Two Steps Back
Disclaimer: I'm not RIB, so I don't own Glee or any of the characters. If I did, I'd be rich and probably not writing fanfiction! This fic will dive into MPREG, so I'll be using my go-to MPREG explanation like I did in When We're Older aka the Reddin gene. The gene is based on the Reddin character from the 1994 movie Junior. You should really watch it if you like mpreg. It's a good movie, I promise (I also don't have any rights to it either!) I also don't really own anything mentioned in this except for the crazy storyline so... I OWN NOTHING. The title is inspired by a Paula Abdul song called Opposites Attract by the way.
"Did you hear what happened?"
"Oh my god, yeah! That Hummel boy hit one of the football players!"
Blaine froze in front of his locker, one hand in the midst of grasping his english book. The two girls talking behind him were stopped in the traffic of the hall, both talking loud enough for him to hear what they were saying... and he didn't like what he heard at all. Frowning, he finished fishing out his books and then slammed his locker shut, squeezing his way through the crowd to get to Finn's locker. Rachel was there (obviously, as she had become sort of a staple lately - anywhere Finn was, she was there too), but Finn was nowhere to be seen.
"Rachel?"
"So you heard?"
He nodded, leaning back against the hard metal, careful of his still tender back. "Some girls said Kurt hit somebody. Is it true?"
"Finn's at the office right now. Their parents are here and I guess they're pretty angry."
"But he did hit someone?"
"Yeah. He punched that Azimio guy in the nose. I think he broke it. Finn said it was pretty bad. Kurt just walked right up to him and hit him in the face; witnesses heard it crack."
"Wow."
"Yeah. He'll probably get suspended."
Blaine shook his head, arms tightening across his chest as he watched people pass by. He hated to hear that Kurt was in trouble because he knew the exact reason why Kurt did what he did. He was upset that those guys came after Blaine, that much was obvious, but if Azimio's nose was broken, it definitely didn't look good on Kurt's behalf. He'd probably get into very serious trouble if Azimio's parents decided to press charges or what not. Just the thought of that made shivers run up Blaine's spine.
"Maybe I should go talk to them? He did that on my behalf."
"Do you really want to get dragged into his drama, Blaine? Really? Kurt's old enough to know better and he shouldn't have done it. Yeah, I understand that he was angry about what happened to you yesterday, but so was I and so was Finn, but you don't see either of us attacking anybody."
"Yeah well, Finn's not gonna hurt the guys he used to run around bullying kids with anyway," Blaine muttered under his breath, his stomach churning when he remembered what Kurt told him the day before.
"Wait, what? Finn used to bully people? No way."
"He's one of them, Rachel. He's got a letterman jacket, he's an athlete. You know that's what they do. That's how they stay popular: by intimidating their lower ranked classmates. Guys like him pick on kids like us-"
"But Finn's in glee club. He's a good guy."
"A good guy who also threw balloons filled with pee at Kurt. A guy who also helped his teammates nail Kurt's lawn furniture to his porch roof. Yeah, what an angel." Once he was finished talking, he felt a little guilty for saying those things about Finn because yeah, the guy might've been a bully in the past, but he wasn't a bad guy now. But, all sweet things aside, Blaine's brotherly instincts were kicking in and he just had to let Rachel know what he'd been told. Sighing, he pushed himself away from the lockers, moving to stand face-to-face with his sister. "Finn might be an okay guy now, but he was one of them before. Just remember that, okay?"
And then he left.
Hours later, he found out from Mike Chang that Kurt had been suspended for a week, that Finn had come to bat for his brother and told them about how Azimio led a group of the guys to come after Blaine and how they were originally gunning for Kurt. Coach Beiste also threw her two cents in and after Figgins sat with the family for over an hour arguing with them about Kurt's punishment, everyone agreed that a week of suspension would be best, with a month's worth of lunch detention added on for extra measure.
It was a light sentence, lighter than one Blaine imagined Kurt would get, but he was glad his friend wasn't punished too badly, especially since Kurt was retaliating against Azimio's asshole ways. The guys who came after Blaine the day before were only given a slap on the wrist, just a simple warning that if they bothered him again, they'd have to deal with the consequences of not being on their respective teams next year and then some.
It was obvious that, like his old school, McKinley High catered to the needs and desires of their sports teams before they bothered with the wellbeing of their other students. Blaine wasn't surprised, but it still hurt that someone like him, someone like Kurt could be threatened and even hurt without a care. As long as the athletes were okay, all was well and like the many times before this, Blaine felt let down by the system.
