Chapter 21

Finn had walked in to find Kurt and Blaine still in the living room, but now clutching each other tightly, and he didn't want to think about where their tongues were — Kurt is his brother after all — so he slipped quietly up the stairs to his bedroom.

He had just slipped under the covers and turned out the light when he hears a knock at the door.

"Come in," he says.

"Hey," Kurt replies, sticking his head into the room. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Finn says, sitting up and switching on the lamp beside his bed. He considers grabbing a shirt to throw on, but he and Kurt had long since gotten over their awkwardness at being shirtless around each other. And Kurt still only has his coat on, so it would be more awkward to grab his discarded t-shirt from the floor. Finn shuffles to a seated position and looks over to Kurt.

"What's up?" he asks.

Kurt sits down on the edge of Finn's bed, and hands him a mug. Finn smiles when he realizes it's warm milk. That means Kurt wants to talk like brothers. He likes it when they have these kinds of moments. Finn takes a sip from his mug and waits for Kurt to speak.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not telling you I was working at Shades. I hated lying."

"That's okay, man. I think I understand," Finn says, taking a sip of the milk, savoring its sweetness on his tongue.

"You do?" Kurt asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, like, you didn't want anyone to judge you," he says with a shrug. "So you didn't tell us… It's cool."

Finn pats Kurt's shoulder lightly and smiles at his brother. Kurt sighs and continues, looking down at his hands.

"Yeah, but I should have told you," Kurt says. "I just knew my dad wouldn't approve. And I didn't want you to get in trouble if he ever found out that you knew before him. I think I thought I was protecting you or something."

Kurt wipes a stray tear.

"Dude, it's okay," Finn says, shifting on the bed. He's never been comfortable with tears. Whenever Rachel cries, his mind goes blank. He really hopes Kurt doesn't start with the full-on waterworks.

"Sorry, Finn," Kurt says. He sniffles a little and then continues. "I don't know why everyone's being so cool about all this. You, dad…Blaine. I don't deserve it."

Finn looks confused for a moment. What had Kurt expected them to do? They're family. Then it occurs to him that Burt might have been really angry with Kurt. Maybe that's why Kurt is so upset.

"What did your dad say?"

Kurt sighs heavily and relays the conversation he had with his dad to Finn, from the sobbing confession of being blackmailed by Sebastian (his dad had turned about 50 shades of red when he heard about that) to the bliss of falling for Blaine (Burt had sighed and gave him another 'you matter' speech, which embarrassed Kurt even more than it had the first time). To his credit, Finn doesn't interject. He just sips on his warm milk and nods where appropriate, taking it all in. Kurt pauses for a breath toward the end of his story and looks fondly at Finn.

"Bottom line? I think he was more worried than angry. So I think it's okay."

"I can't believe he didn't yell," Finn says, a genuine look of shock coloring his face.

"Me neither," Kurt replies quickly. The relief is evident on his flushed face. He gives Finn a thoughtful look. "But we're cool, right? You and me?"

"Dude, absolutely," Finn says, smiling broadly at his stepbrother. "No worries at all. Thanks for the warm milk." He tips his mug in a good-natured salute.

Kurt smiles at Finn, rolling his eyes fondly, and stands up to leave. When he gets to the door, he turns to face Finn and says, "Don't stay mad at Rachel. I made her swear on her life not to tell."

Finn looks down at his now empty mug. He's not sure what to say because Rachel is always manipulating him, everyone really, and he really hates it. But he's never been able to stay mad at her too long, no matter what she does. He'll probably let her off the hook tomorrow. He had been pretty rough on her when he walked her to the car. He doesn't reply to Kurt's request, though, thinking Kurt might tell Rachel she's already forgiven. Finn wants her to sweat it out a little bit.

"Everything okay with you and Blaine?" he asks instead, hoping Kurt will be okay with the abrupt change of subject.

"Yeah," Kurt says looking up at the ceiling, a wistful look in his eyes. "You know, I think it is. Good night, Finn."

Kurt smiles down at Finn. It's nice to see Kurt smile for a change.

"Night, Kurt," he says, turning off his bedside lamp and placing his empty mug on the night stand.

Kurt closes the door to Finn's room and walks quietly to his own. He's suddenly feeling the weight of the day on him and wants nothing more than to crawl into his own bed and sleep for days. Unfortunately, he's got school in the morning, a mere — he glances at his phone — four hours from now.

He flings his coat over the chair at his vanity and wriggles out of his sweaty, glitter-covered jeans. With all the glitter on his skin, he can't get into bed without a shower. What greets him in the bathroom mirror shocks him.

His hair and face are a mess, which is to be expected thanks to dancing, sweating and then crying, but it's the red marks along his neck and jawline that have caught his attention.

Shit.

