Author's Note: This chapter has a little more fluff in it, to hopefully help you recover from the angst of the last two. (Who am I kidding? I love angst. But fluff is awesome too.) Besides my fanfiction account, I also have a Tumblr, if any of you want to check it out. (www .de mentedappletree . m) By the way, I love reviews. They help me understand what people like and don't like, and I always want to improve my writing in any way I can. So please take the time to review, if you can. Thank you! Enjoy the chapter!

Blaine woke, confused about where he was. Light streamed in through the large windows of the loft. His head was resting on a warm, very comfortable chest. He turned to look at Kurt, and it all came crashing back. Kurt smiled at him sleepily. "Hi."
"Hi." He pulled his arm out from under Kurt and shook it to bring back the circulation.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked him.
He nodded mutely, not entirely sure if it was true. He didn't want Kurt to worry about him.
"Ready to go downstairs?"
He got up heavily, not really wanting to face a day where he was an exile from his own house. The fact that it had been his choice to leave didn't really affect the crushed feeling in his chest, or the sickness when he remembered the disgust in his father's eyes.
Kurt seemed to see through his affectation of normality. "It'll turn out okay, you know. We'll figure something out."
"Thanks."
They walked down to the kitchen. Katie was helping with breakfast, laughing at something her mom had said. The scene caused Blaine another pang of sadness, bringing to mind the times when he'd done the same with his mother.
"Hey!" she said. "You want waffles?"
It smelled really good. There was real maple syrup, along with blueberries and strawberries on the table. This cheered him up somewhat. "I love waffles!"
Katie passed each of them a fresh waffle, and they sat down to eat. Blaine realized something was missing. "No bacon?"
"I'm vegetarian," she explained.
"Huh." Interesting, he thought.
Kurt looked at her approvingly. "Very good for the skin."
"I'm more into the ethics of it," she said, laughing a little. "But that's an added bonus."
Blaine looked sadly at his plate, but the waffles tasted good anyway.
"Thank you again," he said to Katie's mom.
"You're very welcome. I'm Karina. I wish we had met under better circumstances. Katie doesn't always bring her friends home to meet us. I think she's embarrassed," she said teasingly, looking at her daughter.
"Why would I be embarrassed?" Katie asked. "You make good food." She smiled at her mom.
Blaine felt sad again. "Can I call my mom?" he asked.
"Sure. The phone's over there."
Blaine left Kurt at the table, where he was talking easily with Katie and her mother, and went into the living room.
He dialled the number, hoping that it was his mother who would pick up. "Hello?" came her voice on the other end.
"It's me. Blaine."
"Blaine!"
"Mom, shh," he told her.
"Sorry," she said quietly. "Where are you honey? Are you safe? Is Kurt with you?"
"We're staying with friends," he said. "And yes, we're fine. I just wanted to call to make sure you wouldn't worry."
"I'll worry anyway. I am worrying. I wish you'd come home."
"I can't." Blaine said. "Not until he stops being an ignorant-"
"Blaine."
He fell silent. "I'll call you if anything happens, okay? I miss you."
"I miss you too, honey. I love you."
"Love you too, Mom."
He hung up the phone, wishing there was some way he could avoid causing the pain he heard in her voice.

The rain from last night had cleared, though the sand was still wet. It could be just like any other day. Kurt had talked with Katie and Karina, while also listening to Blaine talk on the phone. He could hear how much Blaine hated having to hurt his mother, but he was so proud of his boyfriend for standing up to his father.
Blaine came back into the kitchen. "What do you want to do today?" Kurt asked him.
"Well, I don't know if you guys would be interested," Katie said, "but my uncle offered to teach me to surf this afternoon."
Kurt could see that Blaine really wanted to do this. He turned to Kurt with a hopeful expression on his face. "Can we?"
Puppy eyes again. This really wasn't fair. "Do we have to?"
"It's surfing, Kurt. How can you not want to go surfing?"
"Very easily," Kurt said sardonically.
"Please?" Blaine said, and Kurt just couldn't resist those pleading eyes.
"The things I do for you," Kurt said.
Katie had been watching this exchange in amusement. "We should go soon. My uncle wanted to meet me at ten."
"He won't mind that we're coming along?" Kurt asked hopefully.
"You're not getting out of it that easily," Katie said. "He loves people. The more, the better."
They changed into their swimsuits, and met her uncle on the shore. Katie must have let him know they were coming, because he had four surfboards.
"This is Tom," she introduced him. He was tall, with dark hair and stubble. He didn't look particularly old, maybe in his thirties. Tom smiled warmly and shook both boys' hands.
"Tom, meet Blaine and Kurt."
"So, let's get started," Tom said.
He gave each of them a board and instructed Katie to swim out from shore a bit. She'd done it before, and she was quickly standing up, surfing fairly well for someone who wasn't that experienced.
Blaine went next. He was fine swimming out, but stood up too quickly and fell off. Kurt laughed, and Blaine tried to glare at him. It just made him laugh harder. He looked like an angry hedgehog.
"You try it," Blaine said.
Kurt was a little nervous, but eager to show Blaine up. He swam out on the board, and began to stand nervously when Tom told him he should. Calm down, he told himself. It can't be any worse than the Gaga heels. He straightened gracefully, and surprised at how easily he took to surfing. He got back to shore and gave Blaine a smug look.
"Shut up," Blaine told him.
"I didn't say anything."
"No, but you were thinking it."
After a few more tries, Blaine improved somewhat and they were all surfing pretty well. He'd never tell Blaine, but the fact that he made Kurt try new things was one of the things he liked about his boyfriend. He'd actually enjoyed the surfing, probably because he was good at it. Once they'd finished surfing, they swam for a while.
Tom left for lunch, and the three of them watched him go. Blaine turned to Katie and said, "Is it just me, or is everyone in your family ridiculously good looking?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You know, if you weren't gay, I'd swear you were hitting on me."
"It's all right," Kurt said. "He does that to everyone."
"I do not!"
"Of course you do. You flirt with absolutely everyone, Blaine."
Blaine folded his arms and turned away.
"You're acting like a five-year-old," Kurt said.
"Hmph."
Kurt leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you anyway."
Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck, seeming even more like a small child.
"You guys are so cute," Katie said.
"Where's that guy you were with? What's his name? Toby?"
"He should be out soon."

"You seemed to be having fun at the bonfire," Kurt commented.

"It did seem to be going rather well," she agreed. She had perfected that delicately snarky tone of voice.
They were laughing, having almost forgotten their worries about the fight with Blaine's dad. However, they were immediately reminded when they saw him walking towards them down the beach.

A/N: Sorry for the cliff hanger. Next chapter soon, hopefully.