Kurt was startled when he heard Rory, but he turned to face the other boy regardless, "he went to visit some friends at Dalton. I was supposed to go with him but I have a test in math I couldn't miss. They invited him when he went to drop off their invites for West Side Story."

Kurt had been surprised when Blaine had decided to skip the last few periods of the day including glee to go back to Dalton to hang out with his friends. He knew Blaine missed them and sometimes he wondered if it had been a mistake to ask Blaine to transfer, especially when Blaine would skip school for them. Still, Kurt had been all for going with him until he saw his planner that morning and realized he had a test that wouldn't be easily made up.

"Oh," Rory said.

"Did you need him for something?"

Rory shrugged. "Not really. I just wanted to ask about a CD he lent me at rehearsal yesterday, but I can ask another time."

Rory seemed shifty, moving from foot to foot. It was some sort of nervous habit, Kurt thought, but he couldn't figure out why it unnerved him so much.

"Will he get in trouble?" Rory asked.

Kurt shook his head. "The magic of having Rachel Berry play the lead in a school musical is that everyone knows how committed she is. She's been having Blaine miss classes that she deems unimportant for practice time."

Kurt also couldn't deny that there was something going on with Blaine and Rachel which had started after their last rehearsal. Kurt could still remember the intense look in Blaine's eyes when he'd told Kurt that his fantasy about Taylor Lautner was hot.

"She's scary," Rory said. Kurt couldn't help but agree.

"Hey, Rory," he said, "I might not be able to do something for you, but you might be able to help me out."

Rory was kind of like a puppy, Kurt thought, watching him perk up at the mention that he could be of help. It reminded Kurt of something or someone.

"See, I don't really have anyone to talk to about this because usually I'd go to Blaine but it concerns him and I don't really know if he'll understand where I'm coming from. And Rachel and I aren't talking because she's running against me. And Mercedes was my friend but she's so busy with her boyfriend and I had my own drama to deal with. Anyway, you're my friend right, Rory?"

"Yeah, of course."

Kurt nodded and closed his locker. It was right before rehearsal and Kurt was supposed to be working on last minute adjustments to the set anyway so he thought it'd be okay if they were late.

"Well, I've been thinking that maybe I want to take our relationship to the next level, you know, but Blaine kind of acts like I'm this porcelain doll that he's afraid to break."

Kurt didn't dare look at Rory. He had to get this out before he started blushing and stuttering around his words and he knew if he looked at Rory it would make those things happen.

"I mean we kind of set up some rules, you know, because I'm kind of uncomfortable with that sort of thing, but then lately I've just been wondering if maybe it isn't all that scary. It's Blaine and I love him and I know he loves me back. So wouldn't all of it just be perfect?"

Rory didn't respond, unless his slight squeak could be considered a response, so Kurt kept talking.

"But sex is just this really big step, you know, and my dad told me not to throw myself around, but it's Blaine and I just, I'm always safe with him and I know he would make it a moment that mattered. I just don't know what to do. What do you think Rory?"

Kurt finally looked at Rory then and he was shocked to find a paler than usual Rory, eyes wide and filled with an emotion he couldn't get a grasp for, his mouth gaping. He cleared his throat.

"I…I can't help you," he squeaked out. His voice was high pitched, higher than even Kurt's, and then he turned on his heel and practically ran down the hall.

Kurt stared after him in confusion and then realized his set helper was running away. "Rory!" he called, "the auditorium's the other way!"

He sighed and dug his phone out of his pocket as he began to walk in the opposite direction of the one Rory had gone. Blaine had planned out the perfect day to go see the Warblers. Although rehearsal was crucial, he'd picked the day when Santana and Mike were the main focus of rehearsal. Rachel of course made them practice some of her scenes as well.

There was only one new message on his phone. It was from Blaine.

Meet me at the Lima Bean. NOW!

Kurt frowned, confused and worried and then he sighed. Without Rory there wasn't much he'd get done anyway, he decided, and he walked instead towards the nearest exit and then out to his car. Whatever Blaine needed, it must have been important. He stared at the text, eyes focused on the capitalized 'now' and the exclamation points that followed it. He hoped everything would be alright.

- - -

Rory was traumatized. He shook himself. It was no use, he couldn't get the words out of his head. This was worse than when his Dad and Papa had sat him down to give him The Talk. So much worse.

"Gah!"

He didn't want to know about this. He didn't want to hear about anything to do with his parent's sex life, even if they were teenagers. He shuddered. Gross.

It was a day later and Rory was still trying hard to bury his dad's words and not think about them again, but it was hard, especially when Kurt was just a few feet away fixing one of Rachel's costumes where there had been a minor tear.

Rory finished giving one of the wood set pieces it's second hand of paint and he grinned a little to himself.

"What do you think?" he called out to Kurt.

Kurt glanced over, "exactly what it needed. Looks much better."

Rory didn't respond because Blaine was walking towards them, then, and Rory really was in awe of seeing his Papa. It was hard, he was finding, to not just stare at him sometimes.

"Sebastian just texted me," he told Kurt, "and I have no idea how he got my number, but apparently he got us fake IDs."

