Damage Control
If Burt Hummel was being honest with himself, which he usually was, he never in a million years thought that he would be in this position. He locked his truck and walked up to the Anderson's door. Ever since he had gotten a surprising phone call from his son he had been caught up in a crazy whirlwind of thoughts. The phone-call had been surprising, yes, but not entirely unexpected. His son had called him up not long ago and told Burt about him and Blaine.
Burt had been furious at first. He had been so close to just slam the phone down and immediately make the drive to McKinley and beat the crap out of the person who made his son sound as if life was not worth living any more. But Burt stayed on the phone to try to get an explanation and the more he listened to his son, the more confused he got.
Apparently Blaine had, after a very emotional, and admittedly beautiful, acoustic rendition of Teenage Dream, admitted to cheating on Kurt. Kurt was reluctant to give details, and Burt was not sure he really wanted to know anyway. The call had ended with Kurt begging Burt to not speak or talk to Blaine in any way shape or form. Burt had begrudgingly agreed but he could not promise.
The call had been a couple of weeks ago now and the more time that went the less angry but more confused he got. Burt Hummel was more perceptive than people most time gave him credit for. He knew that what Kurt and Blaine had was something special, he would never admit it to anyone, but he sometimes imagined his future grandchildren with curly black hair. He had definitely noticed the looks both boys threw each other when they thought no one was watching. He simply had a hard time believing that Blaine had it in him to cheat on Kurt. Something was off and he was determined to figure out what it was.
He felt slightly guilty as he knocked on the door to the Anderson house. He did not like to go behind Kurt's back but he convinced himself that it was in his fatherly duties to figure this mess out. The few times he had spoken to Kurt after the "kind-of-break-up" his son had not sounded like his usual exuberant self and Burt hated that. Kurt was in New York and should be happier than ever before. Confronting his "boyfriend" was definitely not overstepping. It was a matter of Kurt's future happiness.
Besides, he was not only doing this for Kurt's sake. Finn, who had also experienced a break-up with Rachel according to Carole, had let it slip how down and sad Blaine was in school nowadays. It had come out during dinner one night when they were talking about the school production of Grease that Finn was directing. According to Finn, Artie had more or less given the lead role to Blaine on the spot during his audition but he had refused to take it and stormed out in tears.
Burt and Carole had gone to see the musical on opening night. Burt did not know much about musicals or acting or singing but he liked to think that he knew Blaine.
While Blaine had passed his solo in flying colors, at least according to Carol and all the other females in the audience who couldn't tear their eyes of him, Burt could tell that something was off. He did not have that extra spark in his eyes that Burt had come to associate with Blaine.
Burt was not a fool. He knew that Kurt did not have an easy life, it had admittedly gotten better since he joined Glee, but it was not until he met Blaine that Burt could finally relax. He knew that he had Blaine to thank for a lot. He was scared to think about where his son would be today if it was not for Blaine. So here he was, trying to make things better for two of the most important men in his life.
"Mr Hummel?" The door opened and there stood Blaine with a shocked expression on his face.
"Blaine," he acknowledged the teen and was secretly slightly taken aback by his appearance.
Burt had only ever seen Blaine impeccably well dressed with his hair gelled back, even after his eye surgery he had been dressed in his best pajamas with styled hair. But now, Burt barely recognized him. He wore a plain grey T-shirt and sweatpants. And his hair. Burt caught himself staring at the younger boy's crazy head of wild curls. It was not until Blaine tried to nervously flatten them that Burt snapped out of it.
"You mind if I come in? I'd like to have a chat with you."
Blaine, whose shocked expression had morphed into something more resembling fear, stepped aside and motioned for Burt to come in. He waited for Burt to take of his shoes and helped him put away his jacket before he led the way into the kitchen. Burt could see that Blaine had been in the middle of a meal since a lone plate stood on the kitchen table with a half-eaten toast resting on it.
"Would you like anything to drink?" Blaine nervously wrung his hands. "Water? Lemonade? I know your not supposed to drink beer but-"
"Nah, I'm fine."
Blaine turned away from the fridge. "I've been meaning to thank you for the flowers, tell Car-, I mean Mrs Hummel, that I really appreciate them."
Burt frowned at Blaine's correction, he had lost count of how many times both he and Carol had asked him to call them by their first names. He decided to ignore it for now though and instead he spotted a very familiar bouquet of flowers on the table.
"You were really good, Carole won't stop talking about how handsome and mesmerizing you were, she kept telling everyone who would listen that you're practically her third son," he said with a genuine smile.
Blaine froze and was at a loss for worlds. "I- did she? I mean- Really?"
In that moment Burt had an epiphany. The expression on Blaine's face was that of a hopeful child, Burt was amazed of how young and vulnerable he suddenly looked. Burt had always seen Blaine as this smart, collected and dapper gentleman. He knew that Blaine was a year younger than Kurt but sometimes Blaine appeared to be years older. Mind you, Burt had seen Blaine act as a child as well but had filed that away as being a teenager in love. Now though, Burt felt privileged. He had a feeling that the dapper gentleman persona that Blaine displayed was a facade and that Blaine was very careful of not letting other people see him as anything less.
All thoughts of coming here and yelling and admonishing Blaine disappeared out the window with the look on his face. Now Burt knew that his suspicions might not have been so unfounded after all. Burt decided play the nice cop.
"Yeah, we're really proud of you, Blaine." He said and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.
Blaine frowned and avoided Burt's eyes. "Thanks. Why, though? I mean, you really shouldn't be. I assume that," Blaine paused and swallowed, "Kurt told you what happened between us. You should hate me right now. I deserve it. When I opened the door and saw that it was you, I was terrified. I thought that you had finally come to kill me with your shotgun," he admitted with a nervous chuckle, attempting to turn it into a joke.
