"Quinn, will you please pick up your phone? I know you hate me, but this is about Kitty. It's important."

"Dad!"

Blaine spun around to see Zach running towards him, still wearing the dreamcoat on top of his normal clothes. He probably wouldn't be getting him away from that for a while.

"There's my superstar!"

Blaine caught him and lifted him over his head before hugging him close to his chest.

"Was I really good?"

"Good? Honey, you brought the house down! Didn't you hear them clapping for you?"

Zach nodded, grinning.

"I tried to look for you, but the lights were too bright."

"Well I saw you, every second, and I loved it. I'm the proudest dad in here."

A voice piped up behind him.

"Excuse me, Mr Anderson, but I've got someone here who wants to congratulate you on your performance-"

He put Zach down so he could receive his fans with some dignity, and turned to see a man with a little girl hiding behind his legs.

"Wait, do I-"

"Oh, God... is it..." He paused to pretend he'd forgotten the name from the profile he'd looked at eleven times that day, "Blaine?"

"Wow. Yeah. Kurt. Hi."

"I swear there's a little girl back here, I'm not just speaking about myself in the third person."

"No, of course. You know, you don't have to talk to me just because we're both here. Not that I don't want to talk to you. Okay, this is really weird."

Zach looked at both of them in confusion.

"Dad? Is this who you're gonna be gay with?"

"What? Oh, God, this is just, no, this is my, uh, my friend-"

"So you're the famous Zachary Anderson?"

Zach blushed and nodded.

"You can just call me Zach if you want. I played Joseph."

"I saw. You were sensational. And my daughter thought so too, but she's suddenly gotten all shy."

"No I haven't." A muffled voice squeaked out from the folds of Kurt's coat. She peeked out. "Hi. You sang really good."

"I know. You don't look like your dad."

"That's because I'm from China. Daddy adopted me."

"Cool. Mine didn't."

"Okay."

Kurt glanced at Blaine and shrugged. He smiled and shrugged back.

"This is Mai, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Mai." She waved before hiding behind Kurt's legs again. "She's adorable."

"She gets it from... some Chinese people. He's quite the charmer."

"Well, he certainly doesn't get that from his-"

"Mom!"

Zach let go of Blaine's hand and ran towards Quinn, who was waiting with open arms.

"How's my perfect little Joseph?"

"You saw?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Kurt looked at Blaine. He opened his mouth to explain, but came up short.

"This is all pretty new, I take it?"

"You could say that. You could also say it's a big dysfunctional mess. Seriously, feel free to run away screaming."

"Are you kidding me? This is better than The Kardashians."

Blaine squashed thoughts of 'did he remember did he look at my profile wow he's more handsome in person' and smiled.

"I'm glad we could entertain you. I have to go fix some domestic stuff. Sorry. You're going to wish you never met me. It was nice speaking to you, Mai."

Mai stopped rummaging through Kurt's pocket and hid behind it again. Blaine marched towards Quinn and Mai stepped out from her father's coat to face him.

"He's nice, Daddy."

"Yeah, sweetie. He is. Come on, my gorgeous little chorus girl, let's get you some ice cream for being such a star up there!"

Kurt was just strapping Mai into her seat when he heard shouting.

"I should have known this would happen! Did it even occur to you to find out where she was going?"

"Quinn, you didn't hear the way she was talking to me! And maybe if you'd picked up your phone, we could have found her hours ago instead of you finally putting in an appearance when you feel like it!"

"Well if you hadn't lied to me for eighteen years then we wouldn't have a teenager to lose in the first place, so thanks a fucking lot!"

Kurt looked up to see Zach crying, being dragged along by his mother.

"Please stop fighting... Can't we just go home? I want to go home with Dad."

Quinn froze and stared at him. Kurt couldn't help feeling a little smug on Blaine's behalf.

"Great. Of course you've been poisoning him against me. I should've guessed."

"Let's not go down that road. We should just find our daughter and make sure she gets home safe. Come here, honey."

Zach eagerly ran towards Blaine, who picked him up again.

"Is Kitty okay?"

"She will be. She's just not answering her phone because she's mad at us, so we'll have to go get her. That means you might get to stay up a little past bed time, just like you always want, right?"

