"You're giving him the car?!" Kurt shrieks on Christmas Day. Blaine stares down at the box in his hand, which contains a key to the Buick on a nice leather key ring, and tries to ignore Kurt's indignation.

He had been nothing short of awful to Blaine since arriving last night, and Blaine, already feeling fragile after getting nothing but a hundred dollars in an envelope from his mom, couldn't take anymore.

"I can't accept this," Blaine whispers, shaking his head. "It's too much."

"Here, Kurt," Burt says, tossing him a small package and ignoring Blaine completely. "Open it."

"Oh." Kurt looks down at the same key, picking it up by the key ring. "I see. You're giving us keys to the car. I'm sorry, I got confused."

"Oh, I'm giving Blaine the car," Burt says with a small smile. "It's just I'm giving it to you, too. Given that you'll both be in New York soon enough, I figured Blaine can use her around Lima for his last few months, and then she can move there with you."

"What?" Kurt yells loudly. "Where the hell am I supposed to keep her? I live in the middle of fucking Brooklyn! And he'll be in dorms somewhere, he won't have anywhere to keep a Buick! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that if you have to share something, you might just learn to get along," Burt barks, while Blaine still stares at the key in his hand. "And you know, if she can't move to New York, then maybe that will just prompt you to come and visit. Anyway, since when do you live in Brooklyn?"

"We're never gonna get along, so just leave it," Kurt snaps, then turns in his armchair to stare bleakly out the window.

One look at Burt, who is utterly heartbroken, and Blaine is up off the floor and crossing over to the couch, where he hugs Burt tight. "Thank you," he says quietly, giving his cheek a kiss. "That's the biggest and best gift anyone has ever given me."

"So, you will accept it?" Burt asks, cheering somewhat. "Cause I want you to have her, really. She's a young guy's car, not made for an old man like me."

"I'll accept it," Blaine grins, "Yeah. But you have to keep driving her too, okay? I mean, I'll drive her to school and stuff, but running errands on the weekends, things like that, you have to use Bessie, or I'll get mad."

"Ha! Okay son, you twisted my arm," Burt laughs.

"Oh, and hey, maybe in the summer, we could take her on a road trip?" Blaine asks excitedly. "Before I go to college?"

"Sure thing," Burt agrees, slinging an arm around Blaine's shoulders, and crushing him against his shoulder. "Don't be too down about your mom, Blaine. I'm sure she'll call."

"She's called twice in eight months," Blaine reminds him. "She's emailed three times. I just thought that with it being the holidays, she might have... She said, didn't she, that she would want me there for the holidays? Not that I wanted to go, but she seems to have conveniently forgotten."

"You've got me," Burt says, ruffling his hair. "I don't know if that counts for much, but you've always got me."

"Thank you," Blaine says sincerely, forgetting all about Kurt sulking in his armchair. "I don't know if I've ever said this, but I love you, you know?"

"Oh, so you can say it to him?!" Kurt explodes, practically launching himself from his chair and out of the room. "Fuck you, Blaine Anderson!"

"Don't," Burt urges, holding Blaine back from going after him. "It's not worth it. He's in a bad place right now."

"I don't know why," Blaine grumbles, settling back on the couch again. "He was the one who told me to get out on Thanksgiving, and I haven't spoken with him since."

"He feels like he made a fool of himself," Burt says evenly. "He tried to lay himself on the line for you, but went about it all wrong."

"You don't know that."

"I know what you were fighting about," Burt tells Blaine, who immediately tries to hide in a cushion. "Oh hey, I'm not gonna embarrass you, but I do think that you need to try and see this from both sides. I agree with you, you shouldn't be jumping into things like that, but he got confused by your appearance in his bed, I think, and thought maybe you'd changed your mind? I don't know. All I do know is that Kurt would never force you into something you weren't ready for."

"I know that. I never felt threatened. He told me that was it though, all over."

"That's for the best," Burt says firmly. "But you do need to make amends with each other, if you're both gonna live under this roof."

"I'll try," Blaine says begrudgingly, and Burt smiles, knowing that Blaine would do pretty much anything for him.

"Good boy."


It takes two days but when Burt returns to work Blaine decides to honor his promise, and climbs the stairs to Kurt's room where he's been practically all the time, other than for meals.

