This chapter was extremely easy for me to write, a contrast from the last one. Probably because Blaine isn't in it. It doesn't need any fluff or sexual tension. It also has a lot of dialogue, which probably also made it easier. This chapter just ended up being about Kurt and his family (I thought he hadn't really talked to them in a while), and is pretty funny if I do say so myself. Tell me what you think.

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Enjoy :)

Update: So I was reading this after I got back from district band and I was like "Oh crap the superbowl was a week before this!" So I changed the ending. :(

Kurt had to go home for the weekend, though he wanted more than anything to stay at school. School was, after all, where Blaine was. So it was with much inward lamenting that Kurt walked out the door of the dormitory with Pavarotti's cage in one hand and keys in the other, his Vera Bradley duffle bag slung over his shoulder. It was the "Twirly Birds Navy" pattern which, along with the "Baroque" pattern, was one of the few he could actually stand. The rest looked like something threw up pink flowers all over them.

He had told everyone goodbye earlier, and couldn't help himself from turning around to stare longingly at Blaine's window. Two days never seemed like such a long time as they had in that moment. Kurt considered running back, grabbing Blaine and dragging him home with him, but banished the urge from his mind. He had a feeling that asking his father if a boy could spend the night might prematurely broach the "boyfriend" topic. Kurt wasn't quite sure what Blaine was, actually. They had both professed their love to each other, but hadn't even been on a date yet. Labels could wait until later.

He got into his car slowly and drove away, blaring his Lady Gaga playlist to try and drive thoughts of how he wasn't going to see Blaine for two whole days from his head. He couldn't do it, and instead turned his thoughts to why he missed Blaine so much already.

He'd been in love with Blaine since well before Christmas, so why was it only affecting him now? He never felt this way any of the other weekends when he was going to be away from Blaine; he barely noticed. It was like once he actually had Blaine, it was that much more painful to let him go. This train of thought carried him until he finally arrived at his house and walked in the door.

"I'm home!" He shouted, but only got one voice in response. Carole walked up the stairs from the basement with a basket of laundry in her hands, which she promptly dropped. She pulled Kurt into a tight hug.

"Kurt sweetie, I'm so glad you're here! Your dad went into work because one of the guys at the garage called in sick and Finn is at Sam's house playing video games, so it's just you and me for a while."

"Carole, it feels like I haven't seen you in forever! But… I kind of promised Mercedes that I'd take her shopping when I got back. Sorry, it's just going to be you." Kurt felt heartbroken as her face fell, but he had already made plans. What could he do?

He hugged her once again went downstairs to unpack his stuff. He organized it as best he could, being a bit of a neat freak, and called Mercedes.

"Kurt!" she yelled, joy evident in her voice as she practically screamed his name. It was necessary; a background of yelling, screaming, and blaring music was what her voice was trying to outdo.

"Mercedes!" he said back loudly. She probably couldn't hear him very well, "I'm sorry but I think I need to cancel our shopping date today! Something came up! Where exactly are you, anyway?"

"Oh! Well, Tina dragged the Glee girls to a concert. It's one of her Goth bands. She even lured Lauren here with the promise of chocolate. I… well, I…" She repeated, sounding slightly sheepish, "I sorta forgot we had plans today. I'm sorry. At least now you can do what you wanted to do, right?"

Kurt felt like he had been slapped hard across the face. By a hand with multiple rings. He couldn't believe she had the audacity to forget- Oh wait, isn't this exactly what I did to her when I first met Blaine? Ouch, sorry Merce.

"Yeah, but there was something I wanted to tell you. It's kind of important," He said, trying not to feel disappointed. He had already made the decision to cancel anyway, what did it matter that she forgot?

"Then… tell me now. I have some things I wanted to tell you too, but I forgot all of them at the sight of Santana, Brittany, Quinn, and Lauren being taught how to head bang. Brittany is easily the best; she looks like she's being tasered."

He laughed out loud because he could picture it, thanks to a certain failed attempt at 'hairography.'

"Tell my Boo," he began, using his affectionate nickname for Brittany he had picked up during his Mellencamp phase, "and everyone else that I love and miss them."

"Will do. Now spill boy, what did you wanna tell me?"

"Blaine…"

"What about Blaine?"

"He…"

"He what?"

"Stop it!" He could practically feel her smirk on the end of the line.

"Sure."

"He…"

"He?"

"Mercedes! He… he asked me out, ok! We have a date on Monday!"

"Good for you! Wait. He asked you out. Just now. Really?"

"Yeah?" He asked tentatively, without hearing the stairs creak in the background as someone went up them, just as he had not heard when someone went down.

