:D Good morning, troops! Hope you enjoy our chapter of the day. PS, HAPPY SUNDAY (aka my Friday) :D :D :D :D

PPS, HUGE thanks to GleekOutKlaine for her awesome and amazing idea that y'all'll see below.

Happy Reading!

"What do you think about starting work on Monday," Burt asked the next morning at breakfast. Blaine looked up from his spot on the floor and swallowed his mouthful of cheerios painfully fast. A small drop of milk clung to his lower lip, but the boy took no notice.

"Two days, Mr. Burt?"

"Yep, two days from now. If it's too soon you can say, an' you can stay home for another few days if you want."

Blaine seemed to ponder this for a moment while Burt watched the thinking boy fondly. He'd been with them just over a week, and already Burt couldn't believe the changes that he could see in him. It wasn't anything big: he still called them Mr. and Mrs., he still sat on the floor, he didn't seem to understand or believe them when they told him he didn't have to clean (honestly, Burt was surprised that none of them had passed out from the amount of fumes from the cleaning supplies. Carole had had to open all the windows by the second day – Blaine had literally cleaned every corner) and once he figured out that he could leave his room without permission he had started waking up early to make breakfast every day, but he still seemed different. Blaine would always say yes when asked to do something, but he'd quickly learned that if he hesitated before he answered, they wouldn't make him do it. Blaine did not like washing dishes, but he liked drying them. Blaine did not like having someone wash his hair for him, but he did like baths. Blaine liked listening to music, but he beyond hated rap and metal. Finn and Puck had been playing different types of music for Blaine to see what he liked, but as soon as a "too loud" song came on, Blaine would flinch heavily, jerking just his torso until he was facing as far away from the speakers as he could without his legs shifting from their spot on the carpet.

"Are you going to work today, Mr. Burt," Blaine asked before he licked at the milk that had started to drip down his chin.

"Yep," Burt responded, grabbing a napkin and reaching down to wipe Blaine's face. The boy leaned into the touch without hesitation. Another change they had noticed: he was starting to trust them more.

"May I come with you today please, Mr. Burt?"

Burt sat back, surprised by the question. Whenever Blaine didn't answer right away it usually meant no. Was he saying what he thought he was supposed to?

"You really don't have to if you're not ready, sweetheart. If you want you can stay here. Finn's going out with the boys to play football, but Kurt and I will still be here if you want to play a game with us."

"Yeah, and I'll totally bring Puck back with me if you want. Unless you're like, sick of him or something."

"I like Mr. Puck, Mr. Finn," Blaine answered, the smallest trace of annoyance in his voice. Burt wasn't much surprised by that: they had all been bugging him about his friendship with Puckerman, but all they wanted was to make sure it was a mutual friendship and not something he felt forced into. Blaine turned back to Burt. "I'd like to go to work with you please, Mr. Burt. I'd like to learn my work."

"Okay," Burt said. The other three shot him a look but he ignored them. Blaine said he wanted to go, that he would like to go. Blaine never admitted to wanting or liking anything. Bad parenting or not, Blaine could have said he wanted a puppy and Burt would have brought home an entire litter, he was just happy that Blaine was trying to stand his ground, even if he looked a little shaken after Carole and Finn hadn't been too sure about his decision.

"Thank you, Mr. Burt," Blaine said quietly.

They finished eating in relative silence. Burt could feel the nervousness radiating off of Blaine from a foot away, and did his best to calm the boy's nerves.

"You wanna try some bacon, Blaine? It's heart healthy and Kurt approved." Even though Blaine had made breakfast, he refused to eat anything he had made himself. For a brief moment Burt had thought that maybe Blaine was going to try to poison them, but he just had to look at the boy again to realize how idiotic his thought had been. It also hadn't helped that Finn had murmured the same thought not even a minute later, earning himself a harsh slap from Kurt. Finn had tried to back himself up by stating how odd it was that Blaine only used the inside of the oven to cook everything, even the eggs, and maybe it did something weird to the food. Kurt just slapped him again.

Blaine nodded and opened his mouth, allowing Burt to slip the food inside. Blaine wouldn't take a plate, but he never said no if someone wanted to share. The boy chewed for a moment before giving Burt his signature half-smile. Burt offered him another strip before he moved on to sharing the eggs and hash browns that he was 'just too full for'.

Stepping into the shop for the second time, Blaine was met with an overwhelming sense of dread. He had wanted to prove to his keepers that he could be useful, and he had thought that cleaning would help until he had heard Mr. Finn complaining to Mr. Kurt about the smell.

"Dude, I dunno what he used, but it smells like that time I dropped a whole bottle of Pine-Sol in my mom's room. She slept on the couch for like a week, man."

