Blaine looked over to see Kurt had turned pale, just as Blaine stopped the sleek black rented Mercedes outside Kurt's father's house.
"It'll be ok." Blaine tried to comfort his boyfriend as much as he could, placing a hand on a shaking thigh.
"No it will not, they're all going to bombard you with questions and they'll be judging our relationship, and you, and it's not right." Kurt explained with barely concealed contempt in his voice, and Blaine sighed.
"Kurt-"
"No...let's just go home." Kurt interrupted as he placed his own hand over Blaine's, smiling slightly at him.
"Kurt, I came here to meet your family, we can't leave now," Blaine said as he brought Kurt's hand up to place a kiss against it, before he looked past Kurt's head and out of the window, "besides, your dad is at the door."
"Oh god." Kurt closed his eyes and refused to turn around.
"It'll be ok, sweetheart."
Kurt didn't reply, with his eyes shut tight and breathing shakily, Blaine put his hand up to Burt to signal that they will be a moment, and he saw Burt nod as he went back inside the house.
"He's gone."
Kurt let out a shaky breath, and opened his eyes, and Blaine's heart nearly stopped seeing them swimming with unshed tears.
"Oh baby, it's ok." He said as he tugged Kurt towards him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, placing a gentle kiss against his temple and then resting his face there, "it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of me, only you."
"Well, I love you."
"I know."
"Don't leave my side." Kurt asked a little shakily, gazing into Blaine's eyes with his own swimming with fear, and Blaine shook his head.
"I won't."
Kurt nodded and connected their lips for a short kiss, before taking a deep breath in and pushing open the car door.
The walk up to the house was incredibly daunting, and as Kurt expected, the door opened before they could even knock and his father stood in the doorway, eyeing both of them.
"Hey dad." Kurt said tightly, blindly reaching behind him for Blaine's hand, feeling infinitely better when he felt Blaine's hand slip into his.
"Hey buddy, everyone's already waiting in the yard," Burt said gruffly as he moved back into the house, and Kurt sighed before pulling Blaine through the door to follow his father, "Finn started the grill already, so the food won't be too long."
"That's ok." Kurt said quietly, not sure if his dad heard him before Burt walked away, leaving Kurt to drag Blaine out into the back yard, where he could see everyone gathered.
"Kurt!" came Carole's voice as she crossed the yard to him, wrapping her arms around him in a motherly squeeze, which made his skin stop crawling and he relaxed against her slightly, "Oh it's so good to see you honey. You look do great- Oh! You must be Blaine."
"Yes, it's nice to meet you Mrs Hummel," Blaine extended his hand but Carole by passed it and dragged Blaine against her for a hug, "thank you for inviting me along."
"Oh sweetheart its no problem, and call me Carole," Carole gushed at him as she pulled back, giving both of them a huge smile, "we love that you came."
"Thank you, Carole."
As soon as she was done with her hugs, Kurt's friends appeared, Santana looking Blaine over with a smirk while Tina and Mercedes hugged him between them.
"He's cute." Tina whispered in his ear, and Kurt gave her a small grin as he released her.
"Boy, why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?" Mercedes said, feigning a sad pout and Kurt laughed.
"Sorry 'cedes," Kurt said with a small sigh, "after how Rachel reacted I didn't really want to tell anyone."
"That girl has some serious issues, in sophomore year, it was her who fell in love with Mr Schue." Mercedes said smoothing her hands down Kurt's arms.
"Geez the way Rachel told it, I thought you might have a cane and grey hair, and no teeth, but you are one fine senior citizen." Santana said as she smirked at both of them, Blaine looked down at his feet with an uncomfortable cough and Kurt glared at her.
"Santana." he warned and she looked at him innocently.
"What? I'm just saying...way to go to the best option for a sugar daddy, Lady Hummel."
"Oh my god, Blaine is my boyfriend, not my...sugar daddy." Kurt said and she laughed.
"Right."
Kurt rolled his eyes as Brittany stepped forward, looking Blaine up and down slightly, and then giving him a welcoming smile.
"You love Kurt right?" She asked and Blaine looked around at the girls, as all of them were staring at him waiting for his answer now, and one glance at Kurt made him relax, because Kurt looked comfortable with the girls.
"Yes I do, very much." he said to them and shared a loving glance with Kurt, who then blushed and looked down slightly.
Mercedes was still looking between Kurt and Blaine with faint curiosity, but no malice, Tina was grinning like it was the best thing in the world to hear. Brittany and Santana moved away from the couple then, linking hands as Santana threw a smirk and a wink back at them.
"Hey little brother." Came a voice behind them that made Kurt smile widely as he turned around.
"Finn."
Blaine's eyes widened slightly as the tall guy wrapped Kurt in his arms tightly, making Kurt squeak a little at the pressure. They shared a smile before Finn extended his hand in greeting, which Blaine took politely.
"Hey, it's nice to meet you, I'm Finn."
"Blaine, nice to meet you too, thank you for allowing me to come."
"Are you kidding, anyone that makes my little brother happy, is always welcome here." Finn said as he gave Blaine a one arm hug before patting his back a little, "take no notice of Rachel dude, she has her own problems."
"She's a problem for me right now." Kurt muttered with a frown, before staring over to the guys in the yard, who were talking amongst themselves.
Puck and Sam seemed to be having a discussion in whispers, and Mike stood awkwardly with them not joining in, but listening, and Kurt then realized that they must be talking about him and Blaine.
Even though Kurt and Blaine had been welcomed by most of the people here, Kurt still didn't feel comfortable being here. This used to be his home, his safe place, a place where he could let down all of his barriers. But now it was a place where he had to keep his barriers up, and he hated the feeling.
"You okay?" Blaine asked from his side, sliding his hand back inside of Kurt's, not leaving his side like Kurt had asked.
"Not really." Kurt said back to him, before giving his hand a squeeze, and Blaine gave him a small frown but Kurt looked away again, towards the house.
His father still hadn't reappeared yet, and Kurt was starting to doubt this had been a good idea.