A/N: I received a lot more alerts/reviews here and I'm so *blessed* by y'all! June just rolled in (this year's way too fast) and hope you enjoy Ch.21! Get ready cuz it's about to be a bumpy, emotional ride :')

P.S., let me briefly clarify things about Blaine's family bcuz I've only mentioned them in older chapters: Blaine's parents have passes away years ago and Cooper, Blaine's bro and actor, is living in London now! You'll find out more about them here :)

Chapter 21:: Broken

"Kurt, morning!" Finn bellowed as he watched his stepbrother descend from the stairs, making the family salad at the kitchen aisle—mainly because he was a terrible cook and his family was just too stubborn to admit that—while Burt was readying the turkey and Carole was cleaning the dishes. "Where's this Blaine guy I've been hearing so much about?"

Kurt couldn't help but smile like a crazy man there, watching his family being together for the holidays, still doing the Hudmel tradition that his own late mother originally began a decade ago, and now he's brought his own boyfriend over to celebrate the day with him. It was then he remembered last night: how Blaine acted off and distant since arriving here. And he knew it all had something to do about Blaine's own family. Blaine has only briefly talked about them: how his parents passed away two years ago and how his brother, Cooper, is now living in London as a theatre actor and they never talk any more.

What happened? How did his parents die? Why did Blaine and Cooper grow apart?

It then hit him like a big, fat Hogwarts Express train—could his family have something to do how Blaine turned into the cold "monster" back then?

Finn cocked his head, frowning at Kurt's troubled features. "Kurt?"

He met the ground again, "Oh! You were asking about Blaine? He's taking a shower upstairs. I taught him how to use the shower so I'll bring him down to introduce you when he's done."

"Dude, he better be good to you cuz what happened with Chandler back then. I don't want to see you—"

"—get hurt again? It's all fine, Finn. He's better that that. Blaine's different...he's sweet, he's handsome, he's funny and he just makes me feel so special."

"Fine, I'm guessing since Burt likes and accepts him already, it should all be good."

Nodding, he went over to greet his parents, rejecting his dad's offer to help with the turkey again for another year because Kurt and the greasy-looking dead bird? Can he say: clash?

"Alright, grab your coats, boys, we gotta go now!" Kurt frowned when Carole advanced towards the living room to put on her mini-trench coat, the man smiling with pride as he taught her well fashion-wise, and Burt and Finn then scrambled over there as well to brave the harsh fall outside.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Kurt raised his hand to stop them from heading to the front door, noting how the turkey was already heating up and the kitchen looking orderly—They planned this all along.

"We gotta go head out to the groceries and grab some drinks for tonight!" Carole lied, tying her scarf while Burt and Finn simply nodded in oblivion.

"So you're leaving me here?"

"Um, yeah." Finn nervously fiddled with his fingers, gosh he was a bad liar. "We figured that since this is your boyfriend's first whole day at our house, we wanted to give you guys some privacy so that you can...show him around, ya'know?"

"So when are you gonna meet him then, Finn?"

"Later on, dude. I promise."

"I've told you so many times: don't call me dude—"

"Ok, we'll see ya guys in an hour!" Burt waved him goodbye and everyone started pouring out and heading to the SUV. The door now shut before him, he shook his head, already knowing that their plan was to leave him alone to hang out with Blaine for a while. Speaking of which, the former Warbler should be done with his shower by now...

Kurt sighed, trekking back up the stairs after around five minutes, he was about to grip the knob—Wait, was...was that...? He could just hear over the soft acoustics of running water from the shower and he froze in motion, hand just inches from the knob, ears numb from hearing a foreign voice behind the shower curtain within. It wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear downstairs but it was just enough.

I walked across an empty land

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

I felt the earth beneath my feet

Sat by the river and it made me complete

Wait what? WHAT?! Whoa, whoa, whoa, is that him? He swallowed. Blaine? Singing? He was freaking singing "Somewhere Only We Know". He staggered at the man's voice, childishly bending over to lean his ear against the door to better hear him.

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

So that's why Blaine was the lead singer of the Warblers back at Dalton.

I came across a fall tree

I felt the branches of it looking at me

Is this the place we used to love?

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

Holy hell, that blind bastard's got a voice!

