Kurt woke with a start when he heard the all too familiar clangs, groans, and sputters of his father's truck. It was early, far earlier than Kurt had expected Burt to make his way to Cape May for the official first weekend of the season, but Kurt was wide awake with anticipation of seeing his family again.

He threw the door open and nearly tripped over his own boots that he had let fall on the floor in the hallway after a date with Paul the night before. It had only been their second date, but it was supposed to mean a lot to Kurt because he'd finally gotten what he'd waited nearly eighteen years for – his first kiss.

"Kurt," Paul looked deep into Kurt's eyes, searching them for some sort of approval, "You really…I mean, you really mean a lot to me."

Kurt licked his lips because he knew it was coming. He knew that Paul was going to kiss him there on the doorstep outside of his Aunt's house. "You too," he said to Paul, not entirely sure if he meant the words.

He'd hoped the kiss would tell him.

Paul leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Kurt's, feather light at first but he seemed to gain confidence and press in further.

Kurt's hands twined around the back of Paul's neck and pulled him in. He was determined to feel something. This was technically his third kiss, and he knew one day one of them had to mean something.

Paul smiled against his lips and stepped closer, his fingertips pressing into Kurt's hips as his tongue pressed into his mouth. Kurt curled his toe in his shoes and shot up a little higher, making them equal height.

When they pulled apart, Paul was grinning wildly. Kurt smiled back but felt…different.

He had just received his first kiss and he was ecstatic, but it felt weird.

His life had changed in many ways over the last few weeks, but this was by far the biggest change of all.

Someone, a very attractive someone, wanted him.

Wanted to kiss him.

Wanted to hold him.

Wanted to be there for him.

Kurt bit his lip before leaning back in again.

Kurt burst through the front door of the house, pausing only to remove the chain that locked the door. "Dad!" he yelled, uncaring that the neighbors and vacationers around him were probably still asleep.

It hadn't struck Kurt how much he would miss his father. How much he wanted to be around him. He had prepared himself for going to New York, or at least he thought. There had been a physical void in Kurt that he didn't even know was there until the piece was back in place.

He hugged his father tightly, and Burt held him just as close. "I missed you kid," he breathed, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Dad," Kurt said softly.

Burt pulled back but held Kurt at arm's length, "This place is doing you good though. You look great. You look…" Burt squinted, "Happy."

Kurt looked down and thought for a moment, "I am," he said, "I found a friend or two that like me for me, and I love what I'm doing for the dress shop. It's not New York, but it's special."

"Your crazy aunt taking good care of you?" Burt asked as he unpacked the back of the car.

"She is." Kurt laughed as he grabbed one of the bags, "No, let me take that. Carol will kill me if you tell her you carried these heavy bags."

Burt relented but not without a sour look on his face, "She misses you too. You know," he didn't quite look up to meet Kurt's eyes, "you could always come home."

Kurt shook his head, "I'm happy here, Dad. I have Blaine, I have Rachel, I have Paul…"

"Who's Paul?" Burt immediately transformed into a completely different man, "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No!" Kurt held up his hands. He couldn't have his Dad hating the first person that was close to being his boyfriend. "He's…we've been on a few dates though."

"And?" Burt raised his eyebrows.

Kurt wanted to tell his father, he really did. He wanted him to know exactly what he felt and that his life was already getting better. Part of Kurt knew that the reason he acted like he was so happy all the time in high school was because he wanted his father to be the happy one. Burt worked so hard to make everything in Kurt's life okay, to allow nothing to hurt him. Kurt still wasn't sure how he felt about Paul, so he just said the first things that came to his mind: "He's amazing, Dad. He's sweet, he's cute, he's absolutely amazing."

Burt raised his eyebrows, "Only a few dates? You could have fooled me."

Kurt blushed but said nothing, "Meg!" he yelled through the halls, "Dad is here!"

Meg ran down the stairs dressed in something that looked presentable. Kurt stared; the only thing he had seen her wear over the past few weeks were t-shirts and pants that didn't button.

