Blaine Anderson was adorable.
This is what Kurt decided when he entered his house on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to find Blaine curled up on the couch with Kreacher. Blaine was clearly asleep and his soft snores were proof of that fact. Kreacher would wiggle around every once in a while, lick Blaine's cheek, and then fall asleep for a few minutes before waking up and repeating the process. Apparently he was very excited to be getting snuggles from Blaine, who usually said "I don't want you, silly dog" any time Kreacher would climb onto his lap. Or really any time he even entered a room.
Kurt went over towards them, a big smile on his face. Kreacher hopped up and his tail immediately started to wag. Kurt scooped him up. "Did you and Blaine get along today? Yeah? Oh, it's because we know he loves you deep down, doesn't he?"
"Do not." Blaine mumbled sleepily, rolling so he was facing the couch with his back to his Kurt.
"Did you pack yet?" Kurt laughed as Kreacher excitedly licked his face repeatedly. "I missed you too, I missed you too!"
"Mmmh, how'd your presentation go?"
"I'll take that as a no." Kurt laughed again, feeling very cheerful. All presentations were done. He was school free until the next Monday. Soon he would get to see Melody which he was extremely excited about. He had gone out and bought her tons of adorable clothes and he couldn't wait to try them on her. And now the semester was about to come to a close. Finally. This was the first time he would be able to relax since school started back in August and in less than four weeks he would have six weeks to relax without a care in the world—well unless you counted whether or not he and Blaine would have morning sex, night sex, or both sex as a care. Why wouldn't he be cheerful? "And it went really well. I got the highest grade in Fashion Illustration."
"Thank God. Maybe you'll stop obsessing over that class and your rivalry." Blaine responded, voice muffled by the couch pillows. He curled up even more and then stretched out, letting out a big yawn.
"I can't believe you skipped classes today."
"I only skipped one. All of my others were cancelled. Would you drive two hours for an hour and a half class that probably got out way early? No. And even you're home early."
Kurt sat on the arm rest and ran his fingers through Blaine's curls, eyes on his boyfriend. "You needed the rest. I'm kidding. You know that, right?"
"Mhmm, I know." Blaine rolled over and tilted his head back to look at Kurt. "I cleaned today. Just so you know. I'm off the hook for forgetting to do the dishes Sunday."
"And did you pack?"
"I thought really hard about it."
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Blaine, you're the laziest person ever."
"I'm not lazy, I'm exhausted. I'm never taking classes five days a week again. This driving is killing me. And Fridays… oh God. I'm not taking Friday classes ever again. Driving to UK, then home, then to Lima, then home? Do you know how much that costs? Do you know how many hours that is? I swear, sometimes my leg will twitch in the middle of the night on Fridays from driving so much." Blaine complained, sitting up straight. "I don't know what I was thinking. You told me and I should have listened."
"One day you'll discover I'm always right." Kurt said happily.
Blaine pouted a bit and then nuzzled Kurt's hand. "When are we leaving?"
Kurt leaned forward, kissing Blaine's cheek. "I thought we would leave tonight… but if you want to wait until tomorrow we can."
"Aw, I hear that disappointment. We can go tonight." Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek as well and stood up.
Kurt grinned. "I can't wait to see Melody! I feel like I haven't seen her in weeks."
Blaine stood and tugged Kurt up, leading him to the bedroom. "It's only been a few days. We stayed the night Friday night, remember? You saw her on Saturday."
"She's just gotten so pudgy. I want to snuggle her constantly. And I love her hair. It's so pretty. She's going to be gorgeous when she's older."
"You're excited for winter break, aren't you?" Blaine pulled out his backpack and began folding sweaters to neatly place in it. "You'll probably hold her the full six weeks."
"I'm very excited now that I realize my winter break is longer than I thought it was." Kurt sat on the bed, next to his already packed bag. "But honestly, why does CCAD even have sessions that short? What could you really do in that short of time? It gives me a headache thinking about how stressful those classes would be."
Blaine shrugged and looked down as Kreacher pranced in, frowning. "You touch my phone charger, dog, and I'm going to hurt you."
The dog crouched against the ground, ears lowering, and stared up at Blaine. He glanced at Kurt very quickly, to make sure Kurt was paying attention, and let out a low whimper.
"Don't be mean to my sweet baby." Kurt rolled his eyes, patting the spot beside him. Kreacher excitedly hopped up, licked Kurt's face, and then began running in circles all over the bed—this included jumping into Blaine's bag repeatedly, as if he was trying to catch something in it and then leaping back out dramatically.
"You've spoiled this dog rotten, Kurt. Did you see that? He was totally looking to make sure you were paying attention because he wanted me to get into trouble. If you get in that bag one more time, Kreacher, I'm zipping you in it." Blaine said, waving his finger at the dog.
"He's not that small anymore, Blaine." Kurt grabbed his dog and began petting him to calm him down. "You love him. You just won't admit it. I think you two enjoy your arguments. You bond over them."
"I do not argue with a dog."
"You do so. You insult him, he growls and goes and eats your things. And sometimes, I think you deserve it."
Blaine rolled his eyes. "Just for that I'm not bringing any cardigans."
"But I love you in cardigans." Kurt pouted, moving into a laying position and sitting Kreacher on his stomach. "Especially the green one… and the white and black striped one… and the blue one…"
"Yes, I know. You list them off in that order every time we discuss this. I still miss my red one." Blaine neatly folded his green cardigan and set it in the bag, despite telling Kurt he wasn't going to bring any one minute ago. "What are you wearing to Thanksgiving dinner?"
"I don't know. Grandpa is trying to talk Grandma into making it pajamas mandatory." Kurt snorted. "That's because he'll probably be hung over from a party tomorrow, though."
"What does he do? Do I need to be nervous? Do I need to—." Blaine paled a bit, eyes widening. Clearly he'd forgotten he would be meeting a new Hummel. This was something that always made him nervous.
"Relax." Kurt laughed. "If my dad likes you, my grandpa will love you. He's very nice, he's funny, and he's smart. He's going to love you solely based on the fact that you go to UK. Actually, he probably already loves you."
"But your grandmother said he was senile."
"Only to family members." Kurt waved his hand in the air. "He owns a private business and parties with clients a lot. He's very friendly, always laughs and smiles. He's never met a person he hasn't liked. At least not in my lifetime."
"But he didn't take your sister coming out well."
Kurt shrugged. "I think that was a shock thing. He moved on. And he adores Taylor. He won't treat you any differently and he won't act like he likes you when he doesn't. You have nothing to worry about, Blaine. Just be yourself. It's really much scarier meeting Grammy than Grandpa. He'll love you."
Blaine let out a huge relieved sigh, color returning to his face. "Good."
"Aw, you're nervous to meet my grandfather. That's cute. Were you nervous to meet my dad?"
Blaine's hazel eyes widened again and he looked at Kurt. "Yes. Terrified, okay? And he kept giving me this look. This I know you're more than friends look."
"But we were just friends when you met him." Kurt pointed out.
"I was still terrified. Your dad is scary, Kurt. Oh my God, I was so scared. I wasn't until I saw him and… just… scary." Blaine was speaking fast, clearly becoming flustered again at the memory of meeting Kurt's family.
"And now he loves you." Kurt leaned up and kissed him. Then he added, "And my dad tried to intimidate you. Just so you know. But Grandpa won't do that. He will probably want to know all about you, though, so be prepared. It's too bad Taylor won't be there, she'd stay with you and make quirky responses up for you."
"Have you even talked to her? Paige, I mean?"
"No." Kurt admitted, looking down. "I know Taylor told me to call but… I … didn't."
"Why not?" Blaine questioned, moving across the room and pulling several pairs of jeans out of their closet.
"I guess I'm still mad at her… she was rude to you, she tried to come between Dad and I… and she hurt Taylor."
"Taylor's the one that set the ultimatum."
Kurt looked back up at him, shocked. "That doesn't matter. She proposed to Aunt Paige and Paige said no. After, like, twenty years."
