Kurt had probably been at the train station about 30 minutes longer than he needed to be. He was nervous, but not really sure why. Everything had been fine thus far. James was still kind of wary about the idea of Kurt's ex moving in when he still hadn't. But he helped bring in all the boxes when the moving truck arrived with all of the Anderson's belongings (which wasn't much, but Kurt still appreciated the help).

He stood somewhat awkwardly toward the middle of the terminal – unsure of where the Andersons would be arriving from. His hair was still coifed from work that day and his hands stayed stuffed in the pockets of his heavy navy blue pea coat. He rocked back and forth on his toes, humming some show tunes and occasionally checking his watch, cursing himself for being so early.

When they announced the train arriving from Chicago (which was the same line Blaine would have taken), Kurt shuffled over to gate 5W, and watched as tired travelers emerged from below. Businessmen, families, college students… all types of people, but no Blaine and no Mackenzie. It wasn't until the crowd of people pushing and shoving their way off the escalator thinned out that the man Kurt had been waiting for became visible over the horizon of mechanical stairs.

Kurt smiled, and watched as Blaine kept a close eye on Mackenzie, telling her precisely when to step off of the automatic stairs so her feet wouldn't get caught. It was only after they were safe on stationary ground again that Blaine looked up and saw Kurt, and smiled as well. Kurt removed a hand from his coat, and gave the two a small wave. "Welcome to New York, guys," he said cheerfully, genuinely, as he took a step closer to the two.

"Thank you," Blaine said. "It's good to be off that train, for sure." Kurt noticed Mackenzie take a cautious step to hide herself behind her father's legs. He was surprised she was awake, actually, but he hoped her shy streak would wear off quickly. He didn't want the kid to be scared of him forever.

"You guys ready to go home?" he asked.

Mackenzie tugged on Blaine's pant leg, and the shorter man looked back over his shoulder where the little girl had situated herself. "I wanna go back, daddy," she cried softly, but loud enough for Kurt to hear it, and a little pang of hurt hit his heart.

Blaine sighed, and gave a quick, apologetic glance to Kurt before squatting down to Mackenzie's level. "We talked about this Mackenzie. This is something we have to do right now. And I know it's scary but we're going to be brave together, right?" The little girl put her thumb in her mouth as Blain tried to comfort her, and her father didn't even protest this time around, letting her comfort herself however possible. She didn't give Blaine an answer, but instead closed the gap between herself and her father and buried her face into the crook of his neck and clung to him with her free hand. Blaine simply lifted her off the ground, and turned to face Kurt again. "She'll be alright," he insisted.

Kurt nodded, unsure what to say. He knew kids were impressionable, and Mackenzie probably would forget all about Ohio in a couple weeks' time, but it didn't' make watching her like this any easier. A beat of silence passed between them before Kurt perked up with an idea that just had to help. "What if we take a cab instead of the subway… I'll cover it," Kurt offered. "Maybe seeing the city would help a little?"

"Kurt a cab will be so expensive," Blaine protested.

"Yeah, but I can afford it," Kurt insisted, "and I want to make you guys as comfortable as possible. And I think stuffing ourselves in an underground tube that smells slightly like fish doesn't help that endeavor."

Blaine laughed, and turned his head slightly to look at Mackenzie, as if contemplating how she would handle the ride. Kurt could tell he wasn't convinced.

"Please Blaine, I insist."

"Fine…" Blaine said, finally giving in, "But starting tomorrow the Andersons only take the economical route."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kurt said, reaching out to take ahold of Blaine's luggage and roll it behind him, since his arms were occupied with a 4 year old.

Kurt was happy to see Mackenzie perk up a little as soon as they walked up the steps to street level. All the lights and sounds and smells seemed to get the child up off of her father's shoulder ever so slightly. She looked up in awe at the tall buildings and jumped a little every time a car would honk, though she didn't seem scared – just startled. "See that building there?" Kurt asked Mackenzie, pointing down the road to where there was a clear view of the Empire State Building, standing taller than all those surrounding it, and lit up like a Christmas tree. "We can go to the top one day and see EVERYTHING all around," Kurt offered.

"No." Mackenzie said quickly, eyes widening in horror. Blaine laughed again, but Kurt stepped back dejected.

"We're fascinated with tall buildings but have no desire to go to the top of them," Blaine explained to Kurt with a shrug as Mackenzie went back to craning her neck around every which way to see as much as possible.

