While normally, Blaine would have loved to get to leave school early on a random Thursday, he was dreading the appointment his...the Berrys...had set for him. Yet, here he was, riding in the backseat of the Prius, on his way to a counseling session, of all things. He didn't see why he needed counseling, but Hiram and LeRoy had insisted, and even when Blaine refused, they'd set the appointment. And even when Blaine said he wasn't going, they told Blaine they'd be at school at 3 pm to pick him up. And even when Blaine said, "you can't make me talk to some stranger," he'd found himself getting into the car when LeRoy held open the door for him.

"You're absolutely right, Blaine," LeRoy conceded. "We cannot make you talk, and we have no intention to. We just want you to meet her for right now, that's all."

Cheryl - she'd told them all to call her Cheryl - was a petite woman with straight brown hair and round glasses. She reminded Blaine a little of a female Harry Potter. Her voice was nice, though - gentle, but not patronizing the way most adults had a tendency to be.

Hiram and LeRoy walked Blaine into the office and all three sat down on the couch with Blaine in the middle. "Well, it's lovely to meet you, Blaine. I've already had a talk with your dads last week and now I'm looking forward to getting to know you a little better. Why don't we start out by talking about what therapy is, ok?"

In spite of himself, Blaine found he liked the woman. She began by explaining stuff that - he supposed - made sense, even if it didn't jive with his preconceived notions about what therapy was. She explained how she was not there to tell him what to do or how to feel, but she was more like a sounding board. She might ask questions that could help Blaine get at the root of some of the feelings he might be having, like anger or grief...but her job was to help him process his feelings and come up with constructive ways to express them.

When she was finished, she clapped her hands together. "So, now that that's done, why don't we ask Hiram and LeRoy to step out for a bit, hmm?"

Hiram stood and LeRoy clapped Blaine on the shoulder. "We'll be right outside the door, buddy." Blaine just nodded numbly.

When the door closed, Cheryl turned a smile on Blaine. "How about we start by you asking me a question - about myself, about the process - whatever you'd like." And then, she waited.

After a minute or two, Blaine finally huffed, "This is stupid."

Cheryl just listened and nodded. After a long beat of silence, she asked him, "Can you clarify that for me, Blaine? What do you think is stupid exactly?"

"This," he said, frustrated, indicating the room. "Talking to you. It's pointless. Talking can't fix my life. Or me."

"What about you or your life do you think needs to be fixed?"

He began to feel even more frustrated at that point, but somehow, by the end of the session, Cheryl had got him talking about how angry he was at his mother. He'd only just gotten started talking about it when she uncrossed her legs and stood. "I'm going to give you an assignment, Blaine. I think it will really help you work out a lot of these feelings. I want you to make me a list. It can have one thing or one hundred things. I want you to write down all the things that your mother did that made you angry. I want you to write them down, fold up the paper, and hold onto it until our next session. Next week, you can decide whether to share any or all of that list with me, OK?" He saw her writing something on a pad at her desk, then she tore off a slip of paper before heading to the door and opening it, letting the Berrys in.

"I've got you two down for Tuesday, noon, and Blaine in Thursday after school. Does that still work for you?"

"Yes, perfect," Hiram said, handing over a check and accepting the slip of paper.

Cheryl turned. "Well, Blaine, I really enjoyed meeting to you today. I'll look forward to talking to you soon." She held out a hand to him and reluctantly, he shook it, then followed his fathers out the door. He felt raw, and a little exposed, but it wasn't entirely a bad thing, he thought. He hadn't quite decided if he was going to do the homework or not, but he could think about that later.

"Where are you off to, Blaine?" LeRoy asked Saturday morning.

Blaine stopped and turned on his heel, "Uh, coffee. With a friend," he said, not exactly lying, but not exactly telling the whole truth either.

He continued to walk backwards towards the door until Hiram said, "All right – be careful."

Blaine responded with a nod and barely contained the eyeroll he'd felt almost compelled to exhibit as he turned again to head straight for the door and out of it.

When he finally reached the Lima Bean, he was early to meet Jeremiah. He headed in and straight for the empty bathroom where he checked his hair and made sure he wasn't sweating too much.

After smoothing his hair and his clothes he headed back out, just as he noticed a familiar mop of curly blonde hair enter the coffee shop. He felt his stomach flip as Jeremiah's eyes found him and the gorgeous man smiled. Blaine smiled back and headed over, narrowly avoiding knocking over a chair he hadn't noticed in his path. "H-hey," he greeted Jeremiah, avoiding contact with the man since they were in public. "Do you want to?" He indicated the non-existent line to the register.

"Sure. What, uh, what do you drink again?"

"Just – medium drip."

"Right, right," said Jeremiah, as if he'd been reminded of the fact. He ordered for them both when the barrista asked for their orders and handed over a $10 bill. He flashed Blaine a grin as he waited for his change.

"So how's your week been?" Jeremiah asked. They moved over to the other counter to wait for their cups.

"Uh, pretty good," Blaine said with a shrug. "It's still…weird, you know? Settling in."

"Yeah, sure. How are things with, you know..."

Blaine looked Jeremiah in the eyes. "My…dads?" he asked, forcing the word out. He scoffed as a different barrista put two cups on the counter. Blaine reached for his. "It's still weird to say," he said. He'd explained to Jeremiah what had brought him to Lima, and Jeremiah had been super sympathetic and supportive.

"Well, they can't both be your dad, though, right?" said Jeremiah with a light laugh. "I mean, only one of them is actually your biological father."

Blaine winced unconsciously at that, not liking the way Jeremiah said it, but not sure why he didn't like it exactly. It was technically true. "Yeah, I guess." He set his coffee down on the sideboard, added one sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Kurt had turned him onto putting cinnamon in his coffee, and now, it was practically automatic.

