A quick (but GIGANTIC) thank you to Christine for betaing this for me!

It was the beginning of October—about two weeks after the open house—and Blaine was spending his Saturday night with his laptop open, looking for new and fun Halloween projects he could do with his class. He was already looking forward to the Halloween party they would have at school; all the kids dressed up as princesses and vampires, ninja turtles and cowgirls. This was always one of his favorite times of the year. His new teacher's aide, Marley Rose, had been squealing with excitement—practically jumping up and down—when Blaine brought up party plans.

Blaine had only been able to smile as Marley began rambling about how much she loved dressing up for Halloween when she was younger, how she couldn't wait to see all the kids dressed up, and how she was excited to come up with a costume for herself. It had been endearing. Now, remembering Marley's excitement and an hour deep into his internet search, Blaine couldn't suppress the excitement that bubbled inside him. Honestly, it was the first time he had been this excited for anything in weeks.

"Squirt," Cooper's voice called from outside the door, "Be ready in an hour."

Blaine's attention moved from his laptop to the doorway where Cooper now stood, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest in a white t-shirt in jeans. He hadn't changed after work.

"We're going to Hummel's," Cooper said answering Blaine's unspoken question.

Blaine's heart twisted inside his chest then began racing, "I can't. Not tonight."

"Of course you can," Cooper said, not moving from the doorway, "It's Saturday night, Blaine. And you have exactly three friends in this town and all of them are going to be at Hummel's tonight for karaoke."

Karaoke, Blaine remembered. Kurt had told him to come. But he'd forgotten about it since then, pushed it from his mind like he did with nearly everything Kurt related. They still hadn't found a way to be around each other without a heavy layer of awkwardness—at least Blaine hadn't. And he was perfectly fine with not attending karaoke night and risking seeing Kurt and having that awkwardness ruin a night out, or Kurt's night at work.

"I think I'd rather just stay in tonight."

"Blaine, we both know that your second favorite thing—after singing the alphabet with five year olds—is just singing. This is just like singing along with the radio, only in public."

"I know what karaoke is."

"Well, then I don't understand what all the fuss is about," Cooper said, finally coming further into the room and sitting himself down on the bed in front of Blaine, "Is this about Kurt?"

Blaine had only given Cooper the quick version of what had been going on between him and Kurt. It happened, now it wasn't. That's all Cooper really needed to know, "Of course not."

But Blaine hadn't convinced his brother, "You're a terrible liar, Blaine."

Blaine took a deep breath and focused his eyes on his computer screen, "I don't want to talk about this. And I don't want to go to Hummel's tonight."

"How many times did you guys even go out," Cooper questioned, not giving up though Blaine desperately wanted him to, "Once?"

"Twice," Blaine corrected, still not looking at his brother.

"It doesn't matter," Cooper said, "The point is, get over it."

"That's terrible advice."

Cooper shrugged, "I don't know what else you want me to tell you, Squirt. You both made a decision to not see each other anymore, but that doesn't mean you get to spend the rest of your life hiding in your room creating lesson plans that revolve around the color purple. I'm not going to let you do this to yourself."

"Cooper, I'm not—"

"You are," Cooper countered, "But it's my job as your big brother to stop you before you make things worse. So get dressed so that Kurt Hummel knows what he's missing. And most importantly, figure out what you're going to sing because I'm not letting you back into this house until you've shown this town what you're made of."

Blaine sighed, he knew Cooper was right. And he hated that. He'd spent too much time inside; he'd been ignoring Sam's calls and texts for too long. His wallowing period was over, for both Jason and for Kurt. He had to keep living his life. And like Cooper had said, he and Kurt had only gone out twice; they'd parted on amicable terms, lived in the same town—there was absolutely no reason for Blaine to hide from anyone or anything. He could do this.

Blaine noticed Sam standing outside of Hummel's as Cooper pulled into a parking spot not far from the entrance. The people were filtering into the door in large groups, just as they had the first night Blaine had been there.

"Doesn't Allison have anything to say about you going out all the time," Blaine asked getting out of the car and turning to look at his brother who had done the same.

