"So what exactly have you been up to here Kurt?" Rachel asked as the two were standing around the kitchen getting dinner ready.

Kurt's back was turned to the girl as he rinsed the lettuce for the salad in the sink. He rolled his eyes dramatically at the tone the girl had asked the question in. It had been laced with a "so you're back in Lima huh?" better than you tone of voice. "I've been working." Kurt replied plainly.

The girl stopped her motion from chopping vegetables and looked over to the boy. "Obviously." She retuned. "But what are you doing? Working at the shop and what? Running a business via email?"

"I've been lucky enough to be able to keep up with my work back in San Francisco just fine actually." He said matter of factly.

"Okay." She continued chopping. "And how long are you planning on making it work across county?"

Kurt turned off the sink with a forceful slamming of the handle. "I don't know Rachel until they decide I can't anymore." He said sternly.

Rachel's eyes widened at the sudden increase in Kurt's volume. "Kurt I'm just trying to figure out what your plan is here. You don't need to snap at me."

Kurt turned around and leaned against edge of the sink looking at the girl he would undoubtably consider his best friend. "I know that Rachel, but you've been here literally all of five minutes. Can't you just start off with some small talk like a normal person before you dive into judging everything I do?"

The singer put her knife down and walked over until she was standing right in front of the boy, and she reached out for his hands. "I am not judging you Kurt. What Elliot did to you is horrible and it's completely understandable that you needed to escape." The sincerity was clear as she gripped his hand tighter. "But I wouldn't be a good friend if I wasn't trying to make sure that your life stays on track."

"And I love you for that." Kurt responded. He pulled his hand out of his friend's however, and grabbed the lettuce and walked to the island in the middle of the room. "But as my friend you should also be aware of the fact that I went through something I never thought that I would and I might not want to talk about it."

As much as he loved Rachel, it wasn't hard to admit that Kurt wished the girl could sometimes back off. After they're conversation in the office at the shop Rachel and Finn tried to catch up with both Kurt and Puck but with the shop being busy, they found it difficult. Which led Rachel to invite the Jewish man over to the Hummel-Hudson's for dinner. Of course he'd accepted, which is why Kurt and Rachel were in the kitchen making a dinner that could feed almost ten. Between Burt and the two jocks they knew they needed to be prepared.

But it had been non-stop interrogation since they'd started. Rachel continued to ask who Kurt had seen and where he's gone since he'd been back and what he did for fun. And it seemed every answer he gave didn't satisfy her and it was starting to irritate him.

"Fine, I won't bother you about it again for the rest of the night." The other girl said and returned to where she was cutting before. "How about we talk about you and Puck instead."

Kurt would have dropped the bowl of lettuce had it not already been on the countertop. "Excuse me?" He asked in a high octave as he turned to the girl.

She didn't look up but Kurt could see the smile that was spreading over her face. "Well from what you've told me you've spent a lot of time with him the last month."

"He works at my dad's shop—I'm obviously going to see him a few times a week." He said as if it was obvious.

Rachel looked up and waved the knife from side to side. "Oh yeah and you going to a country bar and getting drunk with him is obviously apart of the work thing right?" She smirked.

Kurt rolled his eyes with a scoff. "You must be getting some kind of brain damage from the high wattage on those stage lights Berry because you are being ridiculous."

She giggled and went back to her cutting. "Kurt please, let's not play this game. I've known the two of you for too long. There's something going on there."

"Rachel I hung out with him once and it resulted in me getting drunk and spilling secrets." Kurt argued.

Rachel looked up with that same damn smirk on her lips. "Yeah and then you ended up sleeping in his bed and doing what exactly?"

Just as Kurt opened his mouth to respond the doorbell rang.

"That must be your boyfriend now." Rachel said and pointed to the door.

Kurt rolled his eyes and walk out of the kitchen towards the front door. He knew that Finn wouldn't bother to get the door and Carol was upstairs changing. His dad was in the living room watching some game with Finn. He opened the front door and Noah's eyes lit up and his signature crooked smile spread across his face.

"Hey Princess." He said softly.

Kurt again opened his mouth, but a bundle of blonde hair popped out from behind the tall man. Beth's beautiful eyes shone up at him as she gave a shy smile of her own. "Hi Princess Kurt." She said softly.

"Why, hello there." Kurt said cheerfully to the girl and then looked up to the man in front of him.

Noah leaned forward just a little and whispered, "I was going to leave her with my mom but she was in a mood so I figured human interaction might be good for her."

Kurt smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you brought Beth along because there's so much food and I honestly didn't know what we were going to do with it all." He said dramatically.

"I can help eat it." Beth said softly and smiled.

"Oh my God will you help us?" Kurt exaggerated. "You would be doing me such a favor. I didn't want your dad and my brother to think extra food meant they could eat until their stomachs exploded."

Noah looked at him with a pointed glare which Kurt giggle at.

"My dad does that all the time! And then he's so fat and lazy he won't get off the couch for like hours!" Her voice picked up in volume and Kurt knew he had made her feel more comfortable.

Kurt crouched down to the girls level and motioned for her to lean in. "My brother does the same thing. How about after dinner I show you a couple of tricks to make him get up in a record time?"

Beth giggled and covered her mouth with her hands but nodded. Kurt smiled and held out his hand for the young girl to take.

"C'mon I'm going to introduce you to my best friend Rachel. She's in the kitchen." Kurt said.

Beth looked to her dad for approval and when the older man nodded she linked her hand with Kurt's and followed him into the house.

Kurt looked to Noah and invited him in as well, allowing the man to close the door behind him. "My dad and Finn are in the living room if you want to go watch the game." Kurt said casually, as if it was the most normal situation.

Noah nodded and looked down to his daughter and then to Kurt with a smile. He met Kurt's eye and held his gaze for a moment. Neither man said anything, they just looked into each other's eyes. It wasn't until Kurt felt a tug on his hand that he realized he was supposed to be taking the small girl to the kitchen with him.

"Princess Kurt are we still going to the kitchen?" She said.

Kurt smiled down at her and smiled. "Oh of course! I'm going to tell you all the stories I know about your daddy while we make dinner. You're going to laugh so hard!"

The two started making their way to the kitchen but Kurt couldn't help but look back at the man who was standing in the foyer, hands in his pockets, smiling at him as he walked away. Kurt reached the kitchen only to find Rachel standing in the hallway with her arms folded and a smirk on her lips.

"Oh yeah, nothing is going on." She said sarcastically before looking down to the girl holding Kurt's hand. "Hi, I'm Rachel Berry. Are you going to help us cook?"

i hope you are all still enjoying the story. i know it might seem very slow burn but i don't want it to be kurt moved back and boom they were a couple. i will say though that from what i have prepared so far it's all uphill from here for our boys. let me know how you're feeling so far though! xx