Chapter 21

“Have you realised that this is technically our first actual date?” Kurt asked the boy sitting across from him. They were sat opposite each other at a small table in Breadstix, while discussing their arrangement for Regionals. Wes had told them to stop procrastinating and get the number organised after Blaine had recovered from the crash, so they could begin rehearsals and had even booked them the table so they had to sit and talk to each other about it!

“Yes, I had realised which I why I slipped your wallet out of your bag and left it in the car so you had no choice but to let me pay.” Blaine said with a sly grin. “You can pay next time though,” he added at the sight of Kurt's horrified face.

“Deal.” Kurt said with a sigh and looked down at his pasta dish. “This is really good, I kind of don't want to talk to you, but inhale this instead…” Blaine laughed and grabbed Kurt's hand over the table.

“Well, why don't you eat and I will talk at you?” Kurt nodded as his mouth was full with pasta. “So nod if you agree and shake if you don't. I was thinking that you could take the first couple of lines and then I would take the next few and we could sing the chorus parts together and just continue like that for the rest of the song.” Kurt was nodding through most of Blaine's suggested arrangement but glanced over his shoulder at the sound of the door opening and started shaking his head violently. “What? What was wrong with that last part?”

“Nothing, it's just that Rach and Finn just walked in and I don't want them to overhear you and know that I have a solo.” Kurt said in a hushed tone. The two boys ducked their heads slightly as the two newcomers walked past, but Rachel saw them anyway.

“Hey boys. Kurt, I hate to distract you from your date, but I have something I need to tell you.” Rachel said with an expression that alternated between excitement and a grimace.

“Well I hate to disappoint Rach, but I really don't feel like talking right now because this is technical y my first date with Blaine and I don't want to be distracted.” Kurt replied. “Anyway, I thought the two of you had broken up?” Kurt said whilst looking between the two New Direction members.

“Well we did, but we needed to move past it and get on with our live separately, so we decided the best way to do that was to go out for dinner.” Kurt and Blaine both caught Finn's eye roll and guessed that it had been Rachel to suggest and organise the whole evening.

“You thought the best way to get over each other would be to go on a date?” Kurt asked sarcastically which caused Blaine to duck his head further to hide the giggles that were threatening to escape from his lips. Kurt saw the effect his words had had on his boyfriend and decided to make things worse for Blaine by linking their ankles together under the table.

“Not on a date, as friends. We are having dinner out as friends.” Kurt and Blaine's eyes met and they both couldn't contain their laughter anymore. Partly at Rachel's forwardness but also at Finn's complete obliviousness. “I don't know what you two are finding so funny, but I really do need to talk to you Kurt.”

“Fine Rach, what is it you need to tell me that is so important that it has to interrupt my date, even if you aren't here for one?” Kurt was genuinely intrigued as to why Rachel was so hell-bent on talking to him, but he also wanted to spend as much alone time with Blaine as possible.

“Well, Santana and I –” Kurt interrupted her

“NO! It turns out that I don't want to know. No good ever comes from a sentence that starts off with Satan and I,” he paused to correct himself “I mean Santana, obviously.” Rachel looked at him with a withering expression but continued anyway.

“We think we might have found a way for you to come back to McKinley.” Both Kurt and Blaine looked at the girl with identical horrified expressions.

“No way Rachel, you know I can't go back if Karofsky is still there. I just can't” Kurt said in a small voice and turned his head downwards to stare at the table. Blaine could see how much the conversation was having a bad effect on Kurt so he squeezed his hand and started tracing soothing spirals on the back of the older boy's hand with his thumb. Kurt squeezed back and sent Blaine a thankful smile.

“Kurt, we've found a way to get him to leave you alone for good. He won't harass you again if you come back, I promise.” Kurt didn't know if this was good or bad news. If he stayed at Dalton, he would have everything he could ever dream of. Blaine, good friends, guaranteed safety, Blaine… But his education was forcing his dad to spend a lot of money that Kurt knew he didn't have. But if he went back to McKinley he would have his girls back, as well as being closer to home so he wouldn't have to get up so early to complete his moisturising routine.

“I don't know Rach, can I have some time to think about it?” Rachel looked at her friend sympathetically.

“Of course you can Kurt, we only want what is best for you and you can take all the time you need.” Kurt was ever so slightly surprised by Rachel's unusual kindness towards him and decided that it was time to forgive her.

“Thanks Rachel. I really appreciate everything you have done for me, and I want you to know that you are forgiven for not telling me about my soulmate after Sectionals. The only real downside of you not telling me was that it took me a stupidly long time to work out who it was. Maybe if we had both been smarter, this wouldn't be our first date.” Kurt said almost sadly, but he stood up and wrapped his arms around Rachel to prove his words were sincere. Rachel burst into tears because she had felt sure that she and Kurt would never get their unorthodox friendship back after what she did, and she couldn't help herself when she threw herself into Finn's arms the second that Kurt had let go in relief. She let go just as quickly however when she remembered they were no longer in a relationship.

Rachel and Finn move to their own table on the other side of the restaurant and leave Kurt and Blaine in a stunned silence. Kurt realised that Blaine hadn't said anything during the entire time that Rachel had been talking with them and wondered if something was wrong.