"I don't go out all the time," Cooper said in mock offense, "I only go out with you and that's been almost never lately. Besides, she says it gives her time to read the book for her book club."

"She's just glad she doesn't have to entertain you for a few hours," Blaine teased.

"Probably true, which is why she's the best wife anyone could ask for," Cooper said, "But you're stalling, let's get inside."

There were so many more people at Hummel's for Karaoke Night than there had been on that first Friday night. It seemed everyone, except Allison, came out for this special night. The floor was like a gigantic ocean of the Lima population and all the waitresses, Santana included, swam through it while skillfully balancing trays of food and drinks. Blaine's eyes immediately began scanning the crowd, looking—of course—for Kurt, but unsure of whether he actually wanted to find him. If Kurt wasn't there, then Blaine wouldn't have to deal with his feelings, only the anxiety of not knowing when he'd come face to face with Kurt again. Truth be told, Blaine couldn't wait until he could move on from this. He willed himself every day not to feel that jolt in his chest, or that drop in his stomach when he saw Kurt pick Kadie up from school. He was eager for the moment where he would no longer feel that unexplainable—and now incredibly uncomfortable—pull towards Kurt every time he saw him.

Blaine turned to Sam, hoping to start a conversation that would direct his thoughts away from Kurt, but Sam's eyes were firmly focused on the stage, where someone was singing a terrible rendition of Baby Got Back. Not that there would ever be a good rendition.

"You singing?" Sam asked, finally turning his attention away from the stage and towards Blaine as they found a table and sat down.

"Cooper says I'm not allowed to go home until I've sung," Blaine said looking pointedly at his brother before turning back towards Sam, "You?"

"Definitely," Sam told him excitedly, "but not this karaoke crap. Kurt lets me get up there with my guitar and show them how it's really done."

"That's awesome."

"So what are you going to sing?" Sam asked.

"I haven't decided yet, "Blaine answered. He'd been trying to rack his brain for the perfect song since Cooper had shoved him into the car. So far nothing felt right.

"He can sing anything at the drop of a hat," Cooper interjected.

Blaine rolled his eyes, "My brother greatly exaggerates my abilities."

"Dude, it's cool. I went to high school with a girl who could do that," Sam explained, "You can sing anything as long as it's not Bieber. That's totally mine."

"Bieber," Blaine questioned, shocked.

"I see you judging," Sam said, "But Biebs is totally cool."

Blaine bit back a comment about how no one thought "The Biebs" was cool as cheers erupted from somewhere in the bar and the latest performer exited the stage. Santana climbed to the center of the stage and grabbed the mic.

"Trouty Mouth, it's your turn. Get up here and sing," she said, her voice flat and uninterested before she walked right off stage.

Sam smiled at Blaine, "That's my cue."

"Trouty Mouth?"

Sam continued smiling and pointed to his jaw, then headed for the stage. He grabbed the guitar from the corner, sat down on a stool, and proceeded to do the most tolerable, acoustic, rendition of "Baby" Blaine had ever heard.

"He's here."

Kurt looked up from the stack of glasses he was cleaning when Santana walked into the back room. It was much quieter back there, away from all the bad singing. Saturday night was usually his night off, but one of the girls had called in sick and since they were expecting the insane crowd, Kurt felt he had no other choice but to drop Kadie off with his dad and come into work. He resigned himself to doing small jobs until they actually needed him on the floor. When he'd peeked out earlier—definitely not looking for Blaine—he knew it would only be a matter of time before they'd need his help at the bar.

"He?"

"Please don't play dumb, it doesn't look good on you. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"I just don't know what you want me to do about it?"

"Does it bother you that he's here?"

"Santana, you're making this worse than it is, or than it needs to be. This is a public establishment in the town where he lives. I think I'd be more upset if he didn't come in. He can do what he pleases. And besides, I told him to come to karaoke night. The sooner you stop shoving Blaine in my face, the sooner I can move on."

"But you don't want to," Santana said. It wasn't a question.

"Santana," Kurt warned.

Santana let out frustrated sigh, "Maybe I'd believe you were trying to move on if you weren't hiding in the back room from a guy you went out with twice. So you can't use your parental tone with me unless you're going to act like an adult."

