February - Part 2

Getting dropped off at a stranger's house was one of the scariest experiences in his life. He didn't want to be there. Yes, he didn't like it when daddy hit him, but his daddy always told him he deserved it so it must have been true. If he hadn't been naughty his mom would still love him and he'd be home in his own room instead of at this strange house.

The family seemed nice but so had his own family. His neighbor had called the police once when she had heard daddy yell at him, but his daddy could be nice as well when he wanted and the police had left after a talk with his dad. They had probably agreed that he was a bad boy.

There were four people in this family. Two grown-ups and two teenagers and one of them was huge, but Ethan wasn't scared of him because he acted like a child himself and didn't threaten him.

His was scared of the father though because he was big and never smiled much. He liked Kurt the best, because Kurt would ask his opinion on anything, treating him like a real person. He was also wearing really weird clothes and he couldn't believe that Mr. Burt and Mrs. Carole let him leave the house like that. Not that he wanted to wear clothes like that, but he had been hit for less.

He was sure Mr. Burt was only nice now, but as soon as the social worker would stop coming by, he would surely show his true face and hurt Kurt just like his dad had hurt him.

Ethan wanted to like Mrs. Carole but he didn't trust her either. His mom had been nice once too, before she started saying horrible things to him even when he had done nothing wrong. He had to stay on the look out so he wouldn't fall into their trap.

At least he had a nice room that he was allowed to decorate himself. Kurt had told him that the room had been Blaine's once, and Ethan wasn't too sure what to think about the other boy.

Yes, he was fun to hang around with as well, because he, Kurt and Finn knew all the songs from Disney movies, but he was afraid Blaine would get Kurt hurt. He hadn't been lying when he had told them he was cool with them being boyfriends but his dad had always said what he thought didn't matter because it was wrong.

So he didn't like it when they were sitting next to each other on the couch or held hands because if Mr. Burt found out, Kurt would get punished.

His dad made it clear that liking other boys was wrong and would be severely punished. And if he was always wrong, his dad had to be right. He liked Kurt and didn't want him to get punished, so he made sure to sit down next to Kurt when Blaine was at the house so they couldn't sit together.

When they started talking about Valentine's Day, he had to do something to keep them safe. But he was also afraid they would get angry with him, if they found out what he was doing and kicked him out.

He didn't want to have to go to another house where he didn't know anyone, but if they found out how bad he was, the family wouldn't keep him. His father had told him the only reason he was keeping him was because he had to and no one in their right mind would willingly be around him. His lack of friends at his old school had been proof of that. No one wanted to hang out with him anymore once they had been to his house.

Still he had to risk getting into trouble if it would keep Kurt out of it. He had been listening to everyone in the house for the past days to find out what they had planned for Valentine's day and decided to do what he did when he was younger and wanted the babysitter gone and his mom home.

Mr. Burt and Mrs. Carole had already left for a date and Finn had also gone out with his girlfriend. He was alone in the house with Kurt and Blaine, who he had promised to go to bed on time so they could have a date at home.

He put on his pjs when it was close to his bedtime and started rubbing his eyes until they were red. Then he ran downstairs into the living room where Kurt and Blaine were sitting much too close together on the couch. Both their hair looked weird when they looked at him and he knew he was interrupting something.

"I want my mommy," he wailed throwing himself at Kurt, who immediately put his arms around him and started rubbing his back as he tried to calm him down. Ethan just cried louder.

"Maybe we should call Burt and Carole," Blaine suggested and Ethan nodded into Kurt's chest.

Suddenly he was sitting on the couch next to Kurt who looked at him with a knowing smile.

"That won't be necessary," Kurt told Blaine and Ethan paled. Were they going to beat him up now for lying.

"I had babysitters once too," Kurt told him and Ethan looked down on his hands. "Want to tell me what this is really about? If you're uncomfortable being here with the two of us you can tell me."

Great, and now they thought he hated them.

Kurt had caught on early that something was going on with Ethan, but had hoped the younger boy would come talk to him about it. He had seemed okay with him and Blaine when he had caught them kissing on Blaine's birthday, but ever since he had been trying to keep Blaine and Kurt apart at home.

He was sure they could solve whatever problem Ethan had with them, if they would just talk about it. But from experience he knew that Ethan might close up when cornered, so he decided to wait until his foster brother was ready to talk.

On Valentine's day, he and Blaine had shared a nice home-cooked meal – spending the night somewhere else wasn't really in the cards after the trip to New York – and had settled on the couch afterward to not watch a movie. He and Blaine both knew they couldn't do much with Ethan upstairs, but he would never pass up an opportunity to make out with Blaine on his couch.

When he heard the stairs creak in the hallway, he quickly untangled himself from Blaine and sat up next to him, to look semi-presentable.

