Author's Note: So I said on my bio page that I wouldn't write for Glee until I finished the first two seasons, but I apparently lied, because I've still got some season 2 stuff to watch, but "On My Way" left me possessed with a demon plot bunny for reasons that have very little to do with the actual episode (well, two plot bunnies, really, but the other isn't trying to possess me like I was Regan MacNeil). I know that I owe any of my Harry Potter carry-over readers (working under the assumption that I have solid readers; let me have a big ego for a minute) the third story in the "Why" series, and it's coming along, I promise, but this plot bunny would not let me go.
Disclaimer: All the characters you meet (except for Allie, Jenny, and one you'll meet at the end) belong to Ryan Murphy. The title is from "I'll Cover You," from RENT, which I also don't own. And the Regan MacNeil thing above, that's from The Exorcist. I don't own that either.
Kurt Hummel knew, from the moment Blaine said, "You move me, Kurt, and this duet would just be a chance to spend more time with you," and then actually kissed him, oh my God oh my God ohmyGod, that he was in love with him. Not with the idea of Blaine or with the only other out guy he knew, but actually in love with Blaine, who drank too much coffee and was much too in love Katy Perry, who could really only express his feelings in song and be as accidentally hurtful as Kurt could sometimes. Kurt wasn't in love with some abstract knight-in-shining-armor, but a boy Kurt's age, one actually a grade below Kurt because of some sort of incident he won't tell Kurt about but couldn't have involved Mr. 4.0 actually failing. Blaine's lips didn't taste like all that romance novel stuff, like honey or ambrosia (thankfully, though, they also don't taste like dip or armpits, thank you very much Miss Brittany S. Pierce) but like his medium drip, and Kurt had thought he'd never again like drip brew coffee after drinking so much when his dad was in the hospital, but Blaine's kisses are putting his nonfat mocha to shame.
And since he was kissing Blaine when he figured out that he was in love with him, he kind of figured that Blaine and kisses would fit together to deepen their relationship. And they did, but not in the way Kurt expected. He never thought he'd fall more in love with Blaine watching him kiss other people.
Of course, there kisses he shared with Blaine that strengthened their bond, as well. That kiss in the auditorium, right before their first time, was a first of its own—the first time he and Blaine had kissed, really kissed, in a public setting where anyone could stroll into the auditorium, even the football team after their game, and Kurt had been so proud of Blaine's courage that it dispelled the last of his doubts about what he wanted to happen that night. When Blaine, still in a hospital bed after his eye surgery and forgetting his total lack of depth perception with one eye heavily bandaged, had surged up and over to where Kurt was sitting on the side of the bed to kiss him only to miss and kiss Kurt's chin instead of his lips, Kurt had felt a surge of sheer protective affection for the boy, his boy that it had come out as snark ("Lie back down, you crazy little pirate, you could have missed me completely and fallen out of bed." "You would have caught me, love, you know you would have.") but hit Kurt with the same intensity as realizing he was in love with Blaine—it's not just our job to love each other, it's our job to keep each other safe.
But the kisses that really stole his heart completely were the ones Blaine bestowed on other people. Blaine's affectionate and a very kinesthetic friend on top of that (Blaine had pouted so adorably when Kurt called him "touchy-feely" that Kurt had promised to never say it again even though it was true), Kurt already knew that. They were holding hands within ten minutes of meeting, after all. So Blaine does a lot of casual, affectionate touching and hugs lots of people—Wes when he got his acceptance letter to Princeton, Trent the day he told them all he was bisexual, and Finn the first time he casually addressed Blaine as "bro," just to name a few—but kisses, Blaine was more careful with after the Tragic Rachel Berry Incident. They meant more to Blaine, and consequently, to Kurt.
