While Our Blood's Still Young

by Ezra.A.Bradley

Teenage father Blaine Anderson knew that he would have to put all his big dreams on hold to have his son. Now, with everyone around him telling him he can't achieve them with a toddler in tow, Blaine starts to wonder if they're right. Can a certain optimistic, unfailingly brave blue-eyed boy turn it all around for him? Mpreg, Seblaine, Klaine

7. Chapter 7

7

Time felt like it had never passed so slowly for Blaine. He was pretty sure it had even moved faster eighteen months ago while he was writhing through his labor pains. And those had only lasted one day. But the almost two weeks following the disastrous Sunday coffee date had to be the longest days of his life.

It seemed that no matter how busy he kept himself around his house, no matter how many hours he spent caring for Ollie, pouring over his schoolwork, or playing his guitar, his thoughts would always find their way back to Kurt. Blaine wondered what the other boy was doing at any given time of day: what class he was in, whether or not he'd gotten on Mr. Winters's good side like he'd told him to, or if maybe, just maybe, he was thinking about him too.

By the next weekend, Blaine had lost count of how many times he'd picked up his phone to call Kurt, only to stop himself and put it back down. He wanted to talk to him so much it almost physically hurt. It was an empty sort of ache similar to the one that would rise in his chest when Ollie was away. Now, it seemed like the sound of the Kurt's melodic voice played in his head constantly. And all at once, Blaine never knew he could miss something so much that he'd only known for such a short time.

But he knew he couldn't call him. He knew Kurt said he would talk when he was ready. If he'd ever be ready to talk to Blaine again, that is. Finding out that the homeschooled teenager who asked you out for coffee actually had a kid was a pretty big thing to process. A pretty big thing that Blaine could only hope Kurt would be crazy enough to maybe even try to take on. And although Blaine wanted to say 'I'm sorry' a million more times for lying, he knew the last thing Kurt needed right now was Blaine to be all desperate and clingy.

So, naturally, Blaine texted Wes instead. He'd explained the whole ordeal to Wes—how the truth had come out at the coffee shop and the Warblers could drop the charade and be honest with Kurt now. And every day Blaine would text to ask his friend how Kurt was doing.

According to Wes, Kurt had spent the rest of Sunday pent up in his room, listening to obscure music on full blast and ignoring the other boys' concerned knocks at his door.

The whole next two weeks had apparently found Kurt walking determinedly around the halls of Dalton, absorbed completely by his new schedule and classes. Wes reported that Kurt had shot down the Warblers' inquiries about his wellbeing, claiming he was 'perfectly fine' and always quickly changing the subject away from anything even remotely bordering on Blaine-related.

Blaine had also had to find out from Wes that Kurt's Warblers audition was that next Thursday evening. He had really hoped that Kurt would have at least told him when he was auditioning, since it was Kurt's desire to join the group that had been the catalyst for their first conversation. But no. No contact from the boy he'd lied to. There'd been nothing. And Blaine couldn't blame him. A new school, new friends, and an audition was definitely enough for Kurt to focus on without having to deal with Blaine's crazy drama on top of it all.

So that Thursday afternoon, almost two weeks exactly since Blaine had been dazzled by those blue eyes on the stairs of Dalton, he was in his room while Ollie napped. He had thought about getting to work on his essay about the French Revolution that was due next week, but instead he opted for lying on his bed and staring straight up at his ceiling, unblinking like a crazy person while music from his iTunes library shuffled in the background.

By this point it was a physical struggle not to type out a text to Kurt. Every dapper bone in his body told him it was the polite thing to do to wish Kurt luck on his audition, but every socially conscious nerve he had was still telling him that he'd blown it; that he just needed to leave the poor guy alone.

So he told Wes to call him and let him now how Kurt did.

He stared at his dormant phone on the bedside table, and a new wave of hopelessness came over him. He knew he just needed to accept it; he and Kurt would never get to be anything together. Things like that just didn't happen. Teenagers didn't just have babies with one person and then get to be with whomever they wanted afterwards… right?

He released a defeated sigh and closed his eyes. He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing to register in Blaine's conscience was Oliver's earsplitting wail coming from the baby monitor on his bedside table. Blaine sat up so fast his vision went fuzzy. Then an overwhelming terror gripped him. This was not Ollie's usual 'let-me-out-of-my-crib-now' wail. This was different. This was louder; it was desperate and full of fear.

"Ollie?!" Blaine called out as he jumped to his feet, heart pounding a mile a minute.