His boyfriend spoke in a very calm voice. "I'm not saying I've picked a side or anything... Frankly, I don't want to be involved in any discussion about this after the last time I saw her and what this whole thing caused between us. I still don't think you're over that. But I do think you need to realize there are two sides to this, and two grown people made the decision together. I know it's upsetting… "
"It's not just that, either." Kurt pursed his lips together. He tried to not think about his aunt a lot, because it always either made him angry or upset. He didn't know how to say what he felt. It was more than being mad at her for the fight and everything that stemmed from it.
No. He was mostly upset about everything before the fight. Now that he knew his aunt had been jealous of his relationship with his dad… it changed his way of thinking about his entire relationship with her.
He loved Paige. He really did. But he was beginning to realize that it was Taylor he had the emotional bond with. Paige was a good aunt—she called him, bought him gifts, took him places. Taylor, however, was close to him. Taylor was the one that picked him up after school when he was thirteen, took him out to a nice restaurant, and asked him if he was gay. Just asked, as if it was nothing. She was also the one that moved to hug him when he started to cry, the one that told him it was okay, the one that assured him he would be happy. Taylor offered to help him tell Burt and when Kurt shot that down, she offered to buy books to help him. And offered to introduce Kurt to some of her male gay friends who may have been able to understand him a little better. She offered to buy him books about sex. When the bullying started up and got worse, it was Taylor that he would call before he had Blaine—even at three in the morning, she'd sit up with him for hours and just let him vent. And she'd never once made a complaint. Taylor was his aunt.
Paige was his aunt but she would never be as close to Kurt as Taylor was. It hurt to realize that he probably wasn't so close to Paige for the sheer fact that she was jealous of him. He had never realized this before but now it was much clearer. Why hadn't Paige called him? She was the aunt, the more mature one, the "adult." Shouldn't she have reached out to Kurt? Taylor had called Kurt. Taylor had met Kurt for dinner to talk things over.
"I haven't felt like talking to her about it yet is all." Kurt shrugged. "It's not like she's talked to me either, you know?"
Blaine gave him a sad sort of smile. "I'll be done packing soon, alright? Which car do you want to take?"
"It doesn't matter really. I can drive if you don't want to." Kurt shrugged again.
"I'll drive. I don't feel like having any roadside anxiety attacks so close to a holiday." Blaine joked.
Kurt just pulled a face and went into the bathroom, gathering up all of Blaine's stuff and tossing it into a smaller bag to move things along. It was only a matter of time before Blaine found some distraction (most likely it would be junk food or television related) and Kurt wanted to get there before Melody was put down for a nap. Why go so early for anything but playing with his little sister? Although once Burt was home, all attention would be on him. This was because, as Carole had told Blaine and Kurt on the phone the other day, Melody had severe separation anxiety when it came to her father. Before Burt was home from work she was absolutely fine. But as soon as she saw her father she would wail helplessly anytime he would leave the room. Kurt honestly didn't blame her, because they had the greatest father in the world in his biased opinion.
"You're trying to rush me." Blaine pouted, putting his phone charger into his bag. "I'm on to you, Mr. Hummel."
"Alright, alright, I am." Kurt heaved a big sigh. "But if we don't hurry she'll be napping."
"Sometimes I think the only reason you go home anymore is to see the baby." Blaine laughed, finally putting the smaller bag Kurt held out into his backpack and zipping it up. "Okay, okay. You get the demon child and we'll go."
Kurt scooped his bag up and his dog, a big grin on his face. "We get to go see Melody! We get to go see Melody! She's going to just love you, Kreacher!"
Blaine rolled his eyes as he locked up the house behind his boyfriend. Apparently any conversation they had in the car would not be very intelligent, as always when Kreacher was in the car. As long as they didn't listen to Lady Gaga, though, Blaine would deal.
…
"Where's my sister?" Kurt demanded two and a half hours later after rushing into his house and tugging off his jacket. There were not many things that would make him simply throw his designer coat on the back of a chair without hesitation, but clearly Melody was one of them.
"Oh, hello dear." Carole said, leaving the kitchen and coming into the living room. She was holding a very cranky looking Melody in her arms and looked absolutely exhausted. She handed the five month baby over to her stepson as she spoke. "She's got a bit of a cold so she's been very fussy all day."
Kurt pressed a kiss to Melody's rosier-than-normal cheek and snuggled her. She screwed her face up, stuck her lip out, and began to whine. Usually whenever Kurt held her she would be all smiles and giggles, because Kurt was one of her favorite people.
"Oh, oh, let me see her." Carole sighed, taking her daughter back immediately. She looked extremely stressed out and Kurt took in the dark circles under her eyes and her messy hair, feeling bad for her. "I haven't even started dinner yet, boys. I'm sorry. I've been waiting for Burt to get home so he could keep up with her and Finn just called to say he won't even be able to make it home tonight and it's been a long day."
"Don't even worry." Kurt said instantly, taking Melody back and forcing the whining baby into his boyfriend's arms. "Blaine will take care of the baby and I'll take care of dinner. You go and take a nap."
"But she's really very fussy and I don't think that—oh."
Melody had snuggled against Blaine, head rested on his chest, and fallen asleep.
"I have been trying to get her to nap all day. How did you do that?" Carole demanded. "How did you do that, Blaine?"
Kurt looked at his boyfriend fondly. "We think it's a gene mutation or something. Blaine's the first of the next-generation human being. They're all going to be perfect."
Blaine rolled his eyes, resituating the sleeping baby. "I'm not perfect."
"Pretty damn close to it." Kurt rolled his own eyes and then put his hands on his hips. "Upstairs, Carole. I don't want to see you down for another hour at least."
"I don't need a nap, really." Carole sighed, attempting to take her sleeping daughter from Blaine. Melody's lip began to tremble and her little fists clenched, though, so Carole immediately relented. "Okay, okay, okay. Fine. Blaine, do you care to—."
"Nope." Blaine said cheerfully, easing himself down onto the couch. "I'm more than happy to watch Mellie."
"Upstairs." Kurt repeated, nodding his head towards the stairs.
"But it's your boys' breaks. I was going to make dinner and—."
"Carole, go relax. Blaine will be perfectly fine with Melody and I've been cooking dinner since I was eleven. I enjoy cooking and Blaine enjoys cooing at things that can't answer him, especially bunnies in the pet store. We're fine."
Blaine snorted quietly as Carole leaned over, kissing the top of her stepson's head. "Thanks, hon."
"No problem." Kurt responded honestly, and it really wasn't. He grabbed the remote and turned it to ESPN since Blaine's arms were full and then made his way into the kitchen.
Blaine watched the television for a few minutes, and then looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms. Now that he thought about it, he'd never really been in a room alone with her before. Someone else had always been there in case anything had happened.
"Oh God, if you start crying I'm not going to know what to do. And it might make me cry because you look pitiful. And I catch colds so easily; I bet you anything I'm going to catch what you've got. What do you want to bet? A pacifier, a bib? I really like your purple one with the flowers." He said casually, and then blinked several times. "Have I lost my mind? First I start chatting with Kreacher about num nums and now I'm sitting here talking to you. You're asleep and sick. And only five months old. Maybe I should give you credit, you're almost six months old. I bet if you were five years old and almost six, you'd have corrected me. Oh my God. What is wrong with me?"
Melody just snuggled into his chest, making herself more comfortable.
Blaine touched her tiny, soft hand with his finger. "Aw, you're so tiny. I'm sorry people call you Melon Head. If it makes you feel any better, I was called Poodle Head all throughout elementary school... and half of middle school."
Her nose scrunched up a bit, but she of course didn't respond. She slept on, quite content—as content as she could be while sick a least.
"I'm sorry you don't feel good. Do you think your dad would mind if we leave Kreacher here and take you home in his place? I like you an awful lot." He continued, still whispering. He bit his lip and stared down at her, almost nervously. He was holding a baby. He had held babies before, of course. But never one nearly as cute as Melody. And holding babies before hadn't made him think of wanting babies himself and now it sort of did. But he was way too young to be thinking about that.
