When Blaine awakes the next morning, it is to find Kurt staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.
"Hey," he leans over and kisses his cheek, smiling as Kurt turns to look at him. "Don't worry. It'll be great. Trust me."
"I know. I'm not worried about that."
"Oh. What then?"
"My dad will be there today."
"So?"
So Kurt tells him. Blaine listens patiently as Kurt explains that Burt's instinct proved to be more accurate than he had realized, and that the reason he had stopped all contact with him was because of his Dad's persuasion.
"But I don't want you to be mad at him. He was only doing what he thought was right. And actually, he was probably doing it more to protect you than me."
"I'm not mad." Blaine says, wrapping Kurt in his arms and kissing his soft hair. "I like your dad. And I can see how much he loves you. I understand that he's not going to stand by and watch you ruin your life. I'm just a bit worried he might work out that it's all back on again."
"I think..." Kurt muses as he trails his fingers along Blaine's arm, "I think I'm going to have to stay away from you today. As much as I can, anyway. It's not that I want to, just I can't risk anyone thinking or assuming anything. Principal Figgins will be there, Mr. Schue, Coach Beiste, everyone. And really I can't look at you without picturing you naked on your dining table. Speaking of which, if your mom ever does invite me for dinner, please ask if we can eat in the kitchen."
Blaine laughs. "Ok. And I understand, about today."
"But you'll come home right after?"
"Here?"
"No, my apartment."
"If you want."
"You know I do."
Blaine distracts himself with his friends while they wait to be called, practicing the choreography with Sam and Puck before heading into the corridor to run through some vocal exercises with Rachel.
"So..." Rachel starts as soon as they're out in the hallway. "We haven't had a chance to talk all week."
"Uh-huh." Blaine grins, knowing where this conversation is going and not caring one bit. He needs to tell someone how good he's feeling.
"Things are going well?"
"Better than well Rach. It's amazing- he's amazing. I just can't...honestly Rachel. I never thought I could feel like this. I love him so much." Blaine leans back against the wall and closes his eyes as he thinks of his gorgeous, perfect boyfriend standing just the other side of the wall.
"Wow. I didn't actually realize it was so serious."
"We've been together every night for a week."
"All night?"
"Yup."
"So you two are...?"
Blaine doesn't respond, only bites on his bottom lip and blushes slightly.
"Ok. Well Finn and I are taking a slightly less hurried route, shall we say, but I'm pleased for you. I really am. But- and I don't want to put a damper on all this- please be careful. I know I touched on it in the coffee shop, but really. If anyone finds out..."
"I know Rach. I know. And we are being careful. So things are going well for you and Finn?"
"Oh my gosh yes." Rachel gushes, and Blaine finds himself smiling at the way her face lights up and her eyes shine. "Last night, we went to the drive in movie theater in Westerville. We hardly saw any of the film, we were too busy making out!" she giggles. "Oh, Blaine, I'm sorry."
"What for?" Blaine asks confusedly.
"I guess things are very different for you and Mr. H. You can't exactly go on dates and things."
"Oh...we occupy ourselves well enough." Blaine blushes scarlet as he recalls last night and how brazen he had been in his actions...not that Kurt seemed to mind.
Rachel starts to speak, then decides better of it and an awkward moment ensues as she stares at the floor. She's not quite sure she wants to know about Blaine's sex life with their teacher.
"So...Uh...Is Finn coming today?"
"Yes. He's going to meet my Dads. Should be interesting. Oh! Here he is now." Blaine turns and sees Finn and Burt striding towards them. Swallowing nervously, Blaine forces a smile onto his face.
"Hey Finn, Mr. Hummel." Blaine nods at them and offers his hand to Burt.
"Call me Burt, kiddo. Everyone does. Good to see you again. How's it going?" Burt shakes his hand warmly and claps him on the shoulder.
"I'm good thank you, yourself?"
"Can't complain. So, I hear you and Rachel are singing together?"
"Y-yes sir," Rachel stutters nervously as she clings to Finn's arm. "Blaine and I are duetting on 'Love lift us up where we belong.'"
"I don't know that one."
"It doesn't strike me as your type of song really." Blaine says, smiling at Burt as Rachel and Finn drift into their own conversation.
Burt laughs and a companionable silence falls between the pair as Burt rocks on his heels. "So...how you really doin' kid? School ok? And y'know, other stuff?"
Blaine knows exactly what he means, and tries to think of the best way of answering. He really does not want to lie to this man. "School's good. And um...I'm looking at colleges. Other stuff...um...ok I guess."
"Not been punching any more jerks?"
"No." Blaine huffs out a laugh. "Actually I haven't been training in a while."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"I kind of scared myself. The strength behind that punch...I didn't know I could act like that. Violence is not in my nature."
"Well, we both know why you did it."
And this time the silence is more awkward. Burt wants to ask more, Blaine wants to change the subject but neither know how.
"So...Thanksgiving on Thursday." Blaine eventually offers.
