"Hey, Mom." Blaine said as he entered the house.
"Hi, Blainey." His mother greeted, setting her book down. "Oh, there's some leftover pasta in the fridge if you want it."
"No thanks, I ate at Tina's." He said.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd like Mrs. Cohen-Chang's cooking better than mine!" She teased.
"Depends what we're having." Blaine said fairly, taking a seat next to her on the couch.
"Blaine!" His mother laughed. "You know you're supposed to lie and say my cooking is way better!"
"I'm just being fair! Because I am a responsible, honest person, and I would never intentionally-"
"What do you want?" His mother sighed.
"Okay, I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out." Blaine said excitedly. "So you know how Tina and I are going to NYADA?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Well, Tina and I are best friends, right?"
"Thank goodness for that. I love that girl." His mother complimented.
"But we're also friends with Sam-"
"Of course."
"And we really don't want to leave Sam behind when we go to college so I was thinking that Sam, Tina, and I could get an apartment together in New York-"
"Okay."
"And honestly, Mom, you don't have to worry about me being unsupervised or irresponsible or-"
"Blaine, I said okay!" His mother laughed.
"And Sam and I have-wait...what?" Blaine stopped midsentence.
"That's fine." His mother said calmly.
"Let me get this straight." Blaine said in disbelief. "You're totally cool with this?"
"Well, think about it. You, Sam, and Tina have retired every possible love triangle you could be involved in, so you don't have to worry about awkward crushes and that drama." His mother said logically. "Tina liked you, you liked Sam-"
"I didn't-" Blaine began to lie, but his blush gave it away. "Okay, fine."
"Well, I don't have to worry about you getting involved with either of them because your sexualities don't match up. And you know I absolutely adore Tina, and I love Sam. I know you're a responsible boy so I trust you living alone. Also, I think Tina and Sam will be a better influence on you then being in a dormitory with a bunch of strangers. Who knows what those boys could be doing?! Drugs, alcohol, sex-"
"Okay, Mom, I get it. College can be dangerous." Blaine laughed. "But you're really okay with this? And you think Dad will be?"
"Oh, I'm sure your father will be fine with it." His mother said. "He's still hanging on to that false hope that one day you will wake up, be straight, and fall in love with Tina. So if anything, I can always pull the 'Tina card' and lie to him saying that living with Tina could possibly make you fall in love with her."
Blaine smiled. "You're totally awesome, Mom, have I ever told you that?" He said, tackling her in a hug. He felt his phone vibrate, and then opened a text. "Speak of the devil, that's Tina. She wants to meet at the park. She must have an answer about New York."
"Go ahead." His mother smiled. "And have her tell Kim to call me. Goodness knows we need to coordinate a trip to New York to buy an apartment."
"Will do, Mom." He said as he grabbed his jacket, turning to the door.
"Oh, wait, Blaine!" His mother called.
"Yeah?"
"Be on the lookout, okay?"
"Mom, it's just the park-"
"I mean in the future. I know the Sam/Blaine/Tina love triangle has retired itself, but there is one that hasn't; Sam and Tina." His mother said seriously.
Blaine laughed. "Trust me, Mom; I've been pushing that one for months!"
"It's no laughing matter, Blaine. Think of all the problems it could entail! Sam's an attractive boy, Tina's an attractive girl, and they both have hearts of gold. If they are living under the same roof, it is inevitable that at least one of them will develop feelings for another. And that could be awkward. Or what if they get together and you are forever a third wheel? Or what if they get together and break up, and then you have to choose sides, and one of them has to move out. All I'm saying is, Blaine, that if they even think of leaving the friend zone, it's not good for you. Just a warning before you make this life-changing decision."
Blaine was silent for a moment, and sat next to his mother on the couch. "Look, Mom, for now, you have nothing to worry about. Sam and Tina assure me on a daily basis how they have absolutely no feelings for one another." He sighed, and then gave a small smile, "But if they did...I'd have to disagree with you. I stand by what I tell them every day. Nothing could make me happier than my best friends going out."
Mrs. Anderson sighed. "You're a hopeless romantic, you know that, Blaine?"