The collar on his coat is pretty high, so it must have covered up the obvious hickeys dotting his skin. Because someone would have noticed this and surely someone would have said something.

Blaine.

Kurt pleads with his own reflection that Blaine hadn't seen the marks. So many tiny bruises. From Sebastian. From Sebastian's lips.

The full scope of the evening hits Kurt full force as he stares at his reflection in the small bathroom attached to his bedroom. He has to grab the edge of the sink to keep himself upright as he feels his knees begin to give out from both the mental and physical exhaustion of it all.

It only takes him a few moments to regain his composure and he turns the shower on as hot as it will go. But no amount of hot water can erase the memory of Sebastian's body pressed against his, or wet lips locked firmly on his neck. Why did he let that happen?

And in a sudden rush, he remembers the feeling of hopelessness from having blown his audition, and the tears come again. He sobs uncontrollably because now his failure is compounded with the hopelessness that when he tells Blaine what he's done, he may not be forgiven. And now he truly has nothing.

He stays in the shower long after the water has gone cold, and when his alarm goes off for school the next day, he hasn't slept at all.

It's going to be a long day.

Kurt feels like a zombie for much of Thursday at school. By the end of the day — thanks to Rachel — pretty much all of Kurt's friends know his audition had gone poorly, so they all assume his detached, quiet demeanor is because he's bummed about that. But it's so much more.

He and Blaine had exchanged a few text messages, and Kurt is beginning to dread the weekend when he would have to tell Blaine what had happened Wednesday night. Kurt calls in sick to work on Friday, giving his two slots to a grateful Mike, who needs the money. He still hasn't recovered from the lack of sleep earlier in the week and couldn't face a night at Shades.

After Friday night dinner with Carole, Finn, and his dad, Kurt disappears to his room and collapses unceremoniously on the bed. At some point he must have fallen asleep because he is jolted awake at 9:37 by a text message.

Blaine
On your way to work, handsome?

Kurt
Took the night off. Still wiped from Wednesday night's drama.

Blaine
Why didn't you call? We could have had a date night. :(

Kurt
Too tired. I'm already in bed. Rain check?

Blaine
Of course. I'll call you tomorrow. Goodnight. x

Kurt
x

Kurt places his phone on the nightstand and rolls over to his back, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly he isn't feeling very tired. He doesn't fall asleep until well after midnight.

Blaine almost couldn't believe the crazy turn of events that had transpired since Wednesday afternoon. The rollercoaster of emotions had been intense, but now he's almost content.

Even the confrontation with Sebastian hadn't dampened his spirits entirely. He's concerned about seeing his fellow Warbler at school, and of course, there's that chem lab they need to finish. But he'll figure it out. Sebastian and his insipid interference is no longer an issue. He'd tried to bribe both Blaine and Kurt and it had backfired horribly. Blaine had put him in his place because his friendship with Sebastian was nothing compared to what he could have with Kurt.

Kurt.

Kurt is his boyfriend. The tests the word out on his lips, says it out loud a few times to his empty bedroom.

"Kurt Hummel is my boyfriend," he says.

Gesturing toward the empty space next to him, "This is my boyfriend, Kurt."

He giggles quietly to himself…actually giggles. When did he start giggling?

Blaine spends the next two days feeling like he's floating. Thursday flies by and Friday is uneventful. Sebastian's not in school both days, and Blaine is grateful, and not even a little worried. It's the weekend and that means an opportunity to see Kurt.

It occurs to Blaine that Kurt might be working, even though he secretly hopes Kurt will quit his job at Shades now that his secret has come out. But he doesn't mention it during the periodic text messages they exchange Thursday and Friday.

After dinner Friday night, Blaine takes out his phone to text Kurt, but he ends up choosing a different name from his contact list instead.

Blaine
You'll never guess who has a boyfriend.

Cooper
Is this a trick question?

Blaine
I'm serious.

Cooper
Mom?

Blaine
Coop, don't be ridiculous.

Cooper
Don't tell me you haven't secretly hoped she'd kick Herr Anderson to the curb…

Blaine
Besides the point.

Cooper
Wait…wait… are you trying to tell me that you snagged the Gelfling?

Blaine
Wow, way to be tactless.

Cooper
No, but really… you and Kurt?

Blaine
:)

Cooper
FINALLY!

Blaine
You don't need to yell. ;)

Cooper
My baby brother has his first boyfriend. I'll yell if I want to. I may even skywrite it... I haven't spent my monthly allowance yet. Got to keep dad on his toes.

Blaine
No need to skywrite it... fucking Smythe was there. By now everyone in our parents' stupid elitist circle probably knows.

Cooper
This sounds like some story. I'm calling.

"Save your allowance for something truly decadent…like a ruby necklace for a girl you just met," Blaine says as he picks up the phone.

