A/N: Don't own Glee. As you know. And here is a dose of klaineness, with a side order of Dave and Sebastian, as ordered. Also, the guy in the bar named Jeff? No connection whatsoever to Warbler Jeff – I did not mean to confuse anyone.

Rachel and Finn joined Kurt and Blaine in the kitchen. Kurt hurriedly hid evidence of his stolen, shared cookie (Blaine was right, the chocolate dipped one was incredible) and turned to greet his friend.

"Rach! What? Another guest bearing food?" He gave her a quick hug, and Blaine greeted her with a smile and shy, "hi".

"Kurt, my dads would have my head if I didn't bring something. Really." Rachel rolled her eyes and gestured with her free hand.

"See, exactly how my mom feels," Blaine added, nodding.

"So, uh, what is it?" Finn reached out to take the covered dish from her.

"It's my dad's special pumpkin dip, for later. You eat it with ginger snaps, or apple slices." Rachel beamed brightly, handing him a bag of ginger snap cookies to go with it.

"Sounds great. Maybe I can get the recipe." Kurt lifted the cover, eyeing the light orange, creamy dip, sprinkled with maple sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. "Is that full fat cream cheese?" He frowned, considering trying it out.

"No. Dad said it's pretty healthy, Kurt; I'm sure it's okay if your dad tries it. Besides, it's got pumpkin, that's healthy, right? And it he eats it with apple slices instead of cookies it should be fine."

"You do know I can eat like a human being, right?" Kurt jumped, and Burt chuckled, having managed to sneak up on his son. "Give me a break, Kurt. Hi, Rachel," he smiled at her, "glad you could make it. Kurt, can you help Carole finish up getting supper on the table?"

"Sure, dad."

"Good. Blaine, come with me for a minute, okay?"

Blaine shot a glance at his boyfriend, who smiled encouragingly and lifted his brows slightly, as if to say, oh, go on. "Of course, Mr. Hummel."

Burt sighed. "Burt, kid. Call me Burt."

Following him down the hall to the back porch, Blaine hurried to agree. "Right, sir, ah, Burt!" Suddenly his legs felt leaden, and he looked down at his outfit. He was glad he'd changed, though of course Burt had seen him in his McKinley outfits. He rubbed his hands nervously on his black skinnies, and straightened out his wine colored sweater vest for the tenth time since he'd arrived. How did my hands get so damned gross and sweaty?

"Have a seat, Blaine."

"Thank you." He smiled at Burt, and tried to remember what performance mode felt like, but it wasn't there. He knew a good bit about Burt, since Kurt had talked about him a lot. He wished he didn't feel nervous.

Burt studied the boy in front of him, smiling nervously, with absolutely perfect posture. His outfit tonight wasn't his usual school look, which was a nice change. He'd noticed that in all the times he'd seen him, whether at the hospital, or school, or at Apple Fest, he was the same despite whatever he was wearing: well-mannered, respectful, and attentive to Kurt. About that …

"Kid, don't worry, I'm not gonna shoot you out here. Kurt would kill me." He laughed a little, trying to lighten the mood. Blaine chuckled a little, looking like he was trying to be polite.

Burt sighed. Kid was too scared to hold up his end of the conversation, he could see that. He decided to talk to him in a way Kurt probably would approve of: referencing his own son's interests, that he knew Blaine shared. He knew a surprising amount of Blaine trivia, come to think of it; Kurt had never lost his little boy habit of chattering on to his dad about whatever he was most excited about, and for the past month he'd chattered about Blaine a lot. I've got this, he thought.

"You know, I haven't lived with Kurt all this time without learning something about fashion." Burt noticed Blaine's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Someday, he thought, I'll have to tell him how hard it was not to laugh. "Well, it does kind of go both ways, you know: Kurt knows more about football than he lets on."

Blaine nodded, not so sure Burt was right about that, but whatever.

"Okay, so I've noticed your appearance. Or, should I say, appearances – what with school, being a magician, and tonight. You remember when I met you for the first time?"

"Yes, of course." Blaine had no idea why he'd bring that up; he'd been waiting for his hand to get stitched up, while Kurt's leg was being taken care of. They hadn't talked long, but Burt had been eager to come find him, and thank him for helping Kurt.

