something of value to share, at least in the opinion of their school's teachers.
It wasnât until late in the evening when Kurt was in his room that he took the time to unpack properly that he found a box he was completely sure he never saw before.
Upon opening it Kurt found it was a stationary box, with adorable doodles on the lettersâ paper and exactly six envelopes already with stamps and already addressed to Adam at his parent's place in the UK.
The amount sheets for the letters though was way higher and there were just as many remaining white envelopes to last Kurt the remaining of the month that was not covered by the first two weeks in which Adam was still on the other side of the ocean.
After placing the stationary box on his bedside table Kurt went for the letter that Adam had sent for him to receive upon arrival.
"Dearest Kurt,
I know you weren't expecting a lot of things about this experience, I hope you'll find it fun and enlighten. If I know you as well as I believe I do, by now you've already discovered that this specific camping program had the peculiarity of attracting every year few freshmen or second semester students recommended for the job. All of them usually arriving in here not knowing at all about the lack of modern commodities like data and mobile coverage.
All those students are one that the professors of their schools believe could learn something from the experience, and would be able to not only cope but excel in the challenge posed to them.
Some of the older counsellors have been in the same position you are in right now and then decided to return year after year.
I'm also pretty sure you've already found my parting gift in your suitcase, I know we were thinking of spending more time together and that the news of six weeks with no way of staying in contact with each other had been hard on you.
Don't worry my love, it has worked for thousands of lovers before, and if youâre amenable and desires to, then we can make do with writing letters while we are not able to talk with more modern means.
Usually it takes about a couple of days for a letter to cross the ocean and arrive at its destination. The first couple of letters you'll receive from me were sent before we left, so they could reach you and allow me to be able to put a smile on your face even without being present.
If you don't feel like writing then still please make pictures and send me proof that you're having a good time?
The campâs director has a printer so don't try to wiggle your way out of this, because my darling I will write to you even if you'll leave me all alone to be a starstruck pining lover.
Know that I love you, and that I believe you will find the experience worthwhile in the end.
With all my love,
Adam"
Kurt was almost in tears by the time he reached the end of the letter and he shook his head grinning, Adam was absolutely wrong if he thought for a single moment that Kurt wouldn't return the sweet gesture choosing to send pictures instead.
Still as they hadn't been together that much yet there had not been a chance yet for Adam to actually see Kurt's own calligraphy set.
It was a pity he hadn't thought of taking it with him, in his misery upon the news of no electronics and no connectivity he had not thought of alternative slower ways to obtain the same result.
In his defence though, he had been under the false impression that there would be at least data coverage until right before leaving, at which point he had already packed and taken everything that he needed already and it was too late to return home and pick alternatives.
Reassigning himself to make do with a normal pen he started jetting down what was going to be the first of quite a few letters. Would they still be considered love letters since they did express the sentiment and were sent between lovers? Kurt wasn't completely sure, but the thought made him grin and blush at the same time.
"My dearest, Adam,
you wonderful man have no idea how much it means to me that you went through all the trouble of arranging this wonderful surprise for me. A way to stay in touch with you while we're apart, I confess by the time I realised how things were going to be, I was too frantic despairing to think that quickly such a simple and elegant solution.
My love, I do hope you were simply offering me an alternative to making sure I would not leave you completely alone and in the dark about how things were going for me when you mentioned eventually sending you prints of pictures.
There is no way Iâd leave you pining on your lonesome, especially not while you take such attentive care to my own needs and you made sure to prevent me from suffering such fate.
There will be time to show you all the pictures I'll take, once we're together again and we can spend time in each other's arms.
You might not know yet, but by now you might have noticed that I do have an appreciation for calligraphy, and despite having to do with the poor mean of a roll pen there is no way I could waste this brilliant opportunity to write you a proper love letter.
As you rightly guessed I managed to talk with some of the other counsellors and figured out that there were few returning seniors, and the other first timers were just as blindsided as I was.
The campâs director had a knowing smile when she handed me your letter. I suspect the others you mentioned were already in her possession but that she would pace releasing them into my hands.
Despite the brief panic you witnessed before leaving, I'm not really that averse to a nice break and being unavailable, but I usually prefer the chance to prepare and be ready for that.
I was very worried for my dad, I sent him a message while I was still in town and talked to the campâs director about my worries and that I had left a message down at the townâs post office. I'll let you in on a secret, there is a working line in her office, under key of course.
But she allowed me to make a call to my dad when no one was looking, so that if something was to happen I would be reachable, even if I'm officially off the grid until my return to the big city life.
It was a big relief and it lifted another big weight from my shoulders.
I am so happy you thought of this, and I can't wait to hear more of your adventures from back home, as I'll share the adventures from into the woods...
With all my sincere love and admiration
Yours truly
Kurt"
To Kurt's surprise one of the breakfast rituals was the collection and distribution of the mail. With the announcement that even when the kids would arrive, this was going to be a daily ritual. As counsellors they were to encourage the kids to write back home, especially the ones feeling homesick.
As Kurt had suspected, there was a new letter for him on that day as well, and like the previous one, he kept it for the evening to cheer himself up before going to bed.
As Adam has said in his second letter, indeed once the kids arrived it all became at the same time easier and harder.
Easier because the feeling of loneliness and missing Adam had to be put on the back burner during the day. And the letters kept Kurt happy and cherished during the evenings after he socialised with his peers sharing stories of the day with the others.
