‘THE COMING OUT’

The weather was disgustingly cold for late March. It must have snowed recently as well, because when Kurt stepped outside the terminal at Columbus airport, his boots were met with slush. After living in L.A for three years, he really wasn’t used to the cold anymore. He wrapped his scarf around his neck, while he scanned the parked cars for his dad’s familiar pick up truck.

“Kurt,” a gruff male voice called out and Kurt turned toward it. Burt Hummel, dressed as always in lose blue jeans. trucker hat and a parker over his flannel shirt, hurried over to his son, and wrapped him up in a tight hug. “Missed you, kiddo.”

“Missed you too, Dad,” Kurt replied. When his dad tried to take his suitcase, Kurt handed him his messenger bag instead. After a heart attack and a cancer scare, it was bad enough that his dad still worked full time at his garage.

They climbed into his dad’s truck, after putting his luggage into the trunk, and his dad immediately cranked up the heat. “We had some pretty heavy snowfall yesterday,” he explained. Kurt nodded.

“How’s Carole?” he asked, because he really didn’t want to talk about the weather with his dad.

“She’s good. She just got back from a girls’ trip to Atlantic City. Actually won some money.”

“Really?” Kurt asked incredulously. Carole had the worst pokerface and whenever they played boardgames or cards together she always lost.

“That’s what I said,” his dad laughed. “She wasn’t amused. But we can talk about your stepmom later. I wanna know why you’re here? You never visit between Christmas and your birthday and I know you just started a very demanding job. I’m not sick, so why?”

“Couldn’t I have just wanted to see you?” Kurt tried his best to sound innocent. His dad wasn’t buying it.

“We could have skyped. So what’s going on? You in trouble or something?”

Kurt shook his head. “No, I just have some news which I wanted to tell you and Carole in person.”

They stopped at a red light and his dad turned to face him. “You only talk to the two of us together, when you think I won’t like what you’re going to say. But I’m drawing a blank here. Did you get drunk and knock up a girl?”

“What?” Kurt sputtered. “I would never … do that with a girl. No one’s pregnant. I mean, I’m sure some people are pregnant, but I have nothing to do with it,” he rambled.

“Okay, okay,” his dad raised his hands in surrender. Behind them, another driver honked his horn. The light had turned green. “You can tell us when we get home.”

For the rest of the drive, Kurt told his dad a little bit more about his new job and his dad told him about some of the crazier costumers he’d had since Kurt had last been home. Before he knew it, the two hour drive was over, and his dad pulled into their driveway.

His parents lived in a two storey house with a white picket fence around the front and backyard. It was in quiet part of Lima, surrounded by houses just like theirs. They’d moved into the house after his dad and Carole had gotten married, because their old house, didn’t have enough room for the four of them. It wasn’t the house, he’d grown up in, but he still felt very much at home there, every time he was visiting. His bedroom looked exactly like it had back in high school, minus some knick knacks, pictures and the vanity he’d taken to college with. All his furniture was painted white and his walls were decorated with black and white photographs of famous landmarks. Up in his room, he quickly unpacked his suitcase and hung up his clothes before he changed into comfortable lounge pants and an old hoodie. Downstairs, Carole and his dad were waiting for him in the living room. He accepted a mug of hot chocolate from his stepmom.

“It’s with a splash of rum for the two of us,” she winked. She was drinking out of a mug that said ‘Best Stepmom’. Kurt had given it to her the first mother’s day after her son had died.

Kurt took a sip from his hot chocolate and smiled at her. “Just like I like it.”

Burt complained that he had to drink warm milk. But he knew it was for his own good. He then turned to his son. “So, spill.”

Kurt put down his mug. He fiddled with his hands and studied his nails. This shouldn’t be hard. He’d told his parents worse. But it had always been the truth. Now, he would lie to them, deceive them, just so that they could claim plausible deniability if anyone ever found out the truth. Still, he didn’t like it. He never lied to his dad. At least, until now.

“I have a boyfriend,” he opened with. Carole interrupted him immediately.

“That’s wonderful, honey. Don’t tell me you were nervous about telling us about him.”

“I’m happy for you, kiddo,” his dad added and Kurt winced, because he was sure his dad would change his tune once he heard the rest.

“That’s not all,” he continued. “He’s not like me.” He was interrupted again.

“Is he older?” his dad asked, while Carole, at the same time, asked, “Is he bi?”

“Can I finish please?” Kurt grumbled. His parents nodded and Carole mimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.

“Yes, his older, but only by a year. No, he’s not bi. He’s not like me, because he’s famous. And he’s in the closet so only his closest friends know about me. However, he wants up to go public in a few weeks, and we thought our parents should hear about the relationship from us and not from the tabloids,” Kurt finished. He’d been right. The vein above his dad’s left eyebrow throbbed.

“You know you deserve better than some closet case, kiddo. And a celebrity. Do you really want your personal life to be dragged out into the open? I’m sure there are also nice, regular guys in L.A. And if it’s about the money, I’m sure there are plenty of single doctors or lawyers.”

Kurt tried not to be insulted by his dad’s last comment. He didn’t understand L.A. The way his dad saw it, you only lived there if you wanted to be part of the Hollywood lifestyle. He didn’t really get that Kurt lived in L.A because his chances to have a career in his chosen field were the greatest there.

Fortunately, Carole was on his side. “Sweetheart, that’s so exciting. Who is he? Or aren’t you allowed to tell?”

“You’re my parents, of course I can tell you,” Kurt replied. His dad relaxed a little. “His name is Blaine Anderson, his also from Ohio originally and his on…”

“Loser Like Me!” Carole exclaimed. “Oh, I know who he is. So handsome,” she beamed at Kurt.

“He is,” Kurt gushed, remembering the role he had to play. Though, in all honesty, it wasn’t hard to gush about Blaine’s looks. “We met, when I was here for Christmas and I never thought I’d hear from him again once I was back in L.A. But he called and we got to know one another,” he smiled, a rare toothy smile.

Carole gasped and smacked his shoulder lightly. “And you didn’t tell me. I could have used that information when Misty was going on and on about her son getting into Harvard. Screw Harvard, this is way better.”

