As Blaine rushed down the stairs, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked to see who had texted him. He smiled when he saw the name of the sender.

From Kurt – 21h26

Please text or call me when you’ve arrived home.

Blaine felt warmth spread inside of him at the other man worrying about him. He was just about to type a reply when he heard a door open above him. A few seconds later, Kurt, wrapped in a light jacket, was rushing down the stairs to join him.

Blaine looked at him with amusement in his eyes.

“Missing me already?” he asked in a teasing tone.

“Shut up,” Kurt tried in vain to hide his blush, “I just came down to tell you that I’ve just called a taxi for you. He should be here in a few minutes.”

“Kurt, there really was no need,” Blaine said softly. He was much better and felt confident enough to drive.

“Look, you can come back and get your car tomorrow morning; don’t worry, this street is safe.”

Blaine tried to argue that the car wasn’t his and that he had to return it but Kurt didn’t let him continue.

“Does your mother need her car tomorrow morning?” Kurt asked him.

Blaine stopped to think for a moment. Usually on Sundays his mother liked to stay in or have friends over.

“No, but…”

“Then you can come back tomorrow to get it, right?”

Blaine’s shoulder sagged in defeat but a small smile tugged at his lips and Kurt knew that the musician was not mad at him.

“It’s just that I don’t want you to risk hurting yourself further, and you haven’t even seen a doctor yet for your head…”

Blaine stepped closer to Kurt and interrupted him, gently placing his hands on Kurt’s shoulders.

“Okay, I’ll take the taxi. I’ll see Tina tomorrow and she can check on me.” Kurt seemed to relax after that. “You don’t have to worry too much though, I’m fine.” He smiled reassuringly at the other man.

“Okay,” Kurt said, feeling relieved. “I should probably head upstairs to check that the boys are not making a mess in their room,” he added, slight regret in his tone.

Blaine smiled and nodded but Kurt seemed reluctant to leave. This, the hallway, both of them standing near the front door, it all reminded him of a similar scene that happened the day before. But things were different now, or at least, Kurt hoped that they were.

Blaine seemed to have picked on Kurt’s train of thought and he leaned in to lay a soft and tender kiss at the corner of Kurt’s lips.

The sound of a car pulling over outside the building, made them break apart.

“I think your taxi has arrived,” Kurt whispered with regret.

Blaine nodded, his nose brushing softly against Kurt’s nose. He laid one last peck on the other man’s cheek and turned to leave.

Kurt stayed in the hallway until the light went out and the sound of the car faded away. He then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he took it out to read the incoming text.

From Blaine – 21h38

Do you still want me to text you when I’m home?

Kurt couldn’t help the small chuckle. He really liked this playful side of Blaine.

From Kurt – 21h40

I’d love that.

Kurt hoped he hadn’t been too forward. Blaine may not even be waiting for a reply. He tried to stop thinking about it too much and climbed the stairs to get back to his apartment. Once inside, his phone lit up again.

From Blaine – 21h46

Ok then I will :)

Kurt smiled as he read.

From Blaine – 21h47

And you can stop worrying now.

Kurt laughed and typed a response.

From Kurt – 21h47

No promises but I’ll try.

No more text came after that and Kurt decided to go back to the living room to tidy things a little. He took the bowl of now lukewarm water and the washcloth and put them in the kitchen. After he was done putting the covers in place on the couch, he headed to the boy’s bedroom to check on them. He was pleasantly surprised to see that both Simon and Samuel were already tucked in and Clara was reading a story for them.

Kurt tried not to let the sight of the mess that the boys had made with their toys damper his mood. Instead, he decided to let them be for now; they would clear it all away the next morning.

Kurt then headed to the bathroom where the sink was still on the floor and, to his horror, found water had leaked almost everywhere. He sighed and went to get a mop to get most of it. Then, he went to Paolo to ask him to try to fix it. After arguing with his ex over getting a professional to repair the sink, which Kurt won by pointing out no one could come until Monday, Paolo agreed to do his best as long as Kurt hired a “real” plumber later to double-check the repairs.

Kurt left the bathroom and walked to the living room where Clara was watching one of her favorite TV shows. She looked up at him as he sat on the couch.

