Kurt sat on his bed and stared out the window to the darkness outside, seeing nothing. When he had finally been able to move, to do something other than just stand and stare in horror at the spot where the demon had previously stood, he had spun on his heel and, shaking off Blaine, had run upstairs and locked himself in his room. Blaine had started knocking on the door less than a minute later, calling out to him, asking him to let him in, and had been joined by a concerned-sounding Wes after about ten minutes. The knocking and voices pleading him to open the door had stopped around half an hour ago, but Kurt knew Blaine was still outside his room. He had heard Trent try and persuade him to go back to his own room and give Kurt some time and space a few minutes ago, but Blaine had refused to move. Kurt's phone had been buzzing on and off with calls and texts since he had locked himself in his room, most of which he knew without looking were from Blaine.

He knew he should probably be happy that he had never been cursed, be overjoyed that he would be able to live a normal life again, to have close friends again, to treat his Dad properly, to not worry about Blaine loving him – to be Kurt again. But he remembered every cruel comment, every time he had pushed someone away, and he wondered if anyone he cared about would ever want to be near him again. What if, even without the curse, he was going to be alone for the rest of his life?

He shifted on the bed and heard something crinkle. Frowning he picked up a piece of folded paper and smoothed it out.

'Courage.'

Kurt stared down at the word and with a trembling finger traced the curves of Blaine's handwriting.

'I'll be here for you no matter what happens, Kurt.'

Still clutching the paper, Kurt walked over to his door and unlocked it. He heard the sound of Blaine scrambling to his feet on the other side just before he pulled the door open. He and Blaine stood staring at each other for a second. Blaine's hair was escaping from its gel and was now in ruffled curls, his mouth was tight with worry, and his eyes – which were filled with a mixture of concern and shock – lit up when he saw Kurt, as they did every time he saw him.

"Kurt..."

Kurt threw himself at Blaine, almost knocking the shorter boy over, and buried his face in his shoulder. Blaine held Kurt against him, murmuring something that Kurt couldn't discern. When Kurt finally loosened his grip on Blaine he took the other boy's hand and led him into his room and over to sit on his bed. Before Blaine could open his mouth, Kurt spoke.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry it took me so long to remember that I wasn't alone, that I had someone who cared about me."

Blaine's eyes softened. "Kurt, I'm not the only person who cares about you. Your Dad cares about you, your friends here do, and I'm sure there are people at your old school who care about you."

Kurt shook his head. "No, I made sure they wouldn't."

"You were trying to stop your Dad caring about you too much, but I can assure you he loves you as much now as he did before you met that demon." Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand. "Your old friends at McKinley will still care about you, you just need to get back in contact with them and repair your relationships."

Kurt bit his lip. "How can I do that though? How can I fix things after everything I said and did to them?"

"I'll help you." Blaine rubbed his thumb across Kurt's knuckles.

Kurt smiled at him. "Thank you." His smile quickly slipped from his face. "I can't believe the curse was fake. All this time I thought I was stupid for opening that box and getting cursed – and it was stupid opening it – but I was even more stupid and gullible thinking the curse was real."

"You couldn't have known that! You knew nothing about demons; you didn't even know they existed! How were you supposed to know that it wasn't possible for that demon to have cursed you?"

Kurt sighed, frustrated with himself. "I don't know. I should have been smart like you and done research."

"But we did research and never found anything like that. Besides, your Mom died that night just like the curse said, so of course you believed it."

Kurt's face crinkled into a frown. "How did my Mom die then if it wasn't the curse? The demon said it sensed she was dying."

"Didn't your Dad ever tell you how she died?" Blaine asked.

Kurt shook his head. "No, he never did. I've no idea why..."

"This weekend we're going to go to your house and find out the truth about your Mom and then you can start getting back in contact with your McKinley friends."

"How do I explain how I've been acting these last four years to everyone? I can't just tell them about the demon, they'll never believe me." Kurt searched Blaine's face, hoping he had an idea to help him because he had nothing.