Kurt chuckled. “I’m happy you're happy for me, Carole, but you can’t say anything. At least, not until Blaine’s made his announcement and even after, I’d prefer it if not a lot of people know I’m involved with him. If people find out on their own I can’t stop them, but please don’t go out of your way to let the whole neighborhood know.”

“Of course, honey, whatever you want,” Carole assured him. “This is just all so exciting. When do we get to meet him?”

“Yes, when do I get to meet this guy?” his dad repeated and Kurt winced.

“Next time I’m here probably. I’m invited to dinner at his mom’s house tomorrow night, and Sunday morning, I already have to fly back to L.A.”

“Yeah, no. You’re not flying back before I’ve met this guy. Where’s his family live?”

“Columbus,” Kurt replied and waited for his father to realize what that meant.

“But your flight leaves at ten,” Burt frowned. “Wouldn’t it be better if he came here so you don’t have to drive back and forth so much. You’re going to be exhausted when this weekend is over.”

“Burt,” Carole looked at his dad meaningfully and Burt’s eyes widened.

“You’re spending the night,” he exclaimed, and Kurt had to remind himself that he wasn’t seventeen anymore and asking his dad if he could go on a date with a boy from West Lima High.

“You said it yourself,” Kurt shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s too far to go back and forth. At Blaine’s house I’m going to be so much closer to the airport.”

This had been the argument that had convinced him to spend the night at the Andersons’ rather than go back to Lima. Blaine’s house was only thirty minutes from the airport and according to their backstory, they’d already been dating for a few months. It would have probably raised more questions if Kurt didn’t spend the night.

“I’m nearly twenty-four,” he reminded his dad, who sighed.

“I know, I know. But then Carole and I are driving you there so we can meet this boy. Must be pretty serious after all, if you’re going public together and meeting his family already.”

Kurt winced yet again. He hadn’t told his family everything yet. “You better sit back down for this,” he advised his dad. “And maybe get a light beer.”

His dad searched his face for a moment before he complied and went into the kitchen. Carole added another splash of rum to their hot chocolates. Only when his dad had sat back down in his chair, did Kurt continue his story.

“The reason why we’re doing all this in a pretty new relationship - you know, telling the parents and meeting the parents - is because Blaine’s being blackmailed by someone who doesn’t want him to come out. But Blaine’s dead set on it and things may get ugly. We want our families to be prepared in case this happens.”

Burt gaped at his son. He’d always known that moving to L.A  wasn't a good idea, especially not with that Santana girl. He’d much preferred it if Kurt had transferred to New York where his friend Rachel lived. Sure, New York was a large city as well, but he didn’t think his son would have become part of a scandal there so easily.

“That guy must have money, can’t he just pay off whoever has your video.”

“Our video?” Kurt asked, honestly confused, before he caught his dad’s drift and his eyes widened in shock. “What? No! This isn’t about a sex tape!”

“It isn’t?” his dad asked, shoulders slumping in relief. Kurt shook his head. “Oh thank God. But what’s it about then?”

Kurt realized belatedly that he shouldn’t have reacted so strongly, because in the end, part of Rebecca Quinn’s blackmail was about a sex tape, multiple actually, only that he wasn’t in them.

“There’s a few things that Blaine would like to keep out of the press, and this girl, she wants to use that information to smear his reputation,” he recounted.

“Just spit it out, kiddo,” his dad sighed.

“Hisbrotherisapornstar,” Kurt mumbled. His dad raised an eyebrow, totally unimpressed. “His brother makes pornographic movies,” Kurt repeated more slowly, his cheeks heating up.

Even though his dad had never caught him with porn - mostly because he didn’t like those kinds of movies - he still felt weird saying the word in front of him. Predictably, his dad’s eyebrows shot up. Kurt quickly continued before his dad could ask questions.

“And Blaine, well, he’s, ah, been with quite a lot of guys since he moved to L.A. His publicist made sure the stories and pictures always got buried, because they show Blaine in an unflattering light, but this girl apparently got her hands on them and is threatening to release them if Blaine sees me again.”

“So, she doesn’t have anything on you?” Carole asked and Kurt shook his head.

“Not that I know of. So what’s most important for Blaine right now, is that he gets to come out before she outs him. That’s why he’s in Ohio right now. He told her he needs some time to think about her ‘offer’ and out here, it’s harder for her to keep an eye on him.”

“Should you even be here then?” his dad grumbled. “What if you are seen together?”

“That’s why we’re meeting at his mom’s house,” Kurt explained. “And we were careful. I took a flight from San Diego, just in case she has someone watching LAX.”

‘All this because this guy wants to come out,” his dad shook his head. “I’ll never understand you Hollywood people. But, whatever. What do you need us to do?”

“Basically,” Kurt said, after taking another sip of his rum fueled hot chocolate, “don’t talk to the press if they find out I'm the one who's dating Blaine Anderson. If anyone write something bad about me, you need to ignore it.”

“Fine,” his dad grunted. “But you know how I feel about people trash talking my family.

“I’m sorry, dad. I really didn’t think any of this would happen when I first started seeing him. I thought the biggest problem was that he wasn’t out.”

It was frightening, how good he was at this. He nearly believed it himself. But the anger he felt on Blaine’s behalf was real. Even if he’d never met the actor and had found out someone was doing this to him, he’d be super pissed. It was Blaine’s life after all, and only he should be allowed to decided how to live it.

“You really like this guy?” his dad asked and Kurt nodded, working hard to keep eye contact. Fortunately, he did really like Blaine, just not the way his dad meant.

“Alright. Then you have us in your corner. But I still don’t like this.”

Kurt fell into his dad’s arms and let himself be wrapped up in a bear hug. He pressed his cheek against his dad’s worn flannel shirt and tried not to think about the fact that he was lying to his dad. Just because he wanted to take a shortcut and find a buyer for his screen play as soon as possible. 

