I'm am actually so sorry about the wait for this chapter! I've been obnoxiously busy! I was in this musical, and have had lot of homework, and suddenly i have a social life (i know, weird right?) But now everything has finally calmed down, I've had writing time, and in just a couple of weeks I'll be on sumemr break, which means more writing time!
PROMISE YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG FOR AN UPDATE ON THIS STORY AGAIN.
Chapter Seven.
"Oh my God, Blaine!" Kurt shrieks. "I'm so tired of this bullshit. It's all about Star, isn't is? I thought you loved me!"
Blaine scrambles to make him understand. "I do. Of course I do. I love you so much, Kurt, please-"
Then it's time you chose. Her, or me," Kurt demands.
"Please don't do this," Blaine begs.
"Blaine!" Kurt said, and Blaine shot up in bed. "Are you alright?"
Blaine blinked around in the bright room. Star was gone. A look over at the clock told him that it was eight in the morning. "Nightmare," Blaine explained. "Thanks," he added, as Kurt wordlessly passed him his glasses. When Blaine looked over at his boyfriend, once the simple black frames were on his nose, he noticed something. "Hey, you're wearing my shirt."
"Observant," Kurt commented with a smirk. "I was wearing it last night too, but you were too busy spewing out plans of marriage."
That triggered the conversation of the previous night to rush back to Blaine. He put his head in his hands and moaned, "God, that's embarrassing."
"…But you meant it, right?" Kurt asked softly, sounding unsure of himself now.
"Of course!" Blaine said immediately. "I mean, you and I both know that things are…"
"Complicated," Kurt supplied.
"Yes. But one day, I… I really want to spend the rest of my life with you, Kurt. That is, if you'll have me…?"
Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but a knock at the door interrupted him. "Breakfast!" Brittany sang from outside the door.
"We'll be right there," Blaine called back.
Kurt ruffled Blaine's hair. "Come on, Blainers. I smell French toast."
"Blainers?" Blaine groaned. "Why, oh why did I ever think it was okay to introduce you to Jeff?"
Flashback
Blaine drove back to Dalton in Jeff's car, after telling his less-than-thrilled parents the not-so-great news. He parked and just sat for a moment, breathing in and out as evenly as he could manage. When that didn't really work out, Blaine took and deep breath, and, for the first time since he had found out he was going to be a father, let himself truly cry. He was so immersed in his misery, that he didn't even notice Nick standing outside the passenger side door of the car until he knocked on the window. Blaine unlocked the door for him, before curling into a ball in the drivers seat.
"Blaine…?" Nick began uncertainly.
Blaine's only response was a choked out sob.
"Blaine, what's wrong?" Nick tried, but Blaine just shook his head. He heard Nick dial a number into his cell phone. "Hey, Jeff, it's me. Um, I'm out in the parking lot in your car, with Blaine. He's really upset and I don't… yeah, okay. See you soon."
A moment later Nick got out of the car, and Jeff got in. Blaine just kept sobbing noisily into his knees, gasping for air. Jeff sat there in silence until at last, nearly twenty minutes later, Blaine had quieted down.
"Tell me what that phone call was about," Jeff coaxed gently into the silence that now hung between them.
Blaine looked over as his friend. "Santana, the stripper you hired, is pregnant. It's mine. And my parents just kicked me out even further than they already had before, and I'm screwed, because how am I supposed to pat for a kid, Jeff? Fuck paying for it, how the hell am I going to raise it? I'm sixteen."
Jeff sat there for a moment in a stunned silence, feeling more guilty than he ever had in his life.
"I…am so sorry, Blaine."
Blaine sniffed. "It's not your fault that I had sex with her, I just…" Blaine lowered his voice. "I'm scared."
"I know," Jeff said, though he knew that he would never truly understand how Blaine felt in that moment. "Let's go inside and get some dinner, and then we can figure out what to do, okay?"
"I'm not hungry," Blaine protested, and reached up to scrub away the tear tracks on his face.