Before Blaine could take a step toward the Jack and Jill-style bathroom that linked his room to Oliver's, the ringing of his cell phone joined the cacophony. Blaine reached out and grabbed it blindly, hitting the answer button without even reading the name. He knew it had to be Wes with the update on Kurt's audition.

"One second, Wes," he said into the phone as he rushed toward the screaming Ollie's bedroom.

Upon entering the toddler's room, Blaine gasped at the sight of his terrified son with one leg slung over the top of his crib's bars, so that he was effectively trapped, balancing precariously, and holding onto the wooden bars for dear life.

Blaine sped over to the petrified boy. Without thinking, he tossed his phone onto the padded rocking chair next to the crib. "What do you think you're doing?" he chided, lifting the baby off the crib and hugging him close.

Ollie clung to Blaine like the world would end if he let go and continued to cry loudly.

"Shh, it's okay, Buddy. Daddy's got you." Blaine planted a kiss to Ollie's hair. "I guess it was only a matter of time before you tried to climb your crib too, huh? You little monkey."

Ollie tightened his hug around Blaine's neck. His full-out crying began to dissipate into soft sobs. The little boy buried his tear-stained face into Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine rubbed soothing circles into his back. "Shh, Daddy's got you," he repeated in an almost-whisper. "Daddy's got you. Always."

Oliver quieted all the way down and loosened his hold on Blaine a bit. With a sigh of relief that he'd gotten there before Ollie hurt himself, Blaine moved to sit in the rocking chair, where he saw his phone sitting on the seat, still connected to the call. He picked it up with his free hand before he sat.

"Hey Wes," he said, situating Ollie in his lap. "Sorry about that. Ollie had a bit of a crisis…"

"Blaine," said the voice on the other end of the line.

Blaine froze. He could feel his eyes bugging out of his head. That was not Wes's voice. But he'd know this other voice anywhere.

"K-Kurt?" he sputtered, thinking he must be imagining things.

"Yes. It's me," the honey-sweet countertenor voice replied. "Hi."

It took Blaine a moment to remember how to form words.

"Um, hi!" he said, totally unable to keep the surprise out of his pitch even if he tried. "How, um, how are you?"

"I'm well. Uh, how are you?" Kurt responded, voice slightly uneasy, betraying what might have been a hint of his own nervousness.

"I'm okay, I guess," Blaine couldn't fight the dopey grin that came over him.

"Good. That's good."

A moment of silence. Oliver rested his head on Blaine's chest and Blaine ran a hand through the boy's soft curls.

Kurt cleared his throat. "Is… um, is Oliver okay?"

Blaine's grin grew a little.

"His name is Oliver, right?" Kurt added in a hurry.

"Yes, that's right," Blaine said gently. "And he's fine now. Just had a little scare on a misguided climbing adventure involving the crib." He heard a soft laugh on the other end. "Sorry you had to hear that, by the way. I probably should have waited to answer the phone, but I thought it was Wes and he's used to…"

"No, no. It's totally fine. I mean, I was a little confused at first, but then when you started talking to Oliver, I caught on."

A small silence.

"It was… I mean, it sounded really sweet. The way you comforted him," Kurt said.

"Thanks," Blaine replied, feeling the color rise in his cheeks a bit. "All in a day's work," he added in a joking tone, immediately hoping it didn't come off super corny.

"I bet," Kurt said, sounding sincere as always.

Another silence ensued. Blaine bit his lip. He was surprised by the call, but now that he had Kurt on the phone, he really, really didn't want it to be awkward. He started to speak:

"Kurt, I just…"

"Listen, Blaine…" the boys said at the same time.

Both cut off.

"Sorry," Kurt began. "You first."

Blaine let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh, um, okay." He took a deep breath.

"Um, I guess… I guess I'm just surprised you're calling me."

Kurt didn't answer right away.

"Don't get me wrong," Blaine continued. "I'm glad you did. Really glad. I just… I don't know. I didn't think you would want to after… well, after everything."

Blaine heard Kurt let out a breath it sounded like he'd been holding.

"I didn't think I did either, honestly," he said.

Blaine's heart sank a bit.

"But then I had my Warblers audition. And there are so many other people I should be talking to. So many people whom I told I would call right after. Lord knows Mercedes and Rachel are freaking out by their phones right now, waiting to hear." Kurt paused and took another deep breath. "But for some reason, the only person I found myself wanting to talk to was you."

Blaine's eyes bugged once more, and the sinking feeling from seconds before morphed into an explosion of excitement.

He opened his mouth to respond, but it came out as a forceful "oomph!" when Ollie suddenly elbowed him the stomach.

