Blaine

"Kurt? I was wondering if it'd be okay for me to have a meeting here this evening? It'd be easier than going into the office, and it might be nicer for the team to come here. More informal."

He looks up from his essay, looking so damn beautiful that I feel I could kiss him forever. "You don't need to ask," he says, smiling softly. "It's your apartment."

"Yes, but..."

"I'll go back to..."

"Don't you dare go back to dorms!"

"Just to get some stuff, and to see Rachel and a few others."

"Oh. Well, I don't want you to feel like you have to be out."

"I don't."

"Would you... I mean... Could you come back early, before the meeting is done? That way everyone can meet you."

He looks surprised, but quickly recovers, and I'm warmed to see a smile as he turns back to his study. "Sure. I can do that."

The meeting goes well; the team are all prepared, and really all we can do is make sure we arrive at court tomorrow ready for battle. It'll be long, and tough, but hopefully it'll prove to be worth it in the end. To my surprise, my mom turns up for the meeting. I copied her into the email, but never expected she'd show; she's only been to this apartment a handful of times and that was merely to berate me and then leave.

"Is Kurt here?"

"Later," I tell her, realizing she's actually only here so she can be nosy. "Linda? Come help me in the kitchen."

My ever loyal assistant follows me through, and immediately starts collecting cups to make coffee.

"Did you know about my brother and your sister?"

She stops, sets a mug down, and leans against the counter. "No, but I did have my suspicions." I know she's being honest, because Linda never lies, to the point that sometimes I wish she would.

"Well, Kurt figured it out, actually. I was quite shocked."

"I only wondered because of how she talks about him and how she talks about the rest of her patients. So they're together?"

"It seems so."

"Will she have to stop being his nurse?"

"I don't see why. Cooper's care is a private arrangement, and Cooper says they've been together for a couple of years."

"What?"

"Exactly." I laugh, and give her a hug. "There's the shock that I felt."

"Well, I'm happy for both of them, if they're happy."

"Yeah, I think they are. It was good, yesterday."

"I'm glad. I hear your mom's taking over visiting duties next weekend, when you're in Lima."

"Huh?"

"That's what she told me on the ride over."

"She gave you a ride? What the hell is going on in the world right now? I can't keep up!"

I look at my mom in a new light, then, and I find myself thinking back to Kurt's words, that she possibly does have good intentions, somewhere. There's no question that her contribution to the meeting is useful; she's an exceptional lawyer and she really does work hard. She puts me down a few times, dismissing things I say outright, without even letting me finish, but I'm so used to that by now that I let it slide, and choose to focus on the positive, instead.

Kurt arrives home a little after eight, and if my mother has any comments on the fact that he has his own key, she chooses not to share them. He arrives in the dining room with a small, shy wave, clearly unnerved by the presence of fifteen people crowded around the table.

I introduce him, and he quickly takes his leave again. I'm torn between going after him to check on his welfare, or not giving my mom the satisfaction, but Linda makes my decision for me, by announcing she's going to get more coffee, and I know that means she'll find him for me.

Kurt only really reappears when the meeting is done and people are chatting before going home. He is polite to my mom, much warmer with Linda, and very talkative with Louisa, about her new boyfriend. I hear my mom telling him she's going to visit Cooper next week, and Kurt manages to rein his surprise in, and instead tells her how beautiful the gardens are looking in the spring. Eventually, people drift away, until there's only my mom and Linda left.

"Do you think you'll win?" Kurt asks.

"I don't know."

"Don't go in with that attitude," my mom snaps. "Because then you'll lose."

"It's hard to be positive, when the jobs of all those people are riding on my success."

Mom shrugs, entirely unapologetic. "That's your problem. You were the one who messed up. Yes, Kurt, Blaine should win this case, hopefully, if he's prepared correctly. He's a brilliant lawyer. Not just a good one. He has an ability to win everyone over with his convincing arguments, which comes from hours of research and preparation, and he also speaks from the heart, something I've never quite managed to do."

"See, she does like you!" Kurt says happily, causing Linda to hurriedly hide her laughter.

"Of course I like him, he's my son," mom snaps. "And when he puts his mind to it, he has the ability to make me quite proud."

"When he's working, as opposed to chasing a relationship with me?"

"I didn't say that. I think that maybe... Blaine is managing to find a balance, after all. I can see you're very supportive of him, Kurt, and I thank you for that."

"Oh. Well..."

"Mom?" My heart is pounding but I know this is the moment to ask. "I realize we're a corporate firm, but I was thinking that maybe in the future there might be the capacity for Anderson Cole to branch out a little? Maybe into human rights law? We could offer a not for profit service. Helping refugees fighting extradition, or maybe women who are fleeing persecution or abuse? I don't know. I haven't really thought it through. Kurt would know much more about women's issues than I, but human rights is something I've been wanting to look into for a long time now."

I'm expecting instant dismissal, or a scathing, withering put down. Instead, my mom stands, collects her purse, and briefly rubs affectionately at the back of my neck. "Win this case, take a week off, and then we'll discuss it."

The second the door is closed, Kurt leaps into my arms, wraps his legs tight around my waist, and showers me with kisses. "You're incredible, amazing, and I am so proud."

"Yeah, well, let's wait and see. This time next week, a whole bunch of people might be unemployed because of me."

"But you asked, Blaine! You've made her proud, you know. She was impressed, I could tell." He kisses me again, but looks a little dismayed when I set him on his feet. "Don't be like that. You know what else I realized? All those people... They were so grateful to be invited into your home. You say you don't have friends, but everyone that came tonight likes you, Blaine. It's just that your heart is so damaged that you assume everyone is the same. You need to stop shutting yourself off, because you could have friends, and lots of them, it's just that you won't let that happen."

"Leave it, Kurt. I love you, you know I do, but I don't think you can glance at me, sitting in a room full of work colleagues, and instantly decide I have friends. What's more, whether anything comes of my mom's comments or not, I don't want you to think you can magically make everything okay again. Yes, you've turned my life around in many wonderful ways, but you're never going to make everything perfect."

"I know that." He follows me into the bedroom where he takes my hand and leads me to the bathroom. "It would be silly for either one of us to be reliant on one person for our happiness." He sets the shower running and then returns to me, draping his arms over my shoulders and kissing me on the mouth. I find myself kissing back, becoming more and more aroused as steam fills the bathroom and Kurt looks me in the eye and begins to undress me.

"Damaged hearts can heal, Blaine, just remember that."