The week had started out wonderfully for Kurt: he and Finn were back on talking terms and so far them sharing a room was going as well as could be expected. Kurt no longer had to hide the fact that he had an amazing boyfriend who he adored, and who adored Kurt in turn. Blaine had told his classmates in the Warblers about them dating and it had gone well. The New Directions actually had a good chance at winning Regionals, meaning glee club at McKinley could go on for another school year. But the equilibrium of the world quickly showed its ugly underbelly and brought forth the biggest funk the group of singers had ever faced. It had all started when Jesse St. James suddenly transferred back to Vocal Adrenaline without warning, proving their fears about him being a spy from day one had indeed been true. That was bad enough, but being forced to watch Vocal Adrenaline sing an dazzling number and in their own auditorium moreover, had rendered them all helplessly depressed. The final nail in the coffin of their oncoming funk had been returning to a teepee’d choir room, which added a special extra bonus of sadness. Just when they thought nothing worse could happen, Sue, always enjoying to be the bringer of bad news, announced that their chances to win were extremely low and Kurt could barely take it anymore. Judging by the shared woeful faces of everyone on the team, he wasn’t the only one. Finn and Puck had foolishly tried to get back at VA by vandalizing their fleet of cars and all that had resulted in them having to look for work to pay for the damages. Kurt knew his only chance at becoming cheerful at all was to bring in the big gun: Blaine Anderson. Kurt called him up in an attempt to raise his spirits.

“Why hello there, handsome.” Blaine answered.

Normally hearing Blaine’s usual cheerful voice would have made him smile, but at the moment Kurt couldn’t bring himself to even do that. “Hi...” Kurt replied weakly.

“Bad day?”

“Worst... day... ever!” Kurt replied with a groan.

“Let me be the judge of that, begin.” Blaine urged. As he listened to Kurt go over all the depressing details the New Directions were having to face, Blaine could hardly believe what he was hearing. Ever since Blaine had met Kurt and had been told about the opposition the New Directions faced almost daily, it was hard to believe it was true. It also wasn’t right, let alone fair, that a group of such talented young people should have to deal with so much drama and hardship. It had been bad enough that the fate of the club rested with winning Nationals. Now all of this new information was unbelievable and he totally understood Kurt’s current blue mood once he was finished explaining. “Okay, yeah... I see what you mean.” Was all Blaine could say in reply at first.

Kurt let out a long sigh over the phone, just getting to vent it all out to Blaine was helping, but it was far from enough to even begin to lift his crushing depression. “If this only had to do with us losing Regionals I think I could handle it better. But because losing means the end of glee club... I can’t...” Kurt struggled as he began to sink deeper into misery.

Hearing Kurt’s anguished voice was making Blaine’s heart ache with the need to make it all better, or at least to try. But for all of Blaine’s charm and heroism, he knew even he had his limits, though he refused to give up before trying. “Should I even try to cheer you up after school today?” Blaine asked honestly.

Kurt was in no mood to lie to Blaine, even for his sake. “Honestly Blaine... I don’t know. What I do know is I still want to see your handsome face today. It’s probably the only thing keeping me together right now. But I can make no guarantee that you’ll be successful.” Kurt admitted.

Blaine wasn’t about to be daunted by such a task, instead he met it head on with firm determination. “That sounds like a challenge worth going the distance for, Kurt.” he replied.
______________________________________________________________________

Even when Blaine’s planning skills could no way be compared to Kurt’s, he quickly set to thinking of the best way to cheer up his boyfriend. Blaine’s first thoughts were to take Kurt out somewhere, on an actual date. Since both the Warblers and the New Directions knew they were a couple now, there was no need to lay low any longer. But with Regionals just around the corner now, despite the set back the New Directions had taken, there wasn’t much time to go on dates. Not to mention that Blaine didn’t want their first official date, in which they would go outside of their houses for the first time, to be when Kurt was so depressed. Blaine’s choice, even though it was somewhat repetitive, was to have a movie night at his place, with one additional very special surprise for Kurt to discover.

When Kurt arrived, Blaine welcomed him with a big smile and he felt some warmth return to him, but not enough, so the smile he returned was weak. It was hardly convincing, Blaine took one look at Kurt’s sad face and all he wanted to do was cuddle and console the poor boy. “Oh my god Kurt...” Blaine stuttered lovingly, he shook his head as he held his arms out in front of Kurt in offering. “Get over here.” he urged.

Kurt looked up at Blaine, he had been staring at the floor meekly before, and just walked into his outstretched arms, letting Blaine wrap his arms around Kurt’s frame, pulling him fully into his comforting embrace. Once Kurt was in the safety of Blaine’s arms, he finally let himself break down and cry out the tears he had bottled up inside of him. No words were needed as Kurt quietly sobbed into Blaine’s shoulder, making little sense from his muffled anguish. All the while Blaine simply ran his hands up and down Kurt’s back, soothing him, letting him cry it all out.

Kurt didn’t even try to hold anything back, even when he felt like he was constantly tearful, he needed this. Finally Kurt was able to pull himself back together, the outbreak had helped somewhat, but he wasn’t back to his normal superior self, not yet. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know how amazing Blaine was being for his sake. Nor did it mean he didn’t appreciate everything Blaine was doing for him, without asking for anything in return. No, it was just that sometimes, even having a wonderful boyfriend like Blaine wasn’t enough to forget the hardship he faced almost daily. Kurt inhaled deeply, as if breathing Blaine in would transfer some of his optimism. “You are seriously too perfect of a boyfriend, Blaine.” Kurt whispered to him.