He excused himself upstairs and in his bedroom, fell face forward onto his bed. It was nearly midnight in Ohio, and Kurt was exhausted after a half day in the office, driving to San Diego, the flight and the drive to Lima. With a groan, he pulled his flip phone from his pocket - he made sure never to use the company smartphone for personal texts even though they were included in his plan - and sent a quick text to Blaine.

Talk with my parents went surprisingly well. Will drive me to your mom’s however to meet you. Be prepared, my stepmom is a fan. - Kurt

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply. They’d been texting a lot this past week, because Blaine was bored out of his mind already, with his entourage back in L.A and only his mom for company.

She can’t be worse than my mom’s friends. They all wanted to touch my hair because it looks so different outside of the show. My mom can’t wait to meet you, btw. Think you also have a fan. C U tomorrow - Blaine.

======

Kurt tried not to fidget too much on the drive to Columbus the next day as he could feel his father’s eyes on him through the rearview mirror. He’d told Carole to ride in the passenger seat to escape Burt’s disapproving looks. Carole, on the other hand, was so excited it looked like she could burst any moment.

“He’s really nice and super down to earth,” he tried again to win the actor some points with his dad - who snorted.

“Down to earth, yeah right. How many people does he have working for him again? And all those cars. You know I love them, but no single person needs a garage that big.”

Kurt was seriously regretting now having showed his dad the pictures he took in Blaine’s garage or that he told him about Blaine’s entourage.

“They’re his friends. He wouldn’t have a live in entourage if they were strangers,” Kurt protested. His dad just shook his head.

“Do you even hear yourself these days, kiddo? You talk about entourages and people having servants like it’s the most normal thing in the world. You’ve changed so much since you moved to that city and I don’t think you’ve even realized,” his dad continued and Kurt turned his head and looked out of the side window.

He didn’t agree with his dad. He was still the old Kurt Hummel, only that he dressed better now and got invited to cooler parties. And sure, he’d acquired a taste for Champagne since Santana had a knack for smuggling them into parties, but he wouldn’t go out and buy a bottle for himself. He still stuck to his weekly budget even though his new job paid him twice as much as the job in the mail room had. No matter how much he wanted to, he hadn’t replaced his cell phone with a smartphone yet, because those iPhones were expensive and he didn’t really need one for himself when he already had the company smartphone. Their cleaning woman only came once a month instead of every week and Kurt still made sure only to buy groceries that were on sale when he went to the store. So yes, his dad was wrong, Kurt hadn’t changed. But he kept his mouth shut. They’d had this discussion too many times since Kurt graduated and told his family he was staying in L.A.

To lighten the mood, Carole kept up a constant stream of conversation about her favorite episodes of LLM, until Kurt started to regret introducing his stepmom to the show in the first place.

“Oh, come on honey. Don’t act like you’re so much better than me,” Carole pouted. “I know, you’re an even bigger fan than me.”

“I’m a Matric fan, the rest I just hate watch,” Kurt huffed. After all, it’d been a few seasons since he’d last enjoyed a full episode of the show. If he hadn’t been so invested in Matthew and Eric’s relationship he would have resorted to just looking at pictures of Blaine Anderson online a while ago.

“I can’t believe they made them break up for the fifth time,” Carole grumbled. “They broke up over dirty dishes and now I’m supposed to root for them to get engaged.”

“I know,” Kurt agreed. “It’s so hard to watch some times. Because - and you know how much I love them - if you can’t make it work the four times before, why do you think the fifth time’s the charm? That show should have just made up its mind; either break them up for good or let them be together and find obstacles they can overcome together instead of breaking up over every little thing.”

His dad chucked and Kurt’s face flushed. He shouldn’t get so worked up over a fictional couple. After all, they were getting a happy ending, Kurt was sure, even though Blaine had refused to confirm Kurt’s suspicions when asked. But at least, his dad wasn’t scowling anymore.

Before long, they reached the outskirts of Columbus and Kurt put Mrs. Anderson’s address into the maps app on his company phone. After a couple of detours, he finally realized that he had to hold the phone upside down so that the phone’s north and his north aligned. His dad mumbled something about newfangled crap and swore to bring a street map the next time around.

They were still ten minutes early, when they pulled into a quiet, suburban street. The houses on it were midsize and the front yards filled with snowmen and sleighs even though it was already late March. He knew that Blaine and Cooper had bought the house for their mother, and Kurt thought they’d found a nice area. A dark green station wagon was in the driveway and his dad parked next to it. As he cut the engine, the front door opened and a short woman with curly brown hair peered out of it. When her eyes landed on Kurt, she smiled brightly.

“You must be Kurt and family,” she called out. “Come in quickly.”

Kurt got his luggage from the trunk of his dad’s car and followed the woman into the house. The walls in the small foyer were covered with pictures of Blaine and Cooper, on their own, together and with their mom. Some of them looked like a fourth person had been cut out of them, but after what Blaine had told him about his dad, Kurt understood why Mrs. Anderson didn’t want to have her ex on the walls of her home. While Burt and Carole shed their outerwear, Kurt looked at pictures of Blaine in his Dalton uniform. He’d been right - had they met in high school, Kurt totally would have crushed on the older student.

“Hey, no looking at my baby pictures. At least not as long as your withholding your own.” Blaine came down the stairs in his usual attire of jeans and t-shirt, though Kurt was glad to see, the actor had put on a long sleeved shirt under his Harry Potter t-shirt. Kurt was also glad he wasn’t wearing one of his actor problems novelty shirts because he was certain his dad wouldn’t find them funny. “You must be Mr. Hummel and Mrs. Hudson - Hummel,” Blaine held out his hand politely. Kurt had briefed him well.

Burt narrowed his eyes at the little punk who wanted to publicly involve his son in a scandal. With the way Kurt dressed and looked, his son was never safe wherever he went, but if suddenly everyone knew that his son didn’t just look gay, but was sleeping with some actor, it would make him an even bigger target. The night he’d gotten the call from the Columbus PD, he was certain he had a second heart attack. His son had already been attacked once, he didn’t understand why Kurt wanted to put himself in even bigger danger. Not that he could voice any of those concerns because he knew Kurt would do anything to keep Burt healthy - even if it meant giving up his own happiness. He’d let Kurt do it once - when his son had given up college in New York so he could be closer to family - and he wasn’t about to let him do it again, no matter how much he was against Kurt dating Blaine Anderson. Who was still holding out his hand for Burt to shake. Burt took it and squeezed hard, making the guy in front of him wince. His son, fortunately, was busy taking off his coat.