Kurt's mouth hung open as Santana stormed out of the room leaving Kurt with the ghost of her truthful words.

Blaine was two drinks in by the time Santana called Cooper's name. He wasn't looking to lose himself, but shortly after his glass was empty, there was another one in front of him. And Cooper promised to behave, so Blaine indulged himself just a bit. He didn't need alcohol to get up on that stage, he'd been singing in front of people—both young and old—since he was in high school. But there was something about the night that made him desperate for the burn of the whiskey on his tongue, to help clear his head. He still had no idea what he was going to sing.

As Cooper climbed on stage and the beginnings of "Hungry Like a Wolf" began bleeding through the speakers, Sam finished his drink, and Blaine headed towards the bar for another round. He watched his brother, listening as he managed to not sound absolutely terrible, as he moved through the tight space between people. If his focus had been on the bar, and not on Cooper, he would have noticed that the second bartender—who had not been there earlier— was perfectly dressed, had beautiful blue eyes, and a smile that—if Blaine's brain wasn't playing tricks on him—faltered for only a moment when he saw Blaine. They'd been there for hours, and when Blaine hadn't seen Kurt before, he'd assumed that he wasn't there at all. But there he was and suddenly they found themselves in a similar situation to the night they'd first met. Except they were no longer strangers. Kurt was no longer Blaine's fresh start.

Blaine's heart hammered in his chest, threatening to break out. He told himself it was a result of the awkwardness that always seemed to follow them around and managed to return a genuine smile.

"Hey," Kurt said.

"Hey."

"Whiskey?"

"You remembered?" Blaine said, immediately regretting it. They'd had a discussion about this, just a few feet away from where they stood now, only a few weeks ago.

"Of course I remembered," Kurt's beaming smile would have melted him right there, but then like a blimp in the night it wasn't as bright, "its bartender thing."

Right, Blaine reminded himself, it was just part of his job.

Kurt busied himself with Blaine's drink and Blaine turned his eyes back towards his brother who was just about done with his song. But Blaine's attention was still with Kurt, about how this felt oddly familiar. About how the entire bar was going on about their business, and only he and Kurt knew that there was something happening at this section of the bar. The people a few feet away didn't know that they were standing in the place where Blaine had wrapped himself around Kurt, had kissed him breathless, had thought that the butterflies in his stomach in relation to Kurt would be different. The people next to the jukebox didn't know that was where they danced until the sun came up.

When Kurt came back with his drink, Blaine realized that those moments would only be between him and Kurt and no one else. Something only they would know.

"Here you go," Kurt said placing the glass down on the counter, "I've added it to Cooper's tab."

"Thanks," Blaine smiled, then grabbed the glass and quickly turned to make his way back through the sea of people.

"Where's mine?" Sam asked as Blaine returned to the table.

"I think I figured out what I'm singing," Blaine said, ignoring the fact that yes, in his Kurt induced hysteria, he'd forgotten to order Sam's drink, "Would you mind playing the guitar for me?"

"Are you kidding? Of course," Sam bounced in his chair, forgetting all about his forgotten drink, "What are singing?"

Blaine just smiled.

It was another half an hour before Blaine's name was called. He gave Sam his drink in lieu of an apology as he explained what he wanted to sing. Cooper slapped him on the back as he made his way to the stage. There were now two stools in the center of the stage. They both sat down and Sam grabbed onto the mic' which was still in the stand.

"Ladies and Gentleman," Sam said into the microphone, "Mr. Blaine Anderson."

And then Sam played and Blaine sang.

Is this the place we used to love?

Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

It was quickly becoming clear to Blaine that between Cooper and Sam, there was always somewhere to go, something to do—whether he wanted to or not. Cooper dragged him to the gym three times a week and this Saturday, a week after karaoke night, Cooper bought him tickets to the Nico Vega concert in Columbus. And what his brother failed to mention was that he wasn't going with. Blaine would be tagging along with some of Lima's finest.

