AN: I got roped into helping my family renovate their house my days off so I still only have about a third of the chapter finished. I didn't want to make you wait any longer, so I'll post it in smaller parts and put them together once it's finished. We're looking at 3 – 4 parts.
1x07 Meet the Family
Previously on NYADA Freshman Year. Kurt finally had a proper first date as he and Blaine attended Wes Montgomery's annual Halloween party. Vocal Explosions won their Sectionals and Chandler tried to force himself on Kurt again during a celebratory after party. The school was finally alerted to Chandler's behavior and as Kurt was suspended for two days for staying out after curfew, Chandler got expelled after other students came forward as well.
Kurt's aunt found out about Kurt and Blaine but promised to keep their new relationship a secret, while hinting that Kurt's father would probably be okay with it. Kurt is still waiting for his first kiss with Blaine and hopes it's going to happen before he has to kiss Nick on stage during Spring Awakening's opening night. And that's what you missed on NYADA Freshman Year.
"You're going to leave marks on the floor if you keep that up," Blaine remarked as Kurt was nervously pacing up and down in his dorm room. His family and Mercedes were due to arrive in a few hours and he was anxious about his father meeting Blaine, even if his dad thought Blaine was just a friend.
In the short amount of time he had known the other boy he had quickly become one of the most important people in his life and he needed his dad to like him. On some level he knew his dad must be okay with Blaine, because they had already spoken on the phone and Blaine had helped convincing his dad to let him go to Wes' party, but Kurt wasn't thinking rationally right now.
Because what if his dad could see right through them? He had never been really good about hiding things from his dad and he didn't like outright lying to him. Bending the truth a little – sure. He was a teenager after all, but having to lie about something so important wasn't something he particularly liked to do.
"It's going to fine, I promise. I will be the perfectly behaved best friend who is just looking out for you and maybe if you see how your dad interacts with me, you will want to tell him the truth."
Kurt shook his head. They had been through that before. Blaine was convinced his father would be totally fine with him being gay just because his aunt was. But his aunt was nothing like the rest of the family and Kurt couldn't believe his dad wouldn't be like his grandfather when it came to homosexuals.
"I've been meaning to ask you this before, but why the hell did you tell my dad you're gay?" Kurt asked instead of telling Blaine yet again that he'd rather not risk it.
Blaine just shrugged. "He wanted to know if I called because I wanted to take you out on a date and told me that was something that I had to ask you. I told him that yes I was gay, but you and I are just friends, which was true when we spoke. He didn't seem to have a problem with me possibly asking you out."
Kurt still wasn't buying it. After all, you couldn't see a person's reaction on the phone and what if his dad had just been polite to him. Or what if he was one of those people who seemed fine with people being gay as long as it wasn't their own child?
"Can you just drop it," he muttered and Blaine raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, sorry. I know this is a touchy subject for you."
They were both silent for a few minutes while Kurt tried to leave his mark in the room until Blaine took his hand and led him over to the bed.
"You are way too tense. How about a backrub," Blaine offered and Kurt sank down on the edge of the bed as Blaine knelt down behind him. Blaine's fingers must be magical because soon Kurt felt himself relax into Blaine's grip and closed his eyes to enjoy the sensation.
Because he would be crazy if he managed to keep thinking about his family while Blaine was working his magic on his back and shoulders.
"You know it's not because I don't want people to know about us. I love that I can openly be with you here and no one says anything. It's just, my dad and I only had each other for six years after my mom died and I'm afraid to lose him over this. And there's Finn and Carole now as well. Finn was one of the boys who would tease me a few years back. What if they all hate me when they find out and won't even want me back home for Christmas and stuff like that, or take me back to Ohio with them? I can't risk it."
Blaine paused his massage and pulled Kurt against his chest. "I understand, trust me I do. I told you about my family and if you can tell me my parents' divorce wasn't my fault then you need to listen to me when I tell you that your admission won't destroy your family. And if it does, are they really the kinds of people you want in your life?"
Blaine was right. It shouldn't matter what others thought, but he wouldn't want to make his dad decide between him and his family if it came down to that. There was nothing wrong with staying quiet a bit longer. Not living at home did have its advantages.
For the time being though he decided to banish all unpleasant thoughts to the back of his mind and relaxed further into his boyfriend's embrace. They would cross that bridge when they had to.
Four hours later, Kurt got a text from Mercedes telling him that they were in front of the dorm building and Kurt took Blaine's hand and led him toward the front door, only dropping his hand when they were in front of the door.