The first time Kurt feels a surge of pure love watching Blaine kiss someone else, it's easily explained. Blaine, every time he comes to visit, will shake Burt's hand and give Carole a cautious half hug, saying "Good afternoon, Mr. Hummel, Ms. Hudson-Hummel, how are you?" making Burt roll his eyes and say Burt, kid, and Carole comment on his manners. But it's not just his manners. Some of it is Blaine's polite upbringing, to be sure, but it's mostly a combination of sweet solidarity with Kurt and heartbreaking fear of not being accepted. Kurt could never be familiar with Blaine's parents in the way that Rachel is with Burt and Carole, because of Mr. Anderson's quiet, vague disapproval of Blaine (and his and Kurt's relationship) and Mrs. Anderson's deference to her husband. Kurt will never be able to be casual and friendly with Blaine's parents, and that's both a roadblock to Blaine being casual with Burt and Carole and a large part of the reason he struggles to believe he's accepted by the Hummel-Hudson family.
However, the day Kurt gets back from New York and they say "I love you" for the first time, Blaine comes over after the Lima Bean. The boys have found Carole making cookies, and Blaine leans over, grabs a chocolate chip, and greets Carole with a kiss on the cheek and a friendly "hey, Carole, how have you been?" and it's so shaky, at least to Kurt. He can tell that Blaine's clearly terrified that Carole is going to suddenly reject him, but Carole merely smiles.
"Wonderful, darling, and you? Glad to have your boy back?" she answers, and Blaine's whole face lights up. In that moment Kurt knows that Blaine finally feels like he's part of the family, and his heart swells with love.
The second time it's Brittany. Not long after Finn's whole Let's-Out-Santana disaster, Santana had confessed, in her flippant way, that she actually liked "Perfect." Sure what she said was, "Hey hobbit, Porcelain, I guess your Pink song wasn't actually too bad. You meant well and that was kinda sweet, I guess," but the intent was clear to anyone that knows Santana. Somehow that started a thing with the four of them, the only "out" kids at McKinley. About once a week, they'll take their lunch into the choir room to have what Santana calls "hater free picnics." They have one on Blaine's first day back at school after his surgery, and Brittany is uncharacteristically quiet.
"What's the matter, Britt-Britt?" Blaine asks her, scooting closer to put an arm around her.
"It's not fair that me and Santana or you and Kurt can't kiss in the hallway. I've kissed lots of boys in the hallway, and no one ever complained. It's kind of sad that I can't kiss Santana even though I love her more than anyone else I've ever kissed, even Kurt. And I love Kurt a lot." It's a tribute to their friendship that Santana doesn't even level a glare at Kurt. Blaine, however, looks confused.
"When did you kiss Kurt, Britt-Britt?"
"Sophomore year. When he tried to be straight, wore flannel, and sang Mellencamp. When he was trying to be straight, I was his girlfriend, but then he decided he was a unicorn after all. And I was glad, even though he was a good boyfriend, because why would a unicorn ever want to be a plain old horse? It's why I'm not sad that I don't have my record anymore. I've kissed every senior boy and every junior boy except for you, but since you came here to make Kurt happy, I don't mind. I'd rather have a happy friend than a perfect record any day."
Kurt had told Blaine, that afternoon he decided he was "100% gay," that he'd kissed a girl "just to be sure" as well, that his anger had come more from seeing Blaine so insecure than any kind of general dislike of bisexuality—he counts Brittany and Trent among his best friends, doesn't he? He hadn't mentioned that he'd spent the better part of a week with a beard, though. So he was understandably tense when Brittany told the story. Blaine's reaction, though, made his heart swell.
Blaine blinked back tears that had welled up in his eyes and leaned over to Brittany to stage-whisper in a conspiring tone, "He is a good boyfriend, isn't he? And I suppose I have you to thank for him being such an amazing kisser." Then he tilted her chin up, gave her a pecking kiss on the lips, and hugged her tight. "A perfect friend deserves a perfect record, Britt, but I think we all know you got that the first time you ever kissed Santana." What's implied in that, that Blaine feels like his record is perfect because of Kurt, makes Kurt realize Blaine isn't just some boy, he could very well be the love of my life. Right now, I'd agree to spend my forever with this man if he asked me. I don't think it's possible to be more in love than I am right now. Right then, he knew the answer to the question Rachel had asked him the week before, and made a mental note to get coffee and talk wedding talk with his favorite diva, because even though he still thought Finn and Rachel were too young to ask the question, he could almost understand Rachel's answer, and anyway, being a good friend was better than being right.
