A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is a few days late. I was a bit busy with all the Christmas festivities going on and the family obligations that come with it. I hope that you'll forgive me and that you will still enjoy the chapter :)

I must warn you though, the last part of this chapter has not been properly betaed, as both my betas are away for christmas. One having an awesome time in Paris and America, while the other's down at the coast with hardly any Internet. I didn't want to leave you hanging for to long, so I did my best and hope there aren't too many mistakes that I have overlooked.

Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)

Maz

PS: I don't own Glee

Chapter 3: Discussions and Conditions

Burt sighed as he eased himself down on the bed. The day had been long and, though he'd never admit it to anyone, he was still struggling to regain the energy levels he had had before the stroke. The fight with Kurt had stripped away the last of his energy, and he couldn't wait to sink into his comfortable bed and let sleep fall over him. However, Carole had other ideas.

Standing in the doorway to their room, she stared at her husband with a disapproving look on her face.

"What?" Burt was completely confused by his wife's expression.

Carole just shook her head and walked to the other side of the bed, before slipping under the covers.

"Carole," Burt sighed exasperated. "What's wrong?" He really didn't want to get into it, but he knew that Carole did, so he obliged her.

"Look Burt, I know I that I'm not Kurt's mum and I don't really have anything to say when it comes to his life, but I think any relationship needs honesty in it, and I honestly believe that not letting Kurt go on this trip is a mistake." Her voice was soft but filled with confidence in what she believed. She had propped herself up with one of the pillows and was leaning against the bed's headboard, her hands crossed in front of her chest.

Burt was shocked. What was Carole going on about? She couldn't possibly be suggesting that it was a good idea for Kurt to fly over to the other side of the world to a dangerous country, with his boyfriend and his family?

"Please Burt." Carole's voice had become slightly pleading.

"Carole, I love you, and I respect your opinions, but what on the earth could have driven you to conclude that Kurt going on this trip is a good idea?"

"He needs it." Carole's voice was steady again, completely sure of the statement.

"What?" Burt was astounded. "Why does he need it?"

Carole's eyes filled with sadness as she remembered Kurt's face as the door shut, after the Anderson's had left.

"After all he's been through this year: Karofsky's bullying, the death threat, moving schools, leaving his friends, having to make new ones, Pavarotti's death, falling in love, moving back to McKinley, and who knows what else he hasn't told us about! He just needs a vacation, and I mean a real one. He needs a chance to leave those haunting memories behind him, and escape to a different place. A place where everything is fresh and new, and everyone treats him normally." Every word Carole said was filled with love for the young boy who had so quickly captured heart.

"I know Kurt's had a rough year, hell I've done everything I can to help him through it, but this trip isn't going to help. What he needs now is his family, he needs a stable influence of people who know him and love him. Who knows what kinds of people he will meet over in Australia!" Burt was certain on his decision. Only when he mentioned Kurt needing his family did his voice quiver slightly. It was almost unnoticeable, but Carole caught it instantly.

"You still feel like you need to protect him don't you?" Carole knew it was true as soon as she saw the guilty look on her husband's face. Burt wouldn't give in that easily though and attempted to cover it with anger.

"I know perfectly well that Kurt can take care of himself. He's proven it enough times this year. It's his rich spoilt boyfriend I don't trust! What has he ever had to deal with in his life? As soon as he came out his parents shipped him to Dalton, he's never had to deal with anyone like Karofsky! How's he supposed to look after Kurt?"

Carole was shocked; she really liked Blaine and trusted him completely. Sure he had been more sheltered in his life than Kurt, but, at his old school, Blaine had gone through bullying too. Kurt had told her that Blaine had been hurt after a bunch of 'Neanderthals', as he called them, had decided that him and his prom date shouldn't go together.

"Burt, you can't really think that? After everything Blaine has done for Kurt! Without him god knows where Kurt would be right now!"

Burt's face was filled with guilt, sure he knew that what he'd said about Blaine wasn't true, he had just been angry and Blaine was the easiest to blame in all this. If he hadn't asked Kurt on this trip in the first place, he wouldn't be having this conversation. Why couldn't Blaine just have stayed friends with his son?

He sighed, " I know, I know. I'm just frustrated, that's all. It's not Blaine's fault, but I just don't think he can be relied upon to protect Kurt," Burt's voice got more and more aggravated as he went on. "What Kurt needs is his family. I promised her I wouldn't leave him unprotected and nothing can make me break that promise, Carole. So you'll just have to respect that."

Carole was stunned. Burt had never talked to her like that before. And what was the promise he was going on about?

"Burt, what promise?" Her voice was shaking slight as she asked about it.

Burt didn't answer, in his mind he had gone back 15 years ago, to a place he visited only in his worst nightmares.

