What Brings Us Closer Together

by CrazedLunatic

When Kurt is attacked, Blaine instantly leaves college to take care of him. With one decision, their entire relationship is changed and their futures reshaped. It also makes everyone around them realize just how close they really are. AU.

15. Chapter 15

Three uneventful days passed. By uneventful, Blaine really meant that Kurt had not had a mental breakdown and that they still had no idea to what extent Kurt would be involved in the trial concerning his attacks. By uneventful he also meant that he had been driving Kurt to school and Mercedes or Rachel had been driving him home, because he "just felt safer" that way. By uneventful he also meant that, despite the tension in the house, no arguments had broken out. Not yet at least, but Blaine knew that eventually someone would say something to Kurt that would send him over the edge and push all of his frustration out. Blaine really hoped he wasn't the person to be that someone.

Kurt was at the head of their bed, sitting up with his back against the pillows and supposedly typing an essay for his English class on Blaine's laptop—his own laptop had yet to be replaced and he wasn't too bothered about it, to be honest. Blaine was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, several worksheets out in front of him and his book in his lap. He couldn't help but remember that this is how Kurt and Blaine had always studied together at Dalton—only at Dalton they had been in David and Blaine's dorm room and sitting on Blaine's bed.

"You did get drunk a lot, didn't you?"

Blaine looked up from his (extremely huge and heavy) Norton Anthology of American Literature textbook. He had been in the middle of a particularly interesting Walt Whitman poem. Well, he was sure it would have been interesting if he'd been paying as much attention to it as he should have. Even the simplest poetry confused Blaine. He thought it was the stanzas. He was really not a poetry person. He would rather read a 30 page essay over paint drying than a five stanza poem written by anybody. "What?"

Kurt just snorted, not even looking up from the computer screen.

"Hey, what are you doing? You're not typing and typing is required to write an essay." Blaine cast his book aside. It fell to the floor with a loud thump and he crawled to the head of the bed, looking down. "Oh God. I thought you hated Facebook now, Kurt. Give me my computer."

"No. This is too much fun. It's not like I haven't seen them before. Only now that we date, I feel less creepy." Kurt turned his body so Blaine couldn't pull the laptop from his arms. "Now I am really curious as to what's going on in this picture. And how old were you? Your hair is so big."

"Let me see and I'll tell you." Blaine grunted, still trying to wrestle his laptop away. "Kurt, come on. I don't sit and watch your YouTube videos."

"How do you know about those videos?" Kurt stopped struggling, jaw dropping.

"Aha!" Blaine freed the laptop and held it to his chest. "I have my ways."

"I thought that page was private! Mr. Schue said that page was private!"

"Again, I have my ways." Was all Blaine said, smirking. "Not so badass are you now, Kurt Hummel?"

"Oh my God, Blaine. Which ones did you see?"

"We watched every video we could, which was all of them." Blaine stood and carried his laptop to the desk, well out of arm's reach. "Well, Wes, David, and Thad did. They only made the whole club watch a few."

"B-but how?"

"Have you ever met Wes? You know, he hacked into the government once via the internet. His computer conveniently caught a virus two seconds later and could never be repaired, but he was totally in."

"Wes hacks into computers?"

"You make it sound so wrong. You know Wes, David, and Thad. We found everything we could on every glee club we competed with well before any competition."

"That is cheating." Kurt scoffed.

"You drove two hours to spy on us."

"So… are you saying that you knew where I was from that day on the staircase?" Kurt asked slowly, looking at him. "That is worse than only knowing I'm a spy. That is creepy."

"Kurt, my love, anyone would have known you were a spy. I didn't watch the videos as obsessively as Wes did, though. Don't flatter yourself. I didn't know who you were until Wes got back onto the New Directions YouTube channel after you left. I don't do the dirty work."

"But how?"

"The password was newdirections1, Kurt. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out." Blaine snorted again. "I can't believe you used to stalk my Facebook pictures. Just when I thought you couldn't be any more adorable."

Kurt opened his mouth and closed it again, making a "Hmph!" noise.

Blaine turned around and leaned over to see the computer screen, wondering exactly what picture Kurt had been looking at. Kurt tilted his head, shamelessly staring at Blaine's butt, although Blaine could not see he was doing this.

"I was fifteen when that was taken." Blaine said, not looking around. "That was actually right before I cut my hair off. That was my favorite shirt. Wes lost it though. Long story, don't ask."

"Hmm." Kurt said, not really paying attention.

"And I wasn't drunk in this picture either. Just very happy. David's dad had brought us a bunch of ice cream for our big sleepover. I don't really remember what exactly we were doing though."

"Uh-huh."

Blaine looked around and then stood up straight. "Kurt Hummel, were you just checking out my ass?"

Kurt, looking like a deer in headlights, could do nothing but nod as his cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.

Blaine grinned and climbed onto the bed, crawling to him. "Did you like what you saw?"

"Oh my god, don't." Kurt suddenly giggled. "Please don't tickle me. I'll never stare at your ass again."

Blaine climbed over him, ducked down and kissed his cheek. "I'm not going to tickle you."

Kurt's breathing hitched a bit and he placed his hands on Blaine's waist. "C-come here then."

Blaine leaned down, capturing Kurt's lips with his own. Kurt kissed back eagerly as he pulled his boyfriend closer. Blaine let out smaller whimpers into the kiss, fingers in his hair.

"W-We've got t-two hours." Kurt panted, pulling away from the kiss.

"Homewor—"

"Shut up." Kurt said, pushing Blaine's shirt up. "Off, off."

Blaine tugged the shirt off and began quickly unbuttoning Kurt's white Dior collar shirt that he would never admit cost as much as it did.

"If you tear a button off of my sh—." He was silenced by another very distracting kiss. He made a noise in the back of his throat but within seconds was kissing his boyfriend back heatedly. Blaine pulled the shirt off almost a little too expertly and kissed down his neck. "Oh god, Blaine…"

Blaine looked up and gave him an adorable grin. "Yes?"

"That was not a cue to stop." Kurt put his hand on the back of Blaine's head and guided it back down. Blaine began sucking on his lower neck in a way that made Kurt feel like he was melting into a puddle of goo right on his bed and in a way that made his tight pants much tighter. Much, much tighter. He opened his mouth to say "Oh my god" again, but all that came out was a rather loud groan. Thank God for catastrophes at the garage, thank God for his father being a workaholic. He reached down and struggled to undo Blaine's jeans.

Blaine reached down and, fingers brushing against Kurt's, undid the buttons.

"Always the gentlemen." Kurt gasped out.

"Of course." Blaine gave him that adorable smile again and moved to pull them down. Kurt took his own off and pulled Blaine flat on top of him, pressing himself against Blaine. Blaine groaned loudly, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and his own hands shaking.

"Kurt? Kurt, sweetie, are you home?"

The boys pulled away, eyes widening.

"Oh my God, what is she doing here? Oh my god." Kurt jumped up, pulling his shirt on. "Coming, Grammy! What is she doing here?"

"Fuck." Blaine could think of nothing else to say. He didn't use that word on very many occasions either. This one seemed to warrant the use of the word though.

"I can't wear tight pants like this right now. Shit, shit, shit." Kurt grabbed pajama pants out of his drawer, removed his collar shirt (which was wrinkled from being thrown on the floor anyway—he and Blaine would have to have another talk about that), and pulled on a t-shirt.

"Kuuuurt?" This voice was his aunt's.

"Oh my God." Kurt whimpered and scattered from the room.

"It's about time. I was beginning to wonder if you were doing the dirty." His redhead aunt winked at him. Was he blushing? Yes, he probably was.

"What's going on, Aunt Paige?"

"Where's Daddy? He should be home soon, right?" Paige asked, looking around.

"Oh, there's Blaine. I was really hoping he'd be home! Hello, sweetheart." Kurt's grandmother smiled and went to hug Blaine as he reached the foot of the stairs. "How are your classes going?"

"They're going good." Blaine said smoothly. Then again, he'd probably had practice at talking to adults immediately after almost having sex before. Kurt, on the other hand, had not. He always had a while to mentally prepare himself before seeing his father and stepmother. Generally he had at least two hours. Not two seconds.

"Dad's working late tonight." He mumbled, looking down. The fact that his aunt kept winking at him and Blaine whenever his grandmother was not looking was not helping matters at all.

"I'll call him. He needs to come home. We're in the middle of a family crisis." His grandmother said, pulling out her cell phone. "How do I use this again, Paige?"

"Mother, you used it five minutes ago to call Dad."

"Yes, well, he was my last call. All I have to do is push one button." She looked at Blaine. "Does your grandmother know how to use a cell phone, dear?"

"She uses one a lot for work." Blaine nodded, showing her how to find her contact list. "She knows how to use hers more than I know mine, probably."

Paige laughed loudly at that, draping an arm over Kurt. "Kurt, are you a virgin?"

Kurt went very stiff, Blaine's mouth opened, and his grandmother sighed. "Crisis. As I said. Paige, stop it."

"You're drunk, Aunt Paige." Kurt said softly as the smell of liquor finally hit him, moving away from her.

"I'm not drunk. I just had a- a few drinks. Shots. Drinks and shots."

"Burt, this is your mother. You need to come home now." Kurt's grandmother said into her phone a few moments later. "I'm sure your son would rather you come sooner than later, sweetheart… No, this isn't about a surprise for the baby. Just come on." She turned to Blaine. "I hope nothing you see today will make you think any less of her. Mid-life crisis." She mouthed the last words and then gestured as if she was drinking from a bottle.

"Wait, why is that a family crisis?" Kurt asked. "Aunt Paige, I'd really rather you not touch my hair. I spent—yeah, okay. Grammy, help."

"All will be out when Daddy gets home. Paige, sit on the couch."

"I'm 40. You can't tell me what to do. Burt's 38, boss him around."

It was becoming quite obvious the woman was drunk now. Kurt didn't know how he hadn't seen before. She sat down, pulling Kurt with her. "Dump him, Kurt. He's just going to crush your heart and your soul and keep you from your dreams. You've got such pretty dreams."

"W—" Kurt mouthed wordlessly. "What?"

"Boys are stupid, Kurt. They're all stupid. And girls too. Everyone but y-you and me. We'll be the Three Musketeers. Right? You can move to New York with me and we'll have a dandy ole time."

Fifteen minutes later the door opened and Burt rushed in, Carole following behind. "What's going on? Is Dad alright?"

"Your father is fine, but he's throwing another one of his fits and refused to come. What else is new?" Kurt's grandmother sighed.

"Is she drunk?" Burt went over and pried Paige off of Kurt, who practically ran to Blaine's side, grabbing his hand. "She is drunk. You reek of it. Did she drive here?"

"Heavens no. I drove her car. She did drive to my house though from New York. At two in the morning. Your father's just furious. We put her to bed and when we woke up later this morning we found her like this." Kurt's grandmother gestured at his aunt.

"Don't touch me." Paige scowled at Burt. "I don't like you. I bet you're happy, Burt. I b-bet you're happy. You've always hated her."

"What's going on?" Kurt asked timidly.

Kurt's grandmother came over, patted Blaine's shoulder, and wrapped her arms around her grandson. "Aunt Taylor proposed to Aunt Paige last night… and Paige turned her down."

"Damn right I did. She doesn't like my dog!"

Carole went over to Paige. "Let's get you something to eat, sweetie. You might feel better."

"No, no. I want to see Burt's reaction. He's waited for this for twenty years. Feels good, doesn't it, Burt? You were right. Gay people don't deserve the right to be happy. Well who gave you your rights, Burt?" Paige slurred, pointing at Burt.

"Shut up and don't be ridiculous." Burt said sharply, glancing to Kurt.

"Oh-ho-ho, you may be father of the year, little brother, but you're a terrible brother. Does your little baby know what you were like when you were his age? Does he?"

Blaine looked between Paige and Burt, and then looked to Kurt. "Let's go work on your essay. I'll show you how to cite MLA again since you—"

"Don't you boss him around like that!" Paige shouted. "Who do you think you are, talking to him like that?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Burt shouted right back. "If you've got a problem, don't take it out on him. You're acting psychotic and, frankly, I'd like Kurt to leave the room too. He's my son. Do you have a problem with that?"

"My problem is with you! You and every other bigoted homophobe in this damn country!"

"Blaine, get Kurt out of the house. Now." Burt said sharply.

"You tried to ruin my life, Burt! You let those people do to me exactly what those boys did to your son!"

Blaine, who was trying to nudge Kurt from the room, stopped. Burt said nothing, just stared at Kurt.

"Paige, what are you playing at? That was 20 years ago. Kurt, don't—."

"Dad?" Kurt whispered.

"How dare you come into my house and talk like that? You've waited since he was three to say this to Kurt, haven't you?" Burt finally said, turning back to his drunken sister. "I love my son and don't you dare try to make him think any differently. Blaine, please get him out of the house." He added the last part a little desperately.

"Come on." Blaine tugged his arm very gently.

"Don't touch him!" Paige shrieked.

"Don't talk to Blaine like that!" Burt shouted.

"You're just taking him in because you feel guilty, Burt. Otherwise he'd—."

Carole came forward and nudged both boys out of the living room and into the kitchen. "Go and get dinner." She pulled money out of her pocket. "Call Finn and see if he wants to join you. Don't come back for a while."

"No. I want to know what's going on." Kurt said slowly.

"Sweetie, you need to get out of here until things calm down. All right? After dinner everyone will fill you in. I don't know what's going on, but I do know that you don't need to be here. Especially if she's going to keep taking shots at Blaine for trying to protect you."

"She doesn't drink. Ever." Kurt protested.

"It's not an excuse." Carole sad firmly. "Please, Kurt. Don't fight me on this. I know that you're stressed; we all are. Don't take this and make it into more than it needs to be."

"My dad—."

"Kurt. Please. Go have dinner. Burt will talk to you later, sweetie. Okay?" She touched his face "Just go have dinner while this blows over."

The voices in the other room were rising, but it was clear that Kurt's grandmother was trying to quiet them down until Kurt and Blaine had left. Kurt's name came up several times. Blaine slid an arm around his waist and kissed the side of his face. "Come on, we'll stop and get some dog food on the way home. We needed to go out for that anyway."

Kurt eventually nodded and, after sending one last look towards the living room, allowed himself to be pulled from the house.

"What…What did she mean? What did she say? He let people do to her what the football players did to me? But he was a football player. Why didn't he stop them?"

"Carole said to not make it bigger than it is, Kurt…" Blaine said softly as he started the car. "I think you should not think about it."