There was just something about how Kurt was around Melody that made him… well, really want to have kids with him. One day. Far, far down the road. Melody snuggling up to him, all pitiful and yet still adorable, was not helping matters either. He hated that she felt sick, but it was nice to just hold her and be able to look at her precious little face without her squirming all over the place and screeching in his ears. He liked peaceful Melody.
"I think he'd mind just a bit." Kurt said from the doorway, which he was leaning against. He made his way into the room, a small smile on his face. "If you're not even going to watch the TV and just talk at someone who can't answer, you may as well come in the kitchen and talk to me, you know? At least I'll answer."
Blaine looked up quickly, hoping he wasn't blushing. He stood and gave Kurt an almost sheepish smile, following his boyfriend into the kitchen without a word. Honestly, he was a little too embarrassed to speak. Melody fussed a bit at first, but relaxed against him again once he had sat down at the already set table.
"Do you realize that you frequently talk to things that can't answer, Blaine Warbler? Because some people might say that is unhealthy." Kurt chirped.
"Some people might say it's rude to listen to people's personal conversations also." Blaine retorted, and then added as an afterthought, "Anderson. Not Warbler. How would you like it if I called you Kurt McKinley?"
"That's fine. I'll just call you Poodle Head." Kurt gave him an impish smile.
"Hey! You can't spy on me and use what I say against me."
"How do you know Melody didn't tell me what you said, hmm?"
Blaine rolled his eyes and nodded his head downwards at the sleeping infant, who now had some of Blaine's shirt balled in her tiny fist. "I don't think she knows how to speak, Kurt. Most five-almost-six month old infants don't."
"Maybe it's the sibling bond?"
"Maybe you're just a terrible spy." Blaine snorted. "Some things will never change I guess, new kid."
Kurt made a rather shocked expression, and then turned back to the stove. Clearly he couldn't think of a clever enough comeback, which Blaine took pride in. It was hard to stump Kurt Hummel.
"I can't believe the first words you ever spoke to me were a lie. What does this say for our relationship, huh? What if I had been stupid enough to believe you, hmm?"
"Alright, how was I supposed to know you all had uniforms?" Kurt threw his hands into the air.
"The fact that it was an all boys private school should have been a flag." Blaine said sweetly, eyes bright.
"Next time I'm going to spy on an all boy's private school, I'll keep that in mind." Kurt huffed. "You make a fool of yourself one time and suddenly your boyfriend feels the need to bring it up for the rest of your life."
Blaine giggled a bit, snuggling Melody closer and watching Kurt cook. "I already told you, we thought you were endearing."
Kurt made a clicking noise with his tongue and fell silent, focusing on finishing up dinner which was almost already done.
"You were endearing, you know?" Blaine continued, smiling to himself still. "With your shy smile and those bright blue eyes."
"Stop trying to embarrass me, Blaine."
"I don't need to try. If I leave you be long enough, you'll do it yourself."
Kurt spun back around and pointed an accusing finger at him. "This coming from the boy who used to sing at theme parks?"
"Ouch, Kurt Hummel." Blaine mock cringed. "And it was only one park. King's Island. Because I didn't win the part at Six Flags." The last part came out rather pouty. He was still annoyed that a tall boy with straight blond hair and blue eyes had won the part. "How did I not win that? I easily had the best voice there. They were height biased, Kurt. I'm adorable. The people at Six Flag's would have loved me."
"I'm sure they would have, babe." Kurt turned the burner down and joined his boyfriend at the table. "I wonder if Carole's upset she won't get to see Finn until after Thanksgiving."
"Probably." Blaine said softly, passing Kurt his sister very carefully. "He's doing really well on the field, though. He's easily one of the best players on the team. I didn't know he was so good."
"I guess having a real coach makes a lot of difference." Kurt shrugged a bit and touched Melody's cheek with the back of his hand. "I hope she feels better tomorrow."
"I hope you let me have some of the cake you're making tomorrow."
"Absolutely not. It is for Thursday." Kurt said instantly without even looking up from his sister.
Blaine's face fell. "Aw, really?"
"If you're good, I might let you lick the bowl." The younger boy sang.
"This is why I love you, Kurt. Thank you for contributing to my premature death."
"Anytime, dear. Anytime." Kurt said, reaching over as carefully as possible to not jostle his sleeping sister and ruffling his boyfriend's curls. "And I love you too."
Blaine hadn't smiled so big in a very long time.
***WBUCT***
"This is amazing." Blaine breathed as he stepped out of the car early on Thanksgiving Day, looking at the old fashioned white house in front of him. A large tree in the front was decorated with Christmas ornaments and lights and there was a large blue and white wreath on the black door. The ground was already blanketed with snow and it covered most of the black roof. The house, which was also already decorated for Christmas an d had pretty red lights up, was so pretty that it easily could have been out of a Christmas movie.
"Grammy likes Christmas." Kurt laughed, closing his car door. "You had a huge house. Didn't you all ever decorate?"
"Not this early, no. And it never looked as beautiful as this." Blaine was still looking up at the house, in awe. "We didn't even put up a tree until the twenty third."
"Of November? That's not bad!"
"December." Blaine corrected, squeezing Kurt's warm hand that had slid into his.
"How can you get excited about Christmas without a Christmas tree?" Kurt gasped, blue eyes widening. "Are you serious?"
"That tree is huge." Blaine's eyes focused on the decorated tree, not exactly wanting to think about his less than perfect Christmases at home. "And beautiful."
"The neighbor's son always decorates it for Grammy and Grandpa." Kurt said, sliding an arm around his boyfriend's waist. "Do you like it?"
"It's amazing." Blaine repeated, focusing on Kurt.
The front door opened and Burt stuck his head out, grinning. "Better get in here, boys. We've got a surprise for you, Kurt."
"Is it a trip to Disney World for Christmas?" Kurt asked, just as he always asked on Thanksgiving. He tugged on Blaine's arm gently and led him towards the porch. "The inside is probably decorated too."
"No, it's not Disney World." Burt rolled his eyes and shut the screen door, but left the main door open.
"Statistically speaking," Kurt said. "The more I ask, the more likely the answer is to eventually be yes. This makes the fifteenth time I've asked and gotten a 'no' for an answer. I don't even think you're listening to me, Blaine."
Blaine followed Kurt, looking around the property in awe and indeed not listening to a word his boyfriend said. His house and property was huge, but it wasn't beautiful. It was boring and average. This property looked like it was straight out of a movie, it really did.
"Be careful, it's slippery." Kurt said before taking the first step.
"How do you know?" Blaine finally pulled his attention away from the beautiful scenery around him.
"Of course you hear that." Kurt laughed. "I know because it's always slippery." He kept his arm around Blaine's waist as they stepped up the few stairs to the porch—and it was indeed slippery. "I hope the tree is up!"
"It's not!" Kurt's grandmother called from inside the house as Blaine opened the door. "We got a little distracted! Come on in here, boys!"
Blaine looked at Kurt, almost hesitantly. His shock from the beautifully decorated house wore off and he remembered what was about to happen—he was about to meet Kurt's grandfather. Everyone had told him how nice the man was, but he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He had been the same way about meeting Kurt's aunts and his grandmother—and about twice as bad when it came to meeting Burt and Carole. He'd even been terrified when he first spotted Finn, mainly because he was so freakishly tall and could probably squish Blaine just by looking at him. Meeting everyone else had turned out okay, though, so he had no reason to think this one wouldn't. That still did little to ease his nerves.
"Go on in." Kurt laughed, holding it open for him. "I promise my grandpa won't jump out from behind the door… actually, I really can't promise that."
"Thanks, Kurt. That helps."
Kurt nudged him forward and into the house. "Grandpa, this is—TAYLOR!" Kurt moved past Blaine and ran towards his aunt, throwing his arms around her in a hug. "Oh my God! What are you doing here?"
Taylor laughed loudly and wrapped her arms around Kurt. "My family is having their dinner late at night, because my sister's going to be late. So Andy called and asked me to come."