“Please follow me into the living room. My oldest, Cooper, is making coffee.”

Next to Kurt, Carole turned bright red and Mrs. Anderson rolled her eyes. “Guess Kurt told you about Cooper’s illustrious career.” Carole nodded. “Just do me a favor and don’t watch his movies. All my friends here thought it would be hilarious if they did. It wasn’t for me.”

“Of course, I would never,” Carole stammered while Burt sniggered behind her. Kurt was just glad he wasn't the only one in the family who acted weird when it came to porn.

The Anderson living room was small, but cosy. There were even more family pictures on the walls and the royal blue curtains perfectly matched the sofa. Either Mrs. Anderson had incredible good taste, or she had hired a decorator, Kurt mused as he looked around while his dad and Carole sat down on the couch. It was L shaped with enough space for five people. Still, Kurt joined Blaine on the love seat and tried not to let it show that this was the first time, he and the actor were sitting this close. Just then, Cooper came out of the adjoining kitchen, carrying a tray of coffee mugs, milk, sugar and the coffee. Once everyone had a full cup, introductions were made.

“Mom, these are Kurt’s parents, Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson - Hummel,” Blaine said. A few days ago, they exchanged emails containing the most important information about their parents like first names, jobs and notable hobbies.

“Pamela, but you can call me Pam,” his mom replied. Kurt’s dad nearly choked on a sip of coffee.

“Your name is Pamela Anderson?” he asked incredulously.

“I was there first,” Pam shrugged. “It was a perfectly good name before that blonde bimbo came along.”

It was clear to Kurt why Blaine loved his mother. She had a great sense of humor, she had taste and she clearly loved her boys very much.

Fortunately, his dad refrained from giving Blaine the third degree over coffee and by the time his parents announced that it was time for them to leave, Carole had already exchanged phone numbers with Pam so they could meet up for girls night.

=====

Cooper excused himself to get ready for a date with a girl he’d met in a club the previous night once Kurt’s parents had driven off and Blaine’s mom retrieved a bottle of white wine from the kitchen.

“So, Blaine told me what’s going on. You sure you don’t want to back out before shit hits the fan?” his mom asked Kurt bluntly, after handing both of them a generously filled glass.

Blaine turned to Kurt, who was picking at his nails when he thought no one was looking. “I’d understand, Kurt, if you wanted to back out. I mean, I liked Santana’s idea, but I can just give an interview or tweet something.”

Kurt squared his shoulders and shook his head. “Hell no. I’m not going to let escort barbie blackmail you. No one deserves to be outed, whether they’re famous or not. And she’s made it pretty clear that even if you don’t see me anymore and come out, she’s still going to try to make your life miserable.”

Blaine didn’t say it out loud, but he was relieved. Because even though Kurt wasn’t really his boyfriend, he’d become a good friend in the short amount of time they’d known each other, and while he had friends he’d known longer and was closer with, none of them really understood what he was going through. They had accepted him so easily and it was difficult for them to understand that not everyone would react the same way or that his coming out, if done wrong, could seriously hurt his career. He didn’t want to be remembered as the guy who was on Loser Like Me and had a promising career before he was caught with his pants down with an underaged twink in the men’s bathroom of an L.A gay bar. Okay, the reality wasn’t that bad because he could at least assume, that unless the guys had had fake IDs, he hadn’t hooked up with anyone under eighteen. And he’d been in a stall, the two or three times he’d gotten a blowjob in a men’s bathroom. There really shouldn’t exist any pictures of his indiscretions.

“Well, good,” his mom agreed. “Blaine will need all the support he can get. And you make a good looking couple,” she added with a wink before taking a long drag from her glass. Kurt turned bright red.

The rest of the evening consisted of getting drunk on white wine with his mom, while she told Kurt embarrassing childhood stories that had Blaine squirming in the seat he was still sharing with Kurt, even though there was enough space for them on the couch now. His mom had commented earlier that they were adorable and so they had stayed as they were.

Before Cooper left for his date, Blaine got up to talk to his brother. “You remember the rules, Coop. What don’t you do under any circumstance?”

“Bring her here,” Cooper sighed. “Because we don't want your fans to find out where mom lives, especially when you’re here too.”

Good,” Blaine nodded. His mom’s privacy had always been important to him and because his brother often used Blaine’s name to pick up girls, he was forbidden to bring anyone who wasn’t a long term girlfriend to his mom’s home.

Back in the living room, his mom had brought out his baby albums and Blaine groaned while Kurt cooed over his pictures.

“I guess you always liked the spot light,” Kurt teased, pointing at a picture of him and Cooper. Blaine was four and Cooper fourteen. Both had a microphone stand in front of them, rocking out to some music.

“They were really into Duran Duran back then,” Pam laughed and Blaine snatched the album out of her hand. Maybe, if Kurt actually was his boyfriend, it wouldn’t bother him so much so see his mom and Kurt bond over his baby pictures, but knowing that it was very likely that he and Kurt would never be more than friends, it somehow irked him.