Ethan appeared to be crying, but other than the red eyes, there was no indication that he was crying for real, and Kurt was reminded of the days after his dad had left and his mom left him with a babysitter from time to time. He had mastered fake crying pretty fast, because he was afraid his mom would leave him as well, but fortunately she always came back. Well, she had, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

After he had managed to convince Blaine that he didn't have to call Carole, and had calmed down Ethan, they all sat down on the couch together and Kurt waited for Ethan to start talking.

"Are you uncomfortable with Blaine and I being together?" he finally asked. "Is that why you are trying to sabotage our date?"

Ethan started crying for real now and Kurt quickly grabbed a tissue to clean him up.

"Yes. No. I don't know," Ethan sobbed. "I don't have a problem with you, I was just afraid you'd get hurt."

Kurt was touched that Ethan seemed to like him enough to want to protect him, but he had to make sure the younger boy understood there was nothing to be afraid of in their house.

"Who did you think was going to hurt me if I was with Blaine? My dad?" he asked to confirm his suspicions. Ethan nodded and Kurt sighed.

"Ethan, my dad isn't going to hurt me. Blaine and I have been together for a long while, and because Blaine's dad isn't the nicest man either he even stayed with us for a while. My dad knows about us and is okay with it." The now was only added in his mind. No need to scare the boy even further.

Ethan was staring at Blaine with wide eyes. "You're daddy hit you too?" he whispered. Blaine immediately shook his head. "No but he said a lot not so nice things to me and told me I couldn't leave at home anymore. Carole and Burt let me move in here for a bit so I didn't have to live alone," his boyfriend explained.

"So you really don't get punished for liking another boy?" Ethan asked again.

Kurt smiled at him and took Blaine's hand into his own. "No I don't. And if it would make you feel better we can talk to my dad with you so you can see that you don't have to be afraid of him," Kurt offered and Ethan nodded eagerly.

"Are you feeling better now?" Blaine asked Ethan and the younger boy nodded again.

"Okay, Mister. Time for bed then," Kurt told Ethan before Blaine picked him up and gave him a piggy back ride up to his former bedroom.

Later that night, he and Blaine were snuggled up together under the covers, both deep in thought. Kurt suspected Blaine was thinking about his own father as well. Kurt had never been more glad that the worst his dad had done was move to another state when he was Ethan's age, because he had at least had his mom to love him and take care of him.

He was pulled out of his revelry, but Blaine pulling him even closer and nuzzling his jaw. "You know," he whispered into his ear. "I really like that my bedroom is occupied by Ethan now, because now we don't have to sneak around anymore to spend the night together.

Blaine's hand, which had been lying on his stomach, started slowly traveling further south and Kurt quickly stopped him before it arrived south of the equator.

"Blaine, we can't. Ethan is just down the hall and Finn should be back soon as well," he told his boyfriend as sternly as possible, but he knew it wouldn't take much convincing.

He turned around in Blaine's arms to look at his boyfriend, who was using his sad puppy eyes on him and Kurt felt his resolve weaken. "But it's Valentine's Day. I'm sure there is some law that you have to make your boyfriend happy on Valentine's day," he whispered suggestively and Kurt let Blaine kiss his neck for a few seconds before pulling away again.

"But Ethan…" he started again, just to be cut off by Blaine's lips on his own. "Is in the bedroom down the hall, with Finn's between us and him," Blaine continued.

Kurt wiggled out of Blaine's embrace and pushed the covers back to get out of bed.

"Hey, no. Where are you going?" Blaine pouted and Kurt rolled his eyes at his horny boyfriend.

"To lock the door, because the last thing that boy needs is to walk in on us," he whispered back, before turning the lock and taking off his shirt on the way to the bed.

The shirt landed somewhere on the floor, but Kurt didn't care. After all he had his horny boyfriend waiting for him, with promises to make him happy.

It was a few days after Valentine's Day and the subsequent talk he, Kurt, Carole, Burt and Ethan had had when two letters from colleges arrived. To his surprise he had gotten into Stanford and Berkeley – the second one wasn't even on his grandfather's list but it was a good school so he had applied as well. He knew it was time to tell Kurt about Harvard and Yale, especially now that it was clear that Kurt wouldn't get invited to audition for UCLA.

"So why didn't you tell me earlier?" Kurt asked him later that night, as they were sitting on the couch in Kurt's former home.

"I don't know. You seemed kind of excited about auditioning for Berklee and I was afraid you wouldn't want to audition anymore if you found out Harvard already rejected me."

After Cooper had pep talked him into auditioning for Columbia, Blaine had sat down and really thought about the future. As much as he wanted to be wherever Kurt was, if Columbia didn't work out, he had to attend another college regardless of whether it was close to Kurt or not. They both had to do what was best for their future and he was afraid that he might start resenting Kurt somewhere down the line, if he gave up on an amazing opportunity because he went to New York to be with Kurt. He had to choose a college that would offer him a good education even if that meant going to school somewhere that wasn't New York.