"Dow!" the little boy demanded. He squirmed in Blaine's lap, trying to position himself for the climb to the floor.

"You okay?" Kurt asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah," Blaine replied hoarsely. "Someone's just decided to get all squirmy." He leaned forward and placed his son on his feet on the floor. "There you go, Bud," he said. "Go play."

The toddler ran excitedly over to his toy xylophone and plopped down on the floor in front of it. Shrill metallic tings soon filled the room.

"He's a handful, isn't he?" asked Kurt.

"You have no idea," Blaine said with a sigh. He leaned back in the rocking chair and smirked when he remembered where they had left off in the conversation. "So, you found that you just had to talk to me, huh?" he said teasingly.

Kurt chuckled. "Cool it, Anderson. You don't even know why I'm calling yet."

"You're right. I apologize. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

There was a pause before Kurt answered. "I… I guess I don't know. I just… it seemed right."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "What seemed right?"

"This," Kurt replied. "You and me. Talking. I like it. I miss it."

A small, flattered smile curled onto Blaine's lips. There they were: the words he thought he'd never hear. He thought maybe he should pinch himself to make sure this was actually happening. He pulled his legs to his chest in the rocking chair and cradled his phone closer to his face. "I miss it too," he said quietly. "I wanted to call you every day. I just didn't think you would want anything to do with me anymore."

"It's good that you didn't," Kurt said, making Blaine wince for a moment. "I was pretty upset for a while. And I had a lot to sort out for myself. I still do, I suppose."

"Kurt, I am so, so sorry. I feel absolutely terrible. Lying to you is honestly the number one regret I have in my entire life. And I have a lot that I should regret…"

"I know you're sorry," Kurt said, cutting off his apologetic monologue. "And as far as regret goes," he paused and took another deep breath. "I can't help but feel like I would end up regretting not giving you a second chance."

Blaine gulped. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I know you lied, but I don't believe you're a liar."

"I'm not. I swear. I just got so scared."

"I know. And I get it, I guess. Fear can make people do some crazy things."

"To say the least. Thank you, Kurt. I won't let you down again."

"Mmm." There was a loaded pause before Kurt spoke again. When he did, his voice shifted to a more playful, daring tone: "Care to prove it, Anderson?"

Blaine smiled, happy to hear Kurt sounding confident and animated again. "What did you have in mind?"

"What do you have going on tomorrow night?"

Blaine couldn't help letting out a sarcastic laugh. "Nothing much. Just parenting a toddler. You know, normal teenage stuff."

"Oh," Kurt replied, sounding caught off-guard. "I thought… you know, since it's been two weeks… Isn't it, you know, his turn to have Oliver this weekend?"

Blaine quirked an eyebrow. "You mean Sebastian?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Kurt replied.

Blaine could practically hear the eye roll in his tone.

"Although, judging from my encounter with him, I think I prefer 'Smirky McSmirks-a-lot'."

Blaine laughed, so glad to hear Kurt's snarkiness come out to play again. He was also genuinely impressed that Kurt had remembered him saying Sebastian took Ollie every other weekend.

"Well, he was supposed to have him, yeah, but his fraternity's apparently got this huge event that he needs to help put on all weekend." Blaine said, rolling his eyes as he recalled the strained conversation (argument) he'd had the day before with his ex.

"An event? Like a charity thing?"

"Who knows?" Blaine shrugged. "He's always so vague with what he's doing. Its probably just a big party he doesn't want to miss."

"Oh."

"Yeah. All I know is that I have Ollie again this weekend. Seb's going to take him next week instead."

"Hmmm." There was a small pause while Kurt thought. "Right. Well, in that case, is there any chance you and Oliver would want to show me more of the finer points of fair Westerville sometime this weekend?"

Blaine bit his lip at the proposal. Of course he wanted to accept, but nothing was ever quite that simple for him. "You know I'd love to, Kurt. I've been wanting to see you so badly these past two weeks." Blaine paused and looked over at his son pounding away happily on the little rainbow xylophone. "And it's sweet of you to want to include him, but, honestly, I don't know if bringing Ollie along would be the best idea just yet. I mean, I just feel like I should wait to have you two spend time together until…" He trailed off.

"I get it. You want to make sure I'm not going anywhere before anybody gets attached to anybody.

"Exactly."

Kurt sighed on the other end of the line. "Very responsible. Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that. And I totally understand. I was just trying to think of a way I'd be able to get to spend some time with you again."

Blaine gulped again. It took a second to process what he was hearing. He really though Kurt would never talk to him again, and here he was, saying that he was already totally willing to hang out with his one-and-a-half-year-old son just to spend time with him. He couldn't quite form a response.

