So sorry about the long delay in getting this chapter up. The problem was that I kept going back and changing things because I wasn't happy with it. There was at least four or five versions of this chapter. This is the one that I was finally happiest with! Thank you so much once again to those of you that are reading this! You guys are amazing. I will stop rambling now...enjoy!
Chapter 10
"Kurt already sees the way you dress on a daily basis," Cooper said rolling his eyes in frustration as Blaine rummaged through his closet looking for the perfect outfit to wear to BreadStix, the Italian restaurant that was in his radius. "He clearly doesn't think you have no fashion sense, or he probably wouldn't date you."
"You've never seen Kurt, though," Blaine said exasperated, a crazed look in his eye. "If ever there was a human embodiment of an angel, he would be it. He dresses impeccably."
"An angel, huh?" Cooper teased, causing Blaine to blush red. He had hoped that it would never slip out that he originally thought of Kurt as an angel.
"How's it going in here?" Elizabeth asked, walking into the room and startling Blaine who was so focused on being embarrassed that he didn't notice her walking in.
"Not well," Cooper supplied. "Blaine thinks that he owns nothing that will impress angel-faced Kurt."
"Angel?" Elizabeth asked confused, looking between her two nephews.
"Blaine apparently thinks of Kurt as an angel," Cooper explained. "It's equally adorable and sickening."
Blaine glared at his older brother for a moment before turning back to his closet and tearing through it once more. He had to find the perfect outfit to wear to impress Kurt. His usual ripped concert t-shirt just wouldn't be right for their first date.
"Well I guess that he does bear a slight resemblance to a cherub," Elizabeth allowed. "But personally I would go more woodland fairy creature."
"Okay, now I am officially curious to meet this Kurt," Cooper said, with his eyebrows raised.
"No, you are not meeting him," Blaine stated, turning away from his closet and glaring at his older brother. "I am not going to allow you to scare him off! I won't let you get near him."
"Good luck with that," Cooper replied with a Cheshire smile. "He is coming here to pick you up, isn't he?"
"Yes, because of the unfortunate reasoning that I can't actually get to his house without going out of my radius," Blaine lamented.
"Which works out lovely for me then, because I get to meet him," Cooper said with a manner of finality. "But we need to get back on the task of getting you something to wear. As amazing as Kurt might be, I doubt he would want to go out in public with you if you can't find anything to wear and ultimately decide to go nude."
Blaine looked like he was about to have another mental breakdown, so Elizabeth felt that it was time to step in.
"Move aside boys," Elizabeth demanded, making her way to Blaine's closet. She studied the items in it for a few moments before nodding her head and starting to grab items out of the closet. In less than a minute she picked out an entire outfit, laid it on Blaine's bed and then left the room. Blaine studied the clothes on the bed for a moment before deciding that his aunt was a genius. He quickly pulled on the black skinny jeans, a white button down with some edgy geometrical designs on it, and his black leather jacket. Blaine of course added his black converse to complete the look.
When he was finished he walked downstairs to wait for Kurt to arrive. He had barely made it down the stairs when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Cooper yelled, running to the door and flinging it open before Blaine could even protest. "Hi, you must be the infamous Kurt Hummel."
"Er—yes?" Kurt asked, clearly wondering if the person answering the door was a psycho. "And I'm assuming you are Blaine's brother?"
"Cooper Anderson," Cooper replied with a smile from ear to ear. "It's lovely to meet my baby brother's crush."
Blaine glared at his older brother, wishing he could disappear on the spot—or shoot lasers out of his eyes and destroy Cooper, that would work too.
"Oh stop embarrassing him," Elizabeth said, walking into the entry way and pushing Cooper out of the way so that Kurt could come in. "It's nice to see you again, Kurt. I heard that you and your dad kept my two boys company last week."
"Yes, we took care of them and Carole made sure that they had a healthy meal," Kurt replied with a laugh. "I think she just likes the excuse to be able to cook for more people. Finn just shovels her cooking down and doesn't show it the due appreciation."