This was exactly how he found himself tightly packed between Kurt and Sam in the backseat of Santana's Cobalt, speeding down the highway towards Columbus. One of the other servers from Hummel's, who was introduced to him as Jack, was in the passenger seat, and on the other side of Kurt was Puck. There wasn't much room for anyone to move their arms and if someone sneezed, there was a risk of injury. But even worse, Blaine had a rather long car ride ahead of him with Kurt pressed shoulder to knee against his side.

Kurt moved his arm just a fraction and ended up elbowing Blaine, just barely, in the arm.

Kurt scoffed and then looked at him, "I'm sorry. I told her we should have taken my car."

"I heard that Hummel," Santana shouted from behind the wheel, "But you have a car seat."

"That can be removed," Kurt argued, "And even without it there is more than enough room. I have an SUV."

"Stop whining," Santana said, "We'll be there before you know it."

"Fine," Kurt resigned, "but if I give Blaine a black eye, I will feel no guilt because it will be your fault."

Sam laughed, Jack laughed, Puck laughed, even Blaine laughed. Santana just rolled her eyes and kept driving, playing with the radio.

"She's lucky I actually wanted to go to this," Kurt said, "Otherwise I would have been pissed that she's forcing me to go."

"Forcing," Blaine questioned.

"Santana can be," Kurt said knowing full well that his best friend could hear him, "a little bossy. And when she wants to make sure that I do certain things, she goes to my dad first, and makes sure I have someone to watch Kadie. Then my dad will plan some elaborate grandpa-granddaughter thing, tell Kadie about it and then I don't have a choice but to let it happen. Which leaves me with a night to either sit at home by myself, or go with her on whatever escapade she wants to take me on."

Santana chuckled in the front.

"She sounds a bit like Cooper," Blaine said, "He slapped the ticket down in front of me last night and threatened to kick me out if I didn't go."

"That's harsh."

"I'd never do that to you Hummel," Santana interjected.

"I don't think he'd actually do it—and Allison wouldn't let him," Blaine explained, "But it's just easier if I don't argue."

Neither Kurt nor Blaine says another word the rest of the trip.

The concert is a lot more fun than Blaine thought it would be. Good music and good people will always make things better. He and Kurt hadn't really figured out how to be around each other in a post-Labor Day weekend way, but after one drink and a few songs, Blaine stopped thinking about it and just let everything be what it was. It was the moment he'd been waiting for for weeks. And when he finally felt like he could breathe properly around Kurt anymore, he had an amazing time.

As the group walked, most of them a little wobbly, through the crowd and towards the car, Kurt took the keys from Santana's hand. He opened the back door and ushered Santana, Puck, Sam and Jack in. As Blaine went to climb in next to them, Kurt stopped him with an apprehensive hand on his shoulder.

"These fools are going to pass out before we even get to the highway. Sit up front and keep me company?"

Blaine nodded and settled into the front while Kurt situated everyone else in the back. In their slight inebriated state, no one seemed to mind the lack of personal space.

Kurt hopped into the driver's seat and started the car. There was a wave of uncertainty that washed through Blaine, but he pushed it aside. Just let everything be what it is, he reminded himself as Kurt pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry things have been…weird between us."

"It's not your fault," Blaine said, "Not any more than it is mine."

"I had fun tonight. I had fun with you. We had fun before," Kurt said and let out a frustrated sigh, "Can we just forget about all the other stuff and be friends?"

"Yeah," Blaine said, "I think that would be great."

"Good," Kurt said smiling, "You're first official act as my friend is to take Sam back to your place tonight. The last time he crashed at my place he walked around naked and my daughter nearly saw him."

Blaine laughed, "He can crash on Cooper's couch. I would say I'm worried about Allison, but something tells me she'll just yell at him for exposing her to such terrible things. I think she was a saint in a previous life, or at least before she met Cooper."

"She's still a saint," Kurt commented, "She's the only one in the doctor's office who doesn't have Kadie hiding behind my leg the entire visit."

"I'm surprised Kadie hides from anyone. She's very friendly in class."

"She does very well with kids her age. But adults she needs to warm up to. But you've already won her over. Do you normally start recruiting the members of your fan club that young?"

