Chapter 11

Every trace of Kurt and Blaine's baking cookies together was promptly removed and from their valiant efforts the Anderson's kitchen had never looked so clean. The chore now done, the young couple had planned to spend some quality down time in Blaine's bedroom and watch a holiday movie together. Only what ended up happening was Kurt being begged for a song by both Jennifer and her son. Kurt never needed a reason to sing, especially since enrolling in a musical theatre program at Nyada and he had no urge to turn the request down. Only this time, Kurt didn't want to sing an emotionally romantic song that would render both him and his audience to tears. Context wasn't needed for every performance and so there he was, standing in front of his audience of two and no songs came to mind. "So... any requests?" he questioned.

"What about singing something festive?" Jennifer suggested.

"Great idea mom, um... how about Winter Wonderland, Kurt?" Blaine said.

"I like that idea," Jennifer added in agreement.

Kurt nodded in approval. He naturally knew the song well enough to sing it without any sheet music or lyrics even. A quick look to Blaine at the piano proved his music partner didn't need any help in that department either and Kurt cleared his throat lightly in preparation. He was no stranger to belting out a good holiday tune, or any type for that matter. "An excellent choice Blaine, thank you," he said.

Without further ado Blaine started to play the intro to the song and at the right moment Kurt opened his mouth to sing. Blaine's mom was treated to a entertaining Christmas spectacle and soon Kurt's soft angelic voice nearly lulled her into a trance. Blaine almost ended up slipping and hitting the wrong key but the performer in him kept him on the mark. Best of all there were no tears streaming down his face, not that he wasn't moved (Kurt's voice was pure magic).

By the end of the song the only one who ended up shedding a tear was Jennifer Anderson and Kurt took that as a flattering compliment. When he opened his eyes to see her sniffling away his heart began to melt. Uncomfortable indeed, in his mind Jennifer was making up for any errors of the past quite well. "Are you okay?" Kurt asked her softly.

Jennifer nodded as she blew her nose. "Oh don't mind me, that was beautiful Kurt, you have an amazing voice, just like Blaine said. It's no wonder you got accepted in Nyada," she announced.

Kurt's smile in response was sweet as he walked over to Blaine and sat on his lap at the piano bench. He didn't think there was any harm to, even when Jennifer was there and neither she nor Blaine reacted to it. Blaine just showed his approval by wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist to help keep him in place. "For a while there, I wouldn't have agreed with you. At first I was very... intimidated by how exclusive their musical theatre program is. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe I got in at all," Kurt admitted.

"I don't," Blaine stated warmly.

"You're a little bias, Blaine," Kurt teased.

This time when the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway was heard Kurt's body tensed because they all knew who would step through the front door. Kurt went to hop off of Blaine's lap but his boyfriend's grip tightened, keeping him in place.

"Don't," Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear and he was relieved to see he didn't try to move again.

When Brandon Anderson stepped into his house he wasn't expecting to find his wife red faced and clutching a tissue to her cheek. Or to find his son perched on the piano bench with a young man, 'No his boyfriend,' Brandon corrected, sitting on his lap like it was nothing out of the ordinary. While understandably surprising, Brandon made himself realize this was normal for his son. Still, he couldn't hide his reaction to the sight and how it threw him off guard at first.

Kurt didn't really know how Brandon would react but if Blaine wasn't worrying over it then neither would he. So he kept put and tried to act as natural as possible (easy to do since he felt so at home in Blaine's arms) and gave the new arrival a polite but slightly nervous smile.

"Oh, hey there, dad," Blaine said causally in greeting.

"Is everything okay?" Brandon asked as he looked at his wife suspiciously.

Blaine also couldn't hide his subsequent sigh because his dad had skipped over saying hello to him (and Kurt) in reply. "Kurt just sang us a Christmas tune, he tends to have that affect on people," Blaine explained before his mom could.

"Everything's fine, Dear," Jennifer assured.

"Blaine, let me off so you can introduce me to your dad," Kurt whispered into his ear.

"I dunno if he's earned that right yet," Blaine whispered back.

"Blaine," Kurt said firmly.

It was time for Blaine to relent and he instantly let go of Kurt, who gracefully slid off of his boyfriends lap to stand beside him. He looked so calm, if he was at all nervous (heck Blaine sure was deep down) Kurt had it well hidden behind his charming smile. Now it was Blaine's turn to step up. "I know you've seen him before, dad, but this is Kurt Hummel, my boyfriend," he introduced.

At first Kurt waited for Brandon's response but when it didn't come Kurt stepped forward and took charge (thus avoiding an awkward silence). He offered his hand in greeting to Blaine's dad, who took it and during Kurt hoped his grip was firm but not too eager. Kurt studied Brandon's features for a moment, he was a complete middle blend of both of his sons. "It's nice to meet you," Kurt said.

"Brandon Anderson, as you already know, but it is good for us to be properly introduced. I take you just returned to Ohio?" Brandon replied, his voice neither sounding cold or overly friendly.

The reaction was nothing Kurt felt the need to stress over, so he nodded and took it in stride. "Yes, today actually, your son picked me up at the airport," Kurt stated, then he thought of something to add. "I want to thank the both of you, for allowing Blaine to come visit me in New York. I'm so excited, there's so much I want to show him! Places I mean," Kurt quickly sputtered.

Blaine smirked at Kurt, he was trying so hard and that made him feel so proud and touched. "I can't wait to see Nyada, will it be open for a tour?" Blaine asked him.

