Chapter 21

As soon as they crossed over the state line into Ohio, Kurt felt it all coming back. As if Blaine sensed it, he reached over to grab Kurt's hand.

"It's okay," he murmured as they continued down the expansive stretch of highway, "you really have nothing to be afraid of anymore. They'll never even know you're back."

Kurt knew that this was, in essence, true. He knew that there was no way Karofsky and the other bullies knew he was headed back to Lima. Nevertheless, what if they made a mistake and were spotted? What if they walked into a gas station and they saw him?

Kurt really did not care about himself, but he did not want Blaine to have to live through the torment. Kurt was strong enough to do it once and he knew he could live through it again.

"I'm okay, I just…it really strikes me that I left here," Kurt admitted, not even knowing he was really thinking that. However, it made sense all of a sudden. "I left this state, I left this town. Do you know how many people can say they have actually left Lima, Ohio? Like three!"

"Is that scientific?" Blaine asked with a grin has he peered at the exit signs.

Kurt gently hit his shoulder, "You know what I mean. I mean, I guess I'm not really out of it yet. Sure, I'm in Cape May for the summer but I'm not really sure I can stay there…."

"You're coming to New York with me," Blaine said quickly, "remember?"

"I do remember that," Kurt said slowly, "I'm just trying not to get my hopes too high into the air."

"I picked out your most exquisite pieces," Blaine said in the worst impersonation of Tim Gunn that Kurt had ever heard, "so I know you will get into those schools. You just have to stay positive."

"You have the best fashion sense after all," Kurt said with a glance at the cut off mustard yellow pants Blaine showed up in two days ago to start their journey toward Ohio.

Blaine stuck his tongue out, "Well it's good that I have a fantastic boyfriend that loves me and will dress me in all of the finest clothes that he designs."

"Suck up," Kurt grinned as he leaned toward Blaine's shoulder.

"But you like it," Blaine's voice dropped slightly.

Kurt felt the blush spread across his face, "You can't talk like that in front of my father, you know. He will literally kill you and make jerky from your skin."

"That's comforting," Blaine's voice went completely in a different direction.

Kurt nuzzled against Blaine's shoulder more, "Are you sure you don't want to stop at another hotel?"

"And have your father think I'm threatening his son's purity? No thank you," Blaine said in one breath.

"But you kind of…did already," Kurt reminded him gently, "a few times…"

"Nope."

"I think so," Kurt said as he pressed a kiss to the skin behind Blaine's ear.

"Nope."

He leaned forward and gently tugged on Blaine's earlobe, "Are you sure? Because I seem to remember a few different things…."

"We are reenacting the room for God…"

"I don't believe in God," Kurt reminded gently as his lips trailed down Blaine's neck.

"Or the flying spaghetti monster, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, a lawnmower, a swimming pool…" Blaine stuttered.

"Lady Gaga is actually quite tiny," Kurt breathed.

"You are going to make me run off the road," Blaine said, "and we don't have to leave room for Katy Perry but you need to let me focus. That paired with the fact that I have to pee and I haven't slept in twelve hours makes driving not so easy."

"I told you I could drive…"

Blaine shook his head, "No. I just…I need to think about something else than what my father's doing."

"What is your father doing?" Kurt pulled away slightly and slipped his seatbelt back on.

"There is…a ceremony of sorts for my mother this weekend," Blaine gritted out, "and he thinks he's going to show up and be husband of the year…well, ex-husband of the year."

Kurt worried his lip for a few seconds before asking a question he knew could lead to a fight, "Is it you that doesn't want him there, or does your mother not want him there?"

"My mother doesn't want him there," Blaine said with a little force, "neither does my brother and neither do I. Of course, he's never listened to us in the past so why should he now?"

"What kind of ceremony is it?" Kurt changed the topic.

Blaine fiddled with the radio, "Oh Uhm…just a ceremony."

Kurt played with his hands, "You know...you can tell me."

