The rest of the dinner went nicely. Blaine couldn't stop grinning like an idiot the whole way through. Kurt just got on so well with his family; he talked fashion with his mother, cars with his father, Hollywood with his brother. Kurt fit in so well. But ever since speaking to Cooper he couldn't help but think about how he felt towards Kurt. Yes, Kurt was his best friend and yes, when he'd first met him he'd developed a bit of a crush, but that had kind have been forgotten when Blaine found out about Alex. Did Blaine still feel that way? He wasn't sure. His main priority at that moment was to make Kurt better and he knew, whether his feelings for Kurt developed into something more or not, that was the way he would always think.
Once they'd finished dinner, they made their way back to Blaine's. They all changed into their pyjamas before collapsing onto the sofa to watch a film before bed. As it was Blaine's birthday weekend, he got to choose, and Blaine being Blaine, he decided that Finding Nemo was the best choice. They watched it quietly and about a quarter of the way through, Blaine felt a head droop onto his shoulder. He turned his head ever so slightly and found Kurt dosing quietly against him. He smiled at the boy and rested his head against Kurt's hair. It wasn't long before he felt his own eyes drooping.
"Is he asleep?" he heard his mom whisper.
"I think so," Cooper replied.
Blaine was too tired to clarify that he was actually awake and so he kept his eyes closed.
"He and Kurt seem close," Cooper commented. "They seem to make each other happy."
"Yeah, they do," Linda said. "I'm glad they have each other. I don't know what would have happened to Kurt if he didn't have Blaine. I dread to think of it actually."
"How bad was it?" asked Cooper.
"Blaine didn't go too far into detail but he didn't need to. I saw how Kurt was when he'd show up at ours late at night in tears. His ex boyfriend got angry a lot apparently and he took it out on Kurt. When Kurt first admitted he'd been harmed, it was because he'd gotten a black eye from having his phone thrown at him and he couldn't excuse it. He's still covered in bruises. But it's not just the bruises. He's been taught that he's worthless and that no one will ever love him and he's having a hard time believing otherwise. I think Blaine's the only one he truly trusts at the moment," Linda explained.
"I'm glad Blaine's there for him then. It just sucks that he's had to experience this sort of abuse before and now he's having to deal with the aftermath of it. At least it wasn't as bad this time as it was before," Cooper said.
"I think Blaine was worried that it would be," said Andrew. "He was worried sick about Kurt."
"Well, I'm just glad that that's all over now. Kurt seems to be recovering well," Cooper said.
"Yeah, he's started therapy and he has good friends and family supporting him. I think he'll be okay," said Linda.
"And he and Blaine?" asked Cooper, curiously.
"Currently inseparable best friends, but with the way Blaine looks at him, I'm sure there could be more in the future," Linda explained.
"We should probably wake them up and get them to bed," Andrew said.
"They look too adorable to move, but I guess they'll get cricks in their necks if they don't," Linda argued.
"How about we let them be adorable for a little while longer?" Cooper suggested and Blaine was grateful for his brother as he snuggled closer to his best friend and let himself fall asleep.
The next day was a bit of a rush. Kurt and Blaine had woken up in Blaine's bed, neither of them particularly remembering the groggy journey up to his room guided by his mother, and immediately went for showers. When they were both dried and dressed, they chatted animatedly over breakfast of toast and jam. They styled their hair side by side in the bathroom mirror and when both of them were ready, they went to leave to meet the Warblers. They had decided to go bowling, after Blaine had convinced Kurt that wearing pre-worn shoes wasn't going to kill him and the amount of germs in a bowling ball probably wasn't much different to the amount of germs on clothing racks at shops.
They met Wes, David, Trent, Thad, Nick and Jeff at the bowling alley and split into two teams. Blaine, Kurt, Nick and Jeff played together and Wes, David, Thad and Trent played together.
"I can see how you decided who's with who, Wes," Blaine commented as Wes put their names in.
"I totally didn't go with gay and straight. Actually, I knew you'd want to be with Kurt and I didn't want Niff because I know they're going to be all cute and stuff so I thought I'd stick them with you two as you'll tolerate them," Wes defended. He stepped away from the controls, grinning.
"Oh god, what nicknames have you put in for us?" asked Blaine, groaning as he looked up at the screen. "Really? Frodo is the best you could come up with?"
"Hey! It's a classic and you're not losing it that easily," said Wes.
"Well, as Blaine is Frodo and I take it Nick and Jeff are Niff 1 and Niff 2, why am I CGCB?" asked Kurt.
"Because Cute Glee Club Boy wouldn't fit!" explained Wes. Blaine resisted the urge to groan again.
"I'm not even going to bother asking," Kurt said.
