"KURT! BLAINE! Get down here!" Burt shouted up the stairs.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carole shaking her head.
"Burt, please try to stay calm."
"I'll do my best Carole, but I'm not going to let them hide up there till this blows over. They need to come down and talk to me, and I'm not waiting any longer." He looked up from his position at the bottom of the stairs and saw the guilty parties appear, holding hands.
Cute, he thought to himself sarcastically. He really wasn't in the mood to be swayed by their show of solidarity. Though truth be told, there was a part of him that gave thanks every day that Kurt had met Blaine. For his son to have met anyone who could relate to him as an openly gay boy, even if they'd only been friends, would have been a blessing. For his son to have a boyfriend, especially one who made him light up like Blaine did, was something he hadn't thought Kurt would have while still in high school.
Right. They were still in high school, and they'd gone to a bar. They might have ruined his campaign. He gestured to the living room when they stopped in front of them.
"In there, boys. Will's not here yet, Carole's finishing dinner, and I think Finn's hiding in his room thinking this storm might spill over on him. But we need to talk now."
He followed them into the living room and sat in his recliner across from their seat on the couch and addressed Blaine first.
"Blaine, you don't have to be here. You're not my kid to interrogate or discipline." He watched as Blaine glanced at Kurt, then back to meet his eyes.
"No sir, but I won't leave Kurt to face you alone for something we did together." Burt waited, but other than a visible tightening of his hand on Kurt's, Blaine didn't move.
"Alright then. That being the case, do either of you want to tell me what possessed you to go to a bar?"
"It was my idea," Kurt said immediately. Of course, he would try to take the biggest part of the blame.
"Actually, it was Sebastian's idea," Blaine clarified. Burt saw that look on Kurt's face, the one he wore when he didn't like something and was trying not to show it. But he knew his son well.
"But I was the one who said yes to going," Kurt added.
"Why, Kurt? That doesn't seem like your kind of thing. You told me you had no interest in alcohol after that time you puked on your counselor's shoes. You said if drinking booze put your wardrobe in danger, you wanted no part of it."
"It wasn't about drinking, Dad," Kurt said. "I had a Shirley Temple."
"What about you?" Burt leveled his gaze at Blaine. "Did you have a Shirley Temple, too?" He watched Blaine's normally olive complexion pale.
"Uh, no sir. I had a…..a beer," he confessed. "One beer," he said with emphasis.
Burt's only response to that was to make a harrumphing sound. After a moment, he asked, "So if it wasn't about the drinking, what was it about?" He watched as the boys glanced at each other again, as Kurt started to answer then closed his mouth. It wasn't often that his son was at a loss for words. "Alright, I'll ask a different question. Who is Sebastian?"
"He's a new member of the Warblers, sir," Blaine answered. He'd told Blaine weeks ago that he could call him Burt, but he seemed to have reverted to formality. Under the circumstances, Burt wasn't about to correct him. "I went to Dalton to visit the Warblers, and invite them to West Side Story, that's when I met him. Kurt and I had coffee with him and he mentioned this…place he knew."
Burt didn't bother asking if Sebastian was gay as well. If the kid had sent them to a gay bar, Burt would assume without guilt.
"How'd you get in?" he asked.
Kurt flinched. "Fake IDs," he answered.
"And where'd you get them?"
"Sebastian," Blaine confessed.
"I'm not liking the sound of this Sebastian," Burt grumbled.
He saw that look on Kurt's face again, and heard him mumble something that he thought was 'join the club.' He'd have to remember to ask Kurt more about that later.
"So you got into a bar with fake IDs, at least one of you was drinking underage," he glared at Blaine who quickly looked down, "any other broken laws I should know about?"
"No sir," they answered simultaneously.
"So the next question is," his voice was rising now, "do you two have any idea about the amount of damage you may have done to my campaign? A campaign, I'll remind you, that I'm only running because I didn't want to see my sons AND their friends lose the arts programs in their school?"
"I'm sorry, Dad!" Kurt burst out. "I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen!"
"So what did you mean, Kurt?" Burt was on his feet now. "What did you think would be accomplished by going to a bar? You said you weren't there to drink, I'm gonna assume neither of you were there to pick up guys since you went together, what else do two teenagers sneak into a bar for?"
"I think I might know," came Finn's voice from the doorway.
Crap, what'd I just do? Finn thought. He hadn't really wanted to jump into the middle of this mess. He'd been hanging out in his room, trying to avoid all of it (well, maybe he'd Googled the political ad out of curiosity), but he got hungry and came down to see if dinner was ready yet. And he heard Burt asking why they did it, and well…..his mouth got ahead of his brain. Not the first time.
And now the three of them were looking at him, waiting, and he heard his mom walk up behind him. She passed him with a light touch on his arm and went to stand next to Burt. He looked at all of them, finally choosing to focus on Kurt.
"I saw Sue's ad on Youtube, sorry bro, it's already up there," he said to Kurt. "I think Sue put it up herself."
"Doesn't she ever let up?" Blaine asked Kurt softly. Kurt shook his head.
Burt was looking at Finn expectantly. "You got a theory on why these two would risk my campaign to hang out in a bar?"
"Yeah, maybe." Finn was starting to regret speaking up, but he took a breath and continued. "It wasn't just a bar, Burt, it was a gay bar."
"Yeah, so?"
"Don't you see? They can be themselves there."
