AN: I'm back home, but I'm quite busy right now, so there won't be daily updates at the moment.

Chapter 17: A new home – part 2

Kurt

The door was open as per Burt's rules when Kurt sat down next to Blaine on the bed, determined to finally have a discussion about how they would handle their new relationship in public.

"Keep the door open," Burt yelled from downstairs and Kurt cringed, vividly remembering the conversation they had had with Burt.

A few days ago…

"And you are sure he is okay with us?" Kurt asked again as they made their way downstairs, Kurt clutching Blaine's hand tightly. He knew Burt was nothing like his own father, he accepted them and he even had encouraged Blaine to pursue Kurt, but it all just seemed too good to be true. He was afraid Burt would tell him he had to find another place to stay if he wanted to keep seeing Blaine. He knew he was crazy about the other boy but if he was quite honest, he wasn't sure if he'd give up his new home for a romantic relationship with him.

Burt was already sitting in his armchair and Kurt immediately let go of Blaine's hand when he spotted him, causing Burt to chuckle and Kurt's face to turn scarlet.

Kurt made sure there was enough space between him and Blaine when they sat down next to each other on the couch and Kurt was preparing himself for the worst because he was used to people disappointing him, though he hoped Burt really was different.

"Relax, Kurt. I just want to talk to the two of you. There's nothing to worry about," Burt assured him and Kurt gulped because as much as he truly wanted to trust Burt completely, he knew he wasn't there yet. There was a reason he was seeing a therapist after all.

"Blaine told you about us?" he asked trying to hide his fear and Burt nodded. "And you are okay with it?" Burt nodded again.

"Would I prefer it if my son and his boyfriend wouldn't live under the same roof? Hell yes, but things are what they are, so we are just going to have to make it work. And I think if we all follow a few simple rules, we should be okay."

Kurt nodded frantically. Rules were good. Having rules meant being able to avoid punishment and he didn't want Burt to ever be angry with him, because he hated not knowing what to expect.

"Such as?" Blaine chimed in. "We are not kids anymore and you know you can trust us."

Burt chuckled again. "You are teenage boys and trust me I know what's that like. So don't make promises you can't keep. Now listen up. If I'm not home, I expect you to stay in the living room if you are together. When I'm here and you are upstairs together, the door stays open. You will sleep in your own rooms and keep it PG when I'm around. Just make sure that whatever you do is something you wouldn't mind seeing me do with a date as well."

Both Kurt and Blaine shuddered at the same time, because just no. Grown ups weren't supposed to do stuff like that. Burt raised an eyebrow and Kurt quickly nodded.

"I promise we'll be good," he told Burt earnestly and he meant it. He and Blaine hadn't even progressed from closed mouthed kisses yet so Burt really didn't have to worry about them acting inappropriately under his roof. Now that they were finally together, they had all the time in the world.

"Wait, are you dating someone?" Blaine suddenly interrupted and to Kurt's surprise Burt actually blushed. "I might have been out on a date with the nice nurse from the hospital," he admitted and Kurt and Blaine shared a look.

"What?" Burt asked and Blaine blurted out, "her son is a total jerk." Burt just rolled his eyes. "Jesus kid. I met her for dinner once. It's not like I asked her to move in and marry me. Now get out of my sight and be all couply, but ah, no funny business.

Next to him Blaine jumped up, grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out of the room.

"I know you said she was nice, but we have to break them up. I do not want to see Finn in this house if I can avoid it," Blaine muttered once they were in his room. Kurt stepped behind him and slowly started to massage Blaine's tense shoulders to relax him before he spoke.

"He gave us his blessing so maybe you should do the same for him. And who knows if they even keep seeing each other."

Blaine relaxed into his arms, before he turned his head and caught Kurt's lips in a sweet kiss. "You are right," he whispered with a smile on his face once he released Kurt.

"What are you thinking about?" Blaine asked bringing him back to the present. Kurt blushed before he remembered why he had come into Blaine's room in the first place.

"What are we going to tell people when we go back to school on Monday? Are we even telling anyone?" he asked as Blaine scooted over and took his hands into his own.