A small body was huddled on his lap, steadily breathing with his eyes closed. Burt was glad he had finally gotten to sleep. Nobody had been getting enough sleep in the last few weeks. The cold feel of the hospital room made him uneasy as he slowly got up and placed the sleeping boy on the spare cot, on the other side of the room. Slowly he headed back to his seat next to the main bed in the centre of the room. He looked at his wife lying in front of him. Her face was pale, and her eyes sunken into their sockets. Last time she had been awake she had asked him not to remember her like this. That had been 2 days ago. He brushed a strain of her dull brown her out of her face.

As he moved his hand away her eyes fluttered open. The spark they used to have had gone out a few weeks ago, but they were still the same beautiful blue colour. The same colour the young boy sleeping on the cot had inherited.

"Burt?" Her voice was croaky from disuse.

"Hey Lizzy," He soothed, it killed him to see his, once full of life, wife dying in front of his eyes, but he couldn't leave her alone. He couldn't abandon her.

"Where's Kurt?" she asked, as she slowly took in her surroundings.

"He's just sleeping. Don't worry he's right over the there." Burt pointed towards where he had placed his son only moments before. Elizabeth Hummel smiled as she saw the sleeping figure of a small boy with shiny straight dark brown hair so similar to her own. Or how it had been before the disease had set in.

"Darling," Elizabeth's voice was barely over a whisper and Burt had to lean forward to hear her properly. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," Burt didn't hesitate, he'd fulfil any wish his wife had.

"I know I'm not going to be around for most of Kurt's life, and his life isn't going to be easy, we both know that." They both looked at the sleeping boy as she talked. Elizabeth had guessed that their son was gay last year, and when his birthday wish had been a sensible pair of heels the suspicion had been pretty much confirmed. "Please Burt, promise me that you will protect him." Elizabeth's eyes were filled with unshed tears. "I won't be there, so protect him for me." She sobbed.

"Of course, Lizzy. Nothing will happen to him, I won't let it." Burt replied, as he fought to hold back tears

Just then the nurse came in, concerned about the hysteric sobs coming from her patient.

"Elizabeth, we need to calm you down. I'm going to give you a sedative, okay?" She asked kindly.

Elizabeth just nodded, and as the drug slowly took affect and calmed her sobs, she simply stared at Burt and the huddled shape of her son behind him. Soon the sedative was too strong to fight off and her eyes drooped. She died that night, without ever opening them again.

"Burt? Are you okay?" Carole's voice woke him from the heartbreaking memory.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He grunted, turning his face from her so she couldn't see how close he was to tears.

"Burt, please, who did you promise what?" Carole's voice was getting desperate; she could she the agony on her husbands face and knew of no way to comfort him.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. Kurt's not going on that trip and that's the end." Burt responded gruffly and rolled over so that his back was facing towards his wife, effectively breaking off the conversation.

Carole was torn, she knew only one person had this effect on Burt, and the fact that Burt never brought her up had made her shy away from the topic till now. But Kurt's utterly distressed face compelled her to fight. Not for her, but for the boy who lay broken on his bed downstairs.

"This is about Elizabeth isn't it?" Carole asked timidly stuttering slightly over the forbidden name. Burt's whole body stiffened when she said it, though he didn't turn around.

"You promised her that you would protect Kurt, didn't you?" Carole was getting more and more confident as she spoke. "Burt, I know that you loved your wife, and that breaking any promise you made to her would tear you apart, but letting Kurt take this trip with Blaine isn't going to break that promise, if anything, it will fulfil it. Kurt's hurting inside at the moment, and there's nothing we can do about it. Blaine however, if he's given the right opportunity, is the only one who can, and the opportunity he needs is this trip, Burt. Can't you see that?"

Burt looked down at the carpet on the floor; he remembered Kurt's face during their fight: his son's angry and spiteful words unsuccessfully covering the desperation in his eyes. But how could he let him go. If he was in Australia Burt wouldn't be able to protect him, just like he hadn't been able to protect his wife when the cancer set in. He couldn't go through that again, it would kill him.

"Please Burt, you know Blaine, and you know that he would protect Kurt with his life. You're going to have to let go sometime. Kurt's not going to stay here for the rest of his life. He's planning to go to New York with Rachel, how are you going to protect him there? Isn't it better to let him go now, with someone we can trust?" Burt was breaking, everything Carole said was true, and he knew deep down that he was fighting a hopeless battle, but his stubbornness kept him from submitting, only Carole's next statement really crashed through his barriers.

"He's going to hate you, you know. You may be doing this to protect him, but to him you'll be ruining his life, just when he's finally happy again too." Carole knew she was hitting him below the belt, but she was desperate and this was the only way she could see to change Burt's mind.

"Fine," Burt's grunted into his pillow.

"What did you say?" Carole asked astounded.

"Fine, he can go on the trip, but I have a few conditions he has to agree to and no matter what, if anyone even threatens him in the slightest he will be on a plane back here straight away!" Burt's reply was full of emotion, and Carole knew he meant every single word.

