Chapter 25: Fresh Start

It was three weeks before Kurt's eighteen's birthday and Burt knew he had to quit staling. Carole was bugging him about it nearly daily now, but he was afraid of the answer he would probably get.

Nevertheless, he had to get it over with. So on the last day of school he picked up Kurt from school and they drove to the little diner they had lunch in before. When he realized Kurt was staring at him, he quickly stopped chewing on his nails and shot Kurt a smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

Once inside, Burt ordered a chicken burger for him and one of those wrap things Kurt liked for his son. Kurt was glaring at the French fries and mayonnaise surrounding his burger, but Burt ignored him and set down in the booth they had sat in before.

"Why are we here?" Kurt asked after he had finished his wrap. "I mean why are we here alone?" Burt swallowed the last of his burger before he spoke.

"Do you have plans yet, for after your birthday?" he asked to break the ice. Kurt nodded. "You know, Rachel and I are working as counselors in the camp we used to spend our summers at when we were younger the last two weeks of June and the first two weeks of July. I guess after that I'm all yours."

Burt nodded. He had hoped the kids would help out more in the shop, but Blaine had a gig singing in an amusement park, so Finn was the only one in the family who didn't have another job and could help out, at least until he went to Texas early August for his football camp.

"Well, Carole and I, we'd like you to know that you are always welcome at our house. You know that right?" Kurt nodded slowly but looked confused. He should have let Carole do the talking, because he once again wasn't doing it right.

"What I meant was, that we want you stay at home for senior year. I know it's your decision, but just so you know, we'd really like it if you stayed with us for another year. Give us another chance to become a family."

Kurt looked stunned. Burt didn't know what Kurt had expected would happen once he was eighteen, but Burt hated it that Kurt still questioned if he was welcome in his home or not.

"I don't know yet. Blaine and I still need to talk. Can I get back to you about that?" Kurt absentmindedly stole a fry from Burt's plate. His son must be in deep thought to do something like that.

"Sure kiddo, the house is not going anywhere, but if you want to move into your mother's house, you should give Blaine's mom a head's up so she can find a new place."

"Right, I'll let you know. Like I said, I need to talk to Blaine about it," Kurt pushed Burt's plate away from him and quickly wiped his hands on a napkin. Burt knew the conversation was over for now, and so he paid the bill and drove Kurt back to school to pick up his car.

He'd done what Carole had asked him to do, but the ball was in Kurt's corner now. As much as he hated it, the only thing they could do now was wait.

Kurt found Blaine in his bedroom where he was getting ready for the party they were throwing for Carole. He sat down on Blaine's bed and waited patiently until his boyfriend was done with drowning his hair in gel.

"Do you have a second? There's something we need to talk about," Kurt asked once Blaine was happy with his hair. His boyfriend put away the hair gel and sat down next to him, taking his hands once he was comfortable.

"What's on your mind?" Blaine asked and pulled Kurt closer.

"My dad asked me to stay here for senior year?" Blaine gave him a questioning look. "And that is bad?" Kurt shook his head. Apparently Blaine had forgotten all about their plans to move in together.

"It's just that we talked about moving in together once I turn eighteen. Did you forget?" Blaine looked surprised now and there was sinking feeling in Kurt's stomach.

"What no, of course not. But I thought this was the plan in case you had to stay in Austin your junior year. Are you sure you want to move out now? You and Burt are finally getting along."

Kurt knew Blaine was right on some level. He and his dad finally seemed to have found a way to be in each other's lives without hating each other, Finn had apologized and had become a real brother in the course of the year and Carole was amazing as always, but it still stung that Blaine didn't want to live with him anymore.

"Listen Kurt, my mom wants to talk to me about something too tomorrow, so why don't I go and see what she wants and then we can talk about this again afterward," Blaine offered when Kurt just sat there in silence, staring at his hands.

Before he knew it his hand was raised to Blaine's lips and once Blaine reached the fifth knuckle, Kurt couldn't stop they smile spreading across his face any longer. He let himself get distracted by Blaine's kisses for a few minutes until Finn called for them downstairs to help prepare the rest of Carole's party.

Kurt sighed as he got up and took Blaine's hand. He didn't know yet why Blaine didn't want to move in with him, but he would find out eventually. He had his methods to get Blaine to talk.

The party was in full swing when his mom led him back inside. Kurt was in the kitchen preparing more dip for the BBQ and Rachel and Mercedes were taking even more bags of chips and other snacks outside as they made their way upstairs to Blaine's bedroom.

Blaine sat down on his bed while his mom made herself comfortable in his desk chair, explaining that they wouldn't be able to talk the next day, because she had to work.

"What did you want to talk about?" Blaine asked, not for the first time that day. His mom gave him a small smile. He liked those new smiles after years of being subjected to her huge fake ones.