"I can't believe you made a mess and yet your mother was the one who had to sleep on the couch."

"I can't help it if my feet stick of the edge," Mr. Finn countered looking down at his feet.

"How old were you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Just think of how much dust and dirt Blaine got rid of, okay? We'll smell this for a day or two but our lungs will benefit from this forever."

"You're just saying that because you can't smell it."

"What do you mean, I can't smell it, of course I can smell it."

"Nope, you can't. Your room smells almost the same, Kurt, except instead of forest fresh your room smells like hairspray and burning and it killed your nose and now you can't smell anything."

"It's called incense, you idiot, and it did not, 'kill my nose' I'll have you know that – "

Blaine had walked away after that. He had wanted to help, but he didn't want to be the one to kill Mr. Finn's nose, either. Trying again had seemed like the good thing to do. Mr. Burt had gone to check the messages again, just as he had done the first day. Blaine stood with his paper bagged lunch clutched in one hand and his rabbit held tightly in the other. It felt odd to hold Carrot through the plastic bag Mrs. Carole had put him in, but after she had assured him that he would be okay in there and that it was so that he could bring him to work and still have him for bed at night without giving his eye or face an infection he agreed. Mrs. Carole always made sure that whenever Blaine had gone outside or did any cleaning or cooking that his eye was always covered and clean and that his face wasn't getting dirt in it. It was starting to scab more around the edges, turning it a dark orange colour, which Mrs. Carole had assured him was a good sign. Now that the shine was starting to fade, the Hummels had found that they began to notice it less and less – or they were just becoming more used to him.

"C'mere, Blaine."

Blaine walked quickly towards his keeper. As he entered the room he was immediately instructed to sit, and he did so without question.

"Yes, sir?"

"Look, Blaine, I know we haven't really talked about what happened last time you were here, so I just wanted to apologize for pushing you into something that you weren't ready for. You went through a really big change really fast – hell, you're still going through it. I'm just sorry that I didn't give you any time to adjust to that before throwing you in here. I want you to know that no matter what, you are always allowed to say if you aren't comfortable doing something, or even if you just don't want to do it. Always, always, always. I know I'm starting to sound a bit repetitive with this, but it's important, bud. It's really important that you listen to you. If your mind doesn't wanna do something, or your body, or your heart – you gotta listen to that. You've gotta listen to you, okay?"

Blaine didn't move throughout the speech, but his lower jaw shifted back and forth as he chewed his lower lip: a sign he had been listening. He nodded slowly.

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now, when you went to school at the home, how did they teach you?" Blaine stiffened at this, causing the older man to quickly alter his statement. "I'm just trying to figure out how you learn, Blaine. Like, when you learned how to cook, did someone give you a recipe, tell you how to do it, did you watch one of those cooking shows, or did you start out trying to make stuff hands on. What worked best for you, Blaine?"

The boy thought for a moment before looking at Burt's shoes.

"They didn't show us, and we weren't allowed to do anything before we knew how to do it."

"So written or verbal, which did you like better?"

"I like both, Mr. Burt. I like hearing, but I like seeing if I forget."

Burt leaned forward and placed his hand on Blaine's shoulder.

"Well, Kurt made you some diagrams and instructions and stuff if you liked reading better, but if you'd like it better if I talk you through how to do things you can always come ask me if you forget or if something doesn't make sense, and I'll give you his stuff anyway just in case you want it."

Blaine smiled and nodded before following Burt out to the garage to start his work.

The following Friday found Kurt irritated and annoyed. Two slushies to the face, one down the back, and a record of four locker shoves immediately secured it as the worst Friday in public school history. Puck and Finn had decided to try double dating ('it'll be totally not gay – not that there's anything wrong with that, or anything') so Kurt had to endure the fifteen minute car ride home stuck between Rachel Berry and Lauren Zizis. Five minutes in, Kurt was trying to imagine if it would be at all possible to shut up Zizis by shoving Berry down her throat, effectively killing two screaming gulls with one stone, when he saw his father's truck still at the garage.

"Stop the car," he shrieked, silencing both girls instantly. Puck's jeep had barely pulled into the parking lot before Kurt was violently elbowing Rachel into letting go of the door long enough for him to open it and jump only semi-ungracefully out. He waved over his shoulder as he ran towards the shop, eager to leave the sound of Rachel Berry's voice far behind.

Pulling open the door, Kurt slipped inside quietly. The shop was already closed, and Blaine wouldn't be expecting anyone to be coming in. The last thing Kurt wanted to do was startle the boy into losing a limb. Kurt wandered further in, following the sound of the radio. Burt had left the radio on from the first day Blaine had come back, and on the second Blaine had chosen a top 40 station he liked, and they had been listening to that non-stop.

