Kurt: Just brought Mai home. All fine. Are you free tonight? X

He smiled just remembering that Kurt existed, that he’d called Blaine when he needed a friend, that he’d grabbed him and hugged him without even thinking about it.

Blaine: Wide open. You two could come over for dinner? No peanuts, I promise x

He winced as soon as he sent it, realising it was probably too soon to joke, but his phone buzzed again almost straight away.

Kurt: Maybe if she eats enough of them she’ll build up a tolerance x

Blaine laughed.

Blaine: Allergies are just psychological anyway. Glad she’s okay though x

Kurt: So am I. Is 6 alright? X

Blaine: Perfect. See you then x

He debated telling Kurt about the store, but he didn’t want to scare him with his ridiculous family any more than absolutely necessary. He frowned. There was none of the usual throbbing bass coming through the ceiling. He steeled himself and went upstairs and knocked on Kitty’s door. She didn’t answer. He poked his head around the door anyway.

“Hey.”

She was sitting on her bed, reading. He couldn’t help noticing how small she looked. She glanced up at him for a second before returning her gaze to her book.

“Hi,” she mumbled, refusing to look at him.

He puffed out a breath and went to sit on the bed. They both stifled a giggle when he almost fell over, having misjudged the softness of the mattress, but he eventually managed to scoot up to sit next to her. They sat quietly for a moment, looking down. She closed her book and looked at her father. He put his hand over hers.

“We had to do that book at school.”

She lifted her copy of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, feeling a need to turn it over in her hand once or twice.

“Oh. It’s kind of annoying. The kid’s a moron.”

Blaine shrugged.

“I don’t know. I always thought he was just lonely.”

There was a pause.

“Is she okay?”

“Who?”

“Kurt’s kid. Mai. Is she better?”

“Oh. Yeah, she’s okay. It’s scary how something a tiny little peanut can cause so much panic, but she’s home now.”

“Okay. Good.”

“Yeah, it’s good. Actually, they’re coming for dinner tonight. I want you to meet them.”

She raised her eyebrows. Half of her friends’ parents had split, and it usually took months for them to introduce anyone new. And it was usually nothing short of disastrous.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go to Mom’s?”

“Kitty, I’m sorry about last night. I just-”

“I know.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind me asking them over? If you don’t want to-”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Her phone vibrated on the side. Blaine saw ‘Idiot’ flash up on the screen. Kitty saw him frowning at it. “Dad? Can I take this?”

“Oh, right, sorry. Is that the boy?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘boy’. He’s almost twenty.”

Blaine’s mouth tightened for a second, but he forced himself to smile. He didn’t want to argue with her again, and he was sure she’d talk to him when she was ready. Well, the Kitty he knew six months ago would have.

“Okay. Fine. I’m going to go start dinner.”

“Cool. Remember, no peanuts.”

He grinned as he closed her door behind him.

*

“Dad, why are you so jumpy?”

Blaine sat next to Zach on the sofa, clearly putting a lot of effort into trying to relax.

“What? I’m not. I’m fine.”

Zach frowned.

“You’ve had dinner with Kurt before. He won’t be here for another fifteen minutes.”

“I know, but I want to make sure everything’s ready. Mai just got out of hospital. I want it to be nice.”

The little boy tilted his head.

“For Mai? She’s six. She’ll like anything.”

Blaine grinned and tickled him.

“Because six was so five years ago?”

“Hey! I’m almost two times her age! Quit it!”

“Fine. Look, Kurt’s been really nice to me the last few weeks, that’s all.” The doorbell rang. “See? It’s a good thing I was prepared so early.”

Zach seemed unconvinced, but he grinned and got up to open the door anyway to reveal Kurt putting Mai down, having picked her up so she could press the button. Blaine joined them at the door, said hello to Mai and smiled nervously at Kurt. They both glanced at the kids, who’d already lost interest in them and gone to sit at the table. Kurt smiled warmly at Blaine.

“Thanks for yesterday. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”

“Don’t mention it. I know you would have done the same.”

They hugged, both pressing a kiss to the other’s cheek. It already felt natural, even if Blaine was silently keep count of the tiny pecks they’d had.

“So, what’s for dinner? I should probably warn you; you’ve already used up your quota of peanut jokes. If you say Chicken Satay I’ll punch you in the throat.”

“Good to know.” He forgot to answer the question. The idea of Kurt getting angry was weirdly distracting. He called up the stairs, “Kitty, could you come down please?”

“Your house is gorgeous, Blaine.”

“Oh, thanks. It’s not quite as well decorated as yours, but it’s home.”

“Don’t. I love it.”

Blaine was just starting to blush when Kitty emerged at the top of the stairs looking sheepish.

“Hi.”

Kurt beamed up at her as she walked down.