"I know," Blaine said, "but I just…I can't. Not yet."

Kurt wondered how long it was going to be. How long until Blaine felt comfortable enough to actually reveal this part of himself. Kurt felt like everything was out on the line with him, as if Blaine knew all of his deepest secrets.

However, Blaine was keeping one huge one and how many more that Kurt did not even know existed?

Kurt decided to try again, "Well, can I go with you?"

Blaine turned to him slowly before snapping his attention back to the highway, "You know, that actually isn't a bad idea."

Kurt was surprised, "Really?"

"Well, I mean, my mom really wants to meet you as does Cooper," Blaine rationalized more to himself, "and of course I really want them to meet you. Plus, each person only gets four tickets so that my father couldn't even come if he wanted to…"

"Plus if he sees me, he won't even want to be there," Kurt supplied helpfully.

Anything to get him to know more about the boy he loved.

"Well he won't know who you are."

Kurt took a deep breath, "Blaine...I kind of look gay. He'll know who I am."

"No he won't," Blaine argued back, "he honestly told me once that no man would ever love me. Well, he told me no one would ever love me but I think men are included in that…though I could be reading too much into it…"

Kurt just stared at Blaine. Someone actually told this amazing, smart, funny, handsome man that no one would ever love him? Didn't his father even feel a small bit of love?

"Well I love you, so he was obviously wrong. And your mother loves you, so does your brother…" Kurt ticked off the names of his roommates as well, "plus you have friends at school that loved you. I think your dad was severely wrong, in fact."

Blaine shrugged, "I honestly didn't believe him. I know that sounds…arrogant, but I knew that someone would have to love me eventually. I'm just glad it was someone I wanted to love me," Blaine looked over at Kurt with love in his eyes, "and someone I could love back."

"You're a sap," Kurt remarked but leaned over to kiss his cheek.

When they arrived in Lima, Kurt was even worse. Gone were his thoughts about saving Blaine, and his flight instincts kicked in again when he saw a red truck that vaguely resembled the truck Karofsky used to drive.

"Blaine, this was a bad idea. Can't I go stay in Westerville with you?" Kurt checked to make sure the doors were locked three times before Blaine grabbed his hand to calm him.

"You will be fine. Just…don't worry about anything. Your father will take care of you when I'm not around, and when I am around I just dare that Karofsky character to do something to you," Blaine flexed his muscles, "he'll have to deal with me."

"I don't think you're any match for The Fury…"

"The Fury?" Blaine raised his eyebrows, "who is The Fury? You've never told me about him…"

Well there's a lot you haven't told me, Kurt thought. "The Fury was the name Karofsky gave his fists…"

"Poetic…" Blaine quipped.

Kurt snorted, "Yeah, I told him he could easily work in a rendering plant with that type of creativity."

"I'm sure that went over well…" Blaine shook his head, "I would hate to be at the wrong end of your wit…"

"I'm sure you will be, you have a whole lifetime of me…I mean…" Kurt turned red, "Crap. Did I actually say that out loud?"

"You did," Blaine said, barely suppressing his grin, "and I loved it."

"You…you think about that?"

"Of course," Blaine laughed, "I think about making this exact trip home every summer, maybe with some car seats in the back, just to see our parents."

Kurt wanted to clap with happiness, "Oh my god, you can't talk like that."

Blaine shook his head, "You really do need to realize that good things can, should, and will happen to you Mr. Hummel."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Make a left here."

They pulled up outside of the familiar house, and Burt was at the car by the time Kurt even opened the door.

"My boy," Burt said as he crushed Kurt into a hug, "it's great to have you home, even though I know you really don't want to be."

"I missed you," Kurt said with tears in his eyes. He did mean it. He missed his father so much that at times he wanted to ask his father to move to New York with him. Or even New Jersey so he wouldn't be quite so far away.

He doubted his father would ever leave the place where his mother was buried, however.