"Well tell Carole thank you for me," Elizabeth stated gratefully. "I look forward to seeing her soon."
Kurt nodded that he would. They spent a couple more minutes making small talk before the two finally made it out of the house and headed over to Breadstix. When they walked in they found that it was actually open-mic night at the restaurant. A girl in a hot pink sundress and wearing black cowboy boots was belting out an older Taylor Swift song. They were seated on the other side of the restaurant from the performer, making the music not too loud for them to still comfortably hold a conversation. Kurt and Blaine sat in the booth across from each other, and Blaine had to take a moment to take it all in. He had dreamed of this moment for a couple weeks now. It was actually a reality.
They looked over their menus and the waitress quickly came to take their order. Blaine decided on a bowl of soup, some breadsticks, and a Coke. Kurt ordered a salad and a Diet Coke.
"I can't believe Peter lifted your grounding so that we could go on a date," Kurt said, as the waitress walked off to get their drinks. "I have known that man for a very long time and once he sets his mind to something he is stubborn as a bull."
"I couldn't believe it either," Blaine replied with a laugh, "I'm sure he had some ulterior motives for doing so."
"Oh yeah?" Kurt asked. "And what would those be?"
"He thinks you're a good influence on me," Blaine answered. "It wasn't too hard to figure it out."
Kurt laughed and shook his head—that sounded exactly like Peter Burke.
"So have you started the French essay?" Blaine asked.
"Really?" Kurt asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Our first date and you want to talk about school work?"
"Our first date and you want to talk about me being grounded?" Blaine challenged with a smile.
"Touche," Kurt replied. "So how about we talk about something entirely different. Am I ever going to see any of your art work?"
"I don't usually show many people my art work," Blaine replied, looking curiously at Kurt. It never really crossed his mind that Kurt would be interested in seeing his artwork. "I'm kind of sensitive about it. I know I have talent, but I just always find fault in my work. It never seems perfect."
"I'm sure you are just being hard on yourself," Kurt stated. "I would have to imagine that you are one hell of an artist if you are pulling off forgeries of famous works."
"Oh he is the best, not that he would ever admit that to anyone," a voice said from beside their booth.
Both boys quickly turned their heads to see who had spoken to them. Blaine recognized the voice, but Kurt certainly didn't. Standing there was Hunter Clarington once more. Blaine had a feeling that this was going to become a habit of the boy's. He was just going to keep popping up randomly in Blaine's life.
"Um…hi," Kurt stuttered out in complete confusion at this stranger with perfectly coiffed hair. "How do you know Blaine."
"I'm an old friend of his," Hunter replied with a smile. "Practically brothers if you want to get down to it."
Blaine laughed at that. It was true, he and Hunter truly were like brothers. During that time of his life Hunter was more of a brother to Blaine than Cooper was.
"Kurt this is Hunter," Blaine said gesturing between the two.
"Nice to meet you," Kurt said nodding in the boy's direction. He was still confused as to how the two knew each other. There was just something off about Hunter that Kurt didn't like. He couldn't place his finger on it.
"What are you doing here, Hunter?" Blaine asked.
"Business, of course," Hunter said, winking at Blaine. Blaine rolled his eyes. He should have figured that one out on his own. "Ooh! Am I interrupting a date?"
"Yeah," Blaine nodded with a grin.
"Then I will let the two of you be," Hunter said, reaching out and slapping hands with Blaine. Blaine closed his hand, holding on to the slip of paper that Hunter had just given him. He slipped it into his pocket as Hunter walked off, waiting for a moment to open it.
Blaine and Kurt chatted away about anything and everything for the next ten minutes before their food came. Blaine couldn't believe how truly comfortable it was between the two of them. It was like they had known each other forever. The only annoying thing was that he couldn't get that slip of paper that Hunter gave him off of his mind. Halfway through the meal he gave up and decided to excuse himself to the bathroom to check it out.
After locking himself in a stall, he pulled out the piece of paper to look at the note.
Meet me tomorrow morning at 10 at Denton Park.