"God, what have you two been doing for the past few months? Why didn't this happen earlier?"

"Well, I kinda like that it's now. I mean, my first date is going to be on Valentine's Day. Isn't it awesome?"

"I always knew you were a romantic at heart. Actually, I knew after I found those erotic 'bodice-ripper' romance novels set in the 1600s under your bed."

"The 1600s were a good time. Very fashionable," Kurt mused, before fully realizing what she had said. "Wait, you saw those?"

"Yeah. And you had some Japanese comic book things open on your computer when I went on it one time, so I flipped through a few pages. What exactly was that and what were those two dudes doing?"

Kurt couldn't help it; he blanched. No one was supposed to know he read those. He had an image to keep up, and manga screamed 'loser' in a very nerdy way. He sighed. She's already seen it, so he figured that he'd better tell her.

"That is a type of manga- Japanese comic books- called yaoi or boys' love. And those 'two dudes' were probably having sex. That's, like, the whole point of yaoi," He explained.

"But why were you- Ohhhhhhh. Never mind," She said, as understanding flashed through her mind. Kurt knew she got it.

"It's not always drawn well and frequently not accurate, but it is pretty damn hot. You should try reading it sometime; it's written mostly for fan girls anyway."

"I'll pass."

"Come on Merce, you know you like gay boys. You had a crush on me once, remember?"

"Do NOT remind me. Worst moment of my life."

"All's well that ends well," He said cheerily. The music in the background suddenly increased in volume to its loudest point yet and made conversation next to impossible. "Bye, Mercedes! Skype you soon!"

"On Monday; I want to hear all about your date. Remember to call me if I need to cut somebody!"

"Okay!" He said, barely controlling his laughter though he knew she was at least partly serious. "Bye!"

"Bye darling! Say hi to Blaine for me!" She replied before she hung up. Kurt was left smiling into the suddenly and very noticeably quiet phone. Mercedes really knew how to cheer him up, without him even noticing she's doing it. He really missed her a lot.

He was still smiling when he walked upstairs a few minutes later.

"Hey, Carole! He called out as he reached the top, "Mercedes canceled!"

"Oh that's too bad, sweetie," Carole said, though her face was a lot brighter than before.

"Do you have anything you want me to do? It seems like the only chore I've done lately is making my bed and, quite frankly, I miss the work. It was very relaxing."

"I don't have anything for you to do at the moment, but- Oh! You can help me make heart-shaped cookies!"

"Cookies? And heart-shaped no less? What for?" He inquired.

"Mr. Schue proposed a bake sale to cover the cost of Regionals. Sounds familiar, right?" –Kurt nodded, remembering that week in which he had to spend all day in a wheelchair. It wasn't something one could easily forget- "Well, Santana was aiming for a kissing booth but got vetoed by Mr. Schue, which made him suggest they all sell hearts instead of kisses."

"So why are you making them, not my lovely step-brother? It's his glee club."

"You think I trust my son near an oven?"

"True. Anyway, this is fabulous. I have this old recipe of my mother's that I can pull out, it's delicious," Kurt realized what he was saying and searched for a negative reaction in Carole, but couldn't find one. He was glad his insensitivity went unnoticed. They walked into the kitchen while they were chatting.

"That would be great! Do you know where it is?"

"Of course I know where it is!" He laughed and tapped his head, then went around pulling out ingredients. She looked at him questioningly, and he tried to find the right words to explain.

"After my mom… passed, I had to learn to cook or settle on takeout and breakfast foods. Do you know how many calories are in sausage, bacon, and eggs? A lot. So, I was getting fairly proficient at that when one day Dad said he missed Mom's cookies more than anything," He chuckled because he was already telling the punch line to himself in his head, though the story didn't yet sound comical.

"Being the good little boy that I was, I took that comment as a test of my baking skills and a chance to make my dad happy and bond with him. A chance to make him proud of me. I dug the recipe out and waited until he left for work one day that I didn't have school. You see, I wanted to surprise him with the cookies. Anyway, I found out that the oven was too much for me to handle. I left the cookies in too long and they caught on fire.

"I didn't know what to do- I was scared, but tenacious enough to want to finish baking. Luckily, the fire alarm went off. The station is just down the road, you know, and the truck was here in about two minutes, which seemed like hours to me. Once they got here, the firefighters tried to drag me out of the house but I was having none of it. Being a drama queen even at that young age, I sat on the ground and hsaid I wouldn't move until I got the recipe. One of the firefighters went to grab it for me.