"Yeah. What are your plans?" Burt asks, grateful that the mood has been broken and conversation is flowing easily again.
"Tv, watching the parade and then the game."
"Your parents like football?"
"I just live with my mom. But she's in Japan right now for work."
"You're on your own?"
"Yes. I am quite a lot actually. But it's ok, I'm used to it."
"But you're alone on Thanksgiving." Burt states.
Blaine thinks about it. Kurt and him have been so busy having sex they hadn't even touched on the subject. But suddenly he realizes , Kurt will be with his family. So yes, he will be alone.
"Like I said...tv marathon." Blaine shrugs his shoulders.
"Come to our house."
"Excuse me?"
"Come to our house for dinner. Rachel's coming already, one more won't hurt."
Blaine becomes aware of Rachel and Finn staring at him, the almost imperceptible shake of her head prompting Blaine to speak.
"Uh...that's very kind of you Burt, but I really don't think..."
"Look. Whatever happened between you and Kurt is in the past. He won't mind, if that's what you're worried about."
"It's not that. I just...uh..."
"So you'll come?"
"I really can't."
"Good. Kurt can give you directions. Come about eleven."
"But...I..."
"Save it Blaine. I'm not sitting down to my turkey knowing you're sitting at home alone probably eating cereal right from the box, if I remember teenagers. You're having Thanksgiving with us whether you like it or not. Right. Finn, we better go take our seats. Good luck you two." Burt claps Blaine on the shoulder once more and they walk away.
"Oh my God Blaine! How the hell did you manage to get talked into that?" Rachel hisses, taking Blaine's arm and steering him back towards the dressing room.
"I don't know." Blaine answers, still perplexed by the turn of events, "I couldn't be rude."
"Well this isn't going to be at all awkward. How are you going to explain this to Kurt?"
"Explain what?" Kurt asks as they come face to face with the one person Blaine did not want to see.
"You did what?!" Carole asks, staring incredulously at her husband.
"I asked him to dinner. Nobody should be on their own for Thanksgiving."
"And you don't think this will be awkward?"
"Not for me." Burt says as he adjusts his baseball cap and sits.
"What about Kurt? And poor Blaine? Did you even give him a chance to refuse?"
"Nope."
"I'm worried about this. We don't know how things were left between them."
"Or if they were left in the first place." Finn chips in.
"What?!" Carole shrieks before lowering her voice. "Finn...what does that mean? Do you know something?"
"No. I think they're cool though. Me and Rach ran into them last weekend."
"You what?" Burt spins in his seat to face him, causing Finn to shrink backwards. "You saw them together and you didn't think to say anything to your mom or me?"
"They were just talking. Uh...clearing the air I think."
"You sure?" Burt demands.
"Yeah, yeah. They were sitting in the middle of a coffee shop. Nothing going on."
Satisfied, Burt settles back in his seat and looks at Carole, who still looks worried.
"He promised me he'd end it. Looks like he did."
"Honey..." Carole whispers softly as the lights begin to dim. "He may have stopped it, doesn't mean they're not planning to restart it."
"Look. I've invited the kid for dinner now, I can't go back on it. You make sure to keep Kurt by your side and I'll keep Blaine with me. It'll be fine."
"He did what?" Kurt hisses, steering Blaine back out into the corridor again.
"Invited me for Thanksgiving."
"And you said yes?"
"I couldn't say no! He didn't give me a choice. I tried to decline gracefully, but he wasn't having any of it."
"Oh fuck."
"Rachel's going too."
"Double fuck."
"You don't want me there?" Blaine bites his lip nervously as he stands opposite Kurt. He looks so afraid and vulnerable it's all Kurt can do not to take him in his arms there and then.
"Oh honey, it's not that. Not at all. I love the idea of my boyfriend spending Thanksgiving with me and my family, but not being able to tell anyone about us? Spending the whole day with you and not being able to touch you, look at you for too long or even talk with you in case someone works out that we're together? It's gonna be hell. Plus you just know Rachel is going to keep staring at us, even if she doesn't mean to."
"I guess I could just say I'm sick or something." Blaine tries not to look too crestfallen as he thinks about spending the whole day on his own.
"No. You know what? We're going to do this. And then in the evening I'll come to your house and we can get naked because that's our favourite thing to do. Ok?" Kurt grins at him, glancing around quickly to make sure no one can hear.
"If you're sure."
"I am. I'm sorry Blaine. I've been so busy with all these rehearsals, and just...being with you...that I didn't even think about it being Thanksgiving, much less about how we were going to spend it."
"I won't let you down Kurt...I won't embarrass you or anything."
"I know you won't. I am so proud to call you my boyfriend Blaine, if only they knew." Kurt sighs softly and presses his forehead to Blaine's quickly.
"Mr. Hummel? They just called us." Tina's voice pulls them apart, but she appears not to have noticed and heads back into the room.