::::::::::
"Do you think your parents would mind if I dropped by tonight?"
It was the Friday after Kurt had been suspended. He had been out of school all week and would finally be able to come back on Monday, but since he had been gone the whole time, he missed a lot of school work. The glee kids that had classes with him did their best to get things situated for him - sending their notes home with Finn for Kurt to copy, sending back assignment page numbers and the like so that Kurt wouldn't fall far behind. Blaine himself had taken notes and then some in trigonometry for Kurt even though Mike Chang had originally volunteered. Blaine ended up reliving Mike of that position though since he knew how busy the boy was with choreographing New Directions' numbers for Nationals. So, by the time Friday rolled around, Finn had a whole collection of work for Kurt to do and Blaine had a folder full of worksheets and notes for his friend as well.
"Why don't you just give me the stuff and I'll give it to him?" Finn said, carelessly tossing his books into his locker. A folder full of cramped papers fell from his hands and exploded on the floor, spilling notes and such all over the hallway. Rachel immediately dove from her spot on Finn's other side to grab up the flying papers and Finn and Blaine went to help, quietly apologizing for the mess as other students tried to dodge them.
"Because... this trig stuff is pretty complicated this week. Miss Linden was nice enough to let me have the worksheets after I explained what happened, but I know Kurt will be a little lost. I was, umm, thinking I could show him how everything works when I dropped these off. Then I'd leave; I wouldn't be long, I promise."
"I dunno, man." Finn stood up with the last of the papers, offering Rachel a lopsided smile as she handed over his folder. "Thanks, Rach. Anyway, Blaine, Burt's pretty pissed with him right now. Like, after I told them what happened with you and Azimio, Burt understood, but he was still upset that Kurt broke Azimio's nose, you know? Thank god, his mom didn't want to press charges."
That was something Blaine didn't really understand either. He saw Azimio's mom in the office one morning, the angry woman screaming something fierce at Principal Figgins while her son sat silently behind her. Azimio's nose was covered in some sort of medical tape and was swollen to hell, but Blaine really wasn't sure if it was broken or not. But, either way, the guy's mom was pissed and when she came stomping out of the office with Azimio trailing behind her, she looked like she was about to set the school on fire. Then the very next day, Azimio showed up at school and told Karofsky and his other cronies that they weren't gonna press charges or go after the Hummels for money because they didn't want to deal with the drama. It was a weird situation, but Finn said he imagined that the family didn't want to deal with the backlash that came from Kurt and/or Blaine speaking up about being bullied. Lord knew Figgins didn't want to deal with it and Azimio was pretty much a big baby, so that was that.
Of course, Kurt was still suspended, which wasn't really fair in Blaine's mind, since he had slight bruises on his back and the person who caused them was walking around the school freely. But then again, that same person had a jacked up nose so maybe it was alright.
Smirking at his thoughts, Blaine shook his head and turned back to Finn, handing over the papers he picked up. "I won't stay long, just long enough to explain everything... and- and maybe I can tell your parents about what happened. I just don't want Kurt to be in trouble on my behalf."
"Yeah, well, he didn't have to punch Azimio in the face, but he did it anyway. That was all him, even though I understand it, you know." Finn said, turning to Blaine for a moment and smiling. He stuffed his now fixed-up folder in his backpack and shut his locker, "If you want to try and come over, I would probably swing by after Burt comes home from work. He'll be back around five. I'll let mom know you're coming over. Umm, you can come too, Rachel, if you wanna? Maybe you can stay for dinner?"
"Both of us... or just Rachel?" Blaine teased, ignoring the scandalized look Rachel was giving him.
Finn blushed, his cheeks and ears glowing red as he ducked his head. For such a tall, intimidating guy, he really was pretty bumbly and sweet, even though Blaine still felt a little sketchy around him after finding out he used to pick on Kurt. But, like Kurt said, people can change, and it really looked like Finn cared about Kurt's well-being now, so Blaine was giving him a pass for the time being. Smiling, he nudged past his sister and Finn and swiped the keys from Rachel's hand.
"I'll be at the car. See you guys in a bit."
He jogged off, leaving the two of them behind in the school and when he got to the car, he went to unlock it, his eyes scanning the parking lot for any potential danger. Behind him, a group of Cheerios came running by, but other than that, he was alone. Not taking any chances, he unlocked the door and climbed inside, slamming the driver's side shut as he waited for his sister to finally come outside. It took her several agonizing minutes, but eventually she and Finn came walking over, and then Finn went to his truck while Rachel waved goodbye and climbed into the car.
