Chapter 19: Secrets

Lima, OH, January 10, 2011

Blaine was about to finish another oil change for Ms. Miller's car – he didn't understand why that lady needed one every other month – when Burt came into the shop. When he spotted Blaine, he came over to the car and patted him on the shoulder.

"When you're done with that, can I talk to you for a moment?" Burt asked, who for whatever reason looked incredibly nervous.

Burt wasn't going to fire him, was he? He liked earning his own money, not having to rely on his parents' money all the time. He'd only turn seventeen early February, which meant it was another year before he could access his trust fund. Still, he nodded and told Burt he would be there soon.

After he had sent Ms. Miller on her way, he wiped his hands on a rag and walked over to Burt's office who told him to come in once he had knocked.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked Burt as he sat down in one of the chairs Burt kept in his office. Burt seemed to think about his answer for a moment.

"We've lived in the same house for a while now and I realized I don't know a lot about you, apart from what you told me on the plane." Blaine was surprised that this was what Burt wanted to talk about, but told Burt to go on, nevertheless.

"I'm assuming you didn't just live with Kurt and Elisabeth because my ex-wife liked you so much," Burt asked and all Blaine could do was nod. It wasn't a secret that he'd been kicked out of his house.

"I know it might be a sore subject, but can ask about your parents?" "Why do you want to know about them? They made it clear I'm not welcome anymore, so you can't send me back," Blaine immediately shot back.

"I'm not going to send you back, Blaine. You've been nothing but polite and helpful all the time you've stayed with us. I'm just curious I guess. Was it just your dad or your mom as well?"

Blaine couldn't help but flashback to Valentine's Day last year. How his father had yelled at him and had made fun of Kurt. How his mom had just stood there with a blank expression on her face. It hurt too much to think about that.

"Why don't you care about your own son for a change," he suddenly yelled at Burt before storming out of the office. So much for polite and well mannered.

Why the hell did Burt have to poke his nose into this? He and Kurt had all those problems and Burt always seemed to pay more attention to Blaine. It wasn't fair. He didn't need to start trusting Burt, because it could be taken away at any second. His own father was living proof of that.

He was still livid when he arrived at home, but he put on a calm face because he didn't want to alert Kurt to the fight with his father. Some things were better kept secret.

Lima, OH, January 17, 2011

At first Finn had been pissed that his mom had found him a tutor who was only a sophomore. It wasn't that Sarah wasn't smart enough to do it, but it was just embarrassing that she knew more about his subjects than he did.

Sarah was not the type of girl Finn usually hung out with. She wasn't popular and preferred books to parties. But Finn had to admit she was pretty in a way. If she had been any other girl, he would just turn on his charm and she would be eating out of the palm of his hand in no time.

But Sarah was different. She called him out on his bullshit without sounding condescending – he was already learning new words from her – and didn't pretend to be anyone else just to be liked.

So it came as quite a shock when Finn realized after only one week that he liked Sarah, not because she was popular and could help his own reputation, but because of her. He had no clue how to deal with that.

He was walking down the hallway after another tutoring session when he saw Kurt come out of the choir room surrounded by a group of girls. Kurt was always with the girls; maybe he could help him. He was so out of his element he was actually considering asking his gay stepbrother for help with a girl. What had his life come to?

He waited till Blaine left for work at the shop, for some reason the dude had been quiet the last couple of days, to approach Kurt who was doing homework on the kitchen table.

"Hey Kurt, you got a sec?" he asked and sat down opposite Kurt. "I'm not doing your homework for you. My answer has been no last year, and it's going to be no this year," Kurt told him without looking up from his papers.

"It's not that. I like someone and I could use some advice," Finn explained. That got Kurt's attention. "Don't tell me you've developed feelings for a guy?" Kurt asked incredulously. "What, dude, no!" Finn exclaimed. When he saw Kurt's expression he quickly added. "No offense, dude."

Kurt nodded before he spoke again. "So if it's not about a guy why would you think I could help you?" "You always hang out with the girls, you must have picked up something." Finn told him.

"I suppose. So what's the problem?" Kurt raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Well, you know my tutor Sarah, right?" Kurt nodded. "I think I could really like her and I want to ask her out, but I don't know what to so say, because she isn't like any of my ex-girlfriends." Finn explained.

"Well, girls like it if you complement them. But don't lie. It's really important to be honest. Just tell her why you like her and ask her to dinner because you want to get to know her better. Take her some place nice and wear clean clothes. She's a year younger so you let her set the pace. Those of course only apply if she accepts in the first place. Just be on your best behavior, but still be the real you. You can't force her to like you."

Kurt rattled off in quick succession. For a moment Finn wished he had brought a pen and piece of paper. He felt like he was the one with little to no dating experience. "Thanks, dude. I owe you one. Like if you ever need me to distract Burt or something like that," Finn offered.