"Come on Mr. H," Blaine says with a smile, "Lets go kick some show choir ass."
Riding high on their success at sectionals, Kurt and Blaine spend the next few days so absorbed in one another- secreted away in Kurt's apartment after school each day- that they don't think about Thanksgiving until the day dawns. Blaine wakes first, and takes great delight in being able to wake Kurt teasingly slowly rather than the usual frantic rush a school morning brings. Usual. That's what it has become. In the two weeks they have been together, they haven't spent a night apart. They keep meaning to, and Blaine sometimes makes it home...only to receive a text from Kurt moments later complaining he feels lonely, and Blaine can't help but smile adoringly at his phone and invite him over.
As the pair lie together, basking in the warm afterglow of their early morning lovemaking, Blaine announces his intention of going home to Skype with his mom before driving to the Hummels.
"I could pick you up?" Kurt offers.
"Then they'll know we talk outside of school."
"They know that anyway. I think my dad thought I was sleeping with you."
"You are."
"I wasn't then. I was still trying to maintain some degree of propriety."
"And now?"
"And now I'm going straight to hell."
"Hey mom!" Blaine waves enthusiastically at the screen.
"Hey Blaine! Happy Thanksgiving. You look all dressed up, going somewhere?"
"It's just a shirt. But yeah. I'm going with Rachel to her boyfriend's house."
"Rachel has a boyfriend?"
"Yeah, he's actually the brother of...um...our English teacher. So he will be there too."
"That's nice honey. So, wait a minute, he teaches English to his own brother? That's gotta be weird."
"Oh, no. Finn doesn't go to school. He's the same age as Kurt. They're step-brothers."
"Who's Kurt?"
"My English teacher."
"You're on first name terms with your English teacher?"
"And Glee club leader."
"Him too?"
"No, they're the same person."
"Hold up!" Maria pauses and Blaine can see her trying to work through the conversation in her head. "So, Rachel's boyfriend is called Finn, brother of this guy Kurt, who teaches you English and also runs the show choir. Correct?"
"Yes."
"And you're going to Finn's for Thanksgiving dinner?"
"We'll I'm going to his mom and step-dad's, who is Kurt's dad. Finn has his own place somewhere."
"I'm so lost. Do you know these people?"
"Yes, I met them when we all helped Kurt move house. And then I met his dad at sectionals and he invited me over."
"And this Finn is how old?"
"Twenty seven."
"And Hiram and Leroy are ok with this?" Maria asks, eyeing the screen with suspicion.
"As far as I know. Finn is...well he's harmless. He adores Rachel and he'd never do anything to hurt her, or pressure her into anything."
"Even so Blaine, she's just a young girl. He's an adult, with adult expectations from a relationship, Rachel can't possibly understand the implications of that at such a young age."
"She's seventeen mom, not twelve."
"Don't get smart with me Blaine. I like Rachel, I don't want to see her hurt. I'm just saying, if I were her parent I wouldn't be letting her run around with a guy ten years older than her."
"Well you're not." Blaine snaps. "This time next year we won't even be living at home anyway, and I'll be able to date who I want."
"Are we talking about Rachel here, or you?"
"Rachel." Blaine mumbles, looking at his hands.
"And who are you dating anyway? You still haven't told me his name."
"No. And I'm not going to."
"Are you seeing him today?"
"Later."
"Are you spending the night with him again?"
Blaine looks away from the camera in desperation. He's caught between a rock and a hard place. He doesn't want to lie- he knows how hurt his mom will be if she finds out he's not been truthful.
"Mom..."
"Answer my question Blaine."
"Yes. Ok? Yes I am staying the night with him."
Maria sighs heavily and wishes she could hold her boy as he looks like he's willing the ground to open up beneath him.
"I have two questions Blaine, and please, answer them honestly."
"Don't do this."
"Has he stayed in the house with you while I've been away?"
"Yes. Once."
"Ok. And is he staying there again tonight?"
"Yes." And this time, Blaine looks her right in the eye as he replies, as if daring her to argue about it. Maria is more than a little shocked to see such defiance. She's always though of Blaine as so mild-mannered. So laid back that some people would take him for weak. Turns out that's not the case.
"Um...thank you for your honesty, I guess. I can't say I'm happy about you being alone and unsupervised with him all night, but I guess his parents must be ok with it."
"Well if you were that concerned why did you fuck off to Japan in the first place?" Blaine snaps, and immediately regrets it as he sees the hurt on his moms face. "Mom, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"No, you're right. I asked for it I suppose. But before I left you weren't even in a relationship- or if you were you didn't tell me about it. Blaine, I don't want this to come between us. But you have to remember that I am the parent in all this. I'll be home next week, and I will expect to meet this guy. And don't expect to be going on sleepovers with him anytime soon."
"But I..."
"Go now. Have tonight with this boy, and we'll talk when I'm home."
"I love you mom."
"I love you too sweetie."
Maria Anderson shuts the laptop before the tears start to fall.