"Have fun?"
"Shut up. I can't believe you said that to him! You made us both embarrassed!"
"Yeah well, he went from telling me I shouldn't come over, to suddenly saying I could, and then he invited you as well, only to change the plan from a short visit to staying for dinner. He likes you, Rach!"
"He does not. We're just friends."
"Yeah, sure. Even Kurt said he likes you."
At that, Rachel perked up, popping up in the passenger seat. "He did? Really? Are you joking with me? Because if you are, that's really, really mean!"
"Nope. Kurt said that Finn wouldn't stop talking about you the other day. I told him you did the same thing about Finn."
"BLAINE!"
"Well, it's true! And anyway, you should take the chance. If he likes you and you like him, maybe you should get to know each other better. I know you haven't really dated since... well, Jesse and everything, but Finn seems like he likes you."
"But what about what you said the other day?"
Blaine bit his lip, allowing the car to ease to a stop at the light before he turned towards his sister. "I did some thinking about that and I think Kurt was right about what he said. Finn did pick on him, but he's grown up, I guess. If he was still like those guys, he would've came after me too that day... and he wouldn't of went to Figgins and told him about what Azimio did in order to get Kurt out of more trouble."
"So you like Finn?"
"Yeah, he's okay... and you two are pretty cute together."
"Blaine-"
"And you deserve to be happy. I know Jesse hurt you, but he was an asshole and you know that's how those Carmel High guys are." Inwardly, he cringed at the memory of finding Rachel standing in the parking lot of their old high school, covered in slimy egg yolks and sobbing as several carloads of Carmel High students sped off, pointing and laughing through the rolled-down windows of their SUVs. That was the day her then-boyfriend decided his relationship with Rachel wasn't worth having, so instead of just breaking up with her over the phone, he came with his friends from school and blatantly embarrassed her in front of a couple hundred of their schoolmates. Poor Rachel spent weeks crying over Jesse and it wasn't until Blaine was attacked that she forgot all about the incident and moved on. But Blaine knew it was still a sore spot and one of the main reasons his sister was still weary of guys to this day.
"Jesse was a jerk," Rachel whispered.
"Yeah, he was. But Finn seems nice. Just see what happens?"
"Will you do the same with Kurt?"
The question caught Blaine off-guard and he swerved the car, bumping the sidewalk with his tire before he swung the wheel back and went back into his own lane. Rachel squealed with laughter, knowing she hit the right button to cause her brother's mind to short circuit, and once the car was in the right spot of its lane, she quickly jumped on her suspicions.
"You do like him! I knew it! I knew it!"
"I don't-"
"Yes, you do! You haven't liked anyone since that weird dude you met at the Gap! I know what a a crush looks like on you, Blaine! I know it and every time I mention Kurt, you get quiet and you blush! You like him!"
"Rachel-"
"If you want me to talk to Finn, then you have to tell Kurt. He's bound to like you too!"
"I don't think-"
"He punched a guy in the face for you! That's gotta show you something, Blaine! He got suspended for you!"
Blaine rolled his eyes, "He got suspended because he hit that asshole in the face, not because he did it for me."
"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have even touched Azimio if it weren't for the fact that that guy and his friends came after you. Finn said that the last fight he got in was with that red-headed mullet kid on the hockey team and that's because that guy said something about his dad when Burt came to tow Finn's truck after it stalled in the parking lot. Kurt only fights when he cares about someone. Obviously he cares about you."
"Do you even hear yourself right now?" Blaine asked, eyebrows scrunched in thought. Rachel continued babbling beside him, going on and on about Kurt liking him, but Blaine couldn't listen anymore. His stomach was tied up in knots and his palms were growing sweaty as he drove, all because he knew Rachel was right (just a little bit though.) Deep down, he did like Kurt but he was pretty sure it was only because Kurt was the only real friend he had at the school right now. No one else really bothered to talk to him minus a few of the glee kids, but that was it. Kurt was the one who came up to him first and despite their rocky start, they sorta grew on each other. More so than you think, his mind added and he scoffed.
"Did you just hmph at me?" Rachel grumbled, leaning down to gauge her brother's expression.
"No."