Blaine sighed and ripped the note in pieces before flushing them down the toilet. He knew he didn't have to be that secretive, but it was sort of fun. He almost felt like he was in a spy movie or something.
Blaine was so happy to go back and fully focus on his time with Kurt after reading the note. He finished the rest of his food and even convinced Kurt to split a piece of cheesecake with him. That was when the trouble began, though. Blaine happened to see out of the corner of his eye the door to the restaurant open. He did a double take when he realized that he recognized who had walked through the door. The man was dressed in blue jeans and an Ohio State sweatshirt, but Blaine still recognized him as Agent Jeffries. He often worked with Peter's team, so Blaine saw him around the office all of the time. The man definitely knew who Hunter Clarington was and what the boy looked like.
Blaine must have paled, because Kurt immediately looked concerned.
"What's wrong?" Kurt asked.
"Er—nothing, sorry," Blaine replied. "I thought I just recognized someone is all."
Kurt didn't fully buy the excuse, but could tell that Blaine wasn't going to elaborate.
Blaine's head was spinning. He quickly looked around the restaurant to see if Hunter was still in there. His heart dropped when he finally found him in a booth in the back corner. Now how to warn him…
"Do we have any more takers? Anyone brave enough to come up and perform for us?" the host of the Open Mic night asked from the stage.
Blaine was up and out of his seat before he could even process what he was doing.
"I'll do it!" Blaine called out, practically running toward the stage.
"Awesome!" The man replied, handing over the microphone to Blaine. "Now we have several recorded tracks for karaoke if you want to take a quick moment to pick one."
"No, that's okay," Blaine replied. "I'll sing acapella."
Blaine knew that the song he was about to sing was most likely not going to be on any karaoke list. It was a song that started out as a joke between Hunter and himself. They both had loved it the moment that they had heard it, Hunter especially. The words had a lot more meaning to the boy. They jokingly decided that it was going to be like a distress signal between the two of them.
"Now we run run away from the boys in the blue
And my car smells like chocolate
Hey now think about what you do
Think about what they say
Think about how to think
Pause it play, pause it play, pause it…"
Blaine was relieved to see that Hunter's head had snapped up when he started to sing. Clearly the message was received. The boy ducked down in the booth. Blaine didn't see what happened after that because he knew that he couldn't direct the song toward that direction. It would be far too suspicious. He just prayed that Hunter would get out without Agent Jeffries seeing him.
Blaine's heart sunk even more when the door to the restaurant opened once more and Diana, Jones and Peter all walked in. They were all in plain clothes, so Blaine couldn't tell if they were working undercover, or if it just happened to be a terrible coincidence that they were all there. Peter's attention was quickly grabbed by Blaine signing on the stage, ironically at the part where Blaine sang the lines...
"Well I think we better go
Seriously better go
Said the Feds are here you know
Seriously better go…"
One look at Peter's face after those lines told Blaine everything that he needed to know—Peter was there on business.
Blaine finished up the song, pretending like he had no idea what was going on. After he finished the song he went and sat back down across from Kurt. He was about to open his mouth to begin a conversation with Kurt, but quickly got cut off.
"Hello boys," Peter said walking up to the two. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but can I please speak to you outside for a moment, Blaine?"
Blaine sighed and got up to follow his Uncle out of the restaurant. On the inside he was freaking out, but on the outside he was the picture of calm and serenity. He had worked hard on his poker face, and he wasn't going to let his Uncle figure out that he had been talking to Hunter.
"So am I supposed to believe that it's a coincidence that I come to this restaurant, after hearing a tip that Hunter Clarington was going to be here, and walk in to you singing a song about the Feds being here?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows at Blaine and giving his best FBI glare.
"I don't even know what you are talking about, Uncle Peter," Blaine replied. "I just was happening to sing the song Chocolate by the 1975. I had absolutely no idea that you were going to be here."
"So you haven't seen Hunter tonight?" Peter asked.