"But if my dad was doing that—"

"Your dad loves you. Does anything he did before you were born matter? Really?"

"If he bullied my aunt because she was a lesbian, Blaine, then yes! It matters!" His voice came out entirely louder than he meant it to.

"No, Kurt." Blaine shook his head as he pulled out of the driveway. "You have been looking for something to freak out about for four days. You're trying to latch onto this, babe. No. Don't. It doesn't matter."

"What Karofsky did to me doesn't matter?" Kurt faced him. The face was eerily similar to the one that Kurt had given Blaine's father in the garage.

"That is not what I said, Kurt. You are putting words into my mouth."

"He ran me out of my school, Blaine. How does that not matter? He threatened to kill me!"

Blaine pulled over, still in the neighborhood. He put the car in park and turned to Kurt, speaking calmly and rationally. "It is two completely different situations. Dave Karofsky is in love with you and confused about his sexuality. He—"

"He harassed me until I had to leave McKinley, Blaine. He shoved me into lockers; he threatened to kill me. Do you have any idea what it was like to not know if I'd get beaten up at school every day?"

"Shockingly, yes! I do! Do you forget why I transferred to Dalton?" Not good. Had Blaine ever raised his voice to Kurt? Not like this, he hadn't. Maybe the one time when Kurt trashed his pain medicine, but that was different. "I don't know if you realize or not, but you are not the only person to have suffered bullying! In fact, thousands of people are bullied every day!"

"Obviously my own father contributed to that number! And he actually acts like he accepts me? How can he accept me if he did that to his own sister?"

"I don't know what your dad did 20 years ago, Kurt, but I know that I have never seen someone more accepting than your father! How many times has he gone down to McKinley to fight for you? For you to get a freaking solo audition, for you being bullied? Does that not count for anything?" Blaine said loudly.

"No! No, it doesn't!" Kurt kicked the car door angrily. "No. It doesn't!"

"If your dad didn't accept you as gay, Kurt, why would he let me live with you? Why would he let me sleep in your bed?" He lowered his voice, back to a calm level.

"He probably hopes you'll give me AIDS and I'll die."

Blaine's breath caught in his throat and he felt tears stinging in his eyes. He didn't know if Kurt was referencing his past, but it still hurt. And Kurt just continued to angrily stare out the window.

"Can we go? I don't want to sit here and argue with you." He finally asked impatiently.

Blaine wiped his eyes, unnoticed by Kurt, and began driving again. He tried very hard to not sniffle or take any deep breaths. He didn't want Kurt to see that he was so close to crying—well really, he was crying. But not to the point where he couldn't safely drive.

They pulled into the first restaurant they came to, which happened to be Breadsticks. Kurt took a seat and Blaine went straight to the bathroom without a word. The second the door closed he locked it and wiped his eyes furiously. This wasn't fair. First Kurt's aunt had yelled at him for no good reason and now Kurt was insinuating that he had AIDS? Was that was Kurt meant? It sure sounded like it. Well, really, it sounded more like he was insinuating Blaine was a whore. Did it?

He didn't want to cry, especially not in some public restroom, but he couldn't help it. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to move up here with Kurt. Maybe he should have stayed at UK; maybe he should have not grabbed Kurt's hand that day in Dalton, dragging him into the commons area. Maybe he was just a stupid little boy who was never going to be happy. Never going to really feel loved.

He slid down the wall, trying to not think about how gross the floor probably was, and let himself cry. He pulled his knees to his chest, bit his lip hard, and cried. His parents hated him, his grandmother hated him, he had no family, and now members of Kurt's family were going to start in on him? And Kurt himself? Crying wasn't cutting it for him. None of these quiet tears were helping so he stopped biting his lip and let out a choked sob, hugging his legs tighter to his chest and found himself wishing that he was seventeen again. Seventeen and at Wes' house singing along loudly with Katy Perry with Wes while David scowled and went on about how she was auto-tuned and how her boobs were fake ("Are not!" quipped Wes). Then he started to cry more because he really missed Wes and David.

Blaine had to get a grip on himself. He was almost nineteen years old. He was going to be nineteen in less than two months and he was sitting in a public bathroom crying like a fourteen year old girl. He gasped for breath, trying to both quiet and calm his sobs.

Damage control. That was what this was. He'd done it several times in the bathrooms at middle school. He would go in the stall, shut himself against the door, hug his knees, cry, and then calm himself down. That would hold him over until he got home.

Blaine had always been too sensitive. When he was twelve, even the slightest comment about his unruly hair, if said by the wrong person, could bring him to tears. Every time someone picked on him for being too skinny, too short, too quiet, too girlish, he would cry. He had spent more time in his life crying than he'd ever admit.

How could Kurt say that?

Yes, he was being sensitive. He had to be.

Just.

Just.

He wiped his face with a rough brown napkin so hard that it left his face feeling raw. It was very obvious he had been crying.

He had been trying so hard to get everyone in Kurt's family to like him and he'd blown it. Just like that. He let out another sob, more tears filling his eyes as he looked in the mirror. He wanted so hard to fit in with Kurt's family. Even if he could still be a bit shy around them, he absolutely adored Carole. Before she would head to work her and Blaine would drink coffee and talk about different things, like what he wanted to do after school and recently what she wanted to name her new baby. Burt always told him stories about the Buckeyes—both from his old teammates and the new members because he knew the coach very well. Finn was becoming a close friend to him just like David and Wes were. They could easily go out to lunch on Fridays before Kurt got home from school, grab a pizza, and chat for the entire meal without any awkward pauses or having to search for things to say. He wanted them to like him, he really, really, really did.

Stop it. Stop crying. You're not a baby.

It wasn't fair.

He took several more deep breaths and splashed water on his face, shocked that no one had come to try to use the bathroom yet. Not that they would have been able to get in because he had locked the door. The water made him feel a bit better. He grabbed another rough napkin and wiped his face, but he was much gentler this time around. It still hurt a bit, but he couldn't very well leave the bathroom with water all over his face or with tearstained cheeks.

Much better. Now he had to just wait a few minutes—without crying again—and wait for the puffiness in his eyes to subside. He leaned against the wall, staring at his reflection and wondering how things had gone from being so good to so bad within one hour. One stupid hour and he felt like he'd felt when he was fifteen, his dad standing over him and glaring, yelling for him to not be such a girl and stand up after the man had pushed him down.

No.

No. You are not going to think about Dad right now. No.

He threw the napkin in the trash and, looking down, made his way back to the table. Their food was already sitting there but Kurt stared out the window, not touching it.

Blaine spooned pasta into his mouth, just for an excuse to not look at or speak to Kurt. And partially so the sob he felt rising in his throat wouldn't surface. The pasta was cold, disgusting really, but he forced it all down.

Kurt glanced at Blaine's plate a few minutes later, his own still untouched, and sat up straight. "Good. Can we go?"

"Fine." He whispered, standing. He went on to the car and started it, leaving Kurt to pay alone.

When Kurt got into the car he glared. "Great, what's your problem?"

Blaine didn't say anything. He just backed out and left the parking lot.

"No, really. What? I didn't do anything."

You make me, feel like I'm living a tee-nage-dream, the way you—

"You don't even have an excuse to be acting like this."

Turn me on. I can't sleep. Let's—

"Blaine!"

"What? What do you want, Kurt? What?"

Kurt's eyes widened and he fell silent, looking down at his hands. The rest of the ride home neither boy spoke. The car hadn't even been completely in park when Kurt got out, slammed the door, and ran into the house. Blaine followed soon after, taking a deep breath. He just had to make it to the guest room and he could lock the door and cry. Only Carole was in the kitchen and she saw the tears in his eyes.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

He shook his head.

"Hon?"

"I'm f-fine."

She rushed forward and pulled him out of the house as his lip began to tremble. "No, you are not. What's wrong, hon?"

"N-nothing." His voice came out rather high pitched.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug the way Blaine imagined she would hug Finn when he was upset. "Oh, sweetie… shh." She tightened her grip when his shoulders began to shake. "Shh, it's okay. I know Kurt can be hard to handle sometimes. Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"N-n-no!"

"Okay, okay. Shh." She eased the two of them into a sitting position on the porch steps and rocked him. "It's okay. You're okay, Blaine."

He began to cry even harder, feeling like a baby. Why hadn't his mom ever done this? Why was some woman he'd only known a little over a year comforting and caring for him better than his own mother ever had? She did not loosen her grip until his sobs subsided and then she just put her hand on his back and rubbed it soothingly.

"There, there." She whispered. "Are we a little better?"

He let out a watery hiccup and nodded, taking a deep breath. "W-What happened?" He needed a distraction. At this point he didn't care what it was, either. Just something. Anything.

Carole ran her fingers through his hair in a soothing way and sighed. "Apparently Burt didn't handle Paige being gay that well and told his dad when they were in high school. They didn't accept her at first…. The parents came around but Burt didn't. He told a lot of his friends, so Paige ended up being bullied at school a lot. It doesn't sound like… it doesn't sound like Burt treated his sister very well until he got married. I think this has been a fight twenty years in the making."

Blaine watery hiccuped again and wiped his eyes. "So she came to s-start a fight?"

"It sounds like Taylor proposed and Paige turned her down because… I don't pretend to know about the gay marriage thing, Blaine. I've never understood it all. But it sounds like Paige said she didn't want to get married unless she had the same rights as everyone else… Taylor told her that it wasn't going to happen, at least not in the next ten years, and that she was tired of waiting for a miracle… Paige told her no, that she wasn't going to marry her until it was fair… and Taylor said that if Paige wasn't willing to marry her, then they were done. Paige left and showed up at their mother and father's place in the middle of the night… Taylor is really close to Kurt, so they were coming to break the news to him and wanted Burt here in case he got upset… and obviously it turned out…" She waved her free hand a bit and sighed. "I'm sorry she was rude to you, sweetheart. You didn't deserve that and I'm sure she will apologize. Are you okay?"

He bit his lip and nodded, although he didn't really feel okay.

She squeezed his shoulder and ruffled his hair. "Just let me know if you want to talk. I'm very good at listening. You can always talk to Burt too. He adores you, Blaine. No matter what Paige said. He loves you just like he loves Finn. He has the utmost respect for you and… and he talks about it a lot. I wouldn't make that up."

Blaine gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Thanks."

"Anytime, sweetheart."

…

"I'm sure he didn't mean it that way." David said through a mouthful of ice cream. "He was a bitch when you thought you might be bi."

"And when you wore that mismatched outfit that one time." Wes said through the computer screen. He was eating a slice of mushroom pizza and drinking directly out of a Dr. Pepper 2 liter while taking to his friends over Skype. "He's always been very…"

"Bitchy?" Blaine muttered, spraying some whipped cream into his mouth.

"The word I think Wes was going for was dramatic." David offered. "Dude, Wes, get your ass back to Ohio. That way you, Blaine, and I can do stuff on the weekends."

"Right. Let me leave UCLA and the amazing California to hang out with you losers." Wes threw his pizza at the screen. "Oh, crap. That is the third time I've done that. Technology is really addling my brain. Last week it was a soda though. Dad wasn't too pleased he had to send me money for another laptop."

David had fallen over sideways laughing. Blaine snorted a bit, but his smile didn't really reach his eyes.

"Blaine, that was funny!"

"Yeah, Blaine. Besides, you had to know being gay you were going to get a boyfriend that you'd have dumb arguments with. It's in the gay handbook." David chuckled.

Blaine's eyebrow shot up. "How do you know what's in the gay handbook, David?"

"You two weren't experimenting or something were you? That is gross, guys. Jut gross!" Wes exclaimed.

"Hey," David said loudly. "If I wanted to be gay—which I don't, and don't launch into your whole 'You don't choose to be gay thing' Blaine, but if I chose to be gay—stop with that look, Anderson—It would not be gross. It would be very sexy. Because I am sexy."

"Speaking of sexy—Blaine looks like he's going to kill you, David. Or spray you with that whipped cream. You'd better look out— how's that little slut you're dating?"

Blaine held up the whipped cream can like he was going to spray David, but at the last minute turned it to his mouth and sprayed some in, shooting David a look that clearly said, "We are going to talk about gay being a choice later and don't think I'll forget it."

"That slut wants nothing but sex. It's completely exhausting. If Blaine hadn't burst in hysterically—"

Blaine scoffed. "I wasn't hysterical."

"Yes. He was. Anyway, if he hadn't burst in hysterically—spray that on me again and I will make you sleep on the floor, Blaine— we'd be in some very interesting and painful positions."

"Can we not talk about how much sex you're getting? The closest I've come in four weeks was ruined by Kurt's grandmother and drunk aunt bursting in the house."

"Pat his head for me, David." Wes said, gesturing as though he was patting Blaine's head. "It's okay. I'm not getting any sex either, Blaine. Apparently I'm too obnoxious to date. Or something along those lines. It's okay, though. Half of the girls up here are orange anyway."

David rolled his eyes as Blaine threw himself onto the bed dramatically. "Wesley, this whole cheering him up separately with you via computer is not working. We aren't in our element unless we're together."

"Maybe we should sing Katy Perry? I'd suggest I Kissed a Girl, but he makes that face every time I try. Aw, damn. I've got to go. Can I Skype you all again in a little bit? My roommate wants to fuck his girlfriend and the internet doesn't work in the common areas."

Blaine cringed. "I just barfed in my mouth a little."

"You'd really barf if you saw her." Wes muttered before shutting off the camera.

David closed his laptop and set it on the floor. "That didn't help at all, did it?"

Blaine shook his head sadly. "David, do you think I'm a whore?"

David sighed and scooted closer to him, then spoke gently. "Of course not, Blaine. I'm sure most high school boys have a lot more sex than that… and, for the record, I really don't think that Kurt was making a stab at that. I think it was more of a stab at his dad, he just… didn't think and executed it very poorly. I don't think he meant to hurt your feelings or make you cry."

"I know he didn't mean to… but he can be so selfish and insensitive sometimes." He pulled himself into a sitting position. "I just… don't know, David. I really just don't know."

David sighed again. "Blaine, he loves you and you love him. You're both going through stressful stuff right now. To be honest, I think you're lying to yourself. I think you're extremely upset over what happened with your parents and you're trying to not talk about it because Kurt needs you. And I get that, okay, he does. But you've got some stuff that you need to talk about too. I wish you'd talk to Wes or me about it. You keep stuff in until it explodes and everything crashes down around you. It's not healthy."

Blaine leaned over, resting his head on David's shoulder. "I miss you and Wes…"

"I miss you too. Life isn't as fun without Dapper Blaine… and especially without Un-Dapper Blaine." David laughed. "I'm only two hours away. We should do stuff more. On the weekends, when we don't have school and stuff. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to not spend every minute with Kurt."

