Breadstix is actually kind of nice, Blaine decides, eyes darting around and taking in the décor. There’s nothing too special about it, but it has this homey feeling and Blaine can’t help but sigh and sink back into the booth. Kurt sits across from him and Bethany sits at Blaine’s side, swinging her short legs to and fro as she doodles on her paper placemat with a crayon. If there’s one thing their parents taught them, it was to be well-behaved in public. Bethany can be a brat, Blaine won’t deny, but she’s generally only a brat when they’re alone.

“She’s quiet for a change,” Kurt comments.

“Blainey said I have to be respectable,” Bethany interjects, eyes never leaving her drawing.

“Respectful,” Blaine corrects her.

“Blainey?” Kurt asks, eyebrow quirking up, accompanying his grin. “That’s too cute.”

Blaine winces. “Oh god, please don’t.”

“But it’s adorable.” Kurt nudges his foot up against Blaine’s under the table, causing Blaine to blush. “I like it.”

“Better you than me.”

“Okay,” Kurt continues, waving away the nickname issue. “Date talk time.”

“Um, date talk?”

“You know. General date talk. The kind of talking where you learn about the other person.”

Oh.

Right.

Great.

“Okay,” Blaine agrees, though he does so with a small amount of hesitation in his voice.

“It’s not like you’re on trial,” Kurt assures him. “So. Where did you live before you moved to Lima?”

“Westerville,” Blaine states. “My mom wasn’t, ah, happy with her job. She wanted a fresh start.”

Okay, so it’s not a complete lie.

“Your turn.”

“Um…you said you have a stepbrother.”

“I did.”

“So, like, I guess, when did your parents get divorced?”

There’s a small twitch in between Kurt’s eyebrows, making him frown for just a millisecond. Blaine catches it, though, and immediately regrets asking the question. It’s a pretty personal question, after all. He could have asked what Kurt’s favorite color was or something, but it just wasn’t his first thought and now he feels like a jerk.

“My parents didn’t get divorced,” Kurt informs. “My mother, she ah-” a glance toward Bethany, “she passed away when I was about your sister’s age.”

“Passed away means died,” Bethany says, as if it’s just the most natural response to the statement. When she realizes what she said, Blaine’s sister looks up in horror. “Your mommy died?”

“Beth, don’t-”

“No, it’s okay,” Kurt interrupts, reaching over to place his hand atop Blaine’s on the table. Blaine expects it to be a sort of warning touch, just to keep him from stopping the story, but Kurt doesn’t move his hand at all. Instead, he looks directly at Bethany and says, “Yeah, my mommy died when I was really little. She was very sick.”

“Do you miss her?” Bethany wonders.

“I do,” Kurt says slowly. “But it was a long time ago. I don’t remember her very well. I wish I did, though.”

“Did God take her up to Heaven?” Bethany asks. “Mommy always says that people go to Heaven when they die and that everything is really pretty and gold like a gold necklace and she says the streets sparkle like diamonds.”

Kurt shoots Blaine a look, but Blaine can only shrug in response because he’s not a very religious person at all.

“I think that would be the best place for her,” Kurt says eventually. “If she had to leave, I hope she’s in Heaven.”

“She is,” Bethany states. “She was your mommy. She’s in Heaven.”

With a tight smile, Kurt removes his hand from Blaine’s and sits back in the booth.

“I’m sorry,” Blaine says softly. “I didn’t know – I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“It’s fine, really,” Kurt replies just as the waitress brings out their food. “I kind of like that you’re willing ask the more important questions, I guess.”

“So you won’t answer if I ask what your favorite color is?” Blaine teases with a wink.

“Well, considering my favorite color changes with the season’s fashion trends, I’d say I wouldn’t have a very concrete answer to that question.”

“Point taken.” Blaine nods, smiles, and thinks that he might really, really like Kurt. He likes that he’s open and he likes that Kurt seems to be into fashion. It’s not an easy hobby when you’re a gay kid in Ohio, and Blaine respects that Kurt makes no apologies for the person that he is. He turns to look at his sister, who is currently inhaling her pasta at an inhuman rate. “Slow down,” he admonishes. “You’ll make yourself sick, Beth.”

“This is the best spaghetti I’ve ever had ever!”

“I’m glad,” Blaine says flatly, tucking her napkin into the collar of her shirt. “But you’ll have a tummy ache later if you don’t chew your food before you swallow it.”

Bethany says no more and continues to slurp down her pasta. Blaine makes a face at her display, but he hears Kurt laugh lightly behind his fork.

“Okay, technically you got to ask two questions,” Kurt tells him. “So, one: when did you come out? And two: What do you like to do in your spare time?”

“I came out when I was fourteen,” Blaine states. He offers no further description on the matter because he…can’t. Not yet. Not here. “And I don’t really have spare time.”

“But it’s summer,” Kurt reminds him. “You have to have something you like or things you like to do.”

“I watch Bethany, mostly. I don’t really have a lot of time to myself.”

“Hm. Well, what’s your favorite subject in school?” Kurt asks.

