Hello!

Sorry it's taken me so long to upload, I have been flat out with work and life :/

Thank you all for showing so much interest in this story. I really have so many ideas for our boys and for Blaine especially. I really enjoy diving into what his home life was like away from Kurt and also his relationships with the Warblers and the boys at Dalton. I hope you enjoy this little OC chapter before we get to BIOTA :D

(Side note: I apologise for any inconsistencies and grammar errors etc, I do not have a Beta – it's just little ol' me)

Chapter 9

Comeback

Blaine sat on his bed, fingers fiddling with the hem of his cardigan, just like he'd been doing for the last five minutes. It was a Saturday and Blaine had come home for the weekend so he would be able to attend the movies with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina. Tina had roped Mercedes into going to see the new Adam Sandler movie that was out and Mercedes had refused to go without Kurt, and Kurt had practically pinned Blaine to the wall of the English room until he agreed to come along as well. Blaine was more than happy to go, even if he wasn't the biggest Adam Sandler fan in the world. Any excuse to spend more time with Kurt and Blaine would take it. He's found since the Valentine's Day debacle that he and Kurt have become a lot closer. They text more frequently, call each other on the weekend when Kurt goes back home, and they even have a weekly movie night together now when Blaine's roommate is out seeing his girlfriend every Thursday. Granted, they had only started the tradition two weeks ago, but it was something nice to look forward to.

"Sweetheart! I think your friend is here!"

Pam's voice comes floating up the stairs and Blaine is on his feet, hurrying out of his bedroom quickly, phone in hand. Kurt hadn't even had the chance to message him yet. He hurries down the stairs, skipping two at a time until he's standing in the entrance way, his mother coming out from the lounge room with a smile on her face. He can hear the volume on the TV decreasing and he almost smiles. It's nice to know that his father is somewhat interested in the friends he keeps at Dalton.

"You look dashing, sweetheart" Pam smiles at her son and moved over to him to fix his collar and he gives her a little smile as a thank you. He is wearing a simple white button-down shirt which is tucked neatly into his light grey capri pants, dark grey cardigan with a little grey bowtie to match.

"Thanks Mum. I'll be back a little later, but I have a key…" he trails off when he hears the knock on the front door and he hurries forward, pulling it open to smile at Kurt. The boy looks just as dashing in Blaine's opinion, wearing a pair of dark, tight jeans and also a white button up tucked into them. Unlike Blaine, Kurt is wearing suspenders and a long, black coat that matches his boots. His hair is styled up into a neat quaff and he smiles at Blaine, shuffling a little on his feet.

"Hey! So, we're picking up Mercedes and Tina from Tina's house…" Kurt starts to tell Blaine when Pam appears behind his shoulder, smiling widely at the new guest.

"You must be Kurt" she hums and Blaine steps back to allow Kurt into the house. He'd told his parents that he and Kurt were going out tonight, and his mother hadn't stopped bugging him about the boy since. No matter how many times Blaine told her that it wasn't a date, she didn't seem to believe him. Daniel, on the other hand, had seemed quite fine with the fact that Blaine was not going on a date, and was simply spending time with a Dalton friend. Apparently, he'd heard the door as well because he now appeared in the hallway too, tucking his glasses into the pocket of his dress shirt.

"Yes. Hi Mrs Anderson, it's lovely to meet you" Kurt holds out his hand and the woman shakes it softly.

"Please, call me Pam. It's nice to put a face to the name, Kurt. We've heard so much about you from Blaine…"

"Really Mum? I don't talk about you, Kurt…"

"Yes, he does! He told us all about your glee club audition and how you have quite the singing voice. A Counter…. Um..."

"Countertenor, Mum"

"Right, that's it! You're one of those. Quite the addition to Blaine's team" the woman beams, and Blaine takes in the look of slight shock on Kurt's features and he can feel himself flushing.

"It's not my team, Mum" he breathes softly and turns quickly when he hears a soft chuckle from behind them as his father comes towards them.

"Don't be modest Blaine," he tells his son and walks passed him to Kurt, holding out his hand.

"Daniel Anderson" he smiles just a little and Blaine finds it rather strange. His Dad usually isn't a smiler. Kurt takes the man's hand and grips it firmly, smiling just as easily back.

"Kurt Hummel. Nice to meet you Mr Anderson."