"You're welcome. But please stop calling me dude," Kurt replied haughtily before he turned back to his homework. Finn walked up to his own room and started on a plan to win Sarah over.

Finn was barely gone ten minutes when his father came in and asked if they could talk. He would never be able to finish his homework if all his family members wanted to talk to him today.

"Remember how I stayed the night in Cleveland after Christmas?" Burt asked him and Kurt nodded. His father had acted strange when he had come home after that. He had alternated between staring at Kurt and staring at Blaine with in unreadable expression on his face, but hadn't explained. Maybe he would tell him now.

"I got into a fight with someone in the bar," Burt went on and Kurt looked surprised. "Who with?" he asked his father. There had to be a reason why Burt was telling him that.

"Jarred Anderson." Kurt paled. Blaine's father had gone crazy when he had found the two of them on his couch. "You met Blaine's dad?" he whispered.

Burt nodded. "I didn't know it was him at first so we talked for a while. He's an ass if you ask me," his father continued. Kurt just nodded. "And you got in a fight with him?"

"He said some things about you and Blaine I didn't agree with. I don't really want to repeat what he said though." "Why are you telling me this?" Kurt wondered. It was nice that his father had defended him, but why did he wait till now to tell him.

His father just looked at him for a moment. "Meeting Blaine's father, I realized that I haven't been much of a father either and I apologize for that. I probably should have done that some time ago, but I guess I just didn't understand why I needed you. I'm not asking you to forgive me right now, but I promise that I will do my best from now on to make things easier for you."

Kurt blinked. He definitely hadn't expected that. But Burt was right. Kurt wasn't ready to forgive his father for the past eight years of his life. "And secondly?" he asked instead of commenting on what his father had said.

"I talked to Mr. Anderson about his wife because I was curious. He showed me a picture and I realized that I've met her a couple of times at the PFLAG meetings in Toledo." Kurt gasped. The evening was just full of surprises.

"But if she supports Blaine, why didn't she do something?" Kurt asked. He couldn't understand why the woman had just stood by when Blaine had been kicked out if she supported him after all.

"She's afraid to stand up to her husband because she doesn't even have a job and depends on him to support her." Burt explained. "Does Blaine know about this? Is that why he's been sulking the past few days?" Kurt suddenly remembered Blaine's strange behavior. He had asked Blaine about it, but Blaine assured him he was just stressed.

"I tried to talk to him about his parents but he ran out on me before I could tell him." Burt explained. Kurt thought for a moment. Blaine thought his mom hated him. Who knew if he even wanted to see her? Maybe he should talk to Mrs. Anderson before he told Blaine about it, to make sure she was really supportive now.

"Don't tell him about his mom or dad. I'll take care of it," Kurt told his father. He would keep it a secret until he knew more.

Carole was preparing dinner in the kitchen when Burt came in and sat down at the kitchen table. "I told Kurt about Cleveland," he told his wife. She gave him one of her looks. "And I apologized. You were right, I should have done that months ago."

Carole nodded. "I'm just glad you finally did. Just don't expect everything to change for the better this instant just because you did," she reminded him.

"I know, that's why I need your help. You never had a problem with bonding with Kurt. Kurt and I, we aren't interested in the same things, so I don't know how to do that."

"Well," Carole was smirking now and Burt wasn't sure if he shouldn't be afraid, "You've been promising me for years now that you'll cook for me on our anniversary. Kurt loves to cook; he could teach you something, I'm sure of it."

Burt groaned. He was a mess in the kitchen. The years between his divorce and getting together with Carole he had survived on take out, microwaveable meals and Lou's wife's cooking. He had only ever promised to cook for Carole because he knew she would never allow him into her kitchen.

"Fine. I'll do it. But if it doesn't work out, I reserve the right to say I told you so," he told his wife. "Deal," she answered sweetly, but he could tell she was certain that little scheme of hers would work out. He guessed she was right. It couldn't get any worse than it was now.

Carole was well aware of all the spying that was going on in her house and so she decided it was time she joined in. No one could blame her for wanting to make sure her kitchen didn't burn down. She trusted Kurt; Burt – not so much.

"I just want you to know I'm only doing this because I don't want you to poison Carole," she heard Kurt say in the kitchen. Carole was touched because for all she knew, Burt might actually poison her with his cooking.

"I'm not wearing an apron," she heard Burt complain and imagined the eye rolling Kurt surely was doing. "Suit yourself, but don't complain if you get sauce all over that atrocity you call a shirt." Carole could barely stifle a laugh at that.

She had tried to get him into shirts that weren't flannel when they had started dating, but had given up shortly afterward when she realized Burt was a lost cause.

Carole listened fondly as they continued to bicker in the kitchen. Even if Burt didn't learn how to make a descent meal, at least she got the two of them to spend time together. Mission accomplished.

Up Next: Valentine's Day