Chapter 8: And so we meet again

Blaine

Blaine couldn't wait to see Kurt Friday morning, hoping Kurt would tell him he'd join Glee. When he drove past Kurt's house, Kurt was nowhere to be seen so Blaine drove to school alone, hoping that Kurt would make it inside without getting targeted by the football team. He didn't see Kurt anywhere inside the school either and before he could convince himself that going over to Kurt's homeroom wasn't stalking, but just one friend looking out for another, the second bell rang and he had to hurry to get to his own classroom.

Unfortunately, he didn't know Kurt's schedule for Fridays and so by the time their first shared class came around, he still hadn't seen his friend anywhere. He sat down in his chair, ignoring Jenny's glare because he had made her switch with her – without telling her – and kept his eyes trained on the door but Kurt never showed up.

"Blaine," Mrs. Moreaux stopped him when the class was over and Blaine got ready to leave. "Can you pass these on to Kurt? Poor boy misses classes quite frequently and always panics over not having his notes and homework assignments," she told him and handed him a bunch of papers for Kurt.

His next classes were the same, Blaine picking up assignments for Kurt, and when it became clear to him that Kurt wouldn't show up that day, made photocopies of all his notes for him.

He knew coach Beiste and the football team would probably skin him alive if he just skipped practice without a good reason, and so he faked a headache and nausea to get a note from the nurse. As soon as the final bell rang, he stole away from the nurses office, handed coach Beiste his note, making sure he looked in pain, before heading out to his car and driving over to Kurt's house.

This time a car was in the driveway, but to be honest he had been hoping Kurt would be home alone again, so he could have taken care of him if he really were sick. Somehow he doubted that because Kurt seemed perfectly fine the day before and now he cursed himself for not thinking about asking Kurt for a phone number.

A vaguely familiar woman in her late thirties, with dirty blond hair showing off a bad dye job, stonewashed jeans and matching jacket opened the door after he rang it for the second time, a scowl on her face.

"If you're selling cookies, get lost. We ain't buying."

Blaine put on his most charming smile and tried not to show how much he already disliked the woman.

"Mrs. Anderson, I'm not sure if you remember me. I'm Blaine Hummel. Kurt and I were close friends when we were kids," he introduced himself, hoping she would invite him in, but she just looked skeptical and left him standing on the door step.

"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously and Blaine began to think that his theory about Kurt's parents being some kind of nutcases was right.

"Well, I was wondering if I could see Kurt. His teachers gave me his homework and I made him copies of my notes which I'd like to give him."

"Leave them with me. Kurt's sick. He can't have visitors." Blaine tried puppy dog eyes next. "If you are worrying about him getting me sick, I promise to keep it short."

Unfortunately, Kurt's mom was the first person they didn't work on. "And what I don't need is people showing up at my door telling me how my kid got their kid sick. Thanks for the notes but you'll have to wait till Kurt is back in school."

Admitting defeat, he gave her a polite smile. "It was nice seeing you again Mrs. Anderson," he told her, lying through his teeth because what the hell was her problem? With a mom like this it was no wonder Kurt had spent most of his childhood at Blaine's house.

He knew there was nothing he could do right now but he definitely would talk to Kurt about it as soon as he was back in school, because his mom was just weird.

Kurt

His ear stayed pressed against the door throughout the conversation Blaine had with his mom. At first he had freaked when he realized who was at the door, quickly got his mom and hid behind his door, because Blaine couldn't see him with the bruise standing out on his pale cheek.

A part of him had wanted to open the door and show Blaine what was going on of course, while another small part was hoping Blaine would just put two and two together himself, but the biggest part still thought that Blaine could never find out, because he would tell on Kurt and then Kurt would end up in group homes, where he probably would be faced with even more abuse from the other kids for being gay. It was the part that always one, when Kurt contemplated telling someone about what was going on at home and right now wasn't any different. He wanted Blaine to pull him into his arms and take him away, but at the same time he was also afraid of Blaine finding out. He had tons of baggage and not everyone would want to be around that.

As soon as the front door closed, the door to the basement was yanked open and Kurt nearly lost balance taking a step back, but caught himself before he could fall.