"I agree. As much as I want to be with you next year, it isn't fair to either of us to give up on our dreams to make that happen. If it's meant to be it will happen," Kurt assured him and pressed a quick kiss to Blaine's forehead.

"So what do you propose that we'll do?" Blaine asked his boyfriend.

"Maybe we should wait till we have all our letters, and once we have made a decision we tell each other where we want to go," Kurt suggested and Blaine nodded.

It would be difficult having to sit there and hope that somehow he and Kurt had gotten into colleges close to each other and would choose those, but it was for the best. He didn't want to think they would ever break up, but if they did, at least it wouldn't be caused by resentment over following the other person somewhere they didn't want to go to.

"Deal," he told his boyfriend who gave him a hopeful smile before cuddling up to him on the couch so they could watch a movie before they had to head back to Kurt's house to relieve Finn of his babysitting duty.

Ethan apparently still didn't want to be home alone with Burt and Carole even after their talk, so Finn and Kurt were alternately staying home with him.

Blaine raised his eyebrow at Kurt when he saw which movie Kurt had chosen because they must have a least seen it twenty times.

"What. I only have two more hours with you and I want to make the most out of it," Kurt whispered suggestively and Blaine perked up.

"Why don't we go downstairs then?" he whispered straight into Kurt's ear. Kurt shook his head though to his chagrin. "Your mom and Santana should be back soon and I don't want to get almost caught again by either of them."

Yes, Blaine really wished he and Kurt would both get into college in New York, just so that they could get an apartment together and never had to worry about parents, roommates or siblings again. Seriously. What had he been thinking when he told Kurt he wouldn't live with him for senior year? If he and Kurt didn't get into colleges in the same city, he had wasted a year they could have been together.

Carole was checking that everything was spotless in her house for the third time when the doorbell rang and man close to her age was standing in front of the door when Carole opened it. She quickly ushered Ethan's newest social worker in before offering him some coffee and cookies.

"I'm sorry Burt isn't here, but he had to take care of something in Columbus. The boys and Ethan should be back from the park soon though," she told the man nervously. After all, he was the one who would determine if Ethan would stay in their house or if they would move him somewhere else if he thought they weren't doing a good enough job.

Luckily, Finn, Kurt and Ethan came back not even half an hour later, and Mr. Ryan went upstairs with Ethan to talk to him in private while Carole prepared some sandwiches for her boys.

When Ethan and Mr. Ryan came downstairs again, she sent Ethan into the kitchen with Finn and Kurt while she asked the man to join her in the living room again.

"Is everything okay?" she asked anxiously. Mr. Ryan nodded and smiled at her. "Ethan told me you're doing your best to make him feel comfortable here, that he likes your sons and doesn't want to go anywhere else at the moment."

Carole gave him a huge smile because that was great news. Ethan hadn't even been in their family for long and still she already knew she didn't want to see him go.

"Is there any chance he could stay with us for good?" she asked the social worker. "As in you're interested in adopting him?" Carole nodded. Of course this was something she had to talk to Burt about, but she really wanted to make Ethan's life better and she strongly believed that making him part of their family – if he wanted that – would be good for him.

"It really all depends on the court decision. The parents are given time to clean up their acts and court should decide in a few months if Ethan can be sent home again or stays in foster care. Should the parents sign their rights over to the state or the court decides the parents are unfit to care for a child, there is a possibility that you can adopt him. You shouldn't have too much of a problem. You're married and you've already successfully raised children so I don't see why you shouldn't be allowed to adopt him, if he stays in the care of the state," Mr. Ryan explained and Carole smiled even wider.

The rest of the social worker's visit was pleasant. Ethan even sat close to her for once and didn't look as distrusting of her as he had before and both Finn and Kurt were behaving themselves after she had told them how important it was that they left a good first impression.

She also started to worry though that she wasn't such a good foster parent after all because she got attached too fast. If she was already afraid of losing the first kid that came into their home, how would she handle having to see kids come and go on a regular basis.

It wasn't time to dwell on these things right now though. Right now she had to make sure Ethan felt safe and loved in her house. All other thoughts could wait.

Burt still had no clue how to bond with their newest family member even after they had had a talk about why Ethan was afraid of Burt and Burt had assured him that he was fine with Kurt and Blaine dating and no one in their house was getting punished for liking who they liked regardless of if that was a boy, a girl or both.

He also knew he made a lot of mistakes with Kurt when his son was that age that he didn't want to repeat so he decided to enlist Kurt's help. He just hoped it wouldn't open any old wounds when he talked to his son about his childhood.

He caught Kurt one afternoon surrounded by homework and decided now was the time to talk because Kurt looked like he could use a break anyway.