"And you," Burt said as he let go too soon, "I hear I have to scare you now instead of be nice to you."

Blaine looked like he was going to cry, "No…I mean, you don't have to do that. I would never hurt your son, Mr. Hummel. I swear to you…"

Burt laughed, "I was just joking around, kid. I know you mean no harm to Kurt. Between the three of us, I knew you two would get together so I checked you out before you knew you were on the chopping block." Burt turned to Kurt, "I'm not so book smart, but I'm street smart."

Kurt leaned into Blaine, "Well, it's good to know he passed with flying colors."

"I didn't say that," Burt said seriously.

Blaine tightened his hold on Kurt. "Sir?"

"You'll only pass with flying colors if you stop calling me sir and Mr. Hummel…."

Blaine opened his mouth.

"….I will go only by Your Majesty."

"Dad!" Kurt exclaimed, "stop that!"

"Nope. Your Majesty it is or nothing at all." With that, Burt turned and walked back to the house, carrying Kurt's bags with him.

"I don't actually have to call him Your Majesty do I?" Blaine asked with a little laugh, "Because I totally will…."

"No you won't," Kurt snapped, "my father likes to show his creativity in silly ways as well. You will call him Burt."

"Can I call him Burty?"

"No."

Blaine shrugged as he picked up more of Kurt's stuff, "It was worth a shot."

"I can carry my own things you know," Kurt pointed out as they walked up the pathway, "I'm not inept."

"Fine," Blaine handed Kurt the bag.

Kurt took it. He did not want to feel like the damsel in distress anymore. He was equal to every single person within the town limits of Lima, within the boundaries of the United States and located on the planet.

Except perhaps Gaga, but that was a different story – he was not entirely sure she was located on the planet half of the time.

Blaine turned at the door, "I should probably get home. My mom wants to see me and she has to get to bed early tonight so she can be well rested for tomorrow. Are you sure you want to go to this?"

Kurt nodded, "I really do want to go. Are you having something afterwards?" It was awkward to ask, because Kurt really had no idea what was even going on.

"We were going to take her to Breadstix," Blaine offered, "I'm not sure if you'll want to go."

"Of course I do," Kurt smiled easily, "I want to meet your family, remember?"

"I'll come pick you up at 1?" Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck, "Okay?"

Kurt nodded, leaning in, "I love you."

"I love you too," Blaine whispered before leaning in and kissing Kurt soundly.

"Well, I do believe Westerville is pretty far away and you'll want to get there before rush hour," Burt said, breaking their moment.

"Of course Your Majesty, I mean Burty, I mean sir, I mean…Burt. I should avoid rush hour." Blaine blushed to the tips of his ears.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Blaine," Kurt said with a final kiss.

"Good-bye Blaine!" Burt said as he pulled Kurt into the house and shut the door behind him. "God, I missed you," Burt said, hugging Kurt again.

Kurt smiled, "I missed you too, it's been so long. Nearly a month since I last saw you."

"I guess I'll have to get used to it, ya know, when you go to New York," Burt smiled, "and become famous and forget your father," he added as an afterthought.

"I won't forget you," Kurt promised.

"Of course not, but you call me a lot less now that you are with Blaine," Kurt could tell that Burt was trying not to sound upset, but he knows his father is upset.

"I'm sorry," Kurt grabbed his father's arm, "I just…it's weird. When I'm with him I lose sense of time and place…and I just want to spend all my time with him."

Burt looked at Kurt critically for a few seconds, "You're not giving up on getting into one of those fancy schools, right?"

"No," Kurt completely forgot to tell Burt that he had sent more sketches into his schools. "Blaine and I actually worked to send more into the schools. Blaine thought it was better to give them an array of things instead of just one or two."

Burt nodded, "Well, that was pretty smart of Blaine."

Kurt nodded, "I thought so too. We just sent them in a few days ago so I don't even know when to expect anything back."