Blaine shrugged. "I wouldn't mind telling everyone. I'm proud to call you my boyfriend."

Kurt's face lit up because he was still trying to get used to Blaine calling him his boyfriend, before he expression sobered.

"But what about the football team? You know they wouldn't hesitate to go after you as well now that you are on break, especially Karofsky."

Blaine sighed but nodded in understanding. "So you don't want to tell anyone?" Kurt shook his head. "I thought we could just tell the glee club. I'm sure they'll keep it a secret. After all they've never said anything about Brittany and Santana either and it's pretty much an open secret that they are dating," Kurt replied and Blaine quickly agreed before pulling Kurt even closer.

Kurt flinched though the moment Blaine put his hands on his hip and Blaine thankfully immediately pulled away and apologized. It wasn't that he didn't want Blaine to touch him but he still felt like he was weighing too much and didn't want to gross out Blaine if he touched his flabby stomach.

"Can we just lie down together?" Kurt asked instead and both of them shuffled backward until they were lying down next to each other and Kurt out his head in Blaine's chest.

He didn't want to worry Blaine but he was a bit scared of going back to school and telling New Directions about them, but the longer he stayed with his head resting on Blaine's chest, feeling him breath in and out, the more he relaxed until he dozed off next to Blaine, and only left his side when Burt came upstairs a few hours later, reminding Kurt that he was supposed to sleep in his own bed.

Blaine

As much as he wanted to shout it from the rooftops that he and Kurt were together now, he knew Kurt was right. As long as the team didn't need him to be healthy there was no guarantee that Karofsky and the guys who agreed with him wouldn't go after him if they found out he was actually acting on the gay.

So he let go of Kurt's hand as soon as they arrived in the school parking lot Monday morning. A few guys in letterman jacket were standing around one of the dumpsters, so Blaine was happy when Puck and Mike came up to him and Kurt.

Puck was telling them about some college New Year's Eve parties he had snuck into, while Mike was complaining about his mom and his girlfriend not getting along because Tina hated doing "Asian things". It was actually nice being back in school and seeing his new friends again Blaine realized and he was grateful Kurt had encouraged him to befriend the glee guys.

He noticed the other jocks glaring at Kurt but with Puck and Mike acting as bodyguards there was nothing they could do but scowl fortunately. They made it inside without any incidents and Blaine waited with Kurt by his locker until Puck came back to accompany him to his first class.

He knew Kurt had been worried about people finding out about his accidental overdose, so he kept listening to the conversations in the hallways between classes, but fortunately nothing was being said. He was just about to close his locker when he collided with the sharp edge and cried out in pain.

Karofsky was standing next to the locker, the picture of innocence. "Sorry man, didn't see you there," he told Blaine and Blaine glared at him before clutching his throbbing shoulder and walking off.

People were staring as he passed, many looking shocked because one member of the football team had just body checked another member, but Blaine just put a smile on his face and kept walking.

He was not a scared 8 grader anymore and he refused to let Karofsky get to him. The other boy obviously had issues and Blaine was tempted to use the information he had to blackmail Karofsky, but unfortunately Kurt was adamant not to out the abusive jock.

Karofsky could do to him whatever he wanted if that meant he would finally leave Kurt alone. There was no way in hell he would allow a closeted jock to sexually harass his boyfriend any longer and if he had to deal with shoves and the like to ensure Kurt's safety, so be it.

Kurt was already waiting in the choir room when Blaine got there after returning an ice pack to the locker room and he sat down in his usual chair next to Kurt after giving Kurt's hand a quick squeeze. To his surprise, Kurt didn't let go of his hand though and Blaine happily put their linked hands on top of his knee.

Rachel gave them a huge smile when she saw and Blaine saw Kurt smile back just as the rest of the club came in, and Blaine hoped they would be as happy for them as Rachel was.

"Well, well, well. Looks like Frodo finally found his precious," Santana suddenly drawled and while most of the club looked confused, Blaine blushed while cursing her for coming up with the hobbit jokes. He really wasn't that small, was he? Maybe he should wear his hair the way he used to wear it at Dalton again.