Zach shook his head.

"No. I want to go home with you and Kitty now. I want to go to bed."

"Blaine, why don't I take him? You know where all her little friends' houses are. You can drop Kitty at mine when you're done."

Zach buried his face in Blaine's shoulder, his frame shaking as he cried.

"Not tonight, Quinn. He's too upset. I'm sorry, Zach, but you'll have to come out looking with me. We'll make it an adventure, okay? Look, I can narrow it down to three houses. No, four." He pulled his phone out and redialled Kitty's number. "Kitty, if you don't call me back I'm going to find you and drag you out by your feet if I have to. You can't do this to your mom and me. We're worried sick." He put the phone away and took a deep breath, rubbing his hand over his face. "Right, if I give you the addresses can you find the houses? I'll give you the closer ones. Come on, honey, let's get you in the car."

There was a soft voice behind him.

"Excuse me?"

Quinn let out a single, snide laugh.

"Friend of yours, darling?"

"Kurt? I thought you'd gone."

"Well, I heard yelling. I figured it'd be great ammo for the next PTA meeting."

Blaine snorted.

"Do you really think you're funny? Our daughter could be in danger."

"Quinn, it's just a party. It'll be a few wine coolers and a cigarette between twelve of them. She just needs to learn that she can't run off like this."

"Sorry, I just- if you need somebody to take Zach while you go look for her, I could always look after him for a couple of hours. You can come and get him whenever you want. I'm on Sycamore Street. Number 24."

Zach's face lit up.

"So I don't have to come looking for Kitty?"

Blaine looked at Quinn.

"It's the easiest way. The sooner we get her back to yours, the sooner tonight is over."

Quinn eyed Kurt suspiciously.

"Fine. Zachary, honey, Mommy loves you very much, okay?"

"Mm-hmm."He let her kiss his cheek before taking Kurt's hand and dragging him away. "Do you have any ice cream? Dad said I could have ice cream for doing the play."

Kurt sighed.

"Darn. I only have triple chocolate. I hope that's okay."

Zach beamed.

"So how do you know him? Did you meet at some candle-lit glory hole?"

"Not now, Quinn. Let's just find her."

He wrote the addresses down for her. He was surprised the glass in the car window didn't shatter when she slammed the door. Another charming trait Kitty had inherited from her.

*

"Now, Blaine, try not to get distracted by the young boys if you find the party first."

Sometimes Blaine really hated technology. Particularly anything that made it easier for Quinn to yell at him.

"I'm not fighting with you, Quinn. Not tonight. I don't have the energy."

"Right, better save it for your boyfriend."

"I told you, he's not my anything. He's just another dad."

"Don't give me that. I saw how he was looking at you."

Blaine was glad she wasn't there to see him blush.

"He just came to tell Zach how good he was. Shouldn't we be talking about that? Our son just performed in front of the entire school. Or maybe we could discuss the fact that our angry daughter is out late, looking for a way to piss me off, and we have no idea where."

There was a pause.

"He really was good, wasn't he?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he was. I can't believe I'm not with him right now."

"I know you'll make it up to him, Blaine. He'll still adore you tomorrow."

Blaine breathed a sigh of relief. They may have been a tinge of resentment in her voice, but even now she couldn't deny how much he cared about the kids.

"I hope so. And you know he didn't mean anything before? About not going with you?"

"Okay."

Her voice was flat.

"He's had a long week. A long month. He was expecting a big celebration, not a fight. He just went with the only one who wasn't yelling."

"Fine. Hold on, I think I'm near the first house. Number eleven?"

"Yep. Josh. Most liberal parents I've ever met."

"I think that's your title now. Anyway, it's silent. All lights off. Any luck at your end?"

"It looks promising. I'll call you back."

"Good luck."

He hung up, pulled over and walked toward the house. It wasn't big or loud, but there was a couple sloppily making out on the front steps and that was usually a good sign.

"Excuse me, have either of you seen Kitty Anderson anywhere?"

"Wait, are you her dad?"

There was a spark of excitement in the girl's eyes.

"Yes?"