Kurt nodded, "I checked and there will be tours going on for the new semester, so our planned tour is a a go," he answered.

"Blaine has been wanting to go to New York for a long time, I'm glad he won't be alone there," Jennifer said.

"Not that he wouldn't have managed on his own," Kurt added playfully.

"Your faith in me is endearing," Blaine teased.

During the little exchange between Blaine and Kurt, Brandon was remaining silent and it was clear he wanted to leave the room but was too polite to go without saying something. Blaine guessed his dad couldn't of think of anything he could say and he decided to give him an escape route himself. "I guess I should go take Kurt home," he said.

Kurt knew exactly what Blaine was doing and he was fine to go along with it. "I am a little worn out I guess, a lot went on today..." Kurt stated and Blaine nearly snickered from the hidden meaning. "I'll see you both for dinner on the 27th and thanks again for the invite," he added and then let Blaine lead him away.

The pair walked and hand in hand towards Blaine's car and Kurt did his best to read his boyfriend's expression to get a sense of how he was fairing. But sometimes Blaine was hard to figure out, at least when he chose to keep his feeling hidden. "Blaine, did that go well? I could use a little insight here..." he pressed.

Blaine let out a tired sight, he was overreacting and this time for no real reason. "It went... well enough, or it went better than I thought it would. That's pretty much how my dad is whenever my sexuality is brought up. He doesn't know what to say, or do, or even how to act and it's impossible not to notice. I know he's trying but... should it really be this hard for him to live with?" Blaine explained.

"From what I saw, I think he didn't want to make a bad move, so that's something, am I right?" Kurt pointed out.

Blaine nodded, "It is..." he said weakly. But when it came with dealing with his dad Blaine knew it would tale a lot to deal with. "Sorry... as you can guess this is a sore spot for me," he added with a sigh. "You were amazing though, you handled it perfectly."

"So were you, you wouldn't let me pull away, and wouldn't let me feel... reluctant to show any physical proof of our relationship," Kurt said.

"That's true," Blaine admitted as he handed his car keys to Kurt, letting him drive before Kurt could ask him.

Kurt took the keys and was fine to let Blaine have a quiet moment with his thoughts while he got in the drivers seat. But when he looked Blaine's way his heart started to melt and he knew he couldn't let it go just yet. "I have one more thing to say on this sweetie, if you're able to-"

"Say it," Blaine interrupted eagerly.

"I think what will really help, for all of us, is if your parents see what we're like when we're together. Maybe then your dad can begin to accept that what we have isn't something to worry about," Kurt answered.

Blaine took a moment to let Kurt's kind words sink in, when done he leaned over and kissed Kurt. "Thank you, you always know just what to say," he gushed.

"I try," Kurt said in a cute one. ______________________________________________________________________________

When Kurt found himself kissing Blaine on his doorstep for the second time, he wasn't going to let anything interrupt them, not even the frigidly cold weather. Kurt gave Blaine a shy come hither look when they finished yet another passionate kiss. "Wanna come in for a nightcap?" He asked flirtatiously.

Blaine gulped; Kurt's tone was doing things to parts of him that weren't suited for their current locations. "I, uh... I actually don't know what that saying even means," he admitted.

Kurt giggled and kissed Blaine lightly, he could be so darn cute at times. "Neither do I honestly... but need I remind you, that my family is inside somewhere. All I'm suggesting in you come inside for a bit. Where we'll be totally mature and just spend some quality time together," he explained.

"No kissing at all then?" Blaine pouted, but he was just being playful, as usual.

"Well, there's no harm in a little kiss now an then, when the coast is clear," Kurt sassed.

"Let's go inside then, before we freeze out here," Blaine urged.

The couple headed inside to the wonderful warmth within and hung up their scarves and jackets. Sounds of life within the house could instantly be heard and then there was a loud cheer that could only be from Finn and Burt. Kurt rolled his eyes; he'd come home to this scene many times before but never with a boyfriend in tow. "Must be some sort of sport event on," Kurt said.

Blaine's face perked up instantly, "It's the Buckeyes, can we stop by and get the score?" Blaine pleaded, giving Kurt his best puppy dog face.

Kurt smirked at him; he was already heading to the den with Blaine hurrying along side him. "Oh yeah right, you find sports interesting, I almost forgot," Kurt said teasingly.

"Try not to judge me for it," Blaine replied, his voice getting all sassy.

When the pair arrived at the den they found Burt sitting in his usual armchair and Finn reclining on the couch. Their eyes were both transfixed on the television screen so the two sports fans didn't even notice they had company now. Blaine hurried a little closer to get a better look and soon he had the same expression. Kurt shook his head at the lot of them, he wasn't judging but still couldn't understand why watching a bunch of guys chase a ball was so entertaining. "Hi dad, Finn," Kurt finally announced.

Finn and Burt grumbled something in response, which sounded nothing like coherent words and their eyes never left the screen. Kurt's patient wavered at bit from this; he had been gone for over a month so he was hoping for a better reaction. "Some things never change," Kurt muttered. It took one glance at Blaine and Kurt could tell he was torn between watching the game and giving his boyfriend proper attention. Kurt sighed, "Do you want to watch with them?" he asked.

Blaine instantly recovered, but even then it was too little too late, judging by Kurt's far from amused state. "What? Oh, no, Kurt, of course not! Sure I like sports... but I like you way more. So don't you even go there."

