"...You can be sure I'll be keeping an eye on this situation." Blaine finished angrily and shook his head switching off the phone. He turned around and tensed seeing Kurt in all his 'ice queen' glory. Their eyes locked and the Dom just knew it was going to be a difficult day for him.
Blaine's eyebrows wrinkled with worry. "Kitten..."
"I'm not your pet," Kurt spat out immediately.
"Of course you are not. I though you liked that nickname."
Both men had stared at each other for a while before Kurt spoke up. "I told you I was handling it!"
"You ignoring her wouldn't have any effect on her. Even I had problems communicating-" Blaine stopped, seeing the sudden 'pissed off' look on Kurt's face. "What's wrong?" he asked, confused.
"You said 'even I', that's what's wrong," Kurt snapped. "You are doing the whole 'I am a Dom, therefore if something seems even remotely challenging for me, it must be impossible for a poor, fragile Sub' thing." He dramatically threw his hands up.
Blaine lifted his hand and raked it through his dark curls. These conversations will make my hair white soon, he thought grimly. "It was just easier and quicker for both of us. I couldn't stand how you looked after receiving one of her messages."
Kurt rolled his eyes and curled his arms around himself like shield. "Oh, yeah. Because I'm so emotionally unstable that I can't handle harmless messages and I can't defend myself on my own."
Blaine bit his tongue before he would say something stupid like at least partially agreeing to this statement, because Kurt wouldn't let him explain himself further. And, having an argument with Kurt in this house – with Burt and Finn in the kitchen - was literally dangerous for him.
With a sigh the Dom put his hands around Kurt's arms and rubbed them, trying to construct his arguments in the best way possible.
"Kurt, we both know that you are a strong person. You carved your own way through life despite all the bullshit some people tried to feed you in high school. But, for this woman the facts don't matter. She already has an image of you in her mind as someone broken and nothing you would say or do would change that. We could waste a lot of time on trying to change her mind, but I don't think she's worth that effort. My involvement in the matter is just so we have more time for ourselves."
Kurt closed his eyes – he hated how Blaine's touch and voice of reason were breaking down his resolve. He hated becoming dependent upon Blaine and it was already difficult for him to imagine a day when he would need to be strong only by himself...
"Let's go have a breakfast," Kurt abruptly stopped his unpleasant trail of thoughts.
Blaine was upset to hear some kind of resignation in his Sub's voice, but decided for now to just observe him closely. That turned out to be difficult as Kurt faked a good humour as soon as they entered the kitchen. He would joke with Finn, gush about the dress Rachel had bought earlier this week and ask Carole about her new jam recipe – all of that without showing how shaken he had been just moments before the meal.
Blaine sipped his coffee, looking up. His eyes automatically met Burt's and the Dom could see that Kurt's father didn't buy his son's performance either. Burt stared at Blaine with a face clearly saying 'I don't know what is going on, but it must be your fault'.
No amount of bad atmosphere or arguments would manage to make Kurt change his plans – he was still taking Blaine around the town, including the shopping center. Fortunately the weather was beautiful, so they could really enjoy being outside instead of moping around the house and trying not to snap at each other.
Leaving the house and walking toward the car, Blaine felt two cold hands wrapping themselves affectionately around his arm. He looked surprised at his Sub.
"I'm still upset about the morning," Kurt assured him, his fingers clawing onto Blaine's sleeve. "But it's our problem. No reason to show my family any reasons to butt into our lives."
The Dom nodded, understanding. He felt better having Kurt close and touching him and hoped that Sub would forget later to 'unwrap' himself.
And he actually did forget, but Blaine couldn't really feel happy about it, given the real reason - as soon as they got out of the car in the shopping center, the Dom was suddenly reminded how some smaller towns were still very close-minded towards homosexual couples. No one said anything aloud, but there were quite a few disgusted stares directed at them.
"Ugh... that was my math teacher from high school. For the sake of the younger generations I really hope he's either fired or retired," Kurt whispered, scooting closer to his Dom. Blaine glanced at the elderly man, who had eyed Kurt with disdain just a moment ago.
"I should-" the Dom began, but was cut off by Kurt shaking his head.
"Hold your horses, my to-be-knight in silver armor. I don't want to make a spectacle."
"Are you sure about the walk, though? If everyone is going to be like that..."
"I'm sure," Kurt sent him a little smile. "Not everything is bad here. And I kind of want to show you off to someone later."
"Okay, but you need to stay close to me the whole time. I want you to be safe."
The Sub reluctantly promised to not leave the Dom's side and then led Blaine through the local mall. The location wasn't as showy as the shopping centres of the capitol, but the Dom enjoyed the little stories and commentaries made by Kurt about some significant or not-so-significant places there.
"...and the flash mob was a success – Rachel decided to keep her nose the way it is."
Blaine laughed loudly, startling other people on the escalator inside the local mall. "Oh, how I'd love to see that. It's so 'you' to offer an advice in the most fabulous way."
"Speaking of fabulous, we are going now to a place where you have to meet someone. It's just a few shops from here," Kurt tugged on Blaine's arm excitedly as if to make him go faster. However, they only made a few yards before the Sub suddenly froze in place, causing his Dom to bump into his back.
"God, Kurt, I almost hit you. Why did you stop?"
Kurt didn't answer. The blue-eyed man stood petrified as his skin was getting sickly pale. His fingers curled into tight fists.
Having a bad feeling about it Blaine turned to follow what his Sub was looking at. They were standing in front of a store called 'Sheets-N-Things' that sold quite uninspiring home goods. Through the display window he could see there weren't a lot of customers inside.
Blaine looked back at his Sub. "See something you like in there?" He asked, baffled about what could catch the designer's eye in that kitsch hole.
Kurt slowly turned his head at the Dom, frowning confusedly as if he hadn't heard him just now. Blaine repeated the question.
"No, why would I like anything here?" Kurt said quickly, suddenly flustered as if being caught doing something improper. "Seriously, they should ban the colour 'baby blue'" He waved his hand at the pillows in a washed-out shade.
"Why did you stop then?"
The Sub shrugged, glancing again at the display window. "Just thinking how happy I am that I don't need to be a subject to 'mundane' shops like this one on everyday basis now. Come, our place for lunch is close by."
Blaine sceptically arched an eyebrow at that blatant evasion, but followed Kurt further, toward a homely cafe in all shades of pink and orange, named 'Honey Pavilion'. It was quite crowded and looked like it was a regular meeting spot for many young couples. Blaine wondered for a moment if Kurt had invited his high school friends to meet him, but he was soon proven wrong.
"Oh. My. God! I can't believe it! What are you doing here, cutie-pie?" Toward them strode one of the waitresses - a thin, blonde, tanned woman with definitely too much make-up on her face. She wore a pink uniform so tight and low-cut that her breasts looked like they would spring free any moment.
"I checked beforehand to make sure that you had a shift today, but I wanted to surprise you," Kurt explained, as he was the one addressed by the waitress. The Sub was beaming at the outrageous-looking woman as if they were close friends, even though she looked way older than him.
When the waitress noticed Blaine, her mascara-framed eyes widened. "Sugarplum, you have some explaining to do about that sexy piece of ass you brought here with you."
Hmm… I wonder who that mysterious waitress could be… ;)