"You look nice," he remarked while pulling lint from the netting of the shirt she was wearing, "what is the occasion?"

"It is the Cape May picnic," Meg said as if it was obvious. Upon receiving a look from Kurt she explained, "The picnic. You know, the one we've been preparing food for since Tuesday? The one I have every year that we invite all of the kids that live in my houses? The one you invited Paul and Blaine to?"

"Oh!" Burt wrapped his younger sister in a hug, "You mean I finally get to meet Blaine? On our last few phone conversations he is the only person you talk about."

Kurt turned his head so no one would see the blush that had broken out over his face. It sucked because he still felt something for Blaine. He didn't really know what it was, and he wasn't sure he could even give it a name, but it was there.

He had just hoped he would be able to hide it better.

Burt seemed to sense Kurt's awkwardness, "So who is all coming to this picnic?"

Meg was already cleaning more cut up vegetables. Kurt had gotten the opinion that this was probably the biggest event of the year for her, "A bunch of the boys who live in the house down by the bay and their families that came. It's a huge event really, been happening since the mid 1950s. Pretty much everyone has a picnic with their families and friends and then you can go walking around the town and just enjoying a night when it is mostly just us."

Kurt knew the tiny town that was so quiet was about to change. Meg had been warning him to do everything he really wanted to do now, because the middle of June brought with it a bunch of people that made every city by the coastline a huge mess.

Kurt grabbed a carrot stick, handed his father one, and hopped onto a stool, "So does that mean I'll get to meet everyone's parents?"

"Those that come out," Meg reasoned, "I know of at least one person who won't have anyone here, but I'm sure there will be others."

"Who won't?"

Meg looked up from the celery she had in her hand and sighed, "Blaine."

Kurt shrugged, "I mean, he is from Ohio too. I'm sure not everyone can make the drive that quickly."

Meg didn't answer him and instead went back to cutting up the celery.

Burt looked up from his plate of food, "So when is this boy of yours getting here?"

"Blaine should be here soon," Kurt answered automatically as he watched Puck and Sam play volleyball. He kept wondering when the ball was going to fly over and hit him "by accident" but really just because they didn't like him.

Kurt was still convinced they hated him because he was more feminine than Blaine. Though, from what Blaine said, they were always playing jokes on him too.

"You know, I wasn't talking about Blaine," Burt said casually as he cringed at the taste of the diet coke Kurt had forced him to drink, "I was talking about Paul."

Kurt nearly choked on his food, "Oh, I don't really know. I just told him it started at five."

Kurt surveyed the backyard of the giant house. Meg had just finished having the lawn landscaped and it really did look nice. Everything was a plush green and the walkways were embellished with smooth stones of different shades of white.

Kurt had been wrong about not everyone having family. Almost everyone had someone with them. The long exceptions were Puck and Quinn who had families that were having their own picnics but they at least still had each other.

The tell-tale squeak of the back gate alerted Kurt to someone's presence. He turned quickly to see Blaine walking through the grass. He wore white boat shoes, white cut-off shorts and a red polo. "I made cookies! I wasn't sure what you guys would want so I kind of made like six different batches. I was worried that someone would be allergic to something so I packaged them all apart from each other."

Kurt laughed and took the Tupperware containers, "Thank you, Blaine. My father is going to gorge himself on these tonight."

"Your d-dad is here?" Blaine suddenly went pale.

Kurt nodded and motioned to Blaine's other bag, "What have you got there?"

"Oh," Blaine shifted the bag, "Just my uniform for work tonight."

Kurt let out a huff of indignation, "You mean you have work tonight? Blaine you work like sixteen hours a day, you can't take a day off?"

"Nope," Blaine popped his lips on the last letter, "Sorry."

"You're insufferable," Kurt put his hands on his hips, "What if I kidnap you and keep you hostage and you can't go to work?"

Blaine put on a face of mock horror, "Well then I'd get fired!"

"Then I would have you all to myself all the time," Kurt answered with a purr, "Wouldn't that be nice."

