It's been a crazy couple of days after that first rainy afternoon in Seattle – first of many rainy days, and here Blaine was thinking that it rained a lot in New York – and it's been... overwhelming, to say the least.

There has been a lot of talking, a lot of explanations and tears, and so many hugs and pats and hands holding on to each other that Blaine feels like he's seeing a whole new tactile side of Kurt. Kurt usually shies away from touches, unless they're relatively distant and brief moments of contact, or unless Blaine's the one doing the touching – but now he's constantly hugging his father and Carole, constantly grabbing their hands and kissing their cheeks...

And smiling. God, the smiling. It fills Blaine's heart with such joy, such happiness, to see Kurt so content, with his eyes constantly shining as if the final piece that has been missing for years has finally clicked back into place. It especially makes Blaine smile to himself when he sees Kurt sharing it all with him so easily, like seeing his parents and brother talking to Blaine is one of the best things in his life, something he has been waiting for ever since their relationship turned from colleagues and friends to something more.

Blaine took some days off from the Bureau to come to Seattle with Kurt, but after they'd gotten settled and stayed up till the small hours of the morning explaining everything to Burt and Carole, he did offer to go back to New York to give Kurt some privacy with his family. After all, they'd spent years apart, and even if Blaine is Kurt's fiancé, he doesn't exactly consider himself a part of the Hummel-Hudson family. Not yet, at least.

Except Kurt had practically frozen next to him on the narrow bed in the spare bedroom in Burt and Carole's house after the offer had come out of Blaine's mouth.

“But– I finally have my whole family together,” Kurt had said, turning to look at Blaine in confusion. “I want you to get to know my dad and Carole, and I want them to get to know you. We don't need any privacy, Blaine, not from you. You're a part of my family as well.”

Blaine had just stared back at him for a moment and then closed the space between them, kissing Kurt's lips slowly, trying to blink away the sudden tears in his eyes. All he ever wants in life is for Kurt to be happy, for Kurt to have everything he deserves, and every time he's reminded that he himself is a part of Kurt's happiness, he can feel something taking his breath away for a moment.

“Okay,” he had whispered hoarsely against Kurt's lips, pulling him closer.

After that he didn't bring up the matter again. New York can wait, for as long as it takes.

Still, it does take a few days until Burt Hummel finally corners Blaine alone. Kurt and Carole are in the kitchen with Finn that morning, talking excitedly about the plans Kurt has for his and Blaine's wedding, and Blaine stands alone in the living room, staring out of the window into the rain outside.

He has just gotten off the phone with Sam, who updated him on how the White Collar Division is doing. He could go back to kitchen, but instead he stays put, absent-mindedly playing with his phone in his hands. He knows that Kurt said he didn't need privacy, but Blaine still sometimes wants to give it to him, wants him to have his family all for himself for a moment, and just listening to the way Kurt is explaining the color schemes and possible locations to Carole and Finn in the next room is more than enough to make Blaine's mouth turn into a small, private smile.

“You know, the weather made this whole place feel so much worse back when we were first located here.”

Blaine startles at the sudden voice next to him, turning away from the window. Burt is standing a few feet from him, his hands in his pockets and the hat he seems to wear all the time perched on his head. Hes staring at Blaine, practically analyzing his facial expression, and Blaine is suddenly reminded of the way Kurt often seems to be reading his face whenever he tries to figure out what Blaines thinking about.

Like father like son.

“I can only imagine,” Blaine replies politely, turning to face Burt and trying to stop himself from fidgeting.

He has basically been waiting for this conversation, but he can't help but be nervous anyway. Burt is his father-in-law (oh my god, he has in-laws), and it's not exactly conventional to meet your father-in-law for the first time when you're already engaged to his son. Blaine doesn't know what Burt thinks of him, doesn't know if he has his approval or not. The only thing he does know for sure is that Burt had looked absolutely heart-broken when Kurt had told him and Carole about his life of crime – not because he was disappointed in Kurt, definitely not, but because he was horrified that his own son had been driven into something like that out of desperation in the first place, horrified that Kurt had lost so many years of his life because of his parents' disappearance.

