Long Time Coming

by CrazedLunatic

When Blaine gets accepted into Harvard, Kurt and Blaine find out exactly how hard it can be to maintain a relationship when they discover how much their dreams conflict. Sequel to What Brings Us Closer Together. AU.

39. Chapter 30

"Blaine, where are you?" Kurt called, coming into their apartment a month.

"In misery." Blaine called back from another room. He then muttered, "Damn. Now that song is going to be stuck in my head."

"I tried to text you and call you but you didn't answer." Kurt locked their door and went into the bedroom where Blaine was laying, both dogs at his feet, and looking at a tablet he was holding over his head. "This is cute but come on. You're still in your pajama pants."

"I did take a shower. I just put them back on when I got home from seeing the new office."

Kurt shook his head but he smiled. "How is Bob doing? Better?"

"Yeah, he's good. Just getting their new house set up." Blaine nodded and sat up. "How was work?"

"I'll be glad when the 'training' is done and I can do actual stuff. I've had to sign so many nondisclosure contracts that I thought my hand was going to fall off." Kurt sat next to him on the bed, smiling when Kreacher climbed onto his lap.

"That just means you're closer!" Blaine grinned and kissed his cheek. "I start work Monday…. But he's said that twice already, so…. Probably not."

"Well the first place burned down and the bottom floor of this one flooded, so it's not his fault." Kurt laughed. "It sounds like he's had bad luck lately."

"Yeah, I know. At least the office stuff is keeping him busy. Ryan said it's probably a miracle in disguise. I don't think he was mentally ready to come back two weeks ago but he seems a lot better now." Blaine said and then added, "Not that Emily doesn't keep him busy enough anyway."

"How many hours will you work?"

"I have to work thirty a week at least until I pass the bar. After that, forty hours minimum but it sounds like it'll end up more than that." Blaine shrugged.

"And you're salary now?"

"Yes… nd I got to see how much I'm going to make when I pass the bar."

"Oh?"

"An extra $20,000 a year, then another ten per year after that for three years or something. He said by then I may be getting paid by the cases I take, so it just depends… but it'd be on top of what I make for salary." Blaine tilted his head and added cheerfully, "Unless I suck. Then I'm stuck at $160,000 until they push me out. So who knows?"

"Did you see your platonic coworker?" Kurt grinned.

"Okay, I had no idea that AJ kept trying to get Adrian to 'jump my bones' after she found out I was gay… or that all it takes is 'a couple of daquiris' to get him… uhm, in the mood?" Blaine whined. "Also, I'll have you know, we did drink at a Mexican restaurant once and he tried nothing even though he was pretty tipsy. I had to drive him home."

"He literally said the biggest reason he didn't try anything was because you were 'hung up on your ex.' In other words, he totally would have done it." Kurt laughed.

"Yeah, well, sorry. Honestly we're too alike so it wouldn't have gone anywhere even if we had hooked up." Blaine shrugged and added, "Not that I ever would have."

Kurt shook his head, smiling. "Did Adrian come to the office today?"

"Yeah. AJ went over and stayed with Matt when he came to do all the paperwork and when they set up his office and computer stuff. He was talking to Bob for a really long time after, though, so I don't know when he'll be back for good. I guess Matt tripped a couple of days ago and hurt himself. He couldn't get himself up without help and the elevator wasn't working in the apartment building so Wes had to go help Adrian get him downstairs and to the ER. The ER doctor says he can't be alone for another three weeks or something until he's stronger… even though it's been six weeks the first doctor said he had to get through." Blaine sighed a bit.

"Did he have his six week checkup, though? Did they say if he'll be able to go back to work?" Kurt asked eagerly.

"Yeah. They told him he can't be a police officer anymore. Well, they 'strongly discouraged it' and would be 'letting the NYPD know he was a liability.' Apparently he's really upset but didn't fight it. He hasn't told his family yet either. His parents have been fighting nonstop since it happened because his mom thinks his dad pushed him too hard making him take police courses right out of high school. Matt's afraid they'll get a divorce if he says anything while they're arguing. Well, he told the brother that's closest in age to him...not the cop brother. I think that's right. He has two or three older brothers." Blaine bit his lip.

"How did Adrian seem?"

"Tired and stressed, but other than that he seemed good. As good as he can be, I guess. I'm sure he's acting happier than he really is. AJ's been visiting them a lot with the baby, though."

"I wish he felt up to more visitors. It's been a month and a half. I want to go and see him. He's so sweet."

"I get it. Well, I understand it… Two months ago he proposed to Adrian and everything was perfect. He really liked being a police officer and was making tons of money. He was doing SWAT training stuff which he thought was cool. Now his world is turned upside down." Blaine frowned and them added, "I'm sure he's okay with AJ being over because they're pretty close and Adrian needs to support."

"I hope he'll let us come over soon. He's so talkative. I bet being around people would make him feel a bit better about everything."

"You're probably right but I'm sure Adrian doesn't want to push him right now. Matt will come around. He's devastated but the shock will wear off and he'll find a new normal. He'll probably feel better when he doesn't have to have a babysitter." Blaine bit his lip.

"Did Wes really ask AJ to stay at home?"

"Who told you?" Blaine laughed.

"David was joking about it." Kurt yawned.

"Yeah, just through December. Honestly, I can't believe she agreed. She was very firm in saying she's going back first thing in January, though…"

"I wonder if she'll actually go back."

"Oh, she will. She spent $150,000 on that degree and there are, like, 3 different places holding a job for her in case she decides to pick them. She narrowed it down from 8."

"Jesus. I guess a lot of places work with stem cells." Kurt snuggled up to him. "Have you talked to David?"

"No more than usual. He's only working at the doctor's office over the summer and he's doing 40 hours… but he starts his last semester at the hospital in August, so it'll go back to full time at the hospital and part time at the doctor's office." Blaine yawned. "Hey, when did you and he talk?"

"We got lunch together. We usually do on Wednesdays since he office makes him take a full hour lunch. At the hospital he's lucky if he gets to sit down while he shoves something down his mouth."

Blaine grinned. "You and David are becoming buddies."

"I like David a lot." Kurt leaned over, kissing Blaine's shoulder. "What did Bob say about the fact that you haven't shaved in three days? I'm guessing that's why you shaved today."

"I don't want to tell you the answer to that, actually."

"Oh, come on."

"He asked if I was homeless." Blaine covered his face. "I mean the stuff isn't set up in the building. How was I supposed to know he'd be so judgey? At least I put on khaki pants and a polo shirt on. He was in jeans and a t-shirt."

"I actually… cannot picture that." Kurt tilted his head. "Do you know, he's really cute?"

"Yeah. I know. I try to ignore that fact." Blaine sighed.

"Where does he live? It would be hard to find an apartment with four or five bedrooms."

"He bought a house in Brooklyn. It's so cute. He's definitely not the one that picked it out."

"Wait…he bought a house in Brooklyn?"

"Yep. $1.7 million dollars." Blaine nodded. "His old one sold for $1.1, though, so he 'made it work.'"

"In other words, he has a five month pregnant wife who really wanted it." Kurt said.

"Yep. Ryan jokes about him being whipped when it comes to his wife Sarah and his seven year old daughter Emily, but it's so true." Blaine laughed. "Ryan is the one that showed me what the looks like online. It's got an enclosed porch and an actual backyard. With grass."

"Seriously? In New York City?" Kurt asked. "Then again, he's had a lot of high profile cases so he's probably not hurting that much."

"Did I mention it's got three floors? And a designated 'library room'? Like… if that's how much it costs to have a family, how are we ever going afford kids?"

"You have eight million dollars." Kurt whispered. "Say it with me. Eight. Million. Dollars."

Blaine chose to ignore Kurt's comment. "And a two car garage. Do you want to see it?"

"Blaine! No! Well, yes, actually."

Blaine eagerly pulled his laptop onto the bed and typed in Brooklyn on a realty site. He then made it go from highest price to lowest and pointed to an adorable Victorian house.

Kurt gasped. "Oh my God. He loves his wife."

"He does. They've been together since they were eleven." Blaine said as Kurt flipped through the pictures.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. He proposed to her the beginning of their senior year in high school and they got married a month after they graduated. I love Bob, okay?"

"They got married that young and have been married 27 years? The odds of them not getting a divorce was so low."

"He's head over heels. Any time she comes to visit him at work, he just lights up." Blaine closed the laptop. "It's actually really sweet how quickly she can change his mood."

"Can you look up networth for high profile lawyers?"

"You can't try to find how much he makes online! Oh my God."

"You just showed me his house, Blaine." Kurt opened Blaine's laptop.

"He showed Ryan and Bob was literally there when Ryan showed me. It's not like I stalked him to find the address. Bob sent him the link."

"Ugh, I don't think I can find it." Kurt groaned and then asked, "Are they close?"

"Yeah, I think so. I mean, Bob really wanted him to come to New York. When his dad died, Ryan pulled him right into a hug the first time we saw him. Also, Bob got really upset in the middle of his dad's funeral and left the room and Ryan went after him right away. He didn't even give Bob a minute to himself."

"That's sweet… I'm glad he's doing better, though. I don't even want to think about Dad dying." Kurt frowned. "I can't find anything about how much he makes. I can only find how much he made on some of the high profile cases."

"I know how much he makes in a year. Well, how much he made last year."

"Well?"

"$600,000."

"Woah. He can afford that house."

"I mean, I guess he probably can but he has a huge family and he pays for school for all of them. His oldest son is starting med school at NYU, his second oldest son starts Columbia, and the two youngest will be going to Riverdale Country School this year. The total tuition for all four of his kids is around $220,000." Blaine said. "I think he wanted to cry when he told Ryan that."

Kurt pursed his lips and then said, "So… let's top it off at 2 kids?"

"That is a deal." Blaine nodded.

"What does his wife make?"

"Well, she's not going back to work until after the baby is a year old. I guess that's a thing since AJ is doing it too? When she works, she's an ER head pharmacist so I'm sure it's good money but nowhere near what Bob makes."

"You and Bob have a lot of free time, Blaine."

"Well he took off five weeks and other people took his cases so now he's waiting for some to come in. Summer is slow for lawyers anyway." Blaine shrugged. "But he didn't tell me all of that. He was talking about it to Ryan in what will be the breakroom. I'm pretty sure he saw my jaw drop when he said $600,000… Ryan makes $400,000. He used to make a lot more money doing civil rights cases but I think he got a case that was too personal and he quit doing them or something. Bob never said what happened, though, and I'm not going to ask. He just does business law now. Brian makes $450,000 even though he is a lot younger than Ryan… but Tammy Jo said he's going to be 'the new, young Bob.' I have never seen a more annoyed look on Bob's face than when she said that."

"So, you're saying you are all sitting around and talking about nothing while you wait for the office to be set up?" Kurt laughed.

"You know what… I bet Ryan's salary is going to go up a lot more since he moved to New York." Blaine looked thoughtful. He then added, "Trust me. If I hadn't already filed all of Bob's stuff, I would be doing it. I did get to see some really intense stuff in the files he keeps locked up, though. And I can't even talk about them oh my God. Those were the big cases that Jake took over. I don't think Jake would like all of my questions, though, so I refrained after, like, five minutes. I can't wait until Bob gets a case so I can shadow him. He lets me ask questions and never gets annoyed. Ugh." Blaine whimpered. "I'm so bored."

"Gee, thanks." Kurt teased.

"No, not right now. Just in general. I went from volunteering, studying, classes, and working to waiting for an office to be furnished with a bunch of other people who have nothing else to do. But if I stay here all day, I'm still bored because you're at work… At lease I get paid to do nothing at the office… I hope I'm getting paid. I bet I'm getting paid either way…"

"I thought you bought that program to help you study for the Bar." Kurt laughed at him.