"Kurt?"

"What?"

"Can I come in?"

"No."

"Okay. Um... I'm going to the mall. My mom gave me some money, and I need some new clothes, so….wanna come with?"

"No, I do not."

"Fine," Blaine says with a sigh, and walks back down the stairs.

He grabs his prized Buick key from the bowl in the hall, then sighs and fishes his phone from his pocket as it starts to ring. "Mom?"

"Hey sweetie!"

Blaine can't help but feel overcome at the sound of his mom's cheerful voice coming over the line, and he sits heavily on the bottom stair, clapping a hand over his mouth.

"I'm just calling to say Merry Christmas!" Angie Lane continues, and Blaine finds his voice again.

"Mom, Christmas was two days ago," he says sadly. "Why didn't you call me then?"

Hearing Blaine on the phone, Kurt creeps to the top of the stairs to listen in on his conversation. His dad had told him about the lack of contact Blaine had with his mom, and for that, he really did feel sympathy. He knows how much it would have hurt him, to know his mom was alive and just not caring about him, and he can hear from the crack in Blaine's voice that he feels the same.

"I'm sorry honey, I was just so busy with Spencer and the boys," Angie tells Blaine, as he swallows back tears. "Did you get the money?"

"Yeah I did, thanks, but it's not about money, mom. I wanted to see you or something."

"Blaine, you wouldn't have come if I'd asked."

"Well, can't you come to Ohio?" Blaine pleads. He's aware of how childlike and small he sounds, but he really doesn't care. Having a man like Burt in his life is wonderful, but right now Blaine feels painfully alone, and he longs for some comfort from somewhere. The pain of knowing Kurt will never be his, the anguish over another Christmas without his dad, followed by the second anniversary of his death and then Blaine's own eighteenth birthday is all proving too much right now. "You could visit for a few days, I know Burt wouldn't mind."

"I can't, Blaine. I'm sorry."

Maybe Blaine imagines the hint of genuine remorse in her voice. He thinks he must have, because then she's cheerful again, asking if he had a good Christmas, and if he got any nice gifts. "Yeah. Burt gave me and Kurt the car we've been working on."

"He gave you the car? Wow! So you and Kurt are still going strong, then?"

"No, mom, we've never been going strong."

"Oh? I thought you two were...yes, I'm not mistaken," she says, and Blaine almost smiles as he imagines the look of certainty on her face. He can picture her so clearly, and it surprises him how much he misses her. "Your birthday, he came to dinner, and there was a big fuss over you not being able to stay over."

"Yeah. That was the few short weeks we were actually together," Blaine tells her sadly. "Since then we've been friends, until Thanksgiving, when we had a massive fight. We haven't spoken since. Well, not in a civil manner, anyway."

"So, Burt gave you both a car? I don't get it."

"He thinks it might make us get along."

"Maybe I should have tried that with you and Max."

"Yeah, no," Blaine says immediately, and he is oddly warmed when she laughs. "That wouldn't ever work."

"He'd probably use it to run you over."

This time it's Blaine's turn to laugh, and he realizes he's actually enjoying this phone call more than he thought he would.

"Anyway mom, I want to talk to you about college?"

"Oh, sure sweetie," she says, and to Blaine's surprise, she actually seems interested. "Have you visited anywhere yet?"

"No, but I'm looking at NYU for mechanical engineering," he starts, then hears the unmistakable yell of Spencer in the background.

"Angie! Get off the phone! Who you talking to anyway?"

"I have to go," Angie says quickly. "I'll call soon, okay? Love you baby."

The line goes dead before Blaine can even respond and he sits for a moment, staring at his darkened phone, before heading out to the garage where he sinks into the soft leather of Bessie's seats and tries to pretend that she can hug him like he needs.

"I need some new jeans." Kurt announces suddenly, climbing in the other side and not passing comment on Blaine's tear stained cheeks. "And someone needs to keep your love of plaid under control. Let's go."

The mall is busy with people shopping all the holiday sales, and though Blaine and Kurt move from store to store together they are very much apart, going their separate ways until they're ready to leave and move to the next store. Kurt gets his jeans, and Blaine gets one plaid shirt, just to piss Kurt off, along with a pair of loafers and a bow tie.