"I'm on a date with Kurt not Hunter!" Blaine replied, carefully avoiding the question. "A date which you are currently ruining by dragging me out here. I really like him, Uncle Peter. He seems to really like me too. Please don't mess this up for me."
"The only way that you are going to mess this up is by seeing Hunter Clarington," Peter replied, folding his arms across his chest. He was well aware that Blaine didn't answer the question about seeing Hunter. He knew his nephew well enough by now to know what it all meant. "That boy is going to lead you back into trouble and if you do anything else I can't keep you out of juvie. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, I understand that!" Blaine yelled in exasperation. "You only tell me that about 500 times a day!"
Peter studied the teen for a moment. He knew that he rode him too hard sometimes, but God all he wanted to do was keep the kid on the straight and narrow. It would literally kill him if he couldn't keep the kid out of jail.
"You know that we are going to catch Hunter eventually, right?" Peter asked.
Blaine looked down at his shoes for a few moments before nodding. He knew all the information that Peter had on the Claringtons, and Blaine had no doubt in his mind that Peter would eventually catch them.
"Okay, I don't want you to live in some fantasy world about that," Peter replied, before gesturing toward the door. "Go back inside and enjoy the rest of your date."
Blaine quickly did just that, not wanting his uncle to change his mind and decide that Blaine needed to be interrogated some more.
"Sorry about that," Blaine said, sliding back into the booth.
Kurt stared curiously at Blaine for a moment, as if studying him. Blaine shifted awkwardly in the seat. He hated when he couldn't figure out what people were trying to read on him.
"What?" Blaine asked.
"Peter was here looking for that Hunter guy, wasn't he?" Kurt asked, a little edge to his voice evident.
"What are you talking about?" Blaine feigned confusion.
"Don't lie to me!" Kurt replied, definite edge to his voice this time. "I'm not an idiot. I know that Hunter being here had something to do with drugs."
Blaine sighed and shifted on the seat. He hoped that Kurt hadn't picked up on that, even though Hunter had made it pretty obvious.
"Yes, he was here about Hunter," Blaine finally replied with a sigh. "But Uncle Peter wasn't here about just that. He was here because I used to live with Hunter and his dad and do illegal work for them. He is really after Mr. Clarington and he wants to use Hunter as a way to get to the man."
"Blaine if he is doing illegal things…" Kurt began, but Blaine cut him off quickly.
"You have to understand that Mr. Clarington and Hunter took me in when my mother was being unbearable," Blaine heatedly defended. "They accepted me for who I was without any questions asked. They didn't care. I am good at art and I was able to help them out. That was my choice. They didn't force me to commit crimes to live there. I knew what I was doing and I wanted to help. Yes, I see how wrong it is now and no, I don't want to keep that lifestyle up. I'm not going to turn my back on them though. They were my family when I had no one else."
Kurt sat there for a couple moments pondering what Blaine had just said. He still didn't agree with Blaine completely. He didn't understand how Blaine could be friends with someone like Hunter, but that didn't mean he didn't get it. He knew what it was like to search for acceptance. That acceptance had come from this family, so of course Blaine wasn't going to want to turn his back on it.
"I guess we can agree to disagree with what's best for the situation," Kurt stated, and Blaine slumped in relief.
"You aren't going to tell my Uncle that you saw Hunter tonight?" Blaine asked, his eyes shining with hope.
"Not tonight, no," Kurt replied. "But if I see him in the future I'm not going to lie to your Uncle about it."
"Deal," Blaine replied with a smile.
The two finished the rest of their dessert and a cup of coffee each and then started the walk back to the Burke's house.
"I had a really great time with you tonight," Kurt said as they stood at the end of the Burke's driveway. "Thank you for asking me out."
"I'm glad that I didn't manage to fuck everything completely up," Blaine said with a laugh. "I mean you probably should have just walked out after my terrible rendition of The 1975."
"You weren't that bad," Kurt laughed. "I thought the song sounded really cool acapella."
Blaine smiled and leaned in for his first kiss with Kurt. The moment was like he imagined it would be. Sweet and romantic, although he wished that it would start snowing in that moment. That would have really made the moment even better, but that seemed to only happen in movies.
