'This is stupid,' Puck said and a lot of us murmured in agreement. We were all sitting in a circle on the floor of the choir room. With regionals coming up, Mr Schue thought sitting us all like this would inspire great song ideas. The guy was clearly on something.

Mr Schue had left the room for a while and of course the talk very quickly shifted from regionals to more trivial topics. I could hear Finn and Sam discussing Call Of Duty, and Tina explaining to Mike that going to see the latest Bond movie was not considered romantic in her book.

I wasn't really paying much attention to anyone until I heard Santana speak to me from across the circle. 'Hummel, what's the name of this guy you're seeing on the weekend?'

'Um... Josh,' I replied.

'Cute?'

I felt myself blushing and looked around to find everyone looking at me, apart from Blaine. He was looking down and picking bits of fluff off his jeans.

'Yeah.'

'Oooh boyfriend?' Puck teased with a grin.

'Sort of,' I mumbled. There were a few more 'Oooh's' and then thankfully everyone broke off into their own conversations again. I shot Santana a bitch glare and she just grinned and shrugged at me.

'Shouldn't we discussing song choices?' Rachel said loudly above the chatter but nobody took much notice and she slumped back. Blaine was sitting next to her and I saw them strike up a conversation. Then something Blaine said made Rachel laugh.

I felt a pang in my heart. Why did something so simple get to me so much? There was no way I could just sit and laugh with Blaine in front of several other people, it wasn't fair. But anyway, Saturday night I was going to the movies with Josh. An out and proud gay guy who liked me and wasn't ashamed to be seen in public by my side.

After Friday night dinner, Dad, Finn, Carole and I sat in the living room to watch a movie. Ten minutes in and Finn was already glued to his phone, no doubt texting Rachel. Only a few minutes later I received a text myself. I expected it to be Josh so was pleasantly surprised when it was actually Blaine.

So does Mr Shoe often get you guys sitting on the floor for pointless exercises? x

Oh jesus, the 'Shoe' part made me snort with laughter, earning curious glares from the other three. Mr Shoe? LOL. If I was drinking right now my clothes would be ruined! Kx

I have a dry cleaning account you can abuse anytime you wish ;) x

Of course you do :) And yeah he has some crazy ideas sometimes, you'll get used to it. Kx
What are you up to? Kx

I know you get me, so I let my walls come down x

Aww that's sweet. I'm glad you feel you can open up to me :) Kx

Let's run away and don't ever look back x

Huh? Kx

This is real, so take a chance x

What's real? Blaine are you ok? I'd say you were wasted but your spelling's impeccable. Kx

I finally found you, my missing puzzle piece x
I'm listening to 'Teenage Dream' you asked what I was up to! :P x

OMG hahahahaha. I was totally freaking out here. Kx
And Katy Perry? Seriously Blaine? I thought I knew you :( Kx

Hey don't knock Perry, she's my idol lol. My rendition of TD is way better than hers... in my head anyway! x

You SO have to sing that to me now you've said that. You did promise! Kx

I think you'll find I said I'd THINK about it :P x

You're talking rubbish Blaine. I need to hear you sing so bad. Kx

Well it would be BAD that's the point. I was born to sway in the background during Rachel Berry solos x

Oh don't, that's gonna be on my head stone! I've had 2 years of being in Rachel's shadow x

You're an amazing singer Kurt and you're not in anyone's shadow. Mr Shoe is obsessed with Rachel because he thinks she's the ticket to a Nationals trophy x

She probably is though. I'll never get a competition solo in case any of the judges are total homophobes. Kx

You really think that? x

Yes. Mr Schue would never say so but it's true. Kx

Well the sooner you go to NY the better then. Broadway needs you :) x

'Boys, can you not leave your phones alone for the duration of one movie?'

Blaine's last text made me feel a bit emotional, so I was glad of the distraction as I looked up from my phone at my Dad's outburst. Then I looked over to Finn and we both just shrugged, and went back to our text conversations. Had my Dad never heard of multi-tasking?

'He's late,' my Dad said, looking at his watch.

'No he isn't,' I replied defensively. 'He said six to half past, not six on the dot.'