"I did but I wanted to shoot myself two paragraphs in so I noped out of that. Bob told me not to study too much yet anyway. I can't do downtime. What do people do with no jobs or school?"

"Why don't you go and try to hang out with Matt? I bet Adrian would love getting out of that apartment for a couple of hours even if it's to buy groceries. Plus, Matt seems to really like you."

"Yeah. After the whole thing with Adrian's asthma attack, he was really upset so I stayed in Adrian's room and talked with him while Adrian slept. He's talked to me a lot more since then." Blaine looked thoughtful.

"See? And you could go on a walk with him. He may be able to use the stairs regularly now." Kurt suggested. "If he isn't still hurting from his fall."

Blaine stuck out his lower lip. "Wes has been getting their groceries. He doesn't really hang around though since Matt's not… up to it. I love Wes. I love everybody. Help me."

Kurt laughed and pulled Blaine into his arms.

"My mind is breaking."

"It's not." Kurt laughed again and kissed the top of his head. "Do you want to go and visit Rachel?"

Blaine rose up slowly.

"She's pretty much your sister in law since Finn is pretty much your brother in law since he's my stepbrother." Kurt pointed out as Blaine lowered himself again.

"That made my head hurt. No thank you, though. Her voice still makes me want to die. I'm sorry. She talks and it's like someone is stabbing my ears with tiny thumb tacks."

"Hey, she's one of my best friends."

Blaine raised his head up. "I am sorry… for me, not for you."

Kurt gently smacked the top of his head. "Don't be a jerk."

"Sorry." Blaine sat up. "I won't say anything bad for another two months."

"Thank you." Kurt said. "I know she can be a bit much, but she really is one of my best friends. I could say plenty of things about David after living with him."

"Ooh, like what?" Blaine perked up. "Tell me."

Kurt bit his lip, looking thoughtful. Then he said, "I was going to say he had a fear of commitment but they were together the whole time so I don't know where I was going with that. He can be a real dick, though, oh my God."

Blaine nodded. "Oh, yeah. I know. You don't have to tell me twice. Such a dick."

"Has he ever been a dick to you?"

"Not too often but only because he thinks I'm too fragile… Wes is a dick to me, though."

"I can't picture that at all."

"After the Warbler's Ball… he gave me two angry days and then went off on me. Like total dick went off on me."

"Why?" Kurt looked surprised.

"Because of how I stormed off after you and caused a big scene in the parking lot. I mean, I totally deserved it, but he was a total dick all the same." Blaine shrugged. "That was a fun car ride and then flight back to Cambridge."

"Sorry not sorry. That was your fault." Kurt shrugged.

"You know, he never even said one bad thing about you during the break up. Did Finn say anything about me?"

"Pffft. No." Kurt rolled his eyes. "If I'd try to complain, he'd tell me to shut up and get back with you."

Blaine grinned. "Anyway, back to me sort of but not really talking about my job."

Kurt yawned and then tilted his head. "Okay?"

"I want to put you on my health insurance. I looked at the papers that you brought home from Marc Jacobs and it will save us money if I just put you on mine."

"Hearing you talk about saving money is hilarious, Blaine." Kurt shook his head.

Blaine shot him a look and continued. "Also, the plan is a lot better. So, can I get your digits?"

Kurt laughed loudly. "My social security number?"

"Yes." Blaine grinned. "Your nose is so cute when you laugh. It scrunches up right… here."

Kurt laughed again as Blaine touched the top of his nose. "Do you need it now?"

"No. Monday." Blaine looked at him. "That's when the computers will be up… supposedly."

"We are so lucky." Kurt said, tucking his leg underneath him after taking his shoes off.

Blaine smiled. "That we're living together?"

"Well, that too." Kurt laughed. "But our work buildings are within walking distance of each other. We can have lunches together and stuff. You can join David and I on Wednesdays!"

"They are? I still get so turned around. I tried to explore today but got lost and had to use Siri to find my way back." Blaine admitted. "They look far away on the map, though."

"There's a shortcut. I checked it on my way to work this morning." Kurt said. "I still get turned around too if I get too far out."

"Really? You always look like you know where you're going." Blaine tilted his head.

"Usually if I make enough turns, I'll find something I recognize. It's kind of a thing where I don't want to use my phone to find my way home. If I do that, I won't learn the city…. And I like knowing where stuff is, so it's also incentive to walk." Kurt smiled.

"Yeah, maybe I'll work on that during the weekends… probably not, though." Blaine grinned. "You look good in that outfit."

"You look good in your pajamas." Kurt laughed and leaned over to kiss him.

Blaine kissed him back, smile growing. "I love getting to kiss you almost whenever I want."

"Me too." Kurt smiled and leaned against him.

"Am I annoying you too much, yet?"

"Nah." Kurt nuzzled his shoulder. "Give it another week or two."

"God, my face hurts from smiling so much from living with you again. We should fight so we'll return to normal." Blaine ran his hand up and down Kurt's back.

"Personally, I think our nine months of fighting was enough for quite a while." Kurt turned and buried his head in the crook of Blaine's neck and shoulder.

"I love you." Blaine said, voice soft.

"I love you." Kurt smiled and kissed him.

Long Time Coming

"Kuuuuuurt."

Alec plopped into a seat across from a table Kurt was sitting at three days later.

"Hey!" Kurt waved.

"Hey. How are you? Are you guys completely unpacked?" Alec asked.

"Well I am. Blaine is in this really annoying bored stage because their office still hasn't opened… yet there's four boxes of his stuff still in the bedroom." Kurt shrugged.

"Eric had six weeks off before we actually moved to New York for his job. It was so annoying. It's like they can't function without education or something to do. I'm not smart enough to care I guess." Alec shrugged this time. "How is Marc Jacobs?"

"Really annoying. I've gotten to do nothing. It's just signing a crap-ton of forms and watching a crap-ton of videos. It's studying." Kurt groaned. "How is yours?"

"I haven't actually accepted anything yet." Alec admitted, wincing.

"Wait, what? I thought you had!"

"Yeah but then I read they donated money to an anti LGTBQ group, so I turned that down… the other three still have their offer up, though, so I'm just… trying to decide."

"What does Eric think?"

"He's just glad there is food when he comes home and clean laundry." Alec laughed. "It's summer so they're down a lot of interns… Really, he just tells me to pick whichever one I want the most but that does not help at all."

"Maybe you should hang out with Blaine! Someone needs to hang out with him so he'll actually shower and shave. I forgot how lazy he can be about shaving when he doesn't have to go out in public." Kurt cringed.

"It's adorable, though."

"No. It is. But it's scratchy… When he has too much free time, he's whiny. In undergrad he loved the free time but ever since he started Harvard—and graduated now, I guess— he always wants something to do."

"Aww, don't give him a hard time." Alec laughed again. "Some people just… need something to do. When will the building be ready?"

"I think they're waiting for their IT people to get up here and install stuff… and the phone and internet lines to be put in. It doesn't sound like there's a lot left but what they need is dragging." Kurt looked thoughtful.

"Why doesn't he go in and… study?"

"Well he's always does training with Bob and I have a feeling Bob's not going to go regularly until everything is set up. His dad died two months ago and they bought a house, so I'm sure he's doing stuff at home to keep his mind off of stuff… I'd rather stay at home than stare at blank walls and computer screens too." Kurt explained. "By the way, I've met him three times now and he is still just as cute. You know sometimes you'll see someone again and they aren't as cute as you thought? Well, he still is. I don't know how Blaine works with him without getting flustered."

Alec laughed.

"I'm serious."

"There is a hot surgeon Eric works with. It's the same way. Eric won't let me visit the days he's on the surgical floor anymore because I get tongue tied or babble."

"Okay, I'm not anywhere near that bad." Kurt said. "I mean, Blaine's cuter so I'm all good."

"Blaine is cute." Alec nodded. "No. He's adorable."

"Yeah and he has no idea. It's kind of ridiculous." Kurt laughed. "But you have to decide on a job before they all three move on."

"Argh, I know. You sound like my dad. I think Eric told him I was holding out still. Ugh." Alec looked up at the ceiling.

"Does he want you to work?"

"No. He doesn't really care either way, but I think he's tired of hearing me talk about it. He said I could not go to grad school and just live with him when I graduated CCAD, but I don't like to be bored." Alec shrugged.

"Just pick the one that pays the most?" Kurt asked.

"No. I don't want to work there."

"Well, now you've got two options instead of three."

"But it's better money." Alec whined. "And more recognized."

"Isn't it the one that you don't even really like what they put out?" Kurt tilted his head.

"Yeah. You're right. You and Eric say the same things. Are you two texting about me?" Alec gave him a suspicious look.

"No. I don't have his number. How is he, though? Did he decide if he wants to move back to California?"

"He's really good but busy—which he likes. He told his dad he would come up and visit his hospital, but I don't know if he's serious or if he's trying to get them to leave him alone about it."

"Did you tell him you don't want to go?" Kurt asked.

"No." Alec sighed. "I feel bad saying that when I can't even pick a job I actually want here, you know? And I'm sure he would make more money if we moved but I cannot handle his family. Your family loves Blaine. His parents aren't my biggest fans—and not just because Eric sent his mom home when he had TB."

"Why don't they like you?" Kurt looked surprised.

"Okay. The parents should totally be reversed. I was fourteen and Eric had just turned eighteen when I started dating him. My dad was put-off until the third or fourth time he talked to Eric, but Eric's parents act like I'm a baby or something. Yes, I understand that there's a big age gap between fourteen and eighteen and there were even a lot of teachers who were weird about it… but we've been together for ten years now and his parents still act like he's cradle robbing or something. Which is stupid because his sister is one year older than me and marrying a thirty two year old man… who they love. I think they really hate me and they're using the age gap as an excuse."

"Does Eric say anything to them?"

"I mean, he used to but at this point he doesn't respond to anything until they change the subject. It's not like, a thing that is an issue for us. At the same time, I don't want to live in the same city with them. Don't you remember they bought a house in New York? So we could 'have a home' and not 'tiny apartment.' I call bullshit because his mom has mentioned how they should 'just move into it during summers.' That's crazy. Who buys a house to live next to their almost 28 year old son during the summer? She may as well have said summers, falls, winters, and springs. I think she wanted him to leave me and move into it. I'm convinced now since all of a sudden she wants to move here. Oh God, I had forgotten about that."

"They didn't sell that?" Kurt asked.

"Hell no. Eric has told them at least ten times he wants nothing to do with it but they won't sell it."

Kurt laughed. "You have to be exaggerating a little bit."

"I mean I'm not completely sure that's why she bought the house but Eric's going to be thirty in two years and they're still being weird about us being together." Alec tilted his head. "Oh God. I should have told him I didn't want to go to California before we got married. What if he wants to go?"

"If he was seriously considering it, you all would have talked about it by now. Plus… would he have changed his last name if he was going to go to a hospital where his last name would have gotten him a lot further?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, his last name would get him further in any hospital that does surgeries. Most hospitals use the can't-remember- whatever-it-is. I think he changed it because nobody can pronounce it and even his husband couldn't say or spell it right." Alec laughed a bit. "That's still so weird. His last name is Davis now. We're married."

"You guys are cute." Kurt let out a little sigh.

"Your time is coming." Alec gave him a look.

"Is it, though?" Kurt tilted his head.

"You said he asked you to at least wait until he passes the Bar. He takes it in February and gets the results in April. Meaning he basically said if you propose then, he would say yes." Alec pointed at him.

"Keywords passes it. Also, he didn't say he would accept it. He told me not to ask before then." Kurt joked. "He could throw the test a few times to get out of a proposal."

"No." Alec shook his head. "Have you started saving for a ring yet?"

"I am not going to answer that."

"Kurt!" Alec gasped. "Really?"