Kurt's eyes turned playful, "You have it recording at home don't you?"

"I do... but that's beyond the point, it's not the same thing as watching it live. But that still doesn't matter to me," Blaine scoffed.

"If you're sure..."

"I am, so stop with the look," Blaine insisted.

"What look?" Kurt asked innocently.

"Kurt..." Blaine warned with a frown.

"You two sound like an old married couple already," Burt voice said from beside them.

Kurt rolled his eyes at dad, but on the inside he was smiling at being referred to as a wedded couple. Of course when his dad had finally noticed his son was there the first thing he'd done was tease him about Blaine.

Burt knew just what to do to appease his son and got up to give Kurt a big welcome home hug. "Boy I missed you Kurt, I have since the day you left for New York," he admitted.

"And I thought maybe I wasn't missed at all," Kurt said sarcastically.

"Don't act like you don't ignore us when something you find interesting is happening," Burt pointed out.

"You got me there," Kurt admitted with a laugh.

"Nice to see you again, Blaine." Burt said.

"Same here how's the game?" Blaine asked, he couldn't help himself.

"It's pretty neck and neck, but I have faith in the Buckeyes, you a fan?" Burt asked.

Blaine nodded, "Oh yeah, totally!" he answered.

For all his attempts at understanding, Kurt was getting bored with the discussion already and had brought out his phone to skim through.

Blaine now was the one to roll his eyes and took the phone out of Kurt's hand. "But not enough to want to ditch this guy here... so stop it, Kurt," Blaine chided.

"Who me?" Kurt asked, placing a hand on his chest dramatically.

Burt chuckled, "I'm glad Kurt's finally found someone who can handle him," he said.

"It's about time," Finn added.

Having a boyfriend might have been long overdue but Kurt could still do without being teased by everyone now that he had one. His limit reached, Kurt grabbed onto Blaine by the shoulders and pushed him off and towards his bedroom.

"Don't let the visit be too late Kurt," Burt called out.

Kurt restrained himself from commenting he wasn't in high school anymore. More because he couldn't be sure if his dad was serious or just teasing him again. "Don't worry! Blaine's just staying for a bit," Kurt assured.

"Should I go now? Or will I have a chance to redeem myself?" Blaine asked, turning his attention fully to Kurt.

There was never any point for Kurt to stay annoyed at Blaine and he rarely ever felt the urge to really try. Right now he had other things in mind when he pushed Blaine inside of the room and closed the door behind them. ____________________________________________________________________________

Of course after Blaine managed to go home, the second there he logged onto Skype so he and Kurt could chat until they went to bed. A very typical scene for the normally long distance couple to be in, only the backdrop behind Kurt wasn't an airy loft but his bedroom back in Lima. It hadn't taken long for them to agree this would be the one day to act totally co-dependent, so they could survive the next five.

"So now that's it's over, how did our third date compare to the second?" Blaine asked from his spot on his bed.

"Is it really necessary to pit our dates against each other?" Kurt asked.

"You say that like they're alive or something," Blaine chuckled.

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine, albeit affectionately because he thought Blaine was as cute as ever. "It was a good date, as you well know," Kurt assured him. "But I'm already starting to wonder how we'll survive the next five days apart..."

"Have a lot of eggnog?" Blaine offered cheekily.

Blaine seemed to be in quite the giddy mood, Kurt could relate, the fact that they were so close was pretty exciting even now. "I dunno... I haven't had a lot of experience with alcohol... it seems I tend to have hallucinations of Disney movies and then I throw up."

"Oh, I want to hear that story!" Blaine urged with a grin.

Kurt smirked at him and then complied; spending some time to tell him all about the time April Rhodes returned at William McKinley and used her inappropriate drunken ways to sway the members of the New Directions. Kurt in fact still had the vintage muscle man magazines she'd given him, stashed up in a box in the attic. "I tell you Blaine, the stories I have from glee club... " Kurt rambled. "But then, most of the ones I was involved with are the boring ones."

"If you want to talk boring, I win there, the Warblers might be classy... but any drama we have, has nothing over the New Directions. Mainly I swear it's all about 'What solo should Blaine sing this time?'" Blaine said, imitating his classmates as best he could. "Sometimes I have to step in and point out we're not suppose to have a leader! What's the point of having three council members if I have to do all the work?" Blaine said, proving he could vent just as well as his boyfriend.

"Oh boo-hoo for the poor worshipped and adored lead singer of the Warblers," Kurt teased.

"That almost hurt, Kurt..." Blaine accused, acting all dramatic.

"Uh huh, well at least you're humble about it. Rachel sure wasn't."

"I still amazed you two got so close," Blaine admitted.

"I guess it's because we had so much in common... I'm not saying I'm the male equivalent of Rachel Berry, but we are similar. We both share a fierce love of Broadway musicals and how that's the only future we want to aim for."

"You two share some of the same quirks and mannerism too."

Kurt eyed Blaine, "Like what?" he questioned.

"Like how you two will start to gush and ramble whenever you're excited about something," Blaine said.

"You do that too honey, but I find it adorable," Kurt cooed.

Before they could really get going with listing the many things they loved about each other, Blaine chose to change the subject. "So Kurt, when it comes to tomorrow... just how much should we stay in touch? I mean, it's kind of pointless to keep some distance physically if all we end up doing is skyping anyway," Blaine brought up.