"And they can't here?" Burt asked, looking as though he was losing patience.
Finn hesitated. "Well, kinda but…..don't get me wrong Burt, you're a great dad, but you can be kinda intimidating. I wouldn't want you to walk in on me and Rachel making out, and you're way more protective of Kurt, maybe cause you changed his diapers or something."
"Finn!" Kurt burst out, a horrified expression on his face. Finn saw his brother glance at Blaine, who had his lips pressed tightly together. Kurt whispered something to him through clenched teeth. Finn couldn't hear what it was, but Kurt's expression was threatening.
"Chill, Kurt," Finn said. "I'm just saying that you're his baby."
"Not helping, Finn." Kurt turned that expression from his boyfriend to him, and Finn saw his mom cover a smile. Great, she thinks this whole thing is cute.
"Your point, Finn?" Burt asked, looking exasperated.
Oh yeah. Making a point. Finn paused a second, then looked at Burt directly.
"I don't think Kurt and Blaine ever really relax around you, Burt. And I've seen them at school, they're even more uptight there. Other couples make out in the halls, but they hardly even touch each other. They relax a little in Glee, only a little, because they know everyone in there is totally cool. But everywhere else…I mean, I saw them at prom last year, they didn't even dance there! They don't get to be a couple the way other kids do." Finn stopped and looked over at the couch, where Kurt and Blaine sat quietly, eyes on him. "But on that commercial of Sue's, in that bar, they were dancing together. And they didn't even look scared. They looked…..like they were just having fun. Like any other couple, y'know?"
He was still looking at the pair of them as he finished, and saw them look at each other and then back to him with what he thought was gratitude on their faces. And then he felt good about speaking up, because Kurt was his brother and brothers stuck up for each other, right? And he had been kind of a jerk to Blaine since he'd joined New Directions.
He looked back at his mom and Burt. His mom looked…..proud. So yeah, he must've said something right. And Burt just looked like he was thinking. The doorbell broke the silence.
"That should be Will," his mom said, moving to answer the door.
"Great!" Finn exclaimed, forgetting about politics and family loyalties. "That means we can eat now, right?"
Kurt was walking through the front hallway with Blaine as Mr. Schue came in. He was still standing in the entryway, letting Carole take his coat as he held out a hand to stop them.
"Kurt! Blaine!" And Kurt tried not to cringe just because the last time their names got called it had led them to an unpleasant scene. But Mr. Schue didn't seem to want to yell at them. "How old are you both?" he asked excitedly.
"Uh, I just turned eighteen, why?" Kurt couldn't fathom why he looked disappointed. Mr. Schue turned to Blaine.
"Blaine, you're a junior, please tell me you haven't turned eighteen yet."
"No, I'm seventeen. Won't be eighteen till next summer." Blaine looked confused too.
"Thank…..God," Mr. Schue drew the phrase out, closing his eyes in apparent relief.
"Will, what's going on?" Carole asked.
"I checked the campaign rules," Mr. Schue spoke to Kurt's dad now. "Sue broke the rules by using a minor in her ad without parental consent. Since Blaine's under eighteen, we can petition the Board of Elections to have the ad pulled."
There was a general whooping from the group crowded into the front hall. Kurt hugged Blaine close in relief, only to be spun around by Finn.
"Hi five me, dude!" Too happy to protest being called dude, Kurt willingly slapped his palm against Finn's, who then held up his hand to Blaine for another hi five. "Who'da thought that dating a younger guy would come in handy, huh?" Finn asked, earning a shove from Kurt that was more playful than annoyed.
"We'll have to remember the advantage our ages gave us, when we're separated next year," Blaine murmured to him. Kurt shot him a dirty look, because he did not want to be reminded of another depressing reality right now.
"That's good news, Will," his dad said, smiling for the first time all evening. "But the ad has aired at least once; we know some people saw it. We still have to do damage control."
"True. We still have an uphill battle and we know Sue isn't going to suddenly stop fighting dirty," Mr. Schuester admitted. "But maybe we can minimize the damage."
"Why don't we discuss damage control over dinner?" Carole asked, gesturing to the dining room.
"Great plan! I'm starved!" Finn was the first one through the door, followed by Mr. Schue and Carole, telling him about the heart-healthy lasagna that she'd made.
"Kurt, just a moment." His dad's voice pulled him up short.
Blaine stopped with him, but Kurt gave him a nudge toward the dining room. "Go ahead, I'll be right there." Kurt felt Blaine's fingers brush his own before he nodded and walked away. Kurt turned to face his dad.
"This isn't over, Kurt." His dad looked calm now, but his eyes were serious. "You're still in trouble, and you and I have a few things to discuss later."
"I know Dad," Kurt said softly. "I'm really, really sorry."
His dad nodded. "Ya know, it occurs to me that this family has never really been in this position before. We've never needed to worry about our private business getting on TV for the world to see. But we're there now, and I think we should sit down as a family to discuss protocols. Given recent events, I think Blaine should be there too, and I'll ask Finn to invite Rachel over."
Kurt nodded, then couldn't help grinning as he pictured his dad trying to run a serious family meeting with Rachel Berry in the room.
"Dad, you realize that if you invite Rachel over, you'll be lucky to get a word in edgewise?"
"Yeah, I know," his dad grinned back, putting an arm over Kurt's shoulders to guide him to the dining room. "You own a lot of scarves, right? Think we can use one of those to gag her?"