"It was smoldering at some of the edges, but he put it in front of me after he got me safely out of the house while others handled the fire. It was slowly burning up, but I sat there staring at it until it was all gone, in the process memorizing it. Dad appeared a few seconds later, distraught, because a neighbor had informed him that fire trucks were at his house. He scooped me up in a tight bear hug and said, 'I'm so glad you're safe,' to me. It was one of the few times I have ever seen Dad cry.

"Of course, I chose that minute to burst out in tears. Dad was frantic and asked me what was wrong, but all I said was, 'I didn't get to finish baking the cookies!' He smiled and hugged me again, telling me to never ever bake without him there ever again. Several repaired cabinets and one new stove later, Dad and I baked our first ever batch of cookies together, using the recipe I had memorized. They were delicious, and I was naturally very pleased with myself, all past mistakes forgotten. I was even more pleased when he said they tasted just like Mom's used to."

Kurt finished the story with a soft chuckle that didn't sound right, somehow. It was then that he realized tears were running down his cheeks.

"Ah, crap."

He felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, and he looked a few inches downward to see Carole hugging him tightly. If he had a trickle of tears leaking out, she had a torrent. He didn't think he'd ever seen anyone cry so much. He wrapped his arms loosely around her and marveled at how she felt. Every time he hugged her, but this one more than usual, she felt very… mom-ish. Having a mother figure hugging him was something Kurt hadn't felt in a very long time. He was glad that he'd decided to stay home, never mind the fact that Mercedes didn't remember their plans.

Finn had driven home wondering how Sam could possibly have beaten him that badly. Weren't blondes supposed to be stupid? Kurt had always insisted that he dyed his hair. Regardless, Sam was definitely hiding a geeky, nerdy gamer inside himself somewhere or he couldn't be that good. Not at every single game they played. He'd even outstripped them all at Mario Kart, and the only person who does that is the person who practices by themselves for a long time. Suspicious.

All these thoughts vanished, however, when he noticed the black car in the driveway. Kurt's car, his mind registered. Then came an annoyingly high pitched squeal of, Kurt's home! that he really couldn't condone, even in his inner voice. He raced inside to crush his step-brother in a bear hug, but stopped dead when he walked into the kitchen. Kurt and his mom were crying and hugging.

"Who died?" He asked, getting an icy-cold glare from Kurt for the comment. His mom released Kurt from the hug.

"Oh, is Burt ok? I didn't mean-" He said backtracking.

"Dad is perfectly fine, thank you for asking, but you ruined a very nice moment there," He snapped at Finn, who had stopped listening at "fine" and was now eying the sugar on the counter with speculation, "and- FINN HUDSON IF YOU SO MUCH AS LAY ONE FINGER ON MY COOKIE INGREDIENTS OR THE FINISHED PRODUCTS I WILL CASTRATE YOU!"

"I don't think I'd let you. Who knows what you'd do with it once you cut it off!" Finn taunted lightheartedly.

"Need I remind you that I am sleeping in the same room with you tonight?" Finn could feel himself paling a little. "And you, my friend, are a very heavy sleeper. Understand? Good. Now go rot your brain with some sports on the TV."

Finn didn't have to be told twice, and he raced into the other room and flicked on the TV with the remote. After, of course, capturing Kurt in one of the hugs he had perfected- tight enough to make the person being hugged complain about breaking without actually breaking them.

He flipped through the channels and found nothing worth watching, so he settled on something he'd never have been caught dead watching half a year ago. It was a re-run of Project Runway.

He wasn't a fanatic like Kurt, but he still found it pretty interesting to watch every now and again. He learned about a hundred new fashion terms every episode he saw, and found that he could sometimes understand Kurt when he talked about clothes. He sometimes had to remind himself not to use the words at school. Every time Mercedes would comment on some girl's outfit being jacked up, he had the urge to suggest that maybe she was just going for an avant-garde look. The episode he had tuned featured a challenge to design a male look, and Finn was almost upset that all those clothes would look good on Kurt but not on him. He wasn't called frankenteen for nothing.

He was still watching the channel, which apparently had a marathon on, several hours later. The kitchen was full of quite a few batches of cookies and the air smelled wonderful. He was starting to get hungry, well, hungrier, when the door opened. A new scent hit his nose, and he recognized it immediately. Chinese food.

Strong arms wrapped around him for half a second before pulling back. It was a fatherly, feeling he didn't know, and he wanted more of it. The voice belonging to the arms mumbled a, "Sorry, I thought you were Kurt."

"And why would you think I was that hobbit?"

"You were lying down, so I couldn't see how tall you were. You are also watching one of his all-time favorite shows, you know. And I thought they said it wasn't catching…"

"Shut up," Finn said, before jumping up, hugging Burt, and taking the take-out boxes from his hands.