Blaine nodded, biting his lip. "Did I over react?"

David pursed his lips and then shook his head. "I don't think you over reacted. I think that you finally hit a breaking point. And I think if you don't relax, it will only get worse. Look at what you've gone through. Kurt almost died in October and in November. Your parents essentially cut you off; you don't talk to your brother. You've got a crazy dog that is worse than a toddler behavior wise; you're away from the school you love which could potentially set you back a semester. Meanwhile, you're about to move out with Kurt and said boyfriend just found out his attackers have been caught so he might have to testify. Again, said boyfriend is freaking out which always leads to you mentally freaking out. Then some drunken bitch waltzes in, is rude to you, and you and Kurt get into an argument. Right when you're in the midst of panicking about moving out with your lover boy and making the next stage of commitment. Not to mention you were both very horny and grumpy because you had no way to fix it."

That last bit was definitely true. Blaine stared ahead, chewing on his lip. "I'm afraid, David."

David ruffled Blaine's hair and sighed. "Stay the night. I've got classes tomorrow and you can just chill and watch TV. I mean, you can stay as long as you'd like. I don't have any roommates or anything. You know I don't care. But at least stay tonight, get a good night's sleep, and think things over tomorrow. Don't text or call Kurt. I know it may be mean not answering his calls and texts, but I already texted him and told you that you were here safe. I think tonight you need to focus on Blaine."

"Blaine is such a hard person to focus on." Blaine sighed, cuddling up to his friend.

David snorted and ruffled his hair, mumbling, "You'll be fine, Blaine. I promise."

***WBUCT***

"You missed Valentine's Day."

"I know."

"You missed his brother's birthday."

He felt bad about that one, but he had called Finn at least. "I know."

"You have been driving back and forth, 2 hours to and from, to your classes for three weeks, Blaine."

Blaine tucked his feet underneath him. David had that look that his therapist father would wear when he questioned Blaine about his family, so it was obvious this conversation would not be over any time soon. "So?"

"So, Blaine, I'm not even completely sure if you and Kurt are still dating or not."

Blaine said nothing, suddenly very intrigued by a loose thread in his sweater.

"Have you even talked to him?"

"He's talked. Or tried to. I haven't really listened."

"He's trying to apologize, Blaine…"

"If it wasn't for Wes running his big mouth, he wouldn't even know what he was apologizing for." Blaine muttered darkly, frowning.

"Someone had to talk to him. You keep hanging up on him or not answering. It's like you're not even making an effort to… talk to him and f—"

"Why would I want to talk to him, David?" He stood. "He left me in a bathroom crying for hours."

"That," David pointed an accusatory finger at him as he followed him into the kitchen, "is a huge exaggeration, Anderson."

Blaine threw open the refrigerator door, yanked out a can of whipped cream, and muttered that he was going to finish the whole thing off anyway as he tossed the lid into the trash (he made it in the can on his first time, too, just so you know). "He's living in this little shiny rainbow bubble, David. He's got this perfect family. His dad is probably the smartest man and the greatest parent you could ever meet and, according to Finn, Kurt has refused to talk to him for three weeks! And Carole is the sweetest woman ever. Do you know she calls me every other day on her lunch to catch up? And I bet he's sitting there manipulating the poor woman into feeling sorry for him. You know why?"

David hopped on the counter. He was used to these long winded Kurt rants in the kitchen by now. They always ended in his friend throwing himself on the couch miserably and seeing just how much whipped cream he could get into his mouth without choking.

"Why's that?" David asked. It was easier to go along with it; otherwise Blaine hounded him until he did.

"Because he's got a black soul." He gestured wildly and squirted more whipped cream into his mouth.

"Oh my god, Blaine, he does not have a black soul. You've lost your mind. I think you need a nap. I don't think you're sleeping enough."

"He does! He does! He thinks he's all cute because he's half an inch taller than me. You know what, I could still grow! And-and-and he's so cute with his perfect hair and his bright blue eyes and his porcelain skin. Well anyone would be that soft if they bathed themselves in butter which is basically what he spends two hours doing every single night!"

"Lemme have that whipped cream, you're going to choke and die if you keep doing that while you talk."

"No, it's mine." Blaine stepped out of arm's reach. "I love it. Do you know what I don't love, David? Kurt. I hate him."

"If you hated him, Blaine, you would have broken up with him three weeks ago. Not sat on my couch going through twenty cans of whipped cream a day." David pointed out, reaching for it again.

He squirted more into his mouth and gestured wildly again. "Oh my god! Oh my god! David, he's Rachel! He is totally Rachel! He is so Rachel and I haaate her!"

"Rachel?"

The scowl on Blaine's face was not attractive at all. "Rachel Berry. She's pure evil, David. She is a worse attention whore than I am."

"That must be pretty bad." David muttered.

"Ugh, her voice is like nails on a chalk board." Blaine shuddered. "Yes, he is Rachel. He thinks he can do whatever he damn well pleases. And he can just push me over—" he thrust his hand out to his side, "Yank out my heart—" he grabbed at his chest, "And ruin. My. Life."

David hopped up quickly and wrestled the whipped cream from him. "Blaine, I love you and all, but you're starting to sound a little crazy."

"Give me that back, David. I need it. To survive."

"What you need to do is call your boyfriend." His friend said firmly. "If you are going to break up with him, fine. If you are going to stay with him, fine. But you can't hide in my house watching Dancing with the Stars and crying because the hot redhead got voted off forever. Because we know you're somehow equating that redhead with Kurt, although his hair isn't even that red."

"But he's Rachel."

"If I give this back to you, will you go and call him?"

"No."

David let out a sigh. "Do you really want me to have Wes fly out here? I don't think either of us really want that, but if that is what I have to do, I will."

Blaine did not answer, just continued to reach for the whipped cream which David was holding behind him.

"Blaine, this is getting awkward. Your pelvis is right by mine and—oh my god, take it! Take it!" He thrust the whipped cream out. "You've lost your mind. I can't believe you just did that, Blaine."

"I wanted my whipped cream." Blaine made a 'Hmph' noise and left the room.

David pulled out his phone and texted Wes.

Yeah. We're going to have to pull out the big kid plan now. He's somehow convinced himself that Kurt is that annoying lead soloist girl from New Directions.

He pushed send and then opened another blank message.

And he totally grabbed my ass.

…

"I don't like this; I don't like this. Put me down, Wes. Just because you are a giant does not mean you can—subject—me—to—this!"

"This is for your own good, Blaine. You seriously grabbed his ass? I'm considering not even taking you to Lima, but to a mental institution to be checked out."

Blaine put his hands on either side of the car door frame. "I won't go in; I won't go. No. I don't want to see him. He's Rachel Berry."

"He's not Rachel Berry, you dolt. You're still so sleep deprived that you probably think you're Princess Ariel or something."

"I'd be a much better Belle, thank you." Blaine said, distractedly. "I like to read."

Wes took the opportunity, grabbed his head, and forced him into the car. "COME ON, DAVID, HURRY! HE'S IN THE CAR! I REPEAT, HE IS IN THE CAR!"

"I liked you better with your gavel!" Blaine yelled through the closed door, banging on the window.

"If you break my window, Anderson, I will break you." David got into the car.

"You all are no longer my best friends."

"You can't avoid this forever, bro. I know your hearts sore or whatever it is that gay boys feel, but it's getting a little unbearable." Wes chirped as he climbed into the back seat.

"Yeah and my sympathy went out the window when you grabbed my ass."

"I was trying to distract you." Blaine growled.

"Grow up, Blaine." David said, starting the car.

"What about my car?"

"We don't trust you to stay. We're keeping it a week so you have nowhere else to go." Wes said cheerfully. "Nowhere but into the arms of your beloved Kurt Hummel." He leaned forward, hooked his iPod into the car, and began fiddling with it. "Now shut up, listen to the other love of your life, and stay quiet until we get back to Lima."

Blaine just glared daggers through the mirror as Teenage Dream began to play.

…

"You can't just walk into a house without knocking, Wesley. It's rude!" David hissed.

"Blaine lives here, it's okay—hello! You don't know me, but we've found something that you lost. And, frankly, he's driving my friend David here crazy with his moping and sulking. Is Kurt around?"

"If not, we'll wait." David added.

Finn blinked at Wes and David, and then looked at Blaine. "Hey, dude."

Blaine just scowled at his friends.

"Blaine, where are your manners?" Wes gave Finn what was supposed to be a sweet smile. It really came out looking rather demented. "Your tall friend said hello."

"Hi, Finn." Blaine said through gritted teeth.

And then he walked downstairs, talking on the phone and looking possibly as miserable as Blaine had ever seen him look. Then his eyes widened and he said, "I've got to go, Mercedes. I'll call you back later. No, everything is okay. Bye."

"This is going to be very awkward." David sighed. "Hey, Kurt."

"Hi, David." Kurt said softly, but his eyes did not leave Blaine. Blaine, however, refused to look at him. "Hi, Wes."

"Belle here wondered all the way to Cinci and we thought we'd bring the stray home. He's been very polite and all, he's just eating David out of house and home." Wes ruffled Blaine's curls, prompting an even darker glare. "I can't promise he won't bite, though."

"Wes, you're making this worse." David nudged him and pried his hands off Blaine. "We're kind of calling an intervention here. Well, what he said about my food is true too, though… but he misses you. Even if he won't say it."

"He looks like you grabbed him out of bed and shoved him in the car." Kurt said meekly.

"It was my idea." Wes stood straighter. "It worked very well, too."

"Dude, it's good to see you!" Finn said, picking a very bad moment to chime in. "We've still got some cake if you want some. It's pretty good, still. Kurt's excellent at baking and—"

Kurt held up a hand, similar to the way Blaine did with David. "I don't think Blaine wants cake right now, Finn."

"I'd love some! Is it chocolate?" Both Kurt and Blaine stared at David. "Never mind."

"Come on." Finn waved his hand. "It's totally amazing. Kurt makes the best cakes ever."

As David walked to Finn, he roughly grabbed Wes by the arm and tugged him.

"But I want to see them kiss and make up." Wes whined, voice becoming fainter as they left.

Kurt walked towards Blaine, stopping a few feet away from him. "I'm sorry."

Blaine still refused to look at him. If he looked at him, he would become less mad. Because as much as he hated to admit it, David was right. He really missed Kurt and it would have been so easy to just throw his arms around his boyfriend, kiss him, and pretend everything was okay.

"Blaine, I'm really sorry. I've… I…" Kurt made a clicking noise with his tongue and sighed softly. "You're not listening."

"I'm listening." Blaine muttered, eyes glued to the clock on the opposite wall from him.

"You… haven't been answering my calls. I almost thought… that…" Kurt trailed off and made the noise again. "I don't want to argue, Blaine. I… I've missed you."

Blaine looked down at his shoes, sighing. "You hurt my feelings. You always hurt my feelings when you're upset and it's not fair to take stuff out on me… I didn't break up your aunts. And you completely disregarded your aunt being rude to me when I was trying to protect you."

"She was drunk, Blaine. I didn't think you'd take anything she said seriously!" Kurt said desperately. "I never thought it would have upset you. And Wes said you were in the bathroom crying? I didn't know, Blaine. I didn't mean to upset you with what I said about AIDS, okay? I wasn't even thinking about your past. That never crossed my mind. If I had thought it would have upset you I never would have said that. It wasn't anything at you, it was at my dad."

"You spend so much time thinking about yourself that you couldn't tell I was upset. Or could you tell, but you didn't care?"

"Blaine," Kurt whimpered. "You know that isn't true."

Blaine finally met his eyes and he could tell they were teary. "I've done so much for you, Kurt. Ever since the day I met you. I'm beginning to think you don't even care."

"No! That's not true!" He whimpered again. "Please, don't say that. I do care."

"How come every time you're mad you conveniently throw stuff I've done in my face?" the older boy asked angrily.

"I didn't mean to, Blaine! A lot has been going on! I didn't mean to!"

"That's not an excuse, Kurt! Grow up a little! Grow up!"

"I'm trying, okay? I'm trying to grow up but e-everything is so messed up right now and—."

"Then don't take it out on me! Not when I'm the one you would wake up in the middle of the night when you couldn't breathe to get you water! Not when I'm the one who drove four freaking hours in the middle of the night to the hospital, or when I'm the one who held you when you cried, who took care of you! Don't take it out on me!"

"I'm sorry, Blaine! I'm sorry! I was stupid!"

Blaine glared out the window.

"I'm so sorry. I just… please… Blaine, don't… I… I'm sorry. I don't know how to make it right. Tell me how to make it right." Kurt ducked his head when his boyfriend didn't answer. "Bl-Blaine… please… c-can I hug you?"

Blaine sighed in a resigned sort of way.

Kurt took it as a yes—or an I don't care, as it may have been—and wrapped his arms around Blaine. Blaine stood stiffly, not allowing himself to relax in Kurt's arms. Kurt gave up after a few seconds, letting his arms fall at his sides.

"I can't do this right now." Blaine moved past him and went into the kitchen. "Can we leave now, David?"

Davis looked up from his cake, a look of complete shock on his face. "Leave?"

"I would like to leave." He repeated calmly, although he felt like crying.

"Dude, why don't you stay? What even happened between you two?" Finn asked, standing. "No one ever tells me anything."

"I don't want to talk about it." Blaine looked away.

"Well I do. He's been hiding in his room for three weeks. What did you—."

"He didn't do anything." Kurt said loudly, coming in. "I did. I'm the one who did this, not Blaine. So leave him alone, Finn. Let… let him go."

Wes slowly stood up. "It was nice to meet you, Finn. I'll see you later, Kurt."

"I don't understand. He's supposed to stay." David sighed, standing.

"Blaine… what…" Finn went up to him.

"Take care of him, alright?" Blaine muttered and moved past Burt, who had walked in, and left the house.

"I don't like this." Finn said, looking at Wes and David.

"Thanks for the cake." David said and dragged Wes out, muttering, "What do we do now?"

Burt, Kurt, and Finn all stood in the hallway silently. Burt looked Kurt over a few times, glanced at the doorway, and, after he heard the front door close again, spoke. "We are talking. Right now."

"I have nothing to say to you."

Finn grabbed his cake and left quickly.

"You will sit down and we are going to talk."

"I have stuff to do."

"Sit. Down."

Kurt stared at his father for several seconds, determining if he wanted to continue to protest, but eventually noisily pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down. His father didn't sit. That always meant big trouble. This wasn't going to be fun.