Burt Hummel definitely seems like the kind of a man you'd want to impress, especially when he's the father of your fiancé – and Blaine is terrified that hes not going to live up to Burt Hummels standards.

The corner of Burt's mouth twitches up in a smile, and he steps closer to Blaine. “I had to escape from there for a moment,” he confesses gruffly, nodding towards the kitchen. “There's only so much I can take of color schemes and all that other... wedding stuff.” He makes a vague gesture with his hand. “Kurt used to plan weddings even when he was a kid – hell, he planned the wedding for me and Carole in a week or two – but I still can't understand the difference between maroon and magenta, no matter how hard I try.”

Blaine gives a soft laugh. He has never seen any photographs of Kurt as a child, but he can only imagine how adorable he must have been. Burt seems to search his face again and then turns around, sitting down slowly on the nearest armchair and gesturing at the one next to it. Blaine pushes his phone in his pocket and follows Burt's example, sitting down and resting his hands nervously in his lap.

Here it comes, the interrogation he's been waiting for.

“So FBI, huh?” Burt says casually and leans back in his chair. “How did you end up in there?”

Blaine blinks. It doesn't sound like an interrogation – he's been the one doing the interrogating enough times to know what one sounds like – but... genuinely curious. Huh.

“Um, well...” he starts, looking down at his hands as he thinks about his answer. “I wanted to be a performer or a teacher when I was a kid, actually,” he starts, lifting his head and watching as Burt's eyebrows raise in surprise at his words, “but then I somehow got interested in the justice system and how it works and how... How to solve crimes, I suppose. How to find out what happened and hopefully help people to move on after a tragedy. After that FBI just seemed like the most logical choice.”

The corner of Burt's mouth twists. “So you're not some gun-crazy overachiever?”

Blaine lets out a surprised laugh, shaking his head. “No, sir, definitely not gun-crazy. You should ask my colleagues about that overachiever thing, though.”

Burt's smile widens for a moment, but then he leans forward and rests his arms on his knees, studying Blaine. “So you like your job then?”

“I do.” Blaine straightens his back, suddenly feeling like he's in an interrogation after all. “I like solving complicated puzzles and helping people. And I like working white collar as well.” He ducks his head sheepishly, and can't help but add, “I mean, meeting Kurt through my job is still definitely my favorite perk, though.”

Burt snorts in amusement, leaning back again and scratching his jaw. Blaine can feel his shoulders relaxing slowly. See, he can do this! He can impress his father-in-law without acting like a complete idiot!

“You know, you're the first boyfriend he's ever brought home to meet his folks,” Burt remarks thoughtfully after a moment. “And you're not even his boyfriend. You're his fiancé already.”

Blaine blinks, his hands twitching in his lap. The tension tries to crawl back into his shoulders, but he keeps himself still and just listens.

“I always thought he'd bring some college boy home during the spring break or something,” Burt continues, staring into the distance, “some annoying jerk I could interrogate and threaten with a shotgun if he ever hurt my boy – some clever New York guy who'd understand those parts of him I never did, no matter how hard I tried.”

He trails off, his eyes turning even more distant. Blaine doesn't dare to shift on his seat, doesn't even dare to open his mouth. Burt's eyes seem glassy and shining, suddenly looking so much older than the man himself, and Blaine can feel his heart clenching inside his chest. He has seen first-hand how much Kurt suffered during the years when he had no idea where his family was, but now he sees the same pain in Burt's eyes, the same regret and aching, and he has no idea what to say. What could he even say?

“It's so damn strange to think how much I've missed of my kid's life,” Burt says in a low tone, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence. “How much pain this whole damn mess has caused.”

Blaine swallows quietly. If this was Kurt, he'd know what to say and what to do – but this is Kurt's father; the man Blaine only met for the first time a few days ago, the man who has most likely spent years and years wondering how his son is doing all alone in the world.

Blaine can't even imagine how that much have felt like.

“But...” he starts carefully, shifting on his seat and hoping he's not saying the completely wrong thing. “There's still so much left you don't have to miss out on anymore. So many things Kurts going to achieve from here on out.”