Blaine kept up the charade, "They'd find me, you know. Puck and Mike would wonder where I was and they'd come looking."

"So this must be Paul," Burt broke in between the boys, "It's nice to meet you kid, I have to say I've never seen Kurt here look so happy."

Blaine laughed, "I'm actually Blaine, but it's nice to meet you anyway. I'm just second in line here in Cape May."

Kurt felt an unfamiliar pang in his heart. Did Blaine really feel like he was second in line to Kurt? Sure, Paul was a great guy, but Blaine was amazing. Kurt didn't know how to vocalize this without sounding weird, so he allowed it to slide by.

"Blaine," Burt clarified, "Wow, okay. Sorry about the confusion. I don't really get too many details about Kurt's life down here."

Blaine was still obviously nervous about meeting Burt, "Well I'll make sure he reports back more fully, sir."

"I'm not a sir," Burt mumbled, "I'm Burt."

Blaine laughed, "Okay, Burt, I will make sure Kurt is more vocal on his telephone calls home."

Burt nodded, "You better go get some food, Blaine. Those boys you live with are merciless on the chicken dip."

"You're telling me, I have to hide everything I want under my bed," Blaine grabbed a plate and started putting small portions of food on top."

"You can eat more than that," Kurt said kindly, putting another muffin onto the plate, "You're losing weight because you don't eat at work."

"You don't get paid if you take too long of a lunch break," Blaine clarified.

"Why do you have so many jobs anyway?" Kurt complained, "Don't you want to live your life?"

"I am," Blaine said simply, "but it just isn't the right time for me to go lazy and try not to do anything."

"No fighting boys," Meg refilled the chips bowl, "Or I'll be forced to pair you together for the water balloon toss."

Blaine's face lit up, "I had forgotten about that! It's always been my favorite. One year my Dad and I were paired up and we beat everyone else on the beach!"

Kurt grinned at Blaine's sudden childlike nature, "So you used to come here as a family?"

Blaine's smile dropped, "Yes, a long time ago. We were only here for non-tourist seasons though because my Dad would always go to Europe around this time." He hurried down the line, only picking a few more things off of the table.

"Hey Kurt," someone said behind him, and Kurt had to turn around only to duck away from Paul's lips.

"Not in front of my Dad," Kurt laughed once he recovered, "but hello," he wrapped his arms around Paul's waist.

Paul untangled himself after a few seconds and started piling food on a plate, "This all looks awesome."

"Hmm…" stared at his plate which was nearly bending in half at the amount of food he was piling on it. "I have to build my strength up for this water balloon toss. Partners, right?"

"Of course!" Kurt beamed and pressed a quick kiss on Paul's cheek.

"Who are you pairing with, Blaine?" Meg asked a little more loudly than she normally would. Kurt didn't miss the look on her face or the sad look on Blaine's. He was worried that Blaine was still going to feel like he was being forgotten just because Kurt suddenly had someone interested.

Kurt already had a headache – how did people with more than two friends do it? Were they all constantly jealous of each other? Kurt worried his lip and tried to figure out if Blaine would pair with one of the boys he lived with.

"He can be my partner," Burt said with a grin, "I figure between the two of us we have the age," he motioned to himself, "and the beauty," he pointed to himself again. "I'm just kidding, you can be the beauty!"

Blaine let out a genuine laugh and walked off, Kurt thought they were probably already planning a strategy – his father had a very competitive streak in him.

"Alone," Paul said quietly as he ate a hotdog, "Your Dad seems...nice."

Kurt wanted to smack himself, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce him to you! I didn't even think!"

Paul shrugged, "It's cool. It's a little early to meet the parents anyway, isn't it?"

Kurt nodded, "I guess so. I just...I've never really done this before."

Paul's face twisted into one of understanding, "Oh! Kurt, it's fine. We just...it's simple, it's casual right now. We just go with the flow. We don't need to meet parents or do anything like that."

Kurt wished for the millionth time that he had learned all of the social cues in high school so he wouldn't be so dreadful at them all now. "I'm sorry, I didn't think."