Blaine chuckled at that, “Oh that is so not true, Kurt. I’m far from perfect and I’m sure I’ll prove that sometime in the future. The one who’s perfectly imperfect is you, or when we’re together, it feels like perfection.” Blaine told Kurt softly.

Kurt pulled back to look at Blaine, and the beaming smile on his face made Kurt crack a small smile. Blaine leaned forward and Kurt closed his eyes as they shared a long tender kiss that seemed to be the definition of perfection. Afterwards Kurt sighed, allowing Blaine to lead him to his bedroom. Kurt glanced around the house, Blaine’s parents seemed to be nowhere in sight, which wasn’t unusual. Since Kurt had met Blaine, he had only encountered them a few times and each moment had been brief. Kurt wasn’t even sure if Blaine’s parents knew they were dating yet. From what Kurt knew about Blaine and his father, Kurt could hardly blame him if that were true.

Blaine was well aware that he needed to tell his parents about his and Kurt’s relationship change, but he was stalling, for as long as possible. It wasn’t that Blaine had been intentionally keeping it from them, his father most of all. Kurt was the thing Blaine was most proud of having in his life, or one of the most important at least. In fact he planned to tell them they were dating as soon as Kurt’s depression ordeal was dealt with and somewhat solved. Blaine was just glad that his parents were working late, so there would be no awkward interruptions. Not that Blaine had any rambunctious plans in mind for him and Kurt that night. “I know I said we’d watch a movie but I figure it might be too grave even for that.” Blaine began.

Kurt noticed right away that something about Blaine’s room was odd, that his chair that was normally in the corner of his room had been moved. It now rested a few feet away from his bed, while in front of the bed was a single wooden bar stool. Kurt walked closer and noticed there was what looked like a ukelele resting on top of the stool. Kurt looked back at Blaine with curious amusement. “You play the ukelele?” Kurt asked.

Blaine laughed, “A bit, though not much, but just enough to succeed in what I need it for.” Blaine explained as he took hold of Kurt’s shoulders from behind him and guided him to sit in the chair. When Kurt was settled Blaine leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the lips, making a cute ‘mmm’ sound as he did. Blaine strolled over to the stood, took hold of the ukelele and sat down.

“What’s all this, Blaine?” Kurt asked him with delight.

Blaine only flashed Kurt a cheeky look in reply and began to play a few simple cords on the ukelele. “You’ll see.” Blaine said with a wink. Before Kurt could say anything else, Blaine opened his mouth to sing, the tune was slow and sweet.

Kurt opened his mouth wide in surprise as he listened to Blaine begin to serenade him; he didn’t recognize the song but that didn’t make it any less special. Kurt just leaned on the chair, resting his face on his hands as he dreamily gazed at Blaine, like a lovestruck fool, which he was.

You make me happy, whether you know it or not yeah
We should be happy, that’s what I said from the start
I am so happy, knowing you are the one
That I want for the rest of my days
For the rest of my days
You’re all of my days.

You’re lookin’ so cool, you’re lookin’ so fly
I can’t deny that when I’m staring
You down, right dead in the eye
I wanna try to be the person you want
The person you need
It’s hard to conceive
That somebody like you could be with
Someone like me

I’m happy knowing that you are mine
The grass is greener on the other si-ide
The more I think, the more I wish
That we could lay here for hours, and just-a reminisce
Uhh ooo ooo

You’re lookin’ so fresh
It’s catching my eye
Why, oh why, did I not see this before,
The boy I adore was right in front of me?
And now I’ll take a step back and look in your eye
And ask why it took so long to see
We’re meant to be

I’m happy knowing that you are mine
The grass is greener on the other si-ide
The more I think, the more I wish
That we could lay here for hours and just-a reminisce

On the good, the bad, the ugly
The smiles ,the laughs, the funny,
Or all the things we put each other through
It’s for you, for you, for you.

You make me happy, whether you know it or not
We should be happy, that’s what I said from the start
I am so happy, knowing you are the one
That I want for the rest of my days
For the rest of my days

I’m happy knowing that you are mine
The grass is greener on the other si-ide
The more I think, the more I wish
That we could lay here for hours and just-a reminisce.

When Blaine finished the song Kurt straightened up, placing his hands over his heart for a moment before he broke out into an enthusiastic applause. “Oh my god Blaine, thank you so much…that was... that was wonderful. What’s the song called?” Kurt rambled.

Blaine didn’t get to answer Kurt straight away, instead he was tackled by Kurt who rushed over to him with a bone crushing hug. Blaine laughed and rocked back on the stool, managing to keep them from falling over. Blaine clung tightly onto Kurt, he was crying, but they were happy tears. “It was ‘Happy’ by Never Shout Never.” Blaine answered.

Kurt looked at Blaine and he was rewarded by seeing the warm smile on his face. Kurt began to kiss Blaine’s wet cheeks, until they were dry once more. They got so close that their noises were touching and Kurt’s eyelashes fluttered at Blaine. Kurt was very tempted to tell Blaine how much he loved him, right then and there. But he held it back. Kurt wanted to wait, for an even more perfect moment, if there would ever be one.

“So I did I succeed at all?” Blaine asked softly.