Blaine looked around the large room. Burt and Carole were sitting on the couch with Melody, who felt much better was wearing a gorgeous brown dress that he suspected Kurt had purchased but hadn't been able to prove. Much of the living room was already decorated for Christmas, which was something completely strange to Blaine. Usually his father would do a little something outside their house and they'd put up there tree mere days before Christmas. There was no inside decorations apart from a tree, though. David's parents always decorated some and Blaine had always loved theirs, but it was nothing compared to this. Kurt's grandparent's house was very elegantly decorated—but after meeting Kurt's grandmother three times and knowing how like Kurt she was, Blaine shouldn't have been surprised. The inside of the house was as gorgeous as the outside.
"I am so sorry it's a mess, Blaine." Kurt's grandmother, Annie, said. She was in the corner of the room on the floor sorting through boxes of Christmas ornaments next to a large tree. "It usually isn't, I promise. I was going to finish the tree and get this junk back in the attic, but Paige called to say she can't make it. So Andrew of course called Taylor. We all miss her terribly and I knew it would just tickle Kurt to death." As if to make a point, she pointed to Taylor and Kurt who were now curled up in a big chair by the fireplace and giggling over something on Taylor's phone. "And I was right. Oh, those two. We won't get in a word edgewise between them, will we?"
"Probably not." Blaine gave her a small smile. It was hard to focus on her, though, when he was looking around the house.
"We used to have much better decorations." She sighed. "But we stored them in the back of Andrew's office downtown. The office caught fire and we lost a lot. Of course we kept the special ones at home, thank God. The house just never seems to look as good now, though."
"I think it looks amazing. We never did anything like this." Blaine said truthfully.
"Burt, could you go and check on the turkey?" Annie asked, turning her attention to her son.
"Like I know what it's supposed to look like." Burt grunted and stood, heading towards a doorway which Blaine assumed led to the kitchen. "The last meal I made anything like this resulted in nothing edible. Ask Kurt."
As soon as Burt left the room, Melody began to wail. First it started out quiet little whimpers as she stared at the doorway her father walked out of. Then, however, it turned into little cries. And finally tears began to fall and she let out loud helpless wails. Carole tried repositioning her and cooing to distract her, but this did not help. The sobs didn't not soften until Burt walked back into the room, grinning in a silly way, and scooped her up. He began making noises and kissing her cheek, and she instantly fell silent.
"I don't know why that baby is so smitten with you, Burt. But Kurt did the exact same thing. Babies must see something in you the rest of the world doesn't." Annie teased and then smiled at Blaine, gesturing at him and pointing to a spot next to her on the floor. "Sit, sit, sit. You can help me. We have to make sure none of the hooks are stuck together. And that none of them are broken."
"Uh oh. Annie's got herself a Christmas ornament buddy!" Taylor said from across the room. "That's going to be your job for life now, Blaine."
"What?" Blaine asked, sitting where he was instructed.
"Every year she's going to make you help her sort through ornaments." Taylor replied knowingly while nodding. "In fact, she'll probably make you and Kurt come up a day early now just for that. Kurt's job is baking for the holidays. Burt's job is to stare at the TV and watch sports, because he burns everything he cooks and breaks everything he touches. We think he does it on purpose to get out of doing anything."
"Oh, that's perfect! Kurt does all the baking on Wednesdays!" Annie gasped, seeming to have not heard the last bit about her son. "Oh, Kurt, you did remember right?"
"We brought it in, Annie." Carole smiled. "He worked on it all day yesterday. I knew he was good at baking cakes, but I've never seen someone so good at make so many sweets. They looked delicious, especially the potato candy."
"It tastes delicious too." Blaine said, and then his eyes widened. "Whoops."
"Blaine! Did you get into it last night after I went to bed?" Kurt asked sternly.
"Er… of course not." Blaine quickly busied himself by pulling three tangled ornaments out of the box as Burt settled back onto the couch, cradling his daughter.
"What did he not do?" Burt asked gruffly, taking off his hat with one hand.
"He got into the potato candy. And now he is in trouble." Kurt answered, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Kid, everyone got some after you went up to do your thirteen hour moisturizing crap. And I hate to break it to you, but I've been doing it for eight years."
Kurt looked at his father, scandalized. "That is terrible!"
Burt shrugged. "You make candy and tell us we can't eat them for a day? Just be glad Finn wasn't home. Between the three of us, they'd have been gone."
Annie rolled her eyes. "Carole, I am sorry. Your life must be very difficult."
"Oh, I raised Finn alone. Nothing seems difficult after that." Carole laughed, taking her now calm daughter and kissing her cheek. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, no, I don't think so." The older lady sighed, looking out the window. "It just keeps and keeps snowing. I hope the roads aren't too bad."
"I don't care. I'm going home tonight." Kurt said in a firm voice. "Mercedes, Rachel, and I are meeting at three in the morning. I have got to get those shoes that are going on markdown. I may have had to cut my Black Friday shopping short last winter… but Kurt Hummel is going at it full force tomorrow. Snow and ice will not stop me."
Blaine made a face, glad Kurt couldn't see him do so. For someone who never had any free time, Kurt sure always seemed to find time to shop. Then again, maybe the boy did it in his sleep. Honestly, Blaine wouldn't be surprised. And anytime Blaine asked him about shopping he'd get that guilty look on his face and, in a voice much higher than his regular voice, chirp out, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been at school/home/the garage all day." Yeah right.
"You can't go home if the roads are icy, Kurt." Carole said quietly.
"I can handle icy roads, Carole. You forget that my car is huge. And dad makes sure I have good tires for winter weather." Kurt assured her. "Blaine, however, skipped school last week because it started to flurry."
"Did not. I didn't feel good."
"You felt perfectly fine until you checked the weather channel." Kurt sang the last two words, smiling cheerfully down at his boyfriend.
"So, Blaine, I hear you were a little nervous to come today?" Annie asked, effectively putting an end to any bickering that was about to begin.
"I'm not so nervous anymore." Blaine said softly, a little embarrassed.
"Good! Taylor can tell you. Andrew's very nice."
Taylor moved to join them on the floor, looking very happy. "He's the best. Just expect a lot of questions at first, but you'll be fine. Meeting Burt is, like, thirty times worse than Andy. I promise."
"You know he hates when you call him Andy." Kurt laughed, joining them on the floor and grabbing Blaine's hand. "What else does Blaine need to know?
"Psht." Taylor just waved her hand. "Andy's amazing. There's nothing else he needs to know."
"While I appreciate that, Taylor, I don't think that's quite true."
"Grandpa!" Kurt hopped up and dragged Blaine up with him. "This is Blaine Anderson."
Kurt's grandfather, who was very tall in contrast to his short wife, was wearing a nice suit. He looked just as well dressed as Kurt's grandmother always looked. He shrugged his jacket off and then shook Blaine's hand. "Hello there Blaine, I'm Andrew. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." Blaine said a little shyly.
"Call him Andy." Taylor said cheerfully from the floor.
"Don't call me Andy." The man corrected.
Taylor mouthed, 'Call him Andy' when he wasn't looking, making Blaine laugh. He found himself very glad that Taylor was there, because she seemed to have a great way of easing tension.
"Good, good!" Kurt's grandmother stood and took the butter from her husband. "You lot sort through these ornaments and get them untangled while I finish dinner. Andrew, don't pick on Blaine too much. He's a sweetheart and you'll scare the poor thing off with your jokes."
"Hey! He picked on me; he's going to pick on Blaine. I'll make sure of this." Taylor said, tugging Kurt down on the floor next to her. She then let out a noise, holding up an ornament. "Remember this one, Kurtsie? Burt used to tell you that you couldn't put it up and you'd just cry."
Carole stood and made her way over. "Who wants to hold the baby while I help Annie?"
Kurt had his arms outstretched before she even finished her question. "Dad, you better stay in the room. I can't handle any Melody crises."
