"So your parents are sending you and Kurt to South Carolina?" Jeff said incredulously.
"Apparently. Hey, I am not asking if they've lost it. I'm just taking it." Flint laughed slightly. He and Jeff were jogging around the Dalton track together. It was finally warm enough out to go for a run without loosing digits, and Flint had one majorly pale, skinny, chicken leg that needed rebuilding after weeks in the cast. When he'd first stepped out in shorts, Jeff had broken out into raucous laughter, apologizing as insincerely as humanly possible
"Seriously though." Jeff groaned in envy. "My parents made me sleep in the basement when Allie stayed over once. And they locked the door."
Flint laughed.
"Yeah well, at least it wasn't Allie's parents. You'd have been put in the stocks or prison or something."
Jeff rolled his eyes.
"No kidding. That would be getting off lightly."
Kurt folded his hands together neatly on the desk and watched the Skype window, waiting for his father's verdict on the presentation he'd made.
"No."
"Dad." Kurt clenched his hands together to prevent them from moving. Thumping his fists on the table definitely wouldn't help the image of maturity he was going for.
"I'm sorry Kurt, but no way am I sending my teenage son off with his boyfriend for a weekend alone." Burt said simply, leaning back from the screen.
"Not alone. We'd be going to his cousin's wedding, and staying at his aunt's house with a hundred relatives. Other guys at Dalton are going to spring break in Florida. In comparison I might as well be going to a knitting convention." Kurt couldn't help the note of sarcastic petulance. Burt raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah well, you aren't other boys Kurt. You're my kid, and anyways, you know that with Dalton, we can't exactly afford it."
"His parents already said they'd pay for the plane tickets, and we don't have to worry about anywhere to stay or eat. And I've got my own money to spend on anything else I'd need." Kurt filled in quickly, trying not to let the wheedling tone into his voice.
"Kurt." Burt rubbed his forehead for a moment. Kurt knew he was considering from the tone of his voice, could see it turning in his mind. "I haven't even met this kid's parents yet."
"Flint." Kurt corrected softly, catching his dad's eyes. "And they want to meet you, both of us together. It's one of the conditions of the trip."
"Conditions?" Kurt bit his lip as his dad sighed through the speakers. He sounded at least a little less concerned. "Well...look kid. I'm not saying you can go. But I do want to meet them. And then maybe-MAYBE-" He reaffirmed as Kurt let out the tiniest noise of optimism. "We can talk about it more."
"I love you dad! Can you do Friday? And Carole can come." Kurt said hopefully.
"Yeah, sure kiddo. Just...let me know what the arrangements are."
"I will. I'm going to go ask Flint and I'll call as soon as I know!" Kurt grinned as he ended the call and jumped up. He shut the door to his room behind him and walked briskly down the hall.
"Hey." Kurt turned to search the source of the shout . Down the corridor to his left, Flint was jogging up in his gym clothes, leaning in once he got there the press a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek. "What's got you smiling?"
Kurt looked around airily before shrugging.
"Oh nothing, I was just going to come look for you. Wondered what you might be doing Friday."
Flint's eyes lit up.
"Dinner with the folks?" Flint offered cautiously.
"Maybe." Kurt couldn't help letting out a little laugh at Flint's enthusiasm. " My dad hasn't said yes, but he agreed to having dinner with your parents, and then maybe talking about it. So it's not entirely impossible yet."
"That's good. Really good." Flint grabbed Kurt around the waist and hugged him tight. Kurt squawked and tried to wriggle
"Flint! You're still all sweaty. Gross!" Flint squeezed him again before stepping back. His attempt at apologetic was ruined by the wide smile.
"Sorry. I'm going to go have a shower, and then I'll meet you in the commons for Warbler night?"
"Good idea." Kurt smiled, pressing both hands to Flint's chest and pushing him back towards his room jokingly. "Go make yourself smell good again, I'll save us a seat."