Before he could even notice the rest of the family, his father pulled him into a warm embrace and Kurt clung to his dad as tight as he could.
"I missed you so much, kiddo. We all did," his father whispered and Kurt felt tears welling up in his eyes, because being in his father's arms, he realized how much he had missed him as well.
"Me too, dad. I'm glad you could make it."
Once, he was released by his dad, Mercedes pounced and hugged him tightly as well.
"You look great," she told him before leaning in closer and whispering, "and Blaine looks mighty fine as well." Kurt could feel the blush rise on his cheeks and he quickly told her they could talk about that later.
Carole and Finn were next, Finn pulling him into an awkward one-armed hug, but when he stepped aside, Kurt had to work hard to keep his scowl of his face. Because there in all her reindeer sweater glory stood Rachel Berry.
"Rachel, what a surprise," he told her, keeping his face neutral for Finn's sake, because he knew how much his stepbrother liked the girl.
"Well Finn here convinced your parents to let me come as well because Mercedes was allowed to join them," she explained cheerfully, eyeing Blaine who was standing behind Kurt. Because I invited her, Kurt thought but still kept his fake smile on his face. From the corner of his eye he saw Mercedes role her eyes and he was glad to know she wasn't too happy about Rachel joining them as well. They probably even had to share a hotel room and Kurt was tempted to offer Mercedes his bed in the dorms, but unfortunately his dad would never allow that.
"And who is this?" Rachel asked pointing at Blaine and Kurt didn't like the way she looked at him, especially because she was standing right next to Finn.
"This is Blaine," Kurt explained and pulled Blaine up next to him. "He's my best friend here at NYADA."
Blaine ever the polite gentleman, immediately stepped forward and properly introduced himself to his dad and Carole and Kurt had to hide his smile when he thought about the effect Blaine had on grown ups.
"It's nice to finally meet you Blaine. Kurt won't stop talking about you," his dad said as he shook Blaine's hand and Kurt was glad his dad wasn't looking at him, because he was sure he was blushing like crazy. He didn't talk about Blaine that much, right?
"Would you like to join us for dinner, Blaine?" Carole took over. "Unless you have other plans of course." Blaine shook his head.
"My dad and my brother are only coming in for my first performance in two days, but I wouldn't want to impose on you family dinner."
And maybe there was something like too polite because Kurt really wanted Blaine to come to dinner with them.
"Nonsense dear, think of it as a friends and family of Kurt dinner," Carole assured him and to Kurt's relief Blaine agreed to join them for dinner.
"I found this perfect vegetarian restaurant online for us. I'd have preferred it if it were vegan but I was told not everyone would like that," Rachel butted in, her expression showing that she wasn't too happy that she had been overruled. Kurt thought it was preposterous enough of her to think she could dictate where a whole group of people should eat, but again he kept his mouth shut. At least at a vegetarian restaurant his dad would have to eat healthier than usual, but he wouldn't put it past him to order 'real food' as soon as they got back to their hotel. Aunt Kate had offered to host all of them for the week but his dad had decided that they would stay in the city for a couple of days so everyone got the chance to explore New York a bit.
"Maybe after dinner, I could show you my favorite karaoke bar," Blaine suggested when he saw the look on Kurt's face and Kurt saw his dad's eyebrows shoot up. Blaine must have caught it too because he quickly added. "Everyone is allowed to get in till ten o'clock but after it's 18 and over unless you are under adult supervision. Kurt told me you all sing as well, so I thought it could be fun."
His dad nodded at Blaine, and Mercedes and Rachel immediately chimed in saying that was a great idea. Carole just smiled, apparently happy that they all got along.
In the end the restaurant wasn't too bad but Kurt kept squirming in his seat as his dad asked Blaine all kinds of questions ranging from about his parents to whether he had a boyfriend at the moment. Kurt was too busy listening to his dad that he didn't even have time to see how the others reacted to Blaine being gay. Kurt had never been in a relationship before, but it felt a lot like he would expect meeting the boyfriend's parents for the first time would go.
Mercedes kept giving him what he hoped were subtle thumbs up during the dinner and Kurt couldn't wait to gush about Blaine in private. He just had to find a way to get rid of Finn and Rachel at some point.
He was talking to Carole about some new recipes she'd been trying out recently when Rachel addressed Blaine and Kurt stop abruptly right in the middle of his sentence and turned around.
"So, Blaine. I saw on the NYADA homepage that you didn't always go there. You have to tell me who you talked to so you could transfer in, because I'm sure as soon as they'll meet me they will beg me to transfer."