"I'm done," he announces, after a couple of hours. "So we can go home whenever."

"You should get that sweater," Kurt says, nodding toward a chunky gray sweater with red piping in the window of Brooks Brothers. "It says, Blaine, please buy me."

"It does not," Blaine says with a laugh. "It says, I might be on sale, but that doesn't mean you can afford me. And don't even think about buying it for me," he snaps as an afterthought.

"I'm not about to buy you a gift, Blaine," Kurt snaps back, as he storms away from the store. "Get over yourself."

"Why don't you like me?" Blaine asks, as he hurries to catch up.

"Shut up, you know I like you."

"No, I don't. I know you did, but these last few days...well, you've been cold even for you. So, why don't you like me?"

"I like you too much, that's the problem," Kurt mutters, his cheeks flaming as he heads down the escalator.

"You know what to do about it then."

"Fuck off."

"Fine."

They walk along in an angry silence, but Blaine can't help but watch Kurt carefully as they feign interest in looking through DVDs in a store. There's no denying he is stupidly hot, with his perfectly styled hair and immaculate skin. He always dresses well and Blaine swallows hard, when he realizes that though most would think Kurt's jeans are always super tight, he knows he can get his hand down the back of them.

As they walk from the store Blaine becomes aware of Kurt watching him, and embarrassed at having been caught staring, his voice is unnecessarily harsh. "What?"

"Nothing," Kurt says offhandedly. "It's just that sometimes, you look at me like you want to eat me, that's all."

Blaine leans in, so close to Kurt's ear that his breath tickles. "That's because most of the time, I do."

Kurt stops dead, stunned, and Blaine laughs and shakes his head. "You can close your mouth, Kurt. It's hardly a surprise."

"No, but you...I...I've never heard you speak that way before."

"Well look at that, I just did. Come on, let's get coffee."

"Don't fuck with me," Kurt snaps, the second Blaine sets his peppermint mocha in front of him. "I called you out last time on the cockteasing, now stop."

"What if I wasn't teasing?" Blaine asks, playing it coy, as he dips a finger in his hot chocolate, and sucks it clean. "What if I'm up for a bit of holiday fun?"

"Blaine, you're not gonna find the answer to your issues by sucking my cock," Kurt says bluntly, and he knows from the flash of hurt in Blaine's eyes that he's spot on in his statement.

"I..." Blaine starts, but that is as far as he gets before he's accosted from behind by a boy with a head full of blond hair who yells his name at the top of his voice, wraps his arms around Blaine's chest and kisses his cheek warmly.

"Guess who got back from Kentucky early?"

"Sam!" Blaine cries, and much to Kurt's chagrin, he seems happy to see this moron, getting out of his seat to hug him warmly. "You're back already? That's amazing! We can have New Years together!"

"Too right, my man! Can't wait! I've missed you." He stops when he sees Kurt glaring at him, and glances at Blaine uncertainly.

"Oh, uh...Sam, this is Kurt, Kurt, meet Sam."

"Nice to meet you," Sam says, giving a wave. "Blaine's my boy."

"He's my boy," Kurt practically growls, standing to square up to him. "We live together. Did he tell you that? Cause we do. We own a car together too, so back the fuck off."

"Kurt!" Blaine cries in horror, then turns to Sam apologetically. "Sam, really, we do not live together. We do kinda own a car between us, but...oh my God, I'm so sorry."

"No worries," Sam says amiably. "I know the score." He winks at Blaine and leans in close. "I think it's fair to say he's still hung up on you. I'll call you tomorrow." He doesn't dare hug Blaine goodbye, or acknowledge Kurt in any way, just retreats quickly to leave a seething Blaine to whirl around and confront Kurt.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"You know full well."

"Try me."

"Maybe..." Kurt starts, then backs down, shaking his head. "Maybe sometimes, I want to eat you too."

He's surprised when Blaine firmly takes his hand and leads him from the mall, leaving their coffees untouched on the table. The firm command Blaine seems to have on the situation only serves to turn Kurt on more as in total silence, Blaine pins him up against the car in broad daylight and cups his half hard cock, squeezing lightly, before kissing him hard, fast and rough, giving Kurt exactly what he needs.