Burt decided to humor him and chuckled along. "You're safe for now, son. You should sit down, though, since the main reason I came here was to talk to you about precisely that."
Blaine was quick to comply and sat down opposite Burt.
"Care to tell me what happened?" Burt felt no need to sugar coat it, it was probably better to do it 'the band aid way'.
"I never meant to hurt him!" Blaine blurted out, but as soon as he realized his outburst he looked down on the table and took a deep breath. "I screwed up, I know I did. And I hate myself for it."
Blaine took a pause. Burt didn't pressure him, he just sat there silently encouraging him to speak.
"I'm happy he went to New York. I really am." Blaine confessed in a quiet voice. "That is were he belongs, it killed me to see him stuck in Lima. The first couple of weeks were fine. We talked on the phone every night, skyped when we could. But when Kurt got into Vogue things- things changed."
Burt hadn't really expected Blaine to start from the beginning but he could tell that Blaine needed to have this conversation so he kept quiet and listened patiently.
"The calls became few and far between and when we finally found the time to talk it was all about his work. As much as I enjoyed hearing him happy I just couldn't help but feel insignificant. He had this brand new, exciting life in New York with a job that he loved, what was I compared to that?" He let out a dry, humorless laugh. "It's ridiculous, but it felt like he didn't care about me anymore. I'm not even entirely sure that he really knows I won the election for Senior Class President." Blaine said almost as an afterthought.
Burt looked at the kid in front of him and could practically feel the depression he radiated. He knew that Kurt had changed since he started working for Vogue. He too had noticed the decreasing number of calls from his son so he knew where Blaine was coming from.
"Eli was this guy who friended me on Facebook. I- it just felt- I just needed someone to-" Blaine trailed of and ran a hand trough his dark curls. "I went to his house and one thing led to another."
Burt immediately heard the warning bells go off inside his head.
"He didn't force himself on you, right?"
Blaine's eyes snapped up to meet Burt and he frantically shook his head.
"No! No, it was," he swallowed and looked away, too ashamed to look him in the eyes, "consensual."
"Good," Burt muttered awkwardly. "That's a dangerous thing you did, Blaine. You shouldn't meet up with someone you barely know. Who knows what kind of creep he could have been."
"I know. I'm sorry, sir. It definitely will not happen again." Blaine answered with certainty.
Burt was torn and almost regretted coming here in the first place. He was so mad, actually hearing Blaine openly admitting to cheating on his son made his heart burn and he felt like magically summon a shotgun. He knew that the teenage years were a mess of relationships and feelings. He had ,after all, been a teenager himself at one point. But it was different when it came to his son, Burt just wanted to protect him from every negative experience and emotion that he possibly could. He did not have a very good track record of that, his son's life had been paved with unfortunate events like his mother's death and the bullying at school. Maybe it was naive to think that he could shield his son from pain, but he always tried his best.
When Kurt and Blaine had started dating, Burt had been ecstatic. The primary reason was because, finally, his son was truly happy. But then there was also the fact that, finally, Burt was not alone in caring for Kurt's well being. Sure, he knew that Carole and Finn loved his son but this was different. There was finally someone else who made keeping Kurt happy a priority.
"Why did you do it? I thought you loved my son?" Burt asked.
"I did! I do! So, so much. I don't really know exactly why I did it. I thought that maybe we really were not meant to be. But I know now, more than before, that he really is my soul mate. I just felt so alone. I know it's not an excuse but-"
"It's an explanation," Burt finished for him. "I get it, son." He was starting to see the real problem here. Burt had not really expected Blaine to open up to him and be so honest which made him realize that maybe Blaine had not really had anyone to open up to before.
"Have you told Kurt what you just told me?" Burt asked.
Blaine shook his head. "I've tried but he won't talk to me." Blaine's voice was close to breaking on every word.
The shrill tone of a phone ringing echoed in the otherwise empty house. Blaine's cleared his throat and wiped away the stray tear that had made it's way down cheek. He stood up and answered the phone on the other side of the kitchen.
"Hello? No, this is his son. I'm afraid you'll have to try his cell," Blaine glanced at Burt before turning his back towards the older man while he listened to the person on the other end. Burt didn't like to call it eavesdropping but he couldn't help to listen, even if he had to strain his ears to do so. "I don't know when they will be home next. No. I've been told not to expect them until after Christmas. Yes. Yes, I will. Good bye, sir."
Blaine hung up the phone and returned to the table acting like nothing was wrong. He picked up the plate with the half-eaten toast and headed for the sink
"Your parents won't be home until after Christmas?" Burt asked, flabbergasted, but not really surprised. Kurt had not been very kind when talking about Blaine's parents in the past.
"Probably not," was Blaine's curt reply.
"Doesn't it bother you?" Burt could hear himself rasing his voice. He just couldn't help it. What kind of parents didn't spend Christmas with their kid?
Blaine turned around after putting the plate in the dishwasher. "I don't know. It's always been like this. That's the main reason I boarded at Dalton and when I transfered to McKinley I had Kurt to spend the days with. I guess I'll get used to it. I've got a lot of things to get used to."
Burt rose from his chair. "Come here," he said.
Blaine looked at Burt, completely bewildered. "What?"
"You heard me!" When Blaine still made no move to come closer, Burt himself closed the remaining distance between them and engulfed him in a big hug. Blaine was stiff as a board at first but soon melted into the embrace.
As soon as he heard the first sniffle Burt made up his mind. He immediately started to make up a plan in his head.