"I mean… I have 10% of my paychecks going into a savings account that Blaine doesn't know I have. I've not had that many, so I haven't saved a lot yet." Kurt admitted.

"Awwww." Alec looked like he wanted to cry.

"What?!" Kurt laughed.

"You didn't even wait to get established at work first. You're saving already. It's sweet. You even took money out of your first official paycheck." Alec put his hand over his mouth and then pulled it back down. "Who else knows?"

"My stepbrother but that's it." Kurt shrugged a bit.

"Are you going to tell Blaine's friends?"

"I mean… I don't know. I'll talk to them eventually, but I don't want people asking me when I'm going to do it all of the time when I have to at least wait until April, you know?" Kurt said. "Also, I probably can't even buy it until right before because Lord knows he'll stumble onto it and ruin it for himself. He ruins every surprise I try to give him."

"Well does your dad know?"

"No. Dad will not know until after it happens because he would be so happy that Blaine would know something was going on and figure it out." Kurt shook his head. "I'm not even telling Carole… because she'd probably get that excited too. It's too risky to tell anyone but Finn because he'll probably forget anyway... Oh my God. What if he tells Puck?"

"I doubt he'd do that." Alec said. "Your brother is so cute."

"Yeah, he's got that adorable face. He told me he's going to go back to school to become a teacher."

"Don't try to change the subject! This is huge! Have you looked at rings?"

"No because he grabs my laptop and phone all of the time if they're closer than his. Adrian knew Matt was going to propose because he saw rings pulled up on his phone. I don't want it to be ruined."

"Come to my house and look at them. You can even steal my phone… or my laptop and say it's from Marc Jacobs for top secret work stuff!" Alec pointed out. "See? I'm smart!"

"That might actually work… but I can't take your laptop."

"Are you kidding? I use Eric's anyway. I hate my Mac. It was a graduation gift from undergrad and I just… can't get away from Windows, I guess." Alec shrugged.

"Eric just lets you use it?" Kurt laughed.

"Pfft. I don't ask. I just get on it like Blaine does with yours. What's his is mine, right?"

Kurt laughed again.

"Okay. How are you going to do it? Where are you going to do it? New York? Cambridge? Westerville? Lima? A beach? A restaurant?"

"I have no idea."

Adrian looked at him skeptically. "If you're saving for a ring, you've been thinking about it. I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Even Eric?"

"Even Eric. He can't keep a secret and he works with David. That'd be a big no no. I won't even tell the cat."

"When did you get a cat?"

"You aren't changing the subject! Tell me please!" Alec let out a whine. "Please."

Kurt looked around the busy restaurant—there was no sign of Wes, AJ, David, Blaine, Adrian… or anybody that he knew.

"You're going to tell me?!" Alec looked thrilled.

"I don't know yet. I don't want to do it in Ohio, though. The whole getting engaged where you met thing just… I don't like it. Plus, we were completely different then." Kurt said after glancing around again. "But I don't just want to propose in the apartment either. I want it to be special… I want to make him feel special. With all the crap that's gone on with his family this year and his anxiety… I just want to make him happy."

"Do you have any ideas?"

Kurt stared at him.

"You do! Where?"

"I'm not sure but… I was thinking about doing it inside the New York Public Library. I mean, I've really just been looking at 'places to go' so if he sees it on my phone, he won't get suspicious… and there are a lot of really nice places but I'm stuck on that one. He's a big bookworm when he has time to read. I don't think he'd want me to do it in front of a bunch of people, either, because he's pretty private… The first time he was in the library, he loved it and talked about it for days."

Alec quietly hit his hand on the table a few times and then bounced in his seat.

"What? Do you think that's a bad idea?"

"No! I think that's, like, perfect!" Alec exclaimed—quiet enough that nobody around them heard, though. "Oh my God. Kurt! I will totally hide and take pictures. Actually, I suck at that. You should hire someone."

"I don't know when I'm going to do it or anything… and I may change my mind and want to do it somewhere else… I just don't want to do it in some random place in Central Park or something, you know? I want it to be special."

"Yeah, Eric proposed in bed after sex on Christmas Eve. You've already put tons more thought into yours." Alec laughed.

"You were serious? That's really how he did it?"

"Yes! He' ha been trying to get me to go out and I wanted to have sex so I'm the one that threw it off… He just went with it. It's okay. Our family thinks he proposed at Hayden Falls Park in Dublin." Alec shrugged.

"That is totally believable since you all got married in the park here on the hiking trail."

"Yeah. They'll never know the truth." Alec laughed again. "Hopefully our kids won't either. That would be awkward, I'm sure."

"Are you all talking kids?" Kurt asked.

"No. Not really. He's always been against it but I think he might be coming around after working with them so much. It's not going to happen soon, though. I think he's trying to be an attending in the next couple of years… and if he does, he'll have to pick between ER and pediatrics. But if we have kids he can pick the ER and have the best of both worlds."

"Did you tell him that?"

"Yes and he gave me the 'look.' He was also coming off a sixteen hour shift, though, so he probably doesn't even remember." Alec shrugged and then clapped his hands quietly. "Yay! Klaine is going to get married!"

"Klaine?" Kurt laughed.

"Yep. It's easier than saying Kurt and Blaine but sounds better than Blurt." Alec nodded, facial expression serious.

"Yeah, it does sound better." Kurt also nodded.

Alec hit his palms on the table six times. "I. Am. So. Excited. For. You."

Kurt smiled. "Thanks… it's not happening any time soon, though."

"Yes, but it's going to happen. I'm so glad you two got back together. I am going to have such a hard time not telling Eric because this is so exciting—I won't, though! I promise!" Alec added quickly. "And the library would be so cute. You know him so well."

"Well, I'd hope so." Kurt's smile grew. "I hope he quits being annoying, though."

"Mmmmh… they don't. Sorry. It kind of gets worse because they get more comfortable." Alec laughed. "You sure you still want to ask him?"

"Yes." Kurt nodded his head. "I have a question."

"Okay?"

"Do you pay for your own health insurance?" Kurt asked.

"No. I've been on Eric's plan since we got to New York… actually, I was on his plan the last two years at CCAD too. Why? He's putting you on his plan?"

"He wants to but I don't know if that's weird when I can get it myself?"

"Are you asking this because of his small influx of money or his big influx of money?" Alec asked.

"Before I had a job lined up, he was even offering to cover my loan payments and rent until I found something…" Kurt said.

"That's sweet."

"It is but I don't want it to make things weird."

"Honestly, Kurt, my parents paid for almost everything until Eric and I got engaged except my health insurance and rent… which Eric barely let me pay in the first place now that I think about it. I might not be the best person to ask." Alec admitted.

"But did it make things weird? When you were just dating, I mean?"

"Honestly, I think it was past dating and was more of a long term relationship. I think there's a big distinction there. It never felt weird either, really." Alec said slowly. "I think Blaine would be doing this regardless of if he'd gotten that inheritance or not. "

"I know he would. I just worry he'll eventually think I'm using him if I'm on his insurance… I'm paying rent and my loans now, but I was worried about it when I didn't have a job too. I don't want to take advantage of him or look like I am."

"First, it doesn't care what it looks like to other people. You're not sitting there asking him to do it or acting like you don't have funds when you do. Second, Blaine knows you would never take advantage of him. You two are really well balanced and, honestly, you'll make a lot more than his inheritance."

"I don't know about that…"

"Oh, come on. Your first job is at Marc Jacobs, Kurt." Alec gave him a look. "Let's be real here."

"But still."

"You're going to propose next year and it's going to become a melting pot of bills and money from there. You guys aren't going to wonder what account it's coming from and if one account gets low, you'll use the other until the next check comes through. We don't even really think about it... like ever. I just have any of my money sent to his account anyway and we both have cards to his."

Kurt looked hesitant.

"Say you were starting out at his $160,000 salary, something happened and he didn't have a job or enough money to pay something… would you think twice about paying it for him? This is obviously just an example."

"No, I wouldn't."

"I wouldn't worry about being on his insurance. You'll be getting married and who paid what isn't going to matter. I mean, I know its money…. But it's also just money. He happens to have more than everyone in this entire building combined… but it's still money." Alec shrugged and then said, "Talk to him if it's bothering you or you're worried… but if he was worried, you'd be able to tell."

"Thanks." Kurt nodded.

"Do you feel better?"

"I think I'll talk to him about it this weekend before he submits his insurance paperwork on Monday… but I do feel a bit better. Thanks."

"Kurt, I literally didn't do anything. Come over and steal my computer… and meet our cat!" Alec stood. "Since I'm your first non-family member that knows about this, you're going to call me after you get engaged first, right?"

"Yes. I will call you first." Kurt stood. "Just don't tell Rachel."

"She's very…"

"I know. I know."

Long Time Coming

"Wes."

"Go away, Blaine. It's too early."

"Wes."

"You don't live here. Why are you here?" Wes groaned and sat up in bed.

"Because you work during the week and I miss you."

"And? That's not why you're here at nine in the morning on a Saturday.""

"And… I think Kurt's mad at me…?" Blaine cringed.

"Kurt is mad at you and you come to my apartment?" Wes rubbed his face. "Who let you in?"

"AJ but the door was unlocked. Unrelated." Blaine sat on the bed next to him, Indian style.

"What did you do?"

"I think it's more what I'm not doing." Blaine cringed again.

"You've been living together two and a half months and you're already not doing… what are you not doing?"

Blaine looked at him, blinking.

"What?"

"Well… I think I've gotten too used to living with AJ and Adrian because they're neat freaks."

"What did you not do?"

"Put more toilet paper in the bathroom when I used the last roll up… take the garbage to the chute thing… start the oven even though he texted me and I said I already had—"

Wes snorted. "Well, that's not that bad."

"My soap fell over and is all over the shower floor… I did not clean it before leaving… I forgot to unload the dishwasher... Speaking of, I forgot to reload it last night. Shit."

"Wait, wait, wait. So, he goes from living with David the Neat Freak and goes back to living with you who has had two and a half years of AJ doing most of the cleaning before we could even get around to it? I would be pissed too. That is a bum deal."

"He didn't explicitly use the word… pissed. He said he 'understood Carole's frustration with his father when he slept all weekend and didn't 'do a damn thing.'" Blaine gave a sweet smile. "So now he's mad without saying he's mad. And also, we haven't had sex in a week and a half but I don't know! It's like we outdid it the month and a half. It's been two weeks… we tried last Monday and then the dogs—you don't want to know. But it's like any time one of us is up to it, the other isn't."

Wes stared at him.

"What?"

"So not only are you being messy, but you're also cockblocking him?" Wes asked.

"Hey, he is cockblocking me too!"

"Just act like you're enjoying it like all of the women." AJ said sweetly, walking into the room and to the closet.

"Yeah… Wait, what?" Wes looked at her.

AJ smiled sweetly.

"Yeah. It's not as easy to fake a hard on." Blaine said.

"Okay. I assumed who was the bottom but I didn't need to know for sure. Thanks, Blaine." AJ walked back out.

"Actually, it's not always—" Blaine began, calling after her.

"I don't need to know!"

"For the record, she does not fake it with me." Wes said confidently after Blaine looked at him again.

"Are you sure about that?" Blaine tilted his head.

"No. I'm not." Wes sighed. "You are a mess."

"I haven't gotten a full night's sleep because the neighbor's dog is freaking annoying and we aren't in synch. I get the best sleep after sex.. Maybe we just can't live together anymore. Maybe we need to get apartments next to each other." Blaine rambled. "I don't know but he's really attractive and why can't I get it up?"

"That sounds like a question you need to ask Little Blaine." Wes yawned and smiled when AJ came back in, plopping the baby on his lap.

"Do you want a hint, Blaine?" AJ asked calmly.

"For what?"