"Okay, Wes, you're going to have to explain who's who," said David, nodding towards their screen.
"Okay, David, you're Blaise Zabini. You can blame Blaine for that one as he made us watch Harry Potter so many times that I actually bothered to learn his name. Trent, you're sunshine, because you're the sunshine of the Warblers and Thad, you're Lord Snooty. I mean, you yell 'you mock us, sir!' at nearly every Warbler meeting!" Wes explained.
"Leaving you as King of Awesome?" asked Blaine.
"Our names have to reflect our true selves!" Wes argued.
"I see..." Thad commented. "Well, can we ignore Wes's stupid nicknames and get bowling? I want to kick his ass!"
Nick and Jeff both bowled before Kurt and Blaine, and sure enough they took the opportunity to be cute straight away when Nick insisted he had never bowled and Jeff took his hands to show him how.
"Have you bowled before?" Blaine asked Kurt.
"Yes, but I was 7 years old and I think my mom did most of the work for me," Kurt chuckled. "I will ignore any mocking behaviour if I completely fail at this."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Blaine assured him. "I haven't been in a long time so I'm probably going to stink."
"I can't imagine you not being good at something," Kurt admitted.
"There are a lot of things I'm awful at," Blaine said.
"Still can't imagine it. Go on then. It's your turn now," Kurt said nodding towards where Nick and Jeff were making their way back to the bench where everyone else was seated.
"Wish me luck," Blaine said with a wink. He strolled over to collect a ball before lifting it, sending his arm back and quickly snapping it back forwards. In the end, he managed to knock down seven pins the first time and a further two on his next bowl.
"See, good at everything!" Kurt laughed, passing him to take his own turn. He chose an emerald green ball that fitted his fingers perfectly and looked straight ahead at the pins before sending the ball flying down the alley. It smashed straight into the middle pin, effectively knocking down the nine behind it. He grinned at his achievement and made his was back to Blaine and the Warblers who were all gaping.
"Look, I got a strike," he stated proudly.
"How did you do that? It was like, perfect!" Blaine said.
"I'm sure it was a fluke," Kurt replied and took a seat between his friends, unable to wipe the smile off his face.
"I still can't believe you got 5 strikes. I thought you hadn't done this in years," said Blaine, as he pulled open his menu. They'd finished bowling and had decided to get lunch at a nearby restaurant before heading back to Blaine's.
"What can I say? My skills include sewing and painting, maybe I'm just good with my hands," Kurt replied. Wes burst out laughing and Kurt immediately blushed, realising how that could have been taken and apparently was taken by Wes.
"Sorry, Kurt, you set yourself up for that one," Wes chuckled.
"Ignore him, Kurt," Jeff said. "Wes constantly has his mind in the gutter."
"Can we once again just not think about Wes's idiocy and instead decide on some food?" asked Thad. "I'm starving!"
"You're always thinking about food!" complained Trent.
"Are you not?" asked Thad.
"I think about other things too," said Trent.
They all read their menus and individually decided what they wanted and after ordering chatted amongst themselves about their bowling scores.
"I'm not surprised that Jeff and Nick got the lowest scores. They used the majority of their turns to fondle one another," David said with a chuckle.
"We do not fondle one another!" Nick argued.
"In public," Jeff added quietly, earning himself a slap on the arm from his boyfriend.
"Don't want to know," Thad said. "If I start thinking about that then I'm going to get worse nightmares than I did that time that I came home a day early and found my sister and her boyfriend in the hot tub."
"Nightmares? But your sister's totally hot," David said. "I wouldn't mind finding that."
"Ew, that's my sister," Thad said.
"It's cool, bro. Though I'm not sure crushing on a sibling is completely normal, I think you should at least be able to admit that they're hot," David said.
"Can we please talk about something that's not how hot my sister is?" Thad asked.
"So you're admitting that she's hot?" said Wes.
"Shut up," Thad groaned.
"Don't worry about it Thad. Wes's brother is sex on a stick," said Nick. Wes looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Dude, don't say that! Come on Jeff, bitch him out!" Wes complained.
"I normally would, but I have to admit he is pretty much sex on a stick," Jeff said.
"I hate you guys," said Wes.
"Attention! I see food!" Thad interrupted.
"Could it be? Our food is here at long last?" David said, dramatically clutching at his chest.
The waitress approached their table and stopped, which lead to Thad beginning a cheer that all of the boys joined in on. When they'd all received their food, Blaine turned to Kurt.
"Still don't want to escape my friends?" he asked.
"Naw," said Kurt. "I told you, I like them and they're funny. Remember, my closest friends are the New Directions. I'm used to weird and dramatic!"
Blaine was sure, at that moment, that Kurt couldn't get any more perfect.