"Don't apologize," Paul kissed his cheek and continued eating, "but maybe we should go sit with your Dad and Blaine? Don't want them talking too much strategy!"

"If we lose we lose," Kurt said, but he pulled Paul up so they could walk over to the two men who appeared to be having a very animated conversation.

"It's hard for me to say exactly why I love "A Day In The Life" but it is easily my favorite," Blaine had put his plate down and was talking animatedly, "I just love the epicness of it! It just starts nice and slow and then it builds to this amazing juxtaposition of sounds, cords, and words that make you want to weep!"

Burt nods, "I think that's a good one too…I'm not sure it is a favorite but…"

"How can it not be a favorite?" Blaine interrupted, "That final piano cord? That massive note that makes every hair on your arms, legs, and back stand up straight?"

"Ew, you have back hair?" Kurt gave Blaine his best disgusted face, "and here I thought you were perfect."

Paul coughed next to him but said nothing.

"Not now Kurt," Burt was still looking at Blaine, "Blaine, you have to consider "Yesterday!"

Blaine nodded slowly, "It's a great song but I mean…"

"A great song?" Burt looked like someone had just told him the sky was orange, "The nostalgia in that song is amazing! I actually danced to that at my wedding. At my wedding!"

Blaine laughed loudly again, "Isn't that a bit of a down for a wedding?"

Burt shrugged, "My wife didn't care! She loved the Beatles too!"

Kurt was about to interject with his own personal favorite when Meg screamed loudly, "Okay! Since our favorite curly haired cutie cannot stay much longer, we need to get this water balloon toss started!"

"You need to leave soon?" Burt actually looked sad.

Blaine nodded, "I have to get ready for work, but if you all go downtown you will most likely see me. I walk around with three other guys and sing."

"Will I see you again?" Burt's eyes were wide as he stared at Blaine getting up.

Blaine laughed but nodded, "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," Burt replied.

Blaine shook his head, "Then I'm afraid not. I work from 8 to 12 playing piano at the church, then 1 to 7 in the promenade singing and driving. Will you be around after 7?"

Burt shook his head, "I have to leave early afternoon."

"Well, then I guess we better win so you have only good memories of me," Blaine said, running toward the bucket of balloons.

"Line up!" Meg called loudly, "I'm only going to explain this once! Every year since God knows when, this has been a tradition on the last day before hell breaks open and the tourists come. You will start three feet apart and hand each other the balloon. Every time you successfully past the balloon, you take a step backwards. Eventually, you will have to throw it. Legend has it that the pair that keeps their balloon going the longest will have the best luck all summer."

Kurt thought he was already pretty lucky, but he knew he could be luckier.

Paul walked over holding a large blue balloon. The pair lined up next to Blaine and Burt who had a slightly smaller purple balloon.

"I will tell you when to throw so we have no cheating," Meg looked at Sam and Puck pointedly. "Ready?"

Everyone yelled as Paul and Kurt looked at each other intently.

"THROW!"

Paul handed the balloon to Kurt and they took a step back.

"THROW!"

"THROW!"

"THROW!"
"THROW!"

Over half of the groups were out. Paul and Kurt, Puck and Sam, and Blaine and Burt remained in the competition.

"Come on Blaine, I really need a good summer!" Sam called down the line as Blaine barely caught the balloon.

"Shut up Trouty!" Blaine called.

Kurt laughed at the nickname and completely missed the balloon, sending it splashing at his feet.

"THROW!" Meg yelled for a final time and both groups threw their balloons. Puck dove and missed the balloon; it splashed around Quinn's feet.

"YES!" Burt screamed and ran to pick up Blaine, throwing him over his shoulders.

"Dad, put him down! You're going to have a heart attack!" Kurt laughed.

"Shut up, Kurt!" Blaine laughed and threw the balloon at him, hitting his head and drenching him.