"I wanted to ask you to move in with me for senior year. You're going to college next year, so this is my last chance to really get to know you and rebuild my relationship with you." Tears were welling up in Blaine's eyes. A few months ago, he had believed that his whole family hated him, and now his mom wanted to live with him again.

"We can get an apartment if Kurt wants the house for himself," his mom went on. Blaine flinched, because he hadn't told his mom that Kurt wanted to move into the house with Blaine.

It wasn't that Blaine didn't want to live with Kurt, but Kurt had no idea how hard it had been when he had been forced to leave on his own in Kurt's house. There had been school, homework and glee practice, paying bills, keeping the house clean and cook from time to time because as Kurt's boyfriend he knew he couldn't just live on take out food all the time.

He wanted one more year where others took care of him. Where he didn't have to worry about grown-up things. And maybe it would be good for his relationship with Kurt as well.

They had barely been dating two and a half months when Blaine had moved in with the Hummels, and sometimes Blaine wondered if that hadn't caused their codependence. Blaine was seventeen; he should be able to live apart from his boyfriend.

Maybe some distance would be good for them. They had made up after their fight, but Blaine still caught himself questioning whether Kurt was telling him the truth, from time to time. There was no doubt in Blaine's mind that they were destined to be together and that they would move to a dingy apartment in New York as soon as they graduated high school.

But if he was totally honest with himself; he wanted to have another year where he could be a normal teenager and nothing more.

Carole hadn't meant to spy on her stepson and boyfriend, but she hadn't exactly announced her presence either when she heard them coming into the living room while she was preparing dinner in the kitchen, a week after summer break had started.

She knew Kurt hadn't answered Burt's question yet, because he wanted to talk to Blaine about it, and she suspected that might be the long awaited talk. So she was curious, sue her.

She peaked around the corner just as Kurt and Blaine sat down on the living room couch, Blaine looking slightly apprehensive while Kurt was bouncing his leg up and down nervously.

"So you know how my mom wanted to talk to me?" she heard Blaine ask at last. Kurt nodded and said something Carole couldn't hear. Apparently Blaine couldn't either because he frowned. Kurt repeated his question, this time at a volume Carole could make out.

"Did she ask you to move in with her?" Kurt asked his boyfriend who looked surprised? "How did you know?"

"Just a feeling. I know you talked to her last week and you haven't told me what you talked about, so I figured it must have been something I wouldn't like." Kurt was fidgeting on the couch and avoided Blaine's eyes as he answered.

Carole carefully took another step forward, because she didn't want to miss anything. Blaine had pulled Kurt into his arms and was hugging him tightly, and Carole could guess what his answer had been.

"It's nothing personal, but I want to give her a chance to get to know me better. The real me this time. Do you understand?" Blaine's voice had taken on a pleading quality. Carole remembered that Kurt had said he wanted to do everything in his power to bring Blaine and Tala together and she just hoped Kurt remembered it in this moment.

Kurt was wearing one of his fake smiles, she had gotten used to when he had first moved in with them, as he sat up straighter and looked Blaine in the eye.

"I think that's great, Blaine. I want you to be happy." Carole was sure Kurt would be a good actor some day, but he couldn't fool her. She was certain he wanted Blaine to be happy, but he nevertheless wasn't too happy about Blaine moving out.

Blaine apparently hadn't caught on to Kurt's lie and gave him a relieved smile. "We can move out if you want the house. Now that my mom has a job and I have my father's money, we could get an apartment," Blaine suggested, still oblivious to Kurt's real feelings.

Kurt stopped Blaine's rambling with a quick kiss and Carole smiled. No matter how unhappy Kurt was, he still tried to make sure Blaine was alright.

"That's alright, you can stay. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do next year. You should save your money for our first New York apartment," Kurt assured his boyfriend and Carole move back into the kitchen when the two boys started kissing on the couch again.

She was busy cutting up carrots for dinner when Kurt came into the kitchen and grabbed a second knife. "How much of that did you hear?" he asked her, as he started cutting up his own carrots.

He didn't sound angry when he said that and so Carole gave him an embarrassed smile. She couldn't believe he had caught her.

"Pretty much everything. But if I can give you some advice," she trailed off wanting to wait for Kurt's okay before she continued. Kurt just shrugged.

"I know you wanted to move in with him for senior year, but you should support his decision. This is Blaine's chance to really get to know his mom, and not the woman who hid behind his father for years. And it's hard to do that if he only sees her once or twice a week."

She looked over to Kurt who had stopped maiming his carrots and was giving her a weak smile.

"You'll both be in college next year, and if you really want to move in together you'll have to deal with rent and bills and cleaning plans. Why not let other people take care of you for another year. I know you had to grow up fast, because of the bullying and your mom's passing, so let me and your dad worry about things for a change."

Carole turned around to her stepson who she'd come to love so much during the past year and wrapped her arms around him. When she released him she looked him straight in the eye.