"I want to know what happened." Burt said slowly.

"I want to know what you did to Aunt Paige."

Burt eyed him for several seconds, looking madder each second. "There will come a day, Kurt, that I will tell you everything. But you can bet it will be on my terms. Not yours and definitely not Paige's."

"Did you watch them shove her into lockers too, Dad?" Kurt leaned forward.

"Don't talk to me that way. I don't know what has gotten into you, Kurt, but I have let you get your way for far too long. I am sorry I tried to overcompensate with gifts because your mother died and I wanted to make you happier however I could, because I do not like what I'm looking at right now. And I damn don't like that you let Blaine walk out that door and didn't go after him for the second time."

Kurt took a sharp intake of breath. Why had that not occurred to him? It was so simple. Why had he not thought of that?

"What happened?"

"It doesn't concern you, dad."

"Are you two broken up? Is that what I just saw? Are you really selfish enough to tear that boy from his family and then let him walk out that door?"

"I didn't tear him away from anybody!" Kurt shouted.

"When you asked him to not go back to Kentucky, son, that is what you did!" Burt shouted back, finally losing his temper. "With that one sentence you took everything that boy knew and shattered it!"

Kurt quickly looked away, tears filling his eyes.

"Have I really not raised you better than this? What did you do? If you tore that boy away from his family, Kurt, and he doesn't come back here, where will he go? What will he do? You were all he had! You were all he had He had you! He left everything for you!"

Kurt didn't speak, feeling smaller and smaller with every word his dad shouted. The tears spilled over, sliding down his cheeks.

"If it is over between you two, Kurt… I just… I'm disgusted. Did you two just break up? Did you? Please tell me, son, that you did not… I can't even look at you right now." Burt went over and stared out the back door angrily. "Did it ever cross your mind what he gave up? Did it once?"

"Yes!" Kurt's voice shook.

"What?"

"What do you mean, what?"

"What did he give up?"

"His family was awful to him, Dad! They didn't deserve him!"

"Did they put a roof over his head?" Kurt didn't answer. "Did he ever go to bed hungry? Did he ever once not have a phone to call you on?"

"He's still got a phone. He's staying with David."

"Kurt! I can't believe you! Are you this sheltered from the world around you, son? Are you?" Burt faced him again. "He doesn't have a home now, Kurt. He doesn't have a job because he left two to come take care of you!"

"David will—."

"IT'S NOT DAVID'S RESPONSIBILITY, KURT! IT'S YOURS!"

"It's not my responsibility! I'm only 18!"

Burt came forward, leaning very close to his son. For a second Kurt thought his father was going to hit him. "You were old enough to ask him to give up everything for you, and you don't think it's your responsibility to take care of him? To make sure he has a roof over his head, that he eats every night, that he has a working phone in case his car dies in the middle of the night and he's stranded on the highway? Or if he gets in a wreck? To make sure that you are as there for him as he is for you? It takes more than holding him when he's sick, Kurt! You have to be there for him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! You can't choose when to care for somebody! You don't put more in one day and less the next because he sure hasn't been doing that to you! The boy didn't sleep for days, sitting by you in the hospital! Nobody, Kurt—Nobody will ever care for you and love you as unconditionally as Blaine did! Nobody else would have seen you lying on that hospital, looking like death, and sat by your side every moment. And you ruined it! You ruined it and now I have to live with the fact that my son may very well have cost that caring boy everything. And for what? Nothing!"

Kurt covered his mouth, now sobbing.

"He's gone, Kurt! He's gone."

Kurt stood up, pushed past his dad, threw the chair aside, and ran up to his room. He slammed his door shut and slid down his wall sobbing. Why was it that everything made sense when he looked back? Why was he so stupid? His dad was right. Nobody would ever love him like Blaine, and he had completely… fucked it all up. How had he let this happen? How had he let this happen?

A lot time passed before his door slowly opened. He was still crying, face red. His chest hurt—it really hurt—but he didn't care. He needed to cry because he was terrible, an awful person, and he had ruined the only thing good in his life.

"You okay, dude?"

Kurt looked up at his brother and shook his head, wiping his eyes and nose on the back of his hand.

"I… brought you some milk. It's nonfat." Finn sat by him and held out the glass.

"T-Th-thanks." Kurt took it and set it on the floor next to him, pulling his knees up to his chest. "I-I-I m-messed up, F-Finn. I r-really messed it u-up."

"It'll be okay." Finn reached over and wrapped an arm around Kurt. "You'll find someone else."

Kurt let out a loud anguished sob, burying his face in his hands. He didn't want anybody else. He wanted Blaine.

"I… mean…" Finn looked down guiltily. "I don't know what to say, dude…. I'm sorry."

Kurt just sobbed into his hands, shoulders shaking.

"Kurt, don't cry…" Finn pulled him closer, resting Kurt's head on his shoulder. "It's okay. You'll be okay…"

"I w-w-wanna s-start over." Kurt sobbed into his shoulder, voice muffled.

"Things can always be fixed… look at me and Rach. We've gotten together like four times now."

"He hates m-me." Kurt looked up at him. "I m-messed up, F-Finn. I m-messed up."

"He seems like an understanding enough guy, Kurt. I'm sure if you talk to him-."

"I t-tried. S-So many times. I d-d-don't know what to do anymore. Finn, I don't know w-what to do."

Finn bit his lip and just stared ahead, looking confused.

"It's hopeless. It's hopeless." Kurt pulled out of Finn's hug and stood, taking several deep breaths which prompted several more coughs. "I can't be-believe I r-ruined i-it. He's gone."

"It just needs a little band-aid is all." Finn said quietly, in an attempt to make him feel better.

"A giant band-aid. Of epic proportions." he sniffled loudly and coughed. "Thanks, F-Finn."

"You're welcome, little bro." Finn moved to sit next to him on the bed, wrapping an arm around him again. "Give him some cool down time and try to talk to him again."

"It's been three weeks." He sniffled again. "I don't think he wants to talk to me."

"But he talked to you for a little bit today, didn't he? That's something, dude."

"I guess… I hope."

***WBUCT***

"I know you don't want to see me, Blaine… but…"

Blaine had walked up to his car after class two days later. Kurt's Navigator was parked next to his BMW but Kurt was sitting on the sidewalk, peering up at him. He stood and wiped his hands on his pants, taking a deep breath. It was very evident he was nervous and had mustered some real courage to get him there.

"But you've got to hear me out because… because I figured it out, Blaine. A-And I want you to come home, please. I'm here. I came to you. And I'm asking you to come home. Please."

Blaine blinked at him, readjusting his backpack on his shoulder. Kurt was the last person he'd expected to see. "How did you know where I was?"

"I knew you were on OSU's campus… Finn told me where the buildings that held most of the night classes were and I… went to all the parking lots until I saw your car. Well, really, there was another car just like yours. Over there." He pointed. "But there was a McDonald's bag and Starbucks cup in this one, so…" he trailed off.

"Why are you here?" Blaine didn't know what to think, what to do. Did he miss Kurt? Of course. Had they technically broken up? Well, they hadn't said the words but it had sure felt like a break up. Did that count? If that was the case, had they technically been broken up for weeks?

"Because… because you show up at places and surprise me. And I wanted to surprise you."

"Don't you think it's a little late for that?" He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

"I deserved that." Kurt said softly. "Blaine… I…"

"Why did you come here?"

"Because I wanted to see you. I want you to come home with me." The smaller boy repeated, squinting because of the sun behind Blaine. "I miss you. So, so much."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like part of me is missing." His lip began to tremble. "I miss you because you're you. You're perfect for me. R-remember the porch s-swing and the red door and the two kids?"

Blaine glanced around them. They were getting a few strange looks. Then again, they were standing in the middle of parking lot and Kurt was on the verge of crying in the freezing cold while Blaine stood completely still, barely even breathing, and not moving to comfort him.

"I k-know I'm selfish sometimes, Blaine. I don't m-mean to be. It's how I've always been. A-and I have a really bad habit of not knowing what I have until it's almost gone. Please don't be gone."

"Kurt, it hasn't been the same. Not since October. You've been different. You used to be so caring to everyone around you. You used to be so different. And sometimes I can see it in you a-and then something happens and it's just gone. You go back to being insensitive, to saying hurtful things to and about people… you're not fourteen anymore. You don't have the hormone excuse for being a bitch. Now you're just a bitch."

"I deserve that too." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I don't know what I can say besides… besides that I… I love you and I want to take care of you like you take care of me. I c-can't just only be t-there when you need it m-most because maybe i-if I'm open all the time, i-it won't get so bad and y-you won't need t-that kind of comforting."

"Don't cry." Blaine moved forward, putting his hand on his arm. "Don't cry, Kurt."

"P-Please, Blaine. I get it now, okay? I'm a s-s-scared and selfish little boy sometimes. Sometimes I'm not, b-but lately I h-have been. But you c-can't give up on me now. You need me j-just as much as I need you. For so long I just…" he looked up, wiping his eyes again and taking a deep breath. "I just… you were there for me. And I didn't… I just… I'm sorry. I-It's got to be giving and t-taking and I've been taking w-way too much and h-haven't g-given… Blaine, please. Please, come home." Kurt moved forward, not caring. He threw his arms around Blaine's neck and nuzzled him. "We're so good. D-Don't give up on u-us. We don't have to go b-back to how we were but w-we can work on it. I-I'll be better. I need you, Blaine. I need you to be the Blaine to my Kurt. Come home."

Blaine let himself relax into Kurt's arms a bit and wrapped his own arms around Kurt's thin waist. "Okay."

Kurt kissed the side of his face repeatedly, clinging to him.

"Things aren't going to just go back to how they were, Kurt."

"That's okay, that's okay. It's a start." Kurt whispered in his ear, hugging him even tighter.

"I feel like we should move…" Blaine commented, realizing they were still getting some odd looks.

The younger boy looked around and sighed softly. He didn't like being at home. It was tense. And he really didn't want to pull away from the hug either because it had been so long since they'd been so close. "I don't want to go home really."

"I'll show you around the main campus then?" Blaine whispered.

"All right. I'd like that."

They spent two hours walking around, freezing cold. They didn't really talk, but they walked next to each other. Every so often he would point out a building ("That's where Finn's team practices.", "My Wednesday night class is in there.", "That's where we meet for pizza before my Friday class when Finn doesn't come home for the weekends.") For the first hour whenever their hands would brush together they wouldn't pull their hands away. After the first hour, Blaine held his hand out for Kurt to take. Kurt shuffled closer, linking hands with Blaine, and rested his head on his shoulder. It was slightly awkward, but it was something and Kurt would take it. He would take anything to feel a little closer to his boyfriend. He had Blaine back, at least part of him. Blaine took him back.

They were freezing.

Absolutely freezing.

But Kurt didn't want to go back to the cars because he was afraid Blaine would change his mind. That he wouldn't want to come home. Blaine didn't want to go back to the car because he knew once they got home it would be different. Burt and Kurt were not on speaking terms (Carole had told him earlier that morning over her lunch). Finn would already be home with it being a Thursday night, but he didn't know if he was exactly up to chatting either.

It wasn't until Kurt gave a small cough that Blaine finally decided that they needed to go. "We should get home… we'll end up catching pneumonia out here. It's still pretty cold for almost being March."

How weird that Blaine had left right at the beginning of February. On the fifth.

"I guess…" Kurt unlinked their hands as they reached their cars. "Be careful."

Blaine attempted a smile but it didn't quite work that well. "It's a twenty minute drive. I think I'll manage."

Kurt touched his arm, biting his lip and blinking at him with big blue eyes. "I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too, Kurt." The slightly shorter boy leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"These were the worst two days of my life… really the worst month." Kurt whispered. "I have a feeling it's not… over."

"We'll get back to how we were eventually, Kurt… I think we both need to step back and… take a look at ourselves as individuals and as us… and… talk about things."

"Tonight?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"Not tonight."

Kurt looked down and fished out his keys, nodding. He wanted to do it tonight. He wanted to solve everything tonight, wrap a nice little bow around it, and go back to being them. As soon as possible. They'd missed out on more than three weeks. Three weeks and three days. "Not tonight." Kurt repeated, although he wanted to jump right back to where they had left off. He also knew, though, that if he pushed Blaine that the boy might leave and not come back. That being the case, Blaine could take as long as he wanted. As long as things were right at some point in the future. Kurt had never had much patience before but he realized, when Blaine leaned over and rested his head on Kurt's shoulder hesitantly, that he would be as patient as it took. Because Blaine was worth every single minute and he wasn't going to mess it up again. Never.

***WBUCT***

"I brought you dinner." Kurt came into the bedroom with two plates of pizza in one hand and two cups (one with a soda can unopened inside it) in the other.

"Oh, thanks. I didn't know it was here." Blaine looked up from his laptop and reached for the plates. "I'll take it, go get your water."

Kurt handed him the two plates and the glass with the soda can in it, disappearing into the bathroom with the last cup. Things had been weird between them but not in a necessarily bad way. They didn't talk as much as usual, they didn't share as many looks, but sometimes he would say stuff that made Blaine laugh. Sometimes Blaine would say stuff that made Kurt smile at the older boy and when Blaine smiled back he knew that they'd eventually be okay. It was reassuring.

Blaine was setting his laptop on the floor, leaned over, when Kurt came back into their room. When the older boy sat back upright he nearly put his hand in his pizza. "Well that would have been depressing."

"There would have been plenty more. Carole got three boxes. She figured you'd eat a whole one, and Finn would eat a whole one…"

Blaine snorted and sat cross legged and, after resting his plate on his lap, poured his soda into the cup of ice. "You can't argue with that."

Kurt just gave a weak smile and sat on the edge of his bed, careful to not kick Blaine's laptop or sit his water near it. He wished he could go back to sitting on that laptop, looking at Blaine's pictures, and Blaine trying to tug it out of his hands and laughing. How long would it be before things got normal again? They weren't bad, but they weren't good either. It had been awkward. The only thing that had seemed normal over the past four days and three nights were nights. Blaine would lie in bed while Kurt did all of his moisturizing and cleansing. When Kurt would come back into the room, anywhere between fifteen and forty-five minutes depending on how thorough he chose to be, he would lie in front of Blaine. The older boy would tug him close, keeping an arm around him, so that his head was rested on Blaine's chest. Kurt would then snuggle up, drape an arm around Blaine's waist or chest depending on how far up Kurt's head would rest. Kurt would fall asleep listening to Blaine's heartbeat and Blaine would fall asleep listening to Kurt's soft breathing. That still stayed the same and for the last three days the last six hours of the night before they went to bed seemed to take ages.

