“We've heard enough.”

“Oh. Okay,” Kurt said, a shadow of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips mechanically. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

It was always the same. Barely sixteen bars in and “enough”. Enough was apparently never enough to land a role. Ever.

Kurt made his way out of the audition space, rolling his eyes at himself. This day just kept getting better. He sat on a bench to check his phone. Blaine still hadn't replied to him.

Tears fought to be free from his eyes, but he blinked them away, wanting to swallow down the hurt. Maybe that would make it less real. All of the things he and Blaine had fired at each other.

This wasn't a tiff over Andrew Lloyd Webber and Steven Sondheim. They have had rough fights before, but nothing quite like this. There had been serious things said. Hurtful things. Kurt was scared he had said enough to potentially jeopardize their relationship for good.

Kurt was thumbing through his contacts, about to call his dad when his phone lit up with his father's picture. It wasn't the first time his Dad had just beat him to a call.

“Hey,” Kurt answered, his voice strained.

“Kurt? How are you?”

“I…”

He really thought that he would have been able to keep it together, but hearing his father's voice for the first time in a long time finally broke him. He wished he was back in Ohio for a moment. To hug his father. Go on a drive with him. Clear his mind.

“Kurt? What is it?”

“This morning Blaine and I weren't exactly agreeing on everything and I didn't mean to get short with him but… Dad, I messed up.”

“So, you two got in a fight,” Burt supplied.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes at his own voice. He knew he sounded ridiculously young when he cried. Especially if it was to his father.

“You fight with the people you love. You know that.”

“I know. I know. But it hurt so much because we were talking about our future. It went from us talking to our future to jumping at each other's throats. You know, it's our last year at NYADA and… Maybe I don't want to live in New York for the rest of my life. I told him as much, in a really off-hand way and, Dad, you would have thought I asked him to break up with me then and there.”

“You two met there. He probably associates it with you two,” Burt offered.

Kurt's mouth pressed into a line. His father, always playing devil's advocate.

“Yeah, well, he didn't have to go psycho on me! Somehow things got worse from there and I ended up accidently insinuating that he didn't care about me as much as I do about him and he really lost it then—”

“Kurt, I'm going to be honest with you.” Burt interjected. “I think Blaine loves you more than you love him.”

Kurt felt a shocked sound leave the back of his throat, his mouth agape. Okay, he wasn't even playing devil's advocate anymore. He was on Blaine's side.

“Dad, I love Blaine—”

“I know, but… Kurt, I think someone always loves the other just that little bit more. And maybe that's why you thought Blaine went ‘psycho' on you. I don't know the boy as well as I wish I did. But when I see you two, Kurt, I can't explain it, but you can just see it. He clings to you in a way that you don't to him. You say you don't know what you'd be without him but I feel like you would be able to go on. You're your own person. You're so strong. You've had to be. On your own. I really like Blaine, don't get me wrong, but it seems to me like he relies on you so much. Almost too much. How hard you're taking this, I'm sure he hurts just that little bit more,” Burt explained.

Kurt was silent. He wasn't convinced.

“You said he's getting his foot in the door there, right? Big shot producers asking about him and he's already performing at benefit concerts, rubbing elbows with Broadway's best, right?  Kurt, things seem to keep going right for that boy. He's imagining his start there. He's wishing for his dreams to turn out, and he wants you there with him. I am by no means saying you should work your future around his, okay? I want to make that clear. You're in this together and both of your needs are important. But maybe be patient. Your time will come, son. I promise. It may not be easy. It may not be expected, but you're going to be successful. You've worked too hard for this.”

Kurt chewed on the inside of his cheek, wishing he wouldn't have had that panic attack a few weeks ago and called his father about how he might as well drop out of NYADA because a degree in the performing arts would be useless for him and he would never get his shot, no matter what Blaine said. Now Burt knew all of the doubts he was having about school he usually kept reserved to himself. He didn't like bringing it up around Blaine. It always shook him up. He didn't really have any other plans anyway.

“You've been anxious lately. Are you still writing? That used to help, right?”

“Yeah. It would. But… no, no. I haven't been. I honestly forgot I did that,” Kurt whispered, a little dream-like. He laughed. “I think I was kind of good.”

“You should try again,” Burt encouraged. “And, please, try to be patient. Through everything. Don't get too caught up and let things get crazy. You're so good at supporting Blaine. And from what I gather, you're one of the few people he gets it from.”