"I'm sure Kurt will agree to that." She smiled as she said it and relief flooded her whole body. She hadn't failed Kurt, and the thought of the giant smile of pure delight that would spread across his face at the news warmed her heart. No matter what, she knew she had done the right thing.

Blaine blinked slowly as he tried to get the sleep out of his eyes. He rolled over and glanced at the bright yellow alarm clock sitting on his bedside table. What was he doing awake at 6:13am on a Saturday? That's when he noticed the sound of a phone ringing. Slowly he threw off his covers and rubbed his eyes, trying to remember where he had left his phone the night before.

Blaine had stayed awake, worrying about his boyfriend, till early in the morning. He had tried to call him but Kurt's phone had been off, and every text message he'd sent had gone unanswered. So instead Blaine had sat there, staring at the wall, while tears slid down his face. He had never seen Kurt so sad before. Not even when Karofsky was still in his life.

Eventually he found his iPhone, it had slid down between the mattress and the bed's headboard while he'd been asleep. His phone told him he had 4 missed calls, all from the same number. He recognised it immediately and rushed to call it back. The relief when the person answered straight away was overwhelming.

"Kurt! Thank god your –" Blaine started to say, but was cut off by his overly excited boyfriend.

"Blaine! I'm outside you front door. Come down and open up now." And with that Kurt hung up, leaving a bewildered Blaine sitting on his bed.

What the hell was Kurt so excited about? He thought, as he made his way down the stairs.

His question was quickly answered as he opened the front door. Kurt was standing there, his face slightly flushed and a large travelling bag next to him. Blaine hardly had time to take in the scene, before his boyfriend flung himself around Blaine's neck.

"Kurt… what?" Blaine managed to gasp out, as the brunette's arms where choking his neck.

"He said I could go!" Kurt was so overcome by emotion he could barely whisper the news into his boyfriends ear.

"Really?" Blaine could hardly believe it. He pulled Kurt off his neck so that he could look at his joy filled face, a smile spreading over his features in return. "But Burt was so adamant. Why did he change his mind?"

"He didn't really explain. But I am pretty sure Carole convinced him." Carole's slightly too innocent expression when Kurt had asked, had given her away.

"Wow!" Blaine was stunned.

"Yeah, she really is the best stepmum in the world!" The love in Kurt's voice expressed exactly how much he meant every word.

Blaine, suddenly realised that he was standing in the foyer of his house with his boyfriend, in only boxers and a thin white t-shirt, He felt a blush start to spread over his features.

"Come on, let's go upstairs." Blaine said, flustered. Kurt, not noticing the smaller boys embarrassment, simply grabbed his bag and headed up to Blaine's room, a slightly dazed look on his face.

Once up in the safety of his room, Blaine grabbed a pair of track pants and quickly pulled them on, before turning to face his still slightly out of it boyfriend sitting on his bed.

"I still can't believe that Burt would let you go like this, no strings attached!" Blaine said amazed. Kurt looked sheepishly down at the floor, at his boyfriends comment.

"Well it's not exactly no strings attached." He replied, heading over towards his bag. "Burt set a few, umm, conditions…"

"Well that's fine, it can't be that many," Blaine said, but the list Kurt pulled out of his bag quickly wiped the smile of his face. It was long, so long that it almost unravelled all the way to the floor.

"Holy Shit! You're kidding right?" He asked, but already knew from Kurt's expression that this wasn't a joke. "But that's insane!"

"Tell me about it!" Kurt was said exasperated and handed the long piece of paper over to his wide-eyed boyfriend.

1)Never ever go anywhere alone

2)Call home at least every second day, no excuses

3)Don't approach any wild animals, no matter how cute they look

4)Only swim on life guard patrolled beaches and in the specified areas

5)No Smoking

6)NO ALCOHOL of any kind

7)NO DRUGS

8)NO SEX

9)Blaine and you sleep in different bedrooms

10)I get an itinerary and if anything changes I get notified right away.

11)I have the right to not let you participate in any activities.

12)If you feel unsafe, in anyway, you must return home straight away. NO EXCEPTIONS!

Blaine looked up at the blue-eyed boy in front of him, he had only read the first 12 and already had a sinking feeling in his gut.

"How many are there?" He asked cautiously.

"213. But some are practically the same, just worded differently."

"Well they're not all bad…" Blaine's voice was reassuring, but Kurt just rolled his eyes.

"Okay Blaine, which ones are good?"

"Well the not going anywhere alone is definitely one. I'll just never leave your side all holidays." Blaine's voice was teasing, as he chucked the list on his bed and moved closer to the gorgeous boy standing in front of him.

"You know, you're right. That doesn't sound too bad," Kurt replied, leaning down so that he could kiss his curly haired boyfriend. "Not too bad at all."