Why, hello! Thank you so much for your continued support; I adore you all! *chucks flowers at everyone*. The next update won't be until next Tuesday/Wednesday as my friend is coming to stay. Hopefully Tuesday, depending on what my exam results are. I might be too much of a blubbering mess to write if I've failed;) But, onwards! Some Blaine back story in this one.

Warning about homophobic language in this one. I apologise to Klaine and to everyone reading.

"Time to get up, kid."

Blaine heard a soft voice through the haze of sleep, and vaguely registered that the bed on one side of him had dipped down as if someone were sitting on it. He blinked his eyes open wearily, trying to adjust to the light that poured into his room from the large window opposite him.

He groaned, shielding his eyes from the onslaught of the sun. "Where'm I?" he grumbled, arching his back against the bed to stretch it out.

"The Hummel's house, in your new bedroom. Remember?" Blaine smiled, finally adjusting his eyes to the light and looking up at Burt's face.

"'Course. Just took me a minute." He stopped, raising his head and sniffing loudly. "Do I smell pancakes?"

"Yup. Kurt asked me to come get you to help him, since he won't allow Finn and me to set foot in the kitchen and Carole's had to take the morning shift at the hospital."

Blaine smiled happily. "It reminds me of home." Burt stood up from the bed and Blaine kicked away the covers, sitting with his feet hanging (yes, hanging; he wasn't that tall) off the bed.

"Home? How do you mean?" Burt asked, watching as Blaine got up and started rummaging in his suitcase that he had left open from last night.

Blaine debated for a second as he searched for clean pants and a shirt; he didn't know if he wanted to bring up his past life with Burt, with anyone. He preferred not to think about it because it only brought him pain. The longing for his parents to still be alive was strong and he didn't want to be reminded of it. He just wanted to shut it out.

But one small thing couldn't hurt, right?

"When I was young, before my parents died," he carried his outfit for that day over to his bed and dumped it on it, Burt's eyes following curiously. "my mom used to make pancakes for me every Saturday, because my dad was out and he couldn't - " He broke off, gaze shifting to Burt's warily. "I used to adore them. She'd cut them up small for me and drown them in maple syrup." He paused, smiling softly to himself. "It doesn't matter, it's just a stupid memory.

"Hey, no," Burt said, taking a step closer to Blaine. "You don't get to do that, 'kay? Don't block out your memories of them. They were your parents and forgetting isn't the way to go about it."

Blaine looked at him sadly, voice coming out in barely a whisper and mood changing immediately. "But it still hurts."

Burt's heart damn near shattered at the crushed look on Blaine's face. It reminded him so much of Kurt's just after his mom had died so many years ago.

Even this time, it killed him just as much. Because he considered Blaine as his son now, too. He was all Blaine had.

"Look, kid, I know. I understand that it's just a - " he broke off, trying to find the words to explain how losing someone you loved with all your heart felt. Blaine's pleading eyes fell upon him. "It does hurt. It sucks, to be honest. But do ya think that's what your parents would have wanted for you? To be stuck between not even remembering they existed or a…a crushing pain? I know damn well that it's not. No parent wants that. They'd want you to live your life and honour their memory instead of resent it.

"I know how it feels, I swear. I know they've been gone a long time, but it still will get better as you get older. I promise you that, kid. And I don't break promises.

"And I'm here for you, 'kay? Don't forget that. If you ever want to talk about them or just let something out, I'll be a willing audience."

Blaine really was crying now. Had his speech been that bad? He just wanted to be there for the kid, and he knew he was broken. But he also knew that all he wanted was to be fixed.

And Burt was the first person that he trusted enough to do just that.

"Thank you, Burt," Blaine said sincerely, immediately diving in for a hug. Burt held him close as tears leaked from his eyes. "I really mean it. Thank you for everything; you have no idea how much I appreciate it all."

"Not a problem, kid." He slapped him on the back lightly before pulling away.

"Dad! Where on earth is Blaine? I need him here!" They both heard the distinct shout of Kurt from the bottom of the stairs and smiled simultaneously.