"I didn't give a damn that you were wearing black goth clothes and chains and all that; all I cared about was that you'd helped Kurt, and stayed with him to make sure he was okay. You didn't even know him then, right?"

"No, not really, sir."

"Burt, kid."

"Right. Burt," he amended, sheepishly.

"And I saw you after that, in your goth outfits, and I noticed what wasn't there." He smiled at Blaine's puzzled expression. "Accessories, kiddo. Fashionista son, remember? So, you didn't have weird piercings, none at all that I can see. Oh, and if you have them where I can't, just leave me in the dark, all right?"

Blaine laughed, easing up a little. "There aren't any."

"Okay. No tatts either. And you're clean; believe me, I know what a guy who smokes or does weed smells like. And you're in tough classes, in with Mike Chang. So, this tells me something: you're not some tough kid, you just dressed like one. My son, however, has taught me that clothes are always about communication. I would have said different, years ago, but I guess I see his point. Mine are pretty simple, not hard to read: working guy, style hasn't changed in forever, reasonably neat but not in it for the fashion. Your look said 'don't mess with me', and I guess your actions said it too."

Blaine stared at Burt in shock. He felt naked, being decoded in this way, but Burt was totally right.

"Kid, I think you'd been bullied too, and this was your defense. That, and the public boxing workouts right in view in the gym, and your 'keep away' attitude all add up. I don't blame you one bit. Like I said, though, Kurt talks about you. A lot; probably more than he even realizes. There's a couple of things I want to get straight."

Blaine swallowed nervously. Burt clearly knew they were dating, and was always friendly. Kurt probably hadn't told him everything, though.

"Kurt is everything to me, kid. Until Carole, he was all I had, for so many years. And I've seen him get hurt, how people didn't treat him good at school. He always tries to cover it up, but I know more than he thinks I know. Tell me, where does it stand with you two?"

Blaine looked at Burt directly. "I would never, ever hurt Kurt. He's so amazing, I think he doesn't even realize how much, and he makes me see the world in a better way and -"

"I got it! Okay, so you two are going out, right?"

Blaine nodded.

"All right. I see how much you care about him, and I think if I didn't cut you off, you would have rambled on about him the way he does about you. I'm happy for Kurt – he's never been so happy, as he's been the past few weeks, and I know it's because of you." He smiled, knowing just from looking that whether Kurt had said it or not, his boy clearly was in love. "You boys are, um, careful, um, I mean, you know I'm happy you've found each other, but ..." How to say this? There were too many people out there who'd attack them if they were affectionate in public, sad to say. "Look, I'm glad for you both, but in public..."

"Sir … I mean, Burt, I would never want to put Kurt in danger. Um, we don't even hold hands in public usually."

"That really sucks, son, that you'd have to think like that, but yes, that's something I can't help but worry about." He paused, and exhaled before gazing at Blaine with a sad smile, and caring eyes. "You're both smart guys, that's good. You're safe here, all right? You can hold hands at supper, or give a quick peck on the cheek or something with family, just like Finn could with Rachel." Blaine looked relieved, and his posture relaxed a bit.

"The other thing I wanted to say is, I do worry about you, Blaine. I know you felt alone when you transferred to McKinley. But now you've got the Glee club, football, and of course Kurt. And Kurt told me all about how you and Coach Beiste talked to the school board, to get gay bashing to be penalized as a hate crime. That's serious stuff, and will make that school a safer place – you should be proud of that. So, what I want to say is, if the bad boy goth look isn't really you, maybe you should dress the way you really feel is you. You're not alone, Blaine. Not anymore."

"I'll... I'll think about it, sir. And thank you." Blaine still felt kind of stunned, but warmed too, by the obvious care Burt was expressing for him.

"Of course, it's all right. Look at how Kurt dresses – I mean, in the end, do what you want." Burt laughed a little. "To be honest, in the beginning, I never did think it was such a bad thing that a tough guy was looking out for my son." Rising to his feet, he gestured for Blaine to do the same. "All right, kid, we better head in before Kurt comes after me, wondering what I've done to you."


"Why're we leaving? I thought you wanted me to get out and dance?" Dave's words were a little slurred, as he followed Sebastian out to his car.

