The morning started off when Kurt awoke to his blaring alarm at six am sharp. He got out of bed, did his daily moisturizing routine, and so on. After he had finished picking out his outfit for the day, a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and stone-washed skinny-jeans, he jogged downstairs to talk to his father. He knew that today was going to be especially rough for him, but he also wanted to know if he had heard anything from Finn.

Kurt slowed his pace as he entered the kitchen, seeing his father cook on the stove for the first time since Carole's death. The kitchen smelled of pancakes, something his father wasn't particularly good at.

"I haven't seen you cook since Carole died," Kurt pointed out solemnly.

"Well," Burt said, as he turned to his son, "the time had to come at some point, right?"

"I guess so," Kurt nodded. "Have you heard anything from Finn?"

"Not since I got back from the hospital, no."

Kurt's ears shot up. "What do you mean? You talked to him when you got home?"

"Yeah," Burt said, turning the stove off and walking towards the family's kitchen table. "He called my cell phone about two hours after I got back. He told me that he had planned on going to Carole's funeral this afternoon."

"And you tell me this now?" Kurt queried.

"At least I'm telling you now and not ten minutes away from the 'big event'," his father dripped with sarcasm.

"Point taken."

"He's not coming back, you know," Burt said.

"I had a pretty good feeling," Kurt sighed. "Did he tell you what he's doing for cash?"

"No," Burt shook his head. "He hasn't got a damned clue what he's in for."

"I know," Kurt said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Blaine picked up Kurt from his house and drove on their way to school, they both entered the choir room. Their schedule had been recently morphed into a block schedule, so clubs were meeting first today.

As they walked towards Mr. Schuester, Blaine squeezed the older boy's hand, "I don't think I can do this."

"Yes you can, sweetheart," Kurt said, cupping his cheek. "I believe in you. Trust me, once you sing this song, you'll start to feel a little better about your father."

Blaine shook his head, "Just call him Dennis. I don't really enjoy calling him my father."

Kurt slowly nodded, and placed his hand on the small of Blaine's back. Mr. Schuester turned quickly to face the two boys. He looked straight at Kurt, "I know today's going to be hard for you, Kurt. I promise that the club won't let you down."

Rachel took that as her cue to walk up to Kurt and say, "If it's alright with you and your family, the glee club would be honored to sing Carole's favorite song. When me and Finn were at Breadsticks a couple of months back, we were talking about our parents. Once we got on the subject of how our parents' radio station choices sucked, he mentioned that Carole was always listening to "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne. It was also the only song that Finn said his mother had good taste in," Rachel smiled.

Kurt's eyes were filling with tears. He remembered their performance of the song when he was a sophomore two years ago. It was one of the most touching songs the club ever covered, in his opinion.

"We would be honored to have you guys," Kurt held back a sob and leant in for a hug with his best friend.

Once the two parted, Kurt patted his boyfriend's back while turning to Mr. Schuester, "Blaine would really like the opportunity to sing a song today-"

"-and it does have something to do with this week's assignment," Blain interrupted.

Kurt looked at the curly-haired boy and smiled, remembering that the week's assignment had been FAMILY. Mr. Schuester gave a quick nod and sat down, followed by Kurt and Rachel.

Blaine cleared his throat to address the room of teenagers. Once he got their attention, he started to talk, "I know I haven't been here for a while, but I have known all of you for almost a year now. I would really appreciate it if you all would listen to this song. I think it has a lot to do with my view of FAMILY before I met all of you."

He crossed over to the piano, playing the familiar keys. The melody of Pink's song drifted through the room. Everyone looked at each other and smiled. This song was something they all remembered, but never really paid much attention to: sort of like family.

Mama please stop crying

I can't stand the sound

Your pain is painful and it's tearing me down

I hear glasses breaking as I sit up in my bed

I told Dad you didn't mean those nasty things you said

You fight about money, about me and my brother,

And this I come home to, this is my shelter

It ain't easy, growing up in World War III,

Never knowing what love could be

You'll see I don't want love to destroy me like it has done my family

The rest of the club began to sing the chorus along with Blaine as the tears escaped his eyes and drifted down his cheek.

Can we work it out? Can we be a family?

I promise I'll be better, Mommy, I'll do anything

Can we work it out? Can we be a family?

I promise I'll be better, Daddy please don't leave.

The room went silent as Blaine sung the last words of the song over the held back sobs he tried to manage in the back of his throat.

In our family portrait, we look pretty happy

Let's play pretend, let's act like it comes naturally

As the last notes from the piano drifted away, the club erupted into applause. Kurt's eyes were starting to turn red along with his boyfriend. He ran up to Blaine, and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I'm not leaving, Blaine," Kurt muffled into his neck.

They murmured I love you's into each other's shirts before the bell rang ten seconds after. They both looked up into each other's eyes as Blaine said, "Please stay with me."

"I'll never leave," Kurt said, cupping his cheek and kissing him tenderly on the lips.