Fortunately, it was time for dinner, and Blaine could use this as an excuse for taking the album away. They’d ordered Chinese, because Blaine was helpless in the kitchen and his mom was more than tipsy already. It seemed like the safer option. During dinner, the focus shifted to Kurt and Blaine was relieved when his mom started to ask Kurt all kinds of questions. He learned a lot about his new friend in the hours they were sitting with his mom. He learned that Kurt had wanted to go to Dalton when the bullying in school had gotten unbearable, but his family couldn’t afford it. He learned that Kurt never officially came out in high school, but everyone had always assumed. He learned that at the beginning of his junior year of high school, Kurt had gone on a date with a boy named Chandler who had attended Lima’s other high school. They’d been seen by some football players from Kurt’s school who had promptly outed Kurt to the whole school. The bullying had gotten so bad afterward that Kurt had been homeschooled for the rest of his junior year and had only returned to school after his chief tormentors had graduated. He learned that Carole who’d only been married to Kurt’s dad for a month at the time, had quit her job at the library, so Kurt could do home schooling. Since then, Kurt had been saving up so someday he could give his parents the honeymoon they had given up for him. All of this made him like Kurt even more and Blaine wondered what he could do to change Kurt’s mind about actually dating him. Thanks to Kurt’s friend Santana, he knew that Kurt had had a crush on him before they met and he was pretty sure that Kurt still liked him as Blaine caught Kurt looking at him from time to time when he thought Blaine wasn’t paying attention. It was just too bad that he couldn’t ask his mom for advice because she, like Cooper, thought they’d already been dating for weeks.

Later that night in Blaine’s old bedroom, they set up an air mattress next to Blaine’s bed. Kurt had told his mom that he’d be happy to stay on the couch as there were only three bedrooms, but his mom had insisted that she was totally cool with Kurt staying in Blaine’s room. So, they’d decided on the air mattress. Blaine had offered Kurt the bed, but the other boy had declined.

“Thanks to you, I can sort of sleep in tomorrow, so I’m not taking your bed.”

Blaine didn’t offer to share the bed with Kurt, because he could tell how uncomfortable he already was just being in Blaine’s bedroom for the night. They took turns in the bathroom and when Blaine came out, teeth brushed and changed into a set of PJs he hadn’t worn in years, Kurt was already buried under a mountain of blankets, only his head peaking out. He was feigning sleep and though Blaine was pretty sure Kurt was faking, he didn’t call him out on it and got into his bed. He turned off his bedside lamp and whispered a ‘good night’ in Kurt’s direction. He wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get an answer.

=============

Back in L.A, Ari buried him with work. Every day, he or Santana had to accompany their boss to meetings with clients where their main job was to keep Ari and the client happy. He met people who were such horrible divas that Kurt really appreciated that the first celebrity he met had been Blaine, who was genuinely nice and down to earth even though he lived in a mansion with his entourage.

On the third day back from Ohio, Santana showed up at work an hour late, her eyes red-rimmed. Fortunately, Ari wasn’t in yet because Mrs. Ari was dragging him to an event at their oldest son’s school.

“What’s wrong?” Kurt asked immediately, but Santana tried to wave him off.

“What, you’ve never seen anyone who has allergies. It’s spring, Kurt,” she said sarcastically, while she tried to refresh her make up with a small pocket mirror.

“Inside,” Kurt challenged her. “And I’ve know you six years, San, the only things you’re allergic to are strawberries.”

Santana just ignored him, but Kurt was sure he’d get the story from her eventually. He wasn’t wrong. After work, he dragged her to a bar close to Santana’s apartment. He didn’t want her to drive once they started drinking. It took three tequila shots for Santana to open up.

“Lucy broke up with me this morning,” she admitted.

“I’m sorry. But is this good news or bad news?” Kurt asked. “Will this be an ‘I need ice cream because I miss her already’ kind of night, or a ‘let’s get wasted to celebrate the bitch is gone’ kind of thing?”

“She dumped me, so probably both,” Santana admitted. “Good news, she dumped me before she actually cheated on me, but she had met someone she developed feelings for. She’s moving to New York for that woman, when with us, just moving in together was too much of a hassle,” Santana hissed and Kurt flagged down a waiter to order another round of Tequila shots. They’d probably both pay for it the next morning, but right now, Tequila sounded like a great idea.

“I’m really sorry, San, but hey, look on the bright side. At least you don’t have to find a new apartment.”

Santana gave him a scathing look. “You’ve really never been in a relationship or gotten your heart broken. I loved her, Kurt, and I really wanted us to live together. Really, the only bright side is that she didn’t cheat on me and tried to hide it.”

Her words hurt, but he knew they were true. He had absolutely no experience with those kinds of things. He’d never been in a relationship unless you counted the awkward three months with Chandler during which they’d kissed once - at a party during spin the bottle. The most embarrassing thing had been, when Kurt had broken up with him and Chandler had told him he didn’t think they were even dating, because Kurt never seemed really into him. Chandler had been right of course; Kurt had liked him well enough as a friend but there was no spark. They only reason why Kurt had wanted to date him in the first place, was because for once, he wanted to be just like the rest of his classmates. He wanted to have a boyfriend and unfortunately, apart from Chandler, who he’d met at  music store, no one seemed to be interested or was brave enough to show interest. He didn’t know what it was like to get dumped after a long term relationship, he’d never lived with a significant other and while it hurt when his crushes never liked him back, it probably didn’t compare to the sort of heartbreak Santana had experienced more than once already. It made it hard to give advice, and Kurt didn’t get why his friends still came to him, when he had nothing to offer. All he could do was get wasted with whoever was heartbroken and let them cry into his shoulder. It was all he was good for.

The tequila started to affect him too and Kurt swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. Tonight was about Santana and though she’d hit a nerve, he had to be the one to console her and not start crying himself.

“You’re right. I don’t know how you’re feeling, so tell me. What can I do to make things better.”

Santana looked at him through slightly blood shot eyes. “Can you just hold me for a bit?”

Kurt wasn’t a hugger, but that was something he could do for her.

=========

Blaine spent the next three weeks helping his mom paint the rooms upstairs, taking down all the curtains for spring cleaning and going through his old wardrobe to see if there were any clothes he could donate to a local shelter. He also texted Kurt a lot because life back in Ohio was boring. It’d been years since he stayed with his mom this long and Blaine was going stir crazy. He was afraid to go out too much, because he didn’t want the press to find out where he was and he was always paranoid about fans finding out where he lived in Ohio. Cooper had flown back to L.A after only one weekend, citing that he had to get ready for a shoot and his mom had gone back to work after taking a week off to spend more time with her son.

A week after he got to Ohio, Rebecca Quinn called.

“It’s been a week, Blaine. What’s it going to be?” she demanded.