"Get in," the taller boy commanded. Dave shrugged, did as he was told, and fumbled to get his seat belt on. Sebastian pinched the top of his nose, a sudden headache making its unwelcome presence known. He'd only had one drink, so had no misgivings about driving.

"We going to another club?" Dave asked, noticing as the car moved that he felt unsteady. Damn, I am not about to admit to you that I'm glad you pulled me away from that guy, he thought rebelliously.

"Growly, we're going for coffee."

"I don't drink coffee," he mumbled sourly.

"You're going to tonight. Try something new. Not like you were shy about trying Mojitos for the first time," 'Bastian spat out more acidly than he'd intended.

"You're mad at me," Dave mumbled to his feet, remembering how thrilling yet terrifying it had felt to feel himself getting drunk, the older guy's hands all over his back and arms at the bar, and then on the dance floor, before Sebastian yanked him away.

Sebastian frowned over at Dave, and muttered, "Maybe. I'm madder at myself. Why would I think you could handle that?"

All inhibition gone, Dave leaned over, placing a hand on 'Bas' right shoulder, and whispered, "but he liked me, I think. No one's ever, well no guy I mean, has ever ..." he trailed off, sadly. "You don't want me, 'Bastian," and Dave's eyes filled with tears, "and Kurt sure as hell doesn't want me, and," he sniffled, "fuck – that guy, what was his name? Well, he kind of liked me, but I was kind of scared too –"

"Growly! Enough." And he pulled over. "You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying. I don't know what you'd even remember if I told you anything, so I'm not going to bother. But I know you. You don't want that." He looked over at Dave, who was now trying to hide the fact that he was crying. Shit. How did I fuck up this badly? "Let's go for coffee, all right, and maybe we'll go for a walk. You need to clear your head."

Dave nodded, miserably swiping at his nose and eyes, and accepting the tissues that Sebastian wordlessly passed to him. "I'll try some coffee, 'Bas, if you won't be mad at me."

He couldn't help but smile at Dave, with his forlorn tone, who obviously wanted to do whatever he could to avoid his disapproval. He reached over and hugged him around the shoulders. "We'll start you off easy, Growly, maybe a nice latte with caramel. I'll teach you to love coffee yet." Baby steps. I'm a hopeless idiot. Why can I figure out coffee and then do other things so wrong?


Blaine was back on the screened-in back porch where only hours ago he'd had his talk with Burt, this time with Kurt cuddled up with him on the cushiony loveseat, the light of several candles playing across their faces.

"I can't believe he said all that!" Kurt exclaimed, yet again. "I really was going to come after him if he hadn't appeared when he did, I mean really."

Blaine chuckled at Kurt's dramatic gestures, not doubting that he would have done just that. He loved the father-son dynamic those two had; Kurt controlled Burt as much as he could, but in the end it was clear that Burt really did rule the household.

"I think maybe we should go shopping." Kurt said brightly.

"Really, Kurt? Out of all that, that's what you're hearing?" he teased him, before reaching his hand up his spine and tickling the nape of his neck while he reached in to kiss just below his ear. "Somehow, that wasn't the most important thing I heard."

Kurt huffed cutely, as Blaine moved on to teasing little kisses along his neck. "Well, I already knew I could hold your hand, or give you a hug or a little kiss in my own home." Blaine marveled at how comfortable his boyfriend really was in his home environment, and how the permission Burt had given him (so meaningful to him) was something Kurt took for granted.

Kurt responded to Blaine's caresses, drawing him close for a kiss. His breath tripped, as he experienced again the amazing feeling of those wonderful lips all over his, and he opened his mouth, licking at Blaine's lips, which responded by inviting him in, then became lost in the sensation of the dance their tongues gently played out. Kurt felt like his heart was hammering inside his chest, and he felt his breathing become disorganized as kissing and holding this beautiful boy became life itself. When the demands for oxygen reminded him to pull apart for a moment to breathe deeper, he whispered, "I love you, so much."

Feeling the smiling lips against his own, his eyes still closed, breathing in, tasting, and holding the boy he loved, Blaine answered back dreamily, "I love you more."

"Not possible." Kurt murmured, before attacking Blaine, intent on kissing him absolutely senseless.

A/N: And... time's up. Really. But I want to post this, as I promised to do. Shout-outs tomorrow, my friends. You know I always enjoy hearing from you, if you'd like to leave me a review or PM.