"So, is there any chance at all that it could be just you and me then? Tomorrow night?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"Um," Blaine mumbled, still trying to become coherent. "Um, my parents will be at a benefit tomorrow night until really late… I guess I could try to find another sitter, though."

"Oh," Kurt replied, sounding flustered. "Well, I don't want you to go to too much trouble or anything."

"No!" said Blaine, suddenly feeling the panic of letting Kurt slip away again. "No, it's no trouble. I want to see you too, Kurt."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, totally. I'll just ask Wes and David. They'll act all annoyed, but I know they won't really mind. Ollie's got them pretty much wrapped around his finger and they haven't seen him for a while, so I bet it'll be a go."

Kurt laughed. "Wes and David and childcare? Really?"

Blaine laughed back. "Yeah, I know it's shocking. Especially David. But they've actually helped me out a few times before and they're surprisingly good with him. I suspect it's because of how easily they relate to a child's mindset."

More musical laughter. "Well, okay. If you're sure."

"I am. And I can't wait to see you," Blaine said with a smile.

"Me either," Kurt replied. "I know of this thing going on tomorrow that I'd love to take you to."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What kind of thing?"

"You know? I think I'm gonna leave it a surprise," Kurt said coyly.

"Oooh. Intrigue," Blaine answered. "Will I like this surprise?"

"Oh, absolutely," came the confident reply. "If you don't, I think I'll have to seriously reevaluate your taste level."

"Kurt Hummel-possibly-Warbler, I can assure you my taste is impeccable."

"Good," Kurt said through a laugh.

"'Good' indeed. Now, tell me all about your audition. Don't leave anything out."

They talked for another half hour until Blaine had to hang up to feed Ollie his dinner. In that time, Kurt had told Blaine how nervous and apprehensive yet excited he'd been for his audition, how he'd chosen to sing a Whitney Houston song because his friend Mercedes had told him he couldn't lose with that. Kurt gushed about how the song flowed right through him and how he'd forgotten how much he loved performing. All of the drama with his bully and transferring had distracted him from the things he loved, and he felt great to be getting back in touch with that part of himself.

Blaine hoped he could be another positive in Kurt's upswing back to happiness rather than an added difficulty to overcome.

After he hung up with Kurt and fed Ollie, he called David to ask about babysitting. Just as Blaine predicted, Wes and David initially griped and groaned at his request for babysitting on a Friday night, but ultimately they agreed to be at his house at seven sharp the next day. They said they knew it was for a good cause.

Blaine could not stop smiling for the next twenty-four hours.

Luckily for Blaine, the next night his parents were attending a huge Veterans Association event in Cleveland and had to leave pretty much as soon as they got home from work at five-thirty. They said they would not be back until the wee hours of the morning, so Blaine knew he would have no trouble slipping out on his date without having to offer any explanations. Even though he now knew that his mom was fine with him dating again, he still hadn't bridged the subject with his dad and highly doubted his mom had either. It was just a road that no one wanted go down with the unwavering Mr. Anderson.

So the next night, Blaine kept quiet as his parents scrambled to get out the door on time. In their mad rush, they didn't ask if he had any plans for the night, so he didn't volunteer that he did.

"Bye, my Sweeties! There's pizza money on the counter by the fridge," Mrs. Anderson called over her shoulder as she slipped out the door to meet her husband in the waiting BMW.

"Okay, Mom. Thanks-love-you-bye!" Blaine called back from the living room.

He heard the door close. He and Ollie were left alone. It was time to enter date mode.

"C'mon, Ollie Golly," Blaine said as he scooped the little boy off the living room floor. "Come help Daddy get ready for his date."

"Dat," Ollie tried to repeat.

Blaine started to make his way toward the stairs with the boy in his arms. "Yeah, Bud. Daddy's going on a date tonight," he emphasized. "And not just any date. A second date. A second date with a gorgeous, funny, brilliant boy who your Daddy is pretty darn crazy over."

An hour later found Blaine in his room with completely dressed and styled. Behind him on the bed sat Oliver, half buried in the pile of rejected clothing his daddy had thrown there.

He had chosen a collared shirt with a gray sweater and, after a lot of time spent scrutinizing his butt in the mirror, a bold pair of bright red skinny jeans. He hoped it would be appropriate for whatever this mystery place it was Kurt was taking him to.

The look was topped off with a bowtie that he'd let Ollie pick. So, naturally, he was headed out on his date in a violently purple bowtie covered in winking cats.