"When you do, I'm sure it will be good news. They were crazy to put you on a waitlist, and they'd be even crazier to do it again."

Kurt ducked his head, "I hope so. I really...I can't come back here."

"It isn't so bad," Burt said quietly, "it's home."

"That's all it has going for it," Kurt said as gently as he could.

Burt nodded, "Well, you're getting a home cooked meal tonight. Go change around and freshen up. You have an hour."

Kurt tried to ignore the fact that he had no one at home to go anywhere with, he had hoped Mercedes would be home but no such luck.

"…and then Blaine completely wiped out and fell onto the lifeguard. He wouldn't look me in the eyes for about an hour…" Kurt laughed, scooping away the last of his mashed potatoes. "But the best part? Blaine said that the lifeguard asked him out…of course he said no," Kurt ended with a flourish.

Burt chewed slowly before looking up at Kurt, "So do you have any stories from this past month that don't involve Blaine?"

Kurt stopped chewing and looked up from his plate – his father's tone annoyed him, "What do you mean? He's my boyfriend! Of course he's around all the time so my stories will have him…"

"I just…" Burt paused and looked down for a few seconds. Kurt could tell he was struggling to find the right words, "I don't hear you talk about Rachel anymore, or-or any of your friends. I don't want you to be so wrapped up in this kid that you forget the importance of friendship as well. What happens if you two break up? What's going to happen then?"

"We won't!"

Burt held up a hand to silence Kurt, "I'm not saying I think you will. I'm just saying what if? You get your heart broke easily, kid."

"I love him," Kurt said quietly.

Burt dropped his fork, "You love him? Have you told him that?"

Kurt nodded.

"And he loves you too?" Burt asked hopefully.

"He does," Kurt said, trying to hide his smile, "he told me a few days ago."

"Gosh," Burt looked around the room, "isn't that a little fast?"

"Is it?" Kurt frowned, "I had no idea. I kind of…just went with what I felt."

"Well, take it easy. I don't want you to regret this later."

"I won't," Kurt said with finality.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow? I know you have something with Blaine but how long is it going to take?"

Kurt perked up slightly, "Blaine's mother is graduating something or going through some sort of ceremony…I don't really have the details. However, I promised him I would go to that and then I would go to dinner with his family. You should come with…at least I don't think anyone would mind."

"Are these…fancy people? Blaine seems like he's one of those secretly rich types," Burt barely owned a suit, let alone something dressy casual to wear once a year if he was lucky. "I might have a mole-hair jacket in the back of my closet somewhere…I'm not sure there is time to rent a suit."

"I'm sure any of your jeans that don't have holes or grease on them would be apropos," Kurt had been mentally going through outfits the whole day. "You can't go to the ceremony because there are only four tickets, but I'm sure they wouldn't care about going to Breadstix."

"Only four tickets and you get one?"

"There are some," Kurt tried to find a nicer way to say that Blaine's father was a class A asshole, "problems with Blaine's father that inhibit his attendance."

The next day, Kurt ran down the stairs at 12:30, running rather late. "I'm sorry," he called to Blaine as he slipped his shoes on, "I really wanted to be on time but my bed felt so good…"

"It's fine," Blaine laughed, taking Kurt's hand and pressing a kiss to his cheek, "I told my mom we might have to wait. Cooper is in your parking lot and since there isn't room for you in the van, we'll follow behind."

Kurt walked out of the house to see a navy van decorated completely with cans, balloons, and writing all over the windows.

Congratulations

We love you

Thank you

Strongest Woman Alive

We're so proud of you

Kurt tried to piece the puzzle together, but he was having a hard time. "Blaine…I'm confused."

Blaine blushed, "We just…we wanted her to know how proud we are of her."

"I gathered, but why?"

"Kurt…do you want to meet my mother?" Blaine asked suddenly.

Kurt nodded and allowed Blaine to pull him toward the van – what he saw was not nearly what he expected.