"You'll still be able to see Blaine if you live her and he with his mom. You know he's always welcome here, and that's not going to change in the near future. I promise." She raised her pinkie finger in wriggled it in front of his face until he entwined his with hers.

"Now of you go and do something with your boyfriend. I'll take care of dinner." Kurt smiled at her, a real one again and left the kitchen.

She had done all she could do, and know she had to wait for Kurt to make his decision. But she knew she would support him whether he decided to stay with them or not.

Finn thinks a lot has changed for him in the past year. He's gone from being popular to being invisible. He has real friends now, people who he wouldn't even have spoken to in Austin. He didn't get accepted onto the football team and was even kicked out of a club, he would have dubbed loser club a year ago.

And still, he's happy now. The city still seems small compared to Austin, but he has his own car again now, that he fixed up together with Burt and Blaine, while Kurt had watched them from his lawn chair.

He's not an only child anymore, and on some days it feels as if he has two brothers now, but he knows Blaine won't stay with them. His mom and Kurt aren't the only ones spying in the house.

Oddly, he doesn't miss Kelly at all; never really did. He has Sarah now, who is quiet and smart and doesn't care what anyone thinks about her. Together with their friends they competed in a national championship, while his old football team could never win more than one or two games a season.

Finn also knows his mom hasn't been all that proud of him the last couple of years, but he will probably never forget the smile on her face after he had shown her his grade report on the last day of school.

When Finn goes back to school in the fall, he will try to join the football team because he likes playing football, not because the letterman jacket ensures his popularity. Maybe next year, the Glee club will even win Nationals.

He hated his junior year of high school when it started, but he has high hopes for his senior year. And maybe he still doesn't know what he wants out of his life, but he has people now who believe in him, and encourage him to go after his dreams, whatever they will be.

And yeah, there will probably be times when he'll say something stupid or cause problems, but he has proven that he can learn from his mistakes and that sometimes he needs someone to explain to him why what he did or said was wrong.

Last year Finn had thought he was perfect, without fault but now he knows that it is his flaws that make him human; that people want to know the real him and not some puppet who follows whoever is on top at the time.

Of course, he would never admit any of this out loud, but Finn has to admit, at least to himself, that he's proud of himself now. Of the person he has become. There will always be the chance that he fucks up again, but he doesn't ever want to be an insensitive jerk again.

Finn hated Lima at the start of the school year, but now he dreads going back to Texas for a football camp he signed up for months ago. He has never been strong enough before to stand up against people, who he thought had more power than him. But Kurt is his brother now, and that's what brothers do. Defend each other against people who want to cause them harm.

But he knows, whatever will happen this summer, he won't have to go through it alone.

The penultimate day of May brought Kurt's eighteen's birthday. He had been exited about it for a while now, because he now finally could do whatever he wanted. He could even get married, or at least he could if New York passed that bill.

But marriage could wait. For now he wanted to celebrate that Kurt Hummel was finally a legal adult, who could move out of his parent's house and move in with his boyfriend. If said boyfriend hadn't decided to move in with his mom instead.

But Kurt had listened to Carole's advice and tried to be as supportive of Blaine's decision as possible. Kurt wouldn't have minded staying at his dad's house for senior year if Blaine was living there as well, but his only alternative now was to live on his own for senior year and he still wasn't sure if he was ready for that.

Kurt took a quick tour through the house to make sure everything was ready for his party - Burt and Carole would leave after dinner so that they could have the house to themselves – and stopped short in front of Blaine's room. His boyfriend's possessions were all already neatly packed in boxes, and half his wardrobe was in the two suitcases lying at the foot of the bed.

Blaine had told him that he would move in with his mom the day after the party, because he would start work at King's Island the first week of June. At least the transition would be easy – he and Rachel would spend parts of June and July working at drama camp.

He closed Blaine's bedroom door with a sigh and walked downstairs to check the progress of the party preparations again. Kurt Hummel's party couldn't be anything less than fabulous after all.

The glee club arrived shortly after six, and soon people were mingling in the backyard while Burt was manning the grill. Once everyone was fed, Burt and Carole said goodbye to Kurt's friends and left the house.

Kurt caught up with them in the driveway and stopped them before they could get into his dad's car.

"What is it, Kurt?" Carole inquired. Kurt took a deep breath; this was it.

"I've made my decision."

AN: And that is the end of Oh Father, where art though? The sequel (Finding Home) should be up Friday or Saturday with weekly updates (hopefully). It's going to be 12 chapters. One for each month starting in June till Kurt's HS graduation.

I'm going to try to post the first two chapters before I go to Venice for the Film Festival, because I don't know yet if I will take my laptop with me. In any case, I have already learned how to say Do you have wifi in Italian ;) And who knows maybe I run into Heather Morris somewhere on the red carpet...