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

Just as Kurt pressed his drawn-in ear harshly against the door, the sound of the running shower stopped and Kurt jumped back, almost knocking a wall-framed photograph behind him as the echo of the glass shower door opening made him pant. Realizing that his family didn't hear Blaine downstairs, he could still hear Blaine moving around inside as he continued to sing, oblivious to Kurt's presence, Kurt had placed Blaine's clothes with him there. Should he leave and come back later?

And if you have a minute, why don't we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know?

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go somewhere only we know?

Somewhere only we know

He had to sing the chorus when he's not in the shower. Kurt sighed, already smitten by the man's soft, velvet voice, wondered how Blaine would react when he finds out that Kurt heard him sing. Sure, Blaine trusted him with all his heart but Kurt's never heard him sing...this was completely different territory. He had a feeling that Blaine not singing or even dancing was one of the last walls within him.

The door opened and Blaine, using his cane as a microphone and his clothes in one hand, sported only a beige towel wrapped tightly around his waist, singing the last lines of the song blindly but when he heard Kurt's signature clearing of his throat, he froze, now aware that his boyfriend was in front of him, somewhere but he was there. Kurt watched him, wide-eyed, Blaine's chest moving up-and-down was the only movement then, it was littered with a slight scattering of dark brown hair, his mop of curls still moist and a few water droplets trailing down his slightly muscular body.

"Did you...hear...?" Blaine trembled, cane held in a death-tight grip. Kurt recognized the look of shock and horror on his face and the second he moved forward, Blaine gasped and blindly felt-reached for the door behind him, trying to close it but Kurt was quicker, pushing it as the man backed into the bathroom wall there, his cane and clothes inadvertently dropped aside.

"Blaine, it's okay! It's just me, don't panic." He tried to soothe him, eyes misty as the collected steam here. "It's just you and me here, my family left just now—"

"You weren't supposed to hear all that." Blaine breathed, back still against the wall and still only covered in his wait-towel, his blue eyes emphasized.

"Sweetie, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you, just breathe..." He paused, Blaine panting. "W-was that the first time you've sung in a while?"

He peered down. "In a very long time, yeah."

"Blaine, you have an amazing voice. Why'd you wanna hide that?"

He faltered, still breathing heavily.

Oh god.

"Blaine, stop pushing me away. It's okay if you still love singing, no one'll judge you. Please, let me help—"

Swallowing, "Stop...just stop—"

Kurt lost it right there. "Why can't you realize that I deeply care about you? That I'm always here? That whatever happened in the past is in the past? That you're not the guy you think you were back then?!"

"BECAUSE EVERYONE I KNEW YOU ABANDONED ME!" The novelist cried out, his voice cracking as he bit his lip, startling Kurt as he never heard Blaine yell so loudly before.

"Honey, look at me." He stepped forward, leaning in as his lover remained distressed. "Damnit, I don't care if you can't see, just look at me! Please!"

The man shook his head, his walls still concrete. "No—"

"Look at me," Kurt demanded, hand raised to cup his cheek, the man sniffing. "Look at me, Blaine."

Trembling, he slowly looked straight ahead at where he believed Kurt was and his breathing hitched. "Why do you keep having faith in me? Can't you realize I'm just not the man of your dreams?"

"Man of my dreams? Blaine—"

"Don't lie to me," he growled.

"Fine! I may have dreamed about the perfect man a long time ago but this is so much better—"

"Why? How could an insecure, socially-inept, blind man be better?"

Gulping, "Because this is real."

"Kurt—"

"Let me help you, honey." He leaned in again. "Let me in."

"Why would you wanna help a monster like me?" He grumbled, fists tightening by his sides.

"Because I love you."

The soft declaration silenced them both, Blaine choking in astonishment while Kurt watched his eyes slowly well up in tears.

The whole world stopped.

"I love you," his voice wrecked. "It pains me that you still push everyone away and all this time, I've been fighting for you." Kurt saw Blaine dare a rare, teary smile—his fists growing weak and unclenched—and he finally cupped his cheeks with both his hands now, pressing his forehead against his, both staying there.

"I-I'm sorry—"

"S'okay. Just understand that I would never hurt you and I would never change a thing about you. You deserve a second chance, Blaine. At least be able to see that? Please?"

Blaine bit his lip again, caught in a hurricane of emotions as he tried to hold it in but he too felt it, his walls were falling and Kurt was here.