"Oh, shit," the girl giggled, "he's the gay one. You're the gay one!"

"Great. Could you take me to my daughter, please? Before I call the police and tell them about this little soir�e?"

He doubted any police, even in Lima, would care about a few teenagers sneaking a couple of beers, but the P word normally did the trick.

"Right, sorry Mr Anderson, of course. Um, in here."

The boy followed close behind her, clinging to her hand, while she led Blaine into the house. He was younger than most other parents he knew, but he still felt old here. The music didn't even have any words. He walked into the kitchen, dark apart from a few candles, where half a dozen kids were sitting on the floor in a circle. He spotted Kitty in the corner, downing a bottle of something pink, looking thoroughly exasperated with everyone in the room. They seemed to be debating the existence of God. Even Blaine felt bored.

Kitty's eyes landed on her father, and she place her empty bottle in the middle of the floor.

"Guys, it's time to play spin the bottle!"

They all looked at her, noses wrinkled in confusion. A slender girl with long, brown hair pulled away from the boy who's nose she had been rubbing hers against.

"Kitty, I'm dating Jake. We don't want to kiss anybody else."

"Yeah," the boy next to Kitty chimed in, "and they're already making me feel queasy without having to watch anyone else going at it."

"God, Ryder, you're such a pussy. Don't any of you know how to have fun?"

Blaine stood with his hands behind his back and held back a smirk.

"I'm sorry, Kitty, am I interrupting your party?"

She groaned.

"Fine. I'll come with you. But only because this party sucks."

He rolled her eyes as she slurred her speech, but was grateful it wasn't worse. The others didn't seem to mind her leaving. Blaine put a hand on her arm.

"Are you okay?"

She jerked away.

"Don't touch me. It's not like you care, anyway. Just take me to Mom's."

*

She groaned as they hit a pothole.

"Sorry."

"You'll be sorry when I puke in your car."

"You're not going to throw up. You're not that drunk."

"Well maybe I would've been if there had been any decent booze at that stupid party. I'm so over seventeen-year-olds."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before. But it's not an excuse. You can't disappear like that on me."

"You did."

"What?"

"You disappeared. You were this nice dad and you loved Mom and now you're different."

"Kitty, is that really what you think?"

She didn't answer. She turned to the window and closed her eyes.

"I'm still your dad. I've always been this. I-"

He reached out to touch her arm but she shrugged him off.
"I'm sorry."

He pulled up by Quinn's house after a more or less silent journey. Quinn was waiting outside, shivering.

"Thanks for bringing her over."

"Don't worry about it. You two just get inside, it's freezing." He reached out to touch Quinn's arm, to do something to warm her up, but she flinched away. "Sorry. I-" He turned to Kitty, who was slinking into the house. "Get plenty of water, okay?"

She didn't look at him. Quinn saw his face fall.

"She's just doing it for the attention. All the books say so."

"I don't think there any books on this. She hates me."

"She's pushing you. Don't let her see it's getting to you, or it'll only get worse."

Blaine wrapped his arms around himself.

"Mmm."

"Blaine?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you-" she stopped herself. "Can you give Zach a kiss goodnight for me?"

"Of course. He was really happy to see you tonight, Quinn. I was too. You look good."

"These days that really doesn't mean so much coming from you."

"Sorry. You look fabulous."

She laughed. She couldn't help it.

"Much better. Night, Blaine. I'll bring her back Sunday?"

He nodded. She went inside. He got into the car. He leaned back in his seat, taking a minute to breathe and wipe away the rogue tear that had escaped. He shook his head, turned the key in the ignition and started the drive to Sycamore Street.

*

"Hey, come in," Kurt whispered. "You found her then?"

Blaine nodded.

"Desperately trying to get wasted on about three units of alcohol. Ah, to be seventeen again. Was Zach okay?"

"Yeah, he was great, no problem. I may have to replenish my ice cream supplies, but he said please and thank you. That's not an easy face to say no to."

"I know what you mean. I take it he's asleep?"

"Yeah. I put him in my bed - I hope that's okay."

"Sure. I just can't believe I had to leave him tonight. I can't even be mad at Kitty- God, you don't want to get involved in all this. I'll just get him home."