"This one?" Blaine had asked when Ollie pointed to the tie. "You think Kurt will like it?"

"Kitty!" Ollie clapped his hands.

Blaine just laughed. The outrageous tie had been a gag gift from the Warblers for his sixteenth birthday. They had jokingly said a bowtie was the only article of clothing that they still knew his size in, as he had been ballooned to his six-months-pregnant self on that particular birthday.

"Okay, Buddy. I'll wear it for you. Because you're being so cool about Daddy dating again."

"Date!" Ollie exclaimed, this time pronouncing the word perfectly.

Blaine knew the boy was clearly oblivious to what his dating meant or implied, but he still felt he owed it to the little boy to include him in some way during this process. There were many people that would say a child out of wed-lock should be a symbol of shame, but Blaine had already been down the road of hiding his son like he was ashamed and nothing had ever made him feel lower. It was time to treat Ollie like the badge of honor he was. Because it was moments like this, and supportive people like Kurt, that made Blaine realize how incredibly honored he was to be that little boy's father.

The doorbell rang and Blaine grabbed Ollie off his bed and headed down stairs. Before he even reached the bottom, though, the front door burst open and David strolled on inside like he owned the place. Wes followed behind, shaking his head.

"Where's my best friend Oliver Smythe?" David called into the entryway.

Blaine rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. "Oh hey, David. Why don't you just come on in?"

David turned toward Blaine and smiled as he reached the bottom of the steps. "Don't mind if I do. It's freezing out there. Sup Ollie?" he asked the little boy, who in turn buried his face shyly into Blaine's shoulder.

It only took a few minutes of gentle coaxing for Blaine to convince Ollie to stop clinging to him and allow himself to be handed off to David. It had been about three months since the toddler had last seen Blaine's friends and he therefore didn't remember them right at first. But after a quick game of airplane, David had easily won over the little boy's affections.

Blaine then gave a Wes a quick refresher tour of where all the necessities were: diapers, snacks, blanket, Sippy cups, emergency numbers, etc. He assured them that they should have a pretty easy time since Ollie's bedtime was only about an hour away. Then they could just play video games or watch TV (with a baby monitor close at hand, of course.)

Then the three teens and the toddler all settled into the living room to await Kurt's arrival.

"You're never gonna guess what Kurt has planned for you tonight," David said from his seat on the floor. Ollie was now running all over the room, grabbing each one of his toys and bringing them over to show David one by one.

Blaine raised an eyebrow, instantly intrigued. "He told you guys what we're doing?"

"Oh yeah," replied Wes. "Since you two reconciled last night, he pretty much didn't shut up about you and this date all day." He chuckled. "He asked us a million times if we thought you'd like it."

Blaine's eyes widened. "Yeah? Will I?"

Wes and David shared a look.

"Yeah, Blaine," said David. "I think you'll find yourself very pleased with what you'll see tonight."

He felt his eyes widen even further. Something in David's tone suddenly made him feel much more nervous than he'd been previously. "What is that supposed to mean?"

David just smiled. Then he mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

Blaine shook his head disapprovingly.

"Don't worry, Blaine. I'm sure you'll have a great time. Kurt is really excited about it." Wes offered.

Blaine let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I was too. Now I'm a little scared…"

"Chill, dude. It's nothing illegal or anything."

Blaine just took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Then, as if perfectly on cue, the doorbell rang.

Blaine jumped to his feet, his nervous anticipation making his movements spastic and jolty. "I'll get it," he stated completely redundantly.

He stepped over the baby gate to the living room and then strode back toward the front of the house. Then he wiped his palms nervously on his jeans before taking one more breath and opening the door.

Kurt was even more stunning than Blaine remembered. He was dressed in a simple, but tight pair of teal pants and the same stylish black pea coat he had worn on their coffee date. As Blaine took in the sight of the perfectly coiffed teen on his front porch, he could hardly believe this was real. Kurt just looked back at him with a half smile in place that was so cool, confident, and smoldering it could probably literally melt hearts. Blaine didn't even allow himself to look at Kurt's eyes yet. He knew if he did, he might not be able to talk.

"Hi," he managed to say. Although it came out a lot quieter than he'd expected.

"Hey, Blaine," the musical voice replied.

Blaine felt his smile grow.

"It's good to see you again," Kurt added when the other boy didn't reply right away.

"You too," Blaine said, still breathier than he meant to sound, but so sincere.

And then, just as he had done at Joehouse two weeks earlier, Kurt opened his arms toward Blaine expectantly. And again, the shorter boy immediately complied with the unspoken request for a hug.