“Hi! You must be Kitty. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

She realised her father couldn’t have had a lot of bragging material for her these days.

“Oh. Sorry. Nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

They stood a metre apart, unsure whether they could even smile at each other. She was sure he’d see her as the bakery-destroying teenage demon, and he really didn’t want to overstep any boundaries with the girl who clearly wasn’t okay with Blaine being gay, never mind ready to meet the guy he’d been seeing. Platonically. So far she didn’t look like she was going to stab anybody, just like she’d rather be anywhere else than here. Like she could burst into tears any second.

“So,” Blaine intervened, “dinner?”

Mai gasped as Blaine dished out the spaghetti.

“Daddy, look,” she whispered to Kurt, “he made my favourite.”

“I know, sweetie, doesn’t it look good? Blaine, how did you know Mai loves spaghetti?”

“Well, I had a feeling that only the best would do. You’re clearly a lady of excellent taste.”

He beamed at Mai and she giggled, hiding her face behind Kurt’s arm. Blaine had yet to meet a six-year-old who didn’t love spaghetti.

“My dad’s the best cook in the world.”

“Nuh-uh. Mine’s better.”

“Well, my dad has a bakery. I can have all the cookies I want, all the time.”

Blaine raised his eyebrows.

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

Kitty pushed her food around with her fork as they spoke, staring absent-mindedly at her plate.

“Are you in high school?”

Kitty looked up in surprise to see Mai staring at her, wide-eyed. She’d never spent time with a real life teenager before. In her eyes, Kitty was a goddess.

“Yeah. Are you?” Mai shook her head solemnly as she used both hands to twirl her fork in her food. “Really,” Kitty feigned surprise, “but you’re so sophisticated.”

Mai, oblivious to her sarcasm, smiled before trying to fit a forkful of spaghetti almost as big as her head into her mouth.

“Mai, honey, unless you plan on unhinging your jaw you might want to try a smaller bite.”

“Come here.” Blaine automatically picked up her knife and fork and started cutting up the food on her plate. She sat back and happily let him carry on, still staring at Kitty in adoration. Kitty ignored her, watching her father help Mai, watching Kurt eat and occasionally glance at Mai and smile, Zach stuffing his face, and it all seemed so natural. Somehow Blaine cutting Mai’s pasta up for her was weirdly personal, something only a parent does, and Kurt was acting like it was nothing. Maybe it was nothing. All she knew was that she was the only one in the room who didn’t feel completely at ease, and it made her stomach churn and her limbs feel heavy.

“Kitty, aren’t you going to eat anything?” Mai asked. “Don’t you like spaghetti?”

Kitty stared at the scarily domestic scene in front of her, just as comfortable with each other as her parents had been when she was little, but with more stolen glances and smiles that they didn’t think she would notice. She pushed her plate forward.

“I’m not hungry.”

Blaine looked up, handing Mai’s cutlery back to her.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, I just want to go to my room.”

“Kitty, you just got down here. I’ve barely seen you all day.”

“I’m sorry. I just need to go.” She turned to Kurt and tried to smile, but it just didn’t happen. “It was nice meeting you.”

She slunk off up the stairs and shut herself in her room, not slamming the door, not turning any music on, just hiding. Blaine stared at the staircase in disbelief.

“Sorry about that. It’s been a weird week.”

“No, I get it. She seems tired.”

“She went crazy,” Zach added, mouth full, “She smashed up Dad’s store.”

Blaine winced.

“What?” Kurt asked, “When did that happen?”

“Yesterday. When I was late collecting her.”

“You mean it was because of-”

“No, Kurt, it was because of a lot of things.”

“Is she okay?” Mai asked, tugging on Kurt’s sleeve, “Shall I go and talk to her?”

“No, sweetheart, just finish your dinner. She’ll be fine.”

“She looked sad.”

“I know, baby. Sometimes people just need to be on their own for a little while, okay?”

They all kept eating and talking about anything that wasn’t Kitty. Zach told Kurt that he was going to middle school soon and how he was going to be on the soccer team and about swimming and geometry and everything that could possibly be inside the brain of an eleven-year-old boy. Even Mai was rolling her eyes, but Blaine was grateful for the distraction. The three of them barely got a word in and before they knew what was happening they’d all finished eating. Blaine’s mind was still whirring slightly about what had happened with Kitty. He just wanted to talk to Kurt alone before his head exploded.

“Hey, Zach, why don’t you show Mai your bedroom? Mai, you know how your room’s like a jungle? Well, Zach’s is like outer space. Does that sound cool?”

She nodded eagerly.

“Come on,” Zach said, not so much understanding his dad’s instructions as much as really wanting to show off his room, “it’s up here.” She trotted after him obediently, leaving Kurt and Blaine to clear the table.