Kurt put a hand on Blaine's shoulder and ducked down to catch his eye.

"Not to sound too forward, but do you want a beer? You look like you could use a drink."

Blaine laughed, but the long blink afterwards made it look like he could have been crying. He doubted Kurt could be too forward when he'd been the one asking him out online a day ago.

"A beer would be great. But I'm driving."

"Right. I actually don't have any beer, so it's probably for the best. I have... coffee, tea, milk, or..." he peered into the fridge, "I could rustle you up a juicebox?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"Grape?"

Kurt nodded and tossed him a carton. They both sat at the kitchen table.

"So. How long's it been?"

"What?"

"Since you came out. Since you split up. It all seems pretty fresh."

"Oh. Almost two months. I should have expected them to take sides, really. Kitty's always been so like her mother, but Zach didn't seem phased. At least, not by the gay thing."

"I noticed."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. That's kind of become a frequent thing. It's the fighting he hates. God, he looked so miserable tonight. I hate putting him through this. Even at our worst, when we were barely talking, we never fought."

"He's a great kid. He'll bounce back."

"I don't know. Sometimes it feels like I've put them all through this for nothing. It doesn't have to be this hard. Tonight, with Quinn, for a second it was like we used to be. Just parents. Kind of a team."

"Sounds nice."

"I don't know about nice, but it was familiar. It was simple."

"Hey. You can't go back on it now. You've already done the hard part."

"It doesn't feel like it. It just keeps getting harder. And now I have to go home, and put Zach to bed, and then I'm alone. I feel like such an idiot for trying the online thing, but I just-" He wanted to stop talking, but he couldn't, "I miss having someone there. Somebody to say 'oh' if I said something. Now I'm just talking to myself."

"Well, now you're talking to me."

"Mmm. Again, feel free to stop me. You offered babysitting, not therapy."

"It's fine. You've got to say it to someone."

"I guess I'm just not cut out for being on my own. I'm not used to it. And I'm terrified of what comes next. I don't know how to do this."

"Do what?"

"You know... Be gay. I'm clueless. I don't know what I'm doing."

"Blaine. Are you attracted to men?"

Blaine swallowed, avoiding Kurt's eyes.

"Yeah."

"Then you've got the basics down."

"And it's making my daughter hate me."

"Hey-"

"No, I'm serious. She fights me on everything. I can't remember the last time she spoke to me without hate in her voice. Except in the car just now - it was like she'd just stopped caring. She couldn't even look at me."

Kurt tried to think of something helpful to say; 'it'll take time' or 'she'll get used to it', but it didn't seem like enough. He hated when Mai was upset with him for a night, never mind two months of arguing.

He reached out to take his hand but settled for a comforting pat on the arm.

"I'm sorry."

Blaine smiled and paused to suck on his straw. Kurt did the same.

"I can't believe it. Of all the people who could have been there. I've heard people say internet dating is risky, but this isn't really what I imagined."

"Yeah, getting stuck with some kid eating all my ice cream while his dad drinks my kid's juice. What a nightmare."

"I told you you'd regret meeting me."

"Don't worry, I promise to tell you when I'm bored of you. Listen, I'm pretty much captain of the gay parents' club around here. Obviously when I say club I mean me, two lesbians, and my best friend from high school. They're coming for dinner next week. You should come."

"Oh, no, I've already outstayed my welcome. You don't have to-"

"Blaine, once you're in with me, you'll be completely safe from lynchings. I promise. Besides, we need someone to bring dessert, and you're a baker. This isn't charity. It's a ploy to get free cake."

Blaine smiled. So he did look at my profile.

"Dessert. Right."

"Wednesday."

"Wednesday. I'll send the kids to Quinn's."

"Well, Zach's welcome to come and play with his biggest fan. And if Kitty wants-"

"Don't worry. She'd rather be with her mother. Maybe some space will do her good."

"It could do both of you some good. God, if she were five I would be so much more help right now."

"If she were five I wouldn't need it so much. Thanks, Kurt. I needed this."

"It was my pleasure. Zach was delightful."

"I meant-"

"I know."