"How to make Kurt not mad at you?"

"Yes."

"Clean up after yourself, don't study until your head and eyes hurt so much you can't focus enough to not get into sex, clean up after yourself, don't masturbate, and clean up after yourself. Also do your own damn laundry. We don't all have mothers like Matt's. And clean up after yourself!"

"Oh my God. I haven't done laundry in a month. I forgot about that. He's been doing all of it." Blaine covered his face with his hands. "Help."

"There is no helping you." AJ shook her head. "You must not want a ring."

"What?" Blaine looked at her like she as crazy.

"Do you not realize the logical next step in your life is to get engaged? Don't you want that? Because if he's being your mom, it's not going to happen."

"I am studying for the most—"

"Important exam of your life, blah blah. I hear it from Adrian. Suck it up. Go clean your house, get him a 'I'm sorry' gift, take him out for cheesecake, and then have make up sex. Watch porn if you have too. Jesus." AJ sighed. "I thought gay guys were supposed to be good at dating."

"We don't date. We coexist." Blaine groaned. "Maybe I don't remember how to be in a relationship more than four days in a row."

Scarlett crawled into his lap.

"Hey, cutie." Blaine gave her a squeeze as AJ left the room.

"Listen, Blaine. I know you're stressing out over the Bar and officially training and stuff but Kurt's also stressed out over starting a new job. Wait… it's Saturday… does Kurt know you're here?" Wes asked.

"I don't know. He was on the phone with Rachel and I just waved on my way out."

"You didn't say bye or tell him where you were going or anything?" Wes looked amused.

"What?" Blaine whined.

"How late have you been staying up? How much are you studying?"

"I've been studying for three hours after work… and I get home at six. I even study when I eat dinner half of the time."

"Well no wonder you can't get it up. You're braindead before nine hits." Wes snorted.

"Well I'm shadowing Bob on this criminal case when my built in study time is scheduled for." Blaine admitted.

"Well you need to fit in your three hours of studying a night in somewhere else or you'll be rooming with Scarlett here soon."

Blaine looked at Scarlett. "I won't tell you to clean your side if you don't tell me to clean mine."

"Give me my child, go home, and apologize to Kurt for treating him like a roommate and not your partner. Then do something really sweet and it'll be okay."

"But if I take her, it might help my case a bit?" Blaine asked as Wes took Scarlett from him.

"Yeah, if I let you do that Alicia won't be very happy with me and I kind of just want her to myself. I'm away from her at least forty hours week and she's getting so big. Go find your own baby. She's mine." Wes yawned and laid back down, his arm going over Scarlett who was now on his chest. "I'm going to sleep again. Text me later."

"You're kicking me out?" Blaine asked.

"Yep." Wes nodded. "Do not collect $400 on your way out. Bye."

Blaine crawled out of Wes' bed and left the room.

"Bye, Blaine!" AJ waved on his way out.

…

"Why are you in the lobby? Did they kick you out of the alcohol store?" Kurt asked, going up to Blaine later that same day.

Blaine was sitting in one of the couches in the lobby of their apartment building's first floor. He looked up from his book, eyes lighting up. "Hi, Kurt."

"Hey." Kurt looked at him, confused. "Where did you go this morning?"

"Wes' 'Blaine is being stupid' alarm was going off." Blaine stood.

"Not stupid. Maybe a tad clueless." Kurt gave him a small smile.

"I'm sorry I waved a goodbye and ran out… also that I keep forgetting to do laundry and dishes and change out the toilet paper rolls." Blaine said. "And whatever else I've been forgetting."

"I forgive you."

"I'm going to try to get up earlier to study, so I don't have to read as much after work. I'm also sorry that we can't get on a synched schedule for… you know…" Blaine stood and walked towards the elevator.

"Well that's not all your fault. There have been times you're ready and I'm not too." Kurt sighed, pushing the 'up' button on the elevator. "Did you clean the apartment?"

"Mhmm. And I got something we can easily put in the oven for dinner. I also put like twenty toilet paper rolls under the bathroom sink… in the cabinet, obviously. And I got you two pieces of cheesecake—that was AJ's idea, though, so I can't take full credit for the cheesecake."

Kurt smiled. "Thank you."

"Where did you go?" Blaine asked, getting in the elevator and pushing the button for their floor.

"Rachel and Finn's. They had to go somewhere together without the baby… I'm assuming that's for a pregnancy test at the UTC." Kurt shrugged.

"Is there something in the water?" Blaine scoffed.

"There must be. Soon Taylor will be calling to say she's pregnant." Kurt shrugged again, unlocking the door to their apartment. "Is she too old to… do that?"

"Well, Bob's wife is around their age and she's pregnant, so maybe not." Blaine pointed out. "What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know. What about you?"

"I don't know either." Blaine sat on the couch.

Kurt plopped next to him and then scooted down, laying his head on Blaine's chest.

"I love your deflated hair."

Kurt snorted, scooting a little closer. "I love your curls, so I guess this works out well for both of us."

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded, running his fingers through Kurt's hair. "It's getting longer."

"Higher the hair, closer to God. You know the drill."

Blaine looked down, seeing Kurt's smirk.

"Sorry I said I understood how Carole felt when Dad sleeps all weekend."

"Sorry I was acting like a roommate and not your partner."

"I think the first four weeks we were so excited just to live together again and now we're trying to settle in." Kurt sighed a bit, nuzzling Blaine's chest.

"I also think we both need to get laid." Blaine laughed.

"Yeah but I spent an hour and a half chasing down an almost two year old—why do they say 22 month old? Like… just say 2 years old. Round up or down. We don't need decimals or fractions here." Kurt sighed again.

"I'm too tired as well." Blaine admitted. "Mainly from cleaning my soap mess in the bathroom."

"Yeah... I was not doing that." Kurt sat up. "So, what are we going to do?"

"About what?" Blaine asked, looking at him.

"Getting used to living together again. I mean the first time we lived together the issue was our food in the cabinets and we ended up making set ones for each of us... And bathroom space but we never really solved that… We both just have so much stuff in the bathroom. So, what do you think we should do about… all of this?"

"Maybe we have set things to do? Whoever cooks doesn't have to clean the kitchen?" Blaine suggested.

"I'm okay with that since I'm the one that always cooks."

"Hey now. I have branched out from just spaghetti. I can bake chicken now. "

Kurt let out a very loud laugh. "Can you?"

"Yes."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, no." Blaine sighed. "But I took a step in the right direction. Maybe by the time we have kids, I'll have at least five things under my belt."

"So three more to go. How many years will that take?" Kurt smiled sweetly.

"We're going to get this all figured out, right?" Blaine asked, biting his lip.

"Yes. Except for dishes after not cooking, I think we should just split the other stuff." Kurt looked at him. "I'm still sorry I said that last night about knowing how Carole felt."

"No, it's okay. It's the truth. In Cambridge, both AJ and Adrian were neat freaks so stuff would get done before you even knew it was there. Adrian was super anal about the dishwasher too so nobody else messed with it. I guess I got used to not having to think about things. I deserved what you said. 100%."

"Hey, have you talked to AJ or Adrian about Matt? How are things over there?" Kurt asked.

"Adrian's not really talking about Matt much. I think he's back in Cambridge, though."

"Wait, what?" Kurt sat up straight.

"No, nothing like that!" Blaine said quickly. "He has to sign papers for worker's comp and I think they may be closing on his house?"

"Did Adrian go with him?"

"No. Matt said he was fine to go by himself." Blaine shrugged.

"Adrian should have gone with him."

"I don't know. He wanted to and asked to go five times but after the fifth time of Matt saying no, he gave up." Blaine bit his lip. "Maybe going home will help him feel better."

"Or make him homesick and not want to come back."

"No. He would never do that to Adrian. He may be depressed right now but you didn't see him in that room the day Adrian had the bad asthma attack. He loves him so much. He wouldn't leave Adrian for anything. There is no way." Blaine shook his head. "It was like when you were hurt and had just gotten home. It's what I kept thinking about. Just sitting on the edge of the bed, wanting to do something, anything, and having no idea what to do."

"We should see if Wes, AJ, and Adrian can all meet for dinner or something. Especially if Adrian's alone on a weekend. That makes me sad." Kurt frowned.

"Are you sure you don't want to have a date night? We haven't gotten a lot of quality time together." Blaine asked.

"I think Adrian is probably really sad being home alone on a weekend while Matt is gone… I think we should at least try to set something up first."

"Okay, I'll see if everyone is free."

…

"So, what is really going on?" Wes asked an hour into dinner.

Adrian, who had already half a beer and a half, sighed. "I don't even know honestly. He's devastated and he won't talk about it at all. He barely talks to me about anything. The only time he seems happy is when Scarlett's over and he's playing with her."

"He's not said anything about it since he got out of the appointment?" Blaine asked and took a bite out of a fry.

"I don't know. I mean, he did but it was all fake. If he talks about it, it's fake. Otherwise he doesn't want to talk about it. I don't know if he's lying to me or himself… or both. I talked to his dad on the phone when he was asleep a couple of days ago, though. He's going to try to talk to him and see if he can make Matt… I don't know… Feel better about it so he can get to point B? I feel like he's a ticking time bomb right now. Eventually if he doesn't deal with it, he's going to explode. I've never seen him mad— except for anytime Chad or my parents come up— and I don't know what to expect. That might be the worst part of it—having no idea if he'll yell or if he'll cry or punch a wall or… what. It's making me so anxious." Adrian took a big gulp of his beer. "Don't let me get another one of these."

"Nope and you're coming home with me." AJ said.

"What has he been talking about?" Kurt asked.

"Nothing substantial. Literally nothing. It's all just stupid filler for the silence. It's killing me. I just want to see him smile or laugh… or even really talk. Some sign of Matt. I know he's devastated and I'm devastated for him. But what he's doing right now isn't healthy and it is going to make it worse in the long run. I want him to do something healthyso he can go back to being Matt." Adrian sighed and took a big drink of his water.

"When is he coming home?" Blaine asked.

"Well it was supposed to yesterday… and today… Supposedly tomorrow now but I don't even know what to do or think anymore. Even when he's here he'll just leave the apartment for hours and won't even take his phone, so I can't reach him. Who knows if he'll even come back?" Adrian groaned. "God, that was so dramatic. I'm sorry. I know he's going to come back."

AJ patted his leg. "It sounds like their family is close. Maybe it's good for him to stay a couple of days."

"Maybe his dad will be able to get through to him. What if he wants to move back home? What then?" Adrian asked. "He's only ever lived in their house and the one he bought himself. Always in Cambridge. This is literally the third place he's lived in in his entire life. What if he misses it so much he's going to go back home?"

"He won't want to move back home, Adrian." Blaine reassured him.

"If he's closing on his old house, he's not going to stay in Cambridge. Don't make it sound worse than it is." AJ said, voice firm. "He wanted to be here with you so badly. He bought an apartment for you. He loves you."

"Am I drunk yet?"

"No, sweetie. Just tired."

"Oh God. One of the worst parts is that I've been so dodgy with work. I can't believe I even still have this job. Bob keeps telling me to not worry about my job and to come in when I can and he's so sincere. He basically paid me to stay home with Matt for six weeks… and then the three extra weeks the doctor said I needed to be home since Matt fell and hurt himself the third day I was back at work. He paid for our moving trucks out of pocket even though he'd already given me the cost of moving check from the office's money. There was insurance stuff and I had to use most of that check for Matt's pain medicine because he doesn't know where his wallet is and Bob just paid for the truck like it was nothing. On his own personal card. Matt's brothers moved everything up here since Matt couldn't really get up or move easily for a few days after he got out of the hospital. So, I basically did nothing. Also, Bob gave Matt's brother a $300 gift card for food for us for when we made it here from Cambridge. It was sitting on the counter when we first got home and I just started bawling." Adrian took a deep breath and then groaned.

