The room remained quiet for several minutes once Blaine had left; finally Finn broke the silence and attempted to lighten the mood by regaling Kurt with tales of a funny incident that occurred in gym class the previous day.
Kurt's mood remained sombre; recognising this, Burt decided to address the matter head on.
''Hey Carole, why don't you and Finn go get me and Kurt a couple of coffees or something''
''ok honey, we'll be right back'' she turned from Burt to exit the room.
''I'm cool mum, I'll just hang here'' Finn replied unknowingly.
Burt and Carole exchanged a look, before she spoke up ''Finn, you're coming with me, come on let's go''
''But Mum…''
''Finn'' she interrupted a little more forcefully ''You're coming with me, now'' Finn recognized that look she was giving him and abruptly stood and made his way over to exit the room.
''We're giving the boys a few minutes alone'' she whispered to him.
'' See you later bro'', Finn uttered over his shoulder before leaving.
Carole gave one finally look towards them both, gave a sympathetic smile then swiftly left the room.
Kurt knew what was coming next but he really didn't have the heart to get into this with his father.
''Kiddo'' Burt spoke up, ''you wanna tell me what's going on?''
'' I don't know what you mean'' he replied
''Don't give me that crap kid, you know exactly what I'm talking about''
''No dad, I really don't''
''That Blaine kid''
''What about him''
''Kurt! I'm gonna ask you this one last time and I'd appreciate an answer, what's going on?''
Kurt sighed, exhausted from everything that had happened and just too tired to keep up the charade anymore. ''He's with Rachel'' he stated dejectedly.
'' I got that much but I don't understand, I thought he was gay''
''So did I'' It came out as barely above a whisper but Burt heard and softened his tone to continue.
''What about the other night, were you two, you know, together..?''
Kurt looked up at his father and shook his head.
Burt continued softly ''did you want to be?''
Kurt bit on his lower lip in an effort to stop himself from crying and gave a slow nod to his father before being brave enough to speak up.
''I thought it was different this time''
Burt was slightly confused ''what do you mean?''
''After the whole Finn incident'' he looked up at his father, who held out his arm and grabbed Kurt's shoulder for support and gave it a gentle squeeze. ''I thought he liked me dad. He was so understanding and caring, right from the moment I met him. He was always holding my hand and singing songs to me, complementing me'' Kurt sighed again, a quiet sob leaving him and a tear sliding down his cheek as he continued '' but it was all in my head.. I imagined the whole thing, just like with Finn but worse''.
Tears were free flowing now and it broke Burt's heart to see his son like this.
''What's wrong with me dad? Why doesn't anyone want me?''
Burt brought his son into his arms and held him gently, ''There's nothing wrong with you kid. You hear me, nothing at all. You are an amazing person and maybe this Blaine kid can't see that, but there's someone out there for you, you hear me. You just gotta stay strong and be patient.''
Neither of them were aware of the person hovering just outside the door listening to their conversation.
Blaine hurried though the halls of Dalton making his way to his dorm. Jeff was just coming around the corner as Blaine rushed past. ''Hey Blaine, hold up'' he called out before jogging up next to his friend.
''hey Jeff''
''You ok? I noticed you weren't in class this afternoon'' he enquired.
''I was at the hospital''
'What!'' Jeff screeched ''are you ok?''
''Calm down Jeff, I'm fine; it's Kurt''
Jeff was one of about five people at Dalton who knew of Blaine's friendship with the New Directions counter-tenor. He was also very aware that they were oblivious to each other's feelings.
''what happened? Is he alright?''
Blaine stopped walking and turned to face his friend. ''He got pushed down some stairs, he's pretty banged up but I think he's going to be ok''
''wow, I can't believe things are that bad for him.'' Jeff could see how pained Blaine's expression was. ''you look really upset Blaine, are you ok?''
''Yeah'' he lowered his head and stared at his feet as he continued, ''it just got me thinking you know''
What about?'' Jeff probed.
''about him''
''what about him?''
''about him and me'' He raised his face slowly to make eye contact with Jeff.
''he's pretty great, amazing actually''
Jeff remained silent allowing Blaine to continue.
''Do you th..thinkk.. that… hee and um I, I.. I mean, do you think we could..''
Jeff cut him off, 'I think you're perfect for each other''
Blaine's face broke out in a huge smile.
''you think?'' he asked.
Jeff smiled in return '' yes Blaine, I really do. I've seen the way you look at each other. Hell we all have; question is, are you going to do anything about it?''
Suddenly, they were interrupted by Blaine's ring tone.. He pulled it out of his pocket then signed when he saw it was Rachel calling.
''Sorry Jeff, I've got to take this''
''No problem Blaine, are you going to the hospital tomorrow?''
'Yeah''
''Great, tell Kurt I said hi; and for heaven's sake, tell him'' with those parting words, Blaine walked off.
''hey Rachel''
''Blaine hi, I was just calling to see about re-arranging another time for our date''
Blaine groaned at the thought. ''Look Rachel, I'm in the middle of something now but can we meet tomorrow at the Lima Bean, say 4 ish? We need to discuss a few things''
''Sure, that's perfect. I'll see you then'' she hung up as Blaine walked into his room.
He marched over to his computer and turned it on; he wanted to buy something for Kurt to cheer him up and was hoping to find some inspiration on line. The home page had barely loaded when he was interrupted by the sound of knocking at his door.
Assuming it was Jeff or one of the warblers, he got up and swung the door open.
He was shocked at the force in which he was propelled backwards; it took him a moment to comprehend what had happened. He was pinned against the wall; glancing down he saw two fists tightly grasping his shirt. His eyes trailed up the arms to steady themselves on the very angry face of Finn Hudson.
''Finn, wh..what, are y,you doing?'' he stuttered.
He was roughly pulled closer to Finn who calmly stated ''it's time we had a little chat Anderson''