December 29th – part 1
Klaine calendar word: Quarrel
"Kurt! Come here, will you!" his father hollers from the doorway. Curiously, he leaves the kitchen without setting down the red tin box first.
"What is it?" he hollers back, as he approaches the entrance door.
"You've got a visitor," the older Hummel says in a more appropriate volume. "Hey, fudge, don't mind if I do," he says, and helps himself to a few pieces from the box. "They are really something, kiddo," he grins, and nods at the young man standing in the doorway.
"Thank you, Senator Hummel," Blaine murmurs, almost whispers.
"No need for that, call me Burt," the man says calmly.
"Blaine, hi!" Kurt beams at their guest. "Fudge?" he extends the box towards Blaine.
"No, thank you," he says politely, but there's something in his voice and in his eyes. "Hey dad," Kurt says instantly, "Blaine and I'll be in my room rehearsing for tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure thing. Looking forward to see the two of you perform," he says and heads for the living room, carefully balancing the fudge squares in his open palm.
"Come on," Kurt smiles sweetly at Blaine, and nods in the direction of the stairs to get away from his dad.
He still has the box of fudge in his hand when they get to his room, and he places it carefully on the nightstand, making a mental note of putting on the lid and placing it in the fridge for better keeping later.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asks carefully and takes in the young man in front of him. His hunched shoulders, his eyes looking at nothing and yet never meeting Kurt's, hands in tight fists, and lips clenched shut.
"Of course. Let's rehearse," Blaine nods quickly, repeatedly. He isn't convincing, but Kurt isn't sure how much he can push, their friendship is still so young.
"We sounded really great yesterday; I honestly don't think we need much more practice."
"Says the Broadway-star," Blaine grins a little too cheerfully. "I don't want to make you look bad."
"You could never. But we can run through it again if it'll make you feel better," Kurt offers, and touches the pad to awaken his laptop from its slumber to find the instrumental version of the song they're doing. He gestures for Blaine to begin.
It quickly becomes obvious that Blaine isn't himself. He's not the same person as he was yesterday, when they first sang together. Today, he's stumbling over lyrics, he's forgotten some of the choreography, and there's just no heart in his performance. Kurt stops the music before the song is even over.
"You know you can talk with me about anything? I'd like to think we've become friends," Kurt says carefully.
"Of course we're friends!" Blaine rushes out and takes two long steps towards Kurt and quickly grabs his hands in his own for a brief moment before letting go again. "I'm sorry I'm distracted, and I understand if you don't want to sing with me tomorrow."
"After you showed me what you can yesterday, I'm not gonna let you off so easily," Kurt smiles gently. "But maybe you'll feel less distracted if you get it off of your mind, whatever is bothering you."
"Maybe…"
"I don't intend to force you, it's just a friendly offer," Kurt shrugs, and sits down on his bed, trying not to take Blaine's hesitance personally. They don't know each other that well yet.
"And I appreciate it," Blaine nods. "You're too kind."
It's not the warmest compliment Kurt's ever gotten, and his heart aches for Blaine's obvious distress.
"Sit down and relax a little," Kurt pats the duvet next to him. "You should try this fudge, it's made by a true master," he quips, and leans back to pick up the tin-box from the nightstand.
"You don't say," Blaine chuckles awkwardly, and blushes a little. He pops a square of fudge in his mouth, and moans exaggeratedly, winking playfully, but it seems put upon to Kurt.
"Why did you come over, Blaine? We talked about meeting to coordinate outfits this afternoon, and…" he leans over to get his phone out of his tight pocket and checks the time. "…at 11:42 it's not afternoon by any definition, at least not in this time zone."
"I had to get out of the house," Blaine wheezes out, with more air than voice. "Cooper was on the phone, umm, with our father?"
"Oh," Kurt exhales, and rests a hand on Blaine's knee. "Important conversation?"
"More like a heated exchange of opinions. A loud, rude, crude, invasive, offensive quarrel, to be honest. I could hear them both easily from downstairs. That kind of phone call."
"I'm sorry," Kurt murmurs softly, and rubs a thumb along Blaine's knee.
"Not your fault," Blaine mutters, and stares in the direction of Kurt's moving finger.
"I didn't think you guys were in touch with your father," Kurt says carefully, because he's gotten a certain impression of the Anderson family-dynamics, but there's still a lot he doesn't know.
"We're not. But he wanted an invitation to Cooper's New Year's party. Too many hotshots invited to keep him away," Blaine snorts.