Blaine chewed on his pizza in silence, looking at Kurt every few minutes. Kurt ate his slice and sighed quietly. They were sitting so close together on the bed, but Blaine felt so far away from him. It was like the older boy had built up a wall around himself over the last three weeks. Kurt didn't know how to break that wall down, and he didn't know how to deal with it. It was incredibly frustrating. He had childishly thought that after a few hours stuff would just… slowly gravitate back to how they'd been. But then again, Blaine had been gone for three weeks. Clearly he was very upset about what happened.

Kurt reached his hand out and touched Blaine's cheek. Blaine's hazel eyes met his blue ones and Kurt gave him a weak smile. "I love you, Blaine."

"I know… I love you too, Kurt." Blaine whispered, turning his face slightly and kissing Kurt's wrist.

They sat that way for a few seconds, Kurt's hand on his face and Blaine leaning his face into Kurt's arm, until there was a very quiet knock on the door partially opened door. Blaine instantly straightened and busied himself with taking a sip of his soda.

"Kurt, I'd like to talk to you alone. When you're done eating." Burt sighed.

"I do—."

Blaine poked him rather hard in his side and gave him a look. Clearly the tension had gotten to Blaine as much as it had to Carole and Finn in the few days he had been home. Well, fine. If they were both going to team up against him, Kurt guessed he would have to do it. He may as well have gotten it over anyway. It was really getting rather ridiculous.

"Fine. We can talk. I'll finish my food later if Blaine doesn't eat it all."

"I don't like the kind of pizza you like anyway, so no worries there." Blaine said softly, offering him a half smile. "I won't eat it."

Kurt patted his leg gently before getting up and following his dad out of his room, feeling as though he was marching to his death. At the same time, though, he wanted it over. He wanted things to go back to normal because he really did miss his dad. Burt sat at the kitchen table looking extremely stressed out. He rubbed his forehead as Kurt sat down across from him.

"What?"

Burt sighed. "Look, Kurt… I'm sorry that I said the things I said to you the other day. I lost my temper with you and I shouldn't have. Sometimes it is just so hard to get things through to you because you're so damn stubborn. That is something you get from me… I was very hard on you, kid… but someone had to say it. I can't sit by and let you ruin something as amazing as you and Blaine just because you're too young to see how special it is yet. Because it's real special, Kurt."

The last thing he expected was an apology from his father because, frankly, he didn't deserve it. Kurt just looked away, feeling his stomach knot up. He was trying to forget all of the horrible, yet also true, things that his father had said. Some of them may have been slightly exaggerated—no. His father had been spot on. He had to admit it; otherwise, he wouldn't accept it and change.

"I'm your father. I'm always going to be here for you, kid. But part of my job is to teach you lessons so you can be a better man. And I'm not going to not say something to you because it'll hurt your feelings. Those things are usually the things that are the most important. It's my job to… to tell you the good and the bad. I can't sugarcoat everything for you anymore. You're not a little boy, Kurt. In four months you'll be moving out on your own and that doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to make sure you're ready. There's no time to tiptoe around stuff anymore, son. You're an adult now. As hard as it may be for you—and for me—to admit. And this stuff with Blaine, you've got to work damn hard at it. Because both of you have to take care of each other soon. There won't be any I'm only 18s. There will be you and him down in Cincinnati alone. You've got to be grown up enough to do that. There's stuff you've got to know."

Kurt bit his lip, listening very carefully. He knew he still had a lot of growing up to do. He knew there was stuff he still needed to learn, to get, before he moved out of the house.

"I love you, Kurt. No one will ever love you the way that I have or the way that your mother did. Your mother would have handled our conversation a few nights ago much better than me… she always handled this kind of stuff better. But unfortunately I'm what you're left with. I'm not great, son, but I try."

"I know, Dad." He said softly.

"You have taught me so much about what it means to be a man, Kurt. You are so strong and so brave. The things that you have to deal with every day. How you can go out on dates with Blaine in Lima, Ohio and still hold his hand. That takes real courage."

It didn't take courage. It was what was natural to him. When they walked around, it was like there was a magnetic pull between their hands. They didn't care what people said or thought. They needed to be close to each other in some way and, in many ways, holding hands with Blaine meant even more than sex did. Holding hands was much more of an emotional bond. Sex was lovely, it really was. But it was more of a physical need.

"I've got to talk to you about your Aunt Paige, Kurt… about what I did. But you've got to know that never, for one minute, did I ever not accept you. You're my son and I would never think the things about you that I said and thought about her twenty years ago. You've got to know that first because it's important. I have always accepted you and loved you, Kurt. That will never change."

Kurt briefly met his father's eyes and nodded. He was not going to like this conversation very much. At the same time, though, he felt like it was one he needed to hear.

"I'm a different person now, Kurt. You… you taught me a lot. Even before I knew you were gay… just being your father and loving something so unconditionally taught me a lot. Because when you were born and Elizabeth and I didn't know if you were going to make it… nothing like this mattered. You were our son and we just—we wanted you healthy and that's all. We wanted you healthy and to bring you home and to love you unconditionally. That's what we did. Your mother was better at it than me and she… she did help me see that I couldn't try to make you join those sports clubs and stuff, but I only did that because I wanted you to make friends. I wanted you to be happy."

"I know, Dad…" Kurt repeated.

"Kurt, when I was fourteen I came home from football practice and… I saw your Aunt Paige on the couch with a girl… they were kissing. Paige had a boyfriend at the time—that's what she told us at least. I walked in and she was just kissing this girl."

He looked back up at his father. "And what did you do?"

"Her boyfriend was on the soccer team and we had mutual friends… I got his address from one of them and I went and… told him." Burt stood and crossed the room, going to the sink. He stared out the window as he spoke. "Paige didn't know I'd seen her. She had no idea, neither of them did, that I had seen them. Your aunt was a junior and the girl she was kissing, her name was Sarah, and she was a senior and a cheerleader—who was dating someone else on the football team. You have to understand, Kurt, that it was Lima, Ohio and you just didn't do that. I had never even seen a gay person before. On the football team we'd go around calling people faggots for not playing hard enough, we'd make fun of being gay. And to find out that my own sister was one? My older sister who was everybody's favorite was… a dyke? I was disgusted."

Kurt flinched, scooting all the way back in his chair and quickly looking away from his father, whom he had watched even as he went to the sink. Those words did not fit in his father's mouth. That was like whenever Blaine, always dapper, got angry and said curse words.

Burt took a deep breath, still staring out the window and now looking angry. "I was pissed, Kurt. I was fourteen, trying to be popular, on the football team. What she was doing was wrong and all I saw was my popularity rushing down the drain. I was stupid, Kurt. I was stupid."

"What happened?" Maybe Kurt didn't want to know, though, really. His stomach was twisted in all kinds of knots still, only it was getting worse, and he felt very anxious.

"That night I went home and… and I didn't say anything. I just went to my room. Paige had no idea when she walked into school the next morning… but you know how fast word travels at McKinley. People pushed her around and called her those names that they call you." He sighed heavily. "The girl Sarah got it worse. Paige's boyfriend's name was Chad and Sarah dated Chad's best friend, who was on the football team. Sarah's best friend, who dated another one of Chad's friends, took it really bad and she cut off Sarah's hair and… the cheerleaders roughed her up pretty bad. She left that day before lunch and she never came back…" he shook his head, turning around and facing his son. "I don't think Paige even saw her again after that."

Kurt promptly looked away again, not able to handle seeing his dad. He was not hearing this. Not from his father, who had stormed down to McKinley countless times on his behalf. His father had not caused that to happen to someone. There was no way. But suddenly he thought back. Was Burt really avoiding his grandmother when he refused to let him go see The Sound of Music with his aunts? Was this why had Burt been so quick to leave whenever they drove to see Taylor and Paige, whether it be a birthday party or Christmas dinner? Was this why the siblings never hugged each other before they left? Why Taylor had constantly played a much bigger role in his life than his own biological aunt, because his aunt was jealous of how well Burt treated him when he'd done awful things to her? Now, his aunt Paige had never been rude to him. She bought him nice gifts, took him out, and had chats with him on the phone, but Taylor had been the first one to have a chat with him about being gay, when he was thirteen. Taylor offered to buy him books about coming out to his father, she offered to buy him books about sex (he always turned those down, obviously), she constantly checked on him to make sure he was dealing with everything okay. There were constant texts and phone calls from Taylor checking up on him, even to this day. Well, there had been until Paige's visit.

Burt, who had turned to face Kurt and fallen silent, began to speak again. "Paige caught on real quick that I… that I had caused it. She's real smart, you know. She always has been way too smart and way too loud mouthed for her own good. She cornered me in the hallway and shouted at me, saying she knew that I had done this, that I had forced…" he sighed, as if it was getting harder to talk. "That I had forced that girl out of school with what I said and that I had rui… ruined her life. That Sarah would have nowhere to go because with her hair gone she'd have to tell her parents what had really happened and that… that her parents would kick her out."

Kurt glanced up, meeting his father's eyes, and then looked away again.

"I pushed her. I pushed Paige and shouted that yes, I had done it, and that I was… glad that I'd done it. And that what she was doing was… was wrong and that she was going to hell for her sins. I pushed my own sister and shouted that and anyone in the school who didn't know sure knew after that."

Kurt took a deep breath. He couldn't decide whether to be angry or sad. All he knew was that he'd just lost almost all of the respect he'd ever had for his father. He spoke slowly. "And what did you do then?"

"Kurt, isn't that enough?"

"What did you do then?"

"I went home from school and I told Dad."

Kurt covered his face with his hands. That was the worst thing Burt could have done, going to his father.

"Dad was furious, Kurt. You know how Christian he is. He packed up some of her things and kicked Paige out when walked through the door. She went to stay with this girl that she knew from work. Mom called her after a few days and she… came home. She came home and mom adjusted. Dad eventually adjusted. I… didn't. I just couldn't. I could not deal with the fact that my sister was that way." He took a deep breath. "Mom was so mad at me after the shock wore off. She told me I was a terrible brother for what I did to her and I don't think Dad has ever fully forgiven me. School continued to be awful for her for… well, for the rest of high school. The first few weeks were the worst, but she… she always came home with bruises and a split lip or a bloody nose. That… didn't go away. And I wasn't… I didn't accept it, Kurt. Paige and I basically pretended the other one didn't exist. We never talked, not at dinner. I didn't even go to her highs school graduation. I… I let my friends do that to her. I never once stood up for her. In fact, I thought she deserved everything that she got."

Kurt didn't look up from his hands. He wanted to cry, he really wanted to cry. He was trying very hard not to.

"I almost lost your mother over it. We met my sophomore year, when Paige was a senior. Liz always stood up for Paige. They became good friends after we started dating. She didn't really know anything about Liz because she transferred to McKinley in the middle of our sophomore year. I don't know why she even stayed with me after she found out all of the horrible things that I did to Paige and that I let other people do to… It caused a lot of fights. We broke up once or twice over it… I'm sorry, Kurt. If I could take any of the things I did back, I would. I… was hoping you wouldn't find out. That's why I wanted Blaine to get you out of there, because… because I don't want you to feel like you can't come to me, kid. I don't want you to hate me for what I did. I'm a completely different person, Kurt. I was a kid back then… I did some terrible things, but that's not me now. I haven't been that way for a very, very, very, very long time."

"You ruined that girl's life, dad." Kurt said slowly.

"And do you think I don't feel bad about it every day? Do you think I have not thought of that every time you've come home, upset, or with a bruise on your shoulder from getting slammed into a locker?"

"You tried to ruin Aunt Paige's life. She's your sister."

"Kurt—"

"Is that why I couldn't go stay with them over the summers?" he finally met his father's eyes. "Is that why we never go to the family reunions when they're at her house? Did you know Aunt Taylor back then? Did you do that to her too?"

"Your Aunt Taylor… they got together right after Paige got out of high school, maybe even a little before that. They broke up shortly after you were born and got back together when you were three. But, no. I didn't know your Aunt Taylor when I was in high school and I didn't see your Aunt Paige, apart from Christmases, until you were born."

"So did you judge her too, then? When they met, did you think that they were going to go to hell? When you heard they were dating?"

"Kurt…" Burt sighed and massaged his forehead.

"Answer me!"

"Yes. Yes, I thought they were going to go to hell."

Kurt let out a noise between a scoff and a groan, looking away. His jaw clenched. "So do you think that Blaine and I are going to go to hell? Do you think that I don't deserve to get married and have kids? Or that I shouldn't have the same rights as you and mom did? Or you and Carole?"

"I want those things for you, Kurt." His father said firmly, moving so he was standing in front of the boy.

"Then why didn't Paige deserve it?" Kurt looked him right in the face.

"I was raised going to church every Wednesday and Sunday, kid. When I was little I was told that being gay was wrong, that it was a sin. Now I'm sorry it took me a long time to come around." Burt said slowly, hating saying that to his son. Especially when Kurt's mother's eyes glared back at him, just like in the arguments he and Elizabeth had once had about the same exact things.

"Don't pin this on religion, Dad! It wasn't about religion. It was about you… you thinking that being gay is disgusting." Kurt felt sick even repeating what his dad had said. "Am I disgusting, dad? Does the thought of Blaine and me kissing disgust you too?"

"I have been very accepting of you and of Blaine! I would not have willingly invited him to live here if I was not accepting of you two!"

"Does it disgust you?"

"I don't think about it, Kurt!" Burt threw his hands in the air. "I don't think about it, okay? I don't think about Finn kissing that crazy girl either! You two want to go make out, go for it! Same with Finn and What's-Her-Name! As long as you aren't doing it with me in the room, I'm fine!"

"So what do you think when I hold his hand? Does it make you want to cringe? When the four of us go out to eat and Blaine grabs by hand as we walk into the restaurant, does that make you uncomfortable? Do you think we're faggots or wish someone was around to put us in our place?" Kurt asked, raising his voice. He wasn't sure if it was loud enough for Blaine or Carole to hear upstairs, but it was definitely louder.

"No! No, I don't! I do not want anyone to do anything to you or Blaine! I want you to be happy; I want Blaine to be happy! Kurt, I am completely okay with you being gay. I let the boy sleep in your bed, for God's sake! Do you think I don't assume what happens at night? I'm not a complete idiot! You two are dating, have been dating for a long time, and are moving out. A guy can put two and two together and get four! If I had such a problem with it, he'd be on the couch or in the guest room or in Finn's room! Or, if I was that uncomfortable with it, he wouldn't be living under my roof!"