“I know, Dad.” Kurt pressed his forehead into the palm of his open hand. “It's Blaine. I just… He makes me stop thinking sometimes… all the time. And, usually, things just work with him. It's usually easy.”

“You two do work together. You two just hit a bump in the road, that's all,” Burt said. “Now, I know that wasn't a drive through the backroads like we would if you were back home, but is your mind a bit clearer?”

“Yeah. I'm just irritated mostly. These auditions have me irritated with myself and, well, when Blaine got irritated with me for saying I cared about him more, he brought up how I've been taking extra shifts at the diner and I couldn't even explain why because, well, I've been wanting to talk with you about this for a while… I don't know when, but I want to ask Blaine to marry me.”

The line got quiet for a while.

“That's a big step.”

“I know. But I don't see my life going any other way. Even when I don't know what I'll be doing or how things will work out for me, all I can see is him. I do want to be there for him and with him. Through everything… And I don't really want to start a family here—”

“Okay, you're getting ahead of yourself there, Kurt,” Burt laughed.

“You're right,” Kurt replied, laughing after a beat. “You're always right.” Kurt smiled. “Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, son.”

“Wait, you called me first. Did you have news?”

“I was just checking in mostly. And, well, Kurt, I met someone,” Burt awkwardly started, not sure how to breach the subject.

Kurt hadn't particularly taken well to his father dating in the past. But he wasn't in high school anymore. He wasn't gripping to Burt like a lifeline, the only person who loved him. He had Blaine now. And once he finished this phone call, he was going to go fix things to be sure to keep it that way.

“Oh.” Kurt felt himself break out into a grin. “Oh, Dad. That's nice.”

“Yeah,” he replied, a smile in his voice. “Her name is Carole…”

-

“Blaine?” Kurt whispered, lowering his bag from his shoulder, hearing it thud against the floor.

Blaine straightened from where he was curled up on the couch. He looked over his shoulder, eyes wide and shining with newly shed tears.

“Blaine,” Kurt repeated, smiling sadly.

Kurt watched his boyfriend make his way from the couch over to Kurt, and when he fell into Kurt's opened arms, Kurt thought that maybe his father was right. The way Blaine held him like Kurt was the only thing keeping him above ground astounded him. Kurt hugged Blaine close, smoothing a hand over the back of his hair and the nape of his neck soothingly when he sniffled.

“I'm,”—Blaine spoke through a gasp—“sorry.” Blaine nuzzled his cheek against Kurt's chest, trying to get comfortable. “Let's never fight again.” He always said that.

“No, Blaine,” Kurt softly said. “We've fought before. We'll fight again. But we'll always come back to each other. Always.”

Blaine let out a deep breath. “I'm sorry I went ‘psycho'—”

“I shouldn't have said that,” Kurt interrupted. “I'm sorry.”

“I accept your apology,” Blaine replied, giving Kurt a watery smile before looking away. “But I did freak out. I freaked out because New York is where I imagine myself for as long as it takes me to get cast as a lead on Broadway for the right reason and to think that you wouldn't be here? To think that maybe we won't…” Blaine trailed off, swallowing hard.

“Do you know why I said what I did? I didn't say it to hurt you. I… Well, I said it for the opposite reason, really,” Kurt explained. “I'll stay by your side. I'll go to every opening night of every Broadway show you're in. And… don't freak out, Blaine, but I want to be someone's dad. And I don't really want my child to grow up here.”

Blaine stared at Kurt, giving him that look. The one that make Kurt feel nearly embarrassed because he felt too strongly admired.

“What?” Kurt mumbled, fighting off a tiny smile, turning his head away.

“And that someone you want to be a dad of, would I be their dad too?”

“I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but yes. You would,” Kurt laughed. “Duh. I wouldn't imagine it any other way at this point. I couldn't,” he added.

“Kurt,” Blaine sighed, leaning up to kiss the underside of Kurt's chin and snuggling close into his side. “I'm sorry we're so stupid.”

“Me too. Promise me that in the future we will really listen to each other.”

“I promise,” Blaine agreed.

And a few weeks later, when Kurt caught Blaine scrolling a short list of baby names he had pinned, you would have thought that Kurt had caught him watching porn. Kurt just chuckled and leaned over the back of the couch to nuzzle against Blaine's wild bedhead and kiss him on the cheek.

“I love them,” he whispered, still smiling. “I love them all.”