Blaine was glad she couldn’t see his face. It made what he had to say to her a lot easier.

“You were right. I should be with you. After all, you’re the hottest girl on the show and I’d be stupid not to give you a shot.”

“Great,” Rebecca said, but Blaine could tell his answer had surprised her. “But what about the guy.”

“Just a phase,” Blaine dismissed Kurt. “He was an experiment, nothing more.” He was lying, but the lies hurt like hell.

‘So I can tell my publicist to set up a press release?” Rebecca asked and Blaine shook his head, before remembering that she couldn’t see him.

“Only under the condition that we wait until the show is over. I’ll make a statement during my Q&A after the finale, okay.”

“Perfect,” Rebecca replied. “But don't you want me there for it?”

Fortunately, flattery got you everywhere with Rebecca Quinn. “Becca, I’m sure if you were there, we’d break the internet. Let me tell my fans first and then we take on the rest of the world.”

“Fine,” she agreed. “When can I see you?”

“I’m visiting family at moment,” Blaine said apologetically. “But I’ll be back for the finale. We can get together after,” he promised, knowing that it would only happen if hell froze over.

Rebecca was satisfied though. Blaine waited till after she’d hung up to text his entourage and Kurt about the development. So far everything was going according to plan.

====

“So, how does this work?” Kurt asked while Blaine set up his laptop next to the iMac in Wes and David’s office. The actor shrugged.

“My friend Lauren, who’s magic when it comes to computers, will come over later to set everything up. We’ll use the camera on Wes’ computer to record me while I talk about filming the last episode and then the fans can either Skype me or send questions on Twitter. I’ll pick the ones I want to answer and Wes will take the Skype calls first to make sure no one too crazy gets to talk to me,” Blaine explained.

“And what if no one asks about you and Rebecca?”

Blaine laughed. “Trust me, someone will. Someone always asks because apparently a lot of fans ship me with her; they even gave us a ship name.”

“Really?” Kurt asked. “But you’re real people. I get that fictional couples get names because it makes talking about them faster and easier, but real people. What is it?”

“Raine,” Blaine sighed.

Kurt sniggered before he froze. “Do you think people will give us a name if they figure out who I am? What would it be? Gosh, I hope it’s not Blurt, it sounds way too much like Burt.”

Blaine chuckled. “As a huge Nirvana fan, I’d prefer KurtCoBlaine.” His expression sobered. “But I doubt anyone would give two men a ship name.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “You don’t give your fans enough credit. I’m sure a lot of ‘Marker’ fans are also ‘Matric’ fans who wont have a problem with you dating men. Heck, I was a fan of yours even though I hated Parker and Madison’s relationship.”

“It really wasn’t the healthiest of relationships,” Blaine agreed. “But the fans loved it and the network insisted that Ben wont break us up. To be quiet honest, I think he started to write wackier and wackier stories for them to piss off the network execs. He told me once, that his plan had been to only have them dating during season one before Parker starts questioning his sexuality. Apparently, the network told him that they would cancel the show if it went in that direction.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kurt gasped. “You premiered pretty much the same time as The O.C. Marissa got to be a lesbian for a couple of episodes, why couldn’t Parker experiment.”

“Sweeps,” Blaine sighed. “You wanna boost your ratings, have some random girl on girl action during sweeps. Just make sure that there are no feelings involved, the girls are both super hot and go back to dating guys after sweeps are over. And don’t ever try the same with two guys. You never let two guys kiss on TV during sweeps,” Blaine explained.

“Huh,” Kurt said. “I mean, we talked about those things in college, but I hoped that things had changed since I took that class on TV production. That really sucks. I’d have loved a Parker questioning himself storyline.”

“Me too,” Blaine admitted, before he turned back to the screen in front of him and logged into his twitter account. There were a few messages from fans who were asking for the link to his livestream and Blaine quickly composed a new tweet where he reposted the link for everyone who had missed his previous post.

“You think she’s going to watch it?” Kurt asked, peering over his shoulder. He didn’t have to specify what she he meant.

“Definitely. After all, she’s expecting me to make an announcement about our relationship.”

“She’s going to be really angry,” Kurt remarked, but Blaine shrugged.

“She’d have been pissed no matter what way I did it. And if she already told people about us, well then that’s her problem. I told her not to say anything until after LLM was done.”

He was scared shitless, but tried not to show it. With the way Kurt was looking at him, he didn’t think he was successful though. Before they could talk about it however, the intercom buzzed signaling Lauren’s arrival. The final episode was about to air on the west coast and it was time to set up the Q&A.

Blaine and Kurt settled in front of the large plasma TV in the living room with his friends and Cooper while Lauren worked upstairs. Even though he was glad to be done with the show, he also felt a bit nostalgic as he watched the sets that had been struck down a few weeks earlier. Those halls had been his home for the past five years and as ready as he was to move on, he still felt sad that they were gone, making room for a new TV show premiering in the fall. Blaine hadn’t been there the day the sets had been struck, but he’d been there the day before to pick up a souvenir. All the cast members were allowed to keep a few things, and Blaine had opted to take his school blazer and tie and the bean bag chair from his dorm room.

Together, they watched as Parker and Madison walked down the aisle while Matthew and Eric shared a look in the back. When Eric turned to Matthew and whispered into his ear that he hoped they would get to have a wedding one day as well, Blaine wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes. There had been a brief window during which he could have gotten married in L.A, but that was before Prop 8 had taken it away again. Not that he would have even if he’d been in a steady, long term relationship because he didn’t want to get married until everyone person in America had the same rights regardless of where they lived. Maybe he’d change his tune if things still hadn’t improved in ten years, but for now this was his plan.

As the final credits rolled, Blaine, Wes and Kurt relocated upstairs.

“Everything’s ready,” Lauren announced. “You tell me when and I’ll start the stream.”

Blaine took a seat in front of Wes’ computer and gave Lauren the go ahead. In a little window in the right bottom corner he could see what his webcam was recording. He smiled his most dazzling smile and waved into the camera.