"You better go down before he gets mad," Burt joked, heading out the room. Blaine's smile only got wider as he watched him go and realised one thing.

He really was happy here.

XXX

"Blaine! That is not how you crack an egg!"

Blaine was trying to pry the egg open with his fingers over the bowl which already contained flour and salt.

"Well, I don't know! I've never done this before! Martha always cracked the stupid things for me," he said petulantly, frowning at a flustered Kurt.

"I thought you'd be a bit better than Finn in the kitchen. Evidently not." Kurt took the egg from him and cracked it perfectly, Blaine looking on in awe.

"You're awesome," Blaine said.

"I just cracked an egg. It's really not worth a gold medal."

"Yeah, well. You're even better than Martha." Kurt just looked at him blankly as he started to whisk the mixture.

Blaine sat at their counter for a few minutes and watched Kurt work before spotting a small pile of flour beside the bowl. He grinned to himself.

"BLAINE!" Kurt shouted out a moment later after Blaine had swept a stripe of flour down his nose. "You're absolutely impossible. Go sit down over there while I finish these or we'll never get out." He continued stirring the mixture, forgetting to wipe the smudge of flour from his nose. Blaine chuckled quietly to himself, not wanting to alert Kurt to this.

He went and sat down like he was asked, tilting his head to one side. "Where are we going?"

"Mall," Kurt said simply, adding more ingredients and continuing to whisk.

"The mall? Looking for anything in particular?"

"Yes, actually." Blaine waited for him to expand on that, but he just moved to the pan where he would be cooking the pancakes.

"Care to tell me what it is?"

"Fine. But don't argue with me! I'm getting you a pair of new shoes to replace those god awful trainers you won't part with."

"No, you're not!" Blaine sang, moving to stand next to Kurt, the smell of the pancakes even stronger here.

"Yes, I am. I can't have you living in my house wearing those…things. Even Finn ones nicer ones than those." Blaine grumbled over his shoulder. "No arguing, I said. I'm buying you them as a welcoming present."

Blaine didn't answer.

He did know from Finn's moaning that Kurt was a passionate shopper.

This was going to be fun.

XXX

"Kurt, please, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't make me try on another pair of shoes!"

He swore this had to be the 15th shop they had been in. They had been at this for three hours and Kurt still hadn't found a pair that he liked for Blaine.

Honestly, Blaine had been happy with the first ones he had tried on. Hell, he was happy with the ones he already owned. Yes, they were tatty and old, but he didn't mind much. No one looked at your feet anyway.

"I saved the best shop till last, Blaine! I just know we'll find the perfect ones in here." Kurt almost took his hand but thought better of it, since they were in a crowded shopping mall in Ohio. That would never end well. Instead he ushered him into a large, crowded shop that Blaine didn't even bother to catch the name of.

"Why on earth would you save the best for last? We could have been done three hours ago, Kurt. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Why miss all the fun? Ah, here we go!" He stopped him in front of an absolutely huge wall with shoes displayed on it, covering the surface entirely.

Blaine groaned in defeat, resting his head on Kurt's shoulder. "I dislike you."

"Get up, lazy." He clapped his hands together with a grin on his face. "Let's get started."

XXX

Blaine collapsed at the closest table he could find in Starbucks and immediately rested his head on the wooden surface, groaning as Kurt sat opposite him with both their coffees in hand. Blaine's bag thudded onto the floor beside him as he let it go, carrying the cursed shoes that he already hated just for the time it took for them to find them.

"Why are you so tired? Four hours is a short shopping trip. You do not want to come with me and Mercedes; we can be in here for the whole day and - "

"Stop right there," Blaine said, cautiously raising himself up from the table and massaging his temples. "Even the thought of a whole day shopping makes me feel ill."

Kurt chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee. "You'll learn in time." Blaine groaned again, grabbing his own coffee from Kurt.

"How do you like it so far?" Kurt asked, eyes staring inquisitively at a weary looking Blaine.

"Like what?

"This. Living with us." Blaine frowned when Kurt looked slightly worried. Didn't he already know what his answer would be?