Kurt’s immediate answer was to kiss Blaine softly, “Yes, heaps and bounds Blaine. But I also don’t want to lie to you. No matter how recovered and happy I feel right now, it won’t last. I’m sure my funk will return to me, stronger than ever. But for the moment, screw Vocal Adrenaline, you’re the one with real talent.” Kurt exclaimed.
___________________________________________________________________

True to Kurt’s warning, Blaine soon saw that any progress he had made before, was lost and pushed beneath the New Directions underlined depression. The funk returned and it was even worse than before. To the point when Blaine noticed Kurt had worn the same outfit twice in one week and that set alarms ringing off in his mind. It was a very bad sign that the funk was bleeding into Kurt’s personal life. He saw this first hand when Blaine found Kurt already waiting for him at their table at the Lima Bean after class. Kurt hadn’t noticed his arrival at first, he was too focused on staring at his coffee cup, his expression void of any emotion. Blaine sighed, he had his work cut out for him, that was sure. Blaine took a seat, placing his own drink on the table as he did. “You know... your problems make my life seem very boring.” Blaine announced.

Kurt smirked a little from the comment, but it soon began to fade. “Or it makes my life seem that much more pathetic.” Kurt replied meekly. “But I don’t want to drag you into my pity part Blaine, your positive outlook for life is what’s keeping me a float during all this hardship. Your life is far from boring, I can assure you. I’m always well entertained and amused when you tell me about your day to day happenings. It makes me remember that it shouldn’t always be about me when we see each other. Funk or no funk, I want this to be an equal relationship and I can’t help but notice I haven’t been pulling my weight lately...” Kurt began to say.

“No, no pity parties Kurt, I’ll have none of that! Want some distraction from your own problems, perhaps? Listen to me talk about my own life, though all that might do is confirm to you that it is boring.” Blaine chuckled.

Kurt reached out and captured Blaine’s hand in his own, running his thumb along the soft skin. He gave Blaine the best appreciative smile he could manage and he nodded. “Yes, please.” he said.

Blaine took the request and went beyond Kurt’s expectations as he began to ramble on and on about a number of things. Starting with him telling the lead council members of the Warblers that he and Kurt were dating, and how the news that Blaine had a boyfriend quickly spread around the school and the reactions it brought. Blaine had been bombarded by a number of questions, ranging from how far he had gotten physically, to what Kurt looked like. It was nothing like what he or the New Directions were currently dealing with. But that didn’t make it any less important and Kurt never felt the least bit bored as Blaine continued to speak. Blaine kept any music details about glee club to himself, since the Warblers were in full Regional mode. “I’m really glad we don’t have to compete head to head for Regionals, Kurt.” Blaine admitted with relief.

“Me too, but considering the fact that we’re both professional performers in addition to being boyfriends, We might have to if we both end out winning Regionals for our set.” Kurt commented. He realized that declaration brought the mood back down and he sighed. “Sorry... I made the whole discussion end on a pretty depressing note, didn’t I?” Kurt moaned.

“Oh Kurt, my handsome boyfriend; don’t be sorry, it’s true, after all. But even if it comes to that, I don’t see it effecting us all that much.” Blaine pointed out.

“Because we’re that professional or that we’re such an amazing couple?” Kurt asked Blaine.

“Both.” Blaine replied with a smile.
____________________________________________________________________

Blaine finally knew it was time to face the music and do the thing he had been avoiding for the last few weeks: talk to his parents about Kurt. Blaine had made himself promise the first moment his mom and dad were home at the same time, he’d do it. So when the opportunity arose, Blaine stood and walked towards confrontation, head on and without faltering in the least. Blaine found his mother and father in the living room. Robert Anderson was sitting at his work desk in the corner, while Emily Anderson was sitting watching some show on television, enjoying a rare moment to herself. Blaine cleared his throat lightly to get their attention. “Mom, dad... can I uh... talk to the both of you for a moment, please?” Blaine asked.

That got their attention and Emily and Robert exchanged worried glances, because the last time Blaine had said something similar to them, Blaine had come out. Robert stood up from his computer desk and came to sit down beside Emily on the couch.

Blaine took a deep breath, it wouldn’t be so bad, he assured himself; his parents still loved and cared about him, he was sure about that. “Something happened to me recently, something I don’t want to hide since it’s good news. It about Kurt, he and I... we’ve started dating.” Blaine told them.

Emily and Robert’s face showed genuine surprise at the news, Emily’s face soon changed to delight and Blaine had been expecting that to happen. When Blaine had told his parents he was gay, back in his freshman year of high school, his mom and dad had been equally surprised and unsure about how to deal with it, but there had been no cruel rejection. Nor had there been instant acceptance like Kurt had with his own father. It had taken a while, but Emily had come around first and told Blaine it made no difference, that he was her son and she loved him no matter what. As for Robert, his reaction to the idea of his son being gay had not gone so smoothly. At first Blaine assumed his father hoped it was only a phase, that Blaine would come to his senses as time went on. But nothing along those lines had happened and it became a struggle for him to deal with the idea. Blaine’s relationship with his father had been somewhat strained since then, a fact that brought him a great deal of remorse.

“That’s... wonderful Blaine, I’m happy for you. You deserve this, after what you’ve been through.” Emily said as she stood up and hugged Blaine lightly.

Blaine smiled warmly at his mother and returned the hug. “Thanks, mom.” he replied. When the hug was finished the pair of them turned to look at Robert and the conflict on his face was easy to see.

“I trust you know there will be no debauchery in this house, Blaine.” Robert suddenly announced.

“Robert!” Emily hissed in surprise.

Blaine gaped at his father in shock, even in his wildest imagination wouldn’t he have thought that that would have been the first thing Robert would say in reply. Blaine soon became a mix of hurt and anger at the comment. “Is that really the first thing you want to tell me?” he blurted out.