Blaine followed Jeremiah to a small table in the far corner of the shop. Even though the Lima Bean was almost completely empty, Jeremiah was clearly angling for privacy, and Blaine felt his heart flutter. "What about you?" he asked Jeremiah. Blaine settled down in one of the chairs at the small table. Jeremiah dragged his own chair closer to Blaine and sat down, too. "How was your week?"

"Oh, you know. Just looking forward to seeing you." He flashed Blaine a debonair smile that sent a flush up the teenager's neck.

"I really like spending time with you, Blaine. Do you like spending time with me?" Jeremiah asked. His own long fingers stretching inconspicuously to brush the backs of Blaine's own. Blaine tightened his grip on his coffee cup to resist the urge to take Jeremiah's hand in his own. As a matter of habit, he glanced over his shoulder just to make sure no one was watching them.

Then, he nodded. He did like spending time with Jeremiah. Jeremiah was older and cool and actually gay and Blaine was attracted to everything he knew about the man. Most of all, he was attracted to being treated like an adult.

"So how are people at school?" Jeremiah asked. "Are the jocks still being jerks?"

Blaine shrugged and sipped his coffee. "Sort of. A couple of them are picking on a friend of mine. They don't bother me so much."

"College is so much better than high school. You'll see. It's too bad you can't just leave high school now. Because you'd totally fit in at Rhodes."

Blaine couldn't help but smile at that.

Kurt wasn't planning to go to the Lima Bean, but Mercedes had choir practice, Rachel had plans with Finn, and Blaine had blown him off, saying he had plans, but they could hang out later. Unfortunately, it was one of the only places he could go on a Saturday and be fairly sure he wouldn't run into Karofsky, and staying at home thinking about the fact that his regular hang-out partners could be counted on one hand was far too depressing.

He headed in, messenger bag in tow, fully intending to grab a nonfat mocha and catch up on his reading assignment for English lit, when he spotted a very familiar mop of dark curly hair. He considered a moment, not certain if it was better to go over and interrupt or pretend he'd never seen Blaine in the first place.

Ultimately, he decided to order first, and then go over and say hello. Finally, with drink in hand, he headed over to the far corner, where Blaine and an older guy Kurt didn't recognize were sitting together and talking in hushed voices. "Blaine?" Kurt said with a smile. "Hey, I – I thought that was you."

Something flipped uncomfortably in Kurt's stomach at the way the older guy suddenly seemed to put space between himself and Blaine. Blaine, surprised, greeted him. "Kurt! Hey, wha-what are you doing here?"

Kurt's smile tightened. "Just – grabbing a pick-me-up. Who's your friend?"

Kurt turned to look at Jeremiah, and the man answered smoothly, extending his hand to Kurt, who shook it daintily. "Hi, I'm Jeremiah. Blaine and I met a few weeks ago and just – happened to run into each other." He gave Blaine a smile and let out a disarming laugh.

"So, Kurt, right? Are you a friend of Blaine's from school?" Jeremiah sipped his coffee and Kurt glanced at Blaine, who seemed to have grown quiet and uncomfortable.

"Um, yes, basically." He waited for either Jeremiah or Blaine to invite him to sit, but neither did.

Instead, Jeremiah said, "You know, I should probably go. I'll catch you later, Blaine. Nice meeting, you, Kurt."

He stood to go and Blaine, looking crestfallen said, "Y-yeah, OK."

Jeremiah tossed his coffee cup out, threw a hood over his golden locks, and buried his hand in the pocket of his tan coat as he walked out of the café door.

Kurt watched him go and then, perturbed by Blaine's reaction to Jeremiah's departure, sat down.

"I didn't mean to interrupt something," said Kurt apologetically.

Just as Blaine was shaking his head and about to answer, a phone chime tinged. Blaine quickly picked his phone up off the table.

Sorry, but I'm just not ready to be out. Let's keep it to ourselves, OK? -J

Blaine typed out a quick "OK" and sent the message before putting the phone down. He felt better now. It wasn't him. It wasn't something he'd said, or something he'd done. Jeremiah was just not comfortable coming out of the closet, which Blaine could totally understand. And even if Kurt was gay, he felt a responsibility not to tell. Indeed, he felt justified in not telling.

Visibly relieved, he smiled at Kurt. "Don't worry about it."

But even if he couldn't see the words on Blaine's screen, Kurt had a feeling that something wasn't totally right.

He smiled. "So – where did you and Jeremiah meet?" he asked intentionally casually.

"He, uh – he works at the Gap in the mall," Blaine said.

Kurt hummed in response.

"What?"

Kurt shrugged. "Nothing. He's cute."

Blaine's eyes widened. Kurt was baiting him and it was working. "Is he?"

"Yes, Blaine," said Kurt, amused. "He is, objectively, cute. You know, for an old guy."

"He isn't old," Blaine protested. Then, with slightly less conviction, he said, "He goes to Rhodes. I think."

"Is he gay?" Kurt asked and nonchalantly sipped his coffee.

"I, we…" Blaine sputtered. "I don't…" He shook his head.

Kurt snorted. "Well, he may not be out, but he is definitely gay. I mean, did you see that hair?"

Blaine couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Look, can we just…stop talking about Jeremiah? Please?" His cheeks were turning a deep shade of pink.

Blaine could tell that if they kept on this topic, he wouldn't be able to stop Kurt from figuring out the full extent of his relationship with Jeremiah, and that, frankly, was not something he was ready to talk about with anyone…especially since he wasn't entirely sure how "fully" their relationship had extended. That embarrassing fact alone was one Blaine wanted to keep to himself.