Wow guys, loving the love this story is getting lately. I really appreciate all of the wonderful and kind reviews I've been receiving. Warms my heart *so* much every time I check my email and there is something new from one of ya'll.

Here we are, Thanksgiving – Part 1. You'll have to wait a min for part 2 because I'll be traveling the next few days, but there's a lot of fluff and smut and plot in this chapter to hopefully tide you over.

Thank you once again to my fabulous beta! She makes my ramblings more coherent, so go her. Plus, she did a fantastic turn around for the beta'ing of this story which is why you're receiving it so soon. :)

I'm excited to report back my thoughts on seeing Darren and then Glee Live. I'm sure it'll be fabulous.

Alright Klaine Dearies, on with the chapter.

"I hate planes…man, how I hate planes…" Tina chanted through closed eyes and gritted teeth.

Kurt kept a firm hold of her hand and rubbed soothing circles onto it with his thumb. They went through this every time Tina flew home, which wasn't terribly often. Her hatred for planes usually extended as far as taking a train all the way from New York City to Columbus. This time, however, she was sick of traveling alone (Kurt and Mercedes loved her, they did, but a 10-plus hour train ride was just not something they could do more than once), and elected to fly out with Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes, Jay, Rachel, David, Quinn and Kevin.

"I know, I know," Kurt said with as much patience as he could muster, "but we're nearly there…like, ten more minutes, seriously."

"Thank goodness." Blaine glanced up from his book at Tina's relieved statement.

"10 more minutes? Wow – that went by fast."

"Maybe for you," Kurt gritted out, narrowing his eyes at Blaine and jerking his head towards Tina. Blaine grimaced apologetically.

"Sorry."

"As a Broadway star, I can't believe I'm still traveling in coach," seethed Rachel from the seat behind them.

"Yes, well, when your star power can treat all of us to first class, then you get to ride up there too. You could have flown that way today – you just didn't want to be alone," Kurt sighed.

"Once I pay off my school loans I am never flying coach again," Rachel huffed, glaring at the sleeping older woman in the window seat next to her.

The middle-aged woman smelled strongly of cats, and her head kept lolling onto Rachel's shoulder. Seeing her distress, David had tried to distract his seatmate for the first half of the flight, only to eventually give up in favor of listening to his iPod quietly. Rachel had been a little on edge since the limited run of Spring Awakening had ended, since she had been left unsure whether or not the producers were going to bring it back in the spring. She had signed up for spring classes at Julliard, but it was obvious she wanted to get back on stage.

"At least you're going somewhere you want to be, Rachel," snapped Quinn.

Her boyfriend Kevin was also holding her hand, and he gave it a squeeze now. Quinn's father and older sister had guilt her into spending Thanksgiving in Ohio with them, rather than with her mother and stepfather, since she hadn't seen them in over a year. Kevin, who was obviously head over heels for her, had elected to come for emotional support.

Mercedes and Jay were talking quietly in their seats; Mercedes giving her boyfriend another run-through of the names and identifying features of her large extended family. Jay had taken out a notepad and was rapidly scribbling down notes, making him seem even more adorable. Blaine, who remembered meeting and trying to remember Mercedes' huge family one summer at a barbeque, thought this was an extremely good idea. He had no idea to this day how Kurt had effortlessly rattled off the names of dozens of Mercedes' second and third cousins as they wandered around her large backyard.

The pilot announced that they were beginning their descent, and everyone sighed in relief.

Once on the ground, they exited the plane and made their way en masse over to baggage claim. Kurt noticed that a plane from Dulles was also having their luggage deposited at the same time and he looked around. A moment later he spied Lauren and Puck waiting for Lauren's suitcase at the adjacent belt.

Puck spotted Kurt and ran over to him, picking him up and spinning him around, with Blaine and Lauren exchanging eye rolls and giggles. Kurt shrieked to be put down, but returned Puck's hug when his feet were once more on solid ground.

"How'd you even get in here? With the new security measures, no-one but passengers can come to baggage claim anymore…" Kurt frowned.

"Dude, do you seriously doubt the Puckasauras? It was child's play, and I didn't want to wait to see my leading lady."

"This week," muttered Lauren as she eyed Puck carefully. The two had been on-again, off-again since high school. The distance had been hard for both of them, and each had dated other people, but when they were both home at the same time, very little could keep them apart.