"Is he… Coming?" Kurt asks carefully.
"If he is, I'm not," Blaine says with a clipped voice.
"Does Cooper want him there?" Kurt frowns.
"No," Blaine shakes his head.
Kurt moves his hand from Blaine's knee to wrap around his shoulders and pull him close. Blaine sinks in closer and rests his head on Kurt's shoulder.
Kurt listens to him breathe slowly, feels Blaine's chest move against his body, and lets him be. He has to remind himself that he can't just kiss Blaine's temple or do any of the other things he'd like to do to comfort him further.
Blaine inhales slowly, exhales deeply, and eventually sits up straight, looking embarrassed. Kurt drops his arm to his own lap.
"Cooper and you don't really look much alike," Kurt says after a few seconds, hoping it'll deflate the awkwardness. He smiles sadly at himself, thinking about his own brother, brother in name if not in blood, and how little they looked like each other. Families come in so many shapes, and Finn left a big hole when he passed away; a brother with Hummel-genes wouldn't have made a bigger impact.
"I'm his half-brother," Blaine shrugs. "And no height jokes!"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Kurt smiles innocently. "So… Same father, then?"
"And different moms," Blaine nods.
"Are they… Do you…" Kurt doesn't know how to continue the sentences delicately, because he is all too aware how sensitive the topic of parents can be.
"Cooper's mom divorced our father and moved to Canada to start a new life there when he was around four or five. Coop's met with her a couple of times when he's been filming there, but they're not really often in touch. I'm not even sure if her new family knows about him. But Cooper says it's okay. He doesn't really remember her as his mother, she's just this lady acquaintance he can't flirt with," Blaine snorts, and Kurt chuckles.
"And your mom?" Kurt asks carefully.
Blaine sighs deeply and hides his face in his hands for a long moment, but when he looks up his eyes are dry.
"When Cooper's mother left, father needed help with him," Blaine says with a lowered voice, as if he's sharing a secret with Kurt. "So," he coughs to clear his voice, and licks his lips. Kurt wishes he had some water to offer him, but he doesn't want to leave in the middle of Blaine confiding in him. "Yeah, so he hired an au-pair to take care of Cooper, dumping everything on her to focus on his business. He's never been much of a father figure," Blaine huffs, and shakes his head. "And as it turned out, he saw more to the au-pair than he did his own son. The inevitable had to happen. He sent her back to the Philippines as soon as she'd given birth, hired a live-in nanny in her late 60s, probably picking someone older to avoid knocking her up too, and that was the first and last time I saw my mom. If you can really say I ever did…"
"Blaine…"
"You can't really miss someone you've never known," Blaine shrugs, blinking repeatedly.
"Of course you can – she's your mom!" Kurt takes Blaine's hand in his. "Do you know how to… Where… What…" Kurt shrugs in lieu of a sensitive question.
Blaine swallows, but looks up from their joined hands.
"I have a name," he whispers. "I got some papers with info when I turned 18. But there are too many with her name on Facebook, and she's probably married, so I don't know…"
Kurt weaves their fingers together, and maintains calm eye contact, cherishing that Blaine is sharing this with him, but wishing he could do something to ease Blaine's obvious heartache.
"To be honest, I don't think about her every week or anything like that. Sometimes I think I miss the idea of a mom more than anything else, and it was much worse when I was a kid. I'm supposed to be a grown-ass man now, they don't need their mommies," he almost spits. "I'm curious about her, but also scared. Maybe she doesn't even want anything to do with me. She hasn't tried to find me – it should be easier for her than for me."
"If she knew how amazing you are, she'd be there for you in a heartbeat," Kurt gives Blaine's fingers a squeeze.
"You're sweet," Blaine murmurs. "Anyway, I've been lucky and found family in other places. The Warblers will always be my brothers, I was welcomed by my in-laws as well as I could have hoped for, Cooper is the most important person in my life, and it seems as if I'm one of few who manages to remain friends with his ex-husband. I'm not lonely, Kurt."
"Doesn't mean you can't want an even bigger family."
"I've hardly ever told anyone this. But there's something about you, Kurt." Blaine leans in a little closer, and Kurt squeezes their linked hands, hoping he'll interpret it as a sign to go on. On reflex, Kurt licks his lips in preparation, and Blaine leans in even further.
"Kurt! Is Blaine staying for dinner?" Burt hollers suddenly.
"Senator Hummel!" Blaine whispers loudly and jumps up from the bed wide-eyed.