The initial thought was, Oh god, he knows I have sex. Deny it, deny it. But that was quickly replaced with more anger. "So why was it such a problem for Aunt Paige to be gay? If you're so accepting of me?"

"Because you're my son. Because I'm not some high school boy more worried about popularity than the things that matter. You can sit here all night and ask me these questions, Kurt. I can do nothing but say that I am sorry, that I was wrong, and that I have always and will always accept you. So, I will say it again and listen very carefully. I am sorry for what I did, I was very wrong and unfortunately that is something that I cannot take back—I would if I could, Kurt. I regret what I did to your sister every day of my life. Every single day, Kurt."

Kurt just stared at him, face now emotionless.

Burt continued. "And I will always accept you and I will always fight for you to have the same rights as anyone else. I know you're upset with me right now and I know that… that you'll have to… do whatever it is that you do when you're mad at me. What I did was wrong, Kurt. I know that. Everyone knows that. But I can't change it. What can I do? It was twenty years ago, kid. All that I can do now is accept you. I can try to sleep better at night knowing that while I caused one kid to be pushed from her home, that I'm able to take in another one and ensure that they don't land on the streets like that girl may have. I want Blaine here, Kurt. Taking that kid in is like a second chance for me, all right? I didn't just let him move in to justify something I did twenty years ago, though. I care about that boy a hell of a lot. I wouldn't have taken him in otherwise."

"Well I care about him a lot too." Kurt muttered, not knowing what else to say. He hadn't expected Blaine to be brought into the conversation.

Burt pointed towards the stairs. "I want you to be able to marry Blaine if you want, Kurt. I want you two to be able to buy a house together, to have kids, to raise a family. Twenty years ago did I feel the same way? No, I probably would not have. But I do now. You can be mad, kiddo. You have every right to be because what I did was wrong—dead wrong. I don't know what else I can say, Kurt. That's where it stands. You know now. So… if you want to talk more, fine. I'll take the hit for what I did. I deserve it."

Kurt stood. He didn't do so in a dramatic fashion. He didn't give his dad a nasty look as he did so either. He just stood like he would any other normal way. "I don't want to talk right now… I kind of just want to think… or something. I want to go to my room."

His father put a hand on his shoulder. "I love you, Kurt. I do."

"I know, Dad… I love you too. But I really… just don't know what to say to you right now."

Burt patted his shoulder and squeezed it, looking stressed out. "I understand that. We'll talk more later if you want. It doesn't have to be tonight or even this week… but we will whenever you're ready to."

"'Night." Kurt muttered, and went up the stairs. His dad was right. They would definitely have to talk about this more. He sat outside his room for several minutes, not quite ready to see Blaine. Or anyone, really.

At first he'd been so upset because his aunts had always been people he looked up to. He didn't know Hiram and Leroy until he was almost sixteen years old. His aunts, though, he had gotten to see generally seven or eight times a year. They kept up with him. And when he started to realize that he was different, that he was gay, he'd really looked up to them.

It probably started when he was eight or nine. He and his aunt hadn't talked about him being gay until he was thirteen, but he'd been battling strange feelings long before that. He didn't like to play power rangers or cowboys. He wanted to have tea parties and play with dolls. He'd been different for a very, very long time, and his aunts were different too. He could just tell. He didn't know why, but the idea of two people of the same sex together had never… confused him. Bryden laughed and called him silly for being gay, but when he was that age he'd never thought it was strange. In fact, he had thought that being with someone of the same sex was a lot more comfortable. Was comfortable the right word?

He looked at his parents wedding pictures with his mom a lot, but Kurt had never been able to picture himself marrying a woman. Or kissing a woman, living with a woman. He had told his mom that he was never going to get married and have kids because it was weird. Bryden probably thought the idea of marrying a man was comfortable, while the idea of marrying a woman was weird. Could he really have known, deep down, that he was gay that early? Well, he certainly had known he was different that early. Even if he hadn't known what it meant.

But he looked up to them. He looked up to Taylor and Paige because as he got older, as he learned more about himself, he knew that was what he wanted. To have a boyfriend, to live with him, to be comfortable with him, to take him to family dinners the way Paige always brought Taylor. He loved when Taylor and Paige would take him out to the zoo or shopping randomly. He liked to just watch them interact with each other and he would go home and pretend he had a boyfriend and that they shared those smiles, those looks. The quick kisses to the cheek, the hand holding.

He wanted that so much and they became his role models. It was something to work for.

And now he found that in Blaine… and Taylor and Paige were over?

Just like that?

How was that even possible? They had always seemed so happy. You weren't with someone for fifteen years and then like, "Oh! Never mind, see you later!" If Paige hadn't wanted to get married, fine. Why did they have to break up? If that was the case, shouldn't the marriage thing have been discussed… oh, maybe 15 years earlier?

And say he and Blaine moved in together. They were happy, had their demon dog family, and then… they were no more.

What if he and Blaine broke up? Because Taylor and Paige seemed to be so comfortable in their relationship. Yet… yet Kurt and Blaine's was currently very frayed around the edges. He didn't even know if he could trust Blaine to be completely honest with him about small things, so it wasn't like he could casually say, "Hey, if I propose to you in 15 years are you going to say no?" He couldn't even trust Blaine to be completely honest about the reasoning behind his sex life as a teenager and that was something in the past.

He hadn't even moved onto the other thing that was bothering him, his dad and aunt's relationship when the door opened and Blaine, on his way to the bathroom, practically tripped over Kurt. His eyes widened, he did some extremely fancy footwork that would have made Wes proud to avoid stepping on the boy, and then he arched his eyebrow. "The door wasn't locked, was it?"

"No." Kurt said softly, just blinking up at him from the floor.

"Uh… I really have to pee, but I'll be right back."

Kurt waved him on, leaning his head back against the wall. Blaine ruffled his hair, looking concerned, and then headed off to the bathroom. Two minutes later he took a seat on the floor next to Kurt, also leaning his head against the back of the wall.

"I have a splitting headache." He admitted.

Kurt turned his head so that it was still leaning against the wall but that he was also looking at Blaine. "Are you okay? Want me to get you some medicine?"

"No, I'll be fine." Blaine turned his head too and gave him a small smile. "I was reading Thoreau."

"That would give anyone a headache." Kurt moved his head again so he was staring straight ahead.

"He's definitely not my favorite; I'll be the first to admit that." He scratched his arm and sat up. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." He couldn't talk about it with Blaine. They were still half arguing. Besides, Wes had said that Blaine really needed a huge break from drama for a while. He didn't want to burden the boy. He really did have enough going on.

Blaine spoke softly. "Kurt, something is wrong. I want to know."

"I don't want to stress you out, Blaine. It's really not a big deal." Kurt reached over and rested his hand on Blaine's thigh. "How are you?"

Blaine looked like he was going to protest, but then he just relaxed and laid his head on Kurt's shoulder. "Fine. I guess." He shrugged, but after a few silent minutes he spoke again. "I'm a little stressed out, actually."

"About what?" Kurt wrapped one arm around Blaine and re-situated them so Blaine was half curled up with his head on Kurt's chest.

Blaine closed his eyes and Kurt kissed the top of his head. "Just… everything."

"Care to elaborate on that?" Kurt hugged him closer, hoping he wasn't doing too much. Blaine didn't seem to mind the snuggling at all, though, as he shifted even closer and grabbed Kurt's free hand.

"I just… I've got a lot going on right now, Kurt. I'm worried about you… I wish I could lock you away so you'd never have to think about those people again." He said, eyes still closed. "I wish you didn't have to deal with any of the stuff you do… and I'm scared."

"Why are you scared?" Kurt rubbed his back with the hand that was not being squeezed in Blaine's larger one.

"Because the last time I moved out it was on my parent's money. What if I lose my jobs and we can't pay rent? Or what if one of our cars breaks down? We can't take one another to school. Our schools are too far away and in completely different directions."

"Dad will get us a rental." Kurt said simply. "That's the good thing about dating me. Dad can have your car fixed in no time and in the meantime, he can get awesome rental cars. He's got tons of connections."

"I didn't think of that." Blaine said softly.

"Yeah. I totaled my car once. When I first got it. Well, it wasn't totaled, but it was pretty close to it."

"How'd you manage that?" Blaine looked up slightly.

"I'm not telling. You'll say I'm a bad driver." Kurt gave him a smile.

"You ran through a red light while changing playlists on your iPod, didn't you?" Blaine laid his head back down, snuggling.

"How do you do that?"

"Cause I know you, Kurt." His voice was muffled by Kurt's chest. "I know you."

Kurt kissed the top of his head and stared down at him. Somehow, when Blaine said stuff like that, it just stuck with him. I know you. You move me. I love you. And especially any time Blaine said my love. That was a one way ticket straight to Kurt's heart. He had always thought that nicknames were dumb and fake, tacky, but when Blaine said them… well, he understood what all the hype was about. And it didn't matter that tons of boys probably said my love, because when Blaine said it it was special. Blaine was special. And he was really quite handsome, even when he was half asleep with his hair sticking out all over the place and wearing King's Island pajama pants. "Blaine, why didn't you sing in the Christmas show this year? I thought you had, like, every year since you were eight."

Blaine shrugged. "I don't know. My church is the one that always set me up with the shows and I haven't really gone since I left Dalton..."

"You went to church?" Kurt questioned, taken aback.

"Of course. All the politician's families go to church and act like saints." He made himself more comfortable. "Makes for lovely background information when campaigning, Blaine. It was okay, though. My pastor was really cool. It was David's church too. That's how we met."

"I thought you two met at Dalton…" he kissed the top of his head again.

"Mmh, no. We weren't close friends or anything until Dalton, but we knew each other. He lived, like, five houses down from me. So we'd hang out some times. And Wes lived on the other side of town. I didn't know Wes until right before I transferred… David brought him over to meet me. So I'd feel more comfortable going into Dalton. I'd know two people….Then we all became really good friends."

"What else is stressing you out?"

"My parents." He heaved a big sigh, sounding like a little kid. "I just… I just know they're going to try something." He gestured as he sat up straight, hitting his knee. "I know it, Kurt, because that's how they are. They wait until everything is good and then—and then they just…" he gestured again. "Come down on me. They just… mess it up."

"Hey…" Kurt wrapped his arms around him again, pulling him close. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen. Your car is yours, so they can't hold that over you, right?"

"Right." Blaine mumbled into his shoulder, frowning. "I bought it."

"We'll change your phone number so they don't have a way to contact you."

"It's on their account. I'm surprised they haven't shut it off, to be honest. They're probably using it to track me. That way when I least expect it they can push the red button to make the chip in my head explode."

Kurt just arched his eyebrow. "When you're grumpy, Blaine, you have a very active imagination."

"No. I wouldn't be surprised if they put a chip in my head. My mother is crazy."

"Is that where you get it from?" Kurt asked sweetly.

"Probably." Blaine admitted, biting his lip.

"They won't mess anything up, Blaine… there is nothing for them to mess up."

"There's us." The older boy mumbled quietly.

"If they tried to come between us, they would be very stupid. Because it would be wasted time." Kurt whispered back, pulling him closer.

His boyfriend smiled a bit and then frowned, moving out of his arms. "You really hurt my feelings, Kurt… I know that some of it was me being overly sensitive but…" he pursed his lips together. "I don't know. Never mind."

"You should just say it." Kurt said softly. "It might make you feel better."

"I mean, it's just that my feelings were hurt. I felt like what you said was really insensitive and I just… I really hope that every single time we have an argument my past doesn't get brought up. Because I'm insecure about it. It... it bothers me that I belittled myself that way, Kurt. I don't like to even think about it myself, let alone to have someone else bring it up to use against me… it makes me wish I hadn't told you. It makes me feel like I can't come to you with certain things."

"You have to understand," Kurt looked him in the eyes. "That what I said… I didn't even consider your past. That's what people think about gay people. That we all have sex and get AIDS and then die. You have had sex. A lot of it. Big deal. To me, that doesn't automatically mean I think you have AIDS. When I said that I was using the "gay AIDS" stereotype thing in a very… bad argument. But I was never insinuating that you have AIDS or you might have AIDS or that I thought you were going to get AIDS. I was saying that to make my dad sound bad… and it hurt your feelings because you took it in another way. I'm sorry."

Blaine nodded a bit.

"I can see why you would now. But then I never would have thought you would have taken it that way. Because while you may or may not sit and think about your past… I mean, I've thought about it some but it's not like its right in the back of my brain every minute of every day. That's why I got so upset when you got upset. Because I didn't equate me saying that with you being upset. And then you wouldn't tell me why you were upset. You expected me to just know… but I'm not a mind reader, Blaine. If you go off for fifteen minutes and come back and don't tell me you've been crying, how am I going to know? I wish I could read your mind…" Kurt spoke very quietly and gently. "If you're upset you need to tell me. Because there are a lot of times you'll be quiet when you aren't upset. Sometimes it's hard for people to differentiate, Blaine. Granted I probably should have gathered something was wrong when you took so long but I was kind of freaking out. Apparently, as Wes told me, you have a very big problem coming to people."

Blaine sighed. Wes would go and do something like that.

"You need to know that you can come to me when you're upset. I just… automatically go to you because you're always there. You usually ask. But I'm a much more expressive person. People can tell my mood just by looking at me. When you're happy you're very expressive, Blaine. Your smile can light up an entire room. But when you're bored or upset or tired… those faces aren't as expressive. And I'm going to need a little help learning to read them better. So you need to come to me when you're upset. I want to be here for you too."

"You've got so much going on. You don't need my stress too."

Kurt nudged him. "So you can take all the stress, but I can't? That's not very fair, Blaine Anderson. One would think this wasn't a relationship of equality."

"I… don't like talking about stuff. It makes life difficult."

"Okay." Kurt sat up straight and moved Blaine into an upright position as well. He took both of Blaine's hands. "Now I'm not saying this is an end to… this lovely and exciting stage of awkwardness that we have going on. I know it's going to take some time still."

Blaine nodded, eyes on him.

"But I am going to promise to be less insensitive, less judgmental, less childish, and less unobservant. I'm going to try. It might… take some time."

"Okay." Blaine whispered.

"And you are going to promise to come to me when you're feeling upset or… or stressed, or tired, or sickly, or annoyed, or mad, and especially if you're feeling scared. You're also going to promise to open up to me more and to let me carry some of the stress too. And you're going to promise to stop getting up early to take me to school. I will be fine and you need your rest. You stay up late enough working on homework and stuff."