Kurt shrugged, not understanding kid's thought processes and waved down a cab. The driver came to put Blaine's luggage in the back while the trio slipped into the backseat of the yellow car. Blaine sat Mackenzie on his lap and secured the seatbelt around both of them since they didn't have a car seat for the girl. "So the train ride was good?" Kurt asked, grasping for small talk topics.

"Yeah," Blaine sad, allowing Mackenzie to adjust herself so she could see out the window more readily. "It went pretty smooth. Just minor delays. Kenz slept a lot which is why she's wide awake now. I'm hoping she crashes when we get back to your apartment, though, because I'm exhausted."

"You look it," Kurt said with a little laugh. It was only then, really, that Kurt noticed how the curls on Blaine's head were starting to free themselves of their styling and stick out wherever they please. He had bags under his eyes, and his eyelids drooped slightly – a feature many wouldn't notice. But Kurt knew Blaine's wide, bright, hazel eyes well, and they were definitely dimming at the moment.

"Gee, thanks," Blaine muttered, causing Kurt to laugh just slightly. The cab took off, and Kurt gave the driver his address and sat back in his seat. The ride was fairly quiet. Blaine nodded off quite a few times, waking only when Mackenzie would call 'daddy' and point out the window at something new to see – bright LED screens advertising perfume, people dressed up in elaborate (perhaps somewhat frightening) outfits, clubs with pulsating lights, and tall buildings that seemed to reach into forever. Mackenzie seemed enthralled by it all, and it made Kurt happy that maybe the ride was making it easier for her.

He looked out his own window, watching the city go by, getting lost in his own thoughts…

Kurt glance up from the sink when he heard the apartment door creak open. He greeted James with a genuine smile, but continued his effort to scrape the grease off the pans they'd used to cook dinner the previous night. Kurt could have sworn James said he'd do them, but he must have misheard. "Hey sweetheart," Kurt cooned cheerfully, "How was work?"

"Work was fine. Nothing to report," James said dryly as he set his briefcase in its usual spot next to the front door, under the rack where all their coats hung. "It was lunch that was interesting…" Kurt raised an eyebrow as he turned the faucet off and pulled off the purple rubber gloves he donned – opting to let the pan soak for a while.

"How so?" Kurt asked curiously, unable to tell from his fiancé's disposition if interesting was a good or bad thing.

James still hadn't looked up and made eye contact with Kurt, not that it meant much. He'd turned to hand his coat over another on the overcrowded hooks on the wall. Kurt made a mental note to move some coats back into their closets so Blaine and Mackenzie would have room for theirs. James bent down to untie his shoes. "Well… when, exactly, were you planning on telling me that it's your ex who's moving in with us?"

His tone was so matter-of-fact. Not accusatory, not mad, not even confused. Unreadable. Kurt hated not knowing which direction this type of conversation would take. He casually leaned against the kitchen counter, the small of his back at the perfect height to rest against the edge of the granite. He folded his arms lightly over his chest, keeping his tone as neutral as possible. "Um… I think I mentioned it the day I asked you about it."

"No…" James started, kicking off his second shoe, and taking a few steps so he could sit against the arm of the couch facing Kurt. James folded his arms too, matching Kurt's not-quite defensive stance. "You said that he was 'a friend' of yours from High School. I had to find out from Greg who heard from Lara who heard from Jordan that Rachel was 'surprised' I'm so cool with it." The way he stressed the words 'friend' and 'surprised' made Kurt sigh. He also rolled his eyes slightly, not so much at James, but more because Rachel's newest beau was more of a gossip than she was.

"James, I specifically told you it was Blaine. I figured you'd put two and two together. It's not exactly a common name."

"And I'm supposed to remember the names of all your exes?" James asked, tone becoming snarkier, and hands falling down to sit on his hips.

"Seriously James? I've had like three exes. We literally had a conversation about how weird it was seeing my ex-boyfriend as a father. I don't know how much clearer I could have made it." Kurt knows he's told James countless stories about Blaine. Hell, Kurt had been so afraid of commitment at the start, it was only fair that James understood why.

"Well, excuse me for assuming you'd be smart enough not to invite the guy who crushed your heart into our home, let alone to live in it."

"So now I'm stupid?" Kurt asked, his arms unfurling now, and moving to his hips, standing up straight and becoming more tense. "I'm stupid because you can't remember the name of the only ex I've ever really opened up to you about?"

James sighed, slumping his shoulder and running a hand through his wind swept hair. "Kurt that's not what I meant, and you know it," he said sternly. "I just… I don't think this is a good idea anymore Kurt."