Flint ran a hand through his still damp hair and stepped toward the chatter of the common room where the Warblers were assembled. As he slid in past David, who was talking fervently into his phone at the doorway, he saw his boyfriend. Kurt had folded himself into the corner or the couch and looked up at Flint with a coy smile.
"Come sit?"
Flint jammed his hands in his pockets and pretended to survey the rest of the room.
"Dunno. You sure you want me here?" Flint said gravely. He took the seat and crossed his arms tight over his chest, looking stright ahead. "I thought I smelled bad?"
Kurt frowned, staring at the other boy until Flint turned to look at him archly. But the quirk at the corner of Flint's mouth gave him away.
"Problem?" Flint questioned, trying hard to appear indifferent. Kurt stared him down for a moment, then huffed dramatically and retreated into the corner.
"Aw, Kurt, c'mere." Flint laughed, reaching out as Kurt batted him away. "Come on, I'm just teasing!"
"No, if you don't want to sit with me, that's fine." Kurt returned loftily, kicking away Flint's foot as he tried to shift closer.
"Aw, sweet thing," Flint murmured low enough that the other boys couldn't hear. He rubbed his hand slowly over Kurt's knee. "Please? We both know we're both kidding."
Kurt looked up at him for a moment through his lashes, before rolling his eyes, trying to hide his slight grin.
"I know." He shifted to lean into Flint's shoulder as the other boy moved his arm to wrap around his shoulder and down to his waist.
Kurt pressed his nose against Flint's neck and took a slow deep breath.
"Hmmmmm. You smell better now anyways." Flint glanced down at him, with a smile.
"You two are disgusting." David shouted cheerfully as he snapped his phone shut and flopped onto the floor. "Can you stop being so in love please."
The other boys laughed and Kurt shot him a glare.
"Go be useful and turn off the light Brave Leader." David nodded his consent and flicked off the switches, leaving just the glow from the tv and from the hallway. In the darkness Kurt leaned back into Flint and mouthed a soft kiss over his jaw and just behind his ear.
"Actually you smell amazing." Kurt murmured. He could feel Flint's warm exhalation on his cheek. The curl of his fingers digging softly at the tucked hem of his shirt sent goosebumps waving across Kurt's skin.
"Dev! Slow down!" Blaine laughed as Devon ran in front of him, dragging him along by the hand.
"Come on slo-mo! I thought you said you were late." Devon skidded to a stop outside the darkened room, pulling his hand down and yanking Blaine closer in the process.
Blaine tripped a little of over his own feet and thumped against the door frame, trying not to think of how the noise had likely drawn attention from inside.
"You okay?" Devon murmured, his eyes dropping down to Blaine's lips even as he spoke.
"Yeah, yeah, of course." Devon's hands released and settled on Blaine's chest, scrunching the fabric between his fingers.
"You gonna go have your Warbler time now?" Devon grinned and Blaine couldn't stop himself from leaning in and nipping at his lower lip.
"Mmmmhm." Blaine was trying to think, honestly, but it was hard with Devon's thumb slipping under his shirt to brush over the path of dark rough hair at his waist.
"So are you going?" Devon teased, kissing the corner of Blaine's mouth.
"I'm going to do something in a minute." Blaine shot back, ducking down to kiss Devon's jaw. Dev let out a low breathy laugh. His hand lifted, intending to cup Blaine's jaw and pull his mouth against his skin, but he let it rest on his shoulder instead, reaching out to press Blaine against the doorframe behind them.
"Okay. You really have to go now. But come see me before bed? Say goodnight?"
"Yeah." Blaine stole a last kiss before trying to back gracefully into the room with just a little stumble.
When he turned, the whole room was looking.
"What?" Blaine retorted, grinning to himself and reddening.
"Dude. That's my little cousin." Adam groused. Blaine ducked his head bashfully as the other boys laughed. He saw Kurt smile towards him and wondered for a minute. He paused behind him and Flint as he made his way to the couch on the other side of the room, and ducked in.