"That was one time," Cooper insists. "How was I supposed to know she was going to turn out to be engaged?"

"Yeah, but you knew she was Mr. Sheffield's daughter."

"So I hit on the boss's daughter… if she hadn't been engaged, I might have gotten dad a raise out of it."

Cooper is laughing and it lightens Blaine's mood even more.

"You're such an ass, Coop."

"Yeah, but you love me," he teases. "Now tell me about you and Kurt. I want all the horny details."

Blaine can feel the blush that spreads across his face reach all the way to his toes at Cooper's comment. He and Kurt had only kissed, and well, there was that one time on the sofa. But so far, it had been largely PG. That's not to say Blaine hadn't thought about other things, but nothing had happened yet. Emphasis on the yet.

Blaine laughs nervously. "There isn't much to tell."

"Oh come on," Cooper pleads. "You said Sebastian was there. You have to tell me what went down."

"He was. Did I also mention that I met Kurt's dad?"

"Holy shit," Cooper says. "I need to get comfortable for this."

Blaine hears a muffled grunt as his brother shifts around on the other end of the line, probably landing in the old, weathered recliner in front of the TV in his small studio apartment. A familiar creak of worn out metal springs confirms his suspicion.

It only takes a few minutes to relay the entire story of what had gone down in Kurt's living room two nights ago. Cooper is uncharacteristically quiet for the whole thing, allowing Blaine to get it all out at once. It isn't until he stops talking that he realizes Cooper hasn't comment on any of it.

"Coop?"

Blaine hears a sputtering noise and a few huffs of breath before Cooper speaks.

"He was covered in glitter?"

"Yes."

"He was on a date with Sebastian Smythe, covered in glitter…and shirtless and you kissed him? And his dad walked in on you and now you're dating?"

"Well, when you say it like that…" Blaine groans.

And that's it. Cooper is laughing hysterically. Blaine can only make out a few words here and there in between the wheezing and a few high-pitched squeaks.

"Oh god, Blaine…that's the best story I've heard in a long time," Cooper exclaims as his shrieks die down and he tries to catch his breath.

Blaine leans back on his bed and throws an arm over his face. He feels so ridiculous. And it is ridiculous, but he doesn't care. His grin nearly reaches his ears as he thinks of Kurt kissing him passionately and gripping him like he's afraid Blaine's not real.

"Coop?"

"Yeah, I'll let you go," his brother replies. "I think you have a more important phone call to make."

Blaine swears he can hear the wink in his brother's voice as he hangs up and sends Kurt a text.

At 8:02 on Saturday night, Kurt begins his usual pre-work routine thinking a shift at Shades will be a good distraction. He takes a long, hot shower followed by his meticulous moisturizing regimen, then yoga and breathing exercises. The only differences in his routine are the few minutes he takes to apply a little extra makeup to the hickeys still lightly dotting his neck, and not having to sneak out of the house. He bounds down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder and sticks his head in the living room to say goodnight to his dad.

"Kind of late to be heading out, kiddo," Burt says without removing his eyes from the TV.

Kurt stares at him open-mouthed for a minute before he manages a quiet "What?"

"It's almost 10," Burt says matter-of-factly. "Where're you headed?"

"Um, work?" Kurt says unsure of why his dad is pretending not to know his schedule. When they'd talked the other night Kurt had told him he had been working at Shades nearly every Friday and Saturday for the last few months.

Burt turns around in his chair, a look of confusion on his face.

"Did you get another job?" he asks.

"No," Kurt says, now thoroughly confused. "I told you about my schedule at Shades. I'm scheduled for the 10:30 shift tonight."

"You didn't quit?"

"Noooo….why would I quit?" Kurt asks.

"Kurt, it's not really an appropriate job for someone your age," his dad says sincerely.

Kurt's expression immediately changes from confusion to barely contained rage.

"I'm 18, dad," he spits out between clenched teeth. "I'm pretty sure that's the only age requirement."

"You know what I mean," Burt says as if it should be obvious to Kurt. "I thought I made it clear the other night that I don't want you working there any more."

"No, you said you didn't like the idea."

"And you said you understood," Burt points out.

"I do understand, but I still need the money. Not to mention, I made a commitment, and I actually like dancing."

"As a stripper, Kurt? That's not you."

"Actually, dad, it is me. It's been me for the last five months and I'm not stopping now."

He's fuming now and he can see his own expression mirrored in his dad's features. If there's one thing Kurt gets from his dad, it's his ability to strike fear in the hearts of mere mortals with just one look. They're locked in a staring battle for a few moments until Burt plays his trump card.

"That's fine, kid … but if you continue to work there, you can't live here."

Kurt doesn't even think; he just acts, turning heel and storming out the front door, slamming it behind him.