My Dad made a noise of protest but didn't' respond. We were sitting in silence on the sofa waiting for Josh to arrive for our movie date. I wasn't as nervous as I had been before the first date, but I was worried about what my Dad might say to him. I looked at my phone every twenty seconds in case Josh had sent a text, although I knew it would make a noise if he did.

The minutes ticked by. Finn and Carole both came into the living room at 18:20 and sat on the other sofa. Finn had a plate of pizza and began tucking into it. We all had to sit there listening to him chew and go mmm every few seconds.

'Finn, do you mind?' I said eventually, getting wound up.

'Sorry dude, I just really love pizza.'

'Yeah I noticed.'

Finn finished his pizza and then we were all just sitting there like lemons. I was starting to get annoyed with Josh; he could have at least sent a text to say roughly what time he'd been arriving. My Dad stood up and let out a sigh.

'It's six thirty two… now he's definitely late.'

Finally Josh arrived in his car at 18:41, well according to my Dad's watch he did. I ignored his announcement of the time and I ran outside of the house to talk to Josh before my Dad got his hands on him... figuratively speaking of course.

'Josh,' I said quietly, but with a hint of annoyance in my tone. Josh pushed his car door closed and frowned at me. 'What held you up?'

'Am I late?' he asked, looking at his own watch and then back at me. 'Oh sorry.'

Josh walked up to me smiling and gave me a quick hug before pulling back. It was hard to stay annoyed with someone when they smiled and hugged you, or maybe I was just desperate for a bit of affection. Josh moved towards his car.

'So shall we get going then?'

'Er... you're here to meet my Dad remember,' I said slowly.

'Oh right, yeah. Well... quickly then.'

I chose not to reply to Josh's comment. Was he stupid or something? How could he have forgotten that my Dad wanted to meet him? Maybe he was just nervous; I know I would be if I was meeting Josh's Mom. We walked into the house and my Dad was standing in the hallway waiting for us, his arms folded over his chest. He didn't look happy. Well here goes nothing...

'So... Dad, this is Josh,' I said nervously.

'Hello Josh,' my Dad muttered darkly.

'Mr Hummel. Nice to meet you.'

Josh and my Dad shook hands and then Josh turned to me. 'Can we get going now Kurt?'

'Hold on a second,' my Dad complained, putting a hand up. 'There's no rush, why don't we all go into the living room and sit down? You haven't even met my wife and step son yet.'

'Sorry but I've booked the seven o'clock showing,' Josh replied with an apologetic smile. 'We really need to go.'

My Dad looked as though he was about to utter a retort, but Josh had already turned around and walked back out of the front door. Well that wasn't awkward at all. Should I just follow him or say something to my Dad?

'Um...' I started to say, but trailed off as my Dad looked at me with deep disappointment.

'I don't like him.'

'Dad, you don't know him.'

'I don't think I want to know him,' Dad replied, shaking his head. 'Was he not brought up with manners?'

'Dad! I'll... I'll see you later ok?'

'Well, you know... be careful.'

'We're only going to the movies.'

I walked out of the house and got into Josh's car. 'We should just about have enough time to line up for a drink,' Josh said as he pulled away from my house.

'Right.'

I stared at Josh as he drove us to the movie theatre. Eventually he glanced my way and smiled when he noticed my expression. 'What's with the scowl Kurt?'

'Couldn't you have been a bit nicer to my Dad?' I asked.

'Oh you're mad at me.'

'You arrived late and then stayed for all of thirty seconds.'

'So?'

'So... you haven't exactly given a good first impression to my Dad.'

'Well I'm not dating your Dad am I?' Josh replied with a smirk.

After the movie ended we made our way out of the building to the parking lot to find Josh's car. Once we weren't in full view of a hundred other people, Josh took my hand and I felt a swell of pride.

'Did you enjoy the movie?' he asked.

'Yeah it was good,' I lied. Action thrillers really weren't my thing. I was regretting telling Josh to book whatever he fancied, although there was a possibility he wouldn't like any of the movies I'm into. 'Did you like it?'

'Yeah, well you can't really go wrong with Matthew Fox.'

'So do you like his movies for the acting... or for other reasons?'

'Ok, I think he's hot too,' Josh laughed.