"I love it, Kurt. Truly. You have no idea how good it is to get away from that home and just…just be happy.

"I can't thank you enough for everything. I feel like I should just constantly sing it in your ear or something." He chuckled, eyes darting to his coffee.

Kurt smiled softly at him. "You've helped me too, you know. I guess we're even."

Blaine shook his head. "We can never be even. I'll always owe you and your family. You've given me back everything I've longed for since it was taken from me."

Kurt had to stop himself again from linking their hands together, instead trying to convey is emotions through his eyes.

"You're welcome." They sat in silence for a moment, Kurt wondering about whether to ask Blaine the question he'd wanted to for ages. He decided to just go for it. "What were your parents like?"

Blaine instantly tensed up, fiddling with the coffee in his hand for a distraction.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No," Blaine said, eyes flickering up to meet his. "I will." This was the second time today he had talked about his parents and it was starting to overwhelm him a bit, but he would do it. He owed the Hummels everything, and if they truly wanted to know, he would tell them. But that didn't mean he would enjoy doing it.

"My mom and dad were high school sweethearts. Apparently, mom hated dad at first because he was quarterback and thought he ruled the school, hence making him an arrogant piece of crap. God knows how he won her over, but he did. They went to the same college and managed to stay together and then had me. Mom sang at coffee shops and various bars to make a bit of money while dad was CEO of a major law firm. That, as you can imagine, caused them to save quite a bit of money, so I was quite a spoiled child. I don't know how it didn't go to my head, but hey."

"They sound really nice," Kurt said kindly, but Blaine grimaced slightly.

"Mom was good to me. All of my best memories involve her; she was my absolute world. She had hair like mine – curly and untameable, but she managed to look beautiful. Dad was…dad was dad. There's really no other way to describe him. When he was nice, he was the best dad in the whole world. He taught me how to swim and ride a bike, we used to fish…but when he was in a bad mood, it was terrible. I always suspected he hit mom but I never…I'll never know for sure. He used to go absolute ballistic if either one of us did something wrong, but I…I still loved him. I still believed in him."

"Blaine," Kurt breathed, forehead creasing. He couldn't believe Blaine had gone through so much in his short life.

"The night before their car crashed…dad had one of his meltdowns, as I called it. But it was the worst he had ever been. He hi - " He swallowed, eyes yet again filling with tears. "He hit me. He had never done it before, but I guess he must have just…snapped, or something. I can't even remember what I did wrong."

"Blaine, I'm so - "

"Don't. It's over. They're dead, nothing to worry about now." Contrary to his blunt words, he was smiling a genuine smile. Kurt sighed, standing up with his coffee in hand.

"Come on, let's go home." Blaine followed him, walking close to him with their shoulders brushing. They walked down the centre of the mall in silence, comfortable to just soak in the atmosphere of the busy shoppers.

Kurt suddenly stopped in his tracks, a horrified look painted onto his now ghost-like face. Blaine immediately jumped to his aid.

"Kurt? Kurt, what's wrong?" Kurt just stared desperately past Blaine so Blaine turned around, confusion masking his features.

The moment he saw the group of guys in Letterman jackets (seriously, they wore them even when they were out of school?) he knew what was wrong.

Kurt's bullies were walking towards them with grins on their faces in the middle of the mall.

"Shit, Kurt, come on. We have to leave quickly." He started dragging him over to the right where the entrance of the mall was, but they were too slow.

"Where do you think you're going, fags? Running off to daddy like you did last time, huh?"

Blaine and Kurt froze simultaneously, staring at the boys who had stopped a small way in front of them. A large boy who had the smuggest grin on his face out of all of them was the one that spoke, and Blaine just knew that it was Karofsky.

All he wanted to do was punch the guy in the face.

"That's better. We wouldn't want you running off, we're only having a nice little lady chat."

"Yeah, well you would know about that, wouldn't you?"

Honestly, he didn't know why he said it. If he could turn back time, for the trouble it caused, he probably wouldn't have. But he just felt this strong need to look after Kurt since he had done so much for him. He wasn't going to just stand and watch Kurt being insulted.

So much was different from when he was bullied at his own school.