"Alright, alright." Burt said gruffly, crossing the room and sitting on the floor by them. "Get on with the interrogation, Dad. I don't want to sit through dinner with you harassing the kid."
"I'm not going to harass him. I'm just going to question him. After all, he's dating Kurt. And we're all very protective of Kurt." Kurt's grandfather added, giving Blaine an attempt at a stern look. He looked way too happy to be stern, though, and the attempt failed.
"Oh, trust me." Kurt said, bouncing Melody a bit. "Blaine is protective of me too. You all should start up a club and make a newsletter and buttons."
Burt shot his son a look. "Maybe if you took better care of yourself, kiddo, people wouldn't have to be so protective."
"What do you mean, take better care of himself?" Taylor asked, looking at Kurt.
"Kurt has taken to skipping meals and staying up all night during school." Burt grunted.
"No." Taylor said sharply. "No, Kurt. That is bad. You can't do things like that. You'll hurt yourself, honey."
"Oh my God. Shouldn't everyone be paying attention to Blaine? Look at that face. Isn't it adorable?" Kurt said, pointing at Blaine.
"Yes, yes, very adorable." Taylor said and turned to Blaine. "Blaine, you have to force him. Put your foot down, hon. Or bribe him."
"Bribe him?" Blaine questioned.
"You know." Taylor said and made a naughty gesture.
"Okay!" Burt said loudly, reaching over and covering Melody's eyes. "Grandfather and father in the room!"
Blaine covered his face, blushing furiously. Kurt stared at his aunt with his mouth hanging open, clearly in shock.
"And my job is to make everyone extremely uncomfortable." Taylor laughed loudly. "Once again, I have not let anyone down."
There was silence for a few long, awkward seconds before Melody began cooing nonsense and reaching towards Blaine. Blaine scooped her up quickly and cuddled her, very glad for the distraction from the awkwardness that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
"I can't believe you just said that, Taylor." Kurt sighed, finally able speak.
"I just like to keep things interesting, you know me." Taylor laughed.
What happened next was very sudden, as unexpected things always are. There was the distant sound of a door opening and closing. A few minutes went by and then Paige walked into the room through the kitchen, a man following behind her and holding her hand. Paige's red hair was pulled back and had snow in it and she hadn't even pulled her heavy jacket off yet.
"Don't be ridiculous." Kurt's grandmother was saying as she walked in behind her. "You're just going to start another senseless fight. Paige Marie, stop it right now."
"What are you doing here?" Paige demanded, going right up to Taylor.
There were several seconds that Taylor just blinked up at her ex, an unreadable expression on her face. She swallowed once, glanced at the man whose hand Paige was holding, and then stood. "What are you doing here? They told me that you weren't going to be here."
"You can't stand being away from me, can you?" Paige said loudly, evidently not caring how rude she appeared to everyone else in the room. "You just knew I'd end up coming, didn't you?"
"Who is that?" Taylor shot back. It was almost as if they weren't really even answering each other's questions, but instead just asking the first ones that popped into their head. Which he and Blaine sometimes did when they bickered, but that wasn't important.
Kurt watched Taylor point the man next to his aunt, who looked rather uncomfortable. He should, he thought to himself, considering he's dating a lesbian.
"Jumped fences have we? Apparently Becky and Rachel weren't even good enough for the likes of you?" Taylor continued, not even giving Paige a chance to answer.
"What's she talking about?" The guy asked, now looking confused instead of uncomfortable.
"Forget it." Taylor stood up and turned to Kurt. "Kurt, I'll call you tonight, sweetie."
Kurt opened his mouth to say something, looking between his two aunts. Then he nodded. Who was he to ask Taylor to stay? He could only imagine how awkward it would have been… and he could see how upset Taylor looked. He didn't want to subject her to that.
"What? You can talk to Taylor and not me?" Paige exclaimed, this time her anger aimed at Kurt, throwing her hands in the air. "Taylor isn't even your real aunt!"
"Don't you try pulling him into this again." Burt said loudly as Melody began to cry, standing up. "Leave Kurt out of this, Paige. I mean it."
"Do you want to go there?" Taylor shouted, snapping. "Do you really want to go there? Because, sweetheart, we'll go there."
"Outside." Kurt's grandfather said sharply, pointing at the door. "Right now, girls."
"Don't bother." Taylor grabbed her jacket. "I'm leaving. Thanks for inviting me over, Andy and Annie. It was nice to see everyone else."
"Don't you walk out!" Paige shrieked, following her ex out the door. She didn't bother shutting the door behind her, which enabled everyone to hear every single word. "This is my family!"
"Your fucking family? You wanted to fucking bail on them because you're dating some forty year old man wearing a Nascar shirt, Paige! You know what? They called me. Your father called me! I haven't talked to you in weeks and frankly, I like it that way!"
Kurt bit his lip. He knew this wasn't exactly… true. Over the last few months, he had been torn on his thoughts about his aunts and their fallen relationship. Of course he still wanted the two to get back together, but the more he had talked to Taylor, the more he doubted it would ever happen. This visit was only solidifying the thought that had been there for about four months. He had tried to not dwell on the whole Taylor and Paige thing, because it still bothered him more than it should and he didn't want it to get in the way of other things. Even though he wanted them to get back together, he simply didn't have time to be upset about stuff concerning the split up. He just didn't. And that is why he pushed anything about it away. At least, he did for the most part. As more time went by, Paige had popped into his conversations with Taylor more often. Taylor and Kurt were extremely close though, like best friends, so it would have been weird for them to not talk about something that had such a huge effect on both of their lives.
For the first few months Taylor would chat with Kurt as much as she had before the break up, but she would only rarely bring up her ex. But in the beginning of August, Taylor either got to the point where she was comfortable enough to talk about it with Kurt or to the point of just having to talk about it. Right before he had started at CCAD, Taylor had finally confided in him that Paige was being selfish and downright hateful. At first he had thought this was just her still being upset over the break up. Taylor had been very upset to hear that Paige was beginning to 'casually date' even if she didn't want to come out and say it. Which Kurt completely understood because he'd have felt the same exact way in Taylor's position.
When the dating conversations had come up, though, Taylor had never mentioned Paige dating a man. And he was fairly sure that would have been discussed on one of their phone dates if she had known. Kurt had sat through many conversations in which Taylor talked about how some friend had told a friend who told another friend that Paige was dating someone new. Of course Taylor had never heard it directly from Paige. They'd tried the whole "friend" thing but it hadn't worked out. Taylor refused to speak to Paige and Kurt had a feeling that everything Paige did that Taylor found out about through friends was just an attempt to rouse a conversation between the two—even if it was a heated argument like this one. Because he still maintained to this day that love didn't just die after twenty years. It just didn't. There was no way Paige had just given up those feelings and he knew Taylor hadn't. No matter how many people Paige tried to casually date—and there were six girls that Kurt knew of and now apparently a man also. There was just no way.
It was after the dating began that Taylor began to make the comments about Paige being selfish and rude—the comments which she'd always take back within minutes and profusely apologize for making. Now, seeing the way that Paige had barged into the room and started an argument with Taylor, saying that Taylor wasn't a part of the family, that it was her family, that comment to Kurt… Maybe Paige was still heartbroken by the split up and under the impression that she was the only one affected. But this was wrong. Completely and absolutely wrong. While it took a while to become a part of the very close Hummel family, once you were there—really there—you never left. So how could she also say that it was her family and not Taylor's? How could she say Taylor wasn't welcome at their family dinner?
His grandparents were to Taylor what Kurt's parents were turning into for Blaine. Taylor was one of their babies. There had been annual birthday parties for Taylor. Whenever the family was in New York and near Taylor, they would make sure to see her at work for a chat or take her out to dinner. It hadn't happened much but sometimes Kurt's grandfather's work took him to New York and not stopping by to see Taylor was never an option. No matter how out of the way it was. Kurt's grandfather had been particularly distraught about the breakup because he, like Burt did with Blaine, frequently joked that Taylor was the favorite of his three children. Taylor was the first of Paige's girlfriend's that the family liked and, as far as they were concerned, Taylor would always be the only girl for their daughter. And she would always be a part of their family.