“Thank you for putting the boys to bed, Clara,” Kurt said with a smile. The day had been long and eventful and he was really tired now.

They both watched the TV in silence until the commercial break. Clara then turned to him with a gleam in her eyes. Kurt was not sure he liked that look.

“So, Blaine seems like a good man. He’s funny and Simon couldn’t stop babbling about him earlier.”

Kurt lowered his head to avoid her gaze and hide his smile. It was nice to hear that Blaine had made a good impression on them earlier.

“Are we going to see more of him around?” she asked, curious to know.

Kurt remained silent, not sure what to tell her. Things had gone quite well with Blaine during the evening. He had even joked about Sammy’s rejection. But Kurt couldn’t say if Blaine would be back. There was no guarantee even though the musician had promised he would call him.

“Kurt?” Clara noticed his hesitation to answer her question.

“I don’t know yet, Clara. I wish I could say that Blaine will be around a lot more but I can’t.”

The teenage girl’s smile faltered a little. She came to sit next to Kurt and put her hands on his.

“Well, for what is worth, I hope he will.”

Kurt beamed softly at her.

“Me too.” He said and she smiled back at him.

**

**

Nick groaned as he got up from the couch and walked to the front door. He hoped that the insistent ringing of the bell would not wake Jeff. His boyfriend had to be up early the next morning and he really needed his sleep. It took him another long minute to find the keys; during which whoever was in the hallway rang the bell twice more. Finally, Nick managed to pull the door open. He glared at Blaine and silently gestured for him to come inside. He led the musician to the living room and then closed the door behind them.

“Nick, I really need to talk to Jeff…” Blaine started but stopped at the look his friend sent him.

“Jeff is already in bed, he has to get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow and there is no way I’m waking him up now. Whatever you have to tell him can wait.”

Blaine slumped in defeat on the couch.

Nick’s expression softened as he took a good look at his friend. It looked like Blaine had been running his hands in his hair repeatedly if the way his curls were straining in all directions was any indication. There was also a lump on his forehead where the skin had turned tones of blue and purple.

“What happened to you?” Nick asked, pointing at Blaine’s bruise, sudden concern in his tone.

“That’s nothing,” Blaine shrugged.

“Okay…” Nick trailed off uncertainly, “so what was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“I…” Blaine started, but then buried his face in his hands leaving the rest of the sentence muffled in his palms.

Nick leaned back on the armchair and waited for his friend to pull himself together. Clearly this was something important or he would not have bothered coming.

Blaine remained in his position for another long minute, debating whether or not to talk to Nick. He then raised his head and looked at his friend.

“Shit… I think I may be falling in love.” And he buried his face back in his hands.

He had said it. For days, he had tried to ignore the little voice telling him it was happening. Now that the words were out there, he suddenly felt lighter. He still had no idea what to do but at least he was now facing the truth.

Nick tried to contain a smile. He looked at Blaine with slight amusement as the other man kept mumbling incoherent sentences in his hands.

“Blaine?” He stood up and sat next to his friend. “Look at me.”

Blaine moved slowly, turning his head to meet Nick’s gaze.

“Is it Kurt?” his friend asked him.

Blaine’s mouth gaped open in surprise.

“How did you…?” Then the thought came to him that Jeff must have told his boyfriend about Kurt.

“Well, Jeff and Tina were going on about him the other night after you left. Tina said that she had tricked Kurt with her drunk-texting and somehow it had worked to get you to see him again,” Nick explained.

“Right… I forgot about that.” Blaine leaned back on the back of the couch and closed his eyes for a minute.

“So, you like him then?” Nick probed, gently bumping his shoulder.

“I…,” Blaine knew that there was no need denying it after his first confession. “Yeah, I do. A lot.” He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips.

Nick beamed at him.

“That’s a good thing, right?” he asked enthusiastically.

“I guess… it’s just…” Blaine leaned forward and ran his hands in his hair, leaving his curls in a worst state than they already were. “I asked Jeff not to tell anyone about this but…” He fidgeted with his fingers, still hesitating to share this with Nick. “It’s not just Kurt,” he finally said.

Nick frowned in confusion.