"Well, you're eating anyways," Jeff said, his tone leaving no room for argument. And so the two Warblers made their way out of the car and into their school. A few of their fellow glee-clubbers past by them on their way to the Dining Hall. They all shot Blaine curious looks as they walked by, clearly noticing his red eyes. Most of them were able to just give him space, and the few that did look as though they would stop hurried on after a look from Jeff.
"I don't know," Kurt said presently and sarcastically. "He's only your best friend."
"You have no idea," Blaine promised. "Now let's go get some breakfast."
Blaine led the way to the kitchen, holding Kurt's hands to his waist as he did. Brittany and Star were already seated at the table, and Santana was loading up a plate with French toast.
"Daddy!" Star exclaimed sleepily.
"Good morning, baby girl!" Blaine beamed. Kurt adored the way he lit up around her.
"Can we go to the zoo today? Can we, please please please?" Star begged.
Blaine laughed, "We'll see," he said, breaking his hold with Kurt to kiss his daughter on the forehead.
Santana approached, carrying breakfast in one hand. "Sit down, Anderson," she said, swatting Blaine's backside with her other hand.
She's slept with Blaine and I haven't, Kurt thought instantly, feeling guilty almost immediately afterwards. He squashed that thought back to wherever it had come from, and took a seat next to Blaine.
"This looks delicious, Santana," Blaine said, still smiling widely.
"Thanks, hobbit," Santana teased.
Kurt laughed. Santana gave him an appreciative look.
"What's a hobbit?" Star asked curiously.
Blaine was mumbling something about needing to rid himself of the horrible nicknames that followed him through his life. Kurt thought he heard something about 'Blainers' mentioned again.
"You'll understand when you're older," Santana told Star.
"If it helps," Brittany tried to consol the toddler, "I don't really get it either."
Later, because Kurt had agreed and Blaine didn't mind, the three of them set off to the zoo. Santana and Brittany stayed home claiming to have 'things' to do. Blaine could guess exactly what those things were…
"Is Kurt coming?" Star asked Blaine as he buckled her into her car seat.
Kurt looked away, pretending as if he wasn't paying attention, though in reality he was hanging on every word.
"Yes, sweetie, he is." Blaine said gently.
"Oh. Does he gotta?" Star asked.
Blaine's heart broke a little, but he tried not to show it. "Yes. You're going to like Kurt, promise."
Star sighed softly and looked away.
Blaine wanted to question her instantly dislike of Kurt, but decided it was best not to push the subject, as he had already heard his boyfriend sniff behind him. So instead Blaine closed the car door, and turned. Kurt was looking off to one side, the knuckles of one hand pressed against his mouth. Blaine knew him well enough to know that he was on the verge of tears. "Hey, hey." Blaine said, wrapping his boyfriend in a hug. "It doesn't mean anything. She's a kid. She changes her mind constantly. It'll be fine. Please don't be sad."
Kurt took a shaky breath and nodded against Blaine. "I'm fine," he said, even though they both knew he was lying. The two pulled apart from each other. "I'm fine." Kurt repeated. "Shall we go?"
"Mhm," Blaine said, kissing his boyfriend's nose before the two of them got into the car.
To Kurt and Blaine's surprise, the zoo wasn't a complete disaster. They walked slowly from cage to cage, and Star was fascinated again and again by the animals that surrounded her. She was particularly intrigued by the giraffes.
In fact, the only thing that kept their trip to the zoo from being perfection was when a woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties approached them.
"Oh, what a darling baby girl!" She squealed when she saw Star.
Said little girl beamed, pleased with the attention that she was getting.
Blaine smiled, playing the part of 'proud father' perfectly. "Thank you."
"Is this your big brother?" She asked Star, beaming.
"No!" Star said before Blaine could interject. "He's my daddy!"
The woman's expression went from delight, to confusion, and then turned cold. "She's…she's kidding, right?" She asked Blaine, sounding almost angry in her shock.
"She certainly is not," Blaine said, sounding confident albeit nervous. "This is my daughter."