"Then you must be hmph-ing at your own thoughts. So what are you thinking about? Kurt, perhaps?" She batted her long eyelashes and gave him a silly, teasing grin, bringing her linked hands to tuck underneath her chin. "Kurt and Blaine, sitting in a tree-" She sang, batting her lashes some more.
Blaine muttered a few choice words under his breath and parked the car in the driveway, yanking the keys from the ignition and rushing from the vehicle. Behind him, Rachel sang a little louder, spelling out kissing as loud as she could. When she started to slip into the part about love and marriage, the front door opened and Leroy stepped out, opening his mouth to greet his kids, but he was nudged aside as Blaine ran into the house and right up the stairs.
"What-"
"Blaine's in love!" Rachel greeted, giggling as she swept into the foyer; Leroy's throat knotted up, memories of last week's encounter with that rainbow-haired kid still very fresh in his mind. He knew it was possible, he knew he saw the look last week directed at that kid when he was talking, but at that time, he didn't think it was true. Now though, seeing how flustered his son was upon arriving home and seeing how giddy his daughter was as she sang a very poignant song to her brother, Leroy knew it was only a matter of time before he had to step in and do his fatherly duty.
Frowning, he pulled his cellphone from his pocket, clicking on My Sweetie under his contacts before he pressed the phone to his ear.
"Hello, Leroy? Is that you? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, hun, it's me. Everything's fine."
"Oh, well, what's going on then? I'm almost done with work. Did you want me to pick up something for dinner?"
Leroy sighed, leaning against the door frame as he looked out at their neighborhood at the blooming spring flowers. Blooming. Flowers. The birds and the bees. "Yeah, you could bring something home for dinner. Umm, and while you're out you should probably pick up a few pamphlets about gay sex from the clinic if you don't mind?" He paused, another frown spreading on his face when he heard Blaine shout and Rachel squeak with laughter, "And maybe you should get some that pertain to Rachel too."
::::::::::
Five o' clock that evening saw Rachel and Blaine standing on the doorstep of the Hudson-Hummel home. The house was a big like theirs, nicely decorated on the outside, with a row of neatly sculpted hedges leading towards the entry. Just standing there made Blaine feel a little inadequate - this house was actually bigger than he imagined and even though his new home was pretty large, he couldn't figure out why Kurt made like his house was so tiny when in actuality, it was huge.
"This place is gorgeous," Rachel breathed, reaching out to knock on the door with the bronzed knocker. "I thought you said Kurt told you his house was small."
"That's what he said."
"Well he must be delusional. Granted our first home dwarfed this one by quite a bit, but this house is easily near the size of the place we're living in now."
"I know."
"And you'd never imagine someone like Kurt living here, would you?"
Blaine shot her a look and she shrunk back a little bit, instantly realizing that she said something mean. A quiet apology slipped from her lips and Blaine went back to staring at the house, admiring the brick-work of the porch and the large windows that overlooked the front yard. In the midst of staring at the light fixtures in the arched entryway, the door opened and Finn showed up, slightly smiling when he saw Blaine standing there. When Rachel stepped out from behind her brother, Finn's grin grew and Rachel blushed.
"Hey guys, come on in."
"Thank you for having us," Rachel beamed. She nudged Blaine with her elbow and he greeted Finn as well, holding out a cookie tin. "Blaine baked some cookies for the family. Hope you don't mind."
"Oh man, you didn't have to do that." Before he even finished that sentence, Finn already had the lid popped off and was looking at the batch of cookies. "What kind are these?" He didn't even wait for an answer, instead he just dug in immediately, shoving two different types of cookies into his mouth.
"Some are chocolate chip and others are salted caramel. I didn't know which ones to bring so..."
"Well, we'll eat 'em. Plus, they're delicious. Thanks man." He popped two more cookies in his mouth, "You bake as well as Kurt does."
"Umm, thanks?"
"No prob! Hey mom! Burt! They're here!"
The sound of footsteps sounded through the house and then a pair of adults entered the foyer; the woman was wearing some purple scrubs and her husband was dressed in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a long-sleeved flannel. When the man spotted the two, he pulled his ball cap down further on his head and held out a hand, smiling genuinely at the siblings standing before him. "Hello. I'm Burt."
"Hello Mr. Hummel," Rachel and Blaine chorused together. They each took a turn shaking his hand and then the woman stepped forward, introducing herself as Carole. When she went to take Rachel's hand, her smile grew larger and that's when Blaine knew that Carole knew there was something going on between her son and the girl she was shaking hands with. However, when that thought entered his mind, a chill ran up his spine over the things he and Rachel talked about in the car on the way home from school that day.