Kurt would feel that certainty that Blaine was his foreverover and over again in the next few years. However, the next time Blaine kissing a girl made Kurt realize something new about their relationship, they'd been living together in New York for a little more than three years. The summer after Kurt's graduation from NYADA, he found an unexpected niche in New York theater. It's not Broadway, but there's an off-off Broadway company that has signed him to a two-year contract. He's guaranteed at least 200 shows, and to celebrate having a real job he and Blaine had found an apartment in a quieter section of the city than the stereotypically horrid college loft he'd lived in since Rachel was his roommate freshman year. The new place is one of two apartments over a bakery, so it smells delightful all the time, the view is no longer a parking lot, there's an extra bedroom that's actually big enough to be a guest room, and it boasts fabulous neighbors. He and Blaine have the apartment that's directly over the bakery kitchen, and there's a wonderful woman and her eight year old daughter in the other. Jenny is refreshingly friendly after their awful neighbors back in what he and Blaine had affectionately called "Hell's Dorm Room," and Allie is an absolute delight.
When Blaine had tentatively asked where Allie's dad was, Jenny had said, "I got pregnant my senior year of high school, and my boyfriend somehow managed to go from the love of my life to that guy who accused me of sleeping with the whole football team. My dad let me live at home with Allie while I went to college. I graduated in three years then I got offered an editing job here in the city—I'm from Stamford—and it's been just me and Allie ever since." Kurt had told her about being raised by a widower, how close he and his dad were, and a friendship was born.
By the time Blaine and Allie go back to school, it was natural for Blaine to offer to pick Allie up from school every Wednesday, since his classes finished at noon on Wednesday and it was the one evening a week Jenny didn't leave work around the time Allie's school let out. It's an easy routine to fall into—Blaine and Allie would sit together at his and Kurt's table and do homework or study until Kurt got home about an hour after they did, then Kurt and Allie would start to cook while Blaine finished up his work. Jenny would get there in time to join them for dinner. It was as wonderfully domestic as Kurt had been dreaming of since the day Blaine had kissed Brittany, almost like living in a soap bubble.
Until the day it wasn't. One Wednesday in November, Kurt opens the door, shouts his typical, "Honeys, I'm home!" and is greeted by the sounds of heartbreaking sobs.
"Allie, sweetheart, are you okay? Blaine, what happened?" he asks, as Blaine rocks a sobbing Allie back and forth.
"She won't tell me, I don't know. She seemed sad, so I took her out for ice cream, we walked all the way around the park twice but it didn't help, and when we got back here and I asked to see her homework folder, she broke down."
Kurt leaves Allie on Blaine's lap, because without knowing the problem he can't fix it. He opens her backpack and pulls out Allie's homework folder, which her teacher also uses to send home information to parents. Had Allie gotten in trouble that day? She was normally so well behaved. And then Kurt sees it, and understanding crashes into his head as his heart breaks for the little girl on his partner's lap. There's a flyer, bright yellow, with "Father-Daughter Dance!" written in obnoxiously large type at the top. He's angry at Allie's teacher—she knows Allie comes from a one parent home in the most literal sense of the word, that the man who picks Allie up is her neighbor, even that Allie's never actually met her biological father. In a tiny school like Allie's, he can't imagine why the thought of not sending one of these flyers home with girls whose fathers weren't in the picture never occurred to the administration. It gives Kurt one of his rare pangs for overly nosy Lima—after his mom had died, his teachers had always made a point to make sure Kurt was blissfully unaware of any mom-centered activities, because they all knew. They'd done the same for Finn. He knows he won't be able to keep himself together for this discussion—it's been fifteen years, and he loves Carole with everything in him, but he still has moments where he just wants his mom. So he holds the flyer up behind Allie's head, and watches recognition flash in Blaine's eyes, followed by a silent reassurance that he had it covered.