“Blaine, why didn’t you tell me about the store? Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing really – some stock that wouldn’t have lasted anyway; some broken glass and stuff. I just need to go put up new shelves tomorrow and finish cleaning up and we’ll be good to go. You’d had enough to deal with yesterday.”

“And what about you and Kitty?”

Blaine ran the sink full of water as Kurt passed him the dirty dishes and picked up a towel.

“Who knows? I don’t know what to do. She just always seems so angry, and I can’t believe how rude she was tonight. She said she was okay with you coming here.”

“Some people just don’t like making small talk with six-year-olds. I wouldn’t have when I was her age. Blaine, maybe she really didn’t feel well. Thanks,” he said as Blaine passed him a wet, soapy plate to dry. “I mean, she didn’t exactly look proud of herself before.”

“That could be my fault.”

“I doubt that-”

“I made her stay at Quinn’s last night. I know I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

Kurt paused. The last thing he wanted to do was tell Blaine how to raise his kids, especially when he had so much more experience, but he knew if his dad had ever asked him to leave the house he’d have been devastated.

“Hey, you’re doing what you can. Just… keep going. Yesterday you told me you were mad at yourself for not listening to her when she was little. Listen to her now.”

“All I can hear is how much she hates me. Maybe it was selfish of me to keep her here. This has been their home for years; I wanted to give them some stability, but what if she’d be better off with Quinn?”

Kurt put down the pan he was drying.

“No, Blaine. There’s no reason she shouldn’t be with you. Just keep showing her that you want her here.”

Kitty lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She felt like an idiot. What kind of loon got this upset about pasta? She heard the kids go into Zach’s room. ‘Easy, tiger,’ she thought, ‘you’re too young to be a dirty old man.’ She thought about calling the boy, but knew she needed to apologise for leaving. She really needed to talk to Blaine properly, but for now she’d settle for him being slightly less mad at her.

She hauled herself to her feet and padded quietly to the stairs, but when she got halfway down she heard them talking.

“I’m just so tired of it, Kurt.” He’s tired of you. “I’m exhausted. This week’s been a nightmare. I’m so glad you’re here, I can’t even tell you-”

“Hey, anything that means I don’t have to cook.” Blaine laughed. Kurt put a wet, slippery hand on Blaine’s arm. “Seriously, whenever you need me, I’ll be here. You’re not on your own.”

Blaine smiled at Kurt for a moment, trying to absorb the warm, caring look in his eyes. He didn’t care that his hand was soapy; he rested it on Kurt’s waist and kissed him. It wasn’t a coy peck this time. As he leaned they were both almost embarrassingly aware of what was about to happen, that there was no way it could still be construed as just friendship, that they both had so many responsibilities and problems to take into consideration, but in that moment being careful came second to how badly they just needed contact, something concrete and undeniable. They didn’t want the safety net of being just friends. They wanted more, so they kissed, slowly at first then sucking in a hasty breath and stepping closer, getting both their clothes wet and not caring.

Kitty wanted to run away screaming because she wasn’t crazy about the idea of her dad making out with anyone, regardless of gender, but they pulled apart and all she could see was the dopey grin on Blaine’s face. She’d never seen him look like that before. He’d been happy, when he’d been playing with them or reading them bedtime stories or helping them make perfect dinosaur shaped cookies, but never like that. That smile was different. She covered her mouth and snuck back to her room, slumping back onto her bed, her eyes stinging. There was a timid knock at the door.

“What?” She snapped.

Mai crept into the room. Kitty couldn’t help being slightly impressed that she’d gotten away from Zach apparently without him noticing, but she wasn’t in the mood to humour any kids.

“I like your hair.”

“Whatever.”

“You’re pretty. And your daddy’s really nice.”

Kitty’s eyes widened, filling with tears she couldn’t explain.

“Get out.” Mai didn’t respond, her lip trembling, her fringe twitching a little as her blinking sped up. “Why are you just standing there? Didn’t you hear me? I told you to get out of my room!”

The little girl’s face crumpled and she ran downstairs. Kitty buried her face in her pillow. She gave it ten minutes before she got yelled at.

As soon as they heard a sniff and a creak on the stairs, Kurt and Blaine jumped apart. As much as they knew they didn’t have to feel bad, they didn’t want the kids to get too caught up in anything before they felt more established. Kurt saw that Mai was crying and ran over to her.

“Oh, sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“She yelled at me.”

Kurt picked her up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

“Who did? Kitty?”

Mai nodded and sniffed.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to see her room.”

Kurt looked at Blaine worriedly.

“You don’t have to apologise, Mai. She shouldn’t have shouted at you. Are you okay?”

She shook her head at Blaine and buried her face in Kurt’s shoulder.

“I expect she’s just upset about something else. Blaine, maybe we should go.”