You do like him!
Kurt only fights when he cares about someone.
Cautiously, Blaine let his gaze drift over to where Mr. Hummel was standing and all the air flew from his lungs when he caught Burt glaring at him. Oh god, he knows. Oh my god, I'm gonna die. Steeling himself, Blaine turned his body towards the older man and plastered a smile on his face, silently gesturing towards his messenger bag before he spoke. "Sir, is it alright if I go ahead and take these assignments to Kurt?"
"You got his trig stuff? He's been complaining about it all week."
"Yes, sir. I photocopied my notes and I was able to get our teacher to let me have Kurt's copies of the worksheets too... so he won't fall behind in class. I understand what's going on in our lesson right now, so I can help Kurt if he needs it. Umm, if that's okay?"
A smirk appeared on Mr. Hummel's face, sending that fear of being rejected spiraling through Blaine's body. He waited quietly for a response, watching as the man stared at him for a moment before Finn's mom stepped in and jokingly punched her husband in the arm. "Quit teasing the poor boy and let him go. You're probably scaring him and Kurt'll kick your butt if you chase him away."
The whole exchange was a bit puzzling, but based on the matching grins on Finn and Rachel's faces, something was obviously being relayed that Blaine just didn't understand. Still standing there quietly, Blaine waited for someone to tell him where to go and when Carole realized the reasoning behind his silence, she smiled and reached out to take his hand.
"C'mon, Blaine. I'll show you to Kurt's room."
::::::::::
Carole stopped him with a squeeze to his arm, gesturing to the plain white door in front of them. "Here we are. Kurt's room ahead."
"Should I just knock?"
"Yeah. If he doesn't answer, try again, and if he doesn't answer again, just walk in. He won't care. He's usually just listening to music on his ipod or watching something on his laptop."
"And you're sure he won't care?"
"You'll be fine. He won't bite," she added with a wink. Blaine blushed and the woman burst into giggles, patting him on the arm as she turned and went back downstairs. Once she was gone, Blaine took in a deep, lung-filling breath and raised his hand, poised to knock. Before he could get the chance, a soft, melodic voice slipped through the cracks in the doorway and he froze in shock, instantly entranced by the beautiful sound.
Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me, and loving me tonight
He recognized the song as soon as the first few notes rang out. He'd heard it enough as a child when Rachel went through her obsession with the movie An American Tail and even now, it brought tears to his eyes when he heard it... much like at that moment because his eyes were currently watery. Oh god, how embarrassing. Crying over a song? Really Blaine? But he couldn't help it; it was just an emotional song to him. Frowning, he stepped away from the door and edged closer to the stairs, his ears focusing in on the sounds of Rachel chatting away with Burt, Carole, and Finn. Kurt's voice continued to stream through the door and Blaine's heart fluttered at the sound.
Oh, he did like him. He was screwed. So, so screwed.
Patiently he waited, listening in as Kurt's voice soared through the more powerful bits of the song, and when it finally got towards the end, he inched his way back towards the door, leaning against the wall beside it as Kurt finished singing.
Somewhere out there, if love can see us through
Then we'll be together, somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true
As the song ended, Blaine sucked in a deep breath, especially when he noticed that he had started to sing along with Kurt, harmonizing with his friend as Kurt sang Linda Ronstadt's part and he took James Ingram's. He hoped Kurt didn't hear him because he had yet to sing in front of the other boy, but luckily, another song began playing and Kurt started humming along to that, leaving Blaine standing in the hall very thankful that he wasn't noticed yet. Sighing, he leaned closer to the door and raised his hand to knock again, sucking in another deep breath as he tapped his knuckles against the door.
"I'm not hungry!" Kurt called out.
"I'm not room service!" Blaine answered, grinning when he heard a thump and then footsteps run across the room. The music stopped abruptly and then the door flew open revealing Kurt standing there in all his glory, rainbow hair tossled and dressed in a pair of low-hanging pajama pants and a black wife-beater top. Heat flooded Blaine's face as he took in his friend's rumpled look; Kurt looked so laid-back, so cute just standing there all flustered that Blaine couldn't help the swoop that he felt in his stomach. "Umm, hello?" He offered, smiling shyly at the other boy.
"What are you doing here?"
"I brought your trig homework."
"How long have you been here?"