"Blaine Hummel? What the hell did you tell him?" his mother asked angrily. "Nothing, I swear. He and his dad moved back to Lima and we have been assigned to do a project together for French. That's all," Kurt quickly explained.

"He the boy your father told me about?" Kurt nodded not liking that she was asking so many questions. "He like you?" Kurt knew what she meant by that and he knew that if he wanted to have any chance of being allowed to keep seeing Blaine, he had to lie.

"He's on the football team, mom. He's just nice to me because he doesn't know anyone else yet," Kurt whispered.

His mom nodded and turned to leave but before she did, she turned back once more. "You think you can trust him. Well think again. He's going to drop you like he did last time as soon as he finds better friends in that school of yours. Mark my words."

Kurt slowly walked back downstairs trying not to let his mom get to him. Blaine wasn't a kid anymore and if he didn't want to see Kurt anymore he would tell him or he probably wouldn't have tried to get him into Glee club. To completely block out his mom's voice, he pulled the lyrics to 'Perfect' out of his bag, his fingertips ghosting over the lines Blaine had sung to him.

No, if Blaine was just biding his time with him until someone better came along, he wouldn't have gone to the length he did to befriend Kurt again – right?

Blaine

Blaine's weekend was boring. The Warblers were out for some bonding experience with the new members, to which Blaine, as possible competition now, was not invited. He wasn't really friends with any one at his new school yet apart from Kurt and although he and Rachel seemed to get along quite well, he was sure that Finn would have a problem if he and Rachel hung out on the weekend if the looks Finn kept giving were any indications.

All he could do was help his dad in the shop, and he definitely wasn't complaining about that because his guitar needed new strings and work on a few songs he would probably never show anyone.

He knew showing up on Kurt's doorstep again was probably pointless and so he just hoped Kurt would be back in school the following Monday.

Monday morning did not start well for Blaine. He overslept and then his hair looked like he had put his finger into a socket and it took ages to tame it. By the time he finally left looking semi presentable, Kurt was probably on the bus already and so Blaine drove straight to school instead of taking a detour to Kurt's neighborhood.

When he arrived in the school parking lot, he scanned the grounds quickly and angrily punched the steering wheel when he spotted Kurt climbing out of the dumpsters, less dirty than he had last time, but visibly shaken.

He crossed the parking lot as fast as he could and caught up with Kurt just as he reached the side door.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Kurt, but I overslept and then I thought you were already on the bus, but I tried to get here as fast as I could but obviously I was too late." Blaine knew he was rambling, but his brain to mouth filter was apparently off this morning.

"God Blaine it's not your job to protect me," Kurt glared at him for a moment before his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, I just had a shitty weekend and I really didn't need this my first day back," Kurt immediately apologize when he saw the hurt look on Blaine's face.

"It's okay," Blaine assured him quickly. "Are you feeling better? I came by your house on Friday and your mom said you were sick."

Kurt tensed for a moment before he smiled at Blaine, one of those fake ones Blaine was slowly learning to distinguish from the few real ones he had seen since he re-met Kurt.

"Stomach bug. Thanks for the homework and the notes. I really appreciated them."

"No problem. I thought you might want them."

Blaine kept close to Kurt for the rest of the day to keep the bullies at bay, but every time he asked Kurt about joining Glee the other boy gave him a vague answer and so Blaine resigned himself to just wait and see. He counted it a success when after lunch Kurt was still in the same clothes he had worn in the morning.

Blaine's last class before Glee let out early and Blaine rushed over to the choir room, keeping his fingers crossed that Kurt would come by. Suddenly he saw Rachel rush to the door pulling an obviously reluctant Kurt into a hug, squealing loudly at the same time.

"Oh my god, you came. I knew I would get through to you eventually."

Blaine and Mr. Schuester, who had come in after Kurt, shared a knowing look but if Rachel needed to believe Kurt coming to Glee had been her doing, Blaine would let her believe it. Kurt obviously could do with a few more friends and Rachel definitely seemed interested in being Kurt's friend considering how long she had been trying to get him into New Directions.

"Hold your horses, man hands," the rude Latina interrupted. "How do we know lady Anderson can even sing?" Blaine glared in her direction, because what was her problem with Kurt? After all, she kept asking people if they wanted to have a threesome with her and her blond 'friend'.

