Chapter 8

“I can’t believe you filmed me!” Blaine shouted into the phone. “And sent it to Kurt?!” he took a deep breath and tried to modulate his tone. “He’ll be here any minute, if he still wants to come with me, and he’s going to think I’m a drunken idiot.”
“He won’t think that.” Mike said. “And I’m sorry. I just thought Kurt might like to see you in your element.”
“Well…” Blaine said, his anger fading. He’d always had trouble holding a grudge. “If he hated it you are in so much trouble.”
Mike laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Go get ready for your boy. You have an awkward family gathering to attend.”
“Yes, I do.” Said Blaine. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Kurt knocked on Blaine’s door at 9:00 AM sharp. Blaine opened the door and was immediately tackled by the other man who pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Is this how I am going to be greeted from now on?” Blaine asked with a laugh. “Because I could get used to that.”
“I got an interesting video message last night.” Said Kurt.
“Oh?” Blaine asked nervously “What was that?”
“Well it was this ridiculously good-looking guy, preforming like he was born on a Broadway stage.” Said Kurt, pushing Blaine’s hair back from his face.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Kurt kissed him slowly, wrapping his arms around him to pull him closer.
“Mmm, if we keep this up we’ll never make it to your parents’ house.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” Blaine asked, leaning in for another kiss.
But Kurt stopped him. “Blaine, honey if you don’t want to go we don’t have to, but I think it’s important that you do.” He said, Pecking Blaine on the lips. “Besides I spent two hours on that souffl�.”
“I know.” Said Blaine with a sigh. “Which means we better get going before I chicken out.”
In a few minutes they were in the car and on their way.
“Stop.” Said Kurt from the passage seat.
“Stop what?” he asked.
“Making that face like you’re heading to your death.” Kurt replied.
Blaine frowned. “I don’t feel that way. Well, I’m still dreading it but, You’ll be there.”
“Yes, I will, so relax.” Said Kurt and began messing with Blaine’s radio until he landed on a song. “Perfect.” He murmured and they both began to sing along.

But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn’t I my dear?
Didn’t I my dear?

Tremble for yourself my man
You know that you have seen this all before
Tremble little lion man
You’ll never settle all of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face
Your boldest stands alone among the wreck
Now learn from your mother
Or you’ll spend your days biting your own neck

“Feel better?” Kurt asked as the song continued.
“Much.”
At almost 11:30, they turned off the highway and into a driveway longer than some streets in Lima. At the end of it was a huge plantation style house.
“You didn’t tell me you were loaded.” Said Kurt in awe.
“I’m not. My parents are.” Said Blaine.
Kurt laughed. “We can still escape, you know. They haven’t spotted us yet.” Blaine said, his tone pleading.
“Actually, I think they have.” Said Kurt, pointing toward the house where James and Deborah Anderson were walking off the porch toward them.
“Breath and smile, baby.” Said Kurt.
“Blaine!” Deborah exclaimed as soon as her son stepped out of the car.
Blaine hugged his mom and nodded to his father and introductions were made.
Kurt shook hands with James and hugged Deborah and before things could get too awkward, Cooper and Andrea pulled up behind them.
“Daddy, it’s the angel!” came Bonnie’s voice from the car. As soon as the little girl was freed from her car seat she came running straight for Kurt, wrapping her arms around his legs.
Kurt laughed and hugged her back tightly. “Hey, Bonnie.” He said.
“You’re Uncle Blaine’s angel now, huh?” she asked
Kurt looked at Blaine with a smile and opened his mouth to answer but Blaine interrupted him.
“He sure is,” he said, kneeling down to look at his niece and pulled her into a hug.
“Well, we can’t have a barbecue standing around in the front yard.” Blaine’s mother said briskly. “Your uncle and cousins are all in the house.” She began to usher them all inside and they all followed her through the spacious, tastefully decorated home.
“You have great taste Mrs. Anderson.” said Kurt with a smile “I love the color scheme.”
“Call me Deborah, please.” She said with a wave of her hand. “And thank you. I found those throw pillows at Bendel’s and I just sort of built from there.”
Kurt couldn’t help but think that Blaine’s entire family was just as attractive as he was. He was introduced to Blaine’s three uncles, Harold, David, and Richard Anderson and their wives and all their children. Two of Blaine’s cousins were married with children as well so the whole introduction part of the day took nearly 10 minutes. They were all fairly pleasant to Kurt, save for Harold. Kurt offered his hand to the older man who took it and then looked at him with a mixture of surprise and displeasure.
“Firm handshake for a fruity guy.” He said, his voice had the rough quality of a heavy smoker.
“Harold.” Came a faintly French accented, warning voice from behind him as his wife set a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be rude.” And then to Kurt “It’s lovely to meet you, dear.” She offered her hand, which Kurt took and pressed a quick kiss to the woman’s knuckles. “Je suis heureux, madame.” He said.
Bridget Anderson giggled “Parlez-vous francais?”
“Oui, mais pas assi bien que vous.” He replied.
Bridget turned to Blaine. “If you aren’t going to keep him around, I’ll take him.” she said with a wink.
“Bridget!”
“Oh, stuff it Harold.” She said dismissively. Just as the older man started to turn purple in the stretching awkward silence, Deborah clapped her hands.
“Bri, will you help me finish up dinner?” she asked.
“I can help too.” Kurt offered.
“Oh, you don’t have to—“ she began, but Blaine, who hadn’t said a word this whole time finally broke in. “You should let him, mom. He’s and incredible cook.”
“Well alright then.” She said, looking at Blaine with an odd glint in her eyes. “Come on then.”
As the three of them left the room, Blaine walked over to his uncle with a serious expression.
“He’s a good man.” He said. “And he isn’t going to put up with your crap today any more than I am.” With that he walked away to talk to Cooper.