Robert stared at his son, he was clearly very uncomfortable with the whole situation and it showed. Accepting that Blaine now had a boyfriend meant there was little hope that Blaine was going through some sort of phase. Deep down he had known this all along, but hearing it spoken out loud wasn’t helping. Robert rubbed the bottom of his beard covered chin with his hand awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. “I didn’t know what to say...” he admitted.

Blaine let out a cry of frustration, “Of course not, how about 'I’m going to make Kurt feel welcome as possible from now on'?” Blaine offered.

“I’ll try to do that.” Robert struggled.

Blaine blinked at his father, slightly taken aback at the confession. “Thank you.” he simply muttered.

“Tell Kurt he’s always welcome here, Blaine.” Emily added.

Blaine nodded, it was all he could do, the whole ordeal hadn’t been horrible, but it had been far from ideal. Blaine made himself stand his ground, though all he wanted to do was storm out of the room. “I will.” he assured her. “I’m gonna go now.” Blaine muttered and he shoved his hands into his pockets and hurried off before another word could be spoken. Blaine brought out his cellphone and called Kurt instantly. When his boyfriend picked up on the other end he didn’t give him time to speak first. “Ready to even things out a bit?” he asked weakly.

“Blaine, what’s wrong?” Kurt asked with concern.

Blaine laughed, but it was a laugh of anguish as he tried to deal with the pain. “I just told my parents we’re dating.” he explained.

“Oh... tell me what happened.” Kurt urged. “If you can do that.” he added.

“I will if I can see you right now, can I come over?” Blaine asked weakly.

“Blaine… honey... If you hadn’t said that, it wouldn’t have stopped me from suggesting it myself, no matter what your dad thinks. Come over, let me help you... please.” Kurt pleaded.

Blaine sniffled as he fought the urge to cry, some of the pain he had been feeling was replaced by his love for Kurt. “I’ll be right over.” he mumbled.

“Can you drive in your emotional sate? Want me to pick you up?” Kurt suggested.

“That might be a good idea.” Blaine agreed.

Blaine used the wait to pull himself back together, at least until he was with Kurt and they were alone. He opened the door to his bedroom and headed down the hallway, to discover his parents were arguing. Blaine froze still at the sound of raised voices, he knew there was no danger that this would cause any rift between his parents. Despite their occasional fights and being busy with work, they loved each other a great deal. But Blaine was too curious not to hear what they were fighting over, even when he knew what it would be about.

“...you could have treated that a lot better Robert, I hope you realize.” Emily voice said with discontent.

“I know that! I... I honestly didn’t know how to react!” Robert blurted out in defence.

“Clearly, Blaine’s been out of the closet for almost two years now, him getting a boyfriend shouldn’t surprise you. You’ve also met Kurt before, even if it was just in passing. I’ve certainly noticed the chemistry between them. Robert, you need to accept this, Blaine is gay, but he’s still your son.” Emily told him.

“I don’t want him to have to go through so much hardship, which he will if he’s gay, Emily. After what happened after that stupid dance... how he had to run off to private school. I just thought nothing good could come of this, that all his experiences would be bad ones.” Robert admitted softly.

“Robert, I love you but you can be an idiot at times. Blaine’s faced hard times, yes, but he’s remained our silly and charming son through all of it . Even you have to have noticed how happy he’s been over the last few weeks. We now know the cause, it’s Kurt. Blaine’s happy, so you need to try to be too.” Emily commented.

Robert’s loud sigh could be heard from the hallway, “I said I’ll try, okay? just... it’s not easy to accept.”

“You still love Blaine, right?”

“How can you ask me that? of course I do!”

“Good, then try telling him that, because the way you’ve reacted to him since he’s come out. He might start to doubt that...” Emily warned, she was being overly dramatic on purpose. Because she was well aware that Blaine knew his father still loved him, but she knew better what to do especially when her husband needed to be pushed to confront anything that made him uncomfortable.

Blaine decided he had heard enough and he began to whistle as he walked down the hall, giving his parents fair warning that he was coming within ear shot. He stopped at the hallway and forced himself to smile. “I’m going out to meet up with Kurt, I won’t be out really late.” Blaine informed them.

“Okay, that’s fine.” Robert replied.

‘I know it is.’ Blaine thought to himself as he walked out the door and waited for Kurt out in the driveway.
___________________________________________________________________

Kurt found himself very fortunate to have Blaine and glee club in his life, because those two things made everything else bearable, for the most part. Coming face to face with having his boyfriend fall into his own funk, caused by his father, had brought forth the strength in Kurt to recover enough and be there for Blaine. In turn, this helped him deal with a new turn of events: for some unknown reason, Coach Sylvester refused to get out of bed. The result of this, even with Nationals approaching, was that the Cheerios hadn’t practised for days. Kurt was forced to watch his fellow cheerleading teammates cascade into sheer depression and almost lose the will to live. In Glee club Kurt fully supported Mr. Schuester’s idea to come back at Vocal Adrenaline with a kick ass funky song, to set their rivals into their own funk in result. Kurt had been too busy with Blaine to come up with his own number so far, after watching Puck, Mercedes and Finn sing their very uplifting rendition of Good Vibrations. Kurt almost forgot the funk looming over them all, almost. His own problems hadn’t left him completely, they had only been shoved aside to make room for Blaine and Kurt’s plans to bring back his usual optimism. Kurt set the wheels in motion when he called Blaine up after school was over for the day. “And how is my wonderful boy feeling today?” he asked sweetly.