"Not... long?"
"Oh my god. Oh my god, are you fucking serious?"
Blaine bit his lip, "I didn't want to interrupt-"
"So you just stood outside my room like a creeper and listened to me sing? You did hear that, right?" He questioned, groaning angrily when Blaine nodded his head just a little bit. "Fucking hell, Blaine! Who does that?"
"If it makes you feel any better, you sounded amazing."
"Of course, I did. But that still doesn't give you the right to just creep on me! Goddamn weirdo." He stepped back, swinging the door wide. When Blaine didn't budge, he jerked his head back, shooting his gaze towards his sleep rumpled bed. "Get in here before I decide to kick you out."
"I'm sure your parents wouldn't like you kicking out their dinner guests."
"Say what? Excuse me? Dinner guests? Guests?"
"Yeah, Rachel's here too. Finn invited us to dinner after I mentioned bringing your homework over. Which, by the way," he started, pulling out the folder of Kurt's work, "is all right here. I photocopied my notes for you and I was able to get Miss Linden to give me your worksheets. If you need any help, that's why I'm here!"
"So you came all the way to my house to bother me when you could've just given the stuff to Finn?" Once the words were out of his mouth, Kurt wished he hadn't said them, especially when Blaine's face fell. The shorter boy looked at the floor for a second before he shuffled a bit on his feet. A hand thrust out and Kurt felt the folder Blaine had stab into his stomach.
"I- I didn't mean to impose. I can go. Here." He let go of the folder and Kurt caught it before it fell to the floor, "I think you'll find my notes pretty substantial."
Blaine turned to leave and Kurt panicked, feeling terrible that he was once again shutting his friend out. Quickly, he threw the folder behind him and reached out, grabbing Blaine's thin wrist in his grasp. "You don't have to leave. I was just kidding."
"I just thought that you'd want someone to explain this stuff to you-"
"And I do. I'm not gonna understand jack shit of this without someone to guide me through it and since you're a math nerd, you're the perfect person for the job." Kurt said, grinning when Blaine ducked his head and blushed. "So you'll stay?"
"If you want me to."
"Well I do, so park your ass on my bed."
And Blaine did.
::::::::::
Teaching Kurt the new trig work wasn't hard at all. Kurt was a quick learner, very bright, so Blaine didn't have to do much at all. He just explained various parts of the homework and then checked to make sure Kurt's answers matched up with his before they moved onto anything else.
While Kurt was busy scribbling answers down, Blaine decided to be a little nosy. He let his gaze travel all over the room, closely studying the different things Kurt had scattered all over the place. Overall, his friend was quite neat - things were in their proper place and the room was pretty spotless. An open closet door revealed a long line of clothing arranged by colors (of which the majority were dark) as well as several pairs of chucks, knee-high boots, and the like. There were also several different scarves hung up on a rack hooked to the closet door.
Kurt was much more fashionable than he let on.
Other than clothing, there were also little things around the room that just screamed Kurt. A vanity was tucked away in a nook, complete with tons of random beauty products on the shelf. Across from it was a wall full of bookshelves that housed a flat screen tv and an ipod dock. Different books and magazines (of which Blaine noted there were several issues of Vogue) were stacked along the shelves, along with little trinkets and some photographs of Kurt and his family. One picture frame held a photo of a young Kurt nestled in a beautiful woman's arms.
"Having fun?"
Blaine jumped, startled from his distraction, and looked up at his friend, biting his lower lip when he found Kurt staring strangely at him. "Sorry. I was just looking at your pictures."
"Which ones?"
"The ones on the bookshelf. But mostly the one of you and your... mom?"
Kurt shut his math book and stood up, walking over to the shelf to take down the aforementioned photo. "Yeah. That's my mom." He held the frame out for Blaine and the younger boy carefully took it, a soft smile spreading across his face as he studied the photo a little more.
"She's beautiful."
"Thank you."
"You look a lot like her. You have the same eyes."
"I also have her nose."
"So I see. You look so much like her. How crazy."
Kurt chuckled, "Yeah, my dad said he got jipped. He had one kid and it came out only looking like his wife." He rubbed a hand through his hair and sighed, "I think he's glad I look more like her now... now that she's gone."
"Yeah," Blaine breathed, glancing up at Kurt for a moment before he looked down at the picture again. Seeing the photo reminded Blaine of a photo he carried in his wallet of him and his own mother. Gently, he set the frame down on bed and went to dig his wallet out of his bag. "I have a picture of me and my mom too."