Blaine was surprised he didn't have a stroke from the wave of sensation that came over him when he wrapped his arms around Kurt. He was immediately enveloped into that wonderful mix of lavender and something else masculine but still clean that he already knew was Kurt. He squeezed Kurt's trim waist lightly while the other boy's chin tucked perfectly over his shoulder, loving the way their bodies seemed to fit together so perfectly. Goosebumps flared up all over his body, just as they had when their sides pressed together on Kurt's bed the night they'd met.

"Come in," Blaine said when they parted, already missing the warmth. "It's freezing out here." He stepped aside and allowed Kurt to pass through the door.

"Thanks," the taller teen said as Blaine closed the door behind them.

As soon as Kurt stepped through the threshold, he let his eyes trail up and down the shorter boy's body. Blaine held his breath through the scrutiny and just tried not completely freak out over the fact that this gorgeous guy was actually standing in his house looking at him.

"Nice tie," said Kurt.

Blaine finally let out his breath. "Thanks," he said. Then he felt a blush rise on his cheeks when he remembered exactly which tie he was wearing. "Ollie picked it out," he explained.

Kurt chuckled. "Cute."

Blaine let out a nervous laugh. "I just need to get my coat and say bye to Ollie," he made himself say before he melted into a puddle of goo at the thought that Kurt had called him (or his tie) cute. Then he made his way over to the coat closet.

Kurt turned away to look around the Anderson entryway for the first time. From his peripheral vision, Blaine noted how Kurt took in the space, sweeping his gaze all the way up to the crystal chandelier at the top of the two-story ceiling, taking in the detailed mahogany wainscoting on the walls, and down to the rich, cinnamon-brown hardwood floors. Blaine noticed the way Kurt's eyebrows arched and he jaw went a little slack.

"Your house is really nice," Kurt commented.

"Thanks," said Blaine. "My parents had it built when my mom was pregnant with me."

He saw Kurt nod out of the corner of his eye as he pulled his coat off its hanger.

"Looks like they did a good job." Kurt stopped looking around the house and focused back on Blaine. "I've never been inside a gated neighborhood before," he admitted, finally looking a little nervous himself.

Blaine felt a slight blush creep up on his cheeks. He really didn't like talking about his family's wealth. They weren't even that well off, compared to some other people in the Columbus suburbs. Like the Smythes. If Kurt thinks my house his nice, he should see what Sebastian's family's got going on across town. They have a freaking live-in butler, Blaine thought.) But sometimes Blaine felt like his parents' taste leaned toward the ostentatious side, and sometimes that made him feel self-conscious. Especially if it made his friends feel uncomfortable. And even more especially if it was making Kurt uncomfortable.

"Typing that code you gave me into the entrance gate made me feel so fancy."

Kurt laughed but Blaine had to force a polite smile.

"Yeah, it's pretty bougie, I guess. Kind of dumb." He tried to gloss over the topic. Blaine pulled his coat on and quickly fastened up the buttons. "Um, I'm just gonna say a quick goodbye to Ollie and then I'll be ready to go, okay?"

"Sure," Kurt said kindly. "I'll wait here."

Blaine nodded and headed down the hallway, still aware of Kurt's wide-eyed appraisal of the house.

Blaine knew he was privileged to grow up in such a nice, comfortable home. He knew he was immeasurably lucky to be able to stay here with his parents for free while Ollie was a baby. And, as uncomfortable as it was to acknowledge, he realized for the first time that he honestly hadn't considered that maybe Kurt didn't come from a house like this one and like all of his friends'. Blaine had no idea what Kurt's home in Lima was like, but judging from his reaction to this house, it probably wasn't like this. As he walked down the short hallway, he let out a small, imperceptible sigh, really hoping Kurt wasn't judging him too harshly and, even more so, hoping that Kurt didn't think Blaine would judge him.

When he got to the living room, Wes handed Oliver to Blaine over the baby gate and Blaine hugged the boy tightly to him, feeling an immediate sense of comfort. He was acutely aware that he was still in Kurt's direct line of sight.

Wes then leaned forward and stuck his head out of the living room. He waved when he saw Kurt down the hallway. "Hey, Kurt!"

Kurt returned the wave. "Hey, Wes. Thanks again for agreeing to babysit," he called, the volume making the distance between them seem silly. But it seemed that Kurt didn't dare move closer while Blaine was holding Ollie. He seemed to know that for now, Blaine wanted to keep those worlds separate, and he had to respect that.

"No problem!" Wes called back.

David's head appeared over Wes's shoulder. "You just make sure you take care of our boy, here," he said, gesturing to Blaine.