"You always have to point out that everyone likes you better than me! You were always on the phone with my mom and dad! Always going to see Kurt even if it was three hours out of your way! You were always trying to one up me! To make him like you more!"
"I wasn't trying to make him like me more! I was trying to be an aunt to him! Something you would never do because you were too jealous of a little boy!" Taylor shrieked, loud enough for everyone to hear clear as day. Kurt felt his stomach twist a little more with each and every word. "You called him, you bought him gifts! But when did you ever really talk to him? On your own, without me right there? Did you call him after the fight? Did you call his boyfriend and apologize for bitching him out? No! I never had to get Kurt to like me more, sweetheart, because you never even put in effort to get him to like you in the first place! Because you were jealous! Fucking jealous of your nephew!"
"I wasn't not jealous!"
"Why did you bring a guy to dinner, huh? Why? It must be hard work changing your sexual orientation so quickly because last week you and Elizabeth Adams were fuck buddies! Or does Mr. Nascar T-shirt not know about that? Huh? Does he know about Rachel, Becky, Sarah, Courtney? Why didn't you bring them home? Huh? You wanted to upset him so he'd tell me! Admit it! This is another underhanded attempt to get me to talk to you!"
"Don't you talk to me that way! You can't say anything! You're the one who won't even talk to me!" Paige sounded hysterical by this point. Kurt was pretty sure she was crying.
"Why should I? With you doing all this stuff? Is this what you wanted, Paige? You wanted to talk, right? You know what? I hope that you and Mr. Nascar T-shirt have a lovely life together. I hope you love the straight sex. But don't get knocked up, sweetie. Because the second he gives the baby a second look you'll be jealous of it too!"
There was the sound of a slap and Kurt's grandfather rushed out, Burt on his heels.
Kurt looked out the doorway finally. His grandfather was pulling a sobbing Paige back while Burt was struggling to restrain a kicking Taylor, who was also crying. He felt like a little kid watching them argue like this. It made him feel sick to his stomach, because he kept thinking back to trips to the zoo with the two of them happily chattering away while holding hands. Or shopping trips where they were supposed to be helping Kurt, who really ended up helping them more in the long run. It was such a sharp contrast from what he knew their interactions to be.
"Oh my God." Kurt's grandmother said, pulling Kurt's attention briefly away from the fight. "They came in through the back door and I tried to tell her that Taylor was here to avoid this, but she just walked past me and—I can't believe this. I really can't believe this."
"Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" Taylor screeched, still struggling against Burt. Kurt could see it happening as he looked back out the doorway again for the second time. He didn't want to watch it, but he just had to.
"You're such a bitch! How can you talk like that to me?"
"I hope you enjoyed it, honey, because this is the last you'll ever hear from me!"
"Don't watch this. It's private." Blaine, who had stood up, grabbed Kurt's hand and led him from the doorway. "We wouldn't want them watching us when we argued."
"We'd never argue like that, though." Kurt whispered, biting his lip. Yes, he definitely felt like a little kid right then.
And then there was silence. Two minutes later Kurt's grandfather led Paige in looking absolutely furious. Kurt opened his mouth to say something but Blaine reached over and gently pinched his arm, shaking his head.
"Paige Marie, I don't know what has—."
"Mom, it's really not the time, alright?" Paige snapped, taking her jacket off and tossing it onto the couch. "When's dinner?"
…
"There's no way you're driving in this mess, kid."
"We'll be fine. It's just back to Lima." Kurt huffed. "And I'm nineteen."
"I don't care if you're ninety, Kurt. The roads are too bad."
"I have stuff to do." Kurt crossed his arms over his chest.
"What are the chances he'll just give in without getting his way?" Kurt's grandfather questioned, coming up behind Blaine and then sitting next to him on the couch.
"About fifty-fifty." Blaine responded, eyes not leaving his boyfriend. "He's been really mature lately for the most part. Especially since August when school started up… but at the same time he, Mercedes, and Rachel have had this planned for three months. So he's very likely to throw a fit."
"There aren't even enough rooms." Kurt tried, in a weak attempt to get his father to let him leave.
"Yes there are. It's a three bedroom house. Paige and Nascar Guy left two hours ago."
"I would have left two hours ago but you told me I had to wait for it to stop snowing."
Burt just pointed at the direction of the couch. "Blaine, do you want to sit in a car and drive through this on mostly country roads?"
No.
Actually, really no.
Kurt is a scary driver in the safest of conditions.
This isn't what he said.
"If he really wants to… I mean…"
Kurt sighed, throwing himself onto the couch on Blaine's other side dramatically. "Fine. Fine, we'll stay. But know that I am fully capable of driving in this."
"Crisis averted, and without the help of Taylor. We've come a long way, guys!" Andrew said, reaching over and ruffling Kurt's hair.
"And this also means," Annie began, "That you two can't get the bright idea to leave at midnight. No one is leaving this house until it has been approved by Carole and me. This includes you, Andrew."
"I have places to be in the morning." Kurt's grandfather said, sounding eerily like his grandson. It made Blaine laugh inwardly to himself.
"Then you'd better hope it stops snowing, hadn't you?" She laughed, sitting on Kurt's other side.
"I'm running off to get some cake before I get trapped in this interrogation. I don't need any more comments about my sex life tonight." Kurt yelped, immediately standing up.
"Comments about what?" Annie, who had been in the kitchen during that episode with Taylor and her dirty hand gesturing, asked.
"About how Blaine… never mind, honey. Kurt, bring me some of that cake!" Andrew called after his grandson.
"Mmkay!" Kurt called as he left the room.
"I hate to be the one to bring up the big elephant in the room…" Andrew began loud enough to draw Burt's attention as soon as Kurt's was out of earshot. "But I was under the impression he was back to normal after this hospital stay."
"He's under a lot of stress, dad." Burt said gruffly, coming over. "I think he bit off more than he can chew with school."
"It's not just that." Andrew said, sitting up straight. "He just seems… different. And he's lost weight."
"I think its stress." Blaine said quietly, almost feeling like he shouldn't be getting involved in the conversation. It almost felt like a betrayal to talk about Kurt when he wasn't in the room, although nothing bad was being said. "He hasn't really had a lot of adjusting time."
"Winter break will do the kid good." Burt sat where Kurt had been previously. "The boys are gonna stay with Carole and I for all of it, that way neither of them will work. And hopefully between Blaine and I, we'll be able to talk him into taking fewer classes."
"Kurt's always had a habit of taking on too many things." Annie sighed, squeezing Burt's leg.
Kurt came in cheerfully with a plate of cake for his grandfather. "Anyone else want some? It's delicious. Of course it is."
Blaine pulled Kurt down onto his lap after the plate of cake had been handed off and squeezed him around the waist. This was mainly because he didn't want the conversation about Kurt to continue. Because really, had he changed that much? He was growing up, adjusting… And to be quite honest, he hadn't had that adjustment time he needed to completely get over things. He hoped that Burt was right and that the six week winter break would help Kurt adjust more wholly, but that was more for Kurt's sanity than his own.
Kurt relaxed against him, eating some of his own piece of cake. "Are we coming here for Christmas this year or what?"
"If you want to, sweetheart. We'd love to have all of you here. Finn included."
"Finn was sad he couldn't come." Carole smiled sadly. "But I'm glad they won the game. He was particularly sad to be missing you, Andrew. He enjoyed that scary movie talk just a little too much, I think."
"He was just a sweetheart. It's a shame he couldn't come too." Annie reached over and pushed Kurt's hair back. "This hair is getting long again. Well, long for your standards, sweetie."
"No time to get a haircut." Kurt said truthfully after swallowing some cake. "Busy, busy, and busy."
"Are you actually making things yet?" Carole asked interestedly, sitting on the floor with Melody near them. Melody kept her eyes on Blaine, who made silly faces at her in hopes that she'd blow a raspberry—and she didn't, of course.