"Can I see it?"
"Sure. You let me look at your picture." It took Blaine a few minutes to find his wallet, but once he got it, he was able to pluck the photo out easily. He took a second to look at it before he handed it over, Kurt taking it with careful fingers.
"Oh wow. You look a lot like your mom too."
"Yeah. I think so. I got my nose from my dad - my birth father, though. Everything else is my mom."
Kurt nodded, still looking at the picture in his hands. He studied it for a few minutes longer and then handed it back, going to put his own mother-son photo back on the shelf as Blaine tucked his picture back into his wallet. "This picture's one of the last ones I have of my mom before she got sick. After she got really ill, she really didn't want us to take pictures because she didn't want to be remembered like that, but I always thought she was the prettiest woman in the world, hair or no hair."
He wasn't looking at Blaine as he spoke, but his voice was thick with emotion and Blaine wanted nothing more than to pull his friend into a hug. Instead, he reached out and took Kurt's hand, offering it a squeeze before he spoke as well. "My mom died when I was a toddler. She had ovarian cancer-"
"My mom had breast cancer-"
"-and she found it too late. She was pregnant with me when they caught the cancer, but she had to wait until after I was born to be able to do anything. By the time that happened, it had already spread."
"That's awful."
"She lived for a few years following my birth but she was sick a lot. When she died, she made sure I was going to a good home - that's how I ended up with my dads."
"But I thought you had a birth father?" The question was quiet, but Blaine understood Kurt's curiosity. When he first started learning about his family history, he was curious about his birth dad's life too.
"I did. He didn't want me. I... I was the product of an affair." He took a deep breath and plowed on, "My mom moved here from Asia at a young age and when she met my birth dad, she had just started working in his building; he was her boss. I guess he- he told her he was divorced and they started something. Around that time, she was having fertility issues: no periods and stuff like that, so they didn't think she could get pregnant, but she did. My birth father stayed with her during the pregnancy, but once I was born, he dropped her like a rock. He didn't want her anymore, he didn't want me, he just blew her off. Then he had her transferred to another building."
"Wow. What a dick."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Blaine let go of Kurt's hand, which he realized that he was still holding, and sat back further on the bed. "According to my dads, he was still married and had kids already and most of the people in the office knew it, but didn't tell my mom. She found out about a month after I was born and she was devastated, so she confronted him about it. That's when he broke up with her."
Kurt nodded, letting Blaine know he was listening. He took a seat beside his friend and laid back, linking his hands over his flat stomach. Beside him, Blaine sucked in a breath, becoming a little flustered over the ridiculous amount of cute boy so close to him, but he continued his story, not allowing himself to get too distracted.
"Then my mom started to get really sick, so she had to leave work and she stayed with my dads because she was really close to Leroy. By then, Rachel was almost one and I was a little younger, so they had us together a lot, you know - play dates and everything, and that's when my mom noticed how good we were together. So when she found out she was dying, she asked Hiram and Leroy to adopt me just in case my dad didn't take me." He looked down at his knees and sighed, "Obviously he didn't want me, so they took me in."
"But that's a good thing, right?"
"Yeah. I love them. I love Rachel. It's just- you know how my name is Anderson-Berry? Well, Anderson is his name, not my mom's. He signed the birth certificate when I was born and I was Blaine Anderson up until I was adopted... and the only reason I'm still an Anderson is because my mom didn't want them to change my name completely after she died. So they didn't."
"But you don't like it." It wasn't even a question.
"Nope. It feels like I'm trapped with a name I don't want. I mean, I could change it myself, but it's like this to respect my mother... and the only reason it's like this is because she was still madly in love with my dad in the end."
"That poor woman."
Blaine nodded, rubbing his hands over his thighs. "I didn't even know her. I was too little to actually know her, you know? We have home videos of her with me when I was a baby, but that's about it. And, like, sometimes I think about the other family I have out there - my birth dad, my mom's family... they disowned her when they found out I was coming because I was being born out of wedlock and lord knows they would've had a cow if they knew I was an affair baby, but still, all those people and I'll never know them."
"You could look them up when you're older."
"I know, I just- I don't want to do that to them. They've gone this long without me, so why would they want to deal with me now? And... god, Kurt, we're sitting here listening to me blubber about life and we're supposed to be working on your math homework! I'm a terrible tutor."