In the kitchen, the atmosphere was much lighter. Kurt chatted with the ladies as he helped, chop and stir. Deborah watched him julienne carrots for the salad. “You really are good.” She said.
“Thank you.” He said
“You know..” Deborah began.
Kurt looked up from what he was doing. “Yes?”
“I have never seen Blaine look at anyone the way he looks at you.” She said.
Kurt blushed and opened his mouth to say something but Deborah stopped him. “When I first realized he was gay I was a little uncomfortable with it, and as ashamed as I am to say it, I was never totally comfortable seeing him treat men as romantic partners, but today it just…fit.”
Kurt didn’t know what to say. He knew that being with Blaine felt natural and easy but to have a stranger say it made it more real. When he failed to respond, Deborah spoke again.
“Take care of my boy, Kurt.”
“I plan on it.” Kurt said.

At the dinner table, which had been set up on the huge canvas covered patio, Bonnie and Tyler, one David and Sophie’s grandson dominated the attention. The prattled on about their schools, their favorite TV shows, and anything else that came to mind, much to the amusement of everyone in the room. they both seemed to adore Blaine, so did all the children, really. The dinner progressed well until Bonnie brought up her next topic of conversation.
“Do you like, Uncle Blaine’s angel, Grandpa?” she asked.
“Bonnie, that man is far from an angel.”
“Dad, don’t start.” Blaine said tensely.
Something about Blaine’s tone must have sunk in for the older man because he changed the subject quickly and refilled his wine glass for what Kurt was sure was the third time already.
After they ate, just as Blaine had predicted, Cooper fetched his guitar from the car and began to play.

I would wrap the world in clover
But you make me see my way
I would die for you tomorrow
Would you come to me today
Sing a song of sadness about the girl with the happy face
And dance upon the water with a ripple or a trace