"Not physically." Kurt shrugged. "Just a lot of sketching. Next semester I get to use a fancy tablet computer and make better sketches… and maybe do some actual clothes. I don't know for sure, though."
"Getting the basics in?" Burt asked, snorting as he watched Blaine and Melody's interactions.
"Yeah, I guess." Kurt said. "It's time consuming, though, even if it's easy."
"Now what are the chances of you getting an actual career?" Andrew asked, putting on a stern voice. "I know you said you didn't care, but I do."
"Blaine here's going to be a lawyer. So you don't have to worry." Kurt joked, pointing back at Blaine who instantly stopped making silly faces. "He'll make enough money to support me."
"A lawyer? Really?"
"Andrew, you already knew that. I told you." Annie shook her head. "You never listen to me."
"Sometimes you talk too much, honey. Where do you want to go to law school, Blaine?"
"Toledo sounds like it might be okay… but I'm really not too sure." Blaine shrugged a bit, arms still around Kurt. "OSU has a good law program too, I think."
"You should stay close to me." Kurt chirped.
"We'll see." Blaine laughed a bit. "I think I'm kind of just going to look into the different ones and see what I can get into… I don't think I'll have that many options though."
"Why not?" Burt asked, rather gruffly. "Are your grades not good?"
"Oh no, they're really good." Blaine said nervously. And his grades were good, excellent actually, so he didn't want Burt to think his money was going to waste—even if Blaine fully intended to pay every penny back. "It's just… where I took time off. It won't look good on a law school application."
Kurt looked down, frowning. "I didn't know that, Blaine…"
"It's okay." Blaine assured him. "It's not like I'm trying to get into Harvard Law or anything."
"My old college roommate teaches at Harvard. I'm sure they take special situations into consideration, especially if you'll pay them all that tuition." Andrew said thoughtfully. "It's a very hard school to get into regardless. Very selective. But it's a very good school. Do you want to be a lawyer, Blaine?"
"Yeah." Blaine nodded.
"Any particular reason why?"
Blaine hesitated. "Well… I don't know. There's just so much crap everywhere and I guess I want to help people... I kind of want to work with hate crimes. That way people don't get the easy way out, like the people who did this to Kurt did… because too many people just turn a blind eye on this type of thing and… and I'd like to put an end to it, I guess."
"That's a very good reason." Andrew said seriously. "When people have reasons like that behind what they do, it gives them a reason to be good at what they do. So many people become doctors and lawyers for a big check and don't care about the people they're working for. You do know, of course, that you can't only pick cases like that?"
"Yes, sir." Blaine nodded, feeling like his answers were sounding incredibly lame. Then again, he had been put on the spot and he found himself wishing he'd listened to Kurt and had come up with answers to basic questions like these. Of course the man would ask about what he wanted to do with his life and how he would support Kurt. "But I can still help the other people too just as well as I can with the people I can relate to."
"Something like that is going to take a whole lot of dedication and determination." Andrew said. "It's hard. I deal a lot with investing. It's hard to make a name for yourself to get to where you want to be. Same as with your stuff, Kurt. You've got to want it and know you can do it. And you can't stop, no matter what anyone says."
"Even your grandpa?" Kurt smirked.
"Even your silly, worried-ridden grandfather, yes." He laughed. "I worry about you, Kurt. I think we all do. I know you hate that, but it's just the way it is."
"I can take care of myself. I'll be fine." Kurt promised. "And now in place of Dad is Blaine hounding me to do anything I try to get out of. And sometimes Blaine can be worse than Dad. Dad will get annoyed and storm off, but Blaine pouts and keeps on until I cave. It's really for the better."
"If pouting is what it takes to get you to take care of yourself, then he'll have to keep on doing that." Burt sighed. "Although I'd like to force you both to live in Lima for a few more years."
"He misses you, hon." Carole said. "He's always going on about how he hopes you're eating and sleeping. Speaking of sleeping, I think we need to get the baby to bed."
"I'll do it." Burt grunted, standing up. "Otherwise she'll spend four hours crying."
Carole kissed the top of Melody's head and then passed her over to her husband. "It's awful, Annie. She's fine until she sees him, but the minute he walks through that door and knows he's home…"
"Oh, Kurt was the exact same way." Annie said. "Only it was worse. Even if Burt wasn't home, he'd just bawl. Two and a half years, Carole. He spent a weekend with us once and…"
"Awful." Andrew interrupted as Burt left the room. "He had some lungs on him. You wouldn't believe how loud the little thing could cry."
"Oh God." Kurt moaned. "Please, no."
"I think it's cute." Blaine said cheerfully, glad that he wasn't the victim of embarrassing stories for once.
"You drove poor Elizabeth crazy, Kurt." Annie laughed and turned to Carole. "But she found out that if she sang to him, it'd usually hold him over for a while. Sometimes, though, she'd have to call Burt at work and have Burt talk him down over the phone."
"And there were the few times she had to drive Kurt down to the garage." Andrew nodded.
"No, no. That was when he was older and throwing the temper tantrums. He went through a terrible phase when he was about four or five. Didn't you, Kurtsie?"
"No comment." He responded, although he vaguely remembered hearing stories of how Burt would have a stern talking to with Kurt in his office. Only they usually ended in Kurt coming out with a lollipop and a wide grin on his face with Burt looking sheepishly at his wife and mouthing 'I tried.'
Everyone but Kurt laughed and Blaine ruffled his hair.
"So, Blaine… tell us about your family. What do your parents do?" Andrew asked.
Carole immediately looked very tense, but Blaine just said smoothly, "My dad is a pediatrician. My mom was more of a stay at home mom, really… She had some random jobs but nothing that was really a career."
"You look so familiar." The older man said, looking thoughtful. "I can't place it though. You never lived here, did you?"
"No, sir." Blaine shook his head. "But my grandmother runs for office a lot, so you could have seen one of those family pictures or something."
"No, no, I knew that. That's not it." The older man shook his head too. "I want to say… but no…"
"I don't think you'd have met him, Grandpa." Kurt said, sliding down so he was on the floor by Carole. "He didn't even go to school in Lima so you wouldn't have seen him at my house. And he didn't live anywhere near here."
"I remember! You! You sing at the Christmas shows at Kings Island!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Do you remember, Annie? With that blonde girl!"
"No!" Kurt's grandmother covered her mouth. "Yes! You're that adorable little boy! They would put your pictures on the brochures with her! They came in the mail every year!"
"Oh my God." Blaine covered his face, blushing. He was well aware that, up until he was thirteen, his mother had kept each brochure in a box with other various things from singing competitions. Why had he ever worked at a theme park? Why?
"Yes! Oh my God! We went when Kurt was nine or ten. That was you, wasn't it? Oh, I knew you looked familiar but I assumed it was from the election photos!"
"Oh my God." Blaine repeated. "That was probably me."
"No probably about it." Kurt's grandfather said firmly. "It was you."
"I didn't know that!" Carole laughed, patting Blaine's leg. "How long did you do it?"
"From the age of eight until seventeen, I think." Blaine mumbled into his hand.
"This is amazing! Kurt, do you remember?"
"Huh?" Kurt asked. "Remember what?"
"When you were nine or ten we were there. And we saw Blaine and that girl perform."
"Oh my God." Blaine's face got even redder. Kurt had seen him sing at a Christmas show when he was a little kid? It kept getting better and better. "Are you for real?"
"No way!" Kurt grinned, hopping up excitedly. "Really?"
"Yes! And, Blaine, he goes… 'Well the boy sounds fabulous and his suit is amazing, but that girl could use a whole lot of work!'" Annie said loudly. "Do you remember, Kurt?"
"I don't remember." Kurt admitted. "I think I remember the Christmas tree though."
"Oh, Andrew laughed for days over it. He always said Kurt was something else."
"My life is so embarrassing." Blaine moaned, finally lowering his hands.
Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand, dragging him up. "I'm getting him away from you lunatics before he realizes how insane you all are and breaks up with me."