Here to stay. Here to love.

And he couldn't keep the ultimate truth in anymore...

"My parents never accepted me." He choked in his tears, sniffing as Kurt caressed his skin with his thumbs. "Th-they thought me as a freak and though they didn't kick me out, they treated me coldly. My brother tried to defend me but..."

"I'm right here." He cooed.

"Eventually, my parents thought Cooper caught 'the gay' as well and they began treating him the same. Soon, I began to act cold like I how used to be then...because I lost faith in people. I grew lonely in college then, meeting and only opening up to Santana there and though I went back for each of my parents' funerals, last I heard, Cooper moved out to London and I haven't seen him since."

"They never got to accept you," Kurt took it in. "Sweetie—"

"S'all in the past, don't worry." Blaine ran a hand through his moist curls, "But it greatly affected me and though I tried contacting my brother, he never replied. Guess he thinks I tore the family apart—"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Look, I get that you're hurting, I do, but there comes a time when you've got to realize that not everyone's against you. You've got Santana, Graham, Nick, Jeff...me. And now, my family!"

Blaine sniffed, face down. "I-I know that I don't open up to people, I know that I should speak more...which is why when you came along, I guess I was afraid again...but this time, of hurting you. That's why I keep pushing you away and I'm sorry. You deserve better but you keep sticking around and you made me believe again, Kurt...that I can have a second chance. But if you'd known me back when I was worse, you'd realize that I don't deserve all this."

"You've been through so much hell, I can sorta relate to that, but you do deserve this, okay?" Kurt's voice broke. "I'm proud that you were being completely honest with me."

"Thanks," Blaine nodded slowly, "So uh...did I...sound good? When I sang?"

Kurt bursted into a tearful laughter, loving Blaine's emotional-to-adorable switch. "Let's just say, now I know why you were leading the Warblers."

"I still have the uniform, ya'know," he felt-reached out to run a soothing hand up-and-down Kurt's clothed arm, hearing him gasp. "It's in our penthouse, buried somewhere. Think it still fits."

"I would die if I see you in that, plus I've always had a soft spot for private school boys. Better yet, you should serenade me with your uniform—"

"Ok, let's not get ahead of ourselves." They chuckled before silence fell on them again.

The novelist then moaned when Kurt closed the millimetres of distance between their lips, the kiss was a soft juxtaposition of passion and devotion, Kurt's lips pressed gently against his, their movements never growing more heated and hurried—a nice change from their usual hungry, sloppy kisses. Blaine cupped his boyfriend's jaw, surrendering when Kurt ran his fingers across the plains of his bare chest, the touch arousing him within. Pulling back, Kurt watched with dark, lustful eyes as Blaine reached down to untie his hip-hugging towel and one glance down told him he was hard. Quickly discarding his clothes, they attacked each other with kisses, licks and bites across their bare skins while Kurt sloppily led them back into the shower, knowing they were alone in the house now.

The water now running, Kurt backed a groaning Blaine into the wall, rubbing their members together while making out amidst steam. Blaine cried out when Kurt flipped them around, being pushed up against the wall and yielding when he squeezed his buttocks.

"Like that, baby?" Kurt challenged under gritted teeth, a hand behind Blaine's knee, hiking his leg up and enveloping it around his back.

"Yes, Kurt, nnnngh...so good." Blaine babbled and almost collapsed when Kurt started licking stripes up his neck.

"Good," he huffed, hand teasing Blaine's erect nipple over his chest hair. "Cuz I'm just getting started."

A rapturous moan followed.

"I get to show Brit around the penthouse tonight! Or I'll tell everyone you still like Katy Perry."

The threat made Blaine gasp into his disability-friendly smartphone, Santana struggling to get his permission while he knew he was losing this battle painfully. He was now sitting on Kurt's bed again and his lover had spent a while walking through his house and telling many tales of his childhood and Blaine had listened intently, laughing and comforting him as he talked about his historical ups-and-downs. When Kurt's family returned, he was introduced to Finn, his stepbrother, and they got on pretty well since they also discovered their shared love of sports and Blaine now felt a lot more comfortable here than he was this morning. Thanksgiving dinner was fast approaching and as dusk invaded Ohio, he suddenly received a call from his best friend who congratulated him on telling Kurt the truth about his family.

"You wouldn't," he gasped.