He knows he whimpers, but he couldn't care less, because the feel of Blaine firmly gripping his face as he angles his head to deepen the kiss is everything, and he can actually feel his knees starting to give way beneath him.

"You drive," Blaine demands, pressing the key into Kurt's hand before running around to the other side.

Kurt isn't entirely sure how he manages to navigate the Buick out of the parking spot, let alone onto the highway. The front bench seat means Blaine can lie across it to reach Kurt's crotch, and he does, his fingers deftly working his fly open and pulling him out of his briefs.

"Holy shit, Blaine! Don't do this! I'm gonna...oh fuck. Fuck!"

The car swerves when Blaine sinks his mouth down around Kurt, and he struggles to breathe. "I can't believe this," Kurt is saying, as he tries to pass a truck. "I'm getting sucked off on route thirty one, in the middle of the afternoon. Oh Jesus."

"Want me to stop?"

"No," he says firmly, pushing Blaine's head back down.

"Don't come until we get home," Blaine orders, before he runs his tongue around the head of Kurt's cock, and looks up at him.

"That's like...twenty minutes!"

"If you're good, I'll let you watch me masturbate."

"Holy fuck! Oh God Blaine, I promise I'll be good. I need to see that. Yes. Here, in this car."

"So be good then," Blaine says cockily, before returning to the task at hand. Kurt is shaking after ten minutes, and struggling to keep his hands on the wheel.

"I have to come," he cries too loudly in the now very warm car. "I have to!"

"No."

Blaine pulls back, leaning sideways against the passenger window and unbuttoning his pants. "But you have been good, so..."

"Blaine! Oh shit. This is like...this is the biggest fantasy of mine," Kurt babbles, trying to watch the road, but wholly distracted by the sight of Blaine wrapping a hand around himself, his breathing coming fast and ragged. "I think of this all the time."

"Do you, Kurt?" Blaine asks, as airily as he can muster. "Does it turn you on?"

"Shit yes. I get off to thoughts of you masturbating, Blaine."

"I think about you when I do it."

Kurt only responds with some kind of noise, grateful to be getting off the highway at last. "Want me to pull over and finish you off?"

"No, I want to go home, pin you down on my bed, and suck every last drop from you."

"I want to suck you though."

"We can do it at the same time," Blaine murmurs, his head thrown back and eyes closed. "Just hurry up and get home."

Kurt doesn't speak anymore, just picks up his speed and prays no cops are lurking, because how the hell do you explain two guys speeding through Lima with their dicks out and masturbating furiously?

"Don't come," Blaine reminds him when he notices Kurt touching himself.

"Wouldn't fucking dare," Kurt mumbles, and finally parks the Buick haphazardly across the end of the driveway, two wheels on the sidewalk. He races from the car, holding his coat over his still open pants and leaves all his bags on the back seat as he unlocks the front door with Blaine close behind him.

"Fuck...fuck," Kurt cries, dropping his coat and keys on the hall floor, and pinning Blaine to the wall. They kiss fiercely, biting at lips, and practically devouring each other, while they shuck out of their pants and underwear in the middle of the hall.

"Shirt off," Blaine gasps, walking Kurt backward toward the basement door. "I need you naked."

Kurt obliges happily, and his shirt and vest are left trailing down the basement stairs as he follows Blaine eagerly, who is now lying naked on his bed. He wants to stop and tell him how beautiful he is, and how desperately he wants to be his, but he worries that will make Blaine pull up short and right now, he desperately needs his release.

So he falls on top of him, his feet bracketing Blaine's head as he leans down to suck on the head of his cock. He feels Blaine gasp and rise up, then a firm hand grips him, and suddenly he's encased in the heat of Blaine's mouth again, and oh, what a feeling it is.

Neither last long, which is hardly a surprise, and Blaine feels as if he has shattered from the inside out as his orgasm hits and he spills over and over into Kurt's mouth, seemingly never stopping. He gives a muffled cry when Kurt erupts in his mouth, but swallows it all eagerly, his hands reaching up to squeeze Kurt's ass cheeks roughly, almost as if asking for more. Eventually Kurt withdraws, rolling onto his back and panting hard, too exhausted to even form words.