That question brought a light frown to Kurt's once grinning face, he was quite torn when it came to any answer he could give. Why were they bothering to keep themselves apart again? Oh, right, to prove to everyone that he and Blaine had some self-control and could live without spending every waking moment together. He wasn't even sure how that silly idea had come up but really, Kurt knew he couldn't clamp onto Blaine and stick to him like glue. "Hmm... For once let's not plan too much but at the same time not wait by our phones or computers. We're clever and I'm sure the holidays and our families will keep us pretty occupied to start with. I already have a pretty full criteria, tomorrow my parents have me for the whole day so I'll letting them call the shots, sorry sweetie," Kurt explained.

"Don't be, I should really do the same thing... only..." Blaine replied, but he didn't finish the sentence, sighing instead.

"What about you not wanting to hide who you are anymore? Spend some time with them, your dad most of all Blaine, it will help," Kurt pressed.

"Or just make things worse," Blaine whined.

"Go to bed honey, you're getting tired... and cranky, it's not becoming," Kurt insisted.

Blaine scowled at Kurt, proving he was actually becoming irritated. "Fine, I'll try... just promise me we'll talk for a while tomorrow night? When you come back home?" Blaine requested.

"I promise, sweet dreams Blainey," Kurt told him softly.

Blaine forced himself a smile, that nickname had been ruined with bitter memories from Cooper, but he managed to hide it from Kurt. "Night baby," he simply told Kurt in reply. _______________________________________________________________________

Kurt managed to keep his side of the bargain and went right to his computer as soon as he got home after spending an enjoyable day with his family. But the impossible happened; Blaine was late for their promised Skype date. That wasn't so alarming at first, things happened but when it reached beyond the point of his boyfriend being fashionably late, Kurt was starting to worry. This wasn't like Blaine, a solid thirty minuets passed and there was still no sign of him, not even a quick text to explain his tardiness. 'Where is he, this isn't like him.' Kurt thought with alarm. Before jumping to conclusions, Kurt tried to call him again but after the dial tone continued to ring it was hard not to start panicking by now. "Where the hell are you Blaine?" Kurt cried.

Of course there was no reply and Kurt knew he needed to calm down, there were plenty reasons why Blaine was late and that weren't anything to be scared about. He could be stuck in traffic and unable to send a text for instance. So he did the last thing he could think of and sent him an urgent text message.

Blaine, contact me the second you get this! I'm trying not to freak out here. Where are you?

Kurt did up getting a message but to his disappointment, it wasn't a reply from Blaine but a text from Rachel.

So Kurt, how are you enjoying your time with Blaine? Must be pretty good since I haven't heard from you at all.

At the moment, not so well.

What happened?!! Is something wrong?

I don't know! That's the problem. Blaine and I were suppose to Skype over 40mins ago! But he won't even answer his phone!

Maybe something happened that's keeping him busy. It is the holidays.

Maybe you're right, but I'm still freaking out. I keep picturing him... in all these terrifying scenarios.

Call his home, if it bothers you that much. He's probably fine, and feeling guilty.

Alright, good idea, hold on I'll call there now.

Once Kurt was calm enough he called the Anderson residence and Jennifer ended up picking up on the third ring. That was both a relief and something to worry about because if Blaine wasn't with his parents, where was he? "Oh, thank god!" Kurt breathed, not able to hide his relief.

"Kurt? Is everything okay?" Jennifer asked with concerned.

"I'm sorry! It's just, Blaine didn't end up contacting me like we planned. Do you know where he is? I'm trying not to be worried, but this isn't like him at all," Kurt quickly explained.

Jennifer remained silent for a moment, "He did spend some of the day with us... but he and Brandon had a bit of an... episode. After that Blaine left with some of his friends from school, for a Christmas party I think. I thought he would have invited you along...." she admitted reluctantly.

Now there was nothing keeping from Kurt becoming mad at his boyfriend, but he realized getting angry at Jennifer (who was innocent) was a bad idea. "Thank you, I guess he just needed some time... to himself. If he calls or comes back, please tell him to call me," Kurt requested and said a quick goodbye. He wasn't very amused, Kurt had been worrying about Blaine's well being and he was off partying somewhere, without him. Yes Kurt was the one to state they needed some space but Blaine had assured him be agreed with the choice. Why hadn't Blaine come to him with his problems? Not to the mention how he'd broken a promise.

Yet again Kurt was so wrapped up in own personal life that he'd forgotten about Rachel. But as always, it wasn't long before she piped up and made that fact known.

Well? Any clues? Or are you and Blaine already making up as I type this?

No, Blaine it seems is off with his friends at some party... one he didn't think to invite me to.

Are you angry with him?

Shouldn't I be? He's the one who made me promise we'd talk tonight!

What are you going to do now?

I don't know, well I know what I won't do! Sit around and wait for him, if he can ditch me, so can I. Up for a night of fun? We can call up Mercedes, Tina, and see what other ND ladies are in town?

Should I even try to change your mind on this, Kurt?

You know the answer to that.

Fine, let's call them and we'll try out best to cheer you up.

Thanks, I'm sick of boys at the moment.

Later that night Kurt did what he normally would have thought was the impossible; he forgot about his wonderful boyfriend. In fact Blaine was the farthest thing from Kurt's mind once he ended up in Rachel's basement. Just like her last impromptu party, this one was full of booze and boisterous ladies, but Kurt was the only boy invited. That suited Kurt just find, he wasn't about to switch teams but at the moment he had no patience for his own gender. He chose to vent out out any lingering frustrations among his female friends from the New Directions.