Burt's eyes focus slowly on Blaine's face. “Things get better, huh?” he says with a small smile.

Blaine thinks about the last time he caught Kurt, all alone in an empty apartment; thinks about the nights when Kurt has woken up from a nightmare with the word ‘dad' on his lips and tears falling down his cheeks, about the aching emptiness inside his own apartment he never even noticed before Kurt stepped into his life; about all the fears he had of losing Kurt that seem so distant right now when he can feel the reassuring weight of the engagement ring on his finger all the time.

“They do,” he says softly. “They really do, sir.”

Burt barks out a sudden laugh, startling Blaine, and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “Jesus, kid, you don't have to call me sir like I'm one of your G-man superiors.” He winks at Blaine. “You're already engaged to my son, so I think I'm going to skip the whole threatening you with a shotgun thing.”

Blaine blinks back at him, surprised yet again.

“You probably have your own gun, so it'd be kind of pointless anyway,” Burt mutters to himself, still smiling. “Right?”

“Right,” Blaine repeats, still a bit unsure.

Burt's smile softens and he leans over to pat Blaine's shoulder. “You seem like a good guy, Blaine, so stop worrying. I've seen the way you and Kurt look at each other, and that's good enough for me.” He shrugs. “Besides, from what Kurt told me, I get the feeling that you're a pretty big reason for him straightening his life out after all those crimes.”

Blaine immediately shakes his head. “No, that was... That was all Kurt,” he points out. “He could've declined my deal or run away, but he chose not to. He chose to work things out and stay.”

“Yeah, of course,” Burt agrees, rolling his eyes, “but there always has to be a reason for someone to stay. And I'm really glad Kurt's reason was someone like you.”

Blaine's breath catches in his throat, and he looks away, his own eyes moistening. He tries to blink the sudden tears away, not even knowing why those simple words can have such an effect on him.

“I'm just sayin that I'm really glad you're the one who caught him, Blaine,” Burt adds, squeezing his shoulder, somehow managing to make the word ‘caught' sound like it means something else than catching a criminal.

“Thank you,” Blaine breathes out. “That means a lot coming from you, si– Burt,” he remembers to correct himself.

Burt Hummel smiles at him, clapping his shoulder again, and then discreetly takes the morning newspaper from the sofa table to give Blaine some time to collect his thoughts. Blaine has always been a little envious of Kurt's strong family ties – how he broke out of prison for Finn, how he became a criminal just to find his parents, no matter how destructive that choice was; how he will do anything and everything for the people he loves. Blaine's own parents are supportive and loving but still distant, his brother barely remembers he exists, and Blaine doesn't honestly even know if he should invite Cooper to his and Kurt's wedding or not.

But perhaps what Kurt said is true, in every single way. Perhaps he's already a part of Kurt's family, and that more than makes up for any and all problems he has with his own family.

“Blaine!” Kurt calls from the kitchen at that moment, sounding excited and a little demanding. Both Burt and Blaine look up at his voice. “Come here, Ive got an idea for the wedding decorations and I need your input!”

Burt chuckles and looks down at his newspaper again. “You better go before he decides you need to have live doves pooping glitter at your wedding.”

Blaine frowns in confusion – that sounds like a story he wants to hear someday – but gets up anyway, shouting a “coming!” to Kurt as he walks past the armchairs. He's already halfway to the kitchen when Burt calls out after him, and he turns around, curious. “Yes?”

Burt looks at him over his shoulder, contemplative and almost a little mischievous. He looks so much like Kurt in that moment that it's almost unnerving, and Blaine can feel his palms starting to sweat again.

“Let me just get one thing straight one more time. Just because,” Burt says slowly. “You arrested him twice, right?”

“Yes?” Blaine replies, even more confused.  

“And then you worked with him at the FBI until his sentence was commuted... and now you're getting married?”

“Yes?”

Burt chuckles, turning back to his newspaper. “That's one hell of a story to tell your kids one day.”

Blaine can feel his cheeks blushing all the way to his ears, and he escapes to the kitchen before Burt can notice it.