Kurt stared at his partner in disbelief, taking in what felt like too many moments to formulate a response. "James… the moving truck came and dropped all their things of yesterday. They'll be here in three days. If you had a problem with this, you could have brought it up… I don't know… a month ago when I first brought it up to you?" They'd been busting their asses for weeks now trying to make the arrangements work. How could James possibly be so oblivious? "We can't just… ugh" Kurt couldn't even finish the statement, frustration grabbing ahold of his tongue.

"Can't we find them somewhere else to stay?" James offered, as if it were nothing, as if it were obvious.

"If there were somewhere else, I wouldn't have offered here!" Kurt exclaimed, anger tinting his tone of disbelief. "Believe it or not, James, I am smart enough to realize how weird this can… no how weird this WILL be. For me, for you, for Blaine… hell even for the kid. They NEED this James. They have NOWHERE else to go. I can't just turn them away, especially now that I've been telling them for the past month that everything is ready and waiting for them. Who am I not to help when I can?"

"He broke your hear and now you want to help him?" James yelled, louder than either of them so far. His words hit Kurt in the gut, but he swallowed hard as not to show it. "No Kurt. Fuck that."

"He made a mistake, James. We were kids!"

"Is that really how you feel? So now he can waltz back into your life like none of it happened? If that's the case, what's stopping you from crawling back to him. Back to the guy that tore you apart? Hell, you're already living together!"

"Really? That's what this is about James? You're really jealous of Blaine."

"That's not what I said," James said standing up.

"It was implied."

"I don't need this right now," James said, suddenly calm again. He slipped his shoes back on, and quickly tied them as he spoke. "I can't be here right now. I need to think about this. I'll stay at Gregs'."

"James, really?" Kurt asked exasperated.

James took his coat off the hook again, looking back at Kurt as he slipped it on. "Yeah, really. It's good to know where your fiance's opinion stands to you."

"Whatever James," Kurt said, turning away and walking back to the sink. "Come back when you grow the fuck up and remember I said yes to you."

They locked eyes briefly before James walked out. Again. Kurt grabbed the rubber gloves again, and pulled them roughly onto his hands, and started scrubbing at the pan again – this time getting the grease off with relative ease. He wasn't sure if it was from soaking the pan, or the anger he had stewing inside him. He finished the job, and threw the gloves in the sink, bracing his hands on the edge of the counter as he leaned over and caught a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He felt a familiar lump in his throat, but when he brought his fingers to his eyes, there were no tears. He'd apparently run out of tears to cry over stupid things like this. James would come back. Maybe in a day, maybe in a week, but things would be fine. This was just how it was. It sucked, but it was just how it was.

At least when Blaine and Mackenzie moved in, Kurt wouldn't be completely alone every time his fiancé ran out on him.

Kurt faded back out of his memories as the cab pulled up to his apartment building. It wasn't an obnoxiously long ride, by this time at night traffic in the city was pretty much exclusively taxi's and buses. When they pulled up to Kurt's apartment, Blaine had been asleep for about 15 minutes, though, and he jumped, startled, when Kurt shook his shoulder to wake him. "We're here, Blaine," he said, an apologetic tone in his voice for scaring him. Blaine rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and put his hands on Mackenzie's shoulders, as if he had to make sure she was still there. Kurt smiled softly as he let himself out of his side of the cab, and took the luggage that the driver had already unloaded from the trunk.

Kurt tipped the gentleman as Blaine and Kenzie clambered out of their side, and rolled their luggage up toward the front door of his apartment building. "Home sweet home," Blaine said groggily, rubbing his eyes with the butt of his palm one last time, and lifting Mackenzie who had been clinging to his pant leg. She looked up at the building quietly, and Kurt couldn't begin to guess what was going on in that little head of hers.

He held open the door for the little family, and pressed in the button at the elevators, the golden doors almost immediately opening with a 'ding'. "Up to 7 we go," Kurt said, pressing another button, causing the lift to rise at a decent pace. Kurt couldn't help but laugh a little when Mackenzie's eyes went wide and she grasped to her father's neck.

"Oof," Blaine huffed, surprised by the reaction. "I guess we've never been in this quick of an elevator before, huh Kenz?" he asked. The little girl was too busy having a staring contest with her equally wide-eyed reflection in the mirrored walls to comment.

A quick elevator ride followed by an equally quick walk down a relatively bland looking hallway brought the trio to a green door with golden numbers – room 708. "Here we are! Welcome…. Home" Kurt said, placing the key in its hole, but pausing, startled when the door swung open before he could even turn it.

"Kurt! You're back!" a familiar voice and a pair of icy blue eyes greeted the man – a welcome he was not expecting tonight. Not after the last conversation they had regarding the situation.

"James?"