"I swear," Burt had said coming home on the fourth day, "they play the same sixteen songs over and over. Even I've started singing along to some of them."

Kurt grinned as he heard Blaine's soft voice coming from the other side of the shop. He crept closer and saw Blaine wiping the tool counter, carefully lifting Carrot to wipe underneath as his hips swayed lightly to the music. Blaine's feet shuffled in a slow side step with a very Finn-like awkwardness, but he somehow made it look endearing. Maybe it was because whenever Finn danced he always looked uncomfortable and self-conscious. Blaine was naturally awkward. This was just him being him.

"The way you can cut a rug,
Watching you's the only drug I need.
So gangster, I'm so thug,
You're the only one I'm dreaming of you see.
I can be myself now finally,
In fact there's nothing I can't be,
I want the world to see you be, with me, "

Kurt fought a giggle as he watched Blaine singing to Carrot. He'd missed the first half of the song, but he picked up a quiet harmony in the background too soft for Blaine to hear. He swayed in place, fighting the urge to get too into the song and take over. This was Blaine's solo, and today Kurt was perfectly content being his backup.

"Hey, Soul Sister, I don't wanna miss a single thing you dooooo...
Tonight.
Heeey, Heeeeey, Heeeeeey, tonight.
Heeey, Heeeeey, Heeeeeey.
Tonight."

Blaine finished with a small bow to Carrot before picking up the toy. From his office, Burt clapped loudly.

"Soundin' good, kid. You're gonna end up giving the other boys a run for their money with that voice."

Blaine beamed with delight as he pulled the rabbit close to his body and called out a quiet thank you. Turning his head, Blaine let out a small giggle, scrunching his face and touching his nose lightly to Carrot's through the clear plastic bag. Kurt backed up quietly until he reached the door. He opened it as carefully as he could before pushing it heavily closed with a loud 'bang'.

"Kurt, that you, sport? What're you doing here?"

"Hello, Dad. Hello, Blaine. I was on my way to be a part of a wonderful fifth wheel experience when I heard the most amazing voice coming out of the garage, and I just had to come in to see who it was."

Kurt winked at Blaine, who blushed and lowered his head.

"That was Blaine," Burt yelled, causing Kurt to snort.

"Yes, Dad, thank you. I know," he called back. Blaine giggled again.

"Thank you, Mr. Kurt," he said softly. Kurt closed the gap between them and nudged him with his shoulder.

"You're welcome, Mr. Blaine." Blaine started slightly and looked at Kurt curiously before bowing his head to his toy, stroking the fur gently. Kurt grinned and poked Blaine lightly in the shoulder.

"Mr. Kurt," Blaine asked, looking up.

"Are you alright, Mr. Blaine?"

Blaine bit his lip and lowered his head again, clutching his rabbit tighter. He snuck a peek back up at Kurt, narrowing his eye at the other boy's chin. Kurt's grin widened as Blaine continued to glare. Smiling brightly, Kurt skipped into his father's office. Every few seconds he poked his head out of the door before leaning in again. Blaine heard Burt laugh and within seconds Kurt was skipping out again, heading straight over to Blaine and linking their arms together. Burt followed, stopping to turn off the radio before he approached them both, clapping Blaine on the shoulder.

"You ready to go, Mr. Blaine," Burt asked with a smile. Blaine jerked his head quickly to glare at Kurt, who was trying to fight off a smile. Blaine sniffed and raised his nose slightly, pulling his arm from Kurt's and wrapping it around his rabbit again and pushing past them, walking quickly to the truck.

"Think he's mad," Kurt asked, smile fading as Blaine pulled the truck door open. Burt shrugged, and then laughed.

"I think he'll get over it."

Reaching the truck, Kurt looked up to see Blaine sitting in the passenger seat with Carrot securely in his lap, seatbelt on.

"Blaine, you know that if you want the front seat you have to let me get in first, right?"

Blaine said nothing. Placing his hand on Carrot's head he twisted it until it was looking at Kurt. Blaine followed suit and shot Kurt a satisfied smirk, leaning back to give Kurt more room to climb over him.

"Oh ha, ha," Kurt said humorously as he stepped up into the truck. He could hear his father laughing as he tried to maneuver himself over Blaine without bumping him too much, but at Blaine's breathy laugh he didn't think he'd mind. Burt started the truck and with a low rumble he started to back up slowly.

"Dad," Kurt shouted as he stumbled, falling on top of Blaine, who was now laughing loudly. Blaine's arms shot up to catch him, and Kurt used one hand to steady himself on Blaine's chest.

"Would you like the front seat, Mr. Kurt," Blaine asked smiling.

Kurt made a face at Blaine, sticking his tongue out childishly.