"Well, obviously Hummel and Anderson have gotten their shit together and are screwing," Santana explained.

From the corner of his eye he could see Kurt's had turned scarlet and he suspected he was doing much better himself. Still, neither of them let go of their clasped hands.

"We are not," he blurted out, hoping to do damage control, but unfortunately all eyes were on them now.

"I mean yes, we are dating, but we are not," he stopped himself before he could make an awkward situation even more awkward.

"What I mean is, Kurt and I wanted to tell you today that we are together. We hope you are happy for us," he finished his little speech and dared a quick look at Kurt who was smiling at him.

Within a few seconds, Kurt was surrounded by his girls and Santana gave him one of her rare genuine smiles.

To his relief, everyone seemed to be happy for them apart from Finn who was glaring at the piano as if it had personally offended him but he suspected that had something to do with his and Rachel's break up and Santana's new degree.

The fierce Latina apparently had a soft spot for his boyfriend and when she had heard that Finn had repeatedly just stood there and let Karofsky bully Kurt she had forbidden her cheerios to go out with Finn while they were all still in school.

Puck sat down in a chair in front of him and turned to offer his fist for a fist bump. Blaine tentatively touched his against Puck's who smiled before he yelled "get some, Hummel," to the amusement of the rest of the club.

Blaine just rolled his eyes, used to Puck's antics by now, and happy the tall jock approved of his new relationship.

As much as he wanted to bask in his friends' acceptance there was still something he had to say though, but Kurt beat him to the punch.

"Thanks for being so accepting of us. Unfortunately the rest of the school isn't so can you please not tell anyone about this?" he asked slightly breathless and everyone immediately nodded, though Santana looked angry and Brittany sad.

Before anything else could be said about the subject Mr. Schuester came and Blaine tried not to get distracted by Kurt's thumb which kept brushing over the back of his hand during the lesson.

"Hey I need to talk to Rachel real quick about something. Can you ask the girls to wait with you by my car?" he asked his boyfriend once the lesson was finally over and Kurt nodded. He quickly grabbed Rachel's hand and dragged her over to his locker.

"What's going on?" she asked as soon as they stopped. "I want to take Kurt out on a proper first date, but I need your help because I want to surprise him to take the pressure off," he explained before he suddenly found himself with an armful of Rachel.

"I'd love to help," she told him. "Just tell me what you need me to do."

Blaine was about to answer when he suddenly shuddered. He turned slightly in Rachel's arms and found Finn standing with Azizmo and Karofsky a few lockers away. Both Finn and Karofsky were glaring at him while Azizmo looked bored.

"Let's get out of here," he told Rachel and grabbed her hand. "I'll fill you in on the way to the car."

It was probably nothing, but he still felt uneasy seeing Finn standing close to the other jocks. For the time being he shoved his worries to the back of his mind and started to explain his plan to Rachel.

A few lockers down from high school students Rachel Berry and Blaine Hummel, three members of the McKinley High football team were standing close together.

Finn Hudson, the quarterback, was glaring at his ex-girlfriend as she was hugging another boy, something that didn't go unnoticed by notorious bully Dave Karofsky. It was his friend Azizmo Adams who spoke though, already bored by the lack of action.

"Seriously Hudson, snap out of it. It's not like he's going to be all up on her." Finn scowled. "I know that. Apparently Hummel is screwing Anderson now. I just don't like the guy. He comes here and expects that everyone immediately worships him."

What Finn Hudson didn't say out loud was that he was angry many of his previously taken for granted solos had been given to Blaine since his arrival and as official leader of New Directions he felt they should be his. Something similar had happened during game warm ups and Finn was not happy that some members put more stock into what the stupid kicker was saying than the quarterback.

Had Finn Hudson been playing any attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed his team mate's reaction to his announcement, but Finn was too preoccupied with wallowing in self-pity he missed Dave Karofsky's furious reaction.

Unaware of the other jocks feelings, he was in for a surprise when secrets were revealed down the road.