His father didn't reply, as per usual, though he glanced up briefly and shot Blaine a proud smile.

"Well, you made such a fuss about your little competition, and your father begged so prettily to see you preform, that we decided to come."

"Oh, um, thank you, ma'am," Blaine said. He noticed his mother's eyes flicker from Kurt to their hands, still hanging between the gap of their bodies. He knew what was expected of him and he tugged Kurt forward. "Mother, Father, this is my duet partner, Kurt Hummel. Kurt, this is my mother, Bethany Anderson, and her sub, Andrew."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Anderson," Kurt said, smiling brightly and holding out his left hand to shake. Blaine flinched as Bethany's eyes immediately zeroed in on the silver ring and her face grew stony.

He had mentioned, vaguely, that his parents were for sub rights, but he had failed up mention that his mother was also rather bigoted. His mother believed that subs had rights, but that they should still only be seen, not heard. Blaine swallowed thickly as Kurt's grip on his hand tightened momentarily when his mother's lip curled. She briefly shook the very tips of Kurt's fingers.

"Charmed. Blaine, is he yours?"

He could feel his face heat up in embarrassment at the way she was treating Kurt as he replied. "No, Mother, Kurt is his own man."

Bethany sniffed in distain. "An unattached sub is just begging for trouble. You should Mark him until you meet your soulmate; it would be better than allowing him to wander about alone."

Blaine visibly blanched at her as Kurt tensed beside him, his fingers squeezing Blaine's almost painfully. He scrambled to correct her before his friend could say something that would potentially start a fight. "Mother, nobody Marks any-"

"Well, come along," she interrupted, not even truly paying attention as she dug through her bag. "Your father wants to go out to celebrate your win and I'm in a good mood."

"Oh, I was hoping you'd come over after we went out," Kurt said, pouting slightly even as he glanced warily at Blaine's mother.

"Honestly, hurry and tell your-," her eyes flick over Kurt's body for the briefest of moments before landing on his silver ring, "friend goodbye. We'll be waiting by the doors. Andrew, come," she barked, strolling away without a backwards glance with her husband following meekly behind her.

"Well, she's not very nice, is she?" Kurt didn't bother to hide his sneer as his eyes followed the woman.

"Kurt, I'm so, so sorry," Blaine said, squeezing his friends hand. "I wanted to warn you before I introduced you to her-"

Kurt let out a snort, turning to face him. "Warn me of what? That your mother is a subaphobic bitch?"

"Basically."

"Blaine, I don't care about that. I've lived almost my whole life with people judging me and hating me for who I am; I can handle snide comments from uppity Doms, believe me."

He smiled, tugging Kurt closer and into a one-armed hug. "Still, I'm sorry that she acted that way."

"I thought you said your parents were liberal when it came to sub rights? She seems like she's right up there with those assholes that think we're little more than slaves." He spotted his dad by the door and nodded when Burt waved at him to come over. Blaine's hand dropped to his lower back subconsciously as he weaved through the crowd, leading them to where Burt was waiting.

"She is, a lot of the time, but she also thinks an educated sub is better than an uneducated one. Better at keeping the house accounts and running errands and doing everything a good little house sub should do." A flash of anger darkened his features. "She also thinks they should only speak when spoken to and should show reverence to every Dom, so..." He trailed off with a sigh, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Either way, I try to avoid being around her any more than I need to. I was actually really sad when she asked me to move back home."

Kurt frowned, but was unable to say anything as they reached his father and Blaine handed him off.

"You guys sounded amazing up there!" Burt praised excitedly the moment they were in earshot. "I thought you sounded good at the house, but you owned that stage!"

"Thanks, Dad," Kurt mumbled, his cheeks pink even as he preened at the compliments.

"Thank you, sir," Blaine added, smiling up at the man. "That means a lot to me."

"You know you can just call me Burt, right? So are you ready to eat?"

"Oh, I can't, I'm sorry."

"Blaine's parents, they came to see him perform and want to take him out," Kurt told him, putting on a falsely cheerful smile in hopes his father would ignore the sad, apologetic look on Blaine's face.

"Oh, well, just invite them along," Burt said, not phased.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Blaine said quickly, shooting Kurt a look. "Uh, they kind of want it to just be us today, but maybe I can get a rain check on dinner?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," Burt said, clasping him on the shoulder, "just let us know when."

"Yes, sir, Burt." He gave him a smile and turned to Kurt. "Thanks for the song."

"Thank you for singing it with me," Kurt replied, slightly shy.

