The front door slammed behind him as Blaine stormed into the house, and he dropped his bag on the table in the entryway without stopping as he ran to the stairs, hoping to reach his room before his dads stopped him. Of course, with his day going as it was, he didn't get his wish, and his dad was on the couch watching television.
Bryan took one look at his son's face and jumped up, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders. "David!" he called over his own shoulder, "I think you should join us in the living room! Now, please!"
Blaine rolled his eyes as his Pop's quick steps could be heard echoing through the hall. "Yeah, Bry, what's going – oh."
David stopped in his tracks when he saw the angry, tear-streaked face of his seventeen year old son. "Blaine? What's wrong, bud?"
"Nothing, Pop. Dad, let me go. I just want to go to my room. It's fine." Blaine tried to wrestle himself free of his Dad's hold, but Bryan held tight.
"No way, Blaine. Not until you tell us what's up. Here's how it's going to work. We are going to all sit and talk. You get to choose whether we make hot cocoa first or not. That's pretty much your only decision." Bryan pushed his son towards the kitchen, motioning with his head for his husband to follow.
"Come on, kid. You know you can't get past both of us. We're going to win any argument you try to make. May as well go ahead and give in and tell us so you can go to your room sooner," David pointed out as he and his boys sat at the kitchen island. "Now. Cocoa? Milk? Tea? What do you want? I'd offer you something stronger since you seem to need it, but that's illegal and wrong and totally not going to happen."
Blaine rolled his eyes. "Fine. No, I don't want cocoa. I'm not five, Pop."
David raised his eyebrows and exchanged a look with Bryan. Blaine loved cocoa, always had. It was always the go-to drink when the kid was having a rotten day.
"Okay, Blaine. What's going on, hun?" Bryan pulled out the stool next to him for David to sit on as they both looked at their son expectantly.
"okay, okay," Blaine sighed, "you know how I told you about Kurt the other day? The guy who came and spied on the Warblers and we got coffee and he's gay, too, and he goes to McKinley in Lima and he's been having a really shitty time there with harassment and stuff?"
"Language, Blaine," David muttered, "but yes, we do. Go ahead. Does he have a boyfriend or something? Is that the problem?"
Blaine looked like David had just asked him to eat from the dog's food bowl. "Pop, I don't like him like that!"
Bryan and David just raised their eyebrows at one another, and then at Blaine. "Right. Sure. Okay, Blaine, so what is the point?" Bryan made it clear that neither of them believed him, but were letting him act as though he was right.
"The point is that it went too far today! That asshole Karofsky-"
"Language, Blaine!"
"Pop, seriously! It's the only effectual word in this case! That fucking asshole kissed Kurt! Against his will! And then threatened to kill him!" Blaine was clearly reaching his breaking point now, tears in his eyes as his hands fisted on the counter in front of him.
"What?!" Bryan and David spoke together, their time together over the years showing as they had identical reactions, standing up and shouting out at the same time.
"See? I told you the language was justified."
"Not the point right now, Blaine. What happened, exactly, and how did you find out?" David was still clearly outraged, still standing with his fists on the counter.
"Okay. Kurt was standing in the hallway, texting me, and Karofsky came over and knocked his phone out of his hands and shoved him really hard into the lockers and walked away. He said something, but I don't remember what. Kurt got really mad and followed Karofsky into the guy's locker room and started yelling at him, telling him that no matter what Karofsky thought or did or said, Kurt wasn't going to change, and that even if Karofsky was gay, he isn't Kurt's type, because Kurt doesn't go for big idiot immature jocks."
Blaine was smiling a little at this point, and Bryan and David reluctantly smiled slightly, too, knowing - even if he hadn't quite figured it out yet – that Blaine was finding something special with this Kurt kid.
"So Karofsky started yelling at Kurt to shut up and go away, and got all up in Kurt's face, and Kurt told him to hit him, to go ahead, because punching him wouldn't make him less gay just like hitting Karofsky wouldn't make him less ignorant, and Karofsky grabbed Kurt and kissed him."
The smile had disappeared. In its place, a frown, a furrowed brow, and re-clenched fists.
"When Kurt pushed Karofsky off of him, Karofsky punched the locker and got back in Kurt's face and said that if he told anyone he'd kill him, and then walked away." Tears beginning to fall down Blaine's face, he continued his story. "And Kurt got up and found his phone and called me, and … okay, this isn't great but it was necessary…I left school and went to help him out. And we talked to Karofsky together and tried the whole 'we know it can be confusing, and we'd like to help if you're interested' play, but he just shoved me up against the wall and Kurt made him back off. And..yeah, that's it. So I'm gonna go now."
Taking advantage of his dad's shock, Blaine shoved away from the island and went up to his room. Bryan and David could hear the squeak of the bedsprings as Blaine obviously threw himself onto the bed.
Bryan was the first to break the silence. "That poor, poor boy."
David looked over at his husband and held his jaw between his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears Bryan hadn't known were there. "We raised a good one. I thought we had avoided Blaine having to deal with any more of this when we got him into Dalton, but I never thought that he'd fall for a kid in public school who would have it even worse. He's just taking all of Kurt's difficulties and taking them on himself, now. And there's nothing we can do to protect him from this one. But we can help him help Kurt."
Bryan looked at David sadly. "Any ideas? 'Cause I have to say, if this is one of those shitty – don't you dare tell me to watch my language, David – times in parenting when we're just supposed to sit by and watch our baby boy be hurt, I'm going to be really pissed off."
David leaned over and softly kissed Bryan on the forehead. "We'll just tell Blaine that we're always here for him to talk things out with, and if he ever wants to bring Kurt over for a talk or advice, we can do that, too. And wait while he falls in love."
"Well, that's inevitable. I was planning on that one, anyways. I wonder if this Kurt boy's cute. Only the best for our Blaine, you know."
"I know, Bry, I know."