"I think you should tell your Dad the truth, I'm sure he'll believe you. He may be a little angry that you kept it from him for four years, but I'm sure he'll understand. As for what to tell your friends, I'm not sure." Blaine admitted. "But we'll think of something."

Kurt nodded. "You're right." He shifted closer to Blaine and rested his head on his shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered. "You help me with so much."

Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt's forehead. "You're welcome."

"Ready?"

Blaine and Kurt had just arrived at Kurt's house. They were spending the weekend there to allow Kurt to find out the truth behind his Mother's death and to start repairing the relationships with his Dad and old McKinley friends. It had taken Kurt over twenty minutes to persuade his Dad to let Blaine stay at their house. Blaine had told Kurt that he was happy to just drive to Lima on Saturday and Sunday, but Kurt had insisted that he stay over.

Kurt opened his car door. "I'm ready."

Blaine got out of the car, grabbed his bag from the back, and went to walk up to the front door, but Kurt stopped him by placing a hand on his arm.

Kurt's eyes flicked to his house. "I think we should keep the fact that we're dating from my Dad for now."

"Are you sure? Wouldn't it be better to tell him the truth? I'm pretty sure he has guessed we are together anyway."

Kurt's eyes were still on the house. "Yes, he's guessed, but he still doesn't know for certain and if we tell him he'll hang over us the whole weekend to make sure we don't get up to anything he deems inappropriate."

Blaine smirked at his boyfriend. "Are you planning on doing something inappropriate?"

Kurt slapped his arm. "Shut up." He hissed, blushing.

Blaine saw Burt's face appear at the window. Kurt, following his gaze, sighed. "Come on."

He led the way up to the door which was thrown open before they even reached it, revealing Burt. Kurt dropped his bag and threw his arms around his Dad, hugging him tightly. Burt looked surprised, but he held Kurt against him for a moment before pulling back.

"It's great to see you too, Kurt." He said gruffly.

Kurt smiled at him, ducking his head quickly, but not before Blaine caught a glimpse of his tear-filled eyes.

"Nice to see you again, Blaine." Burt nodded at him.

Blaine smiled at him as Kurt bent to pick up his bag, trying to discreetly wipe his eyes on his sleeve. "You too, Mr. Hummel."

"It's Burt, kid." He told him, as Kurt straightened up. He moved aside to let the two boys into the house.

"We'll quickly go put our stuff upstairs." Kurt took a step towards the stairs.

"I got the spare room ready for Blaine." Burt said pointedly.

"Thank you for letting me stay." Blaine said, as he went to follow Kurt up the stairs.

Kurt went to the effort of cooking his Dad's favourite meal for dinner. He knew his Dad would know that something was up when he saw what was for dinner, especially as Kurt wasn't making the healthier alternative, but it was worth trying to put him in a good mood seeing as Kurt was going to reveal that he had been keeping a huge secret from him for the last four years – even if the whole thing had been fake.

Blaine entered the kitchen just as Kurt was putting the finishing touches to the meal.

"Is it ready to be served?" He asked, joining Kurt by the stove.

Kurt nodded at the dishes on the counter next to him. "You can put those on the table and tell my Dad dinner is ready. I'll bring this through in a minute."

Blaine left the kitchen with the dishes after giving Kurt a swift kiss on the cheek – Kurt could feel the spot where his lips had touched him tingling and he knew he was blushing.

He switched off the stove, spooned the food into a dish, and carried it through to the table where his Dad and Blaine were just sitting down. His Dad raised his eyebrows when he saw the food that was on the table, but said nothing. Kurt waited until after they had finished eating before he brought up the subject of the demon. He met Blaine's eyes across the table and he smiled encouragingly at him. He took a deep breath, wishing he hadn't told Blaine to sit across from him so he could hold his hand.

"Dad?"

Burt turned his head to look at him.

"I- I have something I need to tell you." Kurt chewed on his bottom lip.

Burt's eyes flicked between the two teenage boys at the table. "Finally admitting the two of you are dating?"

Kurt felt his face heat up. "No! No, we're not dating." He avoided looking at Blaine.

