A/N: Sorry for disappearing off the face off the earth for a little bit, especially after leaving you guys on that little cliffhanger. Burt/Elizabeth date this chapter! Also I really need a shout out to two people for reviewing after every chapter: Sarahamanda Klaine and -anderson-cullen Thanks to everyone who reviews but these two just make my day every time they review.

Chapter 7: Burt

I was freaking out. Honest to God freaking out. I could barely breathe and my vision was blurry, not the best combination when you're trying to drive across town to pick up a very beautiful girl for a date.

I somehow was able to make it all the way to the address that she had given me without getting into a car wreck. The house was a cute one, small and painted a pale yellow. I got out of my car and started towards the front door when it flew open and Elizabeth came sprinting out as fast as she could in the heels she was wearing. She was in the front seat of my car before I could blink. I didn't even get a chance to open the door for her or anything. Damn, I was going to do that so I could look like one of those gentlemen type guys.

"Hurry up, Burt!" Elizabeth called and it was then that I realized I'd been standing in the driveway thinking.

I hurried to climb into the car. God, this could not be going this badly this quickly.

The drive to Breadstix was short and slightly awkward. I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Can I turn on the radio?" Elizabeth asked.

"Of course," I answered quickly.

She turned the radio on and immediately switched to the oldies station. She hummed along to a fast paced song that I didn't recognize.

"So you like the classics?" I asked.

She stopped humming for a moment and nodded. "What about you?"

I shrugged. "I don't really care for music."

Elizabeth gasped over dramatically and placed a hand over her heart as if my disliking of music was physically wounding her.

"You poor soul!" she cried, "What terrible, awful person stole your heart so you couldn't take joy in the pleasure of music?"

I laughed. "No one stole my heart-" Expect for you, I added in my head. "-I just only really like one kind of music and I'm pretty exclusive to it."

"What kind of music do you like then?"

"Country," I admitted and looked over to see Elizabeth's reaction.

She just shrugged. "Might not be my favorite genre but at least it's something. If you completely hated music, I'd make you turn this car around and just take me back home."

I laughed along with her. I liked her sense of humor. It could be harsh sometimes though. The rest of the ride was silent with the exception of Elizabeth occasionally changing the radio station.

After we were seated at our table at Breadstix, I attempted to make small talk.

"So you're a doctor," I said, while we were looking over the menu, "Or at least I hope you are because, well, you gave me stitches."

"Technically, I'm not a doctor yet. I'm in my first year of residency and I decided to have it here in Lima."

I pretended not to be completely confused. So she was a doctor but not a doctor...okay then?

"I thought medical school took ten years or something but I look like you're twenty."

Elizabeth blushed a little. "I graduated early from high school in my hometown which is a practically nonexistent town about fifteen minutes from here in Lima. I was sixteen when I graduated and I got accepted into the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. So I moved there but than when I was a junior in college I got pregnant and..."

Elizabeth trailed off and quickly took a drink of her water, not looking at me. I figured maybe something had happened or something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Elizabeth sighed. "Nothing, it's just that...this is a date, right?"

I nodded. "I hope so or I will be very disappointed."

Elizabeth gave me a small smile and I grinned back. "So, I just don't think I should spend the night talking about my child."

"Elizabeth," I said, "your son is a huge part of your life. It would be selfish of my to expect you not to talk about him."

She smiled at me and I felt my heart flutter a little bit. "You're a great guy Burt."

I smiled back and I officially feel like I could start flying. "Anyway," I said, clearing my throat, "You were saying?"

"Yes, so when I found out I was pregnant, I thought my life was over. I was ready to move back my hometown and be a poor single mother for the rest of my life. Then my brother, Andy, who's two years older and lived in Minneapolis, offered to help me and God did he help. I don't think I could've survived without him. With a lot of help from my brother, friends, and other family, I got my bachelor's degree and medical school and then I moved here to finish my residency."

I felt so stupid compared to that. She graduated from high school two years earlier than everyone else and I'd barely graduated at all.

