“Turn it up, I wanna dance!” Bethany shouts in regard to the small stereo in the living room. Blaine turns the knob, forcing the music louder as he shoots a glance over his shoulder toward his mother. Kathy is currently hunched over the kitchen table, head in her hands and a cup of black coffee by her elbow. When they woke this morning, no one-night-stand-man had been around, and Blaine was thankful for it. Now, though, it’s verging upon noon and his mother is still suffering from what looks to be a horrific hangover. Good, Blaine thinks. It serves her right. “Watch me, Blainey!”

“I’m watching, Beth,” he tells her as she twirls in a circle on the living room floor. “You’re the best dancer I know.”

“You really think so?” she asks, jumping up and down to the beat.

“Definitely.”

“Dance with me!” she yells.

“I’m not good at dancing, not like you,” he tells her, refusing to move from the sofa as she tries to tug him to his feet.

“Please, please, please!”

“Would you two shut up for like, five minutes?” their mother hollers from the kitchen. She slams one of her fists down on the table, causing the ceramic coffee mug to rattle. “Just – god, just turn it off and go outside.”

Bethany freezes in her tracks and drops her brother’s hand. Just as Blaine is about to retaliate, his phone rings in his pocket. He turns off the stereo and answers quickly when he sees Kurt’s name flashing on the screen.

“Hello?”

“How would you and Bethany like to come to the mall with me and a couple of friends?”

Warmth spreads in his chest over the fact that Kurt invited his sister as well, and Blaine looks swiftly to his angry mother. He glances at Bethany, who is still staring at Kathy like she has two heads, and makes a split-second decision. They might not have any money to actually buy anything, but Blaine would do whatever it took to get out of the house.

“We’d love to,” he answers. “What time?”

“Now,” Kurt informs. “I’m about to leave to meet Rachel and Mercedes.”

“Okay. We’ll walk over.”

“Fantastic. See you in a few!”

The call ends and Blaine stands up, straightening his t-shirt.

“Go get your shoes,” he tells his sister. “We’re going to the mall.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but hurry. We have to walk over to Kurt’s house.”

She races to her room without further question and Blaine turns his attention to his mother.

“I think I deserve a bit of compensation,” he states, “after the stunt you pulled yesterday.”

“Because I’m just made of money,” his mother drawls.

“I’d like for us to be able to eat today,” he adds. “And maybe get Bethany a new shirt or something.”

“Fine,” she grumbles in response. “Take whatever’s on my dresser in my room.”

Blaine says nothing else, and enters his mother’s room to find two ten dollar bills and a handful of change on her dresser. He swipes it, pockets it, and meets Bethany in the hallway to she has donned a pair of white sandals.

“Let’s go,” he tells her, guiding her out of the house and a few driveways over where Kurt is just unlocking his car. “Hey,” he greets.

“Hey, yourself,” Kurt replies with a pleased smile. He reaches over and gives Blaine’s hand a firm squeeze, though Blaine’s pretty sure he would have liked to kiss him in greeting instead. “Alright, runts in the back!”

“I’m not a runt!” Bethany protests, hands on her small hips.

“Who said I was talking about you?”

“Hey!” Blaine calls back.

“Only kidding!” Kurt grins, opening the back door and holding out his hand for Bethany. “In you get, little lady.”

They all pile into the car, Bethany settling on the small middle seat in the back of Kurt’s Navigator.

“So, who’re Rachel and Mercedes?” Blaine asks when they pull out of the driveway.

“Two friends from school,” Kurt explains. “They’re both in Glee with me. My best friends, basically.”

“Ah.”

“We’re all divas in our own right.”

“Oh, really?”

“Not in a bad way,” Kurt says. “We just…know we have talent. And we don’t want to waste that here in this horrid town.”

“Understandable.”

The rest of the ride to the mall is made in comfortable silence. Even Bethany seems to be too preoccupied staring out the window to ask any questions, eyes taking in the newness of the parts of Lima they haven’t yet explored. When they reach the parking lot at the mall, Blaine’s palms begin to sweat. These are Kurt’s friends and he’s going to meet them for the first time. These are Kurt’s best friends and Blaine hasn’t met anyone in Lima yet. What if he makes a bad first impression? What if neither of them likes kids? What if they think Blaine isn’t good enough to be with Kurt?