Rory didn't know how to react because he knew exactly what his parents would do to him if he ever got a fake ID. Dad would skin him alive after yelling his ears off and Papa would shake his head disappointed and not say anything about it for a few days before he brought it up again and made some sort of joke about it that Dad would reprimand him for.

Yet there they were talking about the fake IDs that some guy named Sebastian had gotten them.

"Where are you guys going?" he asked.

His Papa bit down on his lower lip. Kurt on the other hand rolled his eyes. "We're going to a gay bar in Lima Heights. Blaine's new friend Sebastian—" he seemed to growl the name "—invited us."

"You didn't have to say yes," Blaine said.

Rory didn't know what to think. First his dad was trying to talk to him about wanting to sleep with his Papa and now they were talking about going to a gay bar in a bad part of town where some underage drinking was bound to happen. To him his parents had never seemed the kind to go to a bar or get drunk during high school. He'd never imagined that they would have fake IDs even.

"When are we getting the IDs?" Kurt asked. He wasn't looking at Blaine or Rory but instead at the dress he'd been sewing.

"Tonight. He said to meet him at the Lima Bean."

"Okay."

Blaine nodded, lingering awkwardly before he turned on his heel and walked back towards Rachel and Artie, though he looked back as he went. Rory didn't like what he was seeing one bit.

"Sebastian was all over him," Dad said suddenly, "and I mean, I know Blaine would never stray. He's not that kind of guy, but Sebastian is just all worldly and Blaine's just so nice to everyone and he'd going to try and befriend this guy regardless of anything I say and I just don't even want to think about the possibility of losing him."

This was a far better conversation that the one they'd had the day before, but still Rory didn't know what to say. How did he go about reassuring his father? He couldn't very well tell him that he had nothing to worry about because in the future he would marry Blaine and have him. So, instead he settled for:

"So, the way to solve all of this is going to a gay bar?"

Kurt let out a long breath and his face twisted into a worried frown. "It such a terrible idea, I know, but when he asked I couldn't just let Blaine say no. He thinks I'm some boring guy that, I don't know, stays home and knits and he's lived in Paris and he goes to bars and…"

"And what?" Rory asked.

His dad looked unsure for a moment, before he continued, "and maybe that's what Blaine wants and I just want him to know I can be that guy. I can be fun. We can do more than just talk on the phone while I do my nightly skin regime."

Rory had never seen his dad look so vulnerable. Well, no. He had seen him worse when Papa died, but that was different from this sort of defeated look. Rory wanted to give him the reassurance, to let him know that he didn't have to worry now.

"He loves you," he settled for, "Kurt, I've only known the two of you for a little while, but even I can see that the two of you belong together. And some random guy that might have the hots for Blaine won't break the two of you up."

Kurt nodded. "You're right. I just worry sometimes. He's too good for me."

Rory didn't get to respond to that, and he didn't have anything to say anyway. Artie called Kurt over and Kurt just shrugged at Rory.

"Is Kurt okay?"

Rory was surprised to see Rachel and even more surprised to hear her talking to him. She hadn't said much to him past welcoming him to New Directions, but Finn had told him it was because she was busy with the musical.

"I think so, he's just feeling insecure about him and Blaine."

Rachel pursed her lips. "Oh," she said and then, "I wish Kurt were talking to me. I have no one to talk to anymore. He's my best friend, you know."

Finn had sort of filled Rory in on why Kurt and Rachel weren't on speaking terms and he found the entire thing ridiculous though he still blamed Rachel for the entire mess. Finn, he suspected, did too.

"I really miss him. But I can't just drop out of the election. I need it for NYADA. I don't know why he doesn't understand that. I'm not doing anything wrong."

Rory was glad that the Rachel he knew in the future had mellowed out some. She was still the passionate diva with the amazing singing voice, but there was humbleness there too. It probably had something to do with having reached her goal or something as silly as growing up.

- - -

"Brittany has absolutely no idea what to do next," Santana said.

They were sitting in the Pierce's basement and Brittany was off tinkering with a watch that had a My Little Pony animation on it, at another table.

"She never does," Rory informed her and looked at the half build machine that Brittany wasn't even focusing on. He tried hard to remember if they had ever told him when Brittany had finished making it.

Santana was sitting primly on a stool still in her cheerleading outfit. Rory hated the outfit. It made both of his Aunts look really hot and Rory really needed to stop thinking like that.

"So, what's the future like, McFly?"

Rory stared at her.

"It's a movie," she rolled her eyes, "probably too old in your time, it's about time travel."

"Oh," Rory said and then, "I can't tell you."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Listen, you're stuck in the past and you obviously know who we are. I'm not stupid, future kid, you're way too comfortable here which means you have to be related to one of us. Also, you're changing everything by just being here aren't you?"

Brittany dropped the watch. "The little ponies don't want to be tickled anymore," she said as way of explanation.

Rory who was used to a Brittany that made the slightest bit more sense blinked at her and Santana just took it all in stride. Rory wondered if she ever understood what Brittany was talking about.

"We have to go, now," Brittany insisted then, "it's like the story, the elves have to come out and make things now."

