ANNALISE ANDERSON HUMMEL: KURT'S APARTMENT: MONDAY NIGHT

Night had already fallen when her dad came home that night. He looked tired, and she didn't doubt that he was. He had left the apartment at seven in the morning – she knew, she had heard the door slam behind him – and now he came home at eight in the evening.

She watched him from the living room couch as he kicked his beloved shoes off and tossed his bag on the floor. The only thing he showed the tiniest bit of care for was his coat that he removed and hung on a hanger in the hallway closet.

He went into the kitchen without even glancing her way, heading straight for the fridge. He opened the door and peered in, no doubt finding exactly what Annalise had found an hour earlier: ketchup, apple juice, and a half eaten taco.

Sighing, he turned around and finally noticed Annalise.

"What do you feel like?" Kurt asked her, sitting down next to her on the couch and grabbing his phone. "Chinese, pizza, burgers?"

"Dad, I'm a vegetarian."

"Garden burger?"

Annalise rolled her eyes. "I was thinking of running down to seven eleven and get a salad. Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"You're a growing young woman; you need something foodier than salad."

"Because pizza is the foundation for a healthy lifestyle?"

Kurt chuckled. "I guess you're right. Bring me a salad, too. Caesar, if they've got."

"Sure thing." Annalise got up and kissed her dad's cheek before going into her room and grabbing a hoodie. When she came back out, her dad was still sitting on the couch, and he even had his legs on the coffee table – something he always scolded her for doing. His eyes were closed, and his breathing steady.

Annalise smiled to herself while she put her shoes on. It was pretty great that 7-eleven was just a block away, especially on nights like these when her dad was too tired to cook or on nights where he called her to let her know he'd be working late. Sure, she could always order in, but she preferred 7-eleven for two reasons. One, their food was ready to go, so no waiting. Second, whenever either of her dads were working late as they so often did, walking that one block or two always felt good. She would often feel lonely when her dads couldn't be home, and stepping into a pair of designer boots and entering the lively New York City night always served as a mild remedy for that. It reminded her that she lived in the greatest city on Earth, so how could she possibly feel sad?

"Annalise!" a voice called when she entered the shop.

"Aayan," she greeted back, waiving at the man behind the register before moving toward the readymade foods. She grabbed a Chicken Caesar for her dad and a Garden salad and some Yoplait for herself. She picked up a couple of vitamin waters and moved to the register.

"How have you been, little girl?" Aayan asked as he scanned the items.

"Good, good." Annalise opened her wallet and fished out the credit card that Blaine had gotten her four months ago. "How's Farrah doing?"

"Oh, just great. She's excited about starting first grade. She will be a great scholar one day. I hope she'll go to Columbia, but I'll have to wait and see what she wants when the time comes."

Annalise grinned. "I swear, if my dads were like you I'd be scared to get anything but straight A's."

When they said goodbye, Annalise promised she'd be back soon. She liked it when Aayan was at the store. He usually wasn't, because he was the owner of it and only filled in when necessary, so when he wasn't there Annalise would have to force pleasantries with some pimpled college boy clerk. She didn't mind the other people working there, but the college boy was always reading some book and she felt like she bothered him whenever she came by. It was stupid, really, because she was the customer and he should be thrilled she was there to keep the store from having to lay him off.

When she walked the block back to the apartment, she thought about how strange life was sometimes. She wondered what her dads would say if she told them she was friends with a really cool store owner and that sometimes when she was lonely at home she'd go down to him and just hang. She didn't do that a lot anymore, because ever since her friend Diana broke up with her first boyfriend she'd had time to hang out again. It was very convenient, because Diana lived only six blocks away.

Her dad was awake when she came back, sitting at the table where he'd put two plates and forks. Annalise put the bag of food on the table and went to the kitchen to get two glasses.

"What are you typing so much about?" she asked and put the glasses onto the table.

Kurt put the phone aside and rummaged through the bag for his salad. He opened the lid and poured the content onto his plate.

"Rachel," he said with a wave of his hand. He opened his drink and gulped right from the bottle. His throat was dry and the water helped. "She's having some problems with work."

"What kind of problems?" Annalise stuffed a tomato into her mouth and chewed it slowly.

"Someone wants to be our client and won't take no for an answer." Kurt shook his head at the thought. "I'm so happy I don't have to deal with the practical sides of the company."

"But why are you saying no to a job?"

"Well, we have the Lyle and Hayes thing, and we can't let anything distract us. I don't have the manpower or time to deal with a second wedding when one of them is so prominent. Like I told Rachel to tell the person: they deserve a nice wedding too and right now we're not in the position to give it to them."

"Huh, okay." Annalise kept eating.

"Actually," Kurt said, putting his fork down, "there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Annalise looked up from her plate, watching her dad suspiciously. "Yeah?" she mumbled around a piece of lettuce. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong, though that didn't stop her mind from trying to come up with things she might have done to deserve a "talk".

"I spoke to Rachel today. She told me you'd been asking some questions about me and your father."

Annalise didn't reply, only wondered where he was going with it.

"I don't know what suddenly brought it on, because we've told you many times what happened. But if there's something you want to know, I'd like you to talk with me or your dad instead of going behind our backs. You can ask us anything. You know that, honey."

"Well, the reason I've been asking is because you have never actually told me. All you and Daddy have done is brush it off with lies."

"That's not true," Kurt said defensively. "No, we haven't felt the need to get into all the little details, but we have never lied to you about what happened."

"Oh yeah?" Annalise crossed her arms over her chest. "Isn't avoiding the truth the same as lying? I don't have a clue what happened, and that's the truth. Maybe I want the details, Dad. Did you ever think of that?"

"Okay, fine." Kurt pushed a crouton around on his plate. "Your dad and I... we were busy with our jobs and trying to make our finances work with all our bills and student loans. We were married and adopting you was the best thing that happened to us. But things weren't work anymore. Blaine lost his job at the small law firm he worked at due to budget cuts, and I couldn't support all three of us on my small wage."

"But why did you split up because of that?"

"Because the struggles tore on our marriage, and our relationship could only handle so much."

Annalise nodded, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he wasn't telling her.

"I still don't get it. Yeah, okay, say your relationship was really bad and you didn't have any money. If that was the only problem then it would be solved when Daddy got a job, wouldn't it?"

Kurt shrugged. "I guess."

"So why did you decide to get a divorce?"

"It's complicated," was all he said.

Annalise wanted to reach over the table to slap him, because fuck that, fuck complicated.

"I'm not a little kid anymore that you need to protect! I can handle the truth! I mean, unless you don't trust me enough to believe me when I say that."

"I trust you, of course I do."

Annalise scoffed.

"Honey," Kurt said sternly, "if you honestly want to know the truth, then I will tell you."

She narrowed her eyes. "But?"

"But... you should know that everything we did back then had nothing to do with you, and that we did what we thought was the only option we could live with. Do you understand?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that both your dad and I made some stupid mistakes that we can't take back. But if you honestly want to know, I will tell you right now. No more lies."

Annalise swallowed. Neither of her dads had been this honest with her before, and she knew when Kurt was being sincere. This was it, she realized. She would finally get to know what happened.

Her heart started racing when she spoke.

"Go on."

Ooooh, exciting stuff! What do you think Kurt will tell her? How did both him and Blaine screw up in the past?

You'll find out in the next chapter ;) Bye for now, lovelies!