“Hi guys. I’m happy you could join me here. This is my first live Q&A so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything will go well. So, I promised that I’m going to talk a bit about filming the final episode and then you can ask me questions either by using the hashtag BDAlive on twitter or you can Skype me. I’m BDALLM.” It was the Skype name Lauren had set up for this session. “Unfortunately, we’ll only have an hour because it’s pretty late already on the east coast and I want all my fans to be able to watch this and not just those who can sleep in on a Tuesday,” he winked. “So, yeah, don’t be disappointed if I don’t pick your question. I’ll try to answer all of them on Twitter over the next couple of days.”

Underneath the video was the number of viewers which was steadily climbing. Blaine had had no idea that so many people would be interested in what he had to say.

“So, ah, let’s get to filming the last episode. It was very emotional as you can probably imagine, especially because we knew that the studio would strike the sets two days after we finished filming. If you’ve seen our ‘Behind the scenes’ videos you know that we had the large auditorium where the glee club performed, we had a class room for all the classes the cast had to attend, which was always decorated according to the subject we were being taught. We had the dorm room Parker shared with Eric. We had Madison’s room and Matthew’s room. And we had the library which was my favorite set,” Blaine rambled on. He felt like he was talking to himself, even though he knew that thousands were watching at this point. On his laptop, he could see that people were already asking him questions. He decided to jump right in and answer one.

“I can see on twitter that quite a lot of you want to know if I took anything from the set,” he said. “And yes I did. I took my St. Andrews blazer and tie and the bean bag chair Parker had in his room. Everyone was allowed to take a few things as long as they were props that had been bought for the show. But unfortunately, I don’t know what the others took, so you’re going to have to ask them yourselves if you are interested.”

From behind the screen, Kurt was mouthing ‘you’re doing great’ and it helped him relax a little.

“We shot Parker and Madison’s wedding the last day of filming which was great because it meant that the whole cast was there. Though we had to break a couple of times, because people kept starting to cry,” he chuckled. “Me included, I have to admit. Just knowing that this was the last time we’d all be together, maybe forever, made us all really weepy. But we managed to wrap before midnight and then we had an unofficial wrap party in the auditorium. I think Jesse posted a couple of pictures on his twitter.”

More and more questions were sent his way and Wes signaled that he had also picked a not crazy Skype caller. Though his hands shook, he decided to take it.

“My friend Wes tells me, I have a call from Patrick from St. Paul,” he announced and accepted Wes’ laptop from him. A guy, who looked to be in his early twenties, waved at him shyly.

“Hi Blaine, thanks for taking my call,” he said and Blaine gave him a dazzling smile.

“No problem. What’s your question Patrick?”

“So, um, there’s been talks about a LLM movie a year ago or so and I know you probably can’t tell me whether it’s happening or not, but if you wrote the script, what would you like to see happening.”

‘Good one,’ Blaine thought. Now that he knew that the movie wasn’t happening - at least not in the near future, it could be fun to speculate. He also knew that he couldn’t say anything bad about ‘Marker’, unfortunately.

“I don’t know if you’ve already seen the previews for that movie The Hangover, but I’d love to do something similar with Matthew and Eric, where one of them gets spectacularly drunk the night before their wedding and the St. Andrew’s crew has to band together once more to make sure both boys get to the wedding on time. It would be set in the future for obvious reasons, but yeah, that sounds like fun. I’d love to do that.”

He didn’t tell Patrick though, that he’d originally auditioned for Eric. After signing with Terrance, his new agent had convinced the creator to consider Blaine for the lead instead. Blaine hadn’t found out until much later that Terrance hadn’t wanted him to play gay on TV and had lied about Blaine only auditioning for Eric because he thought he wasn’t the right fit for Parker. Terrance had been convinced that playing Eric would ruin Blaine’s career from the start. Ironically, it was Jesse, who’d gotten cast as Eric instead, who’d won a Golden Globe for his portrayal while Blaine had never even been nominated.

“I’ll have to check it out when it’s out,” Patrick promised and Blaine turned his attention back to the questions on twitter.

For the next twenty minutes he answered his fans’ questions, told some anecdotes about filming LLM and spoke to a few fans on Skype. But then suddenly, Wes was gesticulating wildly. It was clear to Blaine what he meant. His friend and manager had found the girl who wanted to talk about his relationship with Rebecca Quinn. Blaine turned back to the camera.

“I’m going to take another Skype call now. It’s from Maggie from Sacramento. Go ahead Maggie,” he smiled his most charming smile.

A teenaged girl came into view. When she realized that she was now talking to Blaine, she shrieked.

“Oh gosh, I can’t believe it’s really you. I love you so much.” After realizing what she’d just said, she slapped a hand over her mouth, looking horrified. “I’m so sorry. I’m really nervous.”

“Don’t worry,” Blaine smiled. “I also get super nervous when I meet celebrities I like,” he added with a wink. The girl pretty much swooned. “So, what did you want to ask me, Maggie.”

“Oh, I, so, Parker and Madison are my favorite couple on Loser Like Me.” Blaine nodded encouragingly. “And I have a friend who goes to L.A with her parents a lot and she saw you at a restaurant with Rebecca Quinn and I just wanted to ask, if you’re dating her, because that would be really awesome.”

And there it was. He could still back out and make another joke about him and Rebecca or he could stick to the plan and finally be free. Blaine chose to chuckle.

“I don’t think my boyfriend would like that very much. He’s not a fan of polygamy even though he watches Big Love religiously.”

A hand slipped into his out of frame and squeezed it tightly. When Kurt tried to pull it away again, Blaine held on as he watched the girl’s jaw drop.

“You have a boyfriend?” she asked, clearly shocked by his revelation. Blaine nearly felt bad for what he said next, but he wanted his fans to believe that this was nothing new.

“Oh, you didn’t know,” he said, feigning surprise. “Oh well, we haven’t been together too long but he’s a great guy and my friends on the show love him.” Okay, maybe this was an exaggeration, but at least everyone but Rebecca had gotten along great with Kurt at his party. “But that’s nothing compared to my mom; she can’t stop talking about him.”

