Welcome to my version of what I hope happened after Rachel and Kurt left the hall at McKinley after Grease.
~oOo~
Kurt walked Rachel to the front door at her dads' house in Lima. She paused and turned to him. "We did it. We made it through that first awkward meeting with Finn and Blaine. We can go on from here, right? We are ready to move on," she said, more to convince herself than anything.
"I wish I felt that way, Rach. I really do, but watching Blaine on stage, even talking to him in the hallway after the show, you don't know how much I wanted to wrap my arms around him and sob into his shoulder. At that same time, I hate his guts for what he did to me, to us," Kurt said, pulling Rachel into a hug.
"I know what you mean, but we have to stay strong. Good things are in store for us," Rachel said, returning the hug. "Want to leave a little early tomorrow morning and get breakfast before our flight?"
"Sure. See you at 8:30. Night, Rachel, and thanks for being by my side tonight. I couldn't have faced Blaine without you."
"Same to you, Kurt. I'm glad we have each other." Rachel waved at Kurt, opened the door, and went in to greet her dads.
~oOo~
Kurt slipped through the front door of the Hummel home, hoping he'd be met by a quiet house. He should have known better: at the kitchen table, sat his Dad, Carole, and Finn.
"Hey," Kurt said as he entered the room.
"How is she?" Finn blurted.
"Not that I'm supposed to tell you, but she's fine, Finn." Finn sunk back against his chair, obviously not the answer he wanted to hear.
"Hey, Kurt, pull up a chair. How was the show?" Burt asked.
"It was fine. Great, actually. You did an amazing job directing, Finn," Kurt said. "It was just…difficult, you know? Blaine was the perfect Teen Angel. I just wish I could tell him that," Kurt said with a sigh, as he took off his coat.
"Dude, you should," Finn said. "Blaine's a mess without you. You really do need to talk to him. At least give him a chance to explain himself. If you saw him everyday like I do…"
"I guess he should have thought about the consequences before he decided to sleep around, sorry Carole and Dad," Kurt said.
"How long are you going to punish him?" Finn asked.
"Punish him? Maybe forever. Look, he blew it. He's the one that was unfaithful to ME. He's the one who ruined the trust I had in him. His actions were a deal breaker. It's impossible to build up trust when someone has been unfaithful. He deserves to be miserable," Kurt said, crossing his arms in his defense.
"Look, you two are made for each other. Rachel and me? We're so on again/off again, that who knows what will happen to us. But the two of you? Both of you are better when you are together. Blaine's not eating and he's not sleeping, and by the looks of it, neither are you. Why don't you just call him? Meet at the Lima Bean and have coffee before you leave tomorrow. At least clear the air between the two of you. If you aren't going to be boyfriends, at least you can preserve your friendship."
Burt, who had been listening quietly, cleared his throat and looked at Carole, who gave him a little nod. "Sometimes, people make mistakes, Kurt. And sometimes, the people who love them need to extend a little grace and cut them some slack."
"What do you mean, Dad?" Kurt asked, looking at Burt.
"Back in high school, when I was dating your mom, I did the stupidest thing in my life. When your mom was visiting relatives in Michigan over the summer, I got lonely and decided to go on one innocent date with a girl I met while working at the supermarket. I took her to a movie, and halfway through, I felt sick with guilt. I took her home right away, and then rushed home to call your mom and tell her what I'd done." Kurt sat silently, unable to believe that his dad cheated, just as Blaine had. "It was the worst phone call I ever had to make, and believe me, Elizabeth was furious. She hung up on me and would not return my calls. When she came home, I tried to talk to her, but she refused. One evening, I told myself I'd try one more time. I'd go over to her house, knock on the door, and ask to speak to her. When I got there, she was on the front porch swing, in her pajamas. She'd been crying. She took one look at me and said one word: 'Why?'"
"What did you tell her?" Kurt asked in a quiet voice.
"I told her because I was stupid. Because I didn't think things through. I told her that I missed her more than anything in my life and that I thought taking someone on a date would make that go away, but it only made me feel a thousand times worse. She sat there quietly, listening to me plead for her forgiveness. When I'd said all I thought I could say and I'd starting giving up hope, Elizabeth whispered, 'You know, I really hate you right now. You broke my heart, Burt Hummel.' I told her that I knew, and that I was sorry. I turned to go back down the porch steps, ready to accept that we were through."
The room was quiet for a few minutes. "Well, obviously, things worked out, because I'm here," Kurt said, a grin on his face. "What made her take you back?"
"I paid. Dearly. I had to worker harder than I've ever worked to earn back her trust. She put me through the paces, your mom did. Everything thing I said and did was aimed at letting her know that I loved her and that I'd learned my lesson. It took some time, but we emerged stronger for it. And you know the rest of the story," Burt said, as he sat back.