"Shh." AJ rubbed his arm. "It's okay."

"I just want Matt. I want him to make jokes and smile and cuddle and ramble about stupid stuff." Adrian sniffed. "I know I roll my eyes at him all of the time but I love that about him."

"He knows that." Blaine said as Scarlett started to fuss. "And he's still Matt. It will get better. He just needs some more time."

"It's almost been two and a half months."

"I'm sure it will be soon." AJ promised as Wes took Scarlett from her. She instantly calmed down.

Adrian nodded, wiping his eyes.

"It will be okay." Kurt said.

"Thanks, Kurt." Adrian sniffled again. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm just tired."

"Don't apologize." Blaine said. "This is kind of why we all wanted to get dinner tonight. To check on you."

"I had a feeling." Adrian gave a little laugh.

"It's going to get better for Matt." Wes said. "He just has to hit the breaking point and then… build himself back up and take control. He's being stubborn right now but he'll get there and find something new."

"He really loved being a police officer. He had started looking at schools, just to see what was out there, and told me he wanted to further his law degree. He really loved it." Adrian sighed. "I have no idea what he'll do."

"He'll find something else he really loves too." Kurt reassured him. "He's so personable that he could probably get a job anywhere honestly."

"Yeah. When he is himself, he will make anybody laugh." Adrian laughed again. "I know he'll be okay but it's hard getting there, I guess. I feel bad being upset because this is his thing and I don't want to pull attention away from him."

"If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of Matt." Blaine said.

"Yeah. I know." Adrian took a deep breath. "I'm good. I'm okay. I appreciate this so much, though. Thank you all. I feel better talking about it."

AJ squeezed his thigh.

"He'll get there." Blaine said. "Hopefully super soon, but he will get there."

"He will." Adrian nodded. "You guys really are the best."

"We know." Wes grinned as Scarlett shrieked.

"God, she really is your child." AJ sighed.

"Was there ever a doubt?"

Long Time Coming

"I just got creamed by a twenty seven year old." Bob announced two days later, walking into Jake's office where Adrian and Blaine were going through stuff.

"Who was it? I bet I know who it was." Jake asked.

"Kyle Taggart or something like that?"

Jake shrugged. "Yeah. He beat three out of the top five lawyers at my old place. I honestly have no idea how he does it. I bet it's because he's young and cute. Were there a lot of girls in the jury?"

"I can't even blame it on him being young and cute. It's because he knew his shit better than I did and I have been doing this for twenty five years. What, did they teach him torts in kindergarten?" Bob scoffed. "He is two years older than my law career!"

"I know, I know. He was valedictorian at Yale. He's also already gotten his Master of Laws, too. Took the Bar right out of college and started the second degree the next August." Jake didn't seem bothered. "You'll get used to it after the third or fourth time he beats you."

"He is a boy. Twenty seven year old boy." Bob said. "I thought it was going to be a boring five minute thing but man was I wrong. Now Sarah's pissed I didn't make it for the baby appointment. Blaine, stop smirking over there."

"I told you that you should have pushed the meeting up." Blaine said cheerfully.

"Hey, you weren't even looking at him. How did you know he was smirking?" Adrian tilted his head.

"Bob knows all." Blaine said. "Don't you know that, Adrian?"

"Apparently Bob does not know all." Bob scoffed and sat down in one of the chairs. "I can't believe this just happened. And he was so sweet after saying he'd heard a lot about me and how nice it was to meet me. Fucking shoot me. Am I about to have a midlife crisis or something because my wife is nearly six months pregnant and I do not have time for this?"

"Okay, listen. The Taggart family has one of the best known law offices in the city. It's on it's, like, fourth generation or something. Kyle's dad is over it, too. We're talking aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings. They must procreate to keep the office open. I'm surprised their dogs don't practice law." Jake said. "Honestly, Kyle is a piece of cake compared to the people that have been in law longer. His brother James is three times worse—or, rather, better— than him. I've only won against James once and I'm pretty sure he had the flu that day. The other brother is a beast too. It's ridiculous. The only kid that doesn't do law is their sister and she's a wedding photographer."

"Well she probably knew he'd cream her too." Bob grumbled. "Good fucking lord. He's a baby."

"Welcome to New York City law. I know you had cases here before but you are going to be running into that family a lot now that you live here. I go up against at least one of them every week… not hard to do since there's so many of them, though."

"Fuck me."

"No thank you."

Adrian covered his mouth, trying very hard not to laugh.

Bob stood. "Don't mind me. I'm going to go into my office and hang myself."

"Is Sarah going to come and yell at you again like she did when you missed that baby appointment with Emily?" Jake asked.

Bob mimed a gun to his head and walked out.

"I have been waiting for Bob to go up against this family ever since he started getting cases again. The fact that it was the youngest one is just icing on the cake." Jake laughed.

"Will Sarah really come and yell at him?" Blaine asked, standing.

"I doubt it. The only time she's ever come to his office and yelled at him, she had gestational diabetes and couldn't have sugar. She was suuuuuper grumpy. Obviously, this is coming from Bob so who knows if it was actually yelling. He always thinks she's madder than she actually is."

"It was actual yelling!" Bob called from down the hall. "I couldn't even fix it with Dairy Queen because she couldn't have sugar!"

"How did he even hear that?" Jake looked confused.

"Don't you remember what I said? Bob knows all. See you guys later." Blaine waved and walked across the hall, grinning. "Good afternoon."

Bob looked up from his computer and said, very slowly, "Good afternoon, Blaine."

"So how has your day been?" Blaine plopped down in front of his desk.

"If you were older I would say something very rude and inappropriate now but you have to at least be Ryan's age before I will feel comfortable doing that."

"Go for it. I can handle it."

"Mmm no. Then you'll turn into Ryan and I can only handle one of him. You gay boys are too sarcastic." Bob sighed. "God, three in one office. What was Tammy thinking? I bet she was sick of hearing Hamilton when she agreed to have Ryan come here too. Ugh. I'm going to buy him tickets to see it live and only hand them over if he promises to never play it around me again."

"Those start at close to $300." Blaine said. "And go up to over $1,000."

"I know that. He complains about it weekly. You can't put a price on sanity, Blaine."

His wife walked in and said, without even a hello, "Well you didn't show up, so I overrode our decision on waiting to find out what the baby is. It's a boy. Congrats with your super male creating sperm."

"Why would you do that?" Bob stared at her, eyes wide.

"Because I'm pregnant and got irrationally mad that you didn't show up when you said you would even though I knew it wasn't your fault. I thought about not telling you but then I decided it's your fault I'm pregnant so you'll have to deal with the consequences." Sarah gave him a bright smile. "But now you can rest knowing Emily will be the only girl and I can rest easy knowing I ruined the surprise for you."

"Well the joke is on you because I went back to the gynecologist after I took you to work from the last month's appointment and convinced them to let me know so I could surprise you." Bob shrugged. "They think I'm wonderful and perfect."

"They are not incorrect about the wonderful part but you aren't perfect… Also, isn't that illegal without my permission?"

"Dear, when you sign the waiver giving me permission to see your stuff… that means I can see your stuff."

"Wait. You were about to get bent out of shape when you did the same thing?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah." Bob stared at her. "That was rude. You just ruined your surprise shower. Good job."

"Ugh, I can't even piss you off anymore. I hate being pregnant. Bye." Sarah walked out.

"She literally tries to make me angry every time she's pregnant. This is where she wants me to follow her but I'm not going to because it will drive her crazier." Bob said. "She'll come back after a few minutes of sitting in the car."

"Isn't that kind of mean?" Blaine asked.

"She ruined her surprise! Even if it is mean, she'll be alright. There's a Dairy Queen on the way home and anything can be solved with a Brownie Batter Blizzard, Blaine. At least with Sarah."

"You are so rude, you know?" Sarah came back in. "It was a blatant invasion of my privacy to go do that."

"There's a reason there is privacy form for allowing people to access your information. Maybe you should pay attention when you're filling out your paperwork if you don't want me to see your shit." Bob said impatiently.

"But then you wouldn't be able to pick up stuff for me when I don't want to go myself."

Bob opened his mouth but decided against whatever he was going to say and closed it.

"If I knew you were going to be a lawyer, I never would have married you. You have a comeback to literally everything I say except 'I'm pregnant.' Then you look like you want to pass out… You did pass out with Charlie. I was so annoyed." Sarah pointed at him.

"I don't look like I'm going to pass out. I'm trying to not pass out." Bob scoffed. "Also, that degree is paying for your tall green house."

"It's Victorian. I really do like the house…" Sarah sighed. "Fine. At least walk me to the car since you're an ass for ruining my surprise party."

"Are you actually serious?" Bob exclaimed as he stood. "You ruined it!"

"Yes. I am. I bet you're making it up and weren't even planning anything."

"I'll be back." Bob told Blaine, who was having a very hard time keeping a straight face.

He heard Sarah muttering about his 'eternal youth' as she followed him out.

Adrian came in seconds later. "Oh my God, they banter. That was so cute… Also, she is really pretty."

"Yeah, she is." Blaine nodded.

"Are you all even doing anything?"

"Not yet. I think he's going to show me the stuff for his new criminal case, though." Blaine fought a yawn and then said, "How's Matt?"

"He actually got home last night and had a box of 24 of those cookies and they're all heat sealed. I literally started crying when he gave me the box and he just hugged me for ten minutes." Adrian admitted. "I think going home and seeing his family really helped him, though. Last night and this morning he was all talks and smiles."

"That's so good!" Blaine exclaimed. "That was so sweet with the cookies."

"Yeah. He's always really sweet, though. Not even just sometimes. He opens doors, lets me walk through doors first, and closes the car door. He always has." Adrian sighed a bit and then smiled. "I think he actually stayed the last night because he had to order the cookies special. They usually don't have that many, so they had to make them for him."

"I'm so glad he's doing better, Adrian." Blaine smiled.

"Me too. I hope it's for good but if not, we'll work through it." Adrian smiled as Bob walked back in.

"Why are you both sitting on the floor?"

"Well Blaine sits anywhere, and I feel weird talking down at him." Adrian stood. "Okay. I'm going to see if Ryan is out of his meeting. They take so long."

"Trust me. He wants it to end more than you do." Bob reassured him. "Hey, ask Matthew about the rooster on the Boston Common Carousel when you get home. You'll enjoy the reaction." Bob grinned.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Adrian asked.

"This is the third time I've heard you say that." Blaine, who was still sitting on the floor, tilted his head.

"I'm not going to ruin that surprise… also ask him about the Bunker Hill Monument and the Mount Auburn Cemetery."

"Wait, what is this?" Adrian asked eagerly. "Please tell me."

"Oh, you should hear it from him. Especially the carousel one. Honestly you could just ask about every stupid thing he did in high school but you would probably be there for a week. Does his mom still call him 'Trouble?'"

"I don't think so?" Adrian tilted his head. "She doesn't in front of me at least."

"She would refer to him by that until a couple of months before he graduated high school. He got grounded a lot… especially once he started to drive when his mayhem opportunities widened. Not that it stopped him from going out anyway." Bob laughed.

"Oh my God. Was he that bad?"

"No, not bad. Just stupid and funny stuff. Well, it's funny if it's not your kid."

"I will definitely remember to ask him. I should see if Ryan's back or he'll think I left early." Adrian got up off the floor.

"You and Matt? Dinner tonight? AJ and Wes too?" Blaine asked.

"I'll talk to him when I get home. I think he'll be fine with it, though, because he was saying he wanted to see the baby. He hated holding her but after he got hurt and AJ's been bringing her over, he's so in love." Adrian laughed and left.

"Does your ego feel better?" Blaine smiled sweetly after standing.