Blaine laughed, "I've been contemplating teaching Pre-K so that I can get them even younger. Maybe even take over a day care so I can get them before they can even talk."

"I never had any teachers that I could look up to like that," Kurt said, "Not that young anyway. I'm glad Kadie has you."

"She's pretty amazing herself. She's so creative. Are you guys really creating her Halloween costume?"

"She told you about that?" Kurt said, "But yes, we are. She came home one day and wanted to be Taylor Swift. I'm pretty sure some of the blame for that comes from Santana, but Kadie and I decided that I'd make her a Taylor Swift costume for Halloween."

"I can't wait to see it."

The rest of the car ride was filled with light chatter and the sound of the radio. Kurt pulled Santana's car into Cooper's driveway, put the car in park, but no one moved to get out.

"Thank you for not falling asleep on me," Kurt said giving Blaine an appreciative smile.

"You're welcome. I suppose I should be thanking Cooper in the morning. I had a great time."

"Me too," Kurt said.

Someone, half asleep, muttered from the backseat. It was incoherent but it reminded Blaine that it was late and that he needed to get himself and Sam inside. He pulled Sam from the car, draping his arm around his shoulder. He closed the back door, leaned down to wave goodbye to Kurt and watched as the car pulled out of the driveway and down the street before pulling Sam into the house.

Once Sam was situated on the couch, Blaine put himself to bed, the sky outside still dark but the night coming to an end reminded Blaine of the night he met Kurt. The weight of the hour pushing against him, he would drift off to a content sleep, finally finding just a bit of peace again.

I've been lost in a backwood forest of failures and plastic money.

I've been awake in a dream-like state of a coma until you show me.

Kurt woke up sprawled across his entire bed. He'd gotten home from work much later than he'd intended to the night before and hadn't gotten as much sleep as he wanted, or that he needed. But as the fog of morning began to lift from his brain, and the realization that it was Saturday crossed his mind, he smiled. Saturday was Kurt's favorite day of the week.

There was no alarm to wake him, there wasn't a five year old to get ready for school, and he had twenty-four hours without an obligation to anyone whose name wasn't Kadie. Saturdays were pajamas until after noon and cereal breakfasts, curled up on the couch watching animated movies until something more exciting came along. It was just Kurt and Kadie as the rest of the world didn't exist. And since the last two Saturdays had been karaoke night and the concert, he was determined to make up the lost time with his daughter.

Kurt started making Saturdays theirs shortly after Daniel left. Mostly because he felt like he was failing his daughter by leaving her with grandpa all night on Friday and during almost every other day of the week. Daniel had only been gone a week when it had become glaringly obvious that something was missing, and that the routine both he and Kadie had grown accustom to would no longer work. So Kurt moved his night shifts to day shifts, opening Hummel's and heading out just as the dinner rush began. But that meant that Kadie stayed with Grandpa all day. Burt promised that they were getting by just fine; that cartoons and the playhouse they bought her were keeping her occupied, that she wasn't yet phased by the void left by her dad leaving her and her father working when he used to be at home. They had no choice to adapt and pretty soon Saturday was theirs. A day without work, and now, without school, that could be just the two of them. And Kurt hoped that more than anything, for Kadie, that it was enough.

Kurt heard his bedroom door open slowly and lifted his head to see the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Her hair was a mess of brown curls, her eyes a blue he knew was just like his own as they watched him tentatively.

"Come on," Kurt said lifting the blanket up.

Kadie smiled and her eyes danced in the morning light as she ran towards the bed, leaping onto Kurt's bed and giggling as Kurt wrapped his arms around her.

The other thing Kurt loved about Saturdays? Cuddling with Kadie.

"So what are we doing today, Miss Kadie," Kurt said looking at his daughter's smiling face.

"I want to go to the park," Kadie said jubilantly.

"And then what?"

Kurt's heart exploded when Kadie wrinkled her nose, carefully plotting the rest of their day in her head.

"Cinderella."

"Cinderella?

"Uh huh," Kadie said with a toothy grin.

"Fine," Kurt huffed in jest, "But we're having meatloaf for dinner."

"No!"