Harder because his kids were all super excited and easily excitable. In all honesty they reminded Kurt a lot of how he remembered feeling when he was a little younger than them and he still qualified for the Lima theatre summer camp...
By the end of the first week, once every one of his kids had sent at least one letter home, Kurt finally figured out why he had been assigned them. All of them came from small Ohio towns that, like Lima, wouldn't have catered for their artistic inclinations. Kurt made a mental note to check with the head if it had been a coincidence or not.
On the weekend of the second week, once the first period ended and the first turnover happened, the campâs director announced that more counsellors were going to join them to help out with the new influx of kids since they would be at full capacity from there on until the end of the program.
On sundayâs morning Kurt had run late for breakfast because one of his kids who was going to stay for longer than two weeks, was not finding one of their shoes, and they had to find it before they could join the others.
With things being that way, when he entered the dining hall, all the new counsellors had already been introduced and the mail was being delivered.
Kurt guided his kid to their table and in less than three minutes all his kids still present were giggling and looking ready to burst, while attempting to appear normal. Before Kurt could turn and check what was so funny Adam's letter was being held in front of him by a very familiar hand, with an equally familiar bracelet hugging the wrist.
Kurt automatically grabbed the letter and he turned to find himself face to face with Adam.
Both their eyes shining with happiness, "Hellu Kurt. Surprise"
Kurt grinned and bit his lower lip, the giggling kids at his back reminding him that there was still work to do "Hellu Adam, I should have known you'd be one of the returning seniors, I look forward working together."
Adam nodded still smiling "As I do, I'll let you go back to your day now. Iâll see you later."
Kurt smiled brilliantly and nodded back "I'll see you later, have a good day"
The kids, as Kurt suspected had been super curious and with it being the last day for some, he indulged them in revealing that indeed that was the same friend Adam who had written to Kurt keeping him from feeling homesick in the previous weeks.
That evening once the new kids had been safely tucked in bed Kurt finally had a moment to properly greet his boyfriend "I am so happy to see you in here, though you could have told me you were going to join me in here once you got back to the states."
Adam smiled softly kissing Kurt's temple "But then you would have lived waiting for this day instead of making the most of those past couple of weeks. And maybe you wouldnât have cherished as much the letters we were exchanging. While weâre on that note. Thank you for yours, they were wonderful and I was so happy to receive them."
Kurt smiled with his eyes closed and his arms wrapped tightly around Adam's waist "They were a balm and the one thing I kept for myself as an evening ritual. Sitting on my bed and reading your letter. I didn't have any day so bad that I had to read them before evening, which is what I had reasoned could be a good coping mechanism. Keep your letter for the night when it was private time, or as comfort if things went south and I couldn't handle them before night fell."
Adam hummed softly murmuring "I'm glad for that."
The next mondayâs morning set up the pattern for the rest of their stay. They would both take their kids to breakfast and find a letter in a white envelope with their name and the campâs address waiting for them to be delivered, just like it had happened for the past two weeks for Kurt.
The remaining month passed in no time at all, the day passed quickly and the evenings were filled with laughters and making new friends while sharing stories with the other counsellors.
Once it was Kurtâs turn for the final interview to wrap up the whole experience, the campâs director before parting asked curious âSo was Adam right? Were you able to see just how many families were touched and gained from your fatherâs work?â
Kurt looked taken aback so he asked confused âWhat do you mean?â
She smiled kindly and proceeded to explain âAll the kids you took care of, they were all able to be here this summer because your father campaigned and set up a fund for supporting the arts in small towns. He had to prove that there was the request for such support, and he had been challenged to demonstrate it could work starting from the state he was representing.â
Kurt bit his lips âA state notoriously not that art orientedâ
She nodded grinning, âAnd I can tell you we had to limit the acceptance because there are ratios we need to respect for security reasons. But all those kids you took care of came from just as many families who benefited from your dadâs work. Adam was the one who suggested you be their mentor during their stay. And I think he was right, the families and the kids themselves think that too, as every single one of your kids was ecstatic that someone like them had made it and reached his dream school.â
Kurt felt tears forming in his eyes, so he started to try blinking them away. Emotions made it a little difficult but he still managed to say a grateful âThank youâ before leaving and searching for Adam.
Once Kurt found him he hugged his boyfriend tightly and said in a low voice âThank you for all youâve done for me this summer, I never thought Iâd see first hand the results of my dadâs work. I knew what it meant for me and how I wished those were opportunities I had, but I never suspected it was going to reaching so far and so many.â
Adam held Kurt just as tightly and said back softly âI know you were so worried for your dad earlier on during the semester. So I wanted you to realise that your dad is important for a whole lot more people than you even realise. That no matter how difficult things might get, youâre not alone in wishing the best for your dad.â
Kurt then raised his face from Adamâs chest and said grinning âAnd you also wanted to make sure Iâd fell in love with this camp as much as you are so next year weâd come here togetherâŠâ
Adam chuckled but didnât deny the playful accusation.
By the time autumn came around and leases were up, they moved in together, and during moving day it was discovered how each kept their letters into a special boxes safe and easily accessible.
When christmas came around the couple took part into a papermaking and bookbinding crafting course.
By the following valentineâs day each set of letters had been lovingly built into a ecoleather bound diary containing all the letters the couple exchanged since their first ones the previous summer. ~The End~ AN: One last thing that's more a game, if you found the small easter egg in the story, feel free to reach back to me, I can bake you your fave virtual cookie, or make a story out of a prompt you have in mind/wish to see. (hint it's from Hamilton...)
