"Do you want to work today or not?" Bob asked, giving him a look.

"Yes." Blaine said eagerly, pulling another seat up behind Bob's desk. "Case me."

"Oh, not yet. What do you think makes a lawyer successful or more likely to win in a court room?"

"Hey, I'm out of school. Don't I get to ask the questions now?"

Bob gave him a look.

He knew he'd had some teachers talk about that but it had been the first semester of the first year. Honestly, he'd thought it was all bull that teachers had to say as an introduction… and honestly, who listened to the whole introductions anyway?

"They're prepared and convincing?" Blaine asked.

"Well… Technically you're not wrong… but you're wrong."

"Excuse me?" Blaine tilted his head again.

"I was pretty damn prepared today and I'm also very convincing, but I did not win today." Bob said. "Because there was somebody who was more prepared and more convincing. Theoretically every lawyer should be those things but not all of them are going to win. The people who do win understand the case better than their opponents—example 1, I did not know my client left out a very convincing tape which the other client's lawyer had with him. If I don't know it exists, I can't come up with a good way to reset that situation. That pretty much did me in."

"Ouch." Blaine winced.

"Successful lawyers control the courtroom. Back to example 1 because I sure didn't have control once that evidence came out."

"That sucks."

"Yeah it does suck but it was my job to not be blind sighted and to have a backup plan to still win the case or at least create enough doubt that the jury wouldn't buy it completely." Bob sighed.

"Okay, what else?"

"Be confident and respectful of the court and justice system—which should be second nature to anyone in law who is there for the right reasons. There are laws and you can't rearrange or manipulate them to fit your agenda. Also, just because there's a loophole and your opponent uses it doesn't mean you, as the opposing side, can get pissed off. Nothing is going to turn a judge or jury off more than you getting pissed off, fighting something you think is incorrect when there is proof it is, or badgering a witness or your plaintiff or defendant. The truth is if you've done your job and you're confident, you should be able to work around or with the loop hole. Always have a backup plan and always be ready to use it. It's better than to plan too much and not use it than the other way around."

"Makes sense."

"You'd think so but you'd also be surprised at some of the lawyers who will get hot headed, go off, try to intimidate a witness or client, or 'accidentally' compromise the courtroom using some type of evidence or comment that makes the jury unable to come to a unbiased decision. Some lawyers will go to great lengths to win a case or save face— especially in the really bad criminal cases."

"Does that get them anywhere?"

"It may get them a win in one case if someone slips up but that judge is going to remember that lawyer forever. Five years, ten years, twenty years. You remember who does really well and is honest. You really remember the ones who are really shitty or conniving."

"So, you're saying you shouldn't get upset?"

"There's a big difference in being hotheaded and getting upset. When you're hotheaded you don't care to twist laws or words to your benefit. You literally don't care about the rules or the law unless they fit your agenda. They just want a win. Those type can be the worst kind of lawyers too because that's when you get people wrongfully put in jail or people's kids taken away. That's an extreme example but you get what I'm saying. Hotheaded is worse than upset because with one you basically don't care what you do to prove your point, even if it's wrong.

Getting upset is different and normal, but you must know how to use that energy to push you farther and not pull you back. Nothing upsets—well, actually, pisses— me off more than a sexual assault case where the defendant's lawyer or a defendant is slandering a young girl or woman to lower her credibility. Pulling out party photos, 'Oh, she was drunk,' talking to an old boyfriend who bad mouth her, or bringing completely unrelated shit up. If they do that, they've pretty much fucked themselves over because I am not walking out of that room without a conviction. And I haven't lost one rape case yet… However, if I wasn't a lawyer who could take that anger and turn those feelings into something else, then I could lose that case because I could forget the questions I need to ask, what point I'm trying to make, what other things I still need to bring up. Then we could lose the case and that's completely on me because the other lawyer threw my game off by pissing me off. And that is one more letdown in one of the worst moments of somebody's life."

"That would be horrible." Blaine bit his lip. "Which cases usually upset you or make you the angriest?"

"Sexual assault and anything to do with babies or children. Luckily, I know how to take the anger to get energized and just crush them. I will not back down. My longest trial that wasn't high profile lasted seven days. Literally in the courtroom Monday through Friday nine to five and then Monday through 1:00 on the Tuesday. I won."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Other than those three types of cases though, I'm really good at keeping my cool in situations. But those just… ugh. Okay, back to topic. Lawyers also have successful cases by connecting with the judges and especially the jury. All it takes is to persuasively show your knowledge, speak confidently and like you know what the hell you're talking about, and be sincere. I think that last one is probably the most important of them all."

"Is that hard? Doing cases that are mostly really bad things?"

"Oh, there are really shitty days but it's all worth it when you win a horrible case and people can move on with their lives."

"Almost all of your cases are like that, though."

"Yeah. I have a lot of shitty days sometimes." Bob laughed a bit.

"Does that effect how you are outside of work?"

"To a degree, I think it does for everyone. I don't know how it couldn't."

"Who do you talk to when you have bad cases like that?" Blaine asked. "I mean… you talk to someone, right?"

"Legally, you are not allowed to discuss it with people. Realistically, you need somebody to talk that you know won't let the conversation leave the room. My person is obviously Sarah and sometimes Ryan—there are just some cases I don't even want Sarah to know about or she'll get worried." Bob admitted. "You can see and hear a lot of horrible things in criminal law but when you do, it's not healthy to bottle it up inside. Not all criminal cases are like that but there are some you will never forget. You don't forget visiting a freshman college student in the hospital because she was sexually assaulted and too beat up to come to you."

"That sounds really stressful."

Bob looked at him. "Being a lawyer won't be nearly as stressful if you practice law in another area and I wouldn't blame you at all if you change your mind. If you do go into criminal law, though, you've got to be all in. Those are the cases that really good lawyers get, though, and you're going to be a great lawyer no matter what kind of cases you choose to do."

"If it's that stressful, why do you do it?" Blaine looked back at him.

"I don't know. Because I'm really good at arguing when I'm pissed off. Some of these people need someone really good to argue for them. Because I haven't lost a case— at least for sexual assault and anything to do with babies or kids. Winning a case like that brings some relief to all those clients. I like to help people. I want what I do to matter." Bob sighed a bit.

"What's it like defending kids and babies?"

"Really fucking hard. I would honestly adopt all of the babies and children if Sarah would let me. I tried to talk Sarah into adopting this cute little Korean baby thirteen years ago but the timing wasn't right… and then Sam came a year later because life doesn't care if you're ready or not."

"You can say that again." Blaine sighed.

"Did I depress you?" Bob asked.

"Honestly, a little bit, yeah." Blaine nodded.

"If you pursue criminal law, there's a lot more where that's coming from. I'm not trying to dissuade you but there are a lot of people that come in wanting to do criminal law and they can't take it."

"Ryan?"

"Pfft no. He is very comfortable with business law and he is really good at civil rights cases too but he's asked to not do anymore. He used to make about $75,000 more off those cases, though. Actually, he did 2/3 civil rights and 1/3 business law his first six years."

"I bet he's a lot less stressed out now. What kind of business law does he do? Didn't you say you did business law?"

"That was 25 years ago and I did not do it long enough to have retained much knowledge… He does not do contract law. If you want the short version, mainly stuff concerning regulation of businesses through partnership, agency, bankruptcy, and company. Oh, and a lot of it is saving face—preventing or taking care of problems that can hurt the business or end in law suits."

"What is the long—"

Bob closed his eyes. "I knew you were going to ask that question."

"Sorry?"

Bob pulled up a Microsoft Word document and read off, in order: business formation, employment considerations, immigration law—we have a set person for that now— sales of consumer goods. Do you really want me to read the full list?"

"Just to make your day better, yes."

Bob rolled his eyes and continued—it was clearly something copied and pasted off a website.

"Sales of consumer goods, contract drafting and negotiations, anti-trust, intellectual property, taxes, and bankruptcy. Are you happy?"

"I honestly just wanted to see if you'd actually do it. You were awful insistent on me knowing my torts, but you remember nothing about business law which you used to do."

"My only business law class was in 2L. I was probably 22. Honestly I kind of winged it from there." Bob gave him another look. "That's two years younger than you. Now picture yourself at almost 46. Think you'd remember?"

"Wait, you just 'winged' cases for a law type you didn't really know about?"

"Yep and I won most of those few too. Oh, you'll end up in a case you know nothing about eventually. It happens occasionally when someone gets sick or there's an emergency. I just make sure I'm never the one that has to take the business ones… Perks of being an owner."

"Bob, we all hate them but we have to know them." Blaine grinned.

"You are such a smart ass. Does Kurt put up with this?"

"No. He just tells me to come back when I'm not annoying anymore." Blaine shrugged.

Bob laughed loudly. "Does he really?"

"Yeah. We're annoying each other a lot right now. The first month was great but now we need to figure out how to live together again without killing each other. It's a lot harder for Kurt than me right now, I think." Blaine admitted.

"I understand. Three years apart 75% of the year and suddenly you're in each other's space in every free minute you both have."

"Did you and Sarah argue about chores?"

"She had my baby. I did as much as I could when I was home, honestly. I more argued for her to stop doing them… I honestly did a lot of the chores on the school breaks before Charlie was born too, though. I don't like putting everything off on her. She's just as tired as me." Bob admitted. "Once she started her job, though, we kind of did what we could around Charlie. One, two, and three year olds are hard. The house has always been messiest when one of the kids were that age. Mom would surprise visit us so she could clean the house and spend time with the kids. It drove my dad crazy and he'd ask if they should just move down here but they didn't until…well, you know that."

Blaine nodded and then asked, "On another note, do you have a cat?"

"No. Why?"

"Do you have a dog?"

"No… I have four kids. I don't have time for pets." Bob laughed. "If I'm not working, I'm taking Sam to baseball, picking up Emily from art, taking Brady his soccer uniform because he never brings it… There's not a whole lot of free time when you're a parent and you work full time, honestly."

"You don't have any pets?" Blaine didn't look convinced.

"Well Sam has a couple of turtles and Emily has a guinea pig… luckily I'm allergic to it because that thing is skittish and pees when you hold him. That one is all Sarah. Thank God."

"Does your family go to church?"

"I curse too much to go to church. Sarah's family went some when she was young… and probably not for the right reasons. Sarah wanted to take Charlie for a while but I very loudly said 'goddamnit' in the parking lot when he peed through his diaper and it got on my shirt right before walking in to the service… We weren't welcome after that and she didn't want to look for another church… She's convinced I did it on purpose. How do you make a baby pee on demand?"

"Did you say it out loud on purpose?" Blaine laughed.

"I'm not answering that question."

"That's horrible." Blaine laughed again.

"Ehh. I don't plan to go back to Aroostook if I can help it and Sarah won't let me near a church anyway, so it'll be okay. She didn't even really want to go herself. She just thought it would make us good parents… not that it made hers good." Bob sighed. "He's done fine without religion or God or whatever. They all have done fine without it… and not one of them is prejudiced towards anyone and they're all nice to everyone they meet… well, except their siblings, I think. We had one move out, another one is moving out in a couple of weeks, and here comes another one Emily can argue with. Sounds about right. I don't remember what a quiet house is like… I mean, I only had it in undergrad but I think it was nice?"

"Are you feeling better about the baby?"

"Yes. We found out she was for sure pregnant the day that my dad died and my emotions were all over the place for a whole week. I still feel awful that I said that. I love being a dad. I am very happy to have another baby and I am happy to have a little girl who backtalks me and is a clone of her mother. It can get annoying to carry her around for long periods of time or staying in her room until she falls asleep every night but she won't be little much longer and then I'll miss it." Bob sighed. "I still remember reading to Charlie in our tiny apartment when they moved down to Cambridge after graduation."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He was so little and into everything. Pretty much the only time I could get him to settle down was when we read…" Bob nodded. "Brady was the same too so when I was getting my Masters of Law, I would actually read out loud. He was two so he didn't know what I was saying but it calmed him down every single time. The stuff that sticks out is weird."