Kurt froze up and felt the water hit him. It took him back to high school when he would get slushied everyday. He stared up at Blaine and felt his heart beating quickly; it was the only thing he could hear. His breath came out in short puffs as he watched everyone laughing round him. Kurt turned and ran to the house, rubbing his eyes furiously.

"Kurt!" Blaine ran after him, letting himself into the house. "Kurt! It was a joke!"

"Yeah, just like it was in high school?" Kurt stood above him on the stairs, "That wasn't funny for me. Do you like humiliating me?"

Blaine moved up the steps and grabbed Kurt around his waist, helping him up the rest of the stairs and moving him toward the bathroom. "Sit on the sink."

Blaine knelt down and rummaged through the closet and found a towel, "Did the sunscreen get in your eyes?"

Kurt nodded, now more embarrassed at the way he acted, "I'm sorry I overacted."

"Hey," Blaine cupped Kurt's face through the towel, "High school fucked most of us up."

Kurt was taken aback at Blaine's language but laughed, "I guess so."

Blaine wiped Kurt's face gently, removing any moisture, "I have to get going, but promise me you'll come to the promenade tonight? I'll sing for you."

Kurt nodded, "Of course. We'll all be there."

"I'm just saying that this place is overrated," Paul argued, "the shopping isn't that great. How many porcelain dolls can you look at?"

"We're only here for Blaine," Kurt reminded him, "My Dad would positively cry if he didn't see Blaine again. I swear, they are going to get married. I'll have to warn Carole."

The sound of doo-wopping hit Kurt's ears and his Dad jumped, "Look! There's Blaine!"

Kurt saw four boys standing on the edge of a fountain singing together, but none of them were Blaine. Blaine was walking around the crowd smiling and winking at the women. He turned and saw everyone he knew, and started moving toward them.

Before he arrived at them he started singing.

Hold me, hold me
And never let me go until you've told me, told me
What I want to know and then just hold me, hold me
Make me tell you I'm in love with you

Kurt wanted to melt at the sound of his voice. He was still dancing around and happy, turning to an older soccer mom and winking at the last line. He arrived at their group and grabbed Quinn, spinning her around.

Thrill me (thrill me), thrill me (thrill me)
Walk me down the lane where shadows
will be (will be) will be (will be)
Hiding lovers just the same as we'll be, we'll be
When you make me tell you I love you

He let go of Quinn and went to grab Meg, but instead turned and sang to Burt, who was overjoyed at the attention.

They told me "Be sensible with your new love"
"Don't be fooled, thinking this is the last you'll find"
But they never stood in the dark with you, love
When you take me in your arms
and drive me slowly out of my mind

He turned to Kurt when he sang "slowly out of my mind" and pointed. His finger then beckoned Kurt closer to him, grabbing him and playfully pushing Burt away. They danced in the middle of the square, Blaine spinning Kurt at random times while singing.

Kiss me (kiss me), kiss me (kiss me)
And when you do, I'll know that you
will miss me (miss me), miss me (miss me)
If we ever say "Adieu", so kiss me, kiss me
Make me tell you I'm in love with you.

Blaine twirled Kurt back toward Paul and let him go, moving to another group. Blaine went for a girl with dark brown hair, but the group pushed forward a tall boy with green eyes and wavy brown hair. Blaine laughed midsong but took the boy and started dancing with him.

(Kiss me) kiss me, (kiss me) kiss me
When you do, I'll know that you will
miss me (miss me), miss me (miss me)
If we ever say "Adieu" so kiss me, kiss me
Make me tell you I'm in love with you

Blaine dipped the boy and Kurt felt something bubble in his stomach. He only wanted Blaine to dance with him. This boy was not good enough for Blaine, was not special enough for Blaine, nor was he cute enough for Blaine.

"Easy boy, he's only dancing," Meg whispered in his ear as they watched.

Blaine ran back to the fountain and finished the song loudly, pointing out toward the crowd, and Kurt couldn't help but wonder if he was pointing to the boy who was now blushing furiously.

Hold me, thrill me
Never, never, never let me go
Hold me, thrill me, never, never, never let me go