“Blaine are you ok? You went kind of silent for a moment there.” Blaine locked his eyes with Kurt's and continued to draw patterns over Kurt's hand.

“I'm fine, I was just trying to give you some time to think about what Rachel said. I know that it must have been hard for you to forgive her after what she kept from you.” Blaine said and raised Kurt's hand to his lips.

“Actually, forgiving her was the easy part. Deciding what I want to do next is what is going to get to me.” Kurt said between bites of the cheesecake that had been placed in front of him by the waitress.

“Well do you think you would want to go back if that was an option?” Blaine asked curiously.

“I honestly don't know Blaine. I would never go back if there was even the slightest chance of Karofsky hurting me again, but all of my old friends are there and I miss them so much.” Kurt's face twisted into a sad smile. “But then, if I left, I would miss all of the Warblers and the school work actually challenges me here. And then there's you. If I left I couldn't see you every day, or kiss you whenever I wanted to.” Blaine could see that Kurt was torturing himself, trying to make a decision and decided it would be best to change the subject.

“Let's not think about that right now. We are on our first date! We shouldn't be worrying about anything.” Blaine signalled to the waitress who brought over the check. “Come on, let's go to the cinema and find something to watch and take our mind of everything else.” Blaine paid for their meals and grabbed Kurt's hand again before dragging him out of Breadstix and out into the town.

Kurt arrived back home to find a note on the kitchen table telling him that his dad and Carole had gone out for the evening but would be back by 11. Kurt really needed some advice but didn't know who to turn to now that his dad was unavailable. He trudged down to the basement room he shared with Finn to find the boy in question shooting some digital zombies on the television screen. Finn paused the game and turned to Kurt when he heard his soon to be half-brother walk into the room.

“Hey dude, how was your date with Blaine?” Finn asked, but both boys knew that he really wanted to know what Kurt thought about Rachel's proposition.

“It was fine Finn, thanks for asking, but Rachel really didn't help by telling me all that stuff right there in front of Blaine. I don't want to talk about it though, so what were you actually doing with Rachel in Breadstix? Finn looked down to the ground guiltily.

“Well, she quit the glee club to join the cast of the summer play that Sue and Sandy are putting on.” Kurt looked shocked, both at the fact that Rach had quit glee and that Sue of all people was encouraging people to sing, dance and act on stage. “Anyway, I was trying to get her to see who her real friends are because the rest of the cast is being mean to her and we want to get her back in glee.”

“You shouldn't lead her on by taking her to a restaurant, Finn, even if it was only Breadstix! If you don't want to get back with her as her boyfriend, you should really stick to group events or she is going to get the wrong idea.” Kurt said because he knew that Finn was not the smartest when it came to girls and their feelings. Finn sat in silence for a moment, trying to process what Kurt had told him.

“You know, it would be so much easier if you just came back.” Kurt sent a glaring look towards Finn, because he had just said that he didn't want to talk about it. “I'm just saying that there is no way that Rachel wouldn't come back if she got to compete with you for solos again.” Finn was trying to tempt Kurt back to McKinley but Kurt was determined to make the decision by himself and make sure that it was the right decision for him and no one else.

“If you are using that to try and convince me to transfer back, it's not going to work. I have to make this decision alone and I really hope you can respect that.”

 The sound of the front door slamming shut jolted Kurt out of his thoughts a few hours later and the boy ran upstairs to catch his dad before he went to bed.

“Hey dad, can I talk to you for a minute?” Burt instantly looked worried but sat down with his son and tried to keep a neutral expression on his face.

“What is it Kurt? Is this about Blaine?” Kurt shook his head furiously.

“No, no, no. It's not Blaine. It's just something Rachel said to me when she saw me and Blaine and Breadstix earlier.” Burt said nothing but looked at Kurt curiously. “She told me that she and Santana might have found a way to get Karofsky to leave me alone so I could go back to McKinley.”

“I thought you were happy at Dalton, Kurt. Why would you want to screw that up by transferring back?” Burt asked.

“I don't know why dad. It's just been eating away at my mind all evening and I don't know what to do! If I stay I can be with Blaine and I have the Warblers and the no bullying rule, but if I move back I have my old friends and you won't have to pay the tuition fee. You could finally have the money to marry Carole! I know how much you want that.” Kurt was slowly working himself into a state of hysteria and Burt had to interrupt him and calm him down by wrapping his arms around his son and holding him in a tight hug.

“You don't think of anyone but yourself ok kid? You can't think of me or Carole, Finn or Rachel, not even Blaine. You have to do what's right for you. Do you even know if this plan Rachel has will actually work?” He felt Kurt shake his head into his shoulder. “Well then, you shouldn't worry about it in case nothing actually happens, but if it does then you have to be happy.”

Kurt stayed in his father's arms long into the night and Burt was perfectly fine with holding his son. Burt couldn't see why Kurt would want to jeopardise everything he had gained at the Academy to be back at McKinley, but all he wanted was for Kurt to be happy. However, the only time that he had ever seen his boy truly content was when he was with Blaine, and now he was at risk of losing it all.