"So Hummel, I hear you found a sweet piece of ass of your own finally? How's that going?" Santana asked, not bothering to show any tact.

Kurt rolled his eyes at her, he was seated beside Santana on the couch and he took a long drink of his beer before bothering to answer her. Kurt hadn't meant to start drinking that night but when Santana and Brittany had come along with a number of six backs, Kurt didn't feel like acting responsible. He wanted to have fun and he figured this was a good a way as any and now he was gravitating between tipsy and downright drunk. Kurt was on his second beer already and didn't feel that great, how could he when the girls kept asking him about Blaine. "I don't want to talk about it Santana, I'm still pissed off at him. Also knowing how freaking charming he is! Somehow this will end up being my fault and I'll be the bad guy," Kurt grumbled.

"And that's why I'm glad I stop wasting my time with men," Santana commented.

Kurt glared at her, his current beer was almost finished and he already felt like another, so he stood up, downed the rest and went over to the stash for a new can. It wasn't like he was the only one drinking anyway and Rachel's dad were conveniently elsewhere. But then, after a few more drinks were consumed, Kurt's phone rang from his back pocket. "Oh of course now Blaine remembers he has a boyfriend," he grumbled. Kurt ignored the call out of spite and then his phone vibrated and he squinted to make out Blaine's message.

Kurt! I'm sorry I had my phone off, please call me back.

Only Kurt wasn't in a very forgiving mood and he turned off his phone and focused on the drunken festivities of the party, letting himself go. It wasn't until a lot later that a slightly more sober Rachel decided her friend was letting himself get way too loose. The deal breaker was when Kurt granted the girls requests for him to dance and how the display quickly turned into a strip tease act.
Rachel was already calling Blaine when she saw Kurt's undershirt go flying past her, revealing a now naked from the waist up Kurt. She gaped at him in shock and was about to yell at him until Blaine answered.

"Rachel! I'm so glad you called me! Kurt won't answer any of my calls or texts. Do you know where he is?" Blaine demanded, never giving Rachel a chance to get a word in.

Rachel kept on getting interrupted and this time what cut her off was her female guests erupting in girlish squeals and cat calls. She looked over to see Kurt was slowly unzipping his pants and Santana placed a dollar bill in his waistband of Kurt's underwear with her teeth. "Kurt, keep your pants on!" She bellowed at him.

"Spoil sport!" Kurt slurred back but he didn't bother to stop gyrating his hips provocatively.

"What's going on? Was that Kurt?" Blaine asked warily.

"Yes! He's drunk out of his mind Blaine; he's at my house and oh my god! There go the pants!" Rachel said in horror.

"What?" Blaine blurted.

"He's stripping for some of our friends from glee club..." Rachel admitted reluctantly. "You better get over here, before he gets someone pregnant," Rachel hissed dramatically.

Blaine was aghast and feared the worst, "Oh, my god! Rachel! Give me your address and keep them away from him!" Blaine ordered.

"I'll try but... oh no! I have to go! Brittany, get off of him!" Rachel yelled out and ended the call, leaving Blaine in total shock and denial at what had just been dumped on him.

"Fucking hell!" Blaine cried out. No, this wasn't happening, he felt guilty enough already, so this new set of torture was agonizing. Blaine raced through his bedroom, he was glad he hadn't had more than one drink at the Warbler party.

Blaine already knew he'd made a big mistake but after the fight with his dad, Blaine was left feeling very angry. He knew his boyfriend would be there for him but he didn't want to ruin his holiday time with his own family. So when Nick called and invited Blaine to a party, in a moment of weakness, he'd said yes and gone. The worst thing he'd done was turning off his phone, but he'd done so only because his dad kept on trying to call him. It seemed impossible but somehow Blaine had forgotten about Kurt and by the time he'd remembered their Skype date, it was already too late. Kurt ignored his replies and Blaine ended up doing exactly as Kurt had and called his home. The similarities kept coming when Kurt had gone off to party without him too. All things considered, Blaine now was getting increasingly angry at Kurt and how he was getting naked in front of a bunch of girls.

When Blaine finally made it to Rachel's house he discovered his getting lost a couple times meant he'd missed all the excitement.

Rachel, looking slightly dishevelled and tired, greeted him at the door with a weak smile. "Oh Blaine, finally!" she moaned.

Blaine was already heavy with dread as he followed her inside. "Tell it to me straight Rachel, what did Kurt do?"

The first thing Rachel did in response was sigh, not a good sign and she lead Blaine through the house and down to the basement. "I managed to keep him virtuous, I got him to put his clothes back on and sing a Broadway duet with me. Only he didn't even finish the song, he threw up on me. Which was not fun to live through or clean up after," Rachel explained.

Why couldn't this all be some bad dream, how else could Blaine account for Kurt acting so reckless? He had no idea what to even do in this instance either, aside from becoming nearly enraged. "Where is he now?" Blaine muttered.

Instead of telling him Rachel brought Blaine to his boyfriends' whereabouts and to a still figure spread out on the couch in front of them. "Passed out on that couch, as you can see... thankfully. The others left, save for Santana, so I just let her crash. But I was smart enough to put her in the opposite side of the room just to be safe..."

"Did he..." Blaine asked, he wasn't even sure what he was trying to ask.

Rachel shook his head, "Kurt's still a gold star gay, so relax," she assured, leaving out the fact that Kurt and Brittany had made out for a second.

