AN: My friend let me borrow his laptop while he and his girlfriend went to the movies, so I'll give you part of the new chapter early. If he lets me have his laptop for a few more hours tonight, I might be able to post the second part tomorrow morning, otherwise I'll try to have it up on Tuesday. Please excuse any mistakes, I didn't get to proof read it.

Chapter 17: A new home – Part 1

Blaine

"I can't believe you got us banned from the Lima Bean," Kurt remarked as they were sipping their overprized Starbucks coffee. Blaine smiled bashfully. "I told you I couldn't let Sebastian get away with insulting you like that. And it's just for a few weeks. I'm sure I'll be allowed back soon."

It had been three days since Kurt had been released from the hospital and had moved in with the Hummels and Blaine had expected he would stop worrying about Kurt now that he was safe. But he still did because Kurt wasn't acting like he did when he was over before. Where he had wolfed down his food like a normal teenage boy when he had first started to come over for dinner, he was now mostly picking at his food and Blaine was worried about how thin Kurt was again. Experience told him however that questing Kurt about it would just make Kurt pull away and so he hoped Kurt would switch back to the way he was before once he got settled and felt more comfortable in their home.

"And you are sure you don't want to split a cookie with me?" he tried nevertheless but Kurt shook his head. "I'm still full from lunch," Kurt answered and Blaine was sure that was a lie. He decided to let it go for now though because there were other things they needed to talk about.

"Alright, more for me I guess. By the way, my friends Wes and David have been bugging me to let them meet my boyfriend before Wes has to go back to school," he told Kurt and Kurt's eyes widened. Blaine quickly went over what he had just said to understand Kurt's reaction before he blushed himself.

They hadn't exactly had had a talk about it but he had assumed they were boyfriends now that they had shared their first kiss on New Year's Eve. But was he getting ahead of things? Was that not what Kurt wanted? Well there was only one way to find out. Before he could say anything, Kurt beat him to the punch though.

"Is that what we are?" he asked shyly, playing with his napkin and avoiding to look at Blaine. Blaine swallowed before he gave Kurt's hand in front of him a quick squeeze.

"I'd like that," he admitted, and to his relief Kurt looked up, a small smile on his face. "I"d like that too, but what about your dad though? Is he going to be okay with us dating?"

Now it was Blaine's turn to shyly look away before he answered. "He might have been the one to tell me for a few weeks to man up and tell you how I feel about you," he admitted and when he looked back at Kurt, Kurt smile had grown and he was now giving Blaine a rare toothy smile.

"Okay then. And I'd love to meet your friends," Kurt replied before hiding his smile behind his mug.

"Oh, that reminds me. I texted the Glee club the number for the phone my dad got you. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a few messages from the girls when we get back home."

It felt good to refer to his home as Kurt's home now and though it was unorthodox to move in with your boyfriend a few days after you started dating, Blaine was sure they would make it work, because the more time he spent with Kurt, the surer he was that he was indeed falling in love with Kurt.

That moment, he was one of the happiest people on earth, because he now got to spend every waking moment with the person he was crazy about.

Kurt

Blaine had been right. Kurt had a few missed calls from Rachel on the phone Burt had bought for him and a text from Mercedes telling him to call her ASAP because he still hadn't told her about the meeting with Blaine. The last few days had been crazy and so Kurt had completely forgotten that the girls were waiting to hear back from him.

He had refused the phone at first, wanting to buy one for himself, but Burt had insisted Kurt take it because he wanted to be able to always get in touch with Kurt when he needed to and Kurt had begrudgingly accepted it.

He put the phone back down on his nightstand before he went over to Blaine's room and knocked on the door. It would definitely take some time getting used to living with Blaine permanently but it was nice to know someone was always close by if he needed to talk or just didn't want to be alone.

"Come in," Blaine called out and Kurt stepped inside. Blaine was lying on his bed, his laptop open in front of him. When he saw that it was Kurt, he immediately stood up and walked over to Kurt and took his hand.

Kurt tried not to blush while he relished the touch before he remembered why he came over.