“Better, all thanks to a special someone in my life.” Blaine answered.

“I hope he knows how lucky he is.” Kurt replied playfully.

“I hope so too.” Blaine said warmly. “How’s your own funk level today?” Blaine asked.

“I’ve reached a calm moment in the chaotic storm of my life, all thanks to you. Look, I was wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner tonight?” Kurt asked.

“I’d love to, do I get a Kurt cooked special again?”

“Actually no, this time we won’t be alone. My dad, Carole and Finn will all be there.” Kurt explained.

“Oh.”

“Is that a problem?” Kurt asked, his voice full of concern.

“Oh no! It’s great! I’m sorry I just…was a bit envious… but never mind. I’m touched you invited me. But wait, Burt knows I’m coming, right?” Blaine asked. He knew Burt was almost the complete opposite to his own dad, but Kurt’s father could bring a different type of stress out in him. The stress to impress.

“Yes Blaine, he was actually the one to suggest it.” Kurt replied.

“Really?” Blaine said, wondering if Kurt had talked about his father issues with Burt.

Kurt, it seemed, knew where his thoughts where going without Blaine voicing them. “Blaine, honey... I didn’t mention anything about your parents to him, or Carole, or anyone. What I did tell them about was your attempts to cheer me up, like you serenading me. I would never share anything so personal.” Kurt assured him softly.

“I’m sorry, I know you wouldn’t it’s just...” Blaine sighed.

“Sucks?” Kurt offered.

“Exactly, but I’ve got something to look forward to now, so I’m good. I promise I’ll be my normal dapper self and charm the crap out of your family.” Blaine said playfully.

“That’s my cutie.” Kurt said sweetly.
__________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to it or not, Blaine still was a bundle of nerves when he parked his car and made his way to the front door. Things at his own house weren’t all that bad in retrospect, but Blaine and his dad hadn’t faced the whole ordeal either. Blaine always enjoyed spending time at the Hummel-Hudson house, since it was so much more relaxing for him. But the side effect was it made him realize how badly he wanted that type of relationship with his own father, the kind that Kurt had with Burt. Blaine shook his head, making himself forget all about that. It would do him no good right now and he was being silly anyway. Blaine was no longer a stranger to Carole, Burt or even Finn after all. Over the last few weeks Blaine had gotten to know them all properly. Carole was full of kindness and warmth and made him feel so welcome and treasured, like he had become her honorary son. Blaine’s mother had her own warmth, but not in so much concentration. When it came to Burt Hummel, Blaine had come to notice he was a simple yet amazing man, who Blaine had instantly come to admire and respect. Finn, as he had guessed, was a typical teenage boy who Blaine could talk to about football with, him being gay never being an issue. Blaine wondered if the three of them knew how lucky they were, to have each other in their lives. Blaine certainly was, a day didn’t go by were he didn’t feel grateful for Kurt coming into his life.

Blaine finally knocked on the door and less than a second later, it opened to reveal Kurt warm and inviting face, beaming at him. “Welcome!” He announced.

Blaine resisted the urge to capture Kurt’s face with his hands and kiss him over and over, since he knew Kurt’s family had to be close by. If it was possible, Blaine hoped to avoid any embarrassing or awkward episodes during his first dinner with his boyfriend’ s family.

Kurt ushered Blaine inside the hallway and took his coat, hanging it up on a nearby coat-wrack. Kurt took one look at Blaine and he shook his head affectionately, it was clear he was nervous. “Calm down Blaine, you’ll be fine. It’s my dad, Carole and Finn, not the president.” Kurt pointed out.

“If you say so...” Blaine began as he let Kurt lead him into the kitchen.

Blaine stepped into the kitchen to discover so far it was only occupied by Carole, who was busy cooking over the oven. She turned to see the young couple’s arrival and she greeted them both with her usual warm smile. “Oh good, Blaine you’re here, things are almost done.” Carole told him.

“Thanks for going to all the trouble.” Blaine told her.

“This is nothing and Kurt’s been helping me.” Carole answered.

“In fact dad and Finn are in the den watching some sports game, why don’t you go join them?” Kurt suggested.

Blaine nodded, and he couldn’t resist but give Kurt a quick kiss on the cheek, who rolled his eyes at Blaine and pushed him towards the den. Blaine made his retreat, leaving them to work and Blaine walked into the room. “Hey.” he said, announcing his arrival.

“Hi Blaine, have a seat, the score’ s 4 to one.” Burt told Blaine.

“Hey Blaine.” Finn muttered, his eyes never leaving the television screen, being so transfixed on the game.

Blaine grinned at them and he took a seat on Finn’s left and three of them watched the game with interest, making cheers or groans depending on what happened. A while later Kurt glided into the den and brought their attention away from the screen. “Dinner is served.” he announced.

What had followed turned out to be an pleasant dinner for everyone in the house, Carole’s dinner had been as delicious as Kurt had said it would be. Blaine had certainly eaten enough that he felt he would be full for life. Between their mouthfuls of food, Burt had talked to him about cars- even Kurt had added his own thoughts during the discussion- while Finn had told Blaine about his last game on the football team, during which Kurt tried to seem interested but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Carole had asked him about the Warblers and Blaine had managed to answer them without giving anything away concerning Regionals. It had all gone splendidly as Kurt assured him it would and Blaine was glad Kurt had been right. At the end of the meal Kurt and Blaine had offered to do the dished. So at the moment Blaine found himself with a dish towel in hand, as Kurt handed him another clean plate for him to dry.

