They approached the big building which housed Hummel Tires and Lube very slowly, almost tiptoeing to the entrance, as if they were about to enter the lair of a vicious monster. After the explorations of the previous night, Kurt felt better and more relaxed for a short while (although he'd expected to be uncomfortable around Blaine when they do anything intimate for the first time – he was still uneasy using the word sex – even though it was nothing more than some fooling around). But the morning found him obsessing about everything anew.

Blaine's hands wrapped around one of his made him feel a little bit safer, like no matter how hard he'd fall or from how high, there would always be someone to soften the landing.

But first he had to take the leap. Whether it was a leap from the edge of a precipice or just a leap of faith, he was still unsure. He bit his lip nervously until he tasted blood. As much as he wished to finally meet his father, he wanted to just turn around and run, run as far away as he could.

Only that he'd already run away once, with a destination set in mind clearly, and this was it. Now there was nowhere else to run.

Kurt shot one last glance at Blaine right before the threshold, just to make sure he was there and that he would be there every step of the way. Blaine gave him a little nod, understanding the question without words, and unclasped his hands, leaving only the fingertips of his right hand gently laced with the fingers of Kurt's left hand.

They went into the shop, Kurt leading the way by half a step. There were a couple of employees busying around a car with its hood open, and they didn't pay attention to the two boys. It seemed dealing with customers wasn't their job, but it annoyed Kurt that no one asked them if they needed any help; he wanted this over with as soon as possible, and he had to know where to find Burt.

It took another short moment and the sound of steps to their right to realise he didn't need to ask anyone, because the person who was supposed to deal with customers was the one he was looking for.

'How may I help you?,' Burt asked with a smile, a clipboard in hand, and only when he'd approached them did he look up from it for long enough to recognise the boy in front of him. 'Oh, we've met, right? The Lima Bean?'

Kurt managed a small anxious smile and nodded.

'Okay, so what happened to your wheels...?'

'Kurt,' the boy supplemented, barely able to choke out his name. 'A- and I don't have a car.'

'Then what brings you to a tire shop, Kurt?,' Burt said, half-amused. But there was something in that boy's expression that made him think this visit had nothing to do with cars. And something that felt eerily familiar.

'I think- This is a personal matter.' Kurt changed his mind halfway through the sentence. He didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the shop. 'Sorry, I don't mean to be rude or anything, I just need to talk to you for a second.'

Burt eyed him suspiciously. The boy was definitely stressed sick, the other one was watching him with a worried look, but they seemed like good kids. He had no idea what kind of a personal matter they could have with him, but he motioned for them to follow him into his tiny office in the back.

He closed the door behind the three of them and sat on the edge of his cluttered desk, folding his arms.

'So what kind of a personal matter did you want to discuss with me?' Suddenly Burt frowned as a thought crossed his mind. 'It's not about Finn, is it? He's not giving you a hard time at school or anything?'

'No, it's not anything like that,' Blaine cut in. 'Kurt?'

'Um, this may sound strange, and- and I may be wrong in thinking this, but- um-,' Kurt stammered. 'I think I- I think that you- you might be my father.'

Silence fell in the room, as Burt's eyes bulged, and Kurt went back to biting his already chewed-up lip. After a moment, Burt ran his hand across his face, clearly dumbfounded by the news. His brain suddenly began working at full-speed, searching his memories and trying to match them to the revelation.

'How old are you?,' he asked Kurt finally.

'Eighteen, almost. It's my birthday tomorrow actually.' He had no idea why he added that.

Burt nodded pensively. 'What's your mother's name?'

'Elizabeth. Elizabeth Brenneman.' Kurt's heart was pounding almost deafeningly, making him queasy. He needed this to be over. This wasn't going to end well, this was a bad idea, this was a mistake.

And as his thoughts kept speeding through his brain, distracting him, dizzying, he thought that he'd imagined the minute smile that tugged at one corner of Burt's lips, only to disappear under a layer of guilt and sadness.

'Didn't want to tell you who your old man was, did she? She was probably right not to, 'cause I let her leave,' Burt said quietly.

'She's dead, I never really knew her,' Kurt muttered, matching his father's voice in volume. Pain flashed through Burt's face. 'So- you are my father?'

Burt stood up and took a step towards the boys, a sad smile on his lips.

'Yeah, I guess I am.' He stretched out a hand. 'Nice to meet you, son.'

Kurt hesitated, glancing awkwardly at the offered hand.

'How can you be so sure I'm not lying, or making this all up? I could've found out the name anywhere.'

'I knew there was something familiar in you. You look a lot like her.' His voice quivered, and Kurt looked up at him. The man's eyes were glistening. 'And I knew her well enough to know there was no one else.'

This time Kurt didn't pause for a second, but instead of shaking his father's hand, he hugged him, melting into the embrace as if he was five years old. When he realised that it might've not been welcome and made a move to back out, he felt Burt hugging him back.

'Nice to meet you, too,' Kurt mumbled.

They broke apart after a moment, and Burt's eyes rested on Blaine who'd been quietly grinning for the last couple of minutes, not daring interrupting the reunion.

'You still haven't introduced me to your friend,' Burt said to his son.

'This is Blaine, my- um- boyfriend.' Kurt flicked his eyes to his father's face to see his reaction to the word. He wouldn't be surprised if the man kicked them out right that second.

But all Burt did was extend a hand for Blaine to shake, which the boy promptly did, his grin still wide and beaming.

'Nice to meet you, Mr. Hummel.'

'It's Burt, buddy.'

'I might need to be reminded a couple of times,' Blaine said. 'But I'll try to remember.'

The tension in the room lifted, and Burt gestured the boys to take the two wobbly chairs he usually used as additional shelves for the never-ending amount of papers that he quickly pushed off to the floor, and he sat down in the one behind the desk. After a moment of silence, he asked Kurt to tell him about where he grew up.

So tell him Kurt did. He didn't go into the details of his life back in the community, but the story couldn't be full without saying he was raised by the Amish. That piece of information Burt clearly found interesting, although he didn't seem overly shocked. He just nodded along, letting his son speak without interruption.

When Kurt reached the part of the story where Blaine came into the picture, he paused to check if it was okay with his boyfriend to continue. He thought Blaine had never seemed so at peace, so content, and so proud before, and he gave Kurt's hand a little squeeze to encourage him to go on. He even supplemented some details to what Kurt was saying.

'It takes guts to do what you guys did,' Burt said finally. 'This is ironic, though, you know?'

Kurt frowned; he couldn't see any irony in his life story.

'What is?'

'Life. You're so much like your mother-' Burt's voice trailed off. 'She did the same thing. Only she did it alone, and she didn't have a reason like you two did.'

'What do you mean, she did the same thing?' Kurt was still confused about what his father meant.

'She ran away from her community.' It was Burt's turn to knit his brow. 'Wait, you didn't know your mom was Amish, too?'