Author's Note: So, I would like to take this space to thank everyone who has read this and stuck with it despite my flighty-ness in updating and whatnot. I wish I could seriously hug every single one of you. Also, I'm not sure if anyone really noticed, but in the previous chapter I said Blaine has acute anxiety. That's actually wrong. He has panic disorder which causes the near panic attacks he experiences. I fixed it in this chapter, so no worries, it's all good now. So without further ado, please read.
It was seven in the morning when Blaine woke up. The sun was just beginning to shine in through the window, and Kurt was still deeply asleep. And, judging by the fact that Valerie didn't go to sleep until eleven the previous night, she was probably asleep as well. He unwound his arms from the other man's waist so he could prop himself up on one arm. He smiled as Kurt, after realized Blaine had stopped holding him, let out a small groan and shuffled back to try to find him again. He leaned down and began kissing him softly, along his jaw and down his neck. Before long, Kurt woke up. He rolled over to look at Blaine with bleary blue eyes.
"Well, that's certainly a way to wake someone up. What time is it anyway?" Blaine rolled over to check the alarm clock.
"7:30," he replied happily. He looked over, just in time to see Kurt's disdainful eye roll.
"And yet I'm awake. Blaine, I swear, if you would've woken me up any other way than with your amazing mouth, I probably would've thrown you out the window then happily gone to sleep," he mumbled.
"Uh-huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that, babe," Blaine quipped before kissing him deeply. Kurt groaned and rolled over so he was on top. However, at that moment, they heard Valerie's footsteps outside in the hall, no doubt looking for the two of them.
"Damn," Blaine sighed. "I assumed she wouldn't wake up until at least nine or ten." Kurt got up off of the bed and walked to his closet in search of pants.
A few minutes later, the two of them were dressed and presentable for the eyes of the small girl. She was sitting on the edge of the couch, swinging her legs back and forth. She let out a small yawn as she smiled at the pair.
"Morning, Daddy. Morning, Kurt. Daddy, what are we going to do today?" Blaine looked between Valerie and Kurt.
"Well, I don't know. I don't think I have to take you back to your mom's until later tonight. Do you want to get dressed then we can get breakfast and figure things out from there?" She agreed and went to go get her clothes from the bag he had brought over the previous day.
"Is that okay with you, Kurt?" he asked as they made their way towards the kitchen.
"Yeah, actually, it sounds pretty perfect to me," he replied with a sincere smile. Blaine moved to say something else, but was interrupted by his phone vibrating against the counter. He picked it up, only to see Cassidy's name flash up on the screen. He let out a low oath before picking up.
"Cassidy, what do you want? It's eight in the morning," he asked, clearly exasperated.
Blaine, where the hell are you with my daughter? I told you yesterday that I wanted her home today. The only reason I let her go with you last night was because I knew she was just going to hate me if I didn't. So bring her home.
"Cassidy, I'm going to make one thing clear that I thought was pretty basic, but apparently, you can not seem to grasp this concept: Valerie is not solely your daughter. She's also mine. So if you could possibly be so kind as to not be pithy, I'd appreciate it. And I actually planned on bringing her home later tonight, which would still be today."
No. Bring her home, Blaine. I don't want her being around you more than necessary, especially when you're with that…other guy, she screeched loud enough for Kurt to hear. Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose and quickly walked out of the room. Kurt turned, not quite sure what he should do, and almost bumped into Valerie, already dressed in red dress with purple tights.
"Oh, sorry, honey," he amended. "I didn't see you there." She smiled absently.
"It's okay. My mom is yelling at Daddy again, isn't she?" she asked, a hint of sadness coloring her tone.
"I'm afraid she is," Kurt sighed. Valerie shrugged and looked towards Blaine, who was currently pacing back in forth and almost on the verge of shouting.
"I don't know why she's so mean to him. He hasn't done anything wrong. And I would rather stay over here anyways. I like being with you two more than her," she murmured quietly before hugging him. He stiffened with surprise at the embrace, but recovered and returned the embrace.
In the other room, Blaine angrily tapped the 'end' button on his screen hard enough that he could've cracked the thin glass. He looked over towards the other room, and his anger almost immediately quelled. Valerie and Kurt were hugging, and it had to be the cutest thing he had ever seen. He snapped a quick picture, and unwillingly went to let them know the bad news.
"Well, unfortunately, a change of plans is now in effect, and you mom wants you home, well an hour ago, apparently," he told her sadly. Valerie let out a small sniff and clutched Kurt a bit tighter.
"But I don't want to go, Daddy," she told him with a bit of a whine.
"I know you don't, sweetheart. But the more your mom gets pissed off, the less I'll get to see you, so we both have to cooperate, okay?" She nodded slowly and reached over towards him and squeezed him tight.
"Kurt, will you come with us to take me back to Mommy's house," she asked as her father stood up. Kurt bit his lip, unsure of what he should really do.
"Um, is it going to cause any problems? You know, if she sees me with the two of you, I mean?" he asked. Blaine shrugged.
"I think she's just about as pissed off as she could possibly be at this point, so I don't see any harm. And anyway, I'll protect you from my crazy ex-wife," he added with a conspiratorial wink. "Let me just go take my medication and then we'll be on our way. Hell, I might as well just bring the bottle with me."
Thirty minutes later, they all stood in front of Cassidy's brownstone. Kurt began to walk with them, but stopped once they reached the stairs.
"You know what, I think I'll just stay down here, if that's okay with you, Valerie," he told the pair shakily. Valerie nodded and hugged him goodbye. She clutched Blaine's hand even tighter as he rang the doorbell. The door was thrown open and there was Cassidy. She smiled when she looked at her daughter, but that quickly faded once she looked up at Blaine.