"That's alright, Mr. Blaine. You and your rabbit enjoy the safety of seatbelts. Don't mind me, I'll just be flopping around back here."

Kurt made his way to the back and sat down. Blaine turned around to grin at Kurt, and he couldn't help but smile back at him.

Yeah, today had been a pretty bad day, but it was getting better.

Blaine's tongue darted out to Kurt for the briefest moment, causing Kurt to snort and Blaine to blush, immediately hiding his face in his rabbit.

Yep. Things were definitely improving.

**Again, thank you to GeekOutKlaine for the idea to have Kurt + others call Blaine 'Mr. Blaine'. I think it's a super crazy awesome idea, so thank you for that :D!**

Before we go into review response, I'm going to explain why I killed Puck's father. It wasn't planned, and I think it's because of that that it feels so.. unsettling...to me, at least.

People change when they become parents. I know that everything that happens to us in our lives shapes who we end up being as people, but having a kid means you aren't the most important person in your life anymore. My reasoning behind them being killed is that once an adoptive becomes a parent, they now have something in their lives that is more important than their keepers. Even if the parent never sees their kid again, they're not stable anymore. There's always that chance that they'll disobey because they thought they'd seen someone who looks like their child. A desperate parent is a terrifying thing, and in this world it's not worth the risk.

Puck's alive and free because his mother is free. It's up to the free person to decide whether or not to keep the child, get rid of it, or make it an adoptive. His mother didn't want to go through the embarrassment of admitting she was pregnant via adoptive, so she kept Puck.

As for any type of affection involved: let's get cray cray and think of adoptives as cell phones. You have them in your life to help assist you with work, or to sort out your social life by helping to organize and prep for events, etc. You can download the vibrator app, but that's not what you initially bought it for, you're not going to tell your friends you use it for that, and, at the end of the day as far as emotion is concerned: it's still just a phone.

Depresspants, I know, but if anyone was confused at all I hope that cleared it up a bit. If not feel free to message or let me know in an anonymous review or something.

mirvly: Ahh! I didn't actually mean to make anyone cry that chapter...oops :(

matchbookjealousy: Don't worry, I totally got what you were saying :D

OMGRedVines: Thank you! For someone with nothing to say you wrote me a lovely review, thanks!

blainescrys: More like besties! I appreciate your emotional investment very much, thanks!

Fly Away Dreams: Tee hee, thank you very much, I'm glad you thought it was cute :D

forgettheworld: Thanks you! Sorry I made Puck's dad so sad D:

Kellz: Oh my goodness thank you so very much, that's high praise and I really appreciate it :D. Yes, Blaine was given basic education at the home, it might be too frustrating for some people to have someone who can't read, write, or do basic math so I thought education was kind of important. Haha no, I doubt his previous keepers would have had the patience to teach him anything. Thanks again!

cellowings: Haha I'm glad I kept you guessing, as predictable as I can be when I write I like the surprise parts to stay surprises :P

Miss Olivia Cellophane: Yeah, I did some kind of mean things to him... :( But hopefully Blaine getting more playful makes up for that a bit!

raem9898: Who doesn't love friends! And thank you, I'm a big Blaine/Burt fan myself (obvs.) so I'm glad you like this.

JennMel: D: I honestly didn't write the last one with the intention to make anyone cry, but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. OoOOps, sorry! :D

Nurse Kate: Aww, thank you so much, your reviews always make me smile. Considering the number of things that change as I'm writing I'm really glad that you're getting all the stuff I'm trying to get out. One day I'm going to post the story I sat down to write when I wrote this. How it came to be, I'll never really know :P

Guestie! I'm sorry I made you cry, I'll fix that! I'll give Blaine more friends or something :)

KlainePotter: Hehe thank you, I'm glad it makes sense!
As far as a conscious effort goes, I haven't been basing this off of anything historical based on the fact that I would feel so horrible if I did and unintentionally offended someone. (I answered your other questions at the top of my responses, 'cause I got the feeling you weren't the only one who wanted more of an explanation :D)

klainer-1: :{D (mine has a moustache)

musicbeyondmagic: Haha thank you, I re-explained anyway 'cause I got paranoid, but I appreciate the reassurance :D

mybrotherharry: Thank you kindly! :)

Guestie! Teehee thank you! Don't worry, we'll get to the feels...sometime. :D

crazypianoman2194: I'm glad you think so too! I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!

FireAngel5683: I know, I'm sorry. But them being friends is cool, right?! We'll give them some more friend time and that'll make it all better.

TuuzMB: Thank you very much! I hope this quick updating thing can become a habit (I probably jinxed myself now :O)

Thanks again, everyone! You are ALL much loved and appreciated!