"But—"

"If we're ever going to last, this can't be a one-sided emotional relationship… maybe that's not the way to put it." Kurt stared ahead for several seconds. "What I mean is… we both have to be open to each other… we've got to tell each other everything… You can help me carry my stress… but only if I get to help you carry yours. Does that make more sense?"

Blaine just buried his face in Kurt's chest, pulling the younger boy close.

"I want to be there as much for you as you are for me, Blaine… but I can't do that if you don't let me. All right? You've got to help me out here and hold my hand through all of this because I've never done this before and I'm really bad at it."

The older boy nodded into his chest.

"Let's get you into bed. We'll watch The Lion King until we fall asleep." Kurt kissed the top of his head once again.

"I've still got some homework."

"Your class isn't until 5:30 at night. You can do it tomorrow. Tonight we're going to just relax, watch a movie, and cuddle. Well, I need to finish my pizza in the middle of that somewhere, too."

"All right." Blaine gave a resigned sigh and stood up. "My head still hurts anyway. I wouldn't get too much done even if I worked on it."

Kurt accepted the hand that his boyfriend held out and allowed Blaine to carefully pull him up. "Get on in bed and I'll start the movie. Don't step on your laptop like you almost always do."

Blaine climbed into the middle of the bed and spread out, watching Kurt fumble through his massive DVD collection (which had always been strategically organized in the past but there was no point now that Finn lived with him) until the younger boy let out an "Aha!" of triumph, put the DVD in the player, and laid next to him.

"Thanks for listening to me earlier, Kurt." Blaine whispered, curling up against his boyfriend.

Kurt felt a little tug at his heart. "I'm always here to listen to you, Blaine. But you've very welcome, babe."

Blaine kissed his arm and smiled. "You're still my love. I hope you know that. You always will be."

Kurt smiled back, and this one met his eyes. "Good. You'll always be mine too."

Blaine snuggled up to Kurt and watched the Lion King, eyes glued to the screen, until he eventually fell asleep half way through. Kurt very slowly sat up and eased Blaine, who had moved half onto him, onto the bed. Blaine whimpered softly, arm moving around and trying to find him. Kurt leaned down and kissed his cheek, immediately stopping his boyfriend's whimpers. The younger boy turned the DVD player and TV off, plugged Blaine's laptop up to its charger, turned the lights off, and then crawled into bed.

"Good night, Blaine."

"Go'ight, 'Urt." Blaine mumbled sleepily, scooting right back into his previous position.

"I love you, Blaine." Kurt ruffled his hair.

"Mmh loves and kisses." Blaine kissed his shoulder lazily before letting out a snore.

Things were going to be okay.

***WBUCT***

Two days passed after the boys' belated Valentine's Day dinner. The two had stayed curled up in bed with Chinese food while watching Lady and the Tramp. As Kurt had explained it to Mercedes the next morning, Blaine got his junk food and Kurt got his favorite Disney movie. It was a rather fitting compromise for the two, in his opinion. They hadn't gotten out of bed until nearly ten that night when they went to get their frozen yogurt (and yes, Blaine did indeed put sprinkles, hot fudge, and marshmallows on his, by the way).

The following day the two had been in the middle of a rather heated make out session—shirts were off and pants were being unbuttoned—when Kurt's Aunt Taylor had called. Kurt had never been more annoyed at a human being in his life, but the second he saw who was calling his eyes had lit up and he sat up straight. He hadn't talked to Taylor since his aunts' break up and he had been worried that he'd never hear from her again. As Kurt chattered on excitedly to his aunt as if nothing had ever happened, Blaine tried to keep kissing his neck. Kurt had let him keep at this for a few minutes before he got a little too distracted and his pants got a little too tight, so he had to gently push his lover away.

That particular phone conversation brought both Blaine and Kurt to a small restaurant that was midway between Lima and Columbus, where they had decided to meet Taylor who would be driving straight through to a convention for work. Kurt often met Taylor for dinner when she would be driving through, but he was very nervous for a few reasons. Firstly, he was worried because although he and his aunt had talked on the phone, he had not actually seen her since the break up and he didn't know how to act. Secondly, it was kind of a big thing bringing Blaine to something like this. Sometimes he still got nervous and excited over sharing new things with his boyfriend, although that was probably silly at this point in their relationship.

"Are we going to go in?"

Kurt took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. Suddenly everything that could possibly go wrong at this dinner was going through his head. If Blaine became irrational when it came to people messing with Kurt, then Kurt became irrational when it came down to interactions with people. He had always been that way, really, to an extent. Lately it had just become a little more intense.

Blaine leaned forward and looked in his eyes. "Come on. You already said that's her car over there. She's your aunt; I don't know why you're being all nervous, silly."

Kurt tore his eyes away from Blaine's and looked at his aunt's empty car that was parked next to theirs. It was weird to see that car. Taylor and Paige had always taken Paige's car to family events because it got better mileage, so he had really only seen the car on the rare occasion that he spent a few days with them over summer vacation. "Blaine, this is weird for me, okay? I don't know what to say."

"You didn't know what to say before you talked to her on the phone either and that turned out okay." Blaine pointed out, shrugging out of his jacket. They were sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant, just sitting in the front seat. And they had been sitting there for quite some time. "But… but I don't know what to say. I don't want to say the wrong thing and upset her. What if it makes her sad seeing the two of us together?"

"It won't, Kurt. I promise. At any rate, she invited me too, you know? Obviously she's not worried about it."

Kurt put his hand on the door handle and began to open the door, but then pulled his hand away. He was being completely irrational and anxious over nothing. The longer he sat in the car, the more knotted his stomach became. "I just…"

Blaine hopped out of the car, walked to the passenger side and pulled the door open. "She's sitting in there all alone, Kurt. Come on. It's your aunt. Your aunt who you've been excited to see since she called last night. You couldn't stop talking about it all morning." He held out his hand. "It will be fine. You're being silly."

Kurt stared at the hand and then took it, allowing Blaine to pull him from the BMW. Blaine squeezed his hand in that familiar way that was just Blaine and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Just by holding his hand, Blaine had managed to make him feel about twenty times better than he had before. How did Blaine Anderson do that? "Okay, let's go."

Blaine walked to the door with him and, of course, held the door open. Kurt smiled and walked through, holding it open until Blaine walked through. When Blaine made it through he closed the door and pressed a kiss to the older boy's cheek. It only took the boys two minutes to find Taylor. She was sitting at a table drinking a soda and talking into her phone.

"I don't care what your boyfriend wants you to do. I pay you to run my store when I'm not there. If you want a job, you'll show up tomorrow morning." She said in a stern voice, but smiled happily and waved as Kurt and Blaine sat down across from her. "No, I already told you. I won't be back in New York until Tuesday… well your work schedule is made two weeks in advance, Claire, so I think that's a personal problem."

"She runs a bookstore." Kurt whispered to Blaine, seeing his slightly confused look.

"Owns." Taylor corrected, covering the bottom of her phone.

"That's so cool!" Blaine said excitedly, putting the jacket that he had brought in with him in case it got cold on the back of his chair. Of course he would be excited about that. The boy had a stack of eight books waiting to be read sitting on the corner of Kurt's desk. Anything concerning literature excited Blaine.

"I don't know why I didn't tell you before. I guess sometimes I think we're so connected that you automatically know everything about me." Kurt gave his boyfriend a small smile, already feeling better. Taylor sounded the exact same way that she always sounded on the phone with her employees. Even when he was younger and out with Taylor and Paige, Taylor would often have to take phone calls in which she would put on her stern manager voice because, as she put it, everything goes to hell when a manager leaves their store. Maybe he was actually doing okay. Kurt was still trying to come to terms with the fact that they were broken up, but his aunt seemed perfectly fine. He found himself unsure if that was a good thing or not.

Taylor finally snapped her cell phone shut, stood, and pulled Kurt into a hug. "You two are so cute. All opening car doors and kissing and it's just too much to take. I think part of my insides turned to goo just witnessing it."

Kurt blushed a bit but hugged her back tightly. "I miss you."

"Aw, I miss you too, Kurtsie." She pulled away from the hug and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Blaine, you've been taking very good care of him. He looks loads better than he did on Thanksgiving. Oh, Kurt, I worried about you for weeks after that. You couldn't even wake up enough to properly tell us bye. It was so sad, sweetheart."

"I'm doing much better." Kurt said truthfully. And, now that he was seeing Taylor and she seemed fine, he felt even better than he had before. He bit his lip and took his seat next to Blaine. Blaine's hand rested on his leg and Kurt felt a small thrill run through his body. "How are you?"

"No, no, I want to hear about you first. Both of you. Your grammy told me that you two were fighting because of Paige's… erm… drunken fit."

"You still talk to Grammy?"

"You know your grammy. Once you're in the family, you're stuck there. She calls me about once a week to check up on me, see how I'm doing." She kind of waved her hand and shrugged, pausing when the waiter came to ask what the two boys wanted. After the teen left, she smiled brightly. "And don't worry. I can tell you are. I'm fine, Kurt." She looked at Blaine. "I'm sure you already know this, but he is such a worrier."

"But you have to be upset, Aunt Taylor…" Kurt whispered, not giving Blaine a chance to answer. "You two were together for 15 years, and even more before that. I'm upset."

Blaine squeezed his leg reassuringly.

"Baby, there is no reason for you to be upset. Nothing is going to change for you. I'm still going to see you equally as much as I have for the past fifteen years. I waited a while to call because… well, I knew that you were upset and that you and Blaine were fighting. I didn't want to make it even worse… but we're going to talk as much on the phone as we did before too. I promise."

It wasn't just that, though. He had been afraid he'd lose touch with his aunt, but he was still holding onto the fact that they had been his first role model relationship. And now they were done. So, what did that say for Kurt and Blaine? Would they end in fifteen years? Or sooner than that?

"What's wrong, Kurtsie? You look like you want to cry." She stood and scooted her chair by him, sitting on his other side and taking his hand.

"It's silly." Kurt sighed. He hadn't even told Blaine about how long he'd looked up to his aunts and their relationship, although Blaine probably suspected something of the sort.

"Anything that upsets you is not silly until it's not upsetting anymore. So, out with it."

"You two have to get back together, okay?" Kurt suddenly pleaded, although both Burt and Blaine had specifically told him to say nothing like that. Blaine's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly. "No. It's not fair. It's not fair that she turned you down. And it's not fair that you gave her an ultimatum. You all have been together too long to break up and you're one of the two gay couples I know that have actually lasted and it's just not fair!"

"Kurt—." Taylor began.

"No. You don't stay with someone that long if you don't really love them. Tell her you'll take her back, Aunt Taylor. I know you love her and I know that she loves you!"

"Kurt, please." Blaine whispered.

"No." He looked at Blaine, blue eyes huge. "You don't understand, Blaine. If they've been together for this long and break up… what does that mean for us?"

Taylor wrapped an arm around him and spoke in a soft voice. "Your aunt and I have nothing to do with the relationship you have with Blaine. Straight people split up too, Kurt. And it took Paige and me three years to get to how close you and Blaine are now. Everyone can see how deeply in love you two are and it hasn't even been a year yet… " She moved her arm and stroked his hair. "Just because we broke up doesn't mean you and Blaine will."

"B-But what if we do?"

"Honey, you and Blaine are two completely different people. You have no reason to think that you two will ever break up." She kissed the side of his face. "And Paige and I never had to go through the things like you and Blaine have already gone through. That means something, honey. Getting through your attack, through his parents, through your first big fight. All of that bad stuff makes the good stuff more worthwhile. And knowing that you all have gotten through so much stuff at such a young age…well, it's going to make everything else in the future a little more bearable. Because you'll know that you have already been through so much and you're still strong. So your relationship… it can't be compared to mine and Paige's. Paige and I lived in New York City, where there are tons of gay people and acceptance is almost everywhere. It was easier to be us… you and Blaine are special because it's not easy here, it's really hard, and he's still by your side and your still by his."

Kurt sniffled. "It seems like the world is ending."

She laughed and pulled him into another hug. "The world isn't ending, sweetheart."

Kurt leaned into her, frowning. "Just take her back. You love her."

"Sometimes it isn't that easy, Kurt." She kissed his cheek again. "I'm sorry, baby. I know this is hard for you. But just imagine how hard it is for me and for your aunt. We've been together for fifteen years, and two years before that…."

"If you love her, why isn't it that easy?" Kurt challenged.

"Kurt, stop." Blaine whispered, nudging him.

"I don't want to stop, Blaine. This isn't right. If they love each other and can't be together, how can we?"

"Honey, one day you're going to have to open your eyes and see that being dramatic and throwing a fit can't get you everything you want." His aunt whispered. "You have to realize that your aunt and I are 40 years old. Together we made a decision to end our relationship. We could not settle on an agreement, so we ended it. Your aunt and I did that. It affects your aunt and me. I know it hurts but if you spend your entire relationship trying to live up to this image in your head, baby, and then that takes away everything that is special about it."

Kurt sniffled again.

"Now, Blaine, are you planning on breaking up with Kurt any time soon?"

"Of course not." Blaine squeezed Kurt's leg.

"Now, Kurt, if Blaine proposes to you in a lot of years from now, will you say no?"

"No." He whispered.

"I don't know what we're going to do with this poor thing, Blaine." Taylor cooed, rocking Kurt a bit. "He gets to be just pitiful when he's upset, doesn't he?"

"Yes." Blaine nodded, smiling. "I've never seen anyone that can pout quite like him. It's very endearing."

"Don't make fun of me. I'm really upset." Kurt wiped his eyes again and gravitated towards his boyfriend, needing to be closer to him. "I need a hug."

"I've got one to give." Blaine opened his arms and pulled Kurt close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Babe, I've got something else I want to say too really quickly before I have to leave." Taylor sighed. "You're talking to Burt again, right?"

"Yeah… I am." He looked down, almost guiltily. He and his father had indeed had another talk a few days ago about exactly what had happened. It hadn't been a very long discussion or anything. Kurt had told his father that, while he wasn't happy about his actions that Kurt wasn't going to go around being angry at the man. After all, it was his father. The same man that had always stood up for him. He couldn't just write off everything that his dad had done for him because of something in his past.

"Good." Taylor sighed. "I'm so sorry that you had to find out this way… I don't think Burt wanted you to ever know. I disagreed with you being completely unaware… but I don't think that Paige should have gone and did that. It should have been something that Burt sat you down and discussed alone with you…. That way, you wouldn't have gone into it quite so angry."

Kurt nodded a bit. He probably would have felt a lot better about it if his father had come to him first, not only after his aunt had basically shouted it out for everyone to hear. He let himself lean more against his boyfriend and felt Blaine's arms tighten around him as Blaine kissed the back of his shoulder.