The girl regained her composure quickly and was now fishing for a scoop. “So, is he anyone we know? Did you meet on Loser Like Me?”

Blaine shook his head. “No one from the show. We’ve only met recently. But thanks for calling and I hope you’re not too mad that ‘Raine’ is not going to happen.” The girl’s eyes nearly budged out of their sockets, when Blaine casually mentioned the ship name. He ended the call, before he gave her an aneurysm or something.

Meanwhile, the internet exploded and his name was suddenly trending on Twitter.

@Nr1RaineFan: Did @BlaineAnderson really just say what I thought he said on #BDAlive

@Raine4ever: @Nr1RaineFan I heard it too :( It’s a dark day for our fandom

A quick google search revealed however, that the big news outlets and gossip magazines hadn’t picked up on his news yet. He was certain though that by the next morning, Chris Snoop or No TMI would be reporting about it. All he had to do now was wait for Rebecca to make her move.

The next questions he got on twitter were all about his boyfriend; people asking for a name or a picture, about how they’d met and how long they’d been together. Most were positive, but Blaine’s face still fell when a homophobe tweeted him.

@BLangdon: @BlaineAnderson. U R a dirty faggot. Can’t believe I let my daughter watch your faggy show.

Blaine tried not to let his hurt show as he told his fans another anecdote about his last day of filming, pointedly ignoring all questions about his private life. But when he saw that his fans were cyber tearing the guy a new one, he couldn’t help but smile.

He ended the hour by singing the show’s anthem Loser Like Me, before he signaled Lauren to end the stream. As soon as he was sure he wasn’t live anymore, he let his friends pull him into a tight group hug.

“I’m really proud of you, squirt,” Cooper told him. “What ever happens next, you did great tonight.”

The only one who hadn’t joined the hug was Kurt and Blaine turned to his friends and Cooper. “Can I have a moment with Kurt.”

They all nodded and left.

“So what did you think?” he asked once they were alone.

“What your brother said. You were really brave going through with it,” Kurt smiled at him. “I’m not sure if I’d been brave enough to do the same if I was in your shoes.”

“Come here,” Blaine opened his arms to Kurt, who tentatively accepted the hug. “I think after what you went through in high school, you’re plenty brave. I’m not sure I would have agreed to the same deal if I had experienced the kind of homophobic bullying you have,” he admitted.

“But you’ve been bullied too. You told me about that school dance,” Kurt argued, but Blaine shook his head.

“I didn’t get punched because my class mates thought I was gay, they attacked me because I went to the dance with a friend who was getting bullied because people assumed he was gay. I just wanted to take a stand against people mistreating him. Ironically, he’s totally straight and recently got married to a girl he met his first year in college.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, he didn’t look or dress like the rest of his peers.”

“I think the term today is metrosexual,” Blaine joked.

He felt so much lighter now that the truth was finally out and joking around with Kurt distracted him from whatever would happen next.

“What I was trying to say before is thanks for doing this with me. This could have been a terrible experience, but knowing you’re by my side, has made things a lot easier,” Blaine confessed.

Kurt’s cheeks turned bright red and he cleared his throat a few times before he replied. “Glad I can help. I should head home now though, cause Ari has called an early meeting tomorrow to monitor how the press’ reacting to your statement.”

Not wanting to make Kurt even more uncomfortable than he already seemed to be, Blaine just nodded with a smile. “Talk to you or Ari tomorrow then.”

“Yeah,” Kurt whispered before he pretty much bolted from the room.

‘Stupid, stupid,’ Blaine berated himself. He really needed to stop putting Kurt on the spot like that. Only problem was that he really liked Kurt and would do anything to convince him to give real dating a chance.

====

Breaking News: LLM Star Blaine Anderson comes out as gay -

Anonymous source reveals the actor’s colorful past

By Chris Snoop

The actor revealed this juicy bit of information to his fans in a live Q&A following Monday’s airing of the finale episode of Loser Like Me. Asked about whether he and his co star Rebecca Quinn were also dating in real life the actor said, “I don’t think my boyfriend would like that very much.” He didn’t reveal much about who this mysterious boyfriend was, only that the relationship was fairly new and that they hadn’t met at work. Fan responses were mostly positive after the reveal, though the actor also received some  nasty homophobic tweets after his Q&A. When contacted about the story, the actor’s management stated that they would not comment on Blaine’s personal life and it was up to Blaine to tell us more about his mystery man.

Scandalous pictures of the actor’s past

In another development, an anonymous source sent TMZ pictures of the actor’s allegedly sordid past only an hour after Blaine’s coming out. As someone who’d known about Blaine’s sexuality for a while and had even met him a couple of times during nights out, I see nothing scandalous in the pictures, but form your own opinion.

Blaine Anderson Gay Bar Pictures

Support from fans and coworkers

As mentioned above, Blaine’s fans took to twitter to show their support for the actor, though some voiced disappointment or called his coming out a publicity stunt because they’d believed Blaine was dating co-star Rebecca Quinn. But Blaine’s fans weren’t the only ones taking to twitter to show their support. Some of his former costars tweeted how much happier the actor was since he met his new beau. The actor thanked his fans early this morning for their support.

@BlaineAnderson: Thanks everyone for your supportive messages. Though I wasn’t aware that this was surprising news, I really appreciate all the love that’s been sent my way.

During his livestream, the actor insisted that his sexuality had not been a secret. Because he’d never made a public statement before, a lot of people immediately assumed he’d been in the closet. However, Blaine never disguised himself when he was out and about in Boyztown. The assumption is understandable though. After all, no one had reported on Blaine’s sexuality before, myself included because I thought he was closeted and had learned my lesson about not outing celebrities.

Angry ex-boyfriend?

But not everyone appears to be happy for the actor. In addition to homophobic tweets, someone seems intent on smearing Blaine’s reputation by releasing compromising pictures of his past. At the moment, we can only speculate that maybe a former lover had released the pictures out of jealousy. No one has come forward though to claim responsibility for ‘Blainegate’ as the actor’s fans are calling it. We’ll keep you updated as the story develops.