Blaine let out a large breath of relief but as he got closer to Kurt it was clear he was still far from his usual fabulous self. He looked like a total train wreck at the moment. "Fuck," Blaine swore. "What happened to him?"

"Isn't it obvious by now? Kurt was mad at you for standing him up so he got drunk and now he's paying for it. Can you please take him off my hands? I've had enough of him for the rest of the year," Rachel grumbled.

Kurt wasn't very popular with anyone that night but Blaine still nodded, he did share some of the blame for Kurt's state but not all of it. "Sure, I got it..." he replied. Blaine knelt down and carefully took hold of Kurt (ignoring his horrible breath) and gathered him in his arms. Kurt growled in protest but remained sleeping and suddenly snuggled up to Blaine as he was lifted off the ground.

I wasn't easy for Blaine to cart his boyfriend around and he shifted his weight to get into a more comfortable position. Rachel helped Blaine get them both up the stairs and placing Kurt into the backseat of Blaine's car. When the task was done Blaine turned to look at Rachel and gave her a appreciative smile. "Thanks Rachel, I'm sorry for all this..." he began but paused. He realized this was the second time they'd met in person and like the first, it wasn't ideal. "Look, can we just act like this never happened? So we can have our proper real life introduction when I'm in New York," he pleaded.

Rachel nodded in agreement, "Sounds good to me, I'm going to bed... after I take a shower. Tell stripper boy that I'm not very happy with him right now," she said and stumbled her way back into the house.

Blaine knew the feeling; Kurt sure didn't look very cute right now. "What were you even thinking Kurt?" he muttered as he stormed over to the drivers seat. "I know I broke our promise, but did you have to get this drunk?"

"You didn't call..." Kurt groaned.

Blaine glanced in his rear view mirror to see if Kurt was fully awake or mutter something while he was half asleep. So far it seemed like the latter was more likely but he still chose to reply any way. "I know and I'm really sorry but... did you have to go so far?" Blaine asked.

"You didn't call Blaine, I thought you might dead be..." Kurt slurred, not making sense.

"Oh no, you can't guilt me out on this, you got naked in front of girls!"

"Least someone enjoyed my show," Kurt grumbled.

"I'm not talking to you when you're so wasted, Kurt!"

"Gonna ditch me again?"

"Shut up! I need to drive you home, be grateful I didn't drink tonight," Blaine fumed. But it wasn't long before the guilt came rushing back and he couldn't leave it at that. "Look Kurt... we both acted stubborn and stupid tonight. So can't we just... call it a tie for now?" he suggested.

There was no reply, only uncomfortable silence and when there was a read light Blaine was finally able to look back and discovery Kurt was passed out. With no sign of him waking up for a long time to come. "Great..." Blaine moaned. _______________________________________________________________________________

Kurt's head was throbbing with pain when he awoke the following morning, though it was really late into the afternoon already. The insides of his mouth felt dry and tasted horrible, his body was stiff and felt sore all over. While his head felt like someone was hitting his side temples with a sledgehammer, add in how his stomach was churning in his gut and Kurt felt like he'd been hit by a freight train. "Oh, my head..." he groaned, feeling disoriented.

"Bout time you woke up, Kurt," Burt's voice muttered, which to Kurt sounded like he was screaming.

Kurt clutched the sides of his temples and winced from the effort, his head felt so heavy. "Where... what?" he said weakly. His head started to clear enough so his eyes could focus to see Burt standing over him but he sure didn't feel any better health wise. "Dad?" he croaked.

"Yep," Burt simply replied.

It might not be an amazing feat but the fact that Kurt could pull himself into a sitting position was still impressive. With the movement came an odd crumpling sound and Kurt felt something poke him in the hips. Kurt brought his hand down to investigate and realized a number of what he could only guess was money bills were stuffed into his briefs. "Where am I?"

"Home, lucky for you," Burt said.

"Did you come get me?" Kurt asked with a groan, he needed pain killers and stat. But his dad didn't hand him any medication without Kurt's needing to ask and he wasn't in any state to get them himself. So he merely fell back on the bed from with a thud, giving into his hung over state as he tried to remember the events of last night. He recalled getting angry at Blaine of course, how he'd thrown a party at Rachel's, had some drinks and then the rest got fuzzy. There were some concerning flashes of Brittany riding him as he danced half naked and he shuddered. Oh lord, if he'd done anything else, no, it was too horrific to consider.

"No, Blaine brought you back here," Burt finally answered.

"He did?"

"He showed up last night with you in tow, totally drunk and out like a light. He insisted on carrying you up here and put you to bed, we talked for a minuet and then he left," Burt explained. "I'd ask you what you were thinking but it's clear you weren't," Burt said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Kurt was too hung over to defend his honour, not that he had any left to defend. "Look... can we save talking about this until I've recovered, wait, am I in trouble?" Kurt asked as he tried to take the pain like a responsible man should.

"I'm still trying to decide, it's not like you live here anymore and it looks like you're getting punished pretty good already. But I still don't like you drinking so much that you look this bad... so we're gonna talk. I'll wait until I hear your side of the story, since I've already heard Blaine's," Burt said.

Kurt knew he kept on asking question after question but he couldn't help it. "Right, he talked to you. About what?"

Burt rolled his eyes, "About you of course. I could tell he was a whole heap of emotion. After finding you like that, I couldn't blame him either. I'm not telling what he told me or what we talked about though. If you wanna find out, then ask Blaine yourself," Burt explained. "Now I'm going to go get you something for your hang over. But as payment I expect you to come find me as soon as you're well enough to talk, deal?"