At that moment, the waiter came to our table and asked us what we wanted to eat in that too cheerful voice waiters always use. I ordered lasagna while Elizabeth ordered chicken Alfredo. Our food arrived pretty soon afterward.

"So, what about you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Me? Um, I'm nothing special but I graduated from West Lima High School and I went to the community college to become a mechanic. I've been working at the shop I work at now since I graduated so three years now," I said, feeling incredibly stupid.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying our delicious Italian food.

"I have to say one more thing," Elizabeth said, looking a little nervous, "Kurt...he's a special kid. He's been through a lot with not really having a Dad and I had a lot of relationships that didn't last very long and even though he tries not to say it, I know it kills him that they never stick around and become his dad. I decided to start fresh. I'm done dating, I want to be in relationships that last more than a few months."

I didn't know what to say. I got what she meant but what was she saying? Did she want a long relationship with me? I thought it was a miracle that I got her name, number, and a date, but a long relationship. I was feeling a little woozy.

"I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable," Elizabeth said, "but I need you to know that. Most people don't stick around because they think they can separate my life with Kurt from their lives but, you're right, Kurt is my whole world and just can't be with someone who doesn't understand that."

I nodded. I did understand. I could see why dating someone with another kid would be hard, but you can't just ignore that problem.

"Also I wasn't kidding when I said Kurt's special," she said, looking down at her hands.

"What do mean?" I asked.

"I'm pretty much one hundred percent sure that Kurt's gay," she said, "I've never had a problem with it but I know some people wouldn't want that around them."

I swallowed nervously. I didn't know what to think. I'd never met anyone gay before and I didn't really know what to think. I wasn't exactly religious so that wasn't there to effect my judgement. When I was in high school, I threw around terrible things about gay people all the time to describe people who were weak but I didn't really think about what I saying. I've started thinking more about that now that I'm out in the real world.

"How do you know?" I asked.

Elizabeth shrugged. "Mostly just stupid stereotypes like that he likes the color pink and doesn't really like to get dirty and loves clothes. I know that must sound really bad but if you knew him, you'd get what I mean."

She suddenly looked really helpless and, God, were those tears in her eyes?

"And all of my homophobic friends say it's my fault! Say it's because I didn't get him a male figure to model himself to but Andy is around all the time so that's bullcrap. I don't teach him the things he does either though. I'm terrible with fashion; sometimes, Kurt is the one who picks out my clothes! Can you believe that? He already is getting picked on at school and I just know it's because he's too 'girly.' I just don't know what to do!"

She had her head in her hands and was crying silently. I had no clue what to do. I'm terrible when people are crying. Just offer to take her home, dumbass, a voice in my head said that sounded strangely like Jake.

"Do you want me to take you home?" I asked her in what I hoped was a comforting manner.

She nodded quickly and quietly. I grabbed her coat and draped in around her shoulders. She calmed down on the ride back to her home. She started surfing channels on the radio again until she found a station playing "Hey Jude."

She started singing along softly.

"You're very good," I commented.

"Thank you," Elizabeth replied, "I was in choir high school and I really enjoyed it a lot."

We arrived back at her house and I walked her up to the door. We both stepped inside and she hung up her coat on a set of hooks next to the door. I noticed their was a Spiderman backpack hung on one of the hooks.

"He actually loves superheroes," Elizabeth said, when she noticed where I looking. She sighed and wiped her red and puffy eyes. "Thanks for letting me break down like that. I'm sorry we had to leave our date early."

"It's fine," I said and really it was. "Goodnight."

I turned around to leave when Elizabeth grabbed my arm and turned me back around. I jumped a little when I felt her lips on mine. How do I explain the feeling? There were fireworks and the heat of the fireworks were melting my insides.

We broke apart at the sound of floorboards. I looked towards the source of the noise to see a tiny boy with a dark mop of brown hair and wearing Super Mario Bros pajamas. He also had shockingly bright and expressive glasz eyes that were glaring right at me.

Peace, Love, Glee

Julez