"Thank you for brining her home so soon," she said stiffly. Blaine waved her off.
"Stop faking polite just for Valerie. She could hear you screeching through the phone." Instead of yelling like he expected, she just smiled a Cheshire Cat.
"Well, Blaine," a clearly masculine voice exclaims from inside the house "you obviously haven't lost your snark or gained any form of tact since the last time I saw you."
"D-Dad?" he stutters as Michael Anderson appears behind the smirking blonde. "W-What are you doing here? I thought you had some business thing to take care of in Ohio?" Michael showed a tight lipped grin that set Blaine on edge. That smile generally meant hurtful intentions, and today, he was on the receiving end.
"Well, I did. But when Cassidy here called me and informed me of the current -ah- situation, I knew my help was needed elsewhere." Blaine gulped, and his hands began to shake. Kurt watched from the bottom step, praying he could do something to help him, but he knew if he got involved it would only be worse. He thought he saw Blaine's tanned hand move towards the pocket of his leather jacket, almost as if he wanted to grab his pill bottle.
"Sweetie, why don't you go inside? Your Aunt Monica is here, and she really wants to see you," Cassidy announced quickly. Even though the little girl had been slightly afraid of her since Blaine had left, she still loved her daughter, and didn't want her to see the dispute that would surely break out. Blaine squatted down to hug her, and even though his mind told him not to, he let go when she squeaked out a shaky "Bye, Daddy". He pulled back and cupped her cheek.
"Bye, sweetheart. I'll see you later okay?" She nodded, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "I love you," he murmured as he kissed her forehead.
"Love you too, Daddy," she told him as her mom ushered her into the house. When she closed the door, Michael scoffed at his son.
"Why give the girl any false hope, Blaine. Once I'm through here, you'll never see her again. Not unless you leave whatever fag you're with now and come back here, to where you belong." Blaine shook his head.
"You're wrong, Dad. You are not going to be able to keep me from her. Neither of you are. And for your information, I'm not going to be leaving Kurt, not for anything. Do you want to know why? Because I'm in love with him. Don't you dare insult him, not when I'm around, not ever. And there's nothing that you're going to be able to do about it, so just give up with your scare tactics, Dad, because they're not going to work today." Despite his brave words, he could feel his stomach turning, and his heart began thrumming in his chest.
"Have you forgotten what kind of power I wield? Just forget about any chance you have in court, because once I'm through, you're going to regret everything you've done. Jesus, Blaine," he yelled "when did I ever teach you to be weak and throw everything away on something trivial?"
"Kurt isn't something trivial!" he shouted back. "I'm in love with him, and last time I checked that counted for a hell of a lot more than pleasing you ever did." Michael raked his hands through his salt-and-pepper hair.
"You're weak! You make these stupid decisions, and then you don't have the guts to face the consequences, because you live in some fairy-tale version of life! I knew I shouldn't have paid for you to get those drugs in high school. I bet you couldn't even come here without being propped up on that shit! God, I'm sure you got that from your mother. She was always weak, just like you. It's a shame you can't be like your older brother."
"Mom wasn't weak! She had the same depression, but she didn't go see a psychologist like I did because you kept telling her it was nothing. So it got worse and worse and worse. That's why she's dead. Because of you. It's all your fault. And you know what, I didn't exactly get the best father in the world. So I guess we're both out of luck. The only reason you prefer Jace over me is because he let you control everything about his life," Blaine shouted.
"Why you little-" Michael growled as he moved to lunge at his youngest son. Kurt all but ran up the steps and pulled Blaine back.
"Blaine," he soothed. "Love, calm down. Don't do anything you're going to regret later." He held Blaine's trembling hands between his own, and listened as Blaine's breath began to speed up.
"So this is the guy you chose, Blaine? Good God, I think he's more feminine than you actual wife is," Michael sneered. Blaine moved to hit him, but he was restrained by Kurt's arms around his waist. The older man turned towards Kurt. "And who would you be? The only thing I know about you is that you brainwashed my son here into being like you." It took everything Kurt had not to roll his eyes.
"I'm Kurt Hummel. And I didn't brainwash Blaine into anything. Just because you're unwilling to accept that he's not exactly what you want him to be doesn't mean that you can insult him like this."
"You aren't going to tell me how to talk to my own son. You don't even know him like I do, Mr. Hummel," he threatened darkly.
"You're right. That's because I know him better than you. I know you've kept his life compartmentalized, and you wanted to mold him in to the next you. So you paid no attention when he played the guitar better than most professionals, or sang exceptionally. And having depression and panic disorder didn't fit either, so you chose to ignore it. Then you proceeded to put him down by calling him weak when he actually got help for it. So you can't see the real Blaine that the rest of the world sees, because he doesn't fit in your perception of what your world should be.
"And you know what, I feel sorry for you. Because, apparently, you're never going to know what a wonderful, amazing person he is. You're never going to know exactly how strong he is." Michael folded his arms across his chest and looked at his son, choosing to ignore Kurt's speech.
"Well, Blaine, you should be happy for yourself; now you have someone to champion yourself when you can't do it because you didn't take enough pills. I guess Cassidy and I will be seeing you in court." Before Blaine could manage an intelligent response, his father and ex stepped back into what used to be his home. Kurt looked over towards him just in time to see him sink to the ground.
"Sorry about that. I think I did more bad than good, what do you think?" he asked quietly as he sat down beside the other man. When Blaine looked up, there were tears in his eyes, but he was smiling.
"Don't apologize, you were amazing. No one…no one's ever done something like that for me before. I love you. Just so much. And not just for what you just did, you know that. I feel like I don't say it enough like I should. I just wanted to let you know."