“See? That went well.” Kurt said as he started to wash the next dish.

“Yeah, it did...” Blaine admitted. “Of course I think that mainly had to do with who dinner was with.”

“It might have, yes.” Kurt agreed with a smile.

Blaine remained silent for a moment. “In fact it’s got me thinking: how would you like to come over to my place for dinner sometime next? Perhaps after Regionals? I can’t say it will go as well as tonight, but I’d like you to come nonetheless.” Blaine said.

“I’d like that Blaine, thank you. But what about your dad?” Kurt asked. He didn’t want to make things any more strained between the two of them.

“I think it will help, actually, show how crazy I am about you and how happy you make me.” Blaine commented.

“Okay.” Kurt answered. “Thank you.” he said once more.

“I’m just returning the favour.” Blaine replied.
__________________________________________________________________________

After how well the dinner with Blaine and his family had gone, things kept getting better in Kurt’s life, little by little, day by day. Sue had pulled herself up from bed and had come back more charged than ever to win Nationals. The result of this was that Kurt and his team mates were pushed to their limit and Kurt came home every day exhausted but it was well worth it. During it all Blaine had been there to massage his aching muscles and listen to his constant whining. There had been a minor set back with Rachel’s cruel egg attack brought forth by Jesse St. James, but the result of that had pushed them all forward, made them that more driven to bring Vocal Adrenaline down and crush them. They planned to do so by inviting their show choir rivals to teach them what singing when you actually have a soul was all about. Kurt had smugly enjoyed the idea of being able to prove he could belt the low notes just as well as the high ones. The downside to the much needed comeback was that Kurt had little time to spare for Blaine. Which he hated, since he wanted to help Blaine deal with his own issues. Kurt ended up voicing his annoyance over it to Blaine during their usual evening phone call before bed. “I mean, I’m really psyched about getting to sing such an awesome Celine Dion medley for Nationals. But the way Coach Sylvester has been hounding us I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to get to performed it!” Kurt whined weakly.

“I have my complete faith in you, Kurt.”

“Oh cutie, you always know just what to say to pick me back up. It’s going to be astounding Blaine, fourteen and a half minuets of Celine Dion! Plus it’s all in French, she’s evil incarnate but the dance routine Sue’s come up with... is gonna bring the house down.” Kurt gushed to Blaine with excitement, despite his tired state.

“I’m just excited that you managed to get me a ticket at all!” Blaine declared.

“Well I do have some pull in that department, though it wasn’t easy. I might have lied and said your dad’ s a media reporter.” Kurt admitted playfully.

“I can’t wait to see you perform for Cheerleading Nationals, Kurt!”

“And this might be the first time a gay guy has been excited about cheerleaders.” Kurt replied with a laugh.

Blaine laughed himself, glad to hear Kurt was able to laugh again.

“Well this time I get to be the one cheering.”

“You better bring your best game, then.” Kurt added with a smirk.
________________________________________________________________________

When the big day arrived, Blaine found himself sitting among the huge crowd of people in the audience. He felt somewhat overwhelmed and equally proud that he was here to watch is boyfriend perform in front of so many people. It was also the first time Blaine would be able to see Kurt sing on such a scale, since the other times, like at the mall, or for Rose’s Turn, couldn’t be compared to this. Suddenly the chattering crowd fell silent and Blaine’ s heart began to race in anticipation. At first the music started and the Cheerios leaped and danced out onto the gym with flawless coordination and acrobatic feats. But Blaine barely registered them as he waited for the reason he was there, and when Kurt Hummel made his entrance, the result blew Blaine away, just as he knew it would. There was nothing more mesmerizing for Blaine then getting to hear Kurt singing, it had such an effect on him. Blaine had realized he loved Kurt during a song after all. The rest of the world melted away to nothing and Blaine was fixated on Kurt’s red and white figure, and for a moment, their eyes met and the world stopped. Kurt flashed him a witty smile and winked at him, and Blaine could only look back at him lovingly. Blaine felt like a groupie and he was fine with that. All that mattered was Kurt. Kurt, who was this awe inspiring sassy young man who had stolen Blaine’ s heart, who had given it up willingly. It was hard to believe how they had somehow found each other. To imagine what his life would be if they had never met, was impossible.

At last the epic twelve and half minuets of flawless vocals and almost as perfect dance routines finished and Blaine shot up out of his chair cheering with all his might. If Kurt was tired from singing for such a long sprint, he wasn’t showing it. Blaine watched Kurt point to him in the stage and gave a quick wave. There had been no hope in him trying to sneak back stage to see Kurt while they waited the results, the Cheerios had been the last team as well. As much as Blaine loved Kurt, he was not about to face Sue Sylvester’s wrath if he was discovered, even Blaine had his limits. Instead all he could do was send Kurt his praise in the form of a text.

You surpassed all my expectations, Kurt.

Kurt’s response came back a few moments later.

You’re too kind Blaine, don’t ever change.

Finally, things moved along so it was time for the winners to be announced and Kurt returned out into view and Blaine smiled at him with pride.