"Allie, baby, is this about the dance?" he asks, and Allie nods. After a second, she gets a handle on her tears and sits up to talk.
"Mrs. Hill mentioned it before lunch, so at recess I checked Kurt's rehearsal schedule and your class one. I keep them in my cubby just in case I need someone and the office can't get Mom. I didn't know if I'd get to go, because I know Pop-Pop lives an hour away and if you were both free I wasn't gonna try to choose, but Kurt has an all day rehearsal the day of the dance, and you looked free, so I was going to ask you to take me—" Kurt's heart restricts with love for this girl and sends up a prayer to a God he doesn't believe in that whatever reason Allie doesn't think she can get Blaine to take her doesn't come from the school officials, because he'd hate to have to pull a Burt Hummel and threaten to take a blowtorch to a school— "but when I mentioned it, Natalie said that it wasn't a 'Bring A Neighbor' dance, it was for dads, and I didn't have one of those because he didn't love me," and Allie is sobbing again, and that's it, Kurt's going to have to call his dad and find out to how to best threaten a school, because this Natalie bitch has made his girl cry and that's ten kinds of not okay and if he has to blowtorch the place, he can do it when Blaine has his night class, he's sure he can Skype call Trent and Dave and then leave to torch the place and the two will swear Kurt was talking to them right up till Blaine came in the door, they owe him one for getting them together in the first place, and oh, Blaine is talking.
"Honey, don't listen to stupid girls and their nonsense, okay? People say hurtful things because they don't know any better or they're jealous or sometimes just because they're stupid. Family isn't who you share blood with, baby, it's who's in your heart, and you and your mom are so much a part of my heart and Kurt's. And you want to know a secret? Just because your father sticks around doesn't automatically make him a great dad. My dad wasn't ever very happy with Kurt and I being together. I consider Burt more of a dad than I do my own. So Allie, baby, please don't cry, not over the fact that one stupid little boy decided a long time ago that his life would be easier without you in it, because Allie, he was dead wrong, sweetie. Kurt and I, we love you so much, and so does your mom and your Pop-Pop and so many other people. Everyone who meets you loves you, Allie, and I feel sorry for your father every day because he doesn't know what a wonderful little girl he could have had in his life. I'd be honored to take you to that dance, darling. And I'm sure Kurt and your mom can find you a dress that will put that little Natalie brat to shame, and I'll be dancing with the prettiest girl at the party." And then he kisses Allie right on her tear-soaked cheek, then on the other one, then on her nose, then her ear, and he peppers her face with tiny little kisses until she's giggling, then she runs off to wash her face. And for once, Kurt doesn't keep his sudden revelation to himself.
He pulled Blaine up into a crushing hug, knowing better than to start kissing him with Allie in the apartment, because he's not sure he can stop himself. "I love you, I love you, I love you so fucking much, Blaine Anderson, and one day soon I want to marry you and have a family of our own." And Blaine's response is just to hold him tighter, and whisper that that would make him the luckiest man in the world. And Kurt can't bother to correct him.
It's five years later, and Kurt is pretty sure he's going to strangle Allie. She's a bundle of nervous energy, and so is he, but he's twenty-seven to her thirteen, and he's slightly better at keeping still. She's already painted her nails, rearranged the magazines on the waiting room tables six times, played every game on Blaine's phone, and is now just pacing. Kurt kind of wants to be back in the back with Blaine and Jenny, but he can't leave Allie alone out here, both because he'd never do that to her and because he doesn't want to come out to find his favorite teenager hogtied by the nurses. So until someone else arrives he's waiting with Allie while Blaine holds down the fort in the labor room with Jenny. While Allie is pacing off her nerves, Kurt's spinning his wedding ring around more than he's done in the whole of the three years it's been on his finger and watching Allie wear out the soles of her brand-new sneakers.
