Title: Man in The Mirror
Rating: G
Pairing(s): Kurt/Blaine, mentions of Burt/Mrs Hummel and a tiny hint of Finn/Rachel
Disclaimer: I own zilch.
Summary: It's the day of Kurt and Blaine's wedding and although Kurt is nervous, Burt isn't.
A/N: This is my first fic in about three years but I got struck by the Glee bug and felt the need to start writing again. So please excuse my extreme rustiness!
Only his son would wake up at 6am to prepare for a wedding that wasn't taking place until 2 in the afternoon. Burt wasn't even sure what he spent so long doing. Sure, Burt had stuck his head around the door of Kurt's hotel room that morning and noticed the dizzying amount of bottles and lotions on the dressing table that suggested and even more extensive moisturizing routine than usual, if that was even possible but-
But mostly, Kurt just seemed to fuss.
Burt sat on the edge of the bed and watched him smooth down the soft white collar of his shirt for the third time in the last ten minutes and sighed. It wasn't even that fancy a shirt. Kurt had lost his usual amount of straps and buttons and pins and gone for something… Simple. Mature, somehow. He didn't look like a NYADA graduate, Burt realised. He looked like a groom.
He hadn't looked the part that much on his own wedding day... Not the first one anyway. There had been no big ceremony for him and Janie. Just she is a floral-print dress and he in a suit from a second hand shop that wasn't quite long enough in the arms. The two of them standing in a registry office with a handful of close friends and relatives. And that was it.
Burt didn't have the shop then of course, he'd been a wave-slave mechanic with no money.
But you didn't need money to fall in love so hard you can feel it burn in your chest. So hard that they shake up your brain so bad you can hardly think straight, because all your thoughts turn to them.
But still, Burt would have liked to do things properly. A huge service with a white dress for his bride with a princess veil and a train that stretched to the back of the chapel. And Kurt, their son, his and Janie's, who had his mother's glittering eyes and a mouth that quirked up in the same way as hers did, when she smiled, he looked…
Kurt, your mom would be so proud of you.
Burt cleared his throat. "You look fine." He said roughly.
Kurt ignored him and hovered by the mirror, tugging delicately at the pale skin beneath his eyes.
"I'm sure I'm starting to freckle. The sun... I knew I should have stayed in my room yesterday."
They'd all gone out together in the afternoon, as a family. Carol, beaming like an angel with wind swept hair walked with him hand-in-hand through central park whilst Rachel tried to convince Finn to go to some musical with her, something French probably, Burt didn't have a clue. He was too busy watching Blaine dab ice cream on his son's nose. He didn't think he'd ever seen anyone so love struck.
"We should have had a winter wedding." Kurt groaned, still scrutinizing his face. "Oh God..."
"Kurt."
"What if... " His voice had reached an odd, strangled pitch. "I can't afford to wrinkle prematurely! Not if- if..."
"Kurt, you have no reason to be nervous."
Kurt whirled to face him and screeched "I'm not nervous! I'm-"
"He loves you." Burt said it calmly, quietly. "And you and Blaine... You're made for each other."
For a moment, Burt though Kurt was going to shriek at him again, but his frustration seemed to crumble in an instant. Instead, his voice came out in a rare whisper. "Dad, what if it goes wrong?"
And for what seemed like the thousandth time that morning, Burt sighed.
"Kurt Hummel." He said, "You let me tell you something. Do you remember that time I told you about, just before you two got together? Blaine came over to the shop and he had that talk with me. About you. About... Sex and that you should be well inf-"
"Dad! I remember, okay!"
"informed." Burt finished, determined. For a moment, it amazed him how his son, his kid who still blushed like a beetroot when sex was even mentioned, could be just an hour away from walking down the aisle. He was an adult now, twenty three years old, no longer at high school or living with his parents but sometimes it still struck Burt how damn innocent Kurt still seemed.
And he knew Kurt, well… Kurt wasn't any more. He'd… Overheard certain acts on nights when Blaine had stayed over. On more than one occasion. And no Burt, definitely, definitely did not want to think about that right now.
"And then" he continued "Two weeks later you tell me you're dating. Any other parent I know of would've gone crazy. Because Blaine was a teenage boy and I know what I was thinking about when I was that age."
"Dad, what-"
"Let me finish. You wanna know why I didn't go crazy? Because I saw the way he looked when he talked about you, like sex and all that stuff didn't matter, and he was saying it all for your good. Like you were the most important person on the planet. And I knew that look. I saw that look in the mirror before you were even born, when I first met your mom, back when I didn't even realised I was in love with her yet. But I knew she was my future, and Kurt,"
His son glanced up from his clasped hands, eyes glossy and damp with tears.
"Blaine is yours. What you guys have... It's special. I still love your mom. No matter what, I always will. I love Carol, but I won't ever stop loving your mom too, just as much as I did back when we were kids. So I know. You're gonna make this work."
Kurt swallowed. Then his lips twitched up in a smile. "Well," he said, brushing off his eyes "Either way, we're going to have a fabulous wedding, aren't we? I mean, I have been planning weddings since I was four. "
"Yeah," Burt grinned. "You gonna give your ole dad a hug then before we go? I think it's time."