The nod that followed that request caused Kurt's headache to increase, but he meant it. "Deal, owe.." he groaned. Despite how horrible he felt his concerns about Blaine were front and centre. "Should I even bother to call Blaine at this point?" he questioned.

But Burt was having none of that, "Oh no, you're on your own there," he said and went off to get Kurt his much needed drugs.

Leaving Kurt to his own devices and the conundrum of facing Blaine when he didn't even fully remember what had gone down. As long and none of his female friends had, then he could live with the consequences, he hoped anyway. Little by little the memories from that wild party were coming back and he felt horrified. "I, oh my god I took my clothes off for those drunken idiots..." he moaned. It wasn't like he could talk though and Kurt doubted it took much convincing on their part. Then he realized this meant he was loosing big time in the relationship department. Blaine was the one who'd come to his rescue and brought him home, despite how pissed off he must have been.

Once the Advil Burt had brought his son started to fully kick in, was Kurt aware enough to notice the note left on his nightstand. Kurt already knew who it was from and at first he was tempted to ignore it, but he knew that wouldn't help.

Kurt,

You better call or at least text me the second you wake up and read this. I don't care how hung over you are either. I'm pissed off at you right now and I'm sure the feeling is mutual, but we need to fix this.

Blaine

Blaine was right of course and even when he wasn't there in person he was already being the better man, or boyfriend rather. Kurt was relieved that his note wasn't sweet and sentimental, which showed how angry he must have been when he'd written it. While Kurt hardly felt like facing Blaine yet, or at all really, so he did what Blaine had asked (or demanded).

Thanks for getting me, Blaine.

Blaine reply came back quickly and gave Kurt a little glimmer of hope that they could get through this somehow and maybe without a ton of drama even.

You're welcome, how's your head?

Horrible, can we wait till it stops pounding to fix things?

Yeah, I'm still mad at you.

I'm not happy either, for a ton of reasons

This isn't helping, just call me later.
_______________________________________________________________________

"Okay I called, now what?" Kurt muttered to Blaine over the phone.

"Depends, how hung over were you?" Blaine asked.

"I'm still suffering for it now, happy?"

"No, how can you even think I would be?"

"Deserved punishment? I dunno, I'm pissed off, at you and myself..." Kurt grumbled.

"Who are you angrier at?"

"Don't even..."

"I know it was wrong of me to..."

"Break your promise? Not come to me with your problems? To turn off your phone and go find better company for the night?" Kurt began to list off, never giving a moment for Blaine to cut in.

"Hey it's not like you can talk! At least I didn't give a strip show to any of my friends!" Blaine snapped, not bothering with any niceties.

"Oh well sorry! Heaven forbid that I tried to have some fun when my boyfriend abandoned me!"

"I didn't abandon you, Kurt! I screwed up! I'm sorry I broke out Skype date. I'm not even trying to come up with any excuses, because I actually have some! Why can't you realize what you did was still wrong? The fact that I made the first mistake last night doesn't make up for what you did in response," Blaine said.

"You don't think I already know that? Because I'm well aware how stupid and childish I acted last night! So you don't need to remind me. I got drunk Blaine... do you even realize how pissed off I had to be to do that?"

"Are you seriously trying to lame the blame fully on me? Don't dodge the big issue by trying to make me feel guilty."

"Oh, of course you'd think that, because I'm always coming up short when it comes to us," Kurt snapped.

"What?"

"Don't deny it Blaine, on some level you must think that, that... you really do miss me more than I miss you. What did you want me to do? Wait by the phone until you remembered to call me? Like some.... desperate groupie? I already have a complex about how you're too good for me... sometimes I feel so worthless Blaine. Like there's nothing I can offer you that will amount to what you've given me," Kurt shouted in anguish.

Things were getting way more emotional than either boy had expected and clearly neither were ready to calm down yet.

Because Blaine was only on the phone with Kurt he couldn't see his pained teary-eyed state but he did mistake the genuine pain in his voice for more anger. "Okay you still must be hung over because you're not making sense," he threw back. Blaine's words might have seemed harsh but in his mind the very idea that Kurt wasn't equal in their relationship was crazy.

"Am I? Or are you going to just ignore everything we've been too stubborn to admit?" Kurt demanded.

It was finally time for the boys to confess some things, not in the best scenario but they were coming out nonetheless.

"Kurt, you're not the bad guy! We're both being stupid right now and angry... I mean, do you want to break up over this?"

"No, of course not!" Kurt said in, sounding hurt by the accusation.

"Good, then maybe what we need is some time to think and calm down. Cause we're obviously too angry to listen to each other right now. Oh, there, looks like I can be a jerk too, is that any better?" Blaine sassed bitterly.

As much as Kurt hated fighting with Blaine, he knew this time there would be no easy fix. He was afraid to go there but he knew they had to, just when they were ready to act more mature. "No, I don't like fighting with you like this. Even if you sort of deserve it right now... so, we'll talk later."

Blaine disliked Kurt's cold tone and he let out a frustrated cry, this was getting them nowhere. But as much as he knew they had to back off, he didn't want to end things this way. "We're just making things worse! I've gotta go to my Uncle's house in a half hour and I refuse to bring anyone down with my foul mood. So I'm ending this call, just... don't you dare turn off your phone tonight, you hear me?" Blaine warned.