"Do you know when Artie and Sam are coming in?" Tina asked hopefully. "Or Brittany and Mike?" Puck shook his head.

"I dunno – I talked to Mike a couple days ago and he said they were coming today, but I haven't seen any planes from LA or Chicago come in."

"I'm pretty sure they're on the same flight as Wes, so I don't think they'll get here until late tonight," interjected Blaine.

"What about Santana?" inquired Quinn as they made their way towards the airport exit.

"It's the same as I told you at home," Mercedes replied. "She still isn't sure if she's coming."

"Well, Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so she'd better make up her mind soon."

"Yeah, but she's the only manager so it's hard to get time off."

"Where does Santana work?" asked David.

"She runs a gay bar in Boston. She started as a bartender there a couple years ago and became the manager a few months ago after the old one broke up with the owner," answered Mercedes.

"Well I guess we'll all find out eventually, since all of you have been invited to my fabulous party on the evening of the 28th," chirped Rachel, typing out a 'where are you!' text to Finn. "The invitations to which some of you still haven't responded on Facebook," she scolded.

With promises to come to Rachel's party, Lauren and Puck left. David's girlfriend Angela turned up a moment later and he was gone as well. Kevin and Quinn then picked up the rental car Quinn's father had arranged for them, leaving the last six waiting for their rides.

Finn and Dave arrived at the pick-up point right behind one another. Liam, who had arrived the Friday before for Dave's and his two year anniversary, also got out of the car to say hello. Finn exited his car with a flustered look on his face, muttering about construction, but smiled as Rachel pulled him into a hug. When she released him he hugged his brother and greeted the others happily. As they were all headed for Finn and Kurt's house, it didn't matter who traveled with whom, so Finn, Rachel, Mercedes and Jay piled into Finns car. They left while Dave and Blaine were still loading up the back of Dave's car with Blaine, Kurt and Tina's luggage.

"Hey, is it cool if I go with you guys on Friday?" Dave asked of Blaine.

"To the game…? Aren't you inthe game?" Blaine questioned, thoroughly confused. Dave blinked at him as though he were on crack.

"No…not to the OSU game. To go shopping. Black Friday?"

"Oh!" Blaine laughed. "Oh, of course. I didn't think that was really your thing, though."

"It isn't, but Liam wants the new iPod for Christmas and I think my only chance to get it is then."

"Nice. Well yeah, come along – but I gotta warn you, shopping with Kurt and the girls is…intense. Especially at 4:30 in the morning." Dave smiled.

"I'll wear my shoulder pads." He got into the driver's seat and started the car.

Tina, who had calmed down dramatically after they had touched down, now looked thoroughly exhausted from her harrowing experience, and quickly fell asleep.

"What's new, Liam?" Kurt asked politely. Liam turned his head in the front seat to answer Kurt.

"Not a lot. Glad it's senior year. I don't know why, but this year is cake compared to last year. That's why I didn't feel bad at all about blowing off classes on Monday or yesterday. None of them even take attendance."

"Lucky," responded Kurt as his phone buzzed in his pants pocket.

"That we are," cooed Dave sweetly. Blaine made a retching sound.

"Yeesh, and people say we're nauseatingly cute," he commented.

Blaine looked over at Kurt, expecting a witty quip, but Kurt was engrossed in his phone, his fingers flying across the tiny keypad.

"…Zeb?" he ventured. Kurt sighed.

"Yes. He wants me to come back on Saturday instead of Monday." Kurt looked up and caught the look on Blaine's face. "I told him no, of course," he added quickly. Blaine barely hid his annoyance.

"The nerve of that guy! He kept you there 'til three in the morning yesterday, knowing you had to fly out this morning."

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. He had resorted to using concealer this morning to try to do damage control on the bags under his eyes.

"The spring coats had to go out by Friday...we were all there 'til three am." Kurt pressed send on the email he had been writing, offering a strategy on how to tackle the threading issue on the vests they had been working on. "There, now I'm all yours." Blaine's features relaxed.

"Good."

"Dave, did you tell them about Jerome?" Liam asked.

"Oh! No, I didn't."

"What's up with Jerome?" Kurt and Blaine anxiously said together.

"Last week…he, he got in a fight with Azimio…at school."