After Kurt and Blaine had been married for about two years, still living in the apartment over the bakery despite the fact that they could probably afford something nicer because there's no way they're leaving their best girls, Jenny had approached them and offered to be a surrogate. Now, about a year later, Jenny's in labor and Kurt knew better than to leave Blaine alone with Allie, so he opted to stay in the waiting room with her, even though Kurt is technically the baby's biological father, a choice they made for what both Allie and Finn called "icky reasons"—Allie looks more like Blaine than Kurt, and they want their baby to look like both of them. Kurt had thought there'd be more hoops to jump through with this whole process, but since Trent is a lawyer who'd handled his and Dave's adoption two and a half years ago, he and Blaine had had a perfect go-to person.
Speaking of, where were Trent and Dave, anyway? They lived two hours away in Philadelphia, and Kurt had called Trent almost three hours ago to tell him to get there with the paperwork. Normally, he'd blame it on the baby (and Kurt has got to stop thinking of Michael that way, he's four now, he really wasn't a baby even when he was first adopted), but Trent had had his lawyer hat on and promised they'd be on the road within fifteen minutes. Could traffic be that bad? He considers texting them, but he knows they won't answer, one focused mostly on driving, the other on Michael, and any extra attention they had would be diverted to a silent battle for control of the radio. Neither ever looked at their phones in the car.
As usual, Allie seems to read his mind. "Where is everyone, Kurtie? You did let people know, right?" And suddenly he can't be angry at her, because she only calls him Kurtie anymore when she's feeling insecure.
"My dad, Finn and Carole are on the way. They're going to take a taxi straight here from LaGuardia, and the site says the flight's arrived, so it should be soon. Cooper won't be getting in until early tomorrow. Early our time, so ridiculously early his, so could you loan him your key to mine and Blaine's so he can sleep? I couldn't get Blaine's parents, Cooper's working on that, and all of our friends thought today should be for family. They'll flood in over the next few weeks."
"What about Trent and Dave? Trent's kind of got the paperwork and I know there's no way Dave wouldn't come with him." A shout from the doorway answers Allie's question before Kurt can.
"Unca Kuuuuuurrrt!" he hears, as he is ambushed by something small and excited. His tiny attacker seems to be bouncing at first, then suddenly goes stock-still. Kurt realizes why when Allie's whole face lights up at the sight of Michael, and the boy squirmed in delight in his arms. "Unca Kurt, who is she? She's got the prettiest hair ever and can I go talk to her?"
"Come on, Michael, I'm Allie. You know me, we played ball at the park." Allie said, holding out her arms. Michael was out of Kurt's arms faster than he'd gotten in them to run to Allie. Kurt stands up and goes to the door to greet Trent and Dave.
"Well, he's in love," Kurt says to Trent as he reaches the door.
"Is it Allie? It's the curls. He has this sudden and inexplicable fascination with him," Dave says as he approaches, as well.
"I'm sorry I didn't 'member you. I thought you were really pretty then, too. And really cool because you played ball with me. And you made Unca Baine laugh a lot so I liked you even more, and then you came with Unca Baine and Unca Kurt to the first football game I ever went to and me and you and them and my daddies had fun and I like you a lot, Allie." Kurt stifles a laugh into his fist, but Trent and Dave both sigh.
"Lady's man already? That's the cutest thing ever."
"Until the hormones hit. Or he says something that charming to your yet-unborn little princess. Speaking of your yet-unborn little princess, get your ass in that delivery room, Hummerson. We can hold down the fort with Allie, go get us a baby." Kurt hasn't decided if it's worth telling Trent not to call him Hummerson when he sees his dad and Carole approaching (Finn has probably gone in search of the vending machines, hospitals make him hungry.) He'd been hoping to see them before he left the waiting room, so he runs over, updates them on the status of delivery, and gives Allie a hug before heading back.