"Kurt. Can I talk to you between the movies?" Kurt looked up from screen, twisting around in Flint's hold and nodded.
"Yeah, of course."
"Thanks." Blaine squeezed both of their shoulders lightly and wander to the open space on the couch. He flexed his fingers gently, still feeling Devon's warm, firm grip on his hand.
Blaine settled onto the top stair of the out of the way flight leading up to the roof. Kurt settled next to him and crossed his legs.
"So what's the news? You and Dev seem to be good." Kurt smiled, knocking his knee against Blaine's.
Blaine's grinned shyly, shrugging a little.
"Yeah. We are. I mean. I think we are." Kurt frowned and cocked his head. Blaine rubbed his eye for a minute, clearly trying to work out what he wanted to say.
"Dev's not a virgin." Kurt's eyes shot open.
"Whoa. Blaine, I'm happy for you. Really. But if you are about to tell me about you deflowering your boyfriend, I'm going to stop you now."
Blaine waved his hands, looking a little flustered.
"No! No, its...we haven't done that. Together. We've only been dating like two weeks."
"Then you just...wanted to share this information for some reason?"
Blaine frowned.
"Kurt. I'm trying to be serious here."
Kurt focused on his friend and shook his head clear.
"Okay, sorry. Please continue."
Blaine furrowed his brow and stared into the surface of the step below.
"We were kissing last night. And he said that I could...that we could have sex. If I wanted to."
Kurt's eyes were wide in surprise.
"Did you? Want to, that is."
Blaine shifted a little and shrugged, looking nervous.
"Well, in general, yeah, I wanted to. A lot. Dev's great and so sweet, and super hot, and his body is...wow. But not now. Not so soon." Blaine explained earnestly.
Kurt nodded, looking pensive.
"Was there anything that could have given him the impression otherwise?"
Blaine pushed back to face more towards Kurt and lean against the wall.
"No. At least, I don't think so. He said... he said his old boyfriend told him that it was something you were supposed to do. If you were dating. Like, cause two guys couldn't get pregnant that it wasn't a big deal. And it is! I got so messed up with Jeremiah when we started doing that. I got crazy hung up on him and it made it hurt so much when he blew me off."
Kurt's smile was sympathetic and he cocked his head to the side.
"I'm sorry he hurt you. I wish I had known at the time." Blaine shook his head.
"Nah. If I wasn't such an idiot you and Flint might never have gotten together." Blaine's bemused expression made Kurt's heart clench. The flash of Flint's grin through his mind's eye didn't help much either. "You two are really great for each other you know?"
Kurt smiled into his hands.
"I'm really happy with him."
Blaine bit his lip for a minute and glanced at Kurt uncertainly before asking a question.
"Are...are you two...you know..." Kurt flushed slightly and tried not to look flustered.
"No. We've been...intimate. But not like that. We're kinda slow moving I guess."
Blaine smiled a little.
"I wish my first boyfriend was like that."
Kurt reached out and grabbed Blaine's hand, squeezing.
"I say that Jeremiah doesn't count. He was an imbecile to treat you like that. Start fresh with Devon. You two can be whatever you want to."
"You think so?"
"Really Blaine, I don't think many guys would be all that upset to having you fawn over them and sing their praises. Sometimes literally. And you can just...move at your own pace when it comes to...that stuff. It's not a race."
Blaine laughed loudly, his eyes crinkling at Kurt.
"Yeah, no I guess not."
"We should get back, yeah?" Kurt suggested and Blaine nodded, pulling himself up. "Oh, and by the way, no matter when it does happen, I still don't need any details on any deflowering type activities."
Blaine snorted and rolled his eyes.
"I'll keep it in mind Kurt."
Blaine knocked on the door and waited, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Oh, hey man." Joe opened the door and stepped aside, giving Blaine a view of Devon, who was lying on his bed with his head hanging over the side.