"Like a fight, fight?"

"Yeah. I don't know exactly what happened – as far as I knew Azimio hadn't even been talking to him – but I guess they were arguing about Jerome calling some guy too much at home, and in the middle of the lunchroom Azimio just starts pushing him."

"Jesus. Is he alright?" Blaine asked concernedly.

"Yeah. Luckily he's almost as big as Azimio. Emma stepped in right before it turned from shoving to more and got Jerome out of there. Azimio is on unpaid suspension from McKinley and Azimio's parents – Jerome's guardians – got hauled in to talk to Figgins about it."

"They weren't happy about what happened," Dave continued, "but they didn't stand up for Jerome…like, at all. He called me that night; he was so upset. He and Emma talked about him possibly going to stay with another aunt and uncle, but the kid's been passed around enough with all of his parents' issues."

"That's terrible," spat Kurt.

"Yeah. I guess Azimio might move out instead, since he is 22 now, but being an assistant football coach at a high school doesn't pay all that well, and now that he's suspended, I don't know what will happen."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Yeah, is there?" seconded Blaine.

"I don't know. I keep asking Emma about what more we should do but there's all kinds of laws and rules and ethics stuff, so she can't tell me much about it, and Jerome doesn't want me to think he's 'weak,' which is stupid but I do totally get it. I'm just glad he's a senior now and can hopefully get the hell out of there come next fall."

"Definitely," agreed Liam.

The entire car sat in silence for a moment as they each silently thanked their own relatively stable, if not perfect, families.


Both Kurt and Blaine took advantage of their break and slept in on Thanksgiving morning. They weren't scheduled to be at the Andersons' until 3pm. Blaine's grandparents were coming in for Thanksgiving this year, a rare occurrence, and Blaine had flat-out told his father that if he wanted Blaine there then Kurt and his family were coming too.

Blaine's parents tolerated Blaine's homosexuality. He knew they weren't and would never be 100% ok with it, but as uninvolved in his life as they were, they had assured him that he was still their son and that they loved him. His father's parents, on the other hand, were rather openly homophobic. Blaine's dad had tried to keep his son's sexuality a secret from his grandparents for years, to avoid 'unnecessary' discontent with the family, but Blaine had come out to them the night before his high school graduation anyway. His grandmother had burst into tears and his grandfather had told him he should be ashamed of himself for breaking their hearts. Mostly they kept quiet about it, but the way they looked at Blaine had forever changed, and snide remarks about him, his manliness, and his future had peppered their conversations over the years.

It had gotten slightly better with time, but Blaine had had enough of their pretending Kurt didn't exist and his parents' enabling of this behavior. Blaine had taken advantage of his extended time alone at home, now that Kurt was working so much, to have a lengthy argument with his parents over speakerphone, making the case that Kurt and his family were just as much, if not more, a part of Blaine's family as his grandparents, and reminding them that Thanksgiving was about being with family. They had eventually relented, as the only other option was not to have Blaine there at all. Blaine hoped his grandparents would not say anything hurtful while Kurt and his parents were there, and he felt rather selfish for putting them in the situation in the first place, but he didn't think he could get through another dinner alone.

Blaine had hoped Finn would be there too, as he thought his grandparents might benefit from seeing Kurt's accepting brother, but Finn had already promised Rachel he would spend Thanksgiving at her house with her dads. However, the Berrys, Rachel, Finn, Carole, Burt, Blaine and Kurt had all made plans to have dessert together at the Hudson-Hummel home in the evening.

Blaine forced his eyes open, yawning. He reached under his pillow and pulled out his cell, finding the time to be 10:14am. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he got up and made his way to the bathroom. By the time he returned, he had woken up enough to remember that they were alone in the house. Burt and Carole were spending the morning visiting some of Carole's family, and Finn had been recruited to help with the Berrys Thanksgiving festivities early in the morning.

A small smile spread across Blaine's lips as he looked at Kurt sleeping peacefully. Kurt had been working so hard, and while the gifts Zeb Marque presented Kurt with every so often were nice and all, Kurt was incredibly stressed out all the time. Blaine was stressed himself – after all, his exams were coming up – but it was different to be awake with law flash cards at home at 2am than hand-stitching a gown across town at that time.

Kurt rolled over just then, his eyes flickering open.