"Rachel and Mercedes keep bugging me about what happened with us as well – I hope it's okay I talked to them about it?" he quickly added and Blaine nodded "and so I thought it might be best if we just invited Mercedes, Rachel and your friends together so we only have to tell them once."

Blaine smiled at him and nodded but Kurt wasn't done. "And can you please not tell them about what happened. I'm going to tell them I'm living with you now, but I don't want them to think I'm crazy or suicidal, you know?"

Blaine pulled him closer and wrapped his arm around him and Kurt put his head on Blaine's shoulder.

"I'd never tell someone something so private," he whispered and Kurt relaxed into his arms. "Just tell them whatever you are comfortable with."

After his conversation with Blaine, Kurt felt a lot better the next afternoon when he and Blaine drove over to Starbucks to meet with the girls and Blaine's friends.

They were running a bit late because Kurt couldn't decide on an outfit, but he maintained it was important he made a good first impression on Blaine's closest friends at Dalton. When they arrived, Rachel and Mercedes were already sitting in a corner with two boys, one of which Kurt recognized as they boy Blaine had hugged in his driveway a few weeks back and Kurt felt embarrassed he had jumped to conclusions and had run off out of jealousy. Definitely something he would never tell Blaine if he could avoid it.

Blaine's friends seemed genuinely happy to meet him and he soon found himself relaxing around them, while he listened to them tell stories about Blaine's time at Dalton. Rachel and Mercedes were bouncing in their chairs excitedly as well, ever since Wes had called him Blaine's boyfriend and he was happy their friends were happy for them.

It was hard to imagine Blaine wear a uniform every day though and Kurt sensed there was a story behind the reason Blaine had been there in the first place. Burt didn't strike him as the kind of guy to send his son to a fancy private school because he thought public school wasn't good enough, but Kurt wasn't going to pry. If Blaine wanted to tell him, he would be ready to listen. Whatever had brought Blaine to Dalton, he was glad he had had friends like Wes and David there who seemed to genuinely care about him.

"So are we the first ones you have told?" Rachel finally interrupted and Kurt was surprised she had managed to hold back this long. He nodded before he added. "And it would be great if you didn't tell anyone. Blaine and I want to do that on our own terms," he told them and both girls promised not gossip about them until they were ready to let people know.

Kurt wanted to scream it from the rooftops that he and Blaine were dating now, but he was also afraid of possible repercussions, so for now, their relationship would have to remain a secret.

They changed the topic soon after, and Rachel got especially excited when she heard that David was in his school's glee club as well, until he told her that it was quite likely that they would compete against one another at Regionals.

Soon after the two girls moved closer to him, curious to know how he and Blaine had actually ended up together.

"I could just give you a ride home, so we can talk in private," Rachel suggested and Kurt knew now was the time to tell his friends about his new living arrangement before they found by accident and came up with all kinds of theories.

"Um, I'm living with Blaine and his dad now," he admitted and both Mercedes and Rachel gaped at him. "What happened?" Rachel asked and Kurt schooled his expression before he answered.

"Nothing really. Social services just finished investigating my mom and decided I should stay with her any longer. Blaine's dad had been trying to get custody of me in the meantime and so I'm living with them now," he explained.

Mercedes pulled him into her arms before Rachel took over. "Are you okay?" she asked and Kurt nodded. "Yeah, I really am." It wasn't even a lie. He was more than okay with living with Blaine and he was sure that in time he would be okay in general.

"Please don't tell anyone about this either. People have already been saying all sorts of things about me in school and I really don't want to give them more ammunition," he told them and both girls immediately nodded.

"I'm really happy for you, Kurt," Rachel added, "you deserve it."

Kurt gave her a genuine smile, as he still found it hard to believe that his life had changed for the better so suddenly.

He knew he still had a lot of things to deal with, but for the moment he was happy to sit with his friends and gush about his boyfriend who looked really happy spending time with his own friends. He had never thought Blaine might be lonely because of his instant popularity, but he now realized that it must have been difficult for him to leave his friends behind, and Kurt vowed to make sure Blaine spent more time with his Dalton friends in the future.

