"Kurt!"

He turned away from his locker when he heard his name called, and saw Santana walking towards him. Santana still wasn't his favorite person in the world, but she was a lot nicer to him now that he was with Blaine. He grew the smallest of smiles just thinking that, he was with Blaine.

"What do you have planned for Blaine's birthday?" she asked, leaning against a nearby locker. "He told me he was actually gonna have a party this year, I figured you're all over it."

Kurt nodded, closing his locker. "I'm taking him out on Friday, and his aunt said she'd be willing to turn a blind eye if we wanted to throw a party at his house Saturday night."

Santana raised her eyebrows. "How blind?" she asked, her voice full of suggestion.

"Stevie Wonder," he replied with a grin. Santana's jaw dropped with a laugh. "You know about how Blaine's previous birthdays have gone, she really wants him to enjoy this one. She's taking the kids to their cousin's for the weekend."

"Shit," she said, grinning. "I'll tell Puckerman. Who's invited?"

Kurt shrugged. "He didn't say specifically. Probably just the glee club and some Warblers."

Santana nodded. Kurt expected her to take off, because generally, Santana didn't stick around for small talk. He hiked his bookbag onto his shoulder, but she was still there.

"So are you guys like, out?" she asked.

He paused for a second to look at her. This was weird. Yeah, she was friends with Blaine, but he couldn't think of a single other time he'd talked to Santana for this long. Not that it was bad or unwanted, it was just… weird.

"Yeah," he said finally. "We're obviously not gonna over do it on PDA at school, but we're out for real now.

Santana smiled, but Kurt could see it was bittersweet. Maybe it only looked bittersweet because he knew that it was. "How are things with Sam?" he asked cautiously, not knowing what Santana's reaction would be. It was a harmless enough question, but they both knew which relationship he was really asking about.

"Temporary," she answered simply before turning and walking away from him.

Kurt watched her walk away and felt familiar, strong arms wrap around his middle. Blaine pressed a kiss onto Kurt's cheek and Kurt leaned back into his boyfriend's embrace. Boyfriend.

"Hi," Blaine murmured. Kurt turned to face him and couldn't help his smile.

"Hi," he returned. Blaine somehow looked especially gorgeous that morning. His eyes were light and bright, like honey, and they were filled with so much warmth. Blaine's smile was much wider and brighter than it normally ever was at school. Plus he was wearing the cutest little cardigan and moccasin combo, Kurt felt so giddy and proud and excited that this adorable, talented boy was the one he was in love with.

It was so easy to be happy. Everything was finally alright. Kurt and Blaine were out as a couple, they had no secrets lingering between them, they won regionals… it was hard for Kurt to believe how much had changed in the past few weeks. Now, he was planning a party for Blaine's birthday with all of their friends, and the only worry in his life was Nationals. It was pretty frickin' idyllic after the last few weeks of heartache and exhaustion.

"Did you see Jacob Ben Israel's blog post from this morning?" Blaine asked him, a smirk on his face.

"Why would I read that crap?" Kurt asked, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

Blaine chuckled. "True. Sam sent me the link to his article. I think this one's a winner," he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a piece of paper. Kurt grabbed the paper and read the printout of Jacob's blog.

Blaine Anderson, Gayer than Ever, Seen Locking Lips with Glee Club Gay, Kurt Hummel

"I'm thinking of having it framed," Blaine mused, his smirk growing into a full blown grin.

Kurt looked down at the photo below the headline, a grainy picture of the two of them, indeed kissing, outside the front doors of McKinley earlier that day.

"He works fast," Kurt commented idly, smiling at the paper, because even though Jacob was stupid and nosy and homophobic… It was still kind of exciting to see his and Blaine's relationship so out in the open.

"Do you wanna come over today? Watch some Grey's, makeout, take cheesy couple selfies?" Blaine asked.

"I'd love to," Kurt said, looking back down at the picture of them.

Blaine cupped Kurt's cheek. Kurt looked at him, his heart melting at the tenderness in Blaine's eyes.

"I love you," Blaine murmured softly.

Kurt grinned. "I love you too," he returned, letting Blaine kiss him sweetly on the lips. It was kind of a thrill, kissing Blaine in the hallway with dozens of people around them. "Let's go to glee," he said, taking Blaine's hand and going towards the choir room.

"Are you excited for your birthday?" Kurt asked after a minute, not because the silence was uncomfortable, he just had too much excitement to not be talking.

Blaine took his time answering, seeming to think about it. "Weirdly enough, I kind of am," he said, sending Kurt a coy smile. "It's never really been my thing, but it's kind of hard not to get excited when your amazing boyfriend is the one planning it."

Kurt felt his cheeks warm up and Blaine squeezed his hand. "I have our whole Friday planned out, starting with Friday night dinner at my house," he informed him.

"I can't wait," Blaine said with a smile.

?!

Friday came fast.

Blaine hadn't really seen his friends much that week, because he was too busy catching up on all the assignments he started to fall behind on because of Regionals and Kurt and his family. But finally, it seemed like things were cooling down. He had about an hour before he was expected at the Hudmel household for dinner, and then whatever Kurt had planned for them afterwards.

He decided to take a break from his homework though, because it was Friday, and he was tired of doing his schoolwork. And since Mary took the kids to their cousin's already (after making Blaine promise 6 times not to get into trouble over the weekend), he decided to work on his car.

It was almost done. He still needed to get a new alternator, and the A/C still wasn't working, and two of the tires were donuts, but he was so much closer to being done than he honestly thought he would be. He stepped inside, igniting the engine to make sure it actually works, his face lighting up when it started, though it sputtered quite a lot because again, Blaine really needed a new alternator. Without looking up, he heard a car roll into the driveway. He figured Mary must've forgotten something, so he just kept fiddling around in the driver's seat, trying to make the goddamn air conditioning work. He could probably ask Kurt for help, Kurt knew way more about cars than he did. But he kind of wanted to the car to be a surprise. Maybe he'd take it to Burt's garage and ask him not to tell Kurt…

He looked up to the sound of heavy footsteps that were distinctly not Mary's. Oh god, what if it was John? Blaine thought that it would take a force of nature to ruin his weekend, but he was certain John would put up quite a good fight. He looked up and saw a slick, expensive looking black car, and a man who at a single moment managed to look familiar and like a stranger at the same time. He walked forward in his tailored suit until he was a few feet away from Blaine, who had cut the engine and climbed out of the car.

Blaine stared at him, his insides freezing, his throat going dry. He knew if he spoke his voice would break. He could feel his heartbeat in his temples. Blaine took a deep breath and didn't realize he was saying anything until he heard his own voice echo in the silence.

"Dad?"

?!

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