"It's weird for me to even think about having kids… but they are, like, everywhere. Kurt's brother is having a baby. My brother is about to have twins even though they already have a baby. It must be in the water." Blaine looked thoughtful. "Did you say Brady is moving out?"

"Yes. With his girlfriend. I am trying not to feel a certain way about it because he's eighteen but it sucks seeing your kids doing stupid things they'll regret later on. At the end of the day, he's eighteen and he can make his own decisions. Maybe it will help him grow up and be more responsible. I doubt it will but, as he tells Sarah and I multiple times a day, it's 'his life.'" Bob shrugged.

"Is Sarah sad?"

"Yes, but not as sad as when Charlie moved out. That year we also both turned 40 so it was a double whammy." Bob nodded. "She'll be okay, though. He'll visit plenty… if only for food and money. That's probably what Charlie and his wife visit us for too… but I still ate a lot when I visited my parents and took money when their age so I can't even be annoyed."

Blaine laughed a bit.

"I'm worried about you, Blaine." Bob sighed after a few seconds of silence.

Blaine looked at him, surprised. "Why? Did I do something? Or say something?"

"No. I just worry about you sometimes. How you're doing with your family stuff, your stress level, just… you." Bob admitted. "Has your mother tried to contact you?"

"I don't know. I've blocked everyone's phone numbers except my brother's after my dad was arrested." Blaine shrugged. "Why?"

"I feel so badly for you going through everything without parents. I couldn't have gotten where I am today without mine and it makes me really sad for you." Bob looked back at Blaine.

"I mean, it's normal to me. Ever since I came out at eleven, I went from some 'trophy son' to an outsider. It sucked but when I turned 14, I met my best friends Wes and David… and then I met their parents and both of their families were super welcoming. Most of my school breaks were spent at their house until I finally… Well, something happened and I couldn't handle my house anymore and I left. I left twice actually, both when I was fifteen. I didn't go back after the second time. My friends' families always took me in without question, though. Random nights and then, you know, for good."

Bob nodded, watching him.

Blaine opened his mouth and closed it a few times. How had they even gotten on to this? And why was he just telling Bob? Bob was his boss… but he was more than just his boss.

"What happened? The first time?" Bob asked.

"Uhm, my dad found out that I had gotten tested after the last summer at that camp... I didn't get tested right away because… I don't know. I was really young and scared. I had been having unprotected sex for like a year and had no one to talk to so I didn't know what to do. I don't even know how my dad even found out but he did and he was pissed. He said horrible things about me and it almost got physical so I left. The next day I was at home and heard my grandmother and my dad talking about the money they were taking from city when I was on the way to my room. Of course, I listened. I was so shocked I dropped the plate of food David's mom had made for me to bring home." Blaine took a deep breath. "They figured out I had heard and was listening obviously. My dad went off on me and said all this crap. He pushed me up against the open part of the wall by the stairs and I was afraid he was going to push me over it. Really afraid. He hit me a few times before my grandmother made him stop. When he quit, I left and went to David's house."

Bob didn't say anything, just watched him.

"They asked me to come home a couple of weeks later. My mom was crying she misses me and my grandmother is talking like 'boys will be boys.' And I kept saying I wasn't going to go with them but she said she loved me and everything would be okay. I just… I don't think I really believed her, but I wanted it to be true, so I went back with them." Blaine's eyes were teary. "And they basically kept me locked in the house until near the end of summer and my dad would say I should have been aborted, he hoped I got AIDS and died, he should have drowned me. He wouldn't let me out of the house much because he couldn't have a gay son galivanting around town when his mom was in elections once a year. It was worse than it had been before… but we got into this argument. I don't even remember what it was about now but I was so upset. I called David and told him I wanted to kill myself after like three hours of sitting by myself and getting more upset the whole time. I told him that I was too tired to do it anymore… His dad came and got me within five minutes and I never went back."

Bob looked at him and swallowed, his eyes looking teary.

"You didn't even ask about the second time. Sorry." Blaine wiped his eyes and looked down.

"Blaine…" Bob said.

"I shouldn't have said that. I know. It wasn't appropriate."

"Shit, Blaine."

Blaine let out a deep breath.

"Oh my God." Bob said, staring ahead and out a window.

"I guess that didn't help you worry less, did it?" Blaine joked, wiping his eyes.

"You wanted to kill yourself?" Bob looked at him again, his eyes still very wet.

"I was so tired of it. I was just tired." Blaine's lip trembled. "I didn't think I could do it again and I didn't want to wait for the next fight to do it… or chicken out and just… have to do it all over again. And again. And again."

Bob got out of his chair, went next to Blaine on the other side of his chair, and then leaned down, wrapping him in a tight hug.

No one had ever hugged him that tight after talking about everything… Not an older-than-him adult at least. Definitely not someone this close to him. He would get hugs, but not like this one. Nothing like this one.

Blaine broke down, sobbing hard into his shoulder and trying to be as quiet as he could. One of his hands was gripping Bob's wrist—like he was afraid Bob would pull away or leave him. Luckily Bob's office was off to the side of the building. He had to yell to even be heard in the nearest office. Nobody would have any idea Blaine was breaking down and sobbing.

"Oh my God, Blaine." Bob said, the hand of his free arm going up and down Blaine's back— because he was not moving the other one. Not with Blaine gripping it like his life depended on it. "Shit, Blaine."

"I'm so sorry." Blaine sobbed. He shouldn't have been doing this at work— but their relationship was more than just boss and worker. At least, Bob wasn't just his boss to Blaine. He had felt that way for months.

"No. Don't." Bob said quietly.

Blaine pulled back nearly 15 minutes later and took a deep breath, well aware he probably looked like a hot mess. Bob hadn't pulled away. All that moved was the hand rubbing his back.

They heard footsteps coming down the hall. Bob stood, squeezed Blaine's shoulder harder than necessary, and quickly left the office, closing the door behind him.

Blaine could hear Bob talking to someone but clearly trying to rush the conversation along. Nobody would think that was weird, though, because Bob was almost always in the middle of something or about to run to a meeting or court.

Blaine took a deep breath and wiped his eyes again as the door opened. Bob walked in and closed the door again.

Would Bob say something to him about this being inappropriate? Was he not going to let Blaine work with him anymore since they had gotten too close? Or tell him they couldn't talk about personal stuff anymore? Was he going to be mad at him?

He really didn't want Bob to hate him.

Blaine watched him, not knowing what to say or do. He didn't have to think on it too much, though, because Bob came straight over to him, kneeled, and wrapped his arms around Blaine again.

"I shouldn't have brought that up." Blaine looked down. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate."

Bob pulled back and touched his cheek. "I think I just got a fifth son because I am adopting you."

Blaine let out something between a sob and a laugh.

"Want to room with Sam or Emily?" Bob smiled a bit—it was clearly forced— and lowered his hand.

Blaine let out a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I brought your family up. I'm so sorry to make you think about that again. I didn't know." Bob looked him in the eye.

"No. It's not your fault." Blaine shook his head and wiped his face again. "I'm the one who just word-vomited it all out. I don't even know where that came from. I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize." Bob touched his cheek and then pulled back. "Shit. I am so sorry, Blaine."

"It's not your fault." Blaine repeated. "I don't know why I even… I never talk about it… I don't know."

"We are getting out of here. We'll go out the back door and walk around to my car."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere that isn't here to talk but if anyone asks, we went to court to watch some trials." Bob eased Blaine up.

"I'm fine. I promise." Blaine sniffled. "It's okay."

"I know you better than that by now, Blaine." Bob looked him in the eye. "Come on. Sarah is at some stupid Twilight marathon and Sam and Emily ride the bus to Jake's. It'll be a while before they get home. We'll go to my house."

Blaine nodded, following Bob out of the room and then around the building.

…

"This is really nice." Blaine said, walking into Bob and Sarah's house.

"Yeah, I guess. Sarah really loved it so we bought it." Bob shrugged.

Blaine looked around, seeing three big boxes in the corner.

"Stuff for the baby. Stuff I'm supposed to put together this weekend but that's not going to happen." Bob said. "Sit down. Are you thirsty? I need some water."

"Can I have some too?"

"Of course." Bob said and walked out of the room.

Blaine looked around from his seat on the couch. He picked up a frame on the end table closest to him and smiled.

"She insists on having it out even if it wasn't a real wedding." Bob came over, looking over Blaine's shoulder. "We were babies."

"You all look so happy." Blaine smiled at him.

"We were. We are. I tried to talk her into a renewal ceremony five years ago but she says she doesn't need something to make up for what we didn't have." Bob held out a cold bottle of water.

"Thanks." Blaine sniffled a bit—they were still coming occasionally, but at least he wasn't crying anymore. "For everything."

"Please don't even thank me." Bob sighed and looked around the room before drinking some of his own water. "I don't even know what to say."

"Me neither." Blaine admitted, scooting to the back of the couch. He took a deep breath. "Did I put you in a bad position at work now? Can I not train under you? Should I find another job? I don't want to put you in a bad position."

"No, no, no." Bob said quickly, sitting down next to him and touching his cheek again. "This changes nothing at work. Maybe don't tell everyone I dragged you alone to my house when you were upset, though. That might make me look a little creepy."

"Is it going to be weird between us now? I don't want us to change." Blaine looked at him nervously.

"Listen." Bob sat up straight. "I care about you a lot, Blaine. More than might be appropriate in a work setting but it is what it is. Nothing is going to change."

Blaine let out a relieved sigh.

"I care about you a lot and I worry about you even more. I just want you to be happy." Bob rubbed his own face. "I think and worry about you as much as I do my kids. Sometimes I think you are my kid and start to tell you not to do something, but then have to remind myself that you're actually not my child and you probably wouldn't appreciate me telling you that you eat too much fast food."

Blaine laughed quietly.

"If you weren't an adult, I would adopt you in an instant. You can replace the little Korean baby I never got." Bob joked.

"Well, I'm half Filipino."

"Are you really?" Bob looked surprised.

"Yes. My mom's family became citizens here when she was a toddler." Blaine nodded. "Most people can't even tell I'm not 100% white though. Sometimes I'll notice people staring at my face too long trying to figure it out, though. It's amusing... and kind of annoying."

"Huh." Bob nodded. "Okay. You probably could have used that for a partial scholarship, you know?"

"I liked living off Ramen Noodles the last two months of the academic year." Blaine joked.

"I hope you don't mind but I really am unofficially adopting you. We've gone too far to go back now. We're in it for the long haul… unless you go and work at that Taggart family's place… then I may have to disown you." Bob joked.

Blaine's eyes teared up again.

"I'm serious. You are welcome here whenever you want. Just walk in the door. Please don't even knock. It'll probably take Sarah a couple of minutes to figure out you don't even live here because you're as tall as Brady. I really want to be here for you to talk to or vent to or anything. I'm here, okay? I am right here and I always will be."

"Oh my God." Blaine whimpered, tears falling.

"Seriously, Blaine." Bob looked right at him, making eye contact. "Call me at 3 in the morning or when you're upset or sick and I will be there as fast as I possibly can."

Blaine nodded, one sob escaping.

"Look, I have felt this way since the shit with your parents and the inheritance ordeal. You have been much more than just an intern to me for a long time. I'm not shitting you because you told me about when you were sixteen although I wish I could go back in time and keep you from all of that pain. I'm so sorry. You're such an amazing, loving person and I hate that anyone could ever treat you that way… especially for who you love."

Blaine nodded again, unable to speak.