Daniel nods and moves back to stand beside his wife, wrapping one arm around her waist as they both look to Blaine. The boy stands there for a moment, just a little unsure of what to say. The atmosphere seems weird to him. It's almost as if his parents are expecting him to invite Kurt in for a drink, like the two boys don't have any plans beyond this moment.

"Well… we better be off. Picking up the girls…" Blaine smiles and reaches for his coat, pulling it into his arms as he gestures back towards the front door for Kurt. Daniel blinks at him for a small moment.

"Girls?" he asks and Kurt nods in his direction.

"Yeah, we're having a little date night" he smiles and Blaine watches as his father looks between him and Kurt, takes a moment to look at his wife before he smiles again.

"Well okay then. You have a good night boys. Blaine, curfew is 11" he nods, presses a small kiss to his wife's hair before he turns an walks back towards the living room.

Pam watches her husband go before she turns back to the boys and looks between the two of them. "Have fun. And please don't be a stranger Kurt. You can come for dinner whenever you'd like" she hums and gives them a little wave before she too leaves the pair alone in the entrance way. Blaine takes in a deep breath, relaxing his shoulders a little as he makes eye contact with his friend.

"So… that's my family" he breathes and Kurt links his arm through Blaine's and begins to steer him out of the house and into the cool night air.

"They seem nice. From what you told me about your Dad, I honestly thought he'd be scarier. He seems lovely" Kurt hums and Blaine nods along because Kurt was right. He had seemed lovely, and that was strange. Daniel Anderson was usually a man of few words and whilst Blaine knew that his Dad loved him, it had never been an easy thing between them. As a young boy it had been fine, but that was because Blaine hadn't really known any better. He'd thought that little boys weren't supposed to do ballet because his Dad had told him so. He'd thought that when he'd come home to gush about little Harry Wellington and his wonderful red hair that the slap that had followed was completely justified. I had taken a while for him to realise that these things weren't normal, and that thinks between a father and son shouldn't really feel strained, forced and fake. Blaine loves his Dad, of course he does, it was just that sometimes he found himself wishing that things between them could just naturally be easier.

"Thanks" is all Blaine can say and Kurt seems to take the hint that Blaine doesn't feel too much like talking about family right now, so he changes the subject.

"I have leverage on Finn" he hums casually as they climb into Kurt's car and Blaine can't help but chuckle.

"Why? Did you catch him trying on one of your scarves again?" he muses, and Kurt shakes his head as he starts up the engine, sighing softly as he does.

"No. I wish it had been that. I've been letting him use my laptop sometimes on the weekend for study because our desktop computer is currently broken – something about Dad having spilt beer on it- and let's just say, some of the material Finn has been searching up is definitely not something he wants shared" Kurt glances over at him and wiggles his eyebrows before he starts to reverse and Blaine lets out a soft laugh.

"Oh God, do I want to know?"

"You most definitely do not"

"Then I won't pry. But I will suggest that you never let him near your laptop again. Especially not if you bring it to school. You don't want anyone to accidentally see something 'not safe for work', so to speak." Blaine smiles and shakes his head and when he looks back at Kurt's profile as they drive down the street, he swears that the other boy is blushing.

"I think I'll be okay. I-I deleted the browser history" he breathes and Blaine watches as he turned the radio on, fiddling a little with the volume. Blaine's noticed since he'd met Kurt that he fiddles with things when he's nervous. It's a trait that Blaine thinks is adorable.

"A good call. I remember once when Jeff was giving a presentation in class and he hooked his lap top up to the projector and hadn't shut down a site properly… he got into so much trouble" Blaine chuckles and shakes his head at the memory of Jeff's mortified face and the sound of the English Teacher's angry cries.

"A s-site?" Kurt asks and glances over to him quickly. "Like… porn?" he breathes and Blaine nods.

"Yeah. It was pretty horrifying, especially considering I never planned on seeing that much of a woman myself" he laughs and looks over at Kurt again, who seems to have become paler and paler by the second.

"It sounds horrifying" Kurt tells him, and his fingers turn up the volume on the radio and Blaine takes that as his cue to end the conversion. So, he sings along to the song that is booming around the car and after a little while Kurt joins in, a small smile now playing on his lips. Blaine takes note that Kurt doesn't enjoy talking about porn, and that's totally okay. Some people just don't.