Blaine rolled his eyes at the exchange. "How about you guys just make sure you take care of my boy?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure," David answered, sounding bored. "Where's the pizza money again?"

Blaine laughed at the question and he heard Kurt's mesmerizing laugh as well.

"My mom left it on the counter by the fridge. Help yourselves."

David beamed and rubbed his hands together.

"Okay, Ollie Golly. Daddy's gonna go bye-bye now." Blaine saw the smile disappear from his son's face and the telltale watering of his green eyes. He looked back at Wes and David. "You guys ready for the waterworks?"

"Oh, I forgot he always freaks out when you leave," remarked Wes, his eyes growing wide.

"It'll only be for a few minutes. Just until he finds something more interesting to distract him," Blaine reassured them. He turned back to the distressed boy in his arms. "You be good, okay? I'll see you tomorrow." Then he planted a kiss to his forehead.

"Noooo!" Ollie wailed, latching his arms securely around Blaine's neck.

"Here we go," David muttered.

"I gotta go, Bud," Blaine said soothingly, beginning the process of prying the child off of him. "I love you, okay?"

"NOOOOOO!" The toddler screamed so loud that Blaine knew his ears would be ringing for a good while to come.

As he gently pulled his son away from himself, Ollie clung desperately to his neck, refusing to let go at all costs. "Dada, no!" he pleaded, now full on bawling.

Blaine felt his heart break a little but at the sight of it and part of him almost wanted to tell Kurt that they'd have to reschedule.

"I'll be back," he assured him. "Go have fun with Wes and David."

He finally succeeded in prying himself free and Ollie let out another earsplitting wail as soon as his arms left his daddy's neck. Wes immediately held out his arms to take the screaming, struggling boy.

"I love you, Ollie," Blaine repeated, actually feeling tears starting to form behind his own eyes. It was always so hard to see his son so distressed, even if he knew it was temporary. But he knew the quickest way to get him to stop was to just get out of there as fast as possible. "I'll see you guys later," he said to Wes and David. Then he headed quickly down the hallway back toward Kurt who had, unfortunately, thought Blaine, witnessed the whole ordeal from his vantage point in the foyer.

"Let's go," he urged Kurt, who just nodded and turned toward the door. Blaine kept his eyes forward until they were outside, refusing to look back even though each strangled shout of 'Daadaaaa!' felt like a whip to his back.

"Wow," Kurt commented once they were headed down the driveway to Kurt's red 90s-model VW sedan. "That must make it tough to leave."

Blaine let out a humorless laugh. "You have no idea," he answered, still trying to hold back his own tears.

They took a few more steps before Kurt spoke.

"Hey," the taller teen said softly.

Blaine felt a hand on his elbow and stopped walking, surprised.

"You okay?" Kurt said, looking at Blaine with wide, understanding eyes.

God, there they are, Blaine thought as soon as he found himself face to face with the objects of his dreams, his fantasies, and his haunting regrets for the past two weeks. Kurt's eyes were even bluer than Blaine remembered them. Especially there, outside with the bright late winter moonlight reflected in their surface.

"Blaine?" Kurt's voice broke through his consciousness.

Blaine made himself blink and look away. "Sorry," he breathed. He brought a hand up to his own eyes to make sure they weren't watering too badly. "I'm fine, I promise. I'll be fine."

Practically crying over leaving Ollie was not how he was expecting the date to start off. The last thing Blaine needed, now that Kurt was speaking to him again, was to scare him away with all his jumbled feelings. Sebastian had always told him he was too emotional. Even when he was deep in his depression, Seb just kept telling him to get over himself. That he was acting annoying and pathetic. That was the last thing he wanted Kurt to think of him.

Kurt just nodded. His hand was still resting on Blaine's elbow and he squeezed it gently, his expression full of sympathy. "You don't have to come out with me tonight. If you'd rather stay with Oliver, I'd understand."

The pure kindness in Kurt's voice made that familiar warmth rise up in Blaine's chest once more. He turned his eyes back up to Kurt's and a sincere smile curled onto his lips. "Wow," he said through the grin, getting lost again in how perfect Kurt looked in the moonlight.

Kurt quirked his head, the half smile back in place. "What?" he asked with a laugh in his voice.

Blaine shook his head slowly. "Just… you."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Yeah, I mean, God, Kurt. I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Just… be the way you are. I've never met anyone like you."

Kurt's eyes twinkled as his half-grin grew. "In what way?"