“Bethany!” he shouts at his sister, who has taken it upon herself to run ahead of them after they climb out of the car. “Get back here and hold my hand!”

“But I want-”

“No arguments,” Blaine states.

“Ugh, fine,” Bethany huffs in annoyance, dragging her feet as she walks back to her brother and places her hand limply in his.

“There they are,” Kurt says. He points to a small brunette and a black girl with a fabulous hat, both of them smiling broadly when they catch sight of Kurt.

“So this is the piece of man candy you snagged,” the dark-skinned girl says appreciatively, giving Blaine a once over.

Blaine suppresses his nerves and rubs his free hand on the front of jeans, ridding it of sweat before holding his hand out to the girls.

“I’m Blaine,” he says. “It’s nice to meet you both.”

“I’m Rachel Berry,” the smaller girl interrupts, shaking Blaine’s hand vigorously. “Kurt and I actually used to be very competitive. Well, we’re still competitive, but we’ve decided to focus our talents and funnel them into our dream of New York City rather than attempt to outdo one another. His smooth countertenor harmonizes beautifully with my rich soprano. He’s simply the best duet partner. You chose him well.”

Uh, wow. Okay.

“I – I think I chose well, too,” Blaine ends up saying for lack of a better reply.

“And I’m Mercedes,” the other girl greets. “I’ve been friends with Kurt since seventh grade. It was seventh grade, right?”

“I think so,” Kurt says. “Either way, it’s been a long time.”

“And this – um, this is my little sister, Bethany,” Blaine introduces. “She’ll be really good, I promise. Right, Beth?”

“I like your hair,” Bethany says in a daze, eyes wide and staring at Mercedes’ dark locks. “Can I touch it?”

“Sure,” Mercedes says kindly, bending over to let Bethany thread her fingers through it.

“It’s so smooth,” Blaine’s sister says softly. “I wish my hair was smooth like that.”

“Well, you have naturally curly hair,” Rachel tells her. “And that’s just as nice. I wish I had curly hair like yours.”

Bethany blushes and steps back behind Blaine. He’s never seen her so shy before. Looking back behind his legs, he eyes her curiously until Rachel and Mercedes sweep them up in conversation, dishing on the latest drama regarding their circle of friends. The ends of all their sentences overlap. Everyone speaks so quickly and with such purpose that it throws Blaine completely off track, and he’s unable to get a word in edgewise. It’s almost nice, not feeling the need to comment on everything he knows nothing about, but it’s still like watching a three-way tennis match and he can only barely keep up.

Kurt apparently catches sight of his shell-shocked face and says, “Okay, let’s cut the chatter. I don’t want to scare him any more than necessary.”

“We’re not scary,” Rachel protests at once. “Everything we have to say is simply of equal importance! It’s how we operate.”

“Well, operate a little less,” Kurt suggests, placing his hand in Blaine’s free palm, guiding them into the mall.

With Bethany’s hand in his other, Blaine chances a glance at Kurt, who smiles back like he’s the happiest guy in the world. Blaine’s face warms and reddens, and that ‘it’s like we’re a family’ feeling melts into his bones, making him far happier than he’d care to admit.

The group strolls around the mall for a good hour or so, window shopping and gazing longingly at things they all wish they could afford. Blaine eyes the bowties on display in one store, thinking immediately of Kurt and wishing he had the money to buy it for him. The only purchase any of them has made so far is from Rachel’s venture down an aisle full of knee socks. Considering her outfit, Blaine thinks it’s quite appropriate.

“Thanks for inviting us,” Blaine says lowly while Bethany, Mercedes, and Rachel are busy looking at a rack full of dresses.

“Of course,” Kurt replies simply, looking around before pressing a quick kiss to Blaine’s cheek.

“I know spending time with my sister isn’t ideal, but we-”

“Stop it,” Kurt interrupts, taking both of Blaine’s hands. “I wanted to spend time with you. And being cooped up in a house all day isn’t an ideal Saturday for a little girl. Plus, I figured Bethany might like to be around girls for a change.

Blaine laughs softly in response, ducking his as Kurt takes a step closer.

“I don’t mind spending time with your sister.”

“You say that now,” Blaine mumbles. “In a week, you’ll want to find places to hide her body.”

“She can’t be all that bad.”