Kurt glared at her and even Blaine looked a bit taken aback.
"There were some special circumstances surrounding my transfer," he explained. "I'm sure they won't apply to you."
"Oh, like Kurt's," Rachel brattled on, oblivious to the tense atmosphere on the table.
"Um, Kurt wasn't a special case, he got in regularly with all the other freshman applicants," Blaine sounded puzzled and Kurt was glad Blaine came to his defense. Rachel next sentence made him ball his hands into fists though and only Blaine gently squeezing his knee under the table kept him from blowing up at her.
"Oh, come on. We all know Kurt only got in because he played the victim card, making it sound like he couldn't possibly go to a public high school because people were mean to him."
Even Finn looked shocked at Rachel's outburst but it was his dad who intervened.
"That's enough Rachel. I understand you are disappointed you couldn't audition for NYADA but we never talked to the school about Kurt's situation and I think broken bones are a bit more serious than some harsh words. Which you shouldn't be subjected to either."
Rachel promptly shut up, looking apologetic enough for his dad to buy it but Kurt didn't believe she was sorry for one second. He didn't understand why she couldn't just be happy for him for once, and was wondering why she was belittling his bullying when she had two dads who must have had a hard time in school as well.
"Maybe we should go to that karaoke bar another night," Carole suggested trying to keep the peace. "We are probably all tired from travelling and I for one, want to go sightseeing early tomorrow morning. It was nice having you join us, Blaine. We'll we see you tomorrow for the show?"
Blaine nodded and after Kurt said goodbye to his family and friend, he and Blaine walked back to the dorms holding hands.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Blaine asked on the way back, but Kurt shook his head. "Just hold my hand."
Burt was glad when he and Carole finally got back to their hotel room after making sure Finn went to his and Rachel and Mercedes to theirs. He knew Rachel and Kurt didn't get along too well because of some stupid rivalry, but he had been shocked by her behavior tonight and wasn't too happy about Finn just sitting there and letting his girlfriend talk this way about his brother.
And then there were Kurt and Blaine. He was sure Kurt had feelings for the other boy, judging by the way he kept looking at him, but he couldn't tell if Blaine reciprocated.
"Do you think there's something going on between Kurt and Blaine?" he asked his wife as he sat down on the bed to take his shoes off. Carole stopped unlacing her own and looked up.
"It's hard to tell. I think Kurt likes him and from the way Blaine looks at him when he thinks no one is watching I think he likes him too, but I can't say they are seeing each other or not. Would it be bad though if they were dating? Blaine seems like a nice young man."
Burt couldn't disagree. Blaine was polite and so far seemed to look out for Kurt. "He is a bit too old for Kurt though, isn't he? He is a junior after all."
Carole laughed. "I bet people were saying the same when you started dating you first wife. As long as Blaine treats him right, I don't see a reason why they shouldn't go out on a date."
Carole of course was right again. Elisabeth had still been in high school when they had met, while Burt was playing football in JC and had borrowed Elisabeth's high school's cheerleading team because they couldn't afford to have their own. Her parents hadn't been too happy that their little girl was dating a college student because the had been afraid she would get pregnant and would drop out of school. Their worries had been unfounded though and Elisabeth had even managed to graduate from college before Kurt was born.
"So you think they both like one another but aren't dating yet?" he asked to clarify and Carole nodded.
"I'm sure Kurt would tell you if he started dating someone. Your relationship is so special so I think you would know if he and Kurt were a couple."
Burt really hoped Kurt would tell him when he got his first boyfriend but if their relationship was as special as Carole said, why was Kurt still hiding things from him. He hated that his son was apparently afraid of him and wished he could just tell him he knew and it was okay but the books he had read on the subject all said to let the child come to you when it was ready. Well Burt hoped Kurt would be ready soon because it was exhausting always having to watch what he said and to keep every talk about relationships and dating gender neutral to let Kurt know he would be okay with it either way.
Maybe there was something he could have done differently when Kurt was growing up to show his son he could trust him, but he didn't know what. As soon as he and Elisabeth started suspecting that Kurt might be gay they had always made sure not to say anything negative about the topic, they stopped going to church and Burt even fired one employee who made homophobic jokes in the shop when Kurt was there. They had done everything to ensure Kurt would grow up in a safe environment where he could be whoever he wanted to be, but apparently it wasn't enough.
And maybe, but Burt didn't really think so, Kurt didn't know himself for sure yet. He had gone out on a date with a girl after all, or so he had said. All he knew was that everything would be a lot easier if he and Kurt could finally openly talk about the elephant in the room.