Kurt laughed as he rolled onto his side, "Yeah, okay, sure. You know I don't care if you talk to me, right? I've got all weekend to do this stupid math, but if you want to rant, go ahead. I've got time. I'm grounded, remember?"
"Yeah, but most parents don't let their kids' friends come visit when they're grounded."
"Well, my dad must like you then, otherwise he wouldn't have let you in."
Mentioning Mr. Hummel seemed to trigger a reaction downstairs because as soon as Kurt finished talking, the man they were discussing hollered upstairs to let them know dinner was ready. Shooting a glance at his watch, Blaine frowned when he noticed a whole hour had gone by just like that, "Jesus... I didn't know time flew by that quick."
"It does when you're having fun," Kurt teased and Blaine rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, because talking about death and sad things is fun."
"Yup. Always fun."
Kurt smiled and sat up, holding out his hand to pull his friend up and off of the bed. Once they were both standing upright, Blaine smoothed out his rumpled clothes and then they went to head on downstairs for dinner. Blaine went ahead first, taking the stairs carefully as Kurt walked behind him, and the entire time he walked, he had no idea Kurt was staring at his ass on the way down. It seemed the affection went both ways and when the boys walked into the dining room and went to take their seats at the table, they definitely didn't miss the strange looks they were getting from Finn and Rachel.
"Something on my face?" Kurt asked, narrowing his eyes at his brother and the girl beside him. Rachel just blushed, ducking her head a little, but Finn hopped right into talking.
"What have you been doing?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, look at you. Have you been in your pjs all day?"
Mortified, Kurt looked down, his face flushing when he realized that he hadn't changed before he came downstairs and oh god, he had been in his pjs when Blaine showed up too. Shooting a horrified look at Blaine, he wasn't surprised to see his friend all red-cheeked and quiet. "You didn't tell me I was still in my pajamas!"
"I thought you knew. I mean, you're the one wearing them," Blaine whispered, though he did snicker a little bit. Angry, Kurt smacked him on the arm and scowled at the rest of the table, glaring even harder when Burt came into the room with a plate of pot roast.
"You okay, kiddo? You're still in your jammies? You sick?"
"No! I just forgot I was wearing them, okay?" Everyone giggled, even Carole who had just stepped into the room with a bowl of mashed potatoes. Blaine was shaking in silent laughter and Kurt rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed that everyone around him was laughing at his expense. "You're all assholes, did you know that?"
"We're just laughing because we love ya, Kurt." Burt added and the laughter increased, making Kurt's anger blister even hotter. Sure, he could take a joke sometimes, but right now, all he could think about was how disgusted he was that he was sitting at the dinner table in a pair of ratty pajama pants and a wife-beater. He wasn't the kind of person to just lounge about when company was over, no matter how well he knew the person, but there he was, sitting at the dinner table in some old comfy clothes of his while everyone else around him was dressed nicely. Plus, Blaine and his sister were there and he barely knew them - well, barely knew Rachel, and she was laughing at him.
Heat rose to his face and he glared harder at Finn and Rachel, completely missing when Blaine quit chuckling and went to take his hand out of worry.
"Kurt? Hey-"
"Don't touch me," Kurt hissed, yanking himself away from the table. He looked down at his shirt and pants and scoffed, tugging at the top of his tank top. "You should've reminded me that I looked like a homeless person before we came down here."
"I didn't think you'd care-" Blaine started, only to be cut off.
"Yeah, because obviously I don't care how I look-"
"Kurt, no, that's not what I meant."
"Yeah, I got what you meant. Have a nice dinner," Kurt growled out, storming out of the dining room and out of everyone's sight. Burt frowned a little, looking at his wife and the rest of the kids sitting around the table, and when they heard Kurt's door slam, Blaine stood up, head lowered as he silently left and followed after his friend.
"Anybody know what just happened here?" Burt asked and the other shook their heads.
"I don't know, but I bet Blaine can fix it," Finn said softly and when Rachel nodded next to him, Burt sighed and sat back down, deciding to serve the roast anyway. He didn't know what kind of friendship his son had with the other boy, but if Finn's opinion meant anything, they were probably closer than anybody even knew.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews last chapter! This one kinda dragged for me (aka it was TERRIBLE to write and so hard to even get down on paper) but I hope it at least made sense. Let me know what you thought or what you think's gonna happen next. Thanks! Oh, also I've never dealt with adoption or anything like that so if Blaine's backstory seems a little out there, I'm sorry about that.