"No," Kurt asked, "What should we have then?"

"Hmm," Kadie said putting her finger to her chin, "Tater tots."

"Tater tots," Kurt repeats appalled, but laughing. He'd attempted to teach his child better than this, "You can't just have tater tots. How about tater tots and peas?"

"Ew, Daddy no."

Kurt and Kadie continued to giggle together. This was why he loved Saturdays so much. On Saturday's his heart felt lighter. He was complete.

#break#

The park was really just a large playground next to the pee wee football field, but now that Kadie was in school she had so many new friends and they always seemed to be at the park. It was quickly becoming her new favorite place. And Kurt enjoyed coming out and enjoying the fresh air and the sun while the weather was still nice. And with October half way over, there were only a few nice weather days left. Winter would be here before they knew it.

Once they arrived, Kadie immediately saw someone she knew and with a "Daddy, can I please go play," Kurt was left to sit alone on a park bench.

He flipped his sunglasses over his eyes and watched as Kadie approached another little girl, say something that resulted in a nod from the other girl, presumably from her class, before they both took off running toward the swings.

Kurt flipped through his phone when he wasn't watching Kadie on the swing set, but found nothing of real interest. He reminded himself, yet again, that he should bring a book when they come to the park. Or Santana. Maybe next time he'd drag Santana out of bed to come with them.

He looked up, his eyes finding Kadie to make sure that she was alright, and when he was reassured that she was, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. On a bench not far away, sat Blaine, his jean clad legs tucked beneath him as he paged through a rather large book in an oversized sweatshirt. Kurt hesitated for a moment, then decided to get up and say hello. Because he and Blaine were friends, they'd decided on that, just as they'd decided to not be anything more. And if they were going to be friends then Kurt couldn't go back to avoiding him. That wasn't how that worked and that wasn't how he wanted to live his life.

"Hey."

Blaine looked up from his notebook, "Kurt."

"I saw you over here and I thought I'd say hi," Kurt explained, "I'm not bothering you am I?"

"Oh no. I was just going over some stuff for class on Monday," Blaine said rushed and quickly moved the papers from where they sat on the bench beside him, "Here, sit down."

"Thanks," Kurt said taking a seat beside him, "Are you hiding from Cooper?"

Blaine laughed, "No, not exactly. Sometimes I like to just give Allison and Cooper back the alone time I've taken from them. This way they've got a couple of hours where they don't have to worry about me."

"That's really nice of you."

"It's the least I can do," Blaine said, "I think they're trying to have a baby."

"That's exciting."

"It is," Blaine said, "but if they do, I'll have to find my own place; Which isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"Then why do you sound like it is?"

"I guess because it would mean that my adjustment period would be over. That I can finally say that my life is in Lima."

"It's not so bad here," Kurt said grinning.

"No," Blaine said looking at Kurt and smiling, "It's not."

"Daddy," Kadie called from a few feet away, looking sad.

"What's wrong," Kurt asked concerned.

"Abby had to go home," Kadie said then turned to Blaine, her sadness seemingly gone in an instant, "Hi, Mr. Anderson."

"Hi, Kadie."

"Are you ready to go too?" Kurt asked.

Kadie nodded.

Kurt turned to look at Blaine, "I guess we had better get going."

"Daddy, can Mr. Anderson come watch Cinderella with us?"

Startled, Kurt and Blaine looked at Kadie, and then at each other, unsure of how to answer.

"I-I don't," Blaine muttered, the first to find his voice.

"Please," Kadie begged, her big blue eyes focused on Blaine, no longer caring about her dad's permission but hoping for Blaine's agreement.

"I-uh-I guess, if it's okay with your dad."

Kurt looked at Blaine and saw part of what had drawn him to Blaine the night they met. He reminded himself that they were, and only could be, friends. But there was no way he could be Blaine's friend if he was avoiding him. He'd been trying that for weeks, it wasn't working.

"It's okay," Kurt said giving Blaine a smile, "But only if you don't mind PB & J for lunch."

Blaine smiled, "I just so happen to love PB & J."

Kadie squealed with excitement.