"Hey!" Devon flipped around and slipped to his feet, elbowing pointedly past Joe. He rolled his eyes in return, but shut the door most of the way to give them some privacy.
Devon glanced at the door, and then down the hallway, before wrapping his hand around Blaine's neck and pulling him in for a kiss.
"Mmm." Devon leaned back and grinned, his lips pressed together tightly. Blaine bashfully rubbed his neck. "My dreams may not be entirely sweet now, but they will be good."
"Dev." Blaine groaned, but the other boy just laughed a little.
Blaine took his hand and swung it slowly back and forth between them.
"So just goodnight then?" He cocked his head when Devon opened his mouth, then shut it sharply. "Or not quite goodnight yet?"
Devon let his finger trail back and forth across the index knuckle of Blaine's hand, trying to figure out what to say.
"I...um..."
"What?" Blaine pushed gently.
"I have a swim meet this weekend. My parents can't come and... I always do better knowing I have someone cheering me on." Devon reached up and tugged at his hair a little. "You don't have to. You're probably busy or something, but I thought-"
"I'll be there. I promise." Blaine said immediately.
"Oh. Good. Awesome. Then I guess..." Devon tried to hide his smile as he ducked back towards his room. "I should go to bed then. Rest up."
"Okay. Night." Blaine returned.
"Night Blaine."
Kurt pulled at his bow tie, trying to straighten out the ends, before yanking it in frustration and pulling it sharply from his collar.
"For pete's sake, this isn't that big of a deal. Just calm down." Kurt mumbled into the mirror. He saw himself jump in the reflection at a knock and peered to see Flint lean in the half open door.
"Talking to yourself isn't a good thing." Flint said lightly.
"Yeah well apparently neither is this bow tie. I cannot get it tied right."
"C'mere." Flint grinned, walking toward Kurt and holding out his hand. Kurt relinquished the tie with a huff, but submitted to Flint's assistance as he flipped up his collar and strung the loose tie around his neck.
"Do I risk saying you might be nervous?" Flint murmured as he crossed and pulled the silk carefully. Stuck in place, Kurt fidgeted with his eyes, glancing back and forth from mirror to Flint.
"Yes. I am. I've never met anyone's parents before, especially not with so much riding on a good impression on all sides."
"You've never met anyone's parents? Not even friends? Or your grandparents?" Flint faked his surprise as he centred the tie and Kurt huffed at him.
"Don't be smart. You know what I mean."
Flint gave the tie one last tug.
"There you go! One perfectly tied tie, if I do say so myself." Flint wandered over to look at the playlist on Kurt's computer as Kurt inspected his work in the mirror. He caught a glance of the other boy in the mirror for a moment and paused.
Kurt's smile softened and he slipped up behind Flint, wrapping his arms around his chest and propping his chin on his shoulder.
"Hey, thank you. And you look great tonight, you know?"
Flint glanced down at his wingtips and fitted slacks.
"You think? Does it meet the Hummel standard of approval?" Kurt gave him an appraising look.
"Not nearly as fashion forward as I like myself, but classic and very handsome." Kurt determined, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.
"Now come on. We've got a trip to charm our way into."
Burt and Carole had met up with them at a service station along the route and followed them to the Wilsons'. Flint shook Burt's hand and took Carole's hug as soon as they got out of the car, but quickly returned to Kurt's side as they headed indoors, holding his slightly fluttering hand firmly.
"Hello? Mom? We're here!" Flint took off his fedora and placed it on the hall table, before turning to take coats from everyone. Kurt heard footsteps in the hallway and turned to see Flint's mother appear through a doorway. A tall man followed behind, and they were both pushed aside as a teenaged girl in a Everett-Vauxhall kilt and grey hoodie jogged past.
He expected her to go straight for Flint, but instead she stopped at him and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Hi! I'm Danny. It's awesome to meet you finally! It was like Flint was purposely trying to keep you away."