They pull up outside Tina's house and Kurt beeps the horn twice. The two girls come hurrying out and slip into the back seat as Kurt turns the music down and they begin a conversation immediately about Sam's new one man boy band and how Mike and the other boys (expect for Finn) all seem far too eager to join in. Blaine smiles and happily shares his opinion on the matter (he firmly believes that Justin Bieber is far too overrated at the moment and wouldn't enjoy performing his music with the Warblers) and by the time they pull up and head into the cinema, they are all relaxed and smiling. Mercedes has her arm linked with Kurt's and they giggle together as Tina walks alongside Blaine.

"I have to admit, it's nice to be able to go out without Mike occasionally. We usually always go and get dim sum with his Mum" Tina sighs softly and Blaine smiles at her.

"Dim Sum? I love that" he tells her, and she sighs.

"So do I. But not with Mike's Mum. I mean, Mrs Chang is lovely and she seems to like me well enough, but sometimes I just want to have some alone time with my boyfriend. You know?" she looks at Blaine and the boy nods in agreement.

"I get that, I know if I had a boyfriend I would want to spend as much time with him as possible. But it's also nice that his mother is taking such an interest in you. At least she likes you" Blaine chuckles and nudges Tina with his arm. "And hey, if you need to use coming to visit me and Kurt as an excuse to spend some time with Mike, feel free. We'll cover for you" he tells her, and Tina looks at him with large eyes.

"Really?" she asks, and Blaine shrugs his shoulders.

"Sure. I mean, I don't condone lying to parents most of the time but I understand that we have certain wants and needs and it also means you owe me" he teases the last part and Tina giggles softly and they arrive at the line, Kurt and Mercedes already ahead of them. They purchase their tickets and their snacks and head into the cinema, making their way towards the back of the theatre. Kurt picks a row about four from the back and they shuffle down, picking at the popcorn from the large bucket they purchased to share. The adverts start and Blaine find he feels rather comfortable where he is. He's seated on the end of the four, next to Kurt, and he can hear Mercedes and Tina talking about some dip that Mercedes mum had made a few nights before. Kurt shuffles just a little closer to him and turned his head slightly.

"I heard you talking to Tina" he hums, and Blaine pops a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

"Mhm"

"You told her that we'd cover for her whilst she gets her mack on with Mike"

At that, Blaine snorts and turned to fully face Kurt, who sits up quickly and grips the popcorn bucket a little tighter.

"I'm sorry, 'gets her mack on'?" Blaine raises an eyebrow in Kurt's direction and takes great pleasure in watching as the pale boy's cheeks flush a soft pink.

Kurt looks adorable when he blushes.

"It's just something Santana says. Clearly I've been listening to her too much as of late" Kurt mumbles and places a few more pieces of popcorn into his mouth as Blaine gives him a large grin.

"Clearly." He hums, and Kurt swallows his popcorn and washes it down with some soda.

"But, Santana's strange and often overly sexual lines are not what the point of this conversation is," he says quietly as an advertisement for the Lima Funeral Home plays on the screen. "the point is that you told Tina we would cover for her if she wants to… you know… with Mike!"

"Yeah? I fail to see the issue" Blaine says casually and watches with interest as Kurt swallows and takes in a small breath before speaking again.

"Why?"

The question is a simple one, and Blaine thinks that the answer to it is also simple.

"Because friends cover for friends, right?"

"Right… but even when said friends are sneaking around to… to get dirty?"

Kurt practically squeaks out the last few words and Blaine looks at him with a small, earnest smile.

"Especially then"

The look he gets in return from Kurt could only be described as pure confusion, but then the lights go down and the film starts, and the conversation is forgotten.

Blaine relaxes into his seat and happily laughs along with the rest of the cinema, eating his popcorn and stealing Kurt's soda when he finishes his own. He let their shoulders brush together and is only a little disappointed that they can't sit as close together as they usually do during their movie nights on Blaine's bed, but he isn't complaining. Not at all.

"How was your date night?"

Blaine looks up from his bowl of muesli as father comes into the kitchen in his robe, glasses perched on the end of his nose. He'd gotten in a little late last night, but still before curfew, having gone out for ice-cream with Kurt and the girls after the film, and then he and Kurt had ended up talking in the car for about half an hour before either one of them had bothered to check the time.

"Good. Great, actually." Blaine responds with a smile and watches as Daniel moves over to the coffee pot, picking up his usual plain, matte black coffee mug. Blaine had made him a coffee mug for Father's Day when he was still in elementary school, but he wasn't sure what happened to it, and he hadn't ever asked.