Kurt

Burt was waiting for him outside when he emerged from the building after his first meeting with his new therapist. At first he had thought she was way too young to be qualified to help him, but he had realized it was even easier to talk to someone who wasn't that much older.

"How'd it go?" Burt asked him when Kurt climbed into the driver's seat, so he could practice driving some more before he took his test. He shrugged. "I like her, but we didn't really talk about much. It was more about getting to know one another and to see if I'd be comfortable talking to her," he replied before he added, "which I am."

Burt nodded and Kurt was grateful he didn't pry. It was something he really liked about Blaine's dad – he made sure you know you could talk to him about anything but he didn't push you if he felt you weren't ready to share.

They drove in silence for a few miles before Burt spoke up again. "You nervous about going back to school on Monday?"

Kurt tensed for a moment before he gave Burt a weak smile. "I guess as long as no one found out about my stay in the hospital, things should be okay." And even if they had, he didn't think things could actually get worse but he didn't say that out loud because Burt was already doing enough for him and there was no need to burden him with the details of his bullying.

"Good. You tell me if anyone gives you grieve about you living with us," Burt replied and Kurt nodded. He didn't want to lie to Blaine's dad, but he had been able to handle things on his own so far, and just because someone actually cared about what was going on at school didn't mean he had to tell them every single thing. He would be eighteen soon, and so he really couldn't come crying to Blaine's dad, every time someone was mean to him.

No, things at school would probably be the same as always as long as no one found out he and Blaine were dating now. Another talk he needed to have with Blaine, because they hadn't really discussed it so far and he needed to know he and Blaine were on the same page.

Blaine

Blaine was aware his dad had been watching him and Kurt closely since Kurt had been released from the hospital and so he wasn't surprised be the knock on his bedroom door while Kurt was out with Rachel and Mercedes, picking out bedding and decorations for his new bedroom.

His dad got straight to the point, not beating around the bush.

"Anything you want to tell me about you and Kurt? I'm not blind you know."

Blaine put down his book and sat up, while his dad sat down on the edge of his bed. He didn't want to lie to his dad even if it meant he and Kurt would have less privacy once his dad was aware they were dating. Not that that was an issue at the moment as they hadn't done more so far than exchange a few chaste kisses.

"We talked and decided to give dating a try," he admitted. He expected his dad would be happy for them, so he was surprised by his dad's reaction.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea right now?" he asked and Blaine furrowed his brows.

"I don't understand. You were the one to tell me to go for it and let Kurt decide if he was ready to be in a relationship?" His dad nodded. "And I still stand by that, but things are different now. You need to be aware that Kurt is still going to be here if it doesn't work out, because I've promised Kurt, he'll have a home with us as long as he wants to stay here."

Blaine nodded. He was pretty sure he and Kurt would make it work, but even if it didn't he was sure they would still be able to be friends and live in the same house.

His dad just snorted though when Blaine told him that and Blaine looked at his dad confusedly. "What's so funny?"

"Blaine, ever since you and Kurt found each other again, you have never been just friends. You just needed some time to realize it," his dad replied still laughing and Blaine crossed his arms in front of his chest, not appreciating it that his dad made fun of him. He and Kurt had been great friends before they had developed feelings for one another and he was sure they could be best friends again, if dating didn't work out.

"Whatever," he muttered. "I promise I'll make sure Kurt will always feel welcome here regardless of our relationship status."

His dad got up and gently squeezed his shoulder. "Good, that is all I wanted to here. You, me and Kurt will have a discussion about the house rules once he gets back from shopping, because what kind of parent would I be if I just let you do whatever you wanted."

Blaine groaned because he could still remember the awkward sex talk his dad had given him, when he had found out Dalton didn't have sex ed classes. He just hoped his dad wouldn't try to give Kurt one as well, while he was there. He was certain he would die of embarrassment if he did.

Still he nodded, because even though things sometimes got awkward, he still loved his dad for making the effort and never shying away from topics he might be uncomfortable with.

"Thank you. I love you dad," he told his dad before he could leave his room. His dad stopped and turned. "Love you too kiddo. For what it's worth – I really hope it works out between you and Kurt."