Kurt couldn't figure out what was stranger—for Blaine to be in his house, or for Blaine to be in his house eating a peanut butter and jelly at his kitchen table with his daughter. But there was a amity to it. Like the pieces were slowly beginning to slide into place and the awkwardness was almost completely depleted. Mostly because Kadie hadn't stopped talking since they walked in the door. It had been an innocent question, a friendly question to Blaine. Kurt had asked how school was going and apparently Kadie thought the question was directed at her and began telling Kurt, and Blaine, about all the things they did each day. And once she'd excitedly retold both of them about Blaine's lesson plans, she proceeded to launch herself into the scandalous Kindergarten gossip. Because apparently Dominic let Darlene borrow some crayons but then he let Laura borrow them and Darlene got mad.

"I had no idea my class was dealing with such a scandal."

"You'll have to keep an eye on little Dominic," Kurt said, "Make sure he doesn't break any little girl's hearts. And keep him away from Kadie."

Kurt told Kadie to put in what she wanted, sure that even though it was Cinderella this morning, it could easily be something else now. And it was. After the Disney castle came onto the screen, they were on an underwater adventure with Ariel and not with Cinderella and her evil stepmother. Kadie hurried back to the couch and sat herself in between Kurt and Blaine and a comfortable quiet blanketed the three.

But it wasn't more than forty-five minutes into the movie before Kadie had fallen fast asleep, curled up against Blaine.

"Let me move her," Kurt said quickly and quietly, slightly embarrassed by his daughter's unconscious actions.

"No," Blaine protested, "Leave her. Let her sleep a bit."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. She must be tired from the park."

"It's such a tough life she lives," Kurt said with a laugh.

"It gives you a break too."

"I get enough time to myself," Kurt said, "So really, without all the five year old drama, how's school going?"

"Actually really well," Blaine told him, a grin on his face.

Blaine told him about Marley and how she reminded her a bit of himself and how he loved getting to meet the rest of the faculty and how they were all super nice.

"Even Claudia?" Kurt asked, looking disgusted.

Blaine laughed, "Yes, even Claudia. She invited me out for drinks next weekend with some of the other second grade teachers."

"Watch your drink. She might poison it for fun."

"You really don't like her, do you?"

"We extremely dislike each other. I'm not even sure I know why anymore," Kurt explained, "and she hasn't seen Kadie since Daniel's been gone. Though Kadie said she saw her in school and she said hello. But I've invited her to her birthday party last year and she didn't come or call. And that is what bothers me more than whatever issues her and I have with each other. Claudia saw her all the time before and now that Daniel's gone, her aunt suddenly acts like she doesn't know who she is. Kadie doesn't deserve that."

Blaine didn't say anything, but looked down at the little girl sleeping against him. She definitely didn't deserve to lose so much all at once.

"So are you going to go?" Kurt asked.

"Huh?"

"For drinks"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Well if you decide not to go, Santana is throwing herself a birthday party, here, Friday night. You could come."

"How generous of you."

"Her apartment can barely fit more than her and Kadie in it, so I offered her my place. She's turning thirty this year so I figured she deserved a little get together. My dad is taking Kadie to the movies and then I think he promised he'd build her a fort."

"That actually sounds like fun," Blaine said, "Oh wow. Sometimes I think I am a five year old."

Kurt laughed, "I just hope Kadie doesn't grow up to hate me for the amount of time she spent her with her grandfather."

Blaine reached out and placed his hand, comfortingly, over Kurt's, "She's not going to hate you. Kids are resilient and they adapt to just about everything. It's not like you're absent, you're just trying to live your life."

"She's my world," Kurt said reaching out with his free hand to tuck a Kadie's hair behind her ear.

"And you're hers," Blaine said, "So she's only going to be happy if you are."

"I'm happy," Kurt said, "Given everything that's happened I'm happy."

"Then that's all the matters."

AN: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I had no intention of it being this long between updates, but life has gotten kind of crazy! But I've got some time off from work coming up and when my nose isn't buried in TLOS3 and I'm not standing in line to meet Mr. Colfer (one week from today! OMG!) I will be working on this. Thank you for sticking with me, please review let me know what you think!