“No, you don’t have to-”

“I think everyone’s a little tired. Especially this one.” He kissed Mai’s head and put her down, taking her hand. “Okay, honey, let’s get you to bed. You’ve had a long couple of days, haven’t you?”

She nodded, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

“I’m so sorry, Kurt.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have come. It was too soon.”

Blaine noticed a slight change in Kurt’s expression. For the first time there was doubt there, some tiny part of him saying no, pulling away scared. He was stroking Mai’s hair without thinking. She sniffed and he frowned.

“No, it wasn’t. It was great. Mostly. I’m sorry.”

Zach ran down to say goodbye when he heard the door open, which they were both happy about if a little annoyed that it made covertly kissing goodbye more difficult. Luckily he gave himself the job of cheering Mai up with his current favourite joke (‘how does an elephant ask for cheese? PASS THE CHEESE PLEASE’, said with an arm waving in front of his face as a trunk. Mai didn’t entirely get it, but she laughed at his stupid elephant voice all the same) and showing her the basketball hoop on the wall outside. The worry had faded from Kurt’s eyes as quickly as it had appeared.

“Don’t be. Just talk to her. Call me tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow.”

Kurt leaned in to kiss him again, smiling softly against his lips. Blaine happily let his eyes flutter closed, stroking a hand lightly on Kurt’s hip. When they parted, Kurt cleared his throat and rested his forehead against Blaine’s. He looked up at him through his eyelashes.

“Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t want to hit the town, go to gay bars, live it up? See what else is out there?”

Blaine smiled and shook his head so slightly Kurt wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t made his own head move too.

“I quite like what’s in here, thanks.”

Kurt smiled.

“Good. So do I.”

“Really though, ‘live it up’? And there was me thinking you were cool.”

Kurt slapped his arm.

“I’m a dad. Cool’s been off the table for a while.”

Blaine laughed and kissed him again quickly before they ventured out to get Zach back inside and Mai in the car. Blaine’s stomach was flipping so much he forgot about Kitty as he and Zach stood in the doorway waving Kurt and Mai off. He ruffled Zach’s hair absent-mindedly before closing the door.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“No. Why would it be bad?”

“No reason.” He looked up the stairs and his warm buzz was replaced by a long sigh and an ache in his stomach. “Well, I think it’s bath time. Up you go, stinky; I’ve got to talk to your sister.”

Zach’s instinct was to complain, but he got the feeling it was a bad idea tonight. Before he ran upstairs, he paused to give Blaine a hug. He didn’t always know when to stop talking, but he took after his father when it came to knowing when someone needed comforting. Blaine frowned for a second, surprised, before hugging him back and kissing his hair and brushing it back from his face.

“See you later,” he mumbled, and darted off to the bathroom. Blaine smiled, then took a deep breath and followed him up, turning towards Kitty’s room.

He knocked twice, firm now instead of shy.

“Go away.”

He tried to open the door but she’d jammed a chair under the handle.

“Kitty? Kitty, I want to talk to you.”

She glared at the door as she sat cross-legged on her bed hugging a cushion.

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you. Just like I didn’t want to talk to that brat. They’re nothing to do with me; why should I have to deal with them?”

“Because he’s- he’s my friend. I care about him and I care about you and I just wanted you to meet him.”

“Well, I’ve met him now. What’s one more queen strutting around the house?”

“Kitty!”

“I mean, I get that you’re gay, but do you have to go that gay? Isn’t there, like, an introductory phase?”

“Stop it.”

“Why don’t you get it? I don’t want to be a part of it! I just want you to leave me alone!”

“Kitty, I’m your dad. We’re a family. You, me, Zach, your mom, and that’s never going to change, you know that?”

She knew it had already changed. She’d seen the smile on his face.

“Well, maybe I want it to change. I wish I’d never been in this family in the first place.”

“What is wrong with you?” He tried the door again, but it didn’t budge. “This isn’t you, Kitty. What’s happening?”

She screwed her eyes shut and leaned her head back on the wall, but her voice gave nothing away.

“I hate you! I hate you and him and his kid and I want you to leave me alone! That’s why I wrecked your precious store and it’s why I got into that fight at school. It’s because I hate you.”

She’d said it to him before, when she was little and he’d made her finish her peas before she could have dessert, and when he’d told her not to put play ‘hide the baby’ when Zach was a few months old, but now she was old enough to know exactly what it meant and exactly how much it hurt.

“Kitty…”

“Just leave me alone.”

He reached up to try the door again, but his hands flopped down by his sides. He held onto the doorframe to steady himself.

“Kitty, I- I just want to be honest with you. I won’t stop seeing him. I’m sorry if you don’t like him, but I do. I’m sorry.” He kept looking at the door, hoping for a response. None came. “Goodnight, Kitty. I love you.”