Karofsky's grin faded instantly and was replaced by a harsh scowl. "Watch your mouth, lady."

"Yeah? Why? Don't want me to spill your little secret, do you?" The guys in the group all turned to Karofsky in confusion.

"What's he talking about, man?" one of them said, but Karofsky just waved him off.

"This your boyfriend?" he said to Kurt, eyeing Blaine up and down for the first time. "He wears bowties! How cute!" Kurt scowled at him, beginning to pull Blaine's arm.

"Come on, Blaine, he's not worth it."

"No. He's not. But he's not getting away with talking to you like that." Karofsky had the nerve to laugh which just set Blaine off even more. Something ferocious had come over him and all he wanted to do was kill the asshole.

So he lunged.

Bad idea.

Karofsky flung him to the floor with one quick push but Blaine immediately got up again, ready to go at him. Kurt, however, had the sense to hold him back even though he was fighting and shouting. Every one of them aside from Blaine had noticed the horrified shoppers making their way towards them.

Karofsky looked around nervously and gave a small nod, backing away and causing all the others in his group to do so too.

"Next time, ladies."

Blaine was still seething and it took all of Kurt's strength to guide him out the mall.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked him when he had calmed down enough to construct a sentence, about five minutes into their walk home.

"Fine," Kurt answered, tone clipped. Blaine didn't pressure him into saying anymore, still too annoyed at the world.

It took them 20 minutes to walk home and by that time, Blaine's anger levels had fallen enough for him to take in what had just happened.

Kurt slammed the door shut behind them as they walked in and immediately went into the living room, sitting down on the sofa furthest away from the one Burt was relaxing on, happily watching the game.

Blaine followed in behind him, a frown covering his face – why did Kurt look so angry? Fair enough, Karofsky had infuriated them both, but this was a completely different level. He looked livid.

Apparently Burt noticed too, as an identical frown to Blaine's appeared on his face. Blaine warily sat down next to Burt.

Burt glanced at Blaine once and definitely knew there was something up, as he looked worried.

"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" he said, mainly looking at Kurt who was sitting rigid in his seat. Both boys stayed silent.

"Don't want to pressure you guys, but that last question wasn't really a question. Spill, one of you," he managed to put enough authority in his voice for Blaine to react. His eagerness to please came in handy sometimes, though Burt would have to learn not to exploit it.

"Karofsky and his friends were at the mall and…approached us." Burt immediately saw red. Why couldn't that asshole just leave his boys the hell alone?

"What did they say to you?"

"They just…called us a few names." Blaine looked down shyly at his lap and that was when Burt knew they were hiding something.

"I meant the whole story." Blaine immediately reddened.

"Um…I may or may not have…lunged at him."

Burt tried to calm down, he really did. He could understand Blaine's need to hurt the boy, but didn't he know how dangerous that was? Blaine was a small guy and Karofsky already looked like an 18 year old, even though he had only just turned 16. There was no chance of Blaine ever winning a fight like that.

So he took deep breaths and was pretty proud of himself when his heart stopped beating at a hundred miles an hour.

"Kurt? What do you have to say about this?"

Kurt just stared at him blankly. "Not a lot. I've dealt with it all before, no big deal."

The only reason Burt persisted with him is because he knew he was hiding something from him and he was now in no mood to dart around the subject.

"Spit it out, Kurt, I'm not an idiot."

Bad idea number two for the Hummel family that day. Kurt completely snapped.

"You want to know what went on? Blaine has just become public enemy number two to the whole damn football squad! You know the next good thing that comes out of that? Blaine will be transferring to McKinley in the near future and has now secured his place in the legion of bullied kids." He stood up, his face flushed with anger.

"He's just spoiled his chances of ever getting through that school alive. But yes, I'm ecstatic right now. That's what I wanted to come out of that goddamn shopping trip."

With that, he stormed up the stairs and the sound of his bedroom door slamming echoed around the house.

Burt took one look at Blaine and they both shared the same thought.

Shit.

Thank you for reading, my lovelies! It would mean a lot if you could review if you have any time! 'till next time!