"Imagine that." Flint mumbled, pushing the closet door closed and moving in to hug his parents. When he pulled back he glanced at the two groups, bridged on each side my him and Danny.
"Mom, Dad. This is Kurt. Again. And Kurt's parents, Burt and Carole."
Dinner had actually gone well. Flint's parents had covered the details of the trip, assuring that they would be well supervised around family. Burt had retained his skeptical tone, until Carole put a hand on his arm and commented on the boys next Warblers event. Kurt had sent Flint a worried glance, and the return expression wasn't overly comforting.
At the end of the night, Kurt and Flint just held hands while everyone bundled back up, giving one last squeeze before he followed Burt and Carole out to the car, en route to Lima for the weekend.
"I'll let you know as soon as I find out for sure, I guess." Kurt muttered. Flint nodded and leaned against the doorway as they passed through.
"I'll text you before I go to bed."
"Night." Kurt smiled back at him warmly and slipped quickly down the stairs into the cool evening.
Kurt sat up front with Burt. Carole had claimed she was tired and preferred to sleep in the backseat, if that was alright.
They got almost twenty minutes into the trip before she was asleep and Kurt turned suddenly to start the conversation they both knew was coming.
"Dad-" Burt shook his head.
"Kurt, I'm sorry, I just don't think its a good idea."
"Nothing's going to happen!"
"You know I don't let you or Finn have sleepovers with your door closed. Rules don't change just because you cross state borders." Kurt crossed his arms, frustrated.
"What exactly do you think is going to happen?"
"We both know what I think is going to happen Kurt, don't play dumb. It doesn't work on you."
"Yeah well...I could say the same thing." Burt just raised one eyebrow, but Kurt licked his lips nervously, knowing he was coming fairly close to crossing a line he shouldn't. He lowered his voice and continued, quiet, but still filled with conviction. "You're okay with us being together at school. You know that we can be alone together there. I...We've stayed the night in the same bed before Dad. I'm not a little kid anymore."
Burt's face darkened.
"Has this boy-"
"This boy is Flint. And you know that perfectly well. And you like him!"
"Until I found out that he's taking advantage of my son."
"Dad!" Kurt's voice and eyes were plaintive enough to catch his attention from the scenarios that must have been spinning in his head.
"No one is being taken advantage of! Whatever we do, which is our business can I mention, its because we care about each other. Isn't that what you wanted for me?"
Burt sighed.
"I also wanted you to wait til you were thirty, to you know...lose that part of yourself."
Kurt's face flushed. If he was going to get his dad to agree, he needed to make some concessions. No matter how embarrassing and painful this was going to be.
"Well, you can hold out on that dream at least a little longer."
Burt looked hard at his son for a moment as he stopped at a red light.
"Really? Two teenaged boys?"
Kurt was sure his forehead was so hot his eyebrows were about to spontaneously combust.
"What, don't you trust me?" Kurt's eyes were directed down and away, and he could only barely see his father's shoulders sag in a deep sigh.
"Yes. I do." There was a moment before he clenched his hands wheel. "Fine. But there are going to be some rules."
Kurt's head popped up.
"Wait. What?"
"You can go. But there will be an introduction to your host when you get there. And there WILL be calls. Every morning. And at night. And I reserve the right to do spot checks."
Kurt's eyes were lighting up and Burt couldn't help feeling like a bit of a push over. And not caring. Kurt bounced his seat and clenched his hands tightly.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Kurt cried, leaning over and kissing his father's head.
"Yeah, yeah, okay kid." Burt patted his arm softly, letting his hand fall and rest there for a moment.
"Just...We have trust Kurt, in a way a lot of parents don't have with their kids. And that means that I trust your judgement. Just...prove me right kid?" Kurt nodded.
"I will. I promise. Best behaviour the whole time." Burt smiled a little sadly, but Kurt didn't notice.