"Goodnight," Kurt said with a smile, and then walked toward his car to head back home.
Blaine stood in his spot for a couple moments to fully take the moment in. After taking a deep breath, and trying to get rid of the smile that was plastered on his face, he headed inside. Cooper was sitting in the living room watching TV with Elizabeth and Peter was nowhere to be found.
"How was your night, sweetie?" Elizabeth asked, putting the TV on mute.
"It was good," Blaine replied, but the smile on his face said otherwise. Everyone could tell that Blaine had gotten a kiss goodnight and that he was insanely happy about it.
The next morning Blaine woke up early and made himself some breakfast, before leaving the house to go to the park. He wasn't sure if Hunter was still going to show up after what had happened the night before, but Blaine still wanted to go just in case.
Blaine left a note on the kitchen table that he was going out for a walk since he was no longer grounded and that he would be home in time for lunch. He heard movement upstairs so he quickened his speed. He didn't want to chance having his Uncle ask him a million questions, so he quickly left the note on the table and hurried out the door.
Blaine was really early for the meeting so he wandered around the park. He had seen it when he walked to school, but had yet to wander through it. He was sure some of the back parts of the park were out of his radius, so he made sure to wander closer to the entrance. Finally it was almost 10, so Blaine went and stood at the entrance. Hunter hadn't been very specific as to where Blaine was supposed to meet him, so Blaine figured this was as good a spot as any.
"Hey, thanks for the heads up last night," Hunter said, approaching Blaine from behind. "You seriously saved my ass."
"How did you even get out of there?" Blaine asked.
"I hid in a stall in the girl's room until the restaurant closed and then I snuck out of the bathroom window," Hunter replied. "I figured they were guarding all the entrances and exits while it was open."
Blaine nodded. He didn't know what his Uncle had in place, but Hunter's plan sounded like the only way that he could have safely gotten out of there.
The two wandered a little bit further into the park so they wouldn't be entirely out in the open to talk.
"So what did you need to meet with me for?" Blaine asked once they were safely behind a little patch of bushes.
"My dad has a job for you," Hunter replied.
"You're joking," Blaine immediately replied. Surely the man couldn't be that crazy. "He does realize that I live under a microscope…right?"
"He says that you're the only one that can do the job," Hunter replied.
"My Uncle would literally kill me if I tried to pull another job for your dad," Blaine replied.
"You're right about that," a voice said from behind them.
Blaine's heart sunk. He knew that voice.
"Uncle Peter," Blaine stuttered out, turning to face his Uncle. "What are you doing here?"
Peter ignored his nephew's question and instead focused on the boy who was frantically looking around as if to find an escape route. "Don't even bother trying to run. We have this place surrounded. We've had a tail on you since you escaped from the window of Breadstix last night."
"Why didn't you take me in then?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to not show his fear.
"I wanted to play out a hunch," Peter replied with a shrug. "I had a feeling that you gave Blaine a message to meet with you, and I was right."
Blaine sighed. Well he was dead. So much for his less than 24 hours of not being grounded.
"Hands behind your back," Peter ordered, Diana and Jones appearing from around the bush when Peter said that.
Hunter did as he was asked and Diana handcuffed him. Blaine tried to look anywhere but at his friend.
"You too, Blaine," Peter ordered.
Blaine shot a confused look at his Uncle.
"You aren't supposed to be hanging out with Hunter. That was specifically in the rules that were laid out for your deal," Peter stated.
"So you're arresting me?" Blaine asked, his voice cracking in disbelief.
"No, not really," Peter replied with a shrug. "I just know how much you don't want to be led out of this park in handcuffs, so I think that will be a good start to your punishment."
Blaine glared at his Uncle, but that didn't stop Jones from slapping cuffs on him once more. To say this was embarrassing was an understatement. The park wasn't by any means crowded, but that didn't mean that they weren't stared at by some joggers and some families that had brought their kids to play.
This all meant one thing—God was his Uncle pissed.