“Is there another man?” he asked his friend with disbelief in his tone.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Well, you could say that there are but for Kurt, not me,” he started babbling gesturing wildly with his hands as he went on, “I mean, Kurt had two other men in his life but he’s not with them anymore…”

Nick was starting to develop a slight headache as he tried to understand what his friend was trying to explain.

“What the hell are you trying to say? You’ve lost me after Kurt had two other men.”

“Children.” Blaine simply answered. “Kurt has kids, three of them actually.”

“Wow.” Nick was stunned. This was not what he expected. “Three?”

“Yes. Well, two are his, they’re boys. The third one is not technically his but she lives with him so…”

“Right.”

Nick was at loss for words. He knew that Blaine couldn’t stand children. It was common knowledge among their group of friends. How many times had Blaine joked about not hanging out with Tina and Mike if they had kids? Nick also remembered that time, when Blaine had to do some babysitting and days afterwards was still having nightmares about it.

“Does Kurt know what you think about children?” Nick asked him gently.

“He knows. I told him after he asked me to look after the younger of his two boys.”

“And what did he say?”

“I don’t remember much of that night to be honest,” he trailed off, looking up at Jeff who was smiling knowingly at him. “No, we did not have sex afterwards, I mean, we did the next morning but… still, that’s not the point.”

Both men remained silent for a few minutes.

“But you like him,” Nick finally said.

Blaine just nodded.

Nick did not know what to say. He almost considered waking up Jeff for help but decided against it. His boyfriend would not be happy if he did that.

“Would you have agreed to be with Jeff if it meant accepting something that you always told yourself you would never have in your life?” Blaine looked tired and so lost. He was convinced that if he gave it a chance, maybe things would turn out for the best. But he was also scared.

“It can be worth it Blaine.” Nick rubbed his friend’s shoulder to comfort him. “So, this is what you have to ask yourself: Is Kurt worth it?”

Blaine blinked at his friend. He thought back to their kiss earlier that evening, the strong connection he had felt when Kurt had tugged him closer. He also recalled the dinner with Kurt and the children. Blaine had wanted to flee at first but then he had stayed and things had gone almost smoothly. He had been surprised to find out that he enjoyed listening to Clara and the boys telling them about their day. He even had fun when he showed off his trick. But Kurt’s smile at him from across the table had made the biggest mark on him that evening. Blaine no longer felt so intimidated anymore. Maybe he could do this.

And so Blaine knew the answer to Nick’s question.

“Yes, he is,” he breathed out the words.

Nick smiled at him and then engulfed him in a long hug.

I promise you, he will be, Nick wanted to say but kept the words to himself.

Later, on his way home, Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his mother’s number.

“Blaine?” He heard her worried voice on the other end of the line and felt a little guilty for not having called her earlier. He was supposed to have brought her car in the afternoon after all.

“Hey mom, before you say anything, I’m fine, no accident to worry about,” he said in a rush as he crossed the street and took a turn to the left.

“You could have at least texted me to warn me that you weren’t coming today,” she scolded him over the phone.

“I’m sorry, Mama, I left the car at a friend’s and I’ll get it back tomorrow.”

“What friend?” she immediately demanded to know.

Charlotte had no problem with Blaine’s friends but she hardly trusted where some of them lived. She did not want to find her car in a vandalized state.

“Don’t worry, he lives on a safe street. I’ll bring you the car tomorrow morning, okay?”

“Who is this friend?” Charlotte was now peaked by curiosity. None of Blaine’s friends she knew lived in safe neighborhoods. And some of them had no parking space available on their street. She only agreed to lend Blaine the car because he could park it in a private garage near his building.

Blaine had feared that she would ask him that.

“It’s Kurt, you met him briefly the other day,” he said speaking fast, hoping she would not remember.

No such luck.

“You mean that guy you hooked up with?”

She now sounded very interested in the conversation and Blaine would be damned if he told her about how he had helped Kurt with his groceries and stayed there for dinner afterwards. No, that was something that Blaine would definitely not share with her.

“Look, Mom, I have to go, I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning.”

“Blaine, I wasn’t finished.” She tried to keep him on the line. “Why were you at Kurt’s?”

Oh, I’m definitely not answering this.

