Saturday, July 21 – Sunday, July 22

Back at the Anderson family home, Pam said, “Well, we've had a long day, and I know that you boys have, too.  Is there anything you need before we head up to bed?”

“No, that's okay, but thanks, Mom.  I'll just make sure that Kurt is settled into the guest room, and then I'll be right behind you,” Blaine replied.

Kurt said goodnight to Blaine's parents, who headed up the stairs.  Once they were out of earshot, Blaine whispered, “I'll just give them a minute to get into their room and shut the door, and then I'll go on up and sneak right back down.  Wait for me in the guest room.”

Kurt followed Blaine's instructions, and soon he heard unnecessarily loud footsteps clomping up the stairs.  The door to Blaine's room opened, and then closed with a bang.  A moment later, Blaine tiptoed into the guest room, grinning.  “I changed into my pajamas and left my room again before I shut the door, so my parents would only hear it open and close one time.  And I was super quiet on the way down.  They have no idea I'm in here with you.  And their bedroom is on the far side of the house, so we don't have to worry about them hearing us.”

“They've been so nice to me; I feel a little guilty about deceiving them like this.”

“You're not deceiving them.  You're right where they told you to be.  I'm the one who's sneaking around, and if it doesn't bother me, then it doesn't need to bother you.  Besides, I couldn't pass up this opportunity to sleep in an actual queen-size bed with you.”

“Well, good.  ‘Cause I would've been lonely down here without you.  Even when we don't sleep in the same bed, I always like knowing you're there in the room with me.”

“Got a motel and built a fort out of sheets; I finally found you — my missing puzzle piece,” Blaine sang.

Kurt pulled him down onto the bed.  “That song was incredible.  Do you have any idea how amazingly talented you are?”

“You're just saying that because I let you have your way with me earlier,” Blaine teased.

Kurt blushed, but came back with “I seem to remember letting you have your way with me, too.”

“Well, then I guess you are amazingly talented as well.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.”

“Really?” Blaine asked, eyes going dark.

“Eventually.  But not tonight, and certainly not in your parents' house while they're asleep upstairs.”

“Eventually…  I can work with that.”

Kurt and Blaine slept in the next morning.  They awoke to the sounds and scents of breakfast being prepared.

“Shit!” Blaine whispered.  “I thought I'd be up before my parents.  I don't want them to know I slept in here last night.”

Kurt rolled out of bed and hurriedly got dressed.  Grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from his bag, he tossed them to Blaine.  “Here, put these on and pretend you've been up for hours.”

Blaine did as he was told, and the boys made their way to the kitchen.  Blaine went up to his mom and gave her a hug.

“Good morning, Sweetheart,” Pam said.  “How long have you been up?  I didn't even hear you come down the stairs.”

“Oh, you know, Kurt and I are used to getting up at 6 every morning to round up the horses,” Blaine said, which wasn't actually a lie.

Pam looked to the doorway, where Kurt was standing awkwardly.  “Good morning, Kurt.  How did you sleep?”

“Really well, thanks.  The bed in your guest room is very comfortable.”

“I'm glad.  Well, if you boys want to set the table and put out some orange juice, breakfast is almost ready.”

Soon, Kurt was seated with Blaine's family at the table, digging into a scrumptious breakfast.  “Now I see where Blaine learned to make his amazing French toast,” he told Pam.

“Wow – things must be pretty serious between you boys if Blaine's already making you breakfast,” Charles said, smiling.  “You know, that's how his mother roped me in.  I got hooked on her cooking, and 30 years later we're still together.”  He winked at his wife, and she batted her eyelashes at him mock-coquettishly.

Kurt felt inordinately pleased at the exchange.  Although Charles' comments made him blush, he knew they signaled the kind of acceptance he hadn't even dared to hope for.  

The tiny part of him that had been worrying that the reason Blaine's parents had put him in the guest room was because they were secretly homophobic, and disapproved of his relationship with their son, suddenly realized that the opposite was true.  They were behaving exactly as they would have if Blaine had brought a girlfriend home.  If Kurt and Blaine had been just friends, they would have been allowed to share a room.  By asking Kurt to sleep in the guest room, Blaine's parents were acknowledging the romantic nature of the relationship.    

Later that morning, as they said their goodbyes, Kurt hugged both of Blaine's parents with genuine warmth.  

“I hope we'll see you again soon,” Pam told him.

“I hope so, too,” Kurt replied, and he meant it.

Back in the car, heading towards camp, Kurt asked, “Do you know how to play Encore?”

“You mean that board game where you try to sing songs with the words on the cards?”

“Well, yeah, but you don't need the board or the cards.  You can just take turns coming up with words.  And then you go back and forth until one person can't come up with any more songs with that word in the lyrics, and the other person wins that round.”

“Oh, I'm going to be awesome at this game!”

“Do I sense a challenge?”

“Yeah.  And the loser has to give the winner a back rub.”

“You're on.”

“Can I say the first word?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.  Rain.”

Kurt led off with “Singing in the Rain.”  Blaine then broke into the chorus of “Fire and Rain.”  The boys went back and forth, mile after mile, singing song after song, until finally Kurt had to admit that he couldn't come up with any more.

“My turn to pick a word.  Moon.”

“Oooh, that's a good one,” Blaine said, launching into a rousing version of “Bad Moon Rising.”

Kurt came back with “That's Amore,” and Blaine countered with “Blue Moon.”  Once again, they went back and forth.  This time, it was Blaine who eventually had to concede.

“We're almost there,” Blaine said.  “Let's just do one more word as the tie-breaker.  It's my turn to choose.  Are proper names allowed?”

“Yeah, so long as they're in enough songs to make it interesting.  Don't say Ursula, or something.”

“Okay.  Let's do Jesus.”

“No fair.  You know I'm an atheist.  You're bound to know way more songs about Jesus than I do.”

“Hey, I didn't make the rules.  You said proper names are okay.”

“Fine,” Kurt huffed, and started singing “Jesus Christ, Superstar.”

It was quickly apparent that Kurt had been right in his prediction.  Blaine knew a lot of songs from all of those years of singing in the church choir.  Although Kurt could remember a few from his own childhood Sunday school classes, he soon gave up. 

“Yay!” Blaine cheered, as they turned onto a familiar dirt road.  “I'm getting a back rub tonight!”