The woman scowled, and started away, mumbling something about irresponsible teenagers.
Blaine's hands tightened into fists. "Hey!" he called out after the woman. She turned back angrily. "I've been to hell and back to raise this little girl and keep her happy. Who are you to decided on or judge my level of responsibility?"
"Someone actually old enough to be a parent!" The woman replied before hurrying off.
"Blaine…" Kurt began uncertainly.
Blaine took a deep breath before slowly turning back to his boyfriend and his daughter. "I'm fine," he said tightly.
Star yawned widely. Blaine's expression instantly softened. "Hey, darlin'," he said as he lifted her. "Let's get you home for a nap, yeah?"
Kurt could tell that Blaine was still fuming, but Star didn't notice a thing. "Okay," she said simply, settling into Blaine's shoulder.
That night, long after Star had been put to bed, Santana and Brittany were in the living room watching television, and Kurt had stepping outside to call his dad. Blaine sat alone in his room on the bed. He had already switched his contacts back to his glasses, and now that he had nothing left to occupy his mind, he found himself thinking back to the woman from earlier. The things she had said… though at the time he had found them ridiculous, now he wasn't so sure. What if she was right?
"Hey," Kurt said softly, entering the room.
"Hello, love."
"Is everything alright?"
Blaine sighed heavily. "I just… that woman earlier. I can't stop thinking about it."
Kurt sat down behind Blaine on the bed, rubbing his shoulder affectionately the way he knew his boyfriend liked. Sure enough, Blaine leaned into the touch. "I figured it was something like that. Want to talk about it?"
"I… what if she's right?"
"Hmm?"
"I mean… think about it. I see Star, what? Twenty-four days a year? What kind of parent is that?"
Kurt shook his head. "You're being ridiculous, Blaine. You're doing the best you can," Kurt tried to soothe.
"It doesn't feel good enough!" Blaine outburst. "I'm not in school anymore. I no longer have the excuse of a heavy work load, or class Monday morning."
"You work two jobs, Blaine," Kurt pointed out.
"Yeah, to help pay for the girl whose-" Blaine paused for a moment, and when he continued it was barely about a whisper. "Whose growing up without me."
Kurt froze for a moment. He knew that he couldn't even begin to imagine how Blaine was feeling, but he had to say something. Before he could think of what that something was, he realized that Blaine was crying.
Immediately, Kurt tried to pull his boyfriend in for a hug, and was shocked when Blaine pushed him away. "Blaine…?" He asked tentatively.
"Kurt, can you just…" Blaine voice was thick, and he cleared his throat before going on. "Can you please just give me a moment?"
"Sure sweetheart," Kurt said, kissing his boyfriend's forehead before he left, and trying not to cry himself. He had never seen Blaine so upset before.
Star was taking a nap, and Santana and Brittany had gone out, so, with nothing else to do, Kurt started making dinner. He had never really cooked for a kid before, but figured his mother's old taco salad recipe was a sure bet. He put some raw meat on a pan on the stove and started to cook it.
Meanwhile, Blaine was a wreck. He wished he had let Kurt stay, because he felt like he needed him, but he also rather his boyfriend didn't see him sob. The woman at the zoo had sparked something in him, some fire that threatened to engulf him. A craving to man up and be a better parent. He'd been living in a gotta-finish-school-don't-worry-about-Star-Santana's-got-her-it's-fine rut, and now he knew they needed to change things.
Back in the kitchen, along with the ground beef, Kurt had added lettuce, tomato, cheese, kidney beans, and a special sauce he had whipped up. He mixed it all together, threw it in a bowl, and put it in the fridge, just in time for Blaine to enter the kitchen.
"Hey," he croaked. His eyes were red.
"Hey, love. Feeling better?" Kurt asked, walking over to wrap his arms around Blaine.
"Yeah. I'm sorry I asked you to leave."
"Its fine, honey," Kurt assured them, and they sealed the apology with a kiss.
Surprise coming in the next chapter!
Less than three you! (And i apologize again for the wait for this chapter!)