“I have to go. Bye Mama, see you tomorrow.” He hung up before she could say another word. He knew that she would give him hell the next morning for that but at the moment he did not care. He looked for his keys in his pocket and let himself inside the loft.

He took off his jacket and then typed a quick text to Kurt.

From Blaine – 22h49

I’m sorry for texting so late. Don’t worry, I got home safe. I was at a friend’s until now.

He waited a couple of minutes before his phone vibrated.

From Kurt – 22h51

Thank you for remembering to text me :)

Blaine smiled at the small screen

From Blaine – 22h53

No problem. I’ll call you tomorrow. Goodnight Kurt.

Blaine climbed the stairs to his room and lay down on the bed. He felt his phone come to life near his head and picked it up to read Kurt’s reply.

From Kurt – 22h57

Sounds good to me. And don’t forget to let me know what Tina said about your injury.

From Kurt – 22h59

And good night to you too.

Blaine was too exhausted to get up. He remained on his bed and let himself drift off to sleep. Even though the day had emotionally drained him, he felt content now. And if he dreamt of Kurt that night, well, no one but him would know.

**********

**********

On Sunday morning, Richard drove to Marc’s house with news. The maid let him in and guided him inside the living room, telling him to wait for Mr. Ericksen to arrive.

Richard thanked her and sat on the sofa. He then grabbed the file that contained the news he wanted to share with his friend.

Marc arrived five minutes later. He greeted the other man and then asked him the reason for his visit so early on a Sunday.

“I have something to show you that you’ll probably find interesting,” Richard said, as he took two photographs out of the file and laid them on the coffee table.

The first was of a man that Marc vaguely recognized. He was walking down a busy street with some kind of folder in his arms. His hair was dark brown and curly. He was on the phone and whatever he had heard made him smile. The photograph was a bit blurry but Marc was almost certain that the man was one of his employees. After staring long enough at the picture, Marc knew exactly who the man was.

The second photograph had been taken outside of a restaurant. Marc had no difficulty recognizing his ex-husband. But Kurt was not alone on the picture. The same man from the previous photo was sitting at the same table and they both looked like they were on a date.

“This was taken a couple nights ago.” Richard said, pointing at the second photograph. “The man is Blaine Anderson; you probably recognize him. I’ve been following Kurt over the past week since you’ve told me that you noticed something different in his attitude. I had also run into him on Wednesday morning when he was late for the meeting. I could immediately sense something shifty in the way he acted that morning.”

Marc remained silent as his friends kept describing what he knew about Blaine and his relationship with Kurt. Apparently the two had seen each other a couple of times over the past week.

“On Thursday, right after their date,” Richard pointed at the second photograph, “I followed them and they were both heading to Kurt’s apartment. I have no idea if he stayed the night but Anderson did not leave while I was waiting outside.”

Marc reached for the first picture and held it close to his face. Then he took the second one and observed the content look on Kurt’s face. He put the two pictures back on the table and looked at his friend.

“If he’s getting too close to the boys, I’ll have to talk to Kurt about it.”

“Of course,” Richard agreed, barely hiding his malicious smile. He might finally succeed in hurting Kurt the way he had been hurt when Marc chose Kurt over Richard, his best friend, after years of waiting for Marc's homophobic grandfather to die so Marc could come out without risk of losing his inheritance, Ericksen: Art et Divertissement. Richard had hidden his true feelings and his pain for Marc's benefit, but once Kurt cheated and hurt Marc, Richard eagerly awaited his chance to punish Kurt.

“I want you to keep following them for a few more days. Try to find more about that man and see how we could turn this situation to our advantage.” Marc’s demanding tone broke Richard’s train of thoughts.

“Consider it done, Marc.” Richard gathered the photographs and placed them in the files. “You should read this, it’s Blaine’s history since he started working for Ericksen: Art et Divertissement.”

“Thank you, Richard.”

Both men stood up and Marc walked his friend back to the front door.

Once Richard had left, Marc took the file to his office and read attentively every detail that it contained about Anderson. A smiled tugged up at his lips as he reached a summary of Blaine’s interview to get the job at their company. There were indeed some very interesting pieces of information in there.

With a satisfied sigh, Marc put everything back in the folder and took it to his office. He asked his maid to make sure that no one would disturb him for the remaining of the morning.