"Anytime." His eyes flicked nervously to Burt, who was pointedly looking away, before leaning in to press a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek, enjoying how pink the apples of his cheeks grew even as his own face grew hot. "I'll call you when I get home."

"Okay."

Blaine told them goodbye, waving as he made his way to where his mother was standing impatiently.

"Finally," she huffed in exasperation, walking towards the exit doors before he drew level to them, his father scurrying after her. "Really, Blaine, I don't have all the time in the world, you know."

"I'm sorry, Mother, I needed to speak to Kurt's dad before I left."And apologize to Kurt for your rudeness,he thought. They all piled in her BMW, Andrew sitting in the back so the two Doms were in the front.

"Now, we need to talk about that boy," Bethany said as they pulled out of the parking lot.

He tensed, not knowing what she would say or do. Though he was a Dom as well, she was still his mother and could make him stop hanging out with Kurt. "What about him?" he asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral.

Bethany huffed. "What were you thinking, befriending such an unsub like boy? He'll be terrible for his soulmate or whoever he ends up with. Do you know how much work it is to break a sub, Blaine? No, that's right, you don't." The words, already harsh, were hardened by the sneer on her face.

"I-"

"Don't interrupt me. You should be doing your duty as a Dom and look after him, teach him his place in our society." She sighed, glancing over as her features softened. "You're too soft, darling boy. I know you want to be friends with everyone, but sometimes you have to be tough, show those beneath you what they're supposed to do, how they're supposed to fit in. Letting a sub like that roam around, speaking out of turn and looking Doms straight in the eye needs to be taught, to be punished for not doing as he should. And you, not Marking him, keeping him safe from other Doms." She sighed again, flipping her blinker on to turn. "Looks like we'll have to start lessons again, hm? I only want what's best for you, sweetheart."

From the back, Blaine heard his father let out an almost inaudible sigh.

"Yes, Mother." He couldn't look at her, couldn't look at his father, eyes trained on his lap as he tried to think of a way of getting out of it. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he hurried to dig it out.

From: Kurt
Thanks for not letting me fall :)

888

Kurt watched as Blaine walked away, brows furrowed.

"What's wrong, kid?" Burt asked, bumping his arm against Kurt's shoulder.

"Hm? Oh, nothing." When his dad just raised his eyebrow at him, he sighed. "His mom was just kind of... rude, that's all."

Burt scowled, glaring off in the direction Blaine had gone. "What did she say? Do I need to go have a word with her?"

"Dad, no, calm down." Kurt grabbed his sleeve before he could move. "She's just one of those people, it's okay, I'm used to it."

Burt stared at him, eyes searching his face for any sign he was lying. "All right, if you're sure..."

"I am," Kurt confirmed with a nod.

"Well, then, let's go celebrate you winning this thing!"

Kurt followed him with a laugh, but too easily his mind strayed back to his friend. He had looked so despondent when he left, so reluctant to spend time with his parents, and Kurt couldn't blame him. His mother had been rude, brushing him off like he was nothing and acting like something as important to Blaine as performing was meant so little to her. She hadn't even been planning to come until her husband had begged to. And she hasn't even commented on his performance, too busy critiquing both of them to bother telling her son what an amazing job he had done.

He slid his phone out of his pocket as he climbed into his dads truck.

To: Blaine
Thanks for not letting me fall :)

To: Kurt
Never ever :) you were stunning up there tonight.

To: Blaine
Well, I can't help but pull focus, sorry ;) you were pretty great yourself

To: Kurt
What can I say, I had the perfect partner

To: Blaine
You flatter me, sir

To: Kurt
Anything to make you smile that cute smile I know is on your face right now

Kurt could feel his ears burning even as he smiled harder and was so thankful his dad was too busy grumbling about traffic to notice. Before he could think of a reply, his phone buzzed again.

To: Kurt
Oh, god, I'm sorry if I made you feel awkward, I just like making you smile and I knew that would and I'm so sorry

To: Blaine
Haha, calm down, it didn't make things awkward :) thank you

To: Kurt
:)

Kurt could feel the silly smile on his face but didn't bother trying to tame it. Blaine had called him cute, or at least his smile, and had kissed him twice today. His stomach fluttered pleasantly as he remembered the press of lips to his skin.

"Wanna tell me what that look is for?" Burt asked as they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant.

"What look?"

"The one that looks like you're about to float away. Beginning to wonder if I need to tie a string to your wrist," his dad teased, winking as he held open the door for Kurt and a couple that walked up behind them.

"Two adults," Kurt told the hostess.

"And the name?"

"Hummel."

"There's going to about a fifteen minute wait."