A good five minutes pass, and then Kurt uses his foot to smooth over Blaine's hair quickly before he rolls off the bed and stands, stretching out the kinks in his back. "I'll be upstairs."

"Hey! What?" Blaine sits up, pulling his throw across his lap, feeling suddenly vulnerable. "Why are you...?"

"Well, because that completely should not have happened," Kurt snaps. "Call it a moment of madness, or whatever, but it was a big mistake."

"That's what you think?"

"Not what I think, necessarily, more what you're gonna tell me, when I say nothing has changed between us. I'm still not interested in a relationship with you."

"Hold me?"

"What?"

"Just...you're right," Blaine sighs. "Sucking your cock doesn't magically make me feel any less alone or empty than I do right now, but...fuck it, Kurt, I'm gonna say it. Being in your arms makes me feel like that's where I'm always meant to be. With you."

"Shut up."

"I want to be with you. That's not gonna change. You don't want to be with me, fine, but I know how I feel, and right now that's pretty shitty about everything so I'm asking you, please, just to hold me for a while."

Kurt stares down at him, trying to ignore every part of him which is screaming to declare his true feelings for Blaine. "Ten minutes," he says with a sigh. "Move over."

Blaine wakes in the dark and doesn't even look at the time, just scrambles out of bed and pulls on a pair of sweats before charging up the stairs, but his heart has answered the question long before his head has.


"He's gone," Burt says morosely, after Blaine stumbles across him in the living room. "Which is probably for the best."

"Back to New York?"

"I assume so."

"But...he was there and... I don't know. We..."

"I don't need to know," Burt barks, holding up his hand. "The clothes were enough for me. You are both incredibly stupid. I've told him what I think, and now I'm gonna tell you. This has gone far enough now. You decided at Thanksgiving that it was all over, and I was relieved, truth be told. I figured that the anger between you would subside after a while, and you'd learn to at least tolerate each other. Then I arrive home from work to find a deluge of clothes scattered around my hallway and down the stairs to your bedroom, and I don't even need to guess what's happened."

"I'm so sorry," Blaine whispers. "We just..."

"You just nothing, Blaine!" Burt shouts loudly. "I was young once, you know, and I might not have been into boys, but I still had urges, just the same as you. That's fine. That's normal, and if you wanna get them met, then I'm not gonna stop you, but I am gonna step in when it involves my sons, because all you two are doing is hurting each other, over and over, can't you see that? Argh! You make me so mad!"

"I make you mad?" a mortified and upset Blaine asks. "I don't want you to be mad at me."

"Well, right now, I am. I'm sorry Blaine, but you've really let yourself down and I'm disappointed in your behavior. Not just you, him as well, and I've told him that, which is why he decided to up and leave, but I was raised to speak my mind. I've done my best raising Kurt, and now you as well, but... I don't know. Maybe it's the gay thing, is that it? Does that make you both want to be trapped in this vicious cycle of going to bed together and then fighting?"

"No, not at all. It's... I just wanted some comfort."

"Comfort? Jesus, Blaine! So you come sit with me on the couch, talk to me about how you're feeling, not go at it like rabbits with my son!"

"I know, and I'm sorry, Burt, really. I just... I love him," Blaine says, drawing a trembling breath, as his eyes fill with tears. "I love him, and I think he's it for me, but he just doesn't feel the same, and I don't know what to do. I just...I don't know anymore. I don't know. You're the only one who hasn't given up on me, and now I've made you mad, and..." He breaks off, shaking his head, and determined not to cry, but Burt is over to him like a shot, folding him up in his big strong arms, and kissing the top of his head.

"Come on kid. I know. I know you love him. Hell, I probably knew way before you did. I know it hurts, too. Leave it be, you hear? Concentrate on your final few months at school, your glee club stuff, and that science fair you've got going on. Spend time with your friends, spend time with me, plan our road trip, decide on a college... Kurt won't be home for months," he says, pretending he doesn't feel Blaine wince in his arms. "By the time he comes back, you'll feel much better, I'm sure."

"Okay," Blaine mumbles, feeling slightly better, but pretty convinced that even when he's Burt's age himself, he'll never be over Kurt.

"Good boy. Oh, and Blaine? If I ever see Bessie parked like that again, I'm taking her back."