When he gets there, the doctor, nurses, and Jenny seem to have everything well in hand, and everyone is calm (probably helped by the drip in Jenny's back ensuring she feels no pain from the delivery) , so he just sits and holds her hand. She's amused by Michael's flirtations. Suddenly, though, they're telling her to push and she's got Kurt's hand in a death grip and he's too overwhelmed to process what's going on, so it's Blaine who stands up to take the baby, and he immediately starts cooing to her as he walks over to Kurt and Jenny. Jenny folds her arms around herself. They'd talked about this. Blaine and Kurt are going to hold her first, then Jenny, then Allie. And Jenny is going to be Aunt Jenny, until little Katie is old enough to understand. It's going to break Jenny's heart a little, they all know, but it's what the surrogate support group recommended. Quinn had agreed. Her opinion carried the most weight with Kurt.
"Hey there, little Katie. It's so nice to finally meet you. Your Papa and I have waited a long time for you, baby girl. Look, there he is. That's your Papa, and your Aunt Jenny, and I'm your Daddy. And we all love you so much." Blaine's voice breaks at the end, thick with tears, so he just kisses Katie's face over and over. He'd taken special care to shave that morning so he didn't irritate her baby skin. That, as much as insisting they name the baby Kathryn Carole "after Kurt's moms" or the million other wonderful things he'd during this process, makes Kurt's heart fill with love for Blaine. He thought that today, he'd be too preoccupied with falling in love with Katie to have room in his heart for anyone else, but seeing Blaine ask a nurse, "How long can I keep my daughter before you have to clean her up?" makes him fall even more in love with Blaine than he already was. Now he's not just a boyfriend or a lover or a partner or even a husband, he's Kurt's daughter's Daddy, and even the part of his heart that he's certain just grew when he first laid eyes on his daughter falls in love with how much Blaine loves Katie. This isn't the first time he's watched Blaine Anderson (Blaine Hummel-Anderson, a voice in his head corrects) show someone that Kurt loves just how much he loves them, but the thought of This is the man I was born to be in love with, and I don't know how I'll ever love him more is just as strong as it was that day in a kitchen in Ohio over ten years ago. And he knows, with sudden clarity, that these two people are his forever, his everything, and that he'll fall a little more in love with his husband every time he sees him kiss his daughter. Their daughter. Allie had once written in a paper, "You have to be brave love someone, and let them know it. Love means sharing your whole heart, and that takes courage." And Blaine is so loving to so many people that Allie's statement confirms that Blaine is the bravest man Kurt knows. Kurt won't stop being in love any time soon.
Author's note, version 2.0: Okay, so this was meant to be short, but then Kurt just would not shut up once Allie arrived on the scene. And since I love both protective!Kurt and daddy!Klaine, I didn't exactly try too hard. Also, Dave and Trent were a bigger part than I originally planned, but it's okay because they're totally my headcanon, especially since "On My Way." In my head, for reasons I can't explain, Trent is either gay or bi, and he just strikes me as the type that Dave would fall for, and that would have the patience and kindness to deal with a rather broken Dave, and the spark to help light Dave up again. And I was physically unable to stop myself from mentioning Dave's son's first football game, because come on, how fabulous was that scene? All the awards ever, and my heart, belong to you, Max Adler. Also, I love the idea of Kurt's mom's name starting with a K, because then his name is a mash-up of her name and Burt's. I know that a lot of the fandom has named her Elizabeth, but I don't think that's actually stated anywhere. If it is, just humor me and pretend that Kathryn was her middle name. (Also also, in my head, Kurt and Blaine live outside Manhattan, in one of the little neighborhoods, so when Blaine says they "walked all the way around the park twice," he means a local park or playground. He didn't make an eight year old lap Central Park twice. Just… to reassure you.)
Long author's note is long, I'm sorry. Hope you enjoyed this story.