"Hey," he mumbled groggily.

"Hey," answered Blaine. "I'm going to make some coffee." Kurt grinned.

"My hero."

Blaine laughed before heading out of the bedroom door and trudging downstairs. Kurt took out his phone and blearily looked at the three messages waiting for him.

He typed out a quick response to Zeb's text about possible models for an upcoming show, made a note to email Gil soon, and laughed at the picture Mercedes had sent him of Jay and her with about 11 of her relatives, all squeezed onto one couch in her living room.

Kurt stretched luxuriously and got of bed. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, and to wash and moisturize his face. He was happy to see that the persistent bags under his eyes had faded a bit after his good night of sleep.

Just as he was finishing up, Blaine walked back into the bedroom with two steaming mugs. Kurt kissed his cheek and happily took the cup Blaine offered to him.

"Mmm…I love coffee," he sighed happily after several sips. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I had no idea."

Kurt pouted at him with a feigned 'oh I'm so hurt' face and Blaine set down his mug. He closed the distance between them to deliver a long kiss to Kurt's lips.

Kurt smiled into the kiss and set down his own mug before wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck.

Blaine broke the kiss and grinned happily up at Kurt, before reaching under Kurt's legs and pulling him up until he was cradled in Blaine's arms.

Kurt giggled madly as Blaine carried him the few feet to their bed.

"Someone's feeling confident this morning, hmm?"

Blaine nodded and leaned forward, letting go of Kurt when he was a few inches away from the bed so that he landed with a soft whoosh.

Kurt laughed harder and reached up to pull Blaine down with him. Blaine fell forward onto the bed as well and kissed Kurt in between his own giggles as they rolled around on the bed together, both finding themselves more relaxed than they had been in ages.

At some point, the kisses grew harder and more insistent, as Kurt's tongue ran along Blaine's bottom lip once and Blaine parted his lips slightly to grant him entrance. Blaine ran his tongue along Kurt's as his hands dove under the fabric of his lover's pajama top, feeling the sinewy smoothness of Kurt's back. Kurt delved hungrily into Blaine's coffee-flavored mouth from his position on top of Blaine. He let Blaine flip them over once more and they both came up for air.

Blaine took a moment to look at Kurt; really look at him; soaking up the features that were so very familiar, yet seemed to reveal something new and wonderful each time he set his gaze upon them for an extended period of time. Today, the sun was shining brightly; illuminating both the otherwise unlit bedroom and the features of Kurt's beautiful face.

Kurt wrinkled his nose at Blaine uncomfortably.

"What are you looking at? I know my hair must look crazy right now." Blaine bent his neck forward to kiss each of Kurt's temples.

"What am I looking at? Only the most gorgeous man on Earth."

A slight blush rose high in Kurt's cheekbones.

"I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too, Kurt."

With that admission, Kurt reached up under Blaine's shirt and pulled it up and off of him.

"God, why do we even wear clothes to bed?" Blaine groaned, as he pulled off Kurt's top and tugged down his pajama bottoms and silvery green boxer briefs.

"I'm not getting caught naked in the middle of the night if there's a fire!" Kurt exclaimed, somewhat seriously, before tilting his head up to the crook of Blaine's neck, kissing, licking and sucking on the tender area. "At least, not intentionally…" he corrected, remembering all the times post-sex when they had indeed fallen asleep nude.

Blaine shushed him.

"No more talking unless it's 'yes,' 'Blaine,' 'more,' or 'harder,'" he instructed, his voice low and gravelly.

"What about 'fuck'?" Blaine smiled in spite of himself.

"That is my – oh my God, I love your mouth – my intention."

Blaine pressed their chests together, loving the feel of Kurt's heart pounding under his own. He steadied himself on Kurt's arms and ground his hips into Kurt's, causing Kurt to moan against his neck, which in turn sent vibrations coursing through him. Searching for more friction, Kurt arched his back up and into Blaine as Blaine rubbed against him, their cocks sliding together roughly. Kurt's tongue slid over a particularly sensitive spot just below the lobe of Blaine's ear and Blaine pulled back. Kurt was going to have him coming way too soon if he kept that up.

He pressed his lips once to Kurt's red pout, before shifting down the bed so he was below Kurt rather than straddling him.