Blaine sighed. "In every way. You've been through so much. Stuff that would break a lot of people. But you… you're still so strong. And brave. And forgiving, and understanding and just perf…" Blaine broke off before he let the last adjective slip. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks and broke his gaze away from the other boy. "I lied to you. And I led you to believe that I wasn't as fucked up as I am. But by now I think my true colors are showing."

"Blaine…" Kurt tried to interject.

"No, let me say this," Blaine asserted. He took a deep breath before he continued. "You know I'm a teen dad now. And you've seen me on the verge of tears twice and we've only known each other for two weeks. I've clearly got my issues and I'm nowhere near as good at dealing with them as you are. I'm selfish. And bitter. And prone to making the worst decisions."

"You are not selfish…"

"But you…" Blaine continued. "Through everything, you never stop being compassionate. You never stop acting selfless. I mean, here you are, at my house, willing to give me a second chance in spite of it all. Telling me it's okay if I want to cancel and stay with Ollie because he's crying. It's just… it's like you care so much. And it's… it's more than I deserve."

Kurt's brow wrinkled in concern. There was a loaded silence before he spoke. "You don't think you deserve to have people care about you?" he asked in disbelief.

Blaine shrugged. "I guess I never actually thought I'd have the chance to find someone who really did."

He hazarded a glance back up the sparkling blue eyes.

The taller teen was silent for another long moment. Then a soft smile broke through his concerned expression. "Well, I care about you."

Blaine stared at Kurt for moment longer before the words really sank in. When they did finally register in in his brain, he found that he was already smiling up at the taller boy and looked away shyly. But the triumphant little smile did not fade.

"But Blaine?" Kurt added.

"Yeah?"

"I am not perfect."

Blaine looked back up and blue met hazel once more. Blaine felt like his knees might give out. "I've seen no evidence to the contrary."

Kurt let out a laugh. "Okay. Well, what do you say we get this night started so I can change your mind?"

Blaine laughed too. "Yeah, okay. Let's go."

"Unless you wanted to make sure Ollie's okay?" Kurt suggested.

"Blaine shook his head. "No, he'll be fine. He always cries when he's left with anyone other than me, Sebastian, or our parents. It's just hard to leave him when he's screaming for me."

"I understand," Kurt stated. "And I'm glad you're still game, because I think you're really going to like what I've got in store for you."

Kurt motioned toward his car and the two boys finally resumed their walk down the driveway.

Blaine raised his eyebrows playfully. "Is that so?"

"Absolutely." Kurt winked.

Blaine felt his heart rate pick up.

They reached the old car and Blaine climbed into the squeaky passenger seat. The car was by no means impressive, but Blaine wasn't surprised by the fact that Kurt drove a second-hand vehicle. Most teenagers were not gifted brand-new Porsches ever two years like Sebastian had been. Blaine knew that even his own 2009 Outback was pretty damn nice in the grand scheme of teen cars.

"So, there's no chance at all that you'll tell me where we're going?" Blaine asked. "Not even a hint?"

Kurt buckled his seatbelt and turned to face Blaine with a mischievous expression. "Blaine, just get ready to give yourself over to absolute pleasure."

Blaine's eyebrows shot up so high he feared he might have lost them in his hairline.

Kurt laughed and started the car. The loud roar of the engine startled Blaine. It sounded like a souped-up sports car.

Blaine just gaped at his date from the passenger seat.

"My dad's a mechanic. We re-built the engine on this car together last summer."

"Really? That's awesome."

Kurt put the car in gear. "Buckle up, Anderson," he said. "She's faster than she looks."

Within a matter of minutes, they were flying down I-71 South toward the Columbus skyline. Kurt was regaling Blaine with a hilarious story about what David had mistakenly said to the teacher during French class and both boys could barely breathe because they were laughing so hard.

Mingled with the sound of Kurt's musical laughter, Blaine picked up a familiar melody coming over the car's surprisingly modern sound system.

"Never too soon. Oh, reckless abandon. Like no one's watching you…"

"Hey, it's that song!" Blaine exclaimed.

Kurt smiled. "Yeah, 'Sweet Disposition.'"

"While our blood's still young. It's so young it runs…"

Blaine looked back at Kurt, who was concentrating on the road. "I love this song," he said serenely.

He sighed and relaxed back into the seat. In that moment, for one of the very few times in over two years, he felt totally and completely content. Within a matter of minutes into the date, Kurt's presence had completely erased all of his anxiety and worries. For now, he was just a normal kid on a normal date. For now, he didn't care where he was going. In that moment, nothing bad could happen.

And just like every other time Blaine had been around Kurt, he felt like he could finally just be seventeen.