Burt still didn't look convinced. "Right. So, what is it then?"

"Uh, well-" He glanced nervously at Blaine, who smiled and nodded. "Remember four years ago when you asked me to clear out the attic?"

"And you grumbled and moaned about it for hours before finally giving in?"

Kurt wiped his damp palms on his jeans. "Uh, yeah. But when I was up in the attic I found an old wooden box. I opened it and a- a demon came out."

Burt's face wrinkled up in confusion. "A what came out?" He bent closer to Kurt to hear him better.

Kurt expelled a breath. "A demon."

Burt sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. "A demon." He repeated in a low mutter, he kneaded his forehead with his hand.

Kurt watched him anxiously, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth and wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans again. Out the corner of his eye he saw Blaine watching Burt apprehensively.

"Dad?" Kurt said tentatively.

Burt lowered his hand and opened his eyes to look at his son. "This isn't a wind-up is it? This actually happened?" His voice was slightly dazed.

Kurt nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"And what happened after this demon appeared?"

Kurt hesitated, licking his dry lips. "It- well, it cursed me."

Burt sat up straight. "It what?" He shouted.

Kurt and Blaine both winced.

"You got cursed by a- by a demon years ago and you never told me?"

"The curse was fake! I was never actually cursed." Kurt said quickly.

Burt still looked annoyed. "But you must have believed it was real at the time, otherwise you would have told me about it."

"I-" Kurt faltered, looking over to Blaine for support.

"He only found out that the curse was false a few days ago." Blaine explained smoothly, though he recoiled slightly when Burt directed his furious glare on him. "Kurt never told you about the curse because he was trying to protect you. If you knew about it, the curse would have killed you."

"The curse said that anyone who loved me would die." Kurt continued. "That's why I avoided you and behaved horribly towards you, that's why I had no friends at McKinley."

The anger disappeared from his Dad's face and was replaced by sadness. "You were trying to make sure no one loved you." He sounded weary. "Kurt, I couldn't ever not love you, you know that don't you?"

Kurt stared down at the table, tears blurring his vision. "I do," his voice was thick with tears. "Even when I thought I was cursed I did, deep down. But I still thought that I could stop you from loving me by acting how I did."

"Kurt..." His Dad got up and pulled him into a hug. Kurt wrapped his arms around him, the tears now sliding down his face. Over his Dad's shoulder he saw Blaine leave the room to give them some privacy.

Kurt pulled back from his Dad, wiping at his cheeks. "The reason I believed the curse was real was because it said that it would kill someone who loved me that night, and Mom died later that night."

His Dad pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. "Your Mom died of a heart attack. If you'd told me about the demon I-" He broke off, shaking his head. "I understand why you didn't tell me. I should have told you how your Mother died, but I thought you were too young and distraught enough as it was. When you were older I should have told you, but I didn't want to bring it all up again and upset you." He rubbed a hand across his face.

Kurt laced his shaking hands together, trying to take everything in and push away the memories of the time of his Mom's death and the feelings of grief. "At least I know the truth now."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both wrapped up in their own thoughts and memories.

"I'm guessing Blaine knows all about the curse." His Dad broke the silence.

Kurt nodded hesitantly, knowing they were heading towards him having to lie to his Dad again. "His History teacher – she's the one who helped me find out that the curse was false – knows all about demons and likes to talk about them, so Blaine guessed."

"He guessed that you thought you were cursed?" Burt asked sceptically.

"He guessed that I had encountered a demon and I had to admit to the rest. He was the one who insisted I tried to get the curse removed. If it hadn't been for him, I would still believe the curse was real."

His Dad's eyes flicked to the door through to the living room which Blaine had disappeared through earlier. "And you two aren't dating?"

"No, we're just friends." Knowing his Dad could see the blush on his face, he added, "I like him though."

His Dad considered him for a moment. "From the way he looks at you, I think he feels the same way."

"I think so too."

"If you do decide to get your acts together and tell each other, keep it appropriate whilst you're in this house."

Kurt blushed again as his Dad nodded at him and left the room.