"Good to hear" Daniel hums and takes a sip of his coffee, leaning back on the kitchen counter to look after at his son. "Those girls you went with, they're Kurt's friends?" he asks and Blaine nods slowly, shoveling another spoonful of his breakfast.

"Is one of them Kurt's girlfriend?"

Blaine swallows his food and sat his spoon down against his bowl. Right.

Date night.

"No, Dad. Kurt… Kurt is gay" Blaine tells him simply and watches his father's face as the man takes another long sip from his cup.

"And… is one of them your girlfriend, then?"

"Well no. Because I'm gay too" Blaine speaks gently and tries to come off as sounding confident, but he can't help it if his voice quakes just a little.

"Right. But you kids these days, you have too many different labels. I don't know, it's hard to keep up. You could be -uh- bisexual…"

"Dad, please" Blaine swallows and sits up a little straighter, his hands moving down to tug the hem of his button up pajama shirt down just a little bit harder. Daniel meets his gaze and sets his cup down on the counter and raises his other hand in defense.

"I know – I know," he sighs and moved to push his glasses a little further up the bridge of his nose as Blaine looks at him, his heart rate slowly increasing. "Your mother said I should try and be more… open" Daniel sighs and Blaine smiles just a little.

"Since when do you listen to Mum?" he asks, and Daniel chuckles a little at that.

"More often that she thinks"

A silence falls over them and Daniel picks up his mug and reaches for the newspaper, tucking it under his arm as he walks past Blaine. He pauses, drops his hand to the boy's shoulder and squeezes a little before he leaves the room. Blaine lets his body relax then, looking down at his breakfast.

He isn't really hungry anymore.

Towards the end of the school week, Blaine finds himself in the senior commons, books spread out in front of him in an attempt to get some study done. Kurt has a pre-planned dinner with Mercedes so Blaine takes this time to focus, only he can't, because Nick, Jeff, Trent, Michael and Andy have decided to make this the setting for their weekly venting session about the fact that none of them are even close to being able to sleep with their girlfriends.

"It just sucks, you know. Like, I understand that this is a school but at the same time, we're teenagers! We have needs!" Michael groaned and let his head fall onto the desk, Blaine sighing softly as he sets down his pen.

"Am I missing something?" he asks, and Jeff looks up at him from his seat on the couch, smirk on his lips.

"Michael here is upset because Mr Matthews caught him trying to sneak Jessica into the dorm rooms last night"

Blaine's eyebrows raise as his attention turns to Michael, who's fingers are now curling into his short, blonde hair as he lets out another groan.

"Well… that was -uh- bold?" Blaine offers and Nick grins.

"It's hilarious! Can't you just wait until the weekend?" Nick asks and is met with a chorus of laughs, Andy's hand coming down to smack him on the back.

"Nick, you can't stop once you start" he chuckles and Blaine sits up a little in his seat, eyebrows furrowing.

"What do you mean?" he asks, and Andy pulls up a chair in front of him, resting his forearms along the top of it as he smiles at Blaine.

"Sex is like a drug. It's addictive, and once you start you don't want to stop. At least, that's what it's like for me" the brunette boy smiles and Blaine looks over to Michael, who just groans again in agreement.

"It's super different from just… you know" Andy trails off and gestures with a right hand, causing Jeff, Nick and Trent to all chuckle, but Blaine doesn't. He's intrigued.

"So, what… it's that good that you'd risk suspension?" Blaine hums and Michael gives him a thumbs up.

"Pretty much. I mean, I used to think it was stupid, all those seniors trying to get their girlfriend's in here after lights out. But then me and Amber did it and it's like a whole new world my friends." Andy looks around at them all and sighs.

"But we don't even have girlfriends"

"Yeah. We're pretty much stuck. And on top of being stuck with just our hands, we have to have roommates, so the opportunity to let loose really isn't around all that often" Nick sighs and Trent moves a little closer, fiddling with his tie as Michael looks up from his forearms and frowns.

"Don't you guys shower?" he muses, and Jeff lets out a huff.

"Water restrictions"

"How did you do it, Blaine?" Trent asks after a moment and Blaine's head turns so sharply to look at the boy that he swears his neck clicks.

"I'm sorry?" he breathes and the rest of the boys now all turn to look at him as well, curiosity evident on their faces.

"Yeah… how did you and Simon get it on without being caught?" Michael asks and Blaine can feel his cheeks flushing pink.