"Santana, Kurt already auditioned and I welcomed him to Glee. So please, we are all friends here," Mr. Schuester luckily took over before Blaine could say something he might regret.

"Not that we don't trust you Mr. Schue, but I want to know white boy can sing as well," another girl spoke up, but at least she had a friendly smile on her face when she said it.

Blaine leaned in closer to Kurt, who had fled to the unoccupied chair next to him as soon as Rachel had released him from her hug.

"You think you're ready to do 'Perfect' again?" he asked and Kurt gave him a shy nod. This time their pianist Brad was playing for them and Blaine made sure to look at Kurt throughout the song again, earning them a 'wanky' from Santana when they finished and applause from the rest of the club, who soon tried to swarm Kurt to hug him because he gave them a chance to compete.

Blaine immediately pulled Kurt back to his side when he saw how uncomfortable the other boy looked and gave his teammate a hopefully meaningful look telling them to back off.

"I'm so happy you decided to join," he told Kurt once they were both seated again. "I hope everything went okay at home." Kurt nodded. "I um, talked to my mom and she said it would be okay as long as my grades didn't suffer."

Blaine couldn't stop himself from beaming at Kurt, because he loved spending time with Kurt already and now that Kurt was in Glee they could spend even more time together and properly rebuild their friendship.

Kurt

As much as he had hated how his day had started yet again, he was happy throughout the rest of it. The bruise on his cheek had healed enough for him to cover it with make up and because Blaine was constantly by his side between classes, he hadn't gotten slushied even once.

He could have done without Rachel's enthusiastic hug because he still had bruises on his back, but it was nice to see, someone other than Blaine was actually excited he joined their after school activities.

He had been a tad bit apprehensive about performing in front of the whole group because he had been sure someone would call his voice girly but to his relief and surprise, everyone, including the football players and cheerios, had applauded his performance with Blaine.

He was on cloud nine when Blaine drove him home after school, Blaine easily having bought his there is no bus right now excuse and not even the knowledge that his parents would be home could dampen his spirits.

He needn't have worried about his parents though, because his mom's best friend was over, and the three adults were passing around a joint in the living room. His dad just looked up when he came in and check his watch, but because he was home on time he just nodded and told Kurt what time dinner had to be ready.

As much as he had feared Blaine coming back into his life, he had to admit that now he had a lot more good days than he had in the past, and he would gladly deal with the bad ones if he could keep Blaine around.

Blaine

The rest of the week was good for Blaine and he hoped for Kurt as well. Wanting to keep Kurt from the dumpster tosses, he started picking up Kurt before school every day and drove him home when they had Glee together. After two days Kurt had even stopped with the sarcastic remarks about Blaine's apparent need to constantly be in his neighborhood and had started to accept that Blaine was going to drive him and share his sandwich with him during lunch when Kurt hadn't brought his own, whether he wanted to or not.

It was Thursday now and Blaine thought it was about time to invite Kurt to dinner over to his house again. Friday night dinners had consisted only of his dad and himself since the move, and though Blaine had told his dad often that he had no problem with his dad dating again, his dad had never brought anyone home for Friday night dinners, saying they were sacred. He knew how much it meant that his dad kept inviting Kurt for one of them, and he was determined to get Kurt over for one.

"And you are sure you can't do this Friday?" he asked Kurt for the third time during Glee rehearsal but like before Kurt shook his head, saying he couldn't. Blaine had learned to read between the lines a bit since the 'I can't join Glee debacle' and so he assumed Kurt meant he wasn't allowed for some reason. Apparently it was time to bring in the bigger guns.

"I don't know, maybe you could ask Kurt's parents if it would be okay?" Blaine asked his dad once he had dropped off Kurt and had driven over to the garage. His dad sighed. "Do you have a number?" Blaine shook his head. "I didn't find them in the phonebook."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Blaine knew his dad wanted to help but he also knew he didn't really want to interfere and tell Kurt's parents how to raise their child.

"Maybe we could drive by his house and you could talk to them," Blaine suggested, desperate by now. He was pretty sure Kurt wanted to come over, and only said no because of his parents.