“Not around new people, she’s not. But wait until she warms up to you. That’s when the real Bethany Anderson begins to show.”

“One step at a time,” Kurt says with a wink.

“Lookit!” Bethany calls once they’re inside of Claire’s, pointing to a thin, pink headband with a giant, yellow bow. “It matches the dress that Kurt drew me!”

“It does,” Blaine nods.

Bethany plucks the headband off the rack, peering at it with so much desire. She looks longingly at the small accessory in her hand, thumbing the bow and biting her lip in deep contemplation. After a few, long seconds, she replaces it on the rack with reverence, looking at it sadly before walking away to another part of the store. When she rounds the corner, Blaine approaches the rack and picks up the headband.

She didn’t even ask for it. Bethany can definitely play the role of the spoiled child and some days she deserves an Oscar for her performance, but she’s been rather well-behaved the past few days. Relatively speaking. Not to mention, if it hadn’t been for her, Blaine might never have met Kurt before the start of the school year. She was very nice at Breadstix last night and she went to bed without a fight as well. Maybe she deserves a reward.

Plus, Bethany hasn’t had anything new in ages.

The price tag reads $7.99.

It’s worth it.

Blaine conceals the item and makes his purchase quickly so Bethany doesn’t see, and meets up with Kurt near a section full of hats.

“That was sweet of you,” Kurt says.

Shrugging in response, Blaine makes sure to hide the bag until they’re out of the store and reunited with Rachel and Mercedes, who are busy arguing over the color purple for some absurd reason. Kurt begins to interrupt the fight while Blaine tugs Bethany a few feet away. She looks up at him in confusion, so Blaine crouches down on his knees, holding the bag behind his back.

“What’s wrong?” his sister asks.

“I got this for you,” he says. “Since you were so good at Breadstix last night. I wanted to say thank you.”

He hands her the bag, watching her eyes light up first in surprise, then in sheer joy when she plucks the little headband out the bag.

“You – you got it for me?”

“Here,” he says, ripping the price sticker off. “Put it on.”

She does so, perching the band on her head. She looks back to Blaine.

“Does it look pretty?”

Blaine smiles kindly at her soft words, puts a finger under her chin, and says, “It’s just pretty enough for a princess.”

When their feet tire around four in the afternoon, they settle down in the food court. Blaine purchases some healthy chicken wrap thing from the place Kurt recommends that actually turns out to be pretty tasty, and he watches Bethany devour a kid’s meal from McDonald’s. While the big kids chat about their upcoming school year and the possibility of Blaine joining show choir (time permitting), Bethany’s eyes are locked on the carousel situated near the food court, next to a Starbucks.

“Do you like carousels?” Kurt asks her politely.

Bethany blushes and looks down at her lap, stuffing her face with a couple of french fries.

“The last time she was on one, she threw up all over the kid next to her,” Blaine explains.

“I didn’t mean to!” Bethany protests. “It made my tummy gross.”

“She doesn’t do well at carnivals and stuff like that.”

“Well, you took a big chance climbing up to the top of the playscape the other day,” Kurt reminds her. “But I don’t handle things that spin very well, either.”

Bethany doesn’t say anything, just returns her focus to the glittering lights and shiny horses of the carousel. Blaine can see an internal debate coloring her face. He looks over at the sign, stating the price of a ride, and sees that it’s only a dollar per person, per ride.

“You know,” he says, “the last time you tried a carousel was two years ago. It might not make you so sick, now that you’re older.”

“You think so?” she wonders.

“Why don’t you go and try?” he asks her, hoping she doesn’t end up vomiting again because he’s really not in the mood to apologize profusely to a strange carousel worker in a mall.

“I bet it’s fun,” Kurt adds. “You should try and get on the horse with the pink saddle.”

“I really like pink,” she reasons, as if the color of the saddle is the true deciding factor.

Turning to Kurt, Blaine just about to ask if it will be okay for him to part from the group for a couple of minutes, but Kurt beats him to the punch and squeezes his hand.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Kurt promises softly.

Blaine smiles in return before snatching Bethany’s hand. “Come on,” he says. “I’ll stand and watch you the whole time.”

“You swear it?” she asks nervously as he guides her over to the entrance of the carousel. “You won’t leave?”

“I swear it.”

He hands the bored looking man a dollar and, true to his word, watches Bethany approach the carousel with trepid steps. She looks back to him, worrying her lip between her teeth.