Kurt squirmed and bit his lower lip as he felt Blaine lift up one of his legs and plant wet kisses to the back of his knee.

"Oh, God, Blaine," he choked out.

Blaine lightly kissed the delicate skin of Kurt's upper leg, making his way up to his inner thigh. His touch was so light it was almost unclear whether or not he actually made contact with Kurt's skin, but Kurt could feel the sensation in every part of his being.

When his mouth finally reached Kurt's cock, Blaine dipped his tongue out and ran it across Kurt's balls and perineum, eliciting a sharp intake of breath and another whimper of his name from his fair-skinned lover. Torturously for Kurt, however, Blaine then resumed his delicate kisses along the inner thigh of his other leg.

Kurt's hands groped downward and he cupped Blaine's face in his hands.

"Please," he begged.

Blaine took pity on his boyfriend and grasped his shaft with one hand, his other petting the inside of Kurt's thigh. He lowered his lips over the head of Kurt's cock and swirled his tongue around it, before easing into his mouth.

"Guh, yes, yes," panted Kurt as his hands moved to tangle themselves in Blaine's curls.

Blaine bobbed his head up and down, sucking hard. A light flush spread over Kurt's body, darkest at his neck but still visible halfway down his chest. Blaine could feel Kurt tense around him as he held back from thrusting into Blaine's mouth.

Blaine pushed himself onto his knees so he was several inches higher up now, releasing Kurt from his mouth with a wet pop.

He pushed his hands under Kurt's hips and squeezed his ass.

"It's okay – go ahead and thrust."

Kurt sighed dramatically.

"Thank God."

Blaine took Kurt into his mouth again, although not as deeply as before, and let Kurt rock into him. It still wasn't as hard as Kurt would be thrusting if this were Blaine's other hole, but God, it felt good to Kurt. Blaine kept his death grip on Kurt's ass as Kurt moaned and panted above him.

As Blaine sucked particularly hard along a vein on Kurt's dick Kurt abruptly stopped thrusting all together.

Blaine released him once more and gazed up at his boyfriend's half-lidded eyes.

"Now. Want you inside me, now," Kurt commanded. Blaine groaned.

"The lube and stuff is still in my overnight bag…which means I have to get up," he grumbled.

Kurt's legs were still trembling.

"Mmfph, just go get it!"

Blaine swiped his tongue against Kurt's shaft one last time and bounded off of the bed to dig around in his overnight bag.

"Eureka," he cried, holding up a bottle of lube and a purple condom.

Kurt had taken the opportunity to position a few pillows under his hips. He drew his knees up into his chest as Blaine climbed back onto the bed, rolled on the condom and applied lube liberally to his right hand.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Kurt whined under his breath, as Blaine teased his opening with a slick finger before slowly pushing in.

When Kurt was fully stretched, Blaine slicked up his cock with more lube and spread Kurt's legs wide, resting his ankles on Blaine's own shoulders.

"Kurt," he moaned as he entered. "How are you so flexible?"

"It's a gift," Kurt muttered haughtily. He opened his mouth to continue but his words were lost as Blaine's angle changed, and his cock made contact with Kurt's prostate.

"Ungh, God, do that again," pleaded Kurt, his voice high and breathy. "Harder …"

Blaine pulled back before thrusting again into Kurt with a little more force.

"Yes, yes, right there …"

They quickly found their rhythm. Blaine was panting too hard for any real sound to come out, but Kurt babbled rapidly, little half-words and curses that drove Blaine crazy in the best way possible.

Just as Kurt's legs were starting to feel strained from their taut position, he felt the familiar coiling sensation start to build in his lower abdomen.

"Blaine, Blaine, oh my God I'm so close," he whined.

Blaine thrust a little faster and reached between them to stroke at Kurt's dick.

That was all it took for Kurt to come hot and hard over Blaine's hand, the contractions of his orgasm sending Blaine into oblivion as well.

They lay together; basking in the afterglow for a moment, before Blaine slowly pulled out of a slightly sore Kurt and disposed of the condom. Kurt just lay spread-eagled on the bed, sighing contently.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Kurt. We should shower though, so we can get ready to go to my parents' house."

Kurt didn't know why he found that statement so funny, but he found himself giggling like mad as Blaine picked him up bridal style once more, carrying him into the en-suite bathroom.

What he did know was that he loved being on vacation.