Kurt laughed as Blaine began to wave at him and he was chided by Sue to keep it together, but it was still hard to, not when Blaine was being so ridiculously adorable, but Kurt made himself keep it together, at least till the winner was revealed. Kurt knew that whatever the outcome was, he already felt like a winner. Never the less, when the Cheerios were named champions, he bounced up and down in excitement with his teammates. Santana even surprised him by actually hugging him and Kurt allowed it to happen. Kurt felt like he was floating on air. So he practically glided over to Blaine when they were finally allowed to leave the stage and dropped into his welcoming embrace. Kurt laughed loudly at his boyfriend’ s excitement. “You are so ridiculous at times, Blaine Anderson.” Kurt muttered.

Blaine pulled back from Kurt, still beaming with pride and adoration. “Guilty as charged! We have to go celebrate, Kurt! Are you free now or are their big celebration plans to follow? I’d love to treat to a victory dinner at Breadsticks if possible.” Blaine told him.

“I’d love nothing better, Blaine, and I think I can go without being noticed or missed. Coach Sylvester got her TV interview already after all, so my job is done, the only one I want to be with tonight after this glorious win is my boyfriend cutie.” Kurt said sweetly.

“Can I come too please?” Blaine teased.

“I’m not sure he’d want to share.” Kurt answered.

“I’m willing to fight for you if needed.”

“We could keep this lovely charade all night Blaine, but we’d miss dinner. So just wait for me so I go change.” Kurt explained.

“You mean you won’t wear your uniform? How is everyone going to know I’m dating a hot cheerleader, then!” Blaine said dramatically.

“Is that the only reason you’ re treating me to dinner, Blaine?”

“Of course not... it’s just a nice perk!”

Kurt shook his head as Blaine came up and took the arm he offered and Kurt began to lead Blaine back stage to the changing room area. He retrieved his garment bag full of his change of clothing and walked over to Blaine before he would go get dressed. “Sorry, I know I manage to pull this look off. But I insist on looking my best. I mean, after all, tonight is pretty much our first real date.” Kurt pointed out.

“Oh yeah you’re right, fine: go change. I’ll try not to look to disappointed.” Blaine said.

Kurt simply rolled his eyes in reply and walked off to the changing room. Leaving Blaine to wait for him as he took a seat down on a nearby chair. Kurt returned looking quite handsome, and Blaine began to laugh. Kurt was wearing the exact outfit he had worn during the New Directions performance at the mall, down to the same pair of skinny jeans. That made Blaine think Kurt was onto him. “Kurt... you’re wearing... do you know my secret?” Blaine asked.

Kurt smirked at Blaine and strutted over to him, “Blaine, my dear boy, I do wear such tight pants on purpose. I also have a confession to make, you might have thought you went unnoticed when you saw me at the mall. But actually, I remember swearing to myself that this really hot guy was checking my ass out and I told myself it wasn’t possible. When I saw you at the Lima Bean, I didn’t realize that was you... at first.” Kurt admitted.

“Oh my god...” Blaine said with embarrassment.

“Don’t be like that, Blaine, you have an equally alluring behind.” Kurt told him.

“Aren’t we being cheeky!” Blaine laughed.

“Yes well, it beats being depressed.” Kurt pointed out. “But confessions aside, let’s go have our first official date, shall we?”

Blaine nodded and the two of them walked over to Blaine’s car, since Kurt had travelled to the event by bus, hand in hand. “Are you sorry you’ll miss the big Cheerios after party?” Blaine asked.

“No, how could I, when I have such wonderful company?” Kurt replied. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

At Breadsticks, a short while later, Kurt and Blaine found themselves on their first official date, despite having been going out for over two weeks. The meal had been good and their conversation playful and carefree, like it always was when they were together. In fact, it wasn’t much different to when they went out when they were still friends. Until Blaine reached over to take hold of Kurt’s hand, lacing their fingers together over the table. “So, this was nice.” Blaine commented.

“It really was a good first date in my books.” Kurt replied.

“I find it amusing it took seeing you tonight for me to realize I’m dating one talented cheerleader.” Blaine said teasingly.

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine but smiled, “Ah well, I hate to break it to you, but that’s not really true anymore. What with this season over, I’m no longer a cheerleader, officially. I’ve resigned my spot and I don’t intend to join next year either.” Kurt said matter-o-factually to Blaine in response.

“Really?”

Kurt nodded, “I thought about it and while I won’t lie, performing tonight was amazing. I realized it’s just not who I am. So are you still willing to date me if I’m just a talented member of the New Directions?”

Blaine smiled warmly, “Kurt, I’d still be dating you if you were in the chess club.”
____________________________________________________________________

Their first official date had lead to a second one two days later, where Blaine was in for a very big surprise once it was over. After their movie date, Kurt had returned with Blaine to his house and Blaine had noticed that both his parents’ cars were packed in the driveway the second they arrived. Kurt didn’t seemed surprised in the least at the fact and that made Blaine very suspicious. Blaine didn’t ask him about it as they walked inside. But he couldn’t hide his surprise when he found his mom and dad sitting in the living room, as if they were waiting for him to return. “Uh, what’s going on?” Blaine asked in confusion.

“This is all my doing Blaine, I thought it was needed. I know sometimes speaking your feelings, at least the hard ones, is difficult for you, but what I also know is that you have no trouble voicing them in song. I might have caught you off guard, but I know for a fact you and your brother, a person I just recently found out existed, use to put on impromptu concerts for your parents all the time.” Kurt began to explain as he pulled two pieces of sheet music out from his book bag. “I picked a song I know you already know and it’s perfect.” Kurt whispered to Blaine as he handed Blaine one.

“Kurt...” Blaine hesitated.

“I’ve missed hearing you sing, Blaine.” Emily admitted.