“Go on,” he urges.

With a deep breath, Bethany climbs onto the ride and picks out the horse with a pink saddle. She scrambles up on its back, holding the tall bar with white-knuckled fingers. The ride starts and her grip tightens, but she bears it with courage and Blaine can’t help but smile.

If he were to turn around, he might see Kurt watching them with a serene, adoring smile. He might see Rachel and Mercedes cooing over his actions and asking Kurt where on earth he found such a generous person.

But he doesn’t turn around. He remains true to his oath and keeps his eyes on Bethany the entire time, wary of any negative emotion on her face. By the second rounding of the carousel, though, his little sister looks to be happy as a lark and waves to him in excitement. He waves back, smiling all the while, proud of her for facing her fears and giving the ride a second chance.

It only lasts a few minutes and when the ride stops, Bethany darts off the carousel and rushes into Blaine’s arms at full force. He scoops her up, her rail-thin legs wrapping around his waist and her arms clinging around his neck like a younger child might cling to their parent. Blaine hasn’t held his sister like this in ages. Normally she’s fussy about being treated like a toddler, but in this instance it seems like she doesn’t want to touch the earth ever again.

“Did you see, did you see?” she asks, her small body vibrating with excitement as he carries her back over to the table. “I did it and I didn’t get sick!”

“I saw,” he says quietly. “You were very brave.”

“Thank you for letting me go on the ride,” she whispers in his year. “I love you, Blainey.”

The words jar Blaine’s heart. He hasn’t heard them from anyone in so long. It’s been at least a year since even his sister has uttered them, and so, upon hearing them, Blaine finds that he is completely overcome with emotion and his eyes begin to tear up. They reach the table and Blaine places a fierce, possessive hand on the back of her head, tucking his face into her neck.

“I love you, too, Bethbee.”

She gives him one last, tight hug around his neck before her legs unlace from around his waist and he places her feet back on the ground.

“Stay here,” he tells her, his throat closing up when more tears threaten to fall. “I have to go to the bathroom. Don’t leave. Stay with Kurt, Rachel, and Mercedes. Okay?”

“ ‘Kay,” she agrees, turning her attention back to her french fries.

“I – I’ll be back,” he stammers to his boyfriend, rushing back and past the carousel to the men’s restroom that is remarkably empty for such a busy Saturday.

He braces his hands on the sink, barely daring to look up in the mirror. Bethany can be difficult on her best days, and Blaine is only seventeen. She’s hard to handle and caring for her takes up the majority of his time and energy. They don’t often have the money to take random trips to a mall or spend a few dollars on something as simple as a carousel ride. Now, he’s overwhelmed by the trust she puts in him and the tears fall freely.

The door opens to reveal Kurt, and Blaine hurriedly attempts to wipe his tears away.

“Are you okay?” Kurt asks in concern, striding over to place his hands on Blaine’s shoulders, forcing him to meet his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Blaine gives a small shake of his head, still rubbing at his eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Blaine, you’re crying,” Kurt says, as if Blaine doesn’t know.

“She – she said she loves me,” Blaine says weakly.

“…Of course she loves you, you’re her brother.”

“I know, it’s just – she hasn’t said it in so long,” Blaine tries to explain. “And I can’t even remember the last time I heard my mother say it.”

Kurt’s expression resembles something like heartbreak, like he can’t stand hearing about a life without love, and promptly envelopes Blaine in a hug.

“I don’t know why I’m acting like this,” Blaine says, the words muffled in Kurt’s shirt as he tries to laugh off his behavior. “I’m being stupid. Just ignore me.”

“When it gets to that point between us,” Kurt whispers, “and I know it will because I can’t imagine it never happening, I will tell you every day for as long as you’ll let me.”

Blaine clings to Kurt, afraid he might slip away and drift off into the wind. It’s surreal, this thing between them, because they barely know each other and already Blaine feels like he can trust Kurt with everything in his heart. He’s special and he’s here, right here in Blaine’s arms, despite his sister, despite his estranged father, and despite his mother who looks at him like she’d rather be anywhere else. Blaine doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to show Kurt the same kind of support because Kurt seems like a pretty balanced guy, but, mentally, Blaine vows to stick with Kurt through anything.

Because he’s kind of worth it.