"Just in case you haven't heard it enough, you matter. And you're very loved by many people—including myself. You are so special. You have an amazing relationship with Kurt and fuck anyone who belittles you or thinks you're less than them because you are more."

"Thank you." Blaine sniffed, wiping his eyes.

"Don't thank me for human decency."

"No. For everything. The stuff with the will and my dad. Helping me take charge so they couldn't out me. Letting me sleep in your office when I was sick. Turning off the lights when you left when I was sick. Taking me home after work when I was sick. Answering my endless questions and letting me go to my horrible grandmother's funeral and letting me miss work to sleep and... and talking to me and paying for my food and picking me up at the hospital twice because of panic attacks."

"Blaine, you—"

"For talking to me at restaurants and parks when everything is too much. For hugging me when I visited after your dad died."

Bob took a deep breath, his own eyes tearing up. "Blaine.."

"And not waking me up when you'd get to your office after me and I was asleep on my desk studying and—"

Bob pulled back and kissed the top of his head. "Shh. You're welcome."

Blaine took a few deep, shuddery breaths.

"You're welcome but you don't need to thank me."

Blaine nodded.

"It's okay. You're okay."

"You're such a good person." Blaine sniffled.

Bob laughed loudly. "You, Sarah, and Emily are the only three people with that opinion."

"No. You gave Adrian more money for the trucks and groceries."

"I did." Bob nodded. "Because Adrian and Matthew needed the easiest transition possible and I didn't want them to worry."

"Did you and Tammy Jo really pay for that one interns second year?"

"That doesn't matter, Blaine. What matters right now is you." Bob said, his voice firm.

"You did, didn't you?"

"Yes. The truck, the food, the tuition…. It doesn't matter. It's just money. There will be more. As long as my family has a roof over their head, food to eat, and a good education I don't need any of the extra."

"When you talked to me after you told me that the conversation camp was going to make it to the press and I was so upset but what you said made me feel better…I could tell things were going to be different."

"Seeing you cry did that for me."

Blaine took a deep breath.

Bob groaned when his cell phone rang and answered, "I already told you I'm not taking that case. Sarah is having a baby this winter and I am not doing that to her… Well you should call Brian. I know he's not me but I am 100% not taking that case… yeah, I really don't care about that… or that… Call Brian Shepperd. Okay, I will text you his number… No, I'll text him your number actually so you don't harass him like you do me. Okay, bye."

Bob took his work phone and tossed it into the floor. "Every time I hope it will break and every time that case doesn't fail."

Blaine laughed a bit. "Who was that?"

"Oh, this public relations guy in Alabama. He is wanting me to take this case in Seattle that's about to make the news big time. The extra money would be nice to cover some of tuition but Sarah would probably kill me if I did that to her when she was pregnant again. Plus traveling. Why does he work in Alabama and works on cases in Seattle? That's weird."

"How do you even know about it?"

"They've got a list of attorneys that they work down when they know something is going to end up high profile and big in the public eye. Unfortunately for me, I'm near the top. I always throw Brian's name out there because he'll literally take anything you throw at him and it usually comes out in his favor." Bob shrugged and went to turn off the cell phone, which was ringing again.

Blaine bit his lip when Bob sat back down next to him.

"You don't think I'm creepy, right?" Bob looked a little worried. He then rolled his eyes when his personal cell phone began to ring again. "Just ignore that. It's Mallory and it's probably about work. I don't feel bad not answering."

"I don't think you're creepy." Blaine promised once the phone quit ringing. "Thank you."

"Good." Bob nodded. "You look exhausted. Do you want to take a nap?"

"No. I'm fine." Blaine sniffled.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Blaine nodded.

"You don't want to leave do you?"

"If I go home like this Kurt will get worried but I don't think I'd be very productive at work today."

"I wouldn't let you go back even if you asked." Bob watched him.

"Can I have some more water?"

"Of course." Bob went to grab him some.

By the time he'd made it back, Blaine was fast asleep.

…

"What is going on?"

Kurt followed Blaine into their apartment.

"Can I at least change clothes?" Blaine sighed.

"Yes…" Kurt bit his lip, watching Blaine.

"I wish I hadn't suggested the dinner. Everyone probably thinks I'm a jerk for barely talking." Blaine went into the bedroom and straight to the dresser, pulling out pajama pants.

"Nobody thinks you're a jerk. Everybody thinks you're upset over something." Kurt sighed. "And you are."

Blaine pulled his pajama pants on, took off his work shirt, tossed it onto the floor, and then climbed onto the bed.

Kurt sat by him, putting his hand on Blaine's thigh.

"I… told Bob about how when I was sixteen, I wanted to kill myself. He asked about my mom so I was explaining that I don't talk to any of them anymore and it was like word vomit."

"Oh my God." Kurt's eyes widened.

"Word vomit like everywhere. Windows, ceiling, everywhere. Bob probably thinks I'm insane."

"What were you all talking about before?"

"Criminal Law and he was talking about how he usually only does bigger cases and a lot of them are usually rape or stuff involving babies and kids and how draining it could be. I guess that didn't help me any." Blaine shrugged, looking at him. "He said he was worried about me a few minutes later because I didn't have parents to help me and I told him I was used to it and that I hadn't been home since I was sixteen… he asked what happened and…"

"Word vomit?" Kurt asked softly, running his hand up and down Blaine's back.

"Yeah. And then I like sobbed for twenty minutes. So long that it took like an hour for my nose to stop running." Blaine sighed. "I mean usually I don't get that upset but it usually doesn't just come out of nowhere either I guess.

"What did Bob do?"

"He hugged me really tight while I cried into his shoulder. It was like hard crying too. Like, annoying and painful crying that just doesn't want to stop. When I stopped, he said he got a fifth son because he was adopting me and that we were in it for the long haul." Blaine sighed again.

Tears filled Kurt's eyes. "He's so sweet."

"Yeah. When I quit crying, we went back out to his house and he said he was unofficially adopting me again. He was saying I was always welcome at his house and he told me that he had cared for me more ever since the stuff with the will… and that he worried and thought about me as much as his kids. That made me really happy."

"I love you." Kurt kissed his forehead,

"I love you too." Blaine smiled a bit. "That was mostly except for me thanking him for everything he's ever done for me. And asking him if anything would change but he said it wouldn't. A few minutes later I fell asleep on his couch and he just… didn't wake me up until like six. That's why I was late. He drove me to my car from Brooklyn and then I had to drive it to the garage and then come."

"Are you okay?"

"I think I'm just tired and emotionally drained. I'm kind of worried tomorrow might be weird even though he said it wouldn't."

"I don't think it will be weird. Treat it like any other day."

Blaine nodded, smiling again when Kurt kissed the top of his head.

"Do you need David or Wes to come over? Should I call them?" Kurt watched him carefully for his reaction.

"No. Can you just… lay with me for a while? We don't have to go to bed I just really want to cuddle."

"Of course. Let me change out of these clothes." Kurt kissed the top of his head and got up to change.

Are you okay?

Blaine looked at Wes' text and sighed a bit.

Yeah but can we talk about it in a few days or this weekend or something?

Yes.

Go look at youtube videos.

I'll get David to send you funny ones.

Blaine looked up as Kurt got onto the bed.

"I'm sorry you had a rough day but tomorrow will be better." Kurt lay next to him, on his side, and looked him in the eyes.

"I just don't think about that stuff anymore, really… That's probably why I got so upset. And honestly I've never had an adult— adultier adult, I guess— hug me like that or anything when I cried and that just made it worse but it also made it better. I don't know. I really like Bob, Kurt."

"I know you do." Kurt's voice was soft.

Blaine groaned and buried his face in the crook of his elbow.

Kurt rubbed his hand up and down Blaine's side, watching him carefully.

"It's hard to think about that time… that whole year, really. I know I don't talk about it much but I was in a really bad place mentally and emotionally… I was a whole different person." Blaine said, looking into his eyes.

"You don't have to talk about it."

"I mean, I probably should, honestly. Because you're the closest person to me and you don't even know." Blaine rubbed his face and then groaned.

"I love you." Kurt said, meeting eyes with him.

"I love you too. So much." Blaine swallowed. "My life is so much better with you in it. Everything is better because of you. Everything is brighter, lighter, calmer… settled? Does that make sense?"

"I think so. Like you feel where you're supposed to be?"

Blaine's eyes got teary again and he nodded. "I'm so lucky to have you, Kurt. I love you so much. So much that it hurts sometimes and sometimes takes my breath away. I know I was a lot better when we met but I don't think I would be here today if it wasn't for you coming to spy on us."

"That's not why I really came." Kurt reached over and wiped under his eyes.

"I know." Blaine took a deep breath. "I just… hope you know how much I love you… and how much you mean to me… and how special you are. David and Wes saved me in ways you didn't before we met and you saved me in other ways once we met. So, thank you."

"No." Kurt shook his head, his own eyes tearing up again. "I didn't do anything."

"Even being in a room with you makes everything lighter. Everything feels less… I don't know… busy?"

Kurt nodded this time. "I feel that way about you too. It's easier to get through stuff because you balance me out so well. Like with Dad in the hospital… even you sitting next to me outside when I was breaking down… it helped so much."

"Yes." Blaine sniffled.

"I will do anything to make all of your rooms brighter and calm." Kurt touched his face. "Always."

"I'm not tired anymore, Kurt."

"Do you want to get out bed?" Kurt looked a little confused.

"No." Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position. "When I was with my parents after stuff blew up with me finding out about the money and my dad freaking out… Well, they made me feel horrible about myself and basically kept me locked in the house most of the time… and I was tired. I was tired of being spit on and hearing my dad say all this horrible stuff about me or to me every day. And when I wanted to kill myself, I was so tired. Tired like I didn't think I would make it through another day and, honestly, I didn't even want to."

Kurt swallowed, watching him closely.

"You're the literal light in my life, Kurt. Without you in it, it's gray and cold and lonely. It's sad. I really love my life with you in it. I am so happy with you. Even when I'm sad, I'm still so happy.."

"I love you so much." Kurt pulled Blaine close. "I'm not going anywhere. You had a really rough beginning but you're going to get the closest I can get you to a happily ever after. Okay?"

Blaine nodded, tears welling up in his eyes.

"You poor thing. You've had such a rough day." Kurt gave him a tighter squeeze.

"It's better now." Blaine smiled a bit.

Kurt got out of bed. "Come on."

"What?"

Kurt pulled a pair of jeans on. "Come on. Get out of bed."

"Where are we going?"

"We are going to get iced coffee, we are going to get you a library card, and then we are going to get Mexican and get just a little drunk off of margaritas." Kurt said, tossing jeans onto the bed for Blaine.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"Come on. If we don't hurry, the Bronx one will close. They close at 8. Check out some books to read that aren't about law. Or check them out just to sit them on your nightstand and feel like you may read them or whatever." Kurt pulled him out of bed.

"Can we even make it there?" Blaine asked, pulling his jeans on.

"We're going to try." Kurt gave an impish grin. "C'mon, Borat."

"I know I just said I loved you but right now I hate you." Blaine laughed, grabbing both of their jackets.

Kurt led him to the elevator and gave him a big smile while they waited.

"Thank you." Blaine moved up a tiny bit and kissed the top of his head.

"You think this is for you? I just really want an iced coffee." Kurt smiled sweetly.

"Really, Kurt."

"I'll do anything to make you smile." Kurt stepped into the elevator after him. "Every single day you are going to smile."

"I love you." Blaine pulled Kurt into his arms.

"I love you too. Now hurry and don't try to be polite to people walking. Just push your way through or we won't make it on time. It's okay. You won't feel bad doing it after a few times." Kurt said, grabbing his hand when they stepped off the elevator. "Let's go!"

"Always." Blaine grabbed his hand and followed Kurt out into the busy street.