“Don’t disappoint your audience Blaine.” Kurt pressed, ever so slightly. Kurt then walked over to the piano and set things up so he could begin to play.

Blaine glanced over at his dad and saw how nervous he was, and Blaine realized he was really trying to be supportive. Blaine closed his eyes, not allowing himself to be overcome with emotion over what Kurt had done for him, that could come later. Instead he opened his eyes, like Kurt said, he knew the song so well there was no need to look at the sheet music. But it gave him something to focus on so he could get through the number. The song, like Kurt had whispered to him, was perfect. It was Proud of Your Boy from the musical version of Aladdin.

Proud of your boy
I’ll make you proud of your boy
Believe me, bad as I’ve been, Ma
You’re in for a pleasant surprise

I’ve wasted time
I’ve wasted me
So say I’m slow for my age
A late bloomer, Okay, I agree

That I’ve been one rotten kid
Some son, some pride and some joy
But I’ll get over these lousin’ up
Messin’ up, screwin’ up times

You’ll see, Ma, now comes the better part
Someone’s gonna make good
Cross his stupid heart
Make good and finally make you
Proud of your boy

Tell me that I’ve been a louse and loafer
You won’t get a fight here, no ma’am
Say I’m a goldbrick, a goof-off, no good
But that couldn’t be all that I am

Water flows under the bridge
Let it pass, let it go
There’s no good reason that you should believe me
Not yet, I know, but

Someday and soon
I’ll make you proud of your boy
Though I can’t make myself taller
Or smartter or handsome or wise

I’ll do my best, what else can I do ?
Since I wasn’t born perfect like Dad or you
Mom, I will try to
Try hard to make you
Proud of your boy

Blaine sang the song with all of his heart, letting out all of his pain over wanting to make both of his parents proud of him. All his doubts, fears and down days of drama and let down, even the happy ones. The result was that Blaine’s talent shone forth like a beacon, drawing his audience of two in, causing them to fall dead quiet. Kurt was barely able to keep playing without breaking down and being rendered to tears by the beauty Blaine’s voice was conveying at that moment. But he needed Blaine to have this chance to let it all out in song.

Blaine finished singing the final note and he didn’t have any strength in him to hold back the tears that had welled up and they fell down his face. He finally looked over at his parents and he saw they had no luck either. Blaine couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his father cry, or shown any weakness. The fact that Blaine’s singing had broken all the holds of his usual firm demeanour meant so much to him, it shook him to his core.

“Blaine, you…you have such an amazing gift.” Emily said with a sob.

Blaine let out an awkward laugh that sounded more like a cry as he was swept up in her arms and he hugged her. “Thanks mom.” he said softly.

“Blaine.” Robert said, interrupted the tender display and they all heard Kurt hold his breath in surprise.

Emily pulled back so Robert could step forward and place a hand on his son’s shoulder, his grip being loose. “You have to know, no matter how hard this whole thing…” he began, still not being able to say what the issue actually was, at least out loud, and that it was Blaine’s sexuality. “I’m proud of you and I’m glad you’re my son.” Robert told him.

Blaine blinked back even more tears, he noticed from the corner of the eye Emily had come to stand next to Kurt, their hands crossing over to touch each others back in silent support. “I’m glad, I want you to be.” Blaine sobbed.

“Oh god! I thought I was done with the tears!” Kurt cried out in annoyance, breaking the tension of the room.

Blaine laughed and looked back at Kurt and his father let go so he could rush over to Kurt and beam at him with love. “Thank you.” he whispered to Kurt.

“Just returning the favour.” Kurt whispered back.
________________________________________________________________________

Kurt felt like he could never be depressed anymore after helping Blaine with his problems. Blaine had shown that gratitude with gusto and Kurt had the hickeys to prove it now. Blaine had said there was still a long way to go, to patch things up with his dad, but Kurt had helped start them off. That had brought on the perfect mood set, so when he joined in the New Directions, armed with Give up the Funk, they brought a funk down upon Vocal Adrenaline. He was surprised to find Rachel quietly approach him afterwards at his locker. At first Kurt wasn’t sure which to be more surprised about, that Rachel was willing to talk to him after their outburst, or how quiet and demure she was being, Kurt could tell Rachel wasn’t over Jesse St. James betraying her.

“Can I talk to you for a moment, Kurt?” Rachel asked weakly.

Kurt found himself actually feeling sorry for Rachel, which was a rare occurrence. So he didn’t have the heart to turn her away.“Sure.” Kurt said and gave her a sympathetic smile.

Rachel took a deep breath, “I want to apologize for how I handled hearing about you and Blaine. After the recent turn of events…I realize my wrong doings. I was very petty, just the whole evil irony about when you called me out about dating Jesse made me blind to my error in judgement. The worst thing is everything you said about him turned out to be true…” Rachel began admit.

Kurt just looked at Rachel as he came to realize for once he was tired of all the drama she caused and he wanted to do nothing but let it go. “Forget it, Rachel, and for what’s its worth, I wish I had been wrong…”

“Thank you.” Rachel replied with a small smile.

“But it’s actually a good thing Jesse St. Traitor is out of the picture, Rachel. He wasn’t worth your time. Instead…why don’t we focus on ensuring our win at Regionals?” Kurt asked her with a smirk.

“Kurt, I couldn’t agree with you more!” Rachel replied with a grin. “So when do I get to meet this boyfriend of yours, Kurt? Can that be today?” Rachel pleaded.

“Oh Rachel, you have no idea what in you’re in for.” Kurt chuckled.