The morning of Sectionals dawned cool and crisp with a faint tinge of smoke in the air. Kurt woke early – earlier than the alarm he had set the night before – his stomach tight and feeling like it was twisting itself into knots. He felt nauseous from the mixture of the usual pre-competition nerves – doubled in intensity from the prospect of the duet – and anxiety about seeing his Dad later and knowing that he'd be admitting to lying and keeping secrets from him again. He got out of bed, willing himself not to throw up, and started to get ready. He was on his fourth attempt at doing up his tie – his shaking hands struggling to tie it properly – when his phone buzzed with a text. Abandoning his fight with his tie, he swiped his phone off the cabinet by his bed to find a text from Blaine.

'You awake?'

He quickly tapped out a reply before turning to survey his reflection critically in the mirror. Luckily, his hair was behaving today and he had managed to get it sitting perfectly despite his uncooperative hands. His phone buzzed again with a reply from Blaine telling him he was outside the room. Slipping the phone into his blazer pocket, he strode over to the door and pulled it open to reveal Blaine, looking composed and flawless as always. Blaine greeted him with a quick kiss.

"What happened to your tie?" He indicated Kurt's tie which was still hanging undone around his neck.

Kurt tugged at one end of it. "I couldn't tie it properly."

"Here, I'll do it for you." Blaine stepped closer to him and reached for his tie, beginning to tie it deftly.

Kurt watched Blaine's face as his boyfriend concentrated on his tie; his lashes looked even longer when his eyes were lowered, and Kurt could count the small number of freckles across his nose and cheeks.

"Done." Blaine raised his head and Kurt's heart took off at top speed as their eyes met. Just when he thought Blaine was going to kiss him, Blaine moved away. He smirked when he saw the disgruntled look on Kurt's face.

"Tease." Kurt muttered.

Blaine just laughed. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked, glancing at his watch. "We've got a while until breakfast."

Kurt nodded, closing his bedroom door and following Blaine along the corridor to the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Kurt grabbed Blaine's tie, pulling him in for a kiss. Blaine recovered from the surprise quickly and returned the kiss eagerly. They broke apart, panting slightly.

"That was for earlier." Kurt told him, continuing along the corridor.

Blaine hurried to catch up with him. "I'll be sure to do that more often if that's what I get." He replied, smirking.

When they reached the foyer they headed out into the grounds. Kurt inhaled deeply; the fresh, cool air of early morning and Blaine's presence making the nerves fade until they were barely noticeable. He took Blaine's hand, liking their fingers together, and they strolled away from the school, following one of the many paths that twisted through the grounds, swinging their arms between them slightly.

"I hate to break the moment," Blaine said after they had walked in peaceful, content silence for around five minutes, "but we should really talk about how we're going to tell your Dad about us and why we kept it from him."

Kurt sighed resignedly. "We should." He tipped his head back to watch a bird wheel above them, shadowed against the clear, watered-blue sky of early morning. "We're going to just tell him the truth. I'm sick of lying, of keeping secrets, of feeling guilty all the time."

"I think that's best." Blaine agreed. "Do you want to talk to him before or after the competition?"

Kurt thought about this as they turned down a new path that ran the perimeter of Dalton's grounds. Talking to his Dad before the competition started would mean that a load would be off his mind for when they performed, but he would be more nervous, and if it didn't go well then that would affect their performance and he didn't want to let the Warblers down. But, if he waited until after the competition was over and the results had been announced, he would no longer be worrying about the competition and he would be able to concentrate fully on what he was saying to his Dad.

"We'll wait until after the competition is over, that way I won't be stressing over the competition whilst I'm talking to him. I doubt we'll see him before anyway, we'll be too busy."

Blaine nodded. "Good point, we'll be in the dressing room most of the time until we go to watch the first performance."

They walked in comfortable silence for several minutes, the sun slowly beginning to heat up.

Kurt looked over at Blaine. "Are you nervous?"

"A little," Blaine shrugged. "Judging from your tie earlier, I'm guessing you're worse."

"This will be my first competition solo." Kurt grimaced. "Feel free to laugh at the guy who wants to study musical theatre when he leaves school who turns into a trembling mess at the thought of singing at a show choir competition."

Blaine smiled at him, squeezing his hand. "I think it's adorable, I think you're adorable. Besides, being nervous before a competition is normal."

An answering smile spread across Kurt's face. "Let's go get some breakfast!"

The foyer outside the theatre where the competition was being held was packed when the Warblers squeezed through the doors. Spectators, friends, and family members of those competing – most of them clutching programmes – excitedly discussed the competition, causing a great tide of noise that hit Blaine like a tidal wave when he entered the building alongside Kurt. Wes and David were at the front of the group and were trying to work their way through the crowd to get to the dressing room, but were having little success. The rest of the Warblers stuck close behind them, walking in the gap in the crowd they had created. The crowds thinned as they moved further away from the doors into the theatre and closer to the dressing rooms. They were almost at their dressing room when someone called Kurt's name.

"Kurt?"

Kurt and Blaine both turned, peering in the direction the voice had come from whilst the rest of the Warblers continued on into the dressing room. Rachel suddenly appeared around a small group of adults trailed by a tall, dark-haired boy who had obviously been the one to shout Kurt's name as the voice had been male and there was no way Rachel could have seen over the crowd.

Kurt nodded stiffly at Rachel, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Hello, Finn." He said a little awkwardly to the tall boy.

Finn was frowning down at Kurt, looking confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a member of the Warblers so I'm competing."

Rachel spoke up. "Kurt, can I talk to-"

"Don't start trying to apologise, Rachel I'm not in the mood."

