Chapter 1
"Are you almost ready?"
"Just give me 10 more minutes!" the soprano voice called from the other room.
"No, come on, Kurt! We were supposed to leave half an hour ago," he protested.
Truthfully Blaine didn't care when they left, but talking to Burt without much to say was pretty awkward and he was anxious to start their long-weekend road trip.
Blaine had barely seen Kurt since he had transferred to Dalton. Sure they had Warbler practice together, but other than that, the only class they had together was into to psychology where they were assigned seats on opposite ends of the room. They hardly ever had lunch together because Kurt was taking design, which often had lunch meetings and discussions. This was not the way that Blaine had wanted things to be. When Kurt told him that he was going to be transferring to Dalton, Blaine had been ecstatic, envisioning the long hours the two would spend talking and laughing and singing together. He had even envisioned the two of them finally getting together, the thing that Blaine wanted more than anything else in the world. But he knew he had to hide his feelings from Kurt in fear of Kurt feeling too pushed into anything, like had happened with the Karofsky situation.
Kurt confessed that he was really missing his "one true friend at Dalton" (as he had so lovingly put it), so he proposed that the two of them take a road trip to Chicago over the upcoming four-day weekend. Blaine instantly agreed to this idea and the plans were set.
Even though Kurt had set up the whole thing, he hadn't gotten permission for taking the trip from his dad. He practically had to beg Burt to agree to let him go, defending his case by making the point that just because Blaine was also gay, it didn't mean that they were dating or going to date because for all he knew Blaine was just his friend. Kurt also pointed out that Blaine was the one who had tried to stick up from him against Karofsky. This seemed to help persuade Burt, and he eventually agreed, on the condition that where ever they stayed, they would have to either get a room with two beds or separate rooms. Embarrassed that this was what his father thought of when he mentioned that they would be there overnight, Kurt told him that he would follow the rules that Burt had laid out. Kurt texted Blaine about getting approval, and feeling awkward having to write it, told Blaine about the rule. Blaine texted back almost instantly:
-What, u mean we don't get to gossip on the same bed? ;)
Kurt read the message and smiled. He had feelings for Blaine. Extreme feelings. But he felt it was inappropriate to show them because of how much of a mentor Blaine had been to him. He didn't want to ruin that support system. Plus, things with Blaine weren't going to go anywhere if they never saw each other, which was part of Kurt's motive behind making this trip happen. He texted Blaine back:
-Guess we'll just have to shout all of our gossip across the room to each other :P
Within 30 seconds he got a text back from Blaine:
-Oh I forgot 2 mention, my parents got us a deal at this pretty nice hotel downtown and they said they'd pay for it as a 'welcome to Dalton' present for you :D
-U sure? That's really too generous!
-Yeah, I mean I figure they'll pay for this and then your end of the bill will be paying for the gas. Sound good?
-Of course! :D
And here they were now, almost ready to go. Blaine had been dropped off at Kurt's and was now waiting for him to finish packing his last bag (in true Kurt style, Kurt was bringing 2 bags, all chalk full of clothes, shoes, and beauty products). When Blaine had arrived, Burt was the one who awkwardly opened the door and gave Blaine a "no funny business, I'm trusting you around my son" talk. Blaine, ever the gentleman replied "Mr. Hummel, I'm a good kid, and so is your son. I wouldn't ever dream of doing anything to hurt him or you. Here's my dad's business card in case you would like to call or meet with my parents." Blaine extended a hand, the card perfectly tucked between his pointer and middle fingers. Burt took the card from Blaine and a more reassured look spread over his face. He was much more comfortable letting his son go now that he could meet the people who had raised the boy his son would be traveling with.
"Thanks kid," he said. "This makes me feel a whole lot more comfortable with this whole situation, but still, I'm warning you, if anything happens, I do have a shotgun."
Blaine laughed nervously. Burt rolled his eyes. Finally after about another half an hour of awkward conversation, Kurt finally made an appearance.
"I'm ready!" he said with a massive grin.