We reached his car and his hand left mine as he placed both his hands on my neck and leaned in for a kiss. It was slow at first, light touches and no tongue. I joined my hands together behind his back and pulled him closer. Josh responded by deepening the kiss, pressing harder and then plunged his tongue into my mouth. Only seconds later Josh pulled back, smiling at my blushing face.

'Tease,' I whispered.

'Always leave them wanting more, that's my motto,' Josh replied with a wink. He walked round to the driver's side and opened the car doors with the button on his key and we both climbed in.

'Shall we go and get pizza?' I suggested. We hadn't eaten before the movie and half a bag of M&M's just weren't going to cut it. 'I'm really hungry.'

'Yeah, I'm starving too. You sure it's not too late?'

'No, Dad said I had until eleven so we've got another ninety minutes.'

'Cool.'

Josh put his seat belt on and I was about to do the same when my phone started ringing. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. It was Blaine. Shit, I'd forgotten about his "date" tonight. I planned to send him a text today to let him know I was thinking of him. Well Blaine knew I was seeing Josh tonight, so he wouldn't ring me unless it was really urgent would he? I turned to Josh with a slight smile.

'I need to take this, I'm so sorry; I'll just be a minute.'

'Right, whatever,' Josh replied, sounding annoyed. I got out of Josh's car quickly and closed the door before answering the call.

'Blaine?'

'Kurt? I'm... I'm sorry, am I interrupting your date?'

He sounded so down and tired. He was also slurring his words a little, well that was to be expected. 'No of course not, what's happened?'

'I can't do this anymore... I just can't... I-'

'Can't what? Blaine, talk to me.'

'I just... I can't ever be myself... I'm miserable Kurt.'

'It won't always be this way,' I said quietly, fighting back the tears. 'Blaine, where are you? Do you need picking up or something?'

'No... I'm at home... I just got back from... from that thing.'

'How much have you had to drink?'

'Kurt please don't lecture me about alcohol.'

'I'm not; I just think you need to have a really good sleep. Everything will seem so better in the morning, I promise.'

'I suppose,' Blaine sighed.

'Just don't worry about anything right now... we'll talk tomorrow ok? Or we can meet up if you want.'

'You're not too busy?'

'Of course not. What do you say to coffee at Lima Bean?'

'Ok.'

'Two o'clock?'

'Perfect. Thanks Kurt... I'm really sorry for interrupting you and... Josh, I just really needed-'

'Blaine it's fine, don't worry.'

'Ok... see you tomorrow.'

'Bye Blaine.'

I ended the call and put the phone back in my pocket. I hated hearing Blaine so distressed. But what else could I do besides trying to convince him to come out? I took a few deep breaths to compose myself before getting back into the car.

'Sorry about that,' I said once I was in the passenger seat again.

'Was that the "straight" guy?' Josh asked me.

'What's with the air quotes?'

'Come on Kurt, who calls their friend when they know they're in the middle of a date?'

'He's not gay... anyway, he wasn't calling for a friendly chat, he was upset... family problems.'

'Sure,' Josh said, rolling his eyes. 'You know, I don't think you should be friends with him Kurt.'

'What? Why not?'

'You're in love with him and it's only going to end in tears so-'

'Hang on, who said anything about being in love with him?'

'It's pretty obvious,' Josh replied.

'Well you've got it wrong. Yeah I have... feelings for him, but he's just a friend.'

Josh didn't reply but I heard a very faint sigh as he started up the engine. Josh dropped me off home after the pizza, which had been a little strained and awkward after the disagreement in the car.

He didn't show any indication of wanting to get out of his car at my house and walk me to my door or anything, so I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

'See you in the week some time?' Josh asked.

'Sure,' I replied. 'Call or text me.'

Then I got out of the car. We waved to each other and then Josh drove off. I did like him, I really did. But... he was late picking me up, he was borderline rude to my Dad and he had the nerve to judge my friendship with Blaine. Had our first date been one big act? Was he really not as nice as he seemed then? Or was I purposely trying to find fault with him because he was right?

Maybe he had a right to feel threatened by Blaine? Maybe he was jealous? As far as he was concerned Blaine was actually straight. Would I like it if Josh was really into someone he spent a lot of time with? Hmm. And maybe he was shy and nervous around people's parents so had purposely arrived late to avoid an awkward interrogation.

Maybe I was just over thinking everything way too much.