They had no choice but to follow Brittany up to the kitchen and Rory felt for the first time how real a possibility it was that Brittany might not build the machine for months if not years. The worst thing was that it couldn't be forced. Brittany needed to do it naturally and nothing could speed her up as she invented. Rory missed his Papa more than ever and a horrible thought struck him: what if he never got home? He'd be stuck in this time growing older with his parents and then what? What happened when he was born?

Worse: would had Papa still die and would his dad be left alone after that Rory made the same mistake? Rory couldn't bear it. He had to get home.

"You'll figure it out, Brittany," he said gently.

She stared at him confused and he shook his head.

Santana in the meanwhile had been staring at him thoughtfully. "Well," she said, "you can't be Berry's kid, you're not a hobbit."

Rory gapped at her. "Santana please stop guessing."

She only continued, watching him as she mentioned everyone in the glee club. It was a good thing he was a good actor because he would have given himself away otherwise.

It wasn't until Santana was leaving later and mentioned going to visit her abuela in Lima Heights that Rory remembered it was the night his parents were going to the gay bar. He was tempted for a moment to ask Santana to take him with her, but he stopped himself realizing that doing just that would interfere with the cause of things.

Instead, he hung out with Brittany and her enormous cat, Lord Tubbington, and tried to make sense of the low quality picture of the tv in the living room in comparison to what he'd been used to in the future. Around midnight he and Brittany headed to bed but Rory couldn't settle himself down wondering how his dad was and how everything had worked out.

Rory had never heard about a Sebastian from either of his parents in the future so he knew the other boy had to inconsequential, but still there was always the worry that he being there could have changed something.

When he finally drifted off it was to the familiar nightmare of seeing his Papa's bruised and battered body on the hospital bed.

- - -

Blaine was the biggest asshole, or at least that's how he felt as he tried to figure out in what direction he needed to go to get himself home. It'd been stupid to leave Kurt, stupider still to get drunk and try to get his boyfriend to sleep with him in the back seat of his car. Why was he so damn stupid? He couldn't even figure out how he was going to get home.

A familiar car pulled over and Blaine almost groaned, because of course it was Kurt. Kurt was a good boyfriend. He wouldn't just leave Blaine to do something stupid even after what he'd done earlier. For a moment, he considered refusing to get into his own car.

"Come on," Kurt said, "I won't even talk to you if you don't want me to, just get in. Your house is practically an hour away on foot and I have to drop off your car and get mine anyway. It's not out of my way. Blaine, please."

He got into the car, dropping into the passenger seat and immediately he felt as if everything would be alright. All the fears that had risen up as he wondered what would happen to him disappeared and it was all because of Kurt. Kurt, his boyfriend, who he loved. The boyfriend he'd tried to take advantage of. He was such a douche. Blaine couldn't understand how it was possible for Kurt to still want to take him home; how it was possible that Kurt was even his boyfriend at all.

Blaine was silent on the ride to his house, sure that if he opened his mouth he'd make a mess of things again. He was always messing things up.

When they got there, Kurt parked the car in its usual spot and turned off the ignition. Blaine took off the seatbelt that Kurt had put on him at a red light and opened the door. By the time he was stumbling out of the car, Kurt was there, an arm wrapping around Blaine's waist.

"Come on, Blaine Warbler," Kurt said, "I'll help you get inside."

"Not a Warbler anymore," Blaine said.

Kurt nodded and looked thoughtfully at Blaine, "well, Blaine New Directions sounds weird."

Blaine didn't respond.

Kurt lead him into the house and then up the stairs to his own room, and then after sitting him down on the soft bed, walked around the room, grabbing Blaine his pajamas which he then proceeded to help Blaine change into. Blaine let him help, not knowing just how to tell Kurt that, no, he was alright, he didn't need the help. It had only been one beer.

But Kurt got him down to his underwear and then he helped him into Finding Nemo pajama pants and a soft cotton shirt.

"Come on, Blaine, in bed now."

He followed Kurt's directions as Kurt settled him in his bed, tucking his covers in as he would for a child.

"Do I get a story now?" he asked cheekily, before he could stop himself.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Nope. I have to get home. Finn said he was cooking for Rachel and I'm pretty much convinced that means the house will be burnt to the ground by the time I get back."

Blaine pouted his lips and turned on his side in the bed. He couldn't understand why Kurt was acting as if nothing had happened. The bed dipped and Blaine lifted his head. Kurt leaned towards him and kissed his forehead. Kurt ran his fingers through his stiffened hair and Blaine realized then that there was still gel in his hair. It was going to be a mess to take care of in the morning.

"Well, I have to go. We'll talk about this later, alright?"

Blaine nodded. He'd been so stupid. There was no way he deserved Kurt.

"I'm still miffed at you," Kurt added, but then kissed his cheek and left the room.

For a moment Blaine considered calling him back, but he shook the thought. He didn't deserve for Kurt to be so comforting and good to him. He burrowed into his pillow and closed his eyes. His head throbbed a little, but he ignored it. Blaine resolved that he'd make it up to Kurt the next time he saw him. It took him a few minutes, but then he was asleep.