"Can we talk?" he asked. Kurt shut his math book with a bang and followed Burt into the living room.

"Now I understand if you don't want to talk about that with me, but I could really use your help," Burt started and Kurt looked at him curiously.

"Just spit it out dad." "Alright, I have trouble bonding with Ethan and I don't want to repeat any mistakes I've made with you. So could you tell me about situations when you were younger where you wanted me to act a certain way and I did the exact opposite."

Kurt squirmed in his seat for a few seconds before he nodded.

"You always tried to force me to play with toys you thought were appropriate for boys even though I hated them. You signed me up for sports teams without asking if that was something I wanted to do, because again you thought boys should play little league soccer and baseball. But what hurt the most was that you never came to my performances unless they were sports related. Mom used to tell me you couldn't get out of work when I had a piano recital or was in a school play but I knew you just weren't interested because you always took time off when I had a game."

Burt had no excuses for his behavior. Back then, he did think most of Kurt's after school activities were girly and boring and so he had never tried to get out of work for them and had instead asked Lizzy to record them. He also hadn't known it was that important for Kurt that he was there as well because he had always seemed to be closer to his mom, and growing up he had only ever been upset when his dad couldn't make it to one of his games.

"Ethan, he likes singing those Disney songs with you, right? You think he might like to come watch you sing at Regionals?" he asked Kurt after a few moments of silence during which Kurt was studying his finger nails and Burt was deep in thoughts.

Kurt nodded. "I'm sure he wants to come. He likes listening to Finn, Blaine and I when we practice for glee."

Well, Burt could do that. Finn had already started borrowing different toys from his girlfriend's sister so that was covered as well, so all he had to do for now was make sure to ask Ethan about his hobbies so they could sign him up for after school activities he was actually interested in. Baby steps he told himself.

The last weekend of February found Burt, Carole and Ethan in the auditorium of a high school an hour away from Lima. He thought the first group was good and Ethan was bouncing up and down in his chair excitedly as well, but Carole tried to convince them that the group didn't have the best dancers and had even screwed up the words at some point.

The second group of the night was Kurt and Blaine's old school a cappella group the Warblers and Burt was glad to see that that horrible boy who wouldn't leave Blaine alone wasn't part of the group anymore. Kurt and Blaine sat down next to them during the Warbler's performance, both cheering on their former teammates even though they were competing against them.

Ethan was clapping enthusiastically as well then the Warblers finished and for the first time he was coming out of his shell when he was near Burt. Because of his previous behavior he had expected that the boy would watch quietly, not letting on how much he liked the performances but he was positively surprised.

"Do you like that? What those kids are doing?" he asked Ethan while they waited for New Directions to come on stage. Ethan nodded shyly apparently still wary of Burt's reaction to the statement.

"Is that something you'd like to do as well? I'm sure your school will do plays from time to time," he prodded again. Ethan looked at him with wide eyes that reminded him so much of Kurt's when he was younger even though Ethan's were green and he had black hair.

"Can I learn how to sing like Finn and Kurt?" he finally asked and Burt smiled at him. "If that's what you want? You know you can ask for things that you like and we won't ever judge you whether you want to play football or learn to dance," Burt assured him.

Ethan looked at him puzzled. "Can't I do both if I like it?" he asked. Burt shouldn't be surprised anymore because nearly half of Kurt's glee club was on the football team as well and that one kid even got accepted into a dance school.

"What ever you want, but I want you to do something because you want to do it, not because you think I want you to. Deal?" he asked and offered his hand to shake after figuring that offering his fist for a fist bump might scare the young boy.

Ethan's face lit up. "Deal," he whispered and shook Burt's hand.

Later that night, Burt took his family plus Kurt and Finn's friends out to Breadstix to celebrate their win at Regionals. Both Kurt and Blaine were a bit sad that the Warblers had lost, but he understood that a second tie hadn't been very likely.

As always he ignored Carole and Kurt's glares when he ordered a double cheeseburger with fries, a beer and a milkshake for dessert. He wasn't feeling too hot after dinner, but he tried not to show it because he didn't want to ruin the first successful outing of his new extended family.

His body was probably just rebelling after having been forced to eat mostly healthy while he was at home, but he was sure it would settle as soon as he was back to his normal food in Columbus.

He knew Carole worried about his blood pressure and tried to get him to eat healthier but he wasn't even forty yet, so there really wasn't anything to worry about. Maybe when he was in his fifties he had to give up on some of his favorites if his blood pressure was still up, but for now he enjoyed being able to eat whatever he wanted.

I hope this isn't totally unrealistic. I got all my information on the US foster system from watching Judging Amy back in the day.

The next month will be all about college. Who knew that graduating the same time wouldn't mean smooth sailing for Kurt and Blaine...