Burt and Carole returned just as Blaine and Kurt were finishing getting ready. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best…well, everyone apart from Kurt, who had reluctantly talked himself into wearing something a little more conservative than his normal taste to meet Blaine's grandparents for the first time. Blaine still thought Kurt looked rather dashing in his black dress pants, plum button down and forest green skinny tie.

Kurt felt similarly about his boyfriend, who was wearing light grey dress pants, a white shirt and a blue and purple plaid tie. Blaine smiled lovingly at his boyfriend as Kurt adjusted his tie for him.

"Are you two ready to go?" Carole called from the living room.

"Just a minute," yelled Kurt as he stepped away from Blaine, nodding before declaring him presentable.

Blaine stopped Kurt as he made his way to the door.

"What is it, B? We gotta go," Kurt reminded him, his hand already on the doorknob.

"Thank you for coming with me." Blaine looked down at the floor; nervousness that hadn't been there until it was time to leave had now crept in his bones.

Kurt cupped Blaine's chin in his hand and eased Blaine's head up so that their eyes met. His heart sank as he saw shame, fear and anxiety flickering in Blaine's otherwise beautiful eyes.

"Hey," he admonished softly, "it's going to be fine. The Hummels can handle ourselves. Are you okay?"

"Yeah…yeah, I just…I don't want them to say anything rude and…I just feel selfish because I just didn't wanna do this alone again." Kurt was one of the few people around whom Blaine felt comfortable allowing himself to be vulnerable.

"Babe, we're a team. I have your back and you have mine. Plus, this is probably the first of many…er, celebrations, with the extended Anderson clan, right? So we might as well just go." He took Blaine's hand in his. "Come on," he continued. "The faster we go the faster we get to come back here and have some of that delicious pie Carole and I made."

Blaine gave Kurt's hand a squeeze as he let him pull him along and down the stairs.

"Okay."

They passed by the aforementioned pies as they crossed the kitchen on their way to the garage, and Blaine grinned, his mood lifting slightly.

"I'm going to have some of everything!"

"Between you and Finn, that's why we made four," commented Carole. "We figured one for each of you, and the other two between Burt, me, Kurt, Rachel and the Berrys."

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," directed Burt over the boys' laughter.

The four piled in the car and made their way down the highway to the Anderson home, the ride passing quickly with easy conversation and laughter filling the car.

When they arrived seemingly suddenly at their destination, Burt parked his car behind the shiny black Lexus belonging to Blaine's grandparents. They walked up the stone path through the front yard, and Blaine opened the door.

"Mom? Dad? We're here…" Blaine announced as they entered the foyer of the expansive house.

A slightly harassed-looking Perla Anderson entered the foyer as Blaine took everyone's coats and hung them up in the hall closet. She quickly recovered and plastered a smile onto her face.

"Hello everyone. Blaine, take Kurt and his parents into the living room. Your father and his parents are in there already. Dinner will be served shortly."

"Do you need any help?" Carole offered kindly.

Mrs. Anderson's eyes widened slightly. Blaine knew it was because his mother actually cooked very little of their Thanksgiving dinner, and had most of it catered secretly. Well, 'secret,' insofar as the rest of the family knew, but no-one commented and simply all went along with the charade.

"Oh no, thank- thank you Carole, but I have everything under control." She turned in her conservative Prada shoes and hurried off to the kitchen.

Some greeting for your kid you haven't seen since June, thought Kurt somewhat bitterly, as Blaine led them all into the living room.

"Blaine, what on Earth did you do to your hair?" questioned a short, stout woman wearing a navy pantsuit and glittering diamonds the moment the four entered the room.

"You look like a hippy," observed an equally short man, dressed in an oddly-fitting beige tweed suit.

"Nice to see you too, Grandmother; Grandfather," nodded Blaine curtly. After high school, Blaine had let Kurt convince him that all he needed was a curl-defining mousse for his hair, rather than trying to clamp it down to his head with gel. Normally he would still 'fix' it for formal family events but he hadn't even brought gel with him this trip, only half-accidentally.

The elder Mrs. Anderson pursed her lips, but refrained from comment, instead focusing her attention on the three people standing awkwardly behind Blaine. She rose from the loveseat, followed quickly by her husband.

Kurt stepped forward, taking a deep breath.