"Wait," Finn held a hand up, looking even more puzzled as he glanced between Rachel and Kurt, "you guys are friends again?"

Kurt opened his mouth to speak but Rachel beat him to it. "Yes, we are. We met up on Sunday and are re-building our friendship."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Finn asked Rachel.

"Oh, so you manage to keep your mouth shut around Finn but you couldn't keep something that I expressly told you to keep quiet about from my Dad?" Kurt scoffed.

"Kurt-"

Kurt shook his head, stepping away from Rachel and taking Blaine's hand. "I have too much on my mind right now to deal with this." He started to pull Blaine towards the Warblers' dressing room. "Good luck today." He added over his shoulder, all but dragging Blaine into their dressing room.

"Where have you two been?" David asked when the door shut behind Kurt and Blaine.

Wes was smirking so Blaine spoke before he could say anything, asking something he knew would distract Wes. "What order are we performing in?"

"We're last," Wes told him, the smirk disappearing from his face as he went back into council-mode. "The New Directions are first and the Hipsters are second. Which means we'll be able to watch all of the New Directions' performance and only the start of the Hipsters' one before we have to come back here to get ready." Wes checked his watch. "The competition's starting soon, time to go into the theatre."

Wes led the group into the theatre and they filed into their seats. Blaine noticed Kurt looking around the audience nervously, and knew he was searching for his Dad. He took Kurt's hand just as the lights dimmed and squeezed it reassuringly. Kurt smiled at him and abandoned his frantic searching of the audience.

The judges were introduced and then the New Directions were announced. Blaine watched them perform anxiously, knowing that they were probably going to be their biggest competition, and he was right – the New Directions were really good and Blaine found it hard to fault their performance. The next group – judging from the first few minutes of their performance – weren't as good. As they continued to sing, the Warblers quickly and quietly left the theatre and went into their dressing room to tidy themselves up and prepare to go out on stage. Wes came over to where Blaine was standing with Kurt, Trent, Nick, and Jeff.

"Now, Jeff remember you turn left-"

"I know! I know! I messed up one time, Wes one time! I won't do it again."

Wes surveyed him critically for a moment. "Just make sure you don't." He walked over to where Thad and David were and Jeff rolled his eyes at his retreating back.

Kurt started to fidget as their performance time drew closer and Blaine tried to reassure him by gently stroking the back of his hand with his thumb, though his own nerves were building.

Finally, Wes said it was time and led them out to the stage. Just before Blaine went to get into position, he gave Kurt a quick kiss. "Good luck, you'll be amazing, you always are."

Kurt smiled and opened his mouth to reply but Wes cut him off. "Quit being so sickeningly cute and loved-up or you'll make me throw up in front of the judges."

Blaine sighed as Wes moved away. "Nerves make him so tetchy."

"Blaine, position!"

Giving Kurt a quick pat on the shoulder, Blaine took his position on the stage. He heard the Warblers being announced, the curtain rose, and their performance began.

Kurt could barely remember the performance when the curtain went down as the crowd continued to cheer and applaud them. All he could remember was his gaze being connected with Blaine's for the majority of their 'Candles' duet, the look on Blaine's face as he sang to him, the pounding of his own heart and the rush of blood through his veins from his love for his boyfriend and the knowledge that Blaine loved him too. It had probably been obvious that there was something between him and Blaine to everyone watching, and he doubted everyone in the audience approved of gay couples, but he didn't care. He wouldn't even really care if they lost, the feelings he had as he sang on stage were a lot better than a trophy.

As soon as the curtain was fully down, Blaine flew at him, enveloping him in a hug and saying something about how incredible he was which he couldn't hear properly over the sounds of the rest of the Warblers congratulating each other before coming over to praise Kurt and Blaine.

They were called back out onto the stage not long after with the other two show choirs. Kurt stood next to Blaine on the furthest side away from the New Directions, wanting to avoid the stares he could feel flashing in his direction every now and then. One of the judges came out on stage to announce the winners, with third place going to the Hipsters. He opened the first place envelope.

"The winner of the Western Ohio Sectionals competition is..." He paused dramatically. "It's a tie between McKinley's New Directions and the Dalton Academy Warblers! Congratulations, you're both going to Regionals!"

Kurt gaped at the judge – he'd never heard of a draw before. Around him the Warblers were cheering and hugging each other and Kurt was soon engulfed from behind in a Warbler group hug. He cheered along with the rest of his friends, ecstatic that they had made it to Regionals. Blaine threw an arm around his shoulders from where he was pressed against him by the other Warblers as Wes broke away from the group to accept the trophy. Wes held the trophy up over the celebrating Warblers and Kurt was vaguely aware of the New Directions celebrating on the other side of the stage.

They eventually returned to their dressing room. The rest of the Warblers were too busy excitedly planning celebrations for when they got back to Dalton to notice Kurt and Blaine leaving the room. Kurt knew his Dad would be waiting for him somewhere, even if the whole drama with Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel hadn't happened he still would have waited to congratulate his son after the competition. Kurt's phone buzzed in his blazer pocket and he pulled it out to find a text from his Dad.

"My Dad is waiting in the foyer." He told Blaine as they walked down the corridor the dressing rooms were on. Blaine said nothing to this, just took Kurt's hand, and Kurt knew that Blaine was as nervous about this as he was.

His Dad stood waiting in a quiet corner away from where a few remaining audience members were discussing the competition. Kurt went to draw his hand out of Blaine's, but seeing as his Dad already knew about their relationship, it didn't matter if they held hands, so instead he tightened his grip on Blaine's hand. He couldn't read the expression on his