“But that’s three questions in a row!”

“And you didn’t have an answer to my second question.” Kurt grins slyly, his pink lips stretching and his eyes darkening just slightly. “So I get a bonus question.”

“Are we going by some sort of rule book or something?”

“It’s just the way the game is played, I promise.”

Blaine glares at him through narrow eyes, but he does so good-naturedly and smiles before saying, “I enjoy history. But my favorite extracurricular was choir. Or, show choir, really.”

“You – you were in show choir?” Kurt sputters, nearly spewing linguine back onto his plate. “Seriously?”

“Is that, like, hard to believe or something?”

“No, no, no,” Kurt says quickly. He dabs his mouth with his napkin. “Just – I mean, I’m in show choir at school. I didn’t even consider the fact that you might be able to sing.”

“I was only in it for a year,” Blaine tells him. “I had to quit because of-” he darts a look toward Bethany, “-other responsibilities.”

“Shame,” Kurt sighs. “Would be nice if you joined us at school.”

Shrugging, Blaine leans his head on his hand and twirls fettuccine alfredo pasta around on his fork. It would be nice to sing again. Blaine really loves singing. But he’s out of practice. Beyond the occasional tune in the shower or singing along with Bethany’s Disney soundtracks in the car, Blaine hasn’t sung properly in a long while.

Not to mention, he can’t spend very much time hanging around after classes because he has to pick Bethany up from school.

“I’ll think about,” Blaine says, hoping he sounds sincere. “It just depends on how much time I have.”

“Well, either way,” Kurt says, “you’ll have to sing for me one day.”

“Blaine sings good!” Bethany pipes up once more.

“Well, I sing well,” Blaine corrects. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean I sing well. I was just-”

“And he’s modest, too.”

Kurt looks over at Blaine from beneath his eyelashes, icy blue eyes sparkling as he flirts. Blaine’s chest feels light, a far cry from the constriction he felt there earlier after the call from his mother.

“You have to sing for me, then,” Blaine returns. “It’s only fair.”

“Oh, I will,” Kurt promises. “If there’s anything you can count on, it’s an impromptu display of my musical talent.”

“Is there anything else I can get you?” their waitress interrupts with a practiced smile.

“Ice cream!” Bethany says eagerly.

“You gonna pay for it?” Blaine asks pointedly.

“I’m eight,” his sister reminds him, like maybe he's forgotten.

“We have popsicles at home,” Blaine tells her. “You can have one later.”

“It’s not the same,” Bethany huffs, scrubbing her face with her napkin before tossing it down onto the table. “I haven’t had real ice cream in forever.”

Blaine panics because he really wants to get her a bowl of ice cream. There’s no reason she shouldn’t have ice cream. Tonight is supposed to be a treat for her. However, he doesn’t know if the ‘kids eat for free’ thing includes desert. He made sure they drank only water, but his meal was nine dollars and he ordered one of the cheapest things on the menu. He swallows thickly in his throat, silently praying for his baby sister to suddenly understand the concept of ‘we’re completely broke’ until Kurt speaks up.

“How about we get a big bowl of ice cream,” he says. “And we can all split it.”

“Kurt, you don’t-”

“It’s my treat,” Kurt insists, turning to the waitress who seems to be getting impatient. “A bowl of vanilla ice cream, please, and that’ll be it.”

“Are you paying separately?” the waitress asks kindly.

“No, it’s all on one tab,” Kurt tells her, already in the process of digging out his wallet.

Blaine gapes at him across the table, completely dumbfounded by the twist of events.

“What? No, I can pay for my own-”

“This is a date, Blaine.” Kurt smiles, handing over a shiny, plastic card to the waitress and she disappears to run it.

“I know, but we don’t have to conform to the whole, like, one person pays thing,” Blaine argues.

“Just let me pay,” Kurt says quickly. His eyes are suddenly trying to communicate something, though Blaine can’t decipher it.

Has he already realized that Blaine’s family isn’t exactly well off? Or is it something else entirely?

Blaine bites his lips together, debating on whether or not to argue the issue further. Kurt seems adamant, though, and Blaine briefly thinks about the fact that he can save his remaining twelve dollars for a second date. Perhaps it’s selfish of him for wanting to keep his money for as long as possible, but after worrying about money all day, Kurt’s credit card is kind of a godsend.

Plus, Blaine doesn’t want to offend his date.

“Okay,” Blaine surrenders.

Kurt smiles broadly, looking terribly adorable as he does so, and the conversation turns back to lighter topics. When the waitress brings back Kurt’s card and a bowl of ice cream, everyone seems to be in good spirits. Bethany giggles when Kurt dips his finger into their desert and smears a dot of it on her nose.

Maybe, Blaine thinks, that’s one of the things he likes best about Kurt. Bethany is his little sister and, right now, Blaine is all she really has. She’s the most important thing in the world to him and the fact that Kurt is so kind to her warms Blaine’s heart.

It’s a good night, nearly perfect, actually.

And Blaine is almost thankful for his too-busy mother because he couldn’t have imagined this night to be any more wonderful.