Cooper, of course, had a lovely voice. Not as good as Blaine’s but he was still killing it. The children and a few of the adults had gotten up to dance.
On impulse, Kurt jumped up out of his chair and grabbed Blaine by the hand. He hesitated at first, but he couldn’t resist Kurt’s pleading look and the sparkle in his eyes. They held each other close and swayed as slowly as possible while still keeping with the rhythm of the song.
A loud voice from behind Kurt broke the spell. “Must you carry on with this disgusting display in front of everyone?” Blaine’s father said loudly, causing Cooper to stop playing.
“Dad, seriously?” he said.
Blaine had turned pale and looked as though he might pass out. He didn’t seem to be able to come to his own defense. Blaine’s uncle however didn’t have any qualms about offering his opinion.
“James is right. You shouldn’t be doing this where people can see you.” He hissed.
“Harold!” Deborah and Bridget, admonished him.
“Really, James.” Said Deborah. “You’ll upset the children.”
Deborah was right, Bonnie and a few of the other kids looked as though they were on the verge of tears.
“I thought we were done with this…embarrassment after that last boy was done with you but you keep finding more.” James said with a sneer.
“Dad, stop.” Cooper said and lunged forward, only to be stopped by Andrea who had come over to see what the commotion was all about.
James continued as though he hadn’t heard him “How long do you think before this one leaves you, huh?” he asked.
Blaine flinched as though he had been hit and Kurt could stand it no more.
“Okay, that’s enough.” He said, gently stepping out of Blaine’s arms and closer to the two older men. “I have seen some nasty, bigoted people in my life but you two take the cake.”
Harold opened his mouth to respond but Kurt cut him off. “That man,” he said, pointing to Blaine “Is the most talented, kind, intelligent, wonderful man I have ever met in my life and if you can’t see that past your prejudice then I feel sorry for you.” He whirled around and grabbed Blaine by the hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Blaine followed him numbly.
He hadn’t said a word in several minutes. Kurt put him in the passenger seat of the car, got in himself and drove away.
They had been on the road for almost an hour before Kurt got any kind of reaction from Blaine. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite the one he was looking for.
Klank, Klank, Klank! An awful noise emanated from underneath the hood. Blaine’s head snapped up as Kurt pulled over. Before Kurt had come to a full stop, Blaine jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind him and landing kick after violent kick to the right rear tire.
“Sweetie, what are you doing?” Kurt asked and grabbed Blaine by the shoulders, forcing him to face him.
Tears were streaming down the other man’s face. “He couldn’t stand it.” He said, his voice breaking. “He couldn’t let me be happy for one Goddamn minute, and he did it all in front of you…” He trailed off and fell to his knees on the side of the road, covering his face with his hands. “And now we can’t even get home.” He said, his voice muffled.
Kurt bent down to join him in the dirt. “You forget, baby, I am the son of a mechanic.” He said, rubbing his back. “And we will get home. I promise. All of this will look much better on the other side of sunrise.”
Kurt stood and opened the hood, bending over to inspect the inner workings of the car. “It looks like it’s just a thrown belt.” He said reaching in and adjusting the part in question. “That should get us home, but it will need to be replaced.” He went over to where Blaine was still sitting on the ground “Come on, baby. You’re staying at my place tonight.”
“But, Rachel..” Blaine said, confused.
“Is gone. She and her Dads are doing…whatever in the Hamptons.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
It was totally dark by the time they arrived at Kurt’s apartment. Once he got Blaine settled on the couch he called and ordered Chinese food, and then put in the first movie he could find, which was Dirty Dancing. They didn’t talk much. Blaine sat, hollow-eyed, clinging to Kurt’s middle, staring blankly at the screen. When they finished eating, Kurt took Blaine’s hand at lead him to his bedroom.
“Why don’t you go take a shower, baby?” He said, tossing him a pair of boxers. “I’ll be here.”
Blaine wandered into the bathroom and Kurt began to tidy up the take out boxes in the living room, after a few moments he heard crying coming from the bathroom and his heart broke. He knocked on the bathroom door “Blaine?” he said softly. He pushed open the door and was hit with a wall of steam.
He could see Blaine’s silhouette, his shoulders hunched and shaking through the beveled glass of the shower door. Without thinking, Kurt slipped out of his clothes and stepped into the shower with Blaine, wrapping his arms around him. Blaine turned and pressed his lips to Kurt’s in a desperate kiss.
After their shared shower, they both climbed into bed together.
“Blaine?” Kurt said.
“Yeah?”
“What happened with your ex? The one who stole your song.”
Blaine sighed heavily “Blake Devon and I dated all through college.” He began. “I loved him, and I thought he loved me. We were both music majors and we had all these big plans that we would make a big splash in the music industry and get married and adopt a couple of kids…I thought he was perfect. Turns out I was wrong. I wrote I Still Think for him. It was about our relationship and how he made me feel… two months later he got a record deal, decided I was holding him back and left. He told me that he never loved me, and that he certainly never wanted kids and that I was just stupid enough to believe him. I haven’t seen him since and that night at the bar I realized that he must have taken the song with him and used it as his own.”
“Wow.” Said Kurt softly. “What an ass!” he sat up and looked at Blaine. “Do you know where he is?” he asked. “Because I’d like to castrate him.”
Blaine flashed him a sad smile. “No need for that.” He said. “You’ve already come to my rescue once today.” He said.
“And it was my pleasure.” He said, settling back down on the bed and pulling Blaine closer so that his head was on Kurt’s chest. “A lighter topic, how is it that you have a French aunt but don’t speak French?”
Blaine laughed “Because Bridget and Uncle Harold have only been married for three years.”
“Mystery solved then.” Kurt said, giving Blaine a peck on the lips.
“I don’t know if I can sleep.” Blaine whispered.
“Sure you can.” Said Kurt softly and began to sing,

Why do they leave me all by myself?
Why do they use me and bring me down?
Why do they hurt me?
Why do they leave me?
Why doesn’t anybody stick around?

Why doesn’t anyone stay here?
Why do they leave me?
Don’t they realize I’m a porcelain doll?
Small, unsure, beautiful, breakable.

If I sit here, waiting to be wanted
Something good will pass me by
Many people look through the windows
But seldom do they ever look in my eyes

Blaine listened to the lyrics and his heart melted. Leave it to Kurt to know a song that spoke to the current situation. After a few more lines, just as Kurt predicted, he began to relax.

They can’t tell that I’m sweet
They can’t tell I’m like a porcelain doll
Beautiful and demure
But played with one too many times

Why am I not numb to this
Why can’t I let it all outside my mind
Don’t let me sit here collecting dust
But please be careful, pleas be kind

Why doesn’t anyone stay here
Why do they leave me
Don’t they realize I’m a porcelain doll
Lost, alone, unsure, kind, demure
Small, fragile, helpless, breakable.

Kurt looked down when he was finished to find that Blaine was fast asleep in his arms. He smiled at the other man fondly and turned out the light.