"Oh I would," she continued. "And I wonder how Kurt would feel about your ongoing crush on Justin Timberlake—"

"Fine! Go ahead, you win, bring your girlfriend into my penthouse then." He deadpanned.

The woman squealed, "Thanks, Short Stack! Always knew you loved me somewhere in that thick steel armour of yours. By the way, isn't it almost time for you to head down to Kurt's family for dinner?"

"Yeah, I gotta go. I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Oh, remember, your surgery appointment is on Monday at 4:30pm, 4 days from now. I got a call from Dr. Rose today and I just wanted you and Kurt to know."

Oh god. He slumped into the bed. 4 more days.

"Alright, thanks. Happy Thanksgiving, Santana."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Blaine." The call then ended and as he shoved his phone into his pocket—with Kurt's help, he dressed up semi-formal for tonight and after arguing, Blaine won the right to gel his hair too—he heard a door creak open ahead of him. His lover's cologne grew familiar.

"Hey, babe. You ready for dinner?" Kurt's angelic voice never ceased to enthral him.

Smiling, he stood up, cane in hand, and allowed Kurt to lead him out.

"Santana called just now and told me my surgery's happening on Monday when we get back."

"Wow, I can't believe it." Kurt sighed. "Things are changing. For you and me. It's finally happening!"

"God I love you," he blurted out, leaning his head against Kurt's as he led him carefully down the stairs, both missing how Carole was staring back up at them with a beaming grin.

"Love you too, munchkin." He kissed his cheek, lips ticklish from his stubble while Blaine rolled his eyes at his new pet name and soon, Carole welcomed them to the dining room which was already Thanksgiving-decorated and filled with dishes and wine for the night.

Half an hour into the dinner, everyone was now gathered together, feasting on their warmly-cooked meals, Carole was already babbling out humiliating stories of Kurt and Finn when they were younger, sending everyone into a hysterical bout of laughter.

"Carole, can we talk about something else?" The blushing secretary begged her but Blaine shook his head, eagerly welcoming another forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth from his lover who's seated right beside him.

"Course not, Kurt!" She countered, Burt snickering, but smirked when she remembered something else. "Goodness, everyone, I need to tell y'all the time when Kurt freaked out about wearing the same outfit twice a week and the school bus was just arriving outside and he was on the verge of a breakdown."

A tsunami of "You never told me that story!", "Oooooh's", "Seriously?!" and "Tell us!" rang out and everyone laughed at how Kurt covered his face with his hands in humiliation, Blaine only chuckling as he could perfectly imagine a teenage Kurt then. He briefly wondered how life would've been so different had they met in high school.

"I'm done with y'all, I'm gonna bring the desert!" Kurt huffed indignantly, standing up and leading Blaine with him back into the kitchen, earning an array of booing and jeering behind them.

Leaving Blaine by the sink, Kurt bent to grab the chocolate cake from the fridge—something he won't even touch, owing to his weight watch—and while he gathered four plates, his lover sighed.

"Thank you."

He looked at him, ignoring his family's distant laughter. "For what, babe?"

"For bringing me to your home," he reddened. "...and for not giving up on me."

Kurt declared, "I'll never give up on you."

The author's wounded heart warmed.

"I've never met anyone quite like you, Kurt." Blaine blindly walked towards Kurt's voice, his cane guiding him, missing how Kurt was staring at him, awestruck. "Hey, can we visit Dalton tomorrow?"

"A-Anything you want, munchkin." he stumbled, gathering him in his arms, laughing when Blaine blindly glared. "Fine! Munchkin and a half."

"That's the snarky Kurt I know," Blaine chuckled and hummed into Kurt's embrace, hugging him back tightly. "Mmm...I just feel like everything's gonna change."

"For the better," his lover added.

Perhaps Kurt's right. Blaine thought, not realizing that Kurt had already broken all his walls down. I really do have a second chance. He'd finally let him completely in; he told him his darkest secret. He abruptly felt a strange sensation overcome him.

It was pure, uninterrupted bliss.

A/N: Took 21 freaking chapters for us to finally hear Blaine sing! I'm thinking Blaine should serenade Kurt with 'the song' next time ;) Coming up: Dalton (a former Warbler debuts), the rest of Klaine's Thanksgiving, NYC's return and its problems and yes, Blaine's surgery! Let me know what you think!