"Thanks," he said, outwardly for the food but inwardly for the hug, "I love Chinese food."

He ran into the kitchen with Burt following, to find his mom and Kurt chatting animatedly at the table with the most delicious-looking cookies Finn had ever seen in front of them. He reached for one, only to have his hand smacked away by Kurt without so much as a break in the conversation. As soon as he finished speaking, Kurt tuned around to assess the new additions to his kitchen. He rose saying, "Dad, you know Chinese is really bad fo-"

"Relax, kid. I ordered mine without sauce. That's like half the calories and two thirds of the sodium gone already! Besides, I got your favorite. Now get over here and give your dad a hug."

Kurt complied, and soon enough the cookies were moved to the counter and they were all sitting around the table eating. Conversations shifted from McKinley stories to Dalton stories to Burt's and Carole's lives. Most of the time, they all passed comfortably. There was only one exception.

"So, Kurt, got a boyfriend yet?" asked Finn, who had decided it was his duty to both protect and antagonize his brother. He was expecting a quick reply no and a glare, but the real reaction was much different than it had previously been. Kurt spit out about half of the water he'd been drinking and muttered something about not being in a committed, exclusive relationship yet.

Finn's eyes locked with Burt's across the table and knew they had the same instincts. Protect Kurt. Find out who the boy is. Kill him.

Finn decided a little interrogation was necessary. Neither he nor anyone else noticed his mother's knowing smile.

Kurt woke up to a heavy weight on his chest and a hand over his mouth. His first instinct was to scream, but the hand over his mouth made that a bit difficult. His eyes adjusted to the light and he started making out the shape of the person kneeling on him. Finn. Of course.

Finn took away his hand, and Kurt immediately threatened, "I'm going to tell Puck, Sam, Matt, and Artie that you jumped on top of me in bed."

"That would require you being able to get up to go tell them. And that isn't gonna happen unless you answer the questions I ask, truthfully."

"Fine, what is it?"

"Who's your boyfriend?"

"Really Finn? I said earlier I didn't have a-"

"You said that. But I don't think it's true. You better tell me who it is soon or I'll kiss you. How exactly would you explain to your guy that you made out with your straight former crush all night and slept in the same room as him?" Kurt felt Finn's face growing closer to his own for emphasis.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh yes I would." Finn leaned closer again; so close that his nose brushed against Kurt's. If this was a year ago, Kurt's heart would have been leaping out of his chest. As it was, he saw the lips and wondered why he'd ever liked the giant. Still, the lips grew even closer, and Kurt finally yelled, "Stop!"

"It's Blaine, ok?" He said irately, pushing Finn's face away, "He only asked me out yesterday, we're not really a couple yet. Calm down."

"I guess that's an acceptable answer," Finn said as he got off Kurt and his bed. "So when's the first date?"

"Monday," Kurt said, blushing in the darkness.

"Valentine's Day. Nice. Very romantic," Finn said, eliciting a snort from Kurt.

"What would you know about romance?"

"I was dating Rachel Berry. She requires many things of her boyfriends, including over-the-top romance." Kurt heard a creak as Finn got back in his own bed.

"True, she would try to force you to be romantic."

"That and I read those dirty romance novels you keep under your bed."

"OHMIGOD. How many people know about those?"

"Everyone who's come over to this house and been in your room, ever. So…"

"The entire Glee club? Great. At least it's not yaoi."

"What's yaoi?"

"Nothing. Do not under any circumstances look it up."

"I'll pretend that wasn't suspicious. Now I've met Blaine, but if he tries anything funny with you-"

"Finn you are not my father and I refuse to have that conversation with you. Goodnight."

"'Night. Use protection."

"FINN!"

The next day, Kurt relaxed and hung out with his family for most of the day and dealt with several innuendos from Finn that he didn't think the boy was capable of. He left just as Finn and Burt turned on the TV and began chanel-surfing in hope of finding some game of some sport. They eventually settled on a "World Series of Poker" show, which had to be the most boring thing ever to appear on TV, and were quite engrossed in the show. Even Carole was watching avidly, which was just so shocking to Kurt that he was going to banish the memory and pretend he didn't see his step-mom engrossed in a show where people did nothng but try to have as little facial expression as possible. He hugged his family who all had their eyes glued to the TV. Carole was first, and the only one to break contact with the TV long enough to actually wish him goodbye.

Finn said, "I'm totally looking up yaoi. How do you spell it? Bye bro," and Burt said, "We'll discuss this boyfriend thing next weekend, Kurt," both of which made Kurt cringe. Next weekend was going to be hell.