"Fine, but you stay in the car. Let us grown ups handle it." Blaine immediately agreed, waiting impatiently till his dad finally closed up the shop. As promised he stayed in the car while his dad rung Kurt's doorbell and watched as he talked to Kurt's mom.

"And?" he asked anxiously when his dad came back. "Kurt's coming to dinner tomorrow. I promised you'd pick him up and have him back home by nine. Early curfew for a seventeen year old if you ask me, but what do I know."

Not caring that the gearshift was digging into his stomach, Blaine leaned over and hugged his dad tightly, as always beyond happy he had a dad as amazing as his dad was.

Kurt

Kurt had heard the doorbell ring when he had been in the bathroom but he was still surprised to see his parents glare at him when he put dinner on the table. Had Blaine come by again? Well, fortunately he didn't have to wait long for the answer.

"Burt Hummel came by to invite you over to dinner tomorrow night," his mother told him, still with a frown on her face and Kurt fought to keep his excitement off his face. Yes he was still nervous to meet Blaine's dad again, but he hadn't been over to a friend's house since Blaine had moved away in elementary school.

"And can I go?" he asked aiming for nonchalantly. He knew his parents were big on keeping up appearances and so he hoped he would be allowed to go, just so Blaine's dad wouldn't be suspicious.

"I expect you to be on your best behavior. Don't embarrass us," his dad threatened and Kurt wanted nothing more in that moment to jump up and dance around the living room. Instead he just nodded before adding. "Thanks, dad."

His parents kept glaring at him through the rest of dinner, but his father didn't raise a hand at him even though he looked like he wanted to because it wouldn't help their case if Kurt showed up at the Hummels' house with bruises on his face.

As soon as he was back in his room after doing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen, he threw himself onto his bed, buried his face into the pillows and squealed like a twelve-year-old girl. It looked like things were finally looking up for Kurt Anderson.

Blaine

Blaine was beyond excited when he turned onto Kurt's street. The chicken was in the oven and his dad was instructed to take it out the moment the timer went off. When they had been kids, Kurt's favorite dish had been Chicken Alfredo and he hoped he still liked it, because it was pretty much the only thing he could cook well. He and his dad both had to learn how to cook a bit after his dad's heart attack but they still ordered take out most of time, only now they tried to keep it healthy.

He needn't have worried though because once Kurt got started he ate like Finn had that week he had shared a table with the football team. Blaine discreetly kept pushing his own food onto Kurt's plate when he wasn't looking and was even getting thirds just to make sure Kurt didn't feel bad about eating quite a lot.

He was jumpy around his dad though, flinching when his dad had tried to pull him into a hug and keeping his eyes on his plate, only speaking when asked a direct question. Still, Blaine thought the evening had been successful when he and Kurt ended up watching an old Disney movie for a bit until Blaine had to drive Kurt back home. They weren't sitting as close together as they had as children, but at least Kurt didn't have a problem with sitting on the bed with him to watch the Lion King on Blaine's laptop.

"What did you think?" Blaine asked his dad when he came back from dropping Kurt off back home.

His dad furrowed his brows. "Reminds me of you after Sadie Hawkins," his dad answered and Blaine was proud that he only flinched a bit at the mentioning of the dance.

"I wish I had the money to send you both to Dalton. I know you say everything is fine at McKinley, but I know you wouldn't wear that jacket unless you thought you had to."

Blaine fiddled with the hem of his shirt before he answered. "It's really more for Kurt's protection than my own. As long as I wear the jacket no one dares to do anything to him when I'm close by. And it's awful what they are doing to him. But the worst thing is that the teachers either look the other way or just ignore what's happening and I feel so powerless. All I can do is stay close to him to make sure he doesn't get hurt, but it still doesn't feel like it's enough because I can't be there every second of the day."

He knew as well as his dad did that complaining to the faculty would probably change nothing and so he just accepted his dad's hug and advice to just keep doing what he was already doing because it apparently was more than anyone else was doing.

"Just make sure he knows he is always welcome here, okay. And if you need me to talk to his parents again, you tell me."

Blaine knew he'd been hugging his dad a lot lately but having Kurt and his problems back in his life made him even more grateful for his dad than he had ever been before.

Up next: It's a few weeks later and Sectionals are fast approaching