"Goodnight, boys." Carole said cheerfully. "No leaving in the middle of the night, Kurt! Shopping will have to wait!"
"Shopping won't wait." Kurt said firmly, pulling Blaine towards the stairs. "I brought my laptop incase. I'm googling the best deals online as soon as we get in the guest room. I hope you're ready to stay up all night, Blaine."
"Really? You put me through that humility and then make me stay up all night and shop over the internet? What if the stuff doesn't fit?"
"Then I'll exchange it." Kurt shrugged, pulling out his phone. "Mercedes, listen. Yeah, we're snowed in up here. I know, I know. You have got to buy me anything fabulous you find and I'll pay you back as soon as I'm to Lima. Oh, and don't let Rachel buy anything with animals on it, okay?"
Kurt pushed a door open and pointed in the door. Blaine made his way through and looked around the very cozy light pink bedroom, nose scrunching up adorably. "Pink? You're really making me sleep in a baby pink bedroom?"
Kurt just rolled his eyes. "You're gay, shut up. No, not you Mercedes. Blaine is commenting on the guest room. Yeah, the pink one. I think it's cute too."
Blaine sat on the bed, looking around. Maybe it was a cute room, but that didn't meant he wanted to have to stare at pink walls for the rest of the night. Kurt handed Blaine his messenger bag and he opened it, pulling out a thing of potato candy and his laptop. "For me? Is this candy for me?"
Kurt nodded, rolling his eyes again.
"I'd serenade you, but I'm too eager to scarf this stuff down." Blaine said excitedly, pulling the Tupperware lid off and pulling out a large piece of potato candy. He'd never had potato candy before the previous night, but he was now convinced that it was the best thing he'd ever tasted in his life. And he thought a whole lot of other things were extremely delicious, so that said a lot. He groaned loudly, eyes rolling into the back of his head. "This stuff is so amazing, Kurt."
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Kurt laughed before saying goodbye to Mercedes and hanging up the phone. "I can't believe I don't get to shop tomorrow. Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year."
"You already said you were going to order crap online." Blaine shrugged, picking up the remote and turning the television on. "We can watch the Home Shopping Network and make fun of the old lady clothes if you want."
"You find it amusing. I find it appalling."
"Well," Blaine stuffed another piece of candy in his mouth. "Wecooolnd."
"No. We're not fooling around in my grandparent's house."
Blaine swallowed and frowned. "You fooled around in your father's house last night."
"Shh! Someone might hear!" Kurt hissed, throwing one of the pink pillows at him. "And that was your fault. You forced me."
"I didn't see you objecting. In fact, you're the one who took it to the next level if I remember it correctly."
"You're never allowed in my bathroom when I'm in there again, Blaine. Do you hear me?"
"You're trying to make me fat so you're the only attractive one in the relationship with this candy, aren't you?" Blaine retorted, not able to think of anything witty enough to answer Kurt's question. "Aren't you?"
"I don't have to try. I can't believe you had your brother send you gift cards to Taco Bell because I kept getting onto you for eating so much fast food."
"I can't believe you go to the store and come back with all this healthy food. Everyone knows that October through February are prime junk food periods. It's like the junk food season, Kurt. And even if I gain weight, I always lose it by time March comes and I start running again. If you're so concerned, why'd you give me my own bowl full of candy?"
"Because I thought I would be sweet since you so willingly agreed to not eat any of the candy until today. Apparently it was all a lie, though."
Blaine turned his body so he wasn't facing Kurt, shielding his candy. "You can't take it from me. I'm having a hard enough time adjusting to this week without my fishes."
"Can we discuss how sad it is that you have full on conversations with plastic fish in a toothbrush holder? Blaine, I think you need to start inviting David over more. Or branching out at UK."
"I have friends at UK." Blaine said. "And usually they visit me when I work at the library and we hang out. But it's a little hard to invite someone who lives in Lexington up to Cincinnati to hang out, you know? Why don't you ever bring anyone from CCAD?"
"Because I haven't really talked to anyone that much." Kurt admitted, finally joining his boyfriend on the bed. "It's so competitive, you know? Not really a friend-making environment."
"I think you're taking it too seriously. I'd go insane at UK if I didn't have people to talk to. I sit through my entire Sociology lecture with this random guy on Stumble Upon on his computer. And I've got this group of people who I always have English classes with, so we always chat before and after class."
"Yeah, but you're you. You find it easy to go up to someone and start a conversation. I mean, look at you. You're adorable, you've got this infectious smile, and you're nice." Kurt said, ticking each reason off on his hands.
"You have all of those things too, Kurt. You're just in this mindset that everyone in your school is your enemy. Especially that one Aaron kid or whatever his name is."
"Alec." Kurt frowned. "And I'm glad I did the best presentation last Thursday."
"I think you'd be a bit less stressed if you made friends with people who knew what you were going through… I mean, I get that school is tough. But I can't truly know what you're going through because we're in completely different disciplines…" Blaine moved into a lying position, setting the bowl on the bedside table, and pulled Kurt close. "Don't you want someone to talk to that will understand?"
"I've got Mercedes. She understands." Kurt said, linking hands with Blaine and resting his head on Blaine's chest.
"But she's not here… Kind of like how I can't just talk to Wes and David all of the time, because they aren't here, so I just talk to my fishie friends. That's why you need to make friends where you are. So you'll have a wider range of people to go to."
"I know, I know." Kurt played with his fingers, thinking that maybe it was time he bought Blaine a real fish. "I'll work on it next semester. But for now I'd like us to get through finals so we can have some alone time together."
"We have some alone time together right now." Blaine said, looking down at him and smirking.
"Fine, fine. But we have to wait until they go to bed." Kurt snorted, nuzzling Blaine's side. "Because if somebody walked in on us, that would make Christmas extremely awkward."
"They know we have sex." Blaine rolled his eyes, but did not push the matter. "I mean, they have to."
"Finn doesn't."
"What?" Blaine pushed himself up, resting his weight on his elbows and staring at Kurt.
"Finn doesn't know we have sex." Kurt snorted. "Apparently he thinks 'gay dudes don't do it.'"
"What?"
"That's what he told Rachel." Kurt giggled a bit, reaching over and taking a piece of candy from the bowl on the nightstand. "And Rachel tried to explain that gay men do have sex and told him about how she walked in on her parents once and he said 'Kurt and Blaine don't do that.'"
"Wait, wait… Finn really thinks we don't have sex?" Blaine asked slowly.
"I swear I told you this, Blaine. They had this discussion right after Rachel's Halloween party. Remember?"
"All I remember about that party is you and Sam trying to beat each other's high score on Angry Birds." Blaine said. "Finn really thinks we don't have sex?"
"Probably why he's so nice to you." His boyfriend said cheerfully, munching on his candy and then giggling. "They still haven't done it yet. He probably likes you because he thinks you two have a lack of sex life in common. If he knew I was having sex and not him…"
"You're lying." Blaine said. "Totally lying."
"I am not! Finn thinks I'm a virgin!" Kurt exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Isn't it funny?"
"Kurt, there is no way Finn thinks we live together in a one bedroom apartment and haven't had sex yet. No. Way." Blaine shook his head. Because there really was no way anyone would ever think that about the two boys. If you spent one week alone with them in their house, the sexual attention was absolutely ridiculous. If the boys were both on the couch, without a doubt one of the boy's would be trying to persuade the other into taking a break for "at least a hand job." And on the very rare days that neither boy had any form of assignment due… well, chances are they didn't emerge from the bedroom unless it was to use the bathroom, shower, or bring food back to the bedroom.
"Call him yourself and ask if you don't believe me, Blaine. But that is at least one person that would be surprised if someone walked in on us fooling around right now."
"So we wait?" Blaine stuck his lower lip out, checking his watch.
"We wait." Kurt leaned over and kissed his ear, whispering. "But it might just be worth it."
"Oh God, Kurt, if you knew what it did to me when you do that." Blaine gasped out, squirming.
Kurt gave him an impish smile and ate another piece of candy.