Kurt glanced at his dad, who nodded. "That's fine."

She tapped something on the computer screen in front of her and handed him a black disk with a few red lights that blinked for a second before shutting off. "All right, that will buzz when your table is ready." She smiled sweetly at them before speaking to the couple as they moved away from the stand.

"Well?"

Kurt looked up from his phone to where his father was watching him expectantly. "Well what?"

Burt bumped him with his elbow several times, grinning wickedly. "So what's going on with you and Blaine?" When Kurt only blushed, he added, "The kissing is new."

"Shut up, Dad," he grumbled, fiddling with his phone, silently willing someone to call him.

"What, I think it's cute!" Kurt let out a huff. "I'm serious, kid." At the change in his tone, Kurt looked at him. "You've been alone for so long, only had me and Sam, and now... Well, I can't remember the last time I saw you smile as much as you do with Blaine."

"I... I really like him, Dad. He makes me feel so special and safe and..." Kurt sighed, staring at a picture hanging on the wall across from them.

"All warm and fuzzy and like you can't explain it, but you know the feeling is there?"

"Yeah." He glanced at his dad. "It sounds stupid, doesn't it? I haven't even known him that long."

Burt grew quiet for a long moment, long enough for the disk sitting between them to light up and buzz gently against the vinyl of the seat. They stand, handing it to the hostess and following her to their seats. It's only once they were seated that he spoke. "It's not stupid, liking someone who treats you well. You can't help when you like someone anymore than you can control when you're happy or sad or angry. It happens and you just have to go with it. It's a little different with crushes, but at the basics, it's the same. And who cares about how long you've known him? You've heard of 'love at first sight;' how is this any different?"

A man appeared at Burt's elbow, getting their drink order before disappearing just as quickly.

"Because it's Blaine and he's one of my best friends." Kurt sighed. "I don't know, it's weird."

A rough, calloused hand reached across the table, squeezing his own soft, smooth one. "Nothing weird about love, kiddo, not any of the kinds I know you're capable of."

"Thanks, Dad."

The waiter came back and they both quickly looked over the menu before ordering. "So, are you two going to date now?"

Kurt was shaking his head before the words even left his father's mouth. "I don't know if he even likes me like that."

Burt let out such a huge snort that the people at the next table turned to stare at him. "Sure, son, you keep thinking that."

888

It was a long drive back from Columbus, sitting under the heavy weight of his mother's disappointment after he tried talking her out of more of her terrible 'Dom lessons,' which were really little more than her forcing him to Dominate his dad non sexually. She believed it was good practice for when he got his own sub, but Blaine hated it, hated seeing his father on his knees, head bent like a 'good boy' and not even trying to fight back anymore.

If nothing else, he had been able to talk her out of starting them again that night, reminding her that he had just had a performance earlier and that he was mentally drained as well. It was mostly true, but anything to put off having to go through that again. His mother thought she knew what was best, but more and more often in the past few years, he found himself thinking that wasn't quite true.

He flopped down on his bed, face first and with his limbs thrown out so that he resembled a starfish. He lay there for several minutes, simply enjoying the quiet room and the soft comfort of his bed. It was late and, as he settled in, he found himself relaxing more and more until he almost dropped off to sleep.

The door to his room creaked slightly, startling him from drowsing. He sighed heavily, feeling his entire torso lift with the movement. "Dad, I really don't want to talk right now," he mumbled, half into his bedspread. He had a habit of try to comfort Blaine when the topic of lessons came up but, really, it did little more than make Blaine feel guilty. He should be comforting his dad after the lessons; they were really rough on him.

The padding of footsteps across his floor had him huffing, his arms moving to turn himself over, when all of a sudden, his breath left him in a whoosh as something heavy pressed him into the bed.

"Hey-ya, Squirt, heard you have to take more Dom lessons."

Blaine stopped trying to buck the weight off and instead turned his head so that he could look at his brother. "Cooper, what are you doing here?" He grunted, trying to maneuver into a position so that he could roll them and get out from under the crushing pressure.

"Thanksgiving, little brother! The time of the year where we stuff ourselves like turkey and no one can make fun of us."

"Cooper, your massive butt is suffocating me, please get off," Blaine groaned, dropping back onto the bed.

"I dunno, you're pretty comfortable, B."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"I wish I could hate you."

"No, you don't."

"Go away."

Cooper finally rolled off of him, lying flat on his back next to Blaine. "So, tell me what's new. What have I missed in the Exciting Life of Blaine Anderson?"

Blaine turned over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling and chewing on his bottom lip nervously. His eyes flicked over to Cooper before he whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"