"I think you should go talk to him," Finn said, looking Kurt in the eyes. "Look at me and tell me you don't love him."
"I don't love what he did to me!" Kurt exclaimed. "Why am I the bad guy here? I'm not the one who screwed up!"
"I knew you couldn't do it," Finn said, a smug look on his face.
"Okay. Fine. I do still love him. But how can I trust him after this? I don't know that I can ever take what he says to me and believe it to be true!" Kurt yelled.
"You won't know unless you try," Burt said.
"Honey, you need to do what you think is best," Carole reminded, trying to help Kurt not feel like his dad and Finn were ganging up on him.
"When did life get so damn complicated?" Kurt asked as he shoved his chair from the table and went upstairs to his old bedroom.
~oOo~
An hour later, Kurt was in bed, tossing and turning under the covers. With traveling and the events of the evening, he should have been exhausted, but there he was, unable to get the conversation he had with his family out of his mind. Did Blaine deserve a second chance? Kurt wasn't sure he could answer that question, but he did know that if their roles were reversed, Kurt would want a chance to explain himself. Twenty minutes later, he threw off the covers, found his shoes and put a coat on over his pajamas. He walked downstairs and heard Burt's voice, coming from the darkened living room, say, "Keys to my truck are hanging by the front door."
"Thanks, Dad. Don't wait up for me," Kurt said.
"You're doing the right thing, Kurt."
"I hope so, Dad."
~oOo~
Blaine looked up at his ceiling, thinking the same thoughts he'd had for the last thirty or so nights. He was miserable. He missed Kurt. Each night, he devised plan after plan, coming up with ways to get Kurt to stay in one place long enough to give Blaine a chance to explain. A familiar sensation of hopelessness, despair, and nausea rolled over him. The clock on his nightstand read 12:30am. He felt like he'd been in bed for twelve hours instead of two.
Just as he was about to berate himself for the umpteenth time that evening, three light taps on the glass came from his second story window. Blaine waited, thinking that the evening wind must have caused a tree branch to lightly hit his window. When the tapping happened again, he moved to the window and looked below There, he saw the unmistakable perfectly coiffed hair of Kurt Hummel, with a handful of pebble s in his hands. Kurt looked up when he hear Blaine open the window.
Kurt was the first to speak. "Why?" he asked, looking up at the only boy he'd ever truly loved.
"Kurt, come up here. You must be freezing! I'll meet you at the front…" Blaine was cut off.
"No. Answer my question. Why?" Kurt demanded.
Blaine paused and drew his arms around himself. "Because I'm stupid. Because I was foolishly mad at you. Because I was acting like a child who didn't get his way. I thought that hooking up with someone would make me feel better, make me miss you less, but it only make it a million times worse. I'm so sorry Kurt. I know that I've ruined everything between us and I'll understand if you never want to see me again, but the only thing keeping me hanging on right now is the possibility that I might have a chance to earn your trust back someday and that maybe we can go back to being Kurt and Blaine again."
Kurt looked at the ground for the longest time. Blaine continued to look at him. Finally, Kurt looked up and asked, "Are you parents home?"
Blaine scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Are they ever?"
"Meet me at the back door," Kurt said and he made his way around to the back of the house. Blaine slammed his window and flew down the stairs and into the mud room attached to the kitchen. He opened the door and stopped himself from flinging his body at Kurt.
"Come in. You must be freezing," Blaine said, noticing that Kurt's eyes were a mixture of pain and anger.
"Thank you," Kurt said quietly as he slipped past Blaine.
"Can I get you something to…" Blaine started.
"This is your chance to tell me everything that was going through your mind the night you decided to end us. I want to hear it all. Keep nothing from me. If we are going to rebuild our relationship, it is all out on the table, clear?" Kurt stared directly into Blaine's eyes.
"Does this mean…?" Blaine asked, a spark of hope flashing through him for the first time in several weeks.
"It means nothing. It means that I'm still furious with you. It means that I'm willing to listen, but understand that I have zero trust in you right now. If we can talk this through, if we can work things out, and these are giant if's at this point, maybe we'll look at dating again. But right now, you have no points in your favor. Your really screwed up, Blaine.
"I know, Kurt. I'll do anything to earn your trust again. Anything."
Kurt's facial expression softened just a bit as he sat on a stool at the kitchen island. Blaine followed suit, careful to not sit too close. "It all started the day I called you at work, but Joan Didion called…"
Lights in the Anderson kitchen were on all night that night. There were talks and tears, raised voices and quiet whispering, and in the end, a careful, but sincere hug. Both boys clung to the hope that they'd walked through the worst days of their lives together so far, and that maybe someday soon, they'd find their ways back to what they used to be, what they were meant to be: Kurt and Blaine.
~oOo~
Here's hoping…
GirlFromTheWest xxoo