"Grandmother; Grandfather, this is my boyfriend, Kurt. Kurt this is my grandmother Evelyn Anderson, and my grandfather Marcus Anderson."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson." Smiling hopefully, Kurt held out his hand, but neither adult took it. He let his arm swing to his side with a small cough.

"And these are Kurt's parents – his father Burt Hummel and his stepmother Carole Hudson-Hummel." Blaine's grandmother raised her eyebrows slightly at the word 'stepmother,' but thankfully kept her thoughts to herself.

"Mr. Hummel," greeted the elder Mr. Anderson stiffly.

Burt hesitated before accepting the offered handshake, but at a warning glance from Kurt, grasped the older man's hand briefly.

"Just call me Burt."

"Well, this is a lovely Thanksgiving Day isn't it?" Carole interjected, her voice slightly shrill as she tried to break the tension. Blaine's father rose from his seat in a nearby armchair and spoke for the first time.

"Yes. Why don't we sit down while Perla finishes with dinner?"

Blaine looked relieved. The four glanced around the heavily furnished room as Blaine's grandparents sat back down on the loveseat and his father returned to the armchair. Burt took the armchair's twin, leaving Carole, Kurt and Blaine to the couch, with Kurt and Blaine sitting several inches further apart than was normal for them.

Carole, ever the resilient one, took another stab at conversation.

"That's a lovely brooch, Mrs. Anderson," she tried. Evelyn Anderson surveyed Carole for a moment.

"Thank you… Your necklace is very, um … interesting." Carole let the tone slide.

"Thank you! It was a gift from my other son, Finn, for my birthday this year." The room fell into awkward silence once more. Kurt nudged Blaine gently.

"Hon- Blaine," he corrected himself quickly, "why don't you tell your grandparents about the classes you're taking this semester?"

Blaine looked bewildered for a moment, as if he had temporarily forgotten he even went to law school. He cleared his throat.

"Oh, yeah. Well, the semester has been tough, that's for sure…" he started.

"It's supposed to be tough; it's law school," his dad piped up.

"Right," Blaine laughed nervously. "Well, indeed it is, but I'm enjoying my classes a lot. My Constitutional Law class I like in particular. We've gotten to read some very interesting cases."

The elder Mr. Anderson made a noise in his throat that sounded a lot like 'activist judges' to Kurt. Not a moment too soon, Perla Anderson popped her head through the open door and announced that dinner was served.

The long table in the formal dining room was ornately decorated for the occasion. Everyone slowly took their seats, with the senior Andersons sitting at either end of the oak table, in prime positions to watch – and judge – every member of the party. Evelyn Anderson assessed the spread.

"Nice to see we're having American food this time, Perla," she noted coolly.

Blaine tensed at the comment. Several years ago, his mother had made the mistake of including two traditional Filipino dishes, lumpiang sariwa and ukoy – both of which Blaine loved – in their Christmas menu, and since then his grandmother had made some snide remark about how 'American' (or otherwise) his mother's cooking was at any meal she served.

"It does look delicious," praised Carole. She shot her husband a meaningful look, and Burt cleared his throat.

"Yeah, looks really good."

"You're too kind. Shall we say grace?"

Kurt, an atheist, resolutely folded his hands and bowed his head. For Blaine; you're doing this for Blaine, he reminded himself firmly.

Marcus Anderson cleared his throat loudly.

"Lord, we thank you for the food you have provided for our enjoyment this glorious day. We give praise in the highest to our Lord Jesus Christ on this Thanksgiving Day, thankful for all of the gifts you have bestowed upon us. We thank you for bringing our family together today…" He faltered, before recovering somewhat awkwardly. "Along with our guests, Blaine's …friend, Kurt Hummel, and his family. Amen."

Blaine hooked his ankle around Kurt's from where he sat on the opposite side of the table. He caught his lover's eye and mouthed 'I'm sorry,' as Kurt looked up from his faux-praying position.

Kurt smiled softly at him and mouthed, 'I love you' in response.

"Mashed potatoes?" Perla offered Carole.

"Yes, please," said Carole, quickly taking the serving dish.

They ate in silence for a few moments. For the first time in his life, Kurt was glad he had something other to do than speak. Unfortunately for Kurt, Evelyn Anderson finally decided to engage him in conversation seconds after he took a bite of turkey.