"Well we-we didn't get it on." He tells them and finds himself suddenly wishing that he's never started this conversation in the first place.

"Simon said you did" Nick speaks a little softer now and Blaine sighs, rubbing a hand over his face.

Of course Simon would say that. Of course Simon would want everyone to think that we did something.

"We didn't… I assure you. So I'm definitely not the expert on this" Blaine sighs and Jeff falls back onto the couch with a groan.

"This is such a bitch" he huffs, and Michael lets out a laugh.

"Dude, why haven't we done this before?" he asks, and the other boys looks at him in confusion.

"Done what?" he asks, and Michael just shakes his head and gets to his feet. Blaine watches him and a grin starts to spread onto his lips as Michael moves over to the marge mahogany table at the front of the room and begins to beat a rhythm against it with the palm of his hand. He's right, they definitely should have done this before.

"God, I dreamed there was an angel
Who could hear me through the wall
As I cried out-like, in Latin
"This is so not life at all
Help me out-out-of this nightmare"
Then I heard her silver call-
She said: "Just give it time, kid
I come to one and all"

Michael looks over to Andy who flashes a grin and jumps up onto the chair he's currently sitting on and starts to clap out the same rhythm with his hands and Blaine quickly starts to put his papers away, the remaining boys harmonising behind Andy as he sings.

"She said: "Give me that hand, please
And the itch you can't control
Let me teach you how to handle
All the sadness in your soul
Oh, we'll work that silver magic
Then we'll aim it at the wall"
She said: "Love may make you blind kid-
But I wouldn't mind at all"

They all join in on the chorus and Blaine finds himself smiling, but he doesn't get up just yet.
It's the bitch of living
(Bitch, just the bitch)
With nothing but your hand
(Just the bitch, yeah)
Just the bitch of living
As someone you can't stand

Blaine looks around the room as Andy points over to Nick, who has now pulling up a chair next to the table where Michael is, strumming his fingers along the edge as if he's pretending to play along to a piano.

"See, each night, it's like fantastic-
Tossing, turning, without rest
'Cause my days at the piano
With my teacher and her breasts;
And the music's like the one thing
I can even get at all
And those breasts!
I mean, God, please
Just let those apples fall"

Michael tugs him up and they both begin to beat the rhythm onto the table, Blaine getting to his feet as the remaining three boys circle around the couch.

It's the bitch of living
(ah, ah, ah)
With nothing going on
(Nothing going on)
Just the bitch of living
Asking: what went wrong?

Do they think we want this?
Oh- who knows?

Blaine jumps up onto the table where Michael and Nick are and he grins as he sings, the other boys moving around to stand on the floor in front of him, and Blaine is fairly certain he hasn't had this much fun all week.

It's the bitch of living

It's the bitch of living

And living in your head

In your head
It's the bitch

Of living
And sensing God is dead

It's the bitch of living

You watch me-
Just watch me-

And trying to get ahead

I'm calling you one day

It's the bitch of living
Just getting out of bed

All will know

It's the bitch of living
Living, Living

All will know

And getting what you get
Just the bitch of living

And knowing this is it!
God, is this it?
This can't be it
Oh God, what a bitch!

They finish with a bang; chests heaving and smiles wide.

"Hell yeah!"

Trent helps Blaine down from the table and Blaine fixes his tie, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well boys, whilst that isn't exactly a regionals appropriate song, I'd say we killed it" he grins and Michael chuckles and claps Blaine on the shoulder.

"We sure did. Though… it doesn't really solve my problem" he sighs and then snorts when Blaine reaches around him and picks up the tissue box from the table and hands it to him.

"You little shit" Michael grins and slings an arm over Blaine's shoulder. "To the dorms! I think a night of C.O.D and root beer is on the cards boys!"

A cheer echoes around the room as a response and Blaine can't help but feel happy, his chest swelling with pride. These are his friends, his boys.

It was safe to say, Blaine had found his own corner of the sky, and he planned on staying there for as long as he could.

Thanks for reading :D Next up with be BIOTA – I am so ready for the drama!

Please let me know what you think so far and what you would like to see for our boys. I know that we all have ideas about what happened with them off camera and I would love, love, LOVE to hear what scenes you think went down – we might even have the same ideas!

I will try to update this story at leas month from now on at minimum, but this might get harder as Blaine becomes more prominent in the episodes (Season 3 onward) but please stick around and let me know how you're enjoying/not enjoying it so far. Constructive Criticism is always welcome!