"I know." Blaine laughed as he got up again, ready to leave.
"And don't think that if you're living alone you can do unmentionable things with Kurt all the ti-"
"Mom!" Blaine exclaimed.
"All I'm saying is, I have Tina's number on speed dial, and I can trust that she will give me full and honest reports on everything you do." She laughed.
"Goodbye, Mother." Blaine said with an amused eye roll. "I'll be back soon."
"Drive safe! Make good decisions!" She yelled quickly.
"Always do!" Blaine replied before closing the door behind him.
Sam opened his phone and saw he had received a text.
Tina: Meet at the park.
"This better be important, Ti, because I was just about to start an episode of the Bachelor." Sam said grumpily.
"The Bachelor?" She scoffed.
"It's a guilty pleasure thing, okay? Sometimes I like to imagine what I'd do if I'm on the show." He admitted, then added quickly, "But don't you dare mention a word of that to Blaine; I'll never hear the end of it."
"Well, this may be worth putting the Bachelor on hold, because I brought this." Tina said, and handed him a napkin, which Sam unraveled.
"You saved one of your mother's famous egg rolls for me?" He smiled.
"Yes, and you don't know the trouble I went through to get you that egg roll. Blaine had been eyeing me quite suspiciously, even though he had already had about five." Tina laughed. "I just felt bad about not allowing you to come to dinner. I had to make it up to you."
"Well, all is forgiven." Sam said as he polished off the egg roll with one last bite, and hopped on top of the monkey bars. "And it's okay, I understand that your mother thinks I'm a sex machine and won't be able to handle yourself around me."
"Shut up!" Tina giggled as she took Sam's hand, which helped hoist her up to join him sitting on the monkey bars.
"So," Sam began.
"So?" Tina said.
"What did the ever empowered and 'oh-so-strict' Mrs. Cohen-Chang say?!" Sam said excitedly, mocking Tina's constant complaints about her overprotective mother.
"Oh, right! She said yes!" Tina exclaimed, "And she convinced my dad, so all systems are go!"
"But you forgot to add that I convinced your mother." A voice added, and Tina noticed Blaine also hop on the monkey bars.
"Jesus, Blaine, when did you get here?!" Sam said, who hadn't been expecting Blaine and almost fell off the monkey bars in shock.
"It's a group text, you know." Blaine said cheekily. "I assumed we'd meet here to discuss what our parents said. But if you were expecting a secret rendezvous with Tina, I'll be on my way-"
"Shut up!" Tina and Sam said in unison, while Blaine laughed triumphantly.
"One of these days we'll get back and tease you about someone." Sam said.
"Like when you reunited with Kurt in New York." Tina pointed out.
"Nothing's set in stone yet." Blaine said.
"Oh, stop. You guys are totally getting back together!" Tina said encouragingly.
"I don't know, he just broke up with Adam." Blaine said uneasily.
"So he's single. That's all that matters." Sam said firmly.
"I, well, I don't know, maybe." Blaine said nervously. "Well, we don't have to think about that right now. I can't believe you two haven't asked me yet!"
"Asked you what?" Sam asked, and Blaine smiled widely.
"Blaine, is this one of those things where you ask me what I got on the math test only for me to ask you so you can subtly brag that you got a 100 percent-"
"No, Tina!" Blaine said sheepishly, well aware that it was an obnoxious habit of his.
"Admit it; you do that all the time!" Tina giggled.
"Okay, maybe I've done it once or twice-"
"More like every time you get a good grade-"
"Okay, enough with this lover's quarrel; Blaine, tell us what you wanted to say!" Sam exclaimed.
Blaine grinned widely. "My Mom said yes!" He exclaimed. "She's going to talk to my dad, but she's certain she can convince him. But now it's official; all our parents said yes, so we're going to New York!" He yelled, and triumphantly jumped off the monkey bars and landed gracefully on the ground.
Tina squealed and Sam cheered, they both also hopped off the monkey bars and then tackled Blaine in a hug.
"This," Tina said softly, putting an arm around both Sam and Blaine, basking in the moment, "Is the start of the rest of our lives."