"So what is it that you do?"

Kurt chewed for a moment and swallowed before replying.

"Um, I attend the Fashion Institute of Technology, where I'm studying fashion design with a minor in fashion marketing."

At the other end of the table, Marcus grimaced.

"Of course."

Burt's head whipped around, distracted from the Buckeyes conversation he had been having with Blaine.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded, venom lacing his words.

"Nothing," dismissed the Anderson patriarch with a patronizing sneer. Blaine shot his grandfather a disgusted look, coming instantly to his boyfriend's defense.

"Kurt is actually top of his class. His first clothing line debuted last summer, and he was handpicked by Zeb Marque of Marque Designs for an internship this year," he bragged proudly.

Evelyn actually looked temporarily impressed.

"The Zeb Marque?"

"Yes. It's definitely been a challenge, balancing work, school and my other priorities," Kurt confirmed, smiling at Blaine, "but I've been learning a lot, and I'm hoping it will help open some doors for me after graduation."

"Yes, I'm sure sewing bonnets and gowns is very challenging," sneered Marcus.

Blaine's eyes flashed quickly between his parents, but it was clear they weren't going to step in. Burt's knife and fork fell onto his plate with a clatter, but it was Kurt who spoke up first.

"Well, not as challenging as finding the most drab and ill-fitting suit in all of Ohio, I'm sure – but it keeps me on my toes," he bit back. Burt smirked proudly as Carole attempted in vain to contain her laughter.

"God, I love you," grinned Blaine, causing the rest of his family to stare at him, aghast.

"I love you too," beamed Kurt.

It was then that Perla decided that yes, dinner was just about finished, and began clearing plates away from the table, trying unsuccessfully to shake off Carole's offer of help.

Burt made an excuse about traffic on the way back to Lima and hurried to retrieve their coats from the foyer. Blaine wrapped his arm protectively around Kurt's waist as they waited, standing stiffly in tense silence along with his father and grandparents in the living room again.

After Burt and Carole had returned and everyone had put their coats back on, Burt, Carole and Kurt offered terse goodbyes to the Anderson clan. Kurt laced his fingers through Blaine's as they turned to leave.

"You're going with them?" Evelyn questioned. Blaine rolled his eyes dramatically and pressed a kiss to Kurt's temple.

"Go on ahead and I'll catch up."

Kurt looked at him unsurely, but Blaine nodded firmly, so with a last glance Burt, Carole and Kurt left the room.

"Of course I'm going with them, Grandmother – where did you think I came from this afternoon?"

"They, they let you two stay together in their home; his parents do?" Blaine sighed.

"Yes. Kurt and I have lived together for over two years. That doesn't just stop when we come back to Lima to visit."

"But, but where do you sleep?" she demanded, wincing as if unsure if she wanted to hear the answer. Blaine offered her a withering look and cocked his eyebrow at her.

"In Kurt's room. In his bed. With him," he told her flatly. "Which isn't all that different from our bed in New York, really – except of course it means we can't have sex as loudly as we'd like …"

His entire family gaped at him in wordless shock, his grandfather's face contorting comically as he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, looking rather like a fish out of water. Chuckling inwardly at his boldness, Blaine turned around without another word and strutted proudly out of his parents' house.

"Let's go eat some pie," he suggested cheerfully, as he clambered into the backseat Burt's car and took Kurt's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Well, that was fun.

Lovely reader, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Look for part 2, which I will post as soon as I can and will feature a LOT including, Black Friday Shopping, OSU Game, Rachel's Party (Never Have I Ever anyone?) and a few other surprises.

REVIEWS ARE LOVE and most appreciated by your humble author.

Mardie 186 - I hope you had a wonderful time at Glee Live!

EleanorthePen - Britney and Santana are not currently together at this present moment in this fic, but their history and future (whether together or separate will be explored in greater detail. Also, I designed Blaine's Thanksgiving outfit on the grey suit he wore in the GQ spread just for you :)

Repeat Reviewers - Tjangel, Mardie 186, EleanorthePen, TeamBartie, Marli-slashs fan, blue-peridot, my awesome beta CruorLuna, Peachouille, Tasarhina and anyone else I may have neglected to mention - ya'll are...wonderful. I really appreciate the continued interest and feedback. Much love.