"You've got to realize that Burt has always accepted you, sweetie. You're his baby. And that's important. You're his baby. Your aunt… well, she just wanted to start trouble for him because she was upset. And you, unfortunately, played right into that…."

"I probably should have been a little more mature about it." Kurt muttered uncomfortably, looking down. "Well, about a lot of things."

"I think next time something like this happens, you'll handle it admirably. The fact that you just said you were immature about it should clue you in, also, that you need to treat your daddy a little better. Okay? I know he was an awful teenager, but I promise you in twenty years when you're your dad's age, you will think back on stuff you did—maybe even this fight between you and Blaine—and you will cringe right on the spot and be like, 'Why was I so stupid?' I promise. I probably do it almost every day."

"I know… I apologized. And he did too, for not sitting me down on his own and telling me." Kurt said quietly, paying very close attention to his hands. Blaine's hold on him did make him feel a little better, although he was still feeling quite guilty and childish. He hated that, at least at that moment in time, that all of his problems went back to his being childish. "Before I felt like I was handling stuff in such a grown up way… and now… I just feel like an immature kid. This dinner, Dad, and the fight with Blaine.…"

She kissed his cheek again. "You're just growing up. It takes some time. You'll get there eventually and I can guarantee a month after living alone with Blaine, you'll be much more grown up. Perhaps in more ways than one." She winked. "Unless of course, you're already having sex—which I bet you are, by that look on your face—in which case you'll probably have loads more sex, and trust me, that'll make everything a lot more cheerful."

"Oh God." Was all Kurt managed to say, furiously blushing.

"Okay, I hate to say this but I really do have to go… I have to be in Columbus in a few hours and I need to beat the rush." Taylor stood. "Can I have a big hug?"

Kurt pulled out of Blaine's arms and hugged his aunt tightly.

"Call Paige. I know you're mad, but she's your aunt too. She loves you just as much as I do, baby, and she's upset too. She could probably use a little Kurt Chat to cheer her up." She whispered in his ear, squeezing him back. "And don't worry about your relationship with Blaine, okay? You two are going to be fine. I promise."

Kurt nodded numbly, still not sure he believed that. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. I promise we'll keep in touch. Call me after Tuesday, okay? And I'd love to see the new apartment when you two get moved in!" She kissed his cheek and moved to hug Blaine. "It was good to see you, sweetheart."

"You too." Blaine smiled at her.

"Take care of him, okay? And don't let him continue thinking this nonsense with Paige and me has anything to do with you two."

"I'll try."

And then Taylor gave Kurt one last hug and left the restaurant after putting down enough money for all three of their meals that had barely been touched. Kurt sipped at his water, looking torn between wanting to cry and wanting to sleep, although it was only two o'clock.

"Are you ready to go, my love?" Blaine whispered, kissing him on the lips and ignoring the nasty look that an old man across the room sent their way.

"Can you just hug me again and promise you won't leave me?" Kurt asked childishly, blinking up at his boyfriend.

"Of course I can, silly." Blaine slid his arms around Kurt, hugging the smaller boy. "I will never leave you."

"I'll never leave you either." Kurt sniffled, nuzzling his neck.

…

"You know, you could have told me that was why you were so upset about them breaking up." Blaine whispered later that night after they had crawled into bed. The room was pitch black and both boys were lying pressed close, with Kurt's arms tightly around Blaine's neck and Blaine's arms around Kurt's tiny waist.

Kurt leaned over and turned on the lamp, then fell back into his previous position and stared into his boyfriend's eyes. He let his fingers absent-mindedly stroke the back of Blaine's neck and his broad shoulders. "I… felt silly saying it… Taylor was right. I can't try to live up to something else. But I feel like… maybe I do."

"I don't think you were trying to recreate your aunts' relationship, Kurt. I think you just… wanted something like it." Blaine's fingers slipped underneath Kurt's t-shirt (that was actually Blaine's and he'd been looking for it for days) and he made shapes on the small of his younger boyfriend's back.

"I just don't understand it, Blaine… it scares me. They were together so long and now it's just… over." Kurt whispered, blue eyes not straying from his boyfriend's hazel ones. "That's scary."

"It is." Blaine admitted, spelling out I love you with his fingertip. "But I don't think we need to worry about that."

"What if one of us proposed, though? What if I did propose? Or you?"

"If you proposed to me, I would say yes." Blaine whispered, not even blinking.

"If I asked you right now?"

"If you asked right now, I'd ask if you were feeling okay." His boyfriend laughed and Kurt felt himself smile a bit. What he had said was true. Blaine's smile really could light up an entire room.

People thought Kurt was the cute one, but Kurt disagreed. The biggest proof? Blaine was obsessed with Disney—not the television shows, he hated those after about fifteen minutes. But he had a collection of Disney princess movies that would rival an eight year olds' collection. Then there was the way Blaine's hair curled and sometimes gave him the appearance of a much younger teen. He thought it was adorable how that whenever Blaine would get a really big smile, his eyes would get very bright, a caramel brown almost sometimes, and his nose would scrunch up. He also thought it was adorable when Blaine would forfeit his blue jeans and t-shirts (apparently a UK tradition that he had adopted, much to Kurt's displeasure) and he would wear his nicer shirts with cardigans and his converses—especially his purple or his neon green converses, which he didn't wear too much. They were still Kurt's favorites, though, and he often wished that Blaine would wear them more. What was more adorable than a young adult boy with curly hair and a bright smile wearing brightly colored shoes? It was adorable when he would get stressed out over some paper, declaring it had been the worst paper he'd ever written and how he should just change majors or drop out of college, and then he would get said graded paper back with an A+ splattered with compliments and comments on every margin telling him how amazing the essay was. Or how he was actually very good at math, but would never say so out loud to anyone but Kurt. That was adorable too. Blaine was a closet math geek. He loved that his boyfriend was so smart, kind, gorgeous, and, of course, adorable. No, Kurt had to disagree. Sweet Blaine was definitely more adorable.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Kurt?" Blaine suddenly asked suspiciously, pulling him back to reality. Reality was a sad place when it pulled you away from thoughts of the breathtaking Blaine Anderson, Kurt could promise you that much.

"I'd say yes if you asked me right now." Kurt whispered, curling up and resting his head on Blaine's chest. His silly smile didn't leave his face.

"It's going to be a while before we get engaged, Kurt… but it will happen." Blaine whispered back, ruffling his hair and smiling to himself also.

"But what if it doesn't?" he rested his chin on Blaine's chest and tilted his head to look up at him. His smile faltered, but did not completely disappear. He just wanted reassurance, really. He wanted to know that his worrying was for nothing.

"It will. Remember? I've got the plan." He tapped his own head. "Red door, porch swing, and all. It will all happen, my love."

"But what if it's not completely legal when we decide we want to do it?"

Blaine reached down and ruffled his hair affectionately. "As I've told you before, so I don't see why you're worrying so much, I don't need a silly piece of paper to say that I love you and that we'll be together forever. As long as you agree to spend the rest of your life with me, what does the rest matter?"

Kurt nodded. "I guess it makes sense when you say it like that."

Blaine sat up and kissed the top of his forehead. "I'll be right back, my love."

Kurt arched his eyebrow and waited impatiently for his boyfriend to get back, fingers drumming on the mattress. When he entered the room he had a huge glass of milk and a big bowl of teddy grahams.

"What? I was hungry!" Blaine said at the look on Kurt's face.

"Who even bought teddy grahams? Why wouldn't you just get graham crackers?"

"Because you can't torture graham crackers, duh." The older boy responded as he was shocked to even be asked the question.

"T-torture? What?"

Blaine's hazel eyes widened and he climbed onto the bed excitedly, looking like a little boy who had been told Christmas was coming early. "You've never killed a teddy graham, Kurt? You don't know what you're missing!"

"How do you kill a teddy graham?" Kurt asked slowly.

"There are tons of ways; that's what makes it so fun! Oh my God, you've never killed a teddy graham. No wonder you're so dramatic and emotional. Killing teddy grahams is like an emotional release. Oh my God, Kurt, you haven't lived! Didn't you ever see the commercial with the little boy who drowned his in milk?" Blaine made a teddy graham walk on the top of his glass and said, in a high pitched voice, "Oh no, I think I'm falling! Help me, help!" and then in a deep voice, he said, "BOOM!" and tossed it into the cup.

"Oh my God, you're twisted, Blaine!" Kurt hit his shoulder a few times, completely shocked by how immature Blaine was being. He tried to ignore the fact that Blaine was very cute when he was excited about something. It reminded Kurt of how excited Blaine had been when they got their puppy. Maybe Kurt liked childishly excited Blaine. He definitely liked the fact that Blaine still found new and interesting ways to shock him.

Blaine continued, in his normal voice, "It's okay! I'll save you!" and fished the teddy graham out of the class of milk, and then added, "Mwaha! Now I'll eat you!" before he tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it.

Kurt stared at him for several seconds. "Blaine! What is wrong with you?"

Blaine just laughed loudly and handed him a teddy graham. "Come on, you do it."

"No! I'm not sick and twisted like you!" Kurt turned his head away, although he was enjoying this interaction more than he'd ever admit—even to Mercedes. It was random, it was silly, but it was also exactly what he needed after such a long and depressing day.

"It's so much fun, Kurt! Come on!" Blaine urged, pushing his shoulder incessantly until his Kurt looked back at him. "Come on, come on, come onnnn."

"No." Kurt held his head up, holding back the laugh that was threatening to erupt from his chest. He said in a haughty voice, "I'm not four like some people in this room."

"You don't have to drown it. You can just bite off its limbs one at a time. Or throw it across the room and then chase after it like a lion chase. Or run over it with a Tonka Truck. Or—."

"You're certifiably insane, Blaine Anderson!" Kurt stared at him, but as soon as the words were out his lips curled upwards in a small smile. "There is something wrong with anyone who tortures little animal crackers and can list the various ways of doing so. There is something very wrong with you."

Blaine just looked at him, hazel eyes bright, and held a teddy graham to his mouth. "Open."

Kurt shook his head, pursing his lips together. Yes. He was really enjoying this.

"Kurt, come on. Just eat it."

Kurt hesitantly took the graham cracker from his boyfriend and blinked at the older boy.

"Good. Okay. Now bite off his leg." Blaine still had that adorable grin and was nodding eagerly.

"Fine." Kurt glared and bit off its leg. "Happy?"

"Oh, you didn't even make sound effects. Come on, Kurt." Blaine stuck his lip out in an adorable pout. "For me?"

"Uh… argh?" he bit off an arm.

Blaine fell back onto the bed and almost rolled off of it laughing so hard. "Do it again, do it again!"

"Oh my God, Blaine, you're like a four year old!" Kurt said, but he let himself laugh this time too. So what if now Blaine knew for a fact that he'd been enjoying this? And while Kurt had truly never tortured teddy grahams as a child, maybe it was kind of fun to play with your food.

"Please! Oh God, please! Come on, you know its fun! Fun and delicious!"

"I am too old for this, Blaine." Kurt resumed his fake attitude of superiority and pushed the bowl back at him.

"Noooo. Kurt, please." Blaine sat upright and, sitting so his legs were tucked under him, grabbed a teddy graham. "This one's name is Teddy."

"How original." Kurt snorted, but he watched the boy interestedly.

"No. I'm about to show you why killing teddy grahams is so cathartic. This is a very important life lesson, my love. Just listen. Teddy is the first boy to make me cry about my curls. And you know what I say to Teddy?"

"What?" Kurt tilted his head, eyes glue his boyfriend.

"Fuck you." He bit off the cracker's head, chewed, and swallowed. Then he ate the rest of it and grabbed another one. "Aaron said I was a midget." He bit off the cracker's legs. "Look who is short now!"

"Blaine!" Kurt laughed. "Why don't you make your teddy grahams do something sweet?" he reached out and took two. "This is Kurt and this is Blaine." He made them kiss.

"I think this is more amusing." Blaine took them and put them in a very naughty position, faking noises of passion. He was very bad at this, as well. He could mark off actor as a career possibility.

"You are such a boy, Blaine!" Kurt laughed and then gasped. "Hey! You just ate me!"

"Boys, shut up and go to bed!" Burt called from across the hall.

Kurt grabbed the bowl and set them on the floor, out of his reach, and just a little sad that their fun could not continue. They couldn't trust themselves to not get loud and Kurt didn't feel like pushing his dad's buttons quite yet. "Now finish your milk and get under the covers, Blaine."

Blaine leaned over and kissed him. "Do I have to? I'm not sleepy."

"Twenty minutes ago you were falling asleep on the couch, Blaine." Kurt pointed out, but then returned the kiss.

"You were making me watch a special on leg warmers."

"It wasn't on leg warmers. You clearly weren't paying any attention." Kurt crawled under the covers and wriggled out of his pajama pants. "Don't give me that look. I'm keeping my boxers on."

Blaine let out an exasperated sigh and threw himself over the length of the bed dramatically, Kurt's legs under him. Kurt found himself wondering where all of Blaine's energy had come from. "Fine. I don't know why we can't have sex. Before, you wanted us to have sex and I was the one wanting to wait until no one was home."

"Now that I know Dad knows, it's just weird." Kurt tried to wiggle his legs free, but Blaine was too heavy for him. He wasn't in pain or anything, he just wanted his legs.

"Can't you take it as acceptance?" Blaine tilted his head back to look up at Kurt, not moving in the slightest.

Kurt leaned over and fingered his hair. "I don't think that was what dad meant by bringing it up, Blaine."

Blaine groaned and let out an "Oh, fine." that was dramatic enough to rival Kurt's infamous one.

"C'mon, Blaine, get under the covers."

"Don't wanna. I'm sex deprived."

"Blaine…" Kurt rolled his eyes, biting back another laugh. Blaine definitely didn't need any encouragement when he acted like this.

"Don't wanna. I'm sex deprived." Blaine repeated in a whiny voice.

"Fine. Stay over the whole bed. But at least let me have my legs back."

"No."

"Fine, Blaine, we'll have sex tomorrow!" Kurt exclaimed in a hushed whisper, throwing his hands into the air. "We'll have sex if you just get off me. I'm starting to lose feeling in my legs!"

Blaine rolled off of his legs and crawled under the covers, sliding right up to his boyfriend and grinning adorably. "Excellent. And now I will let you sleep."

"Blaine?" Kurt whispered after a few minutes, just as Blaine was starting to drift to sleep.

Blaine moaned and rubbed his nose before whining, "What?"

"You left the light on."

"Crap."