Kurt wasn't enjoying Blaine's almost order, anymore that he liked the situation on a whole. "I'm not having a contest with you to see who's the one to cave and call first, Blaine." he said but regretted it right away.

"I'm not replying to that comment Kurt, you're... being too self centered right now I can't eve-" Blaine began to rant but Kurt stopped him by hanging up on him mid sentence.

Kurt flopped back down on his bed and screamed into his pillow, swearing away. After he got that out of his system he felt took weak to deal with the lingering anger. So he threw his comforter up over his head and waited until the pills he'd taken made him drowsy enough to go back to sleep. ______________________________________________________________________________

When Kurt finally got up to face the day (or late afternoon rather) his head felt eons better but such was not the case for his spirit. Most of the rage from before was gone but now it was replaced with gut retching guilt. He'd thrown up shortly after waking and feeling so sick to his stomach wasn't entirely due to drinking so much last night. Kurt knew Blaine was far from innocent, they'd bot gotten equally lippy with one another and said some stupid things. But now that Kurt was sober he knew it was time to face all the consequences of his drunken activities of the night prior. Before contacting Blaine there were two other people Kurt needed to apologize to first and he'd start with the closets of the pair. While Kurt didn't really have anything grimaces to make up for when it came to his dad, he did owe him an explanation at least. It was time to uphold his deal, as soon as he took a shower and got dressed. His outfit protected the subdued state he was in, consisting of a simple distressed hoodie and a pair of jeans. Kurt found Burt sitting down to lunch with both Finn and Carole, who went silent at his arrival.

"Oh Kurt, how are you feeling?" Carole asked softly.

While Carole's attempts to see how he was fairing were appreciated, it only made him feel childish from being coddled like that. He held his ground and gave her a weak smile, heading straight for the coffee machine to make himself a strong cup of Joe. "Sort of, my heads fine... but there's a lot to deal with now," he admitted softly.

" That tends to happen when you get drunk, Kurt." Burt commented.

"Oh I know that now," Kurt replied.

All it took was a quick look between mother and son for them to make a quick excuse to leave the two Hummel men alone so they could talk it out. Kurt voiced his thanks and with mug in hand, sat down beside his dad and waited for the lecture to begin.

Only the first thing Burt did was sign, shaking his head at how pathetic Kurt looked. "Kurt, this isn't a prison and you're not sixteen anymore. You might not be old enough to legally drink but it's not like I didn't wake up with a hang over when I was your age now and then," he added with a smirk.

"I bet you never woke up with dollar bills stuffed down your pants though," Kurt remarked.

That comment caused Burt to do a double take and he needed a moment to recover from the disturbing mental image. "What did you do?" he asked, already fearing the answer.

Kurt took a momentary pause to take another drink of his coffee, telling his dad the tale would not be fun but necessary. "It all started when Blaine broke our promise to talk over Skype last night, which was his doing in the first place. When I found out he went to some party without me in my resentment I decided to do the same thing. I went to Rachel's and we had a party there with the girls from glee club. Then... one thing lead to the other and in my stupidity I drank... a lot. So much that I let himself go way too much and judging by the money I found and where. I went so far as to put on a strip show, to what degree is still unsure at this point. I sure hope the fact that Blaine brought me home willingly me means I didn't cross a line..." Kurt described and after saying it all out-loud made him feel even worse than before.

"You put your clothes back on, according to Blaine, who heard it straight from Rachel," Burt said.

"Oh thank god!" Kurt moaned in relief.

"Did you call Blaine yet?"

"Yes, little good that did, we just ended up fighting."

"It's not always gonna to be like you're on your honeymoon, Kurt. When you're with someone for a while fights happen. It takes a lot of work to keep a relationship going. You have it even harder because you two are doing lost distance," Burt said.

Kurt sighed, "I know... but I sort of hoped things would be easier when we were together, not harder."

"Life's like that, always ready to throw you a curve ball. What you gotta figure out is if you're brave enough to step up to bat and throw the stick around..." Burt began but then Kurt started to snicker and he rolled his eyes. "Do you want my help or not?"

"I'm sorry but... when you said stick I just..." Kurt doubled over with laughter.

Burt finally joined in and chuckled with Kurt for a moment, happy to move past what could have been an awkward moment for the both of them. "Any idea what you'll do now?" he finally asked.

"Well, am I grounded?" Kurt responded.

"No, you're in college and like I said before, you're paying for it enough as it is. Just, I better not find your boyfriend or anyone else dragging your drunken ass back here okay? It's Christmas, not Mardi Gras," Burt warned.

"I don't intend to get drunk for a very long time, so I'll behave myself for my visit and then some. It's going to be hard enough to live last night down," Kurt groaned.

"Then we're okay but back to Blaine," Burt urged.

Kurt smirked because it was amusing how his suddenly his dad had a chance to bring up his boyfriend, when a few years ago he'd admitted he wasn't ready for his son having boy issues. How times had changed for the both of them. "I'll call him... eventually. We agreed to take some time to let our tempers cool before we'd try again. I can't face him yet... and he's probably still visiting with his family anyway. But I won't hold off on talking to him for much longer. I just want to go apologize to Rachel in person first," he explained.

"I'll leave you to it then, and let today be a day off for your family obligations. Come tomorrow I expect you to be back and in a festive mood," Burt said as he stood up from the table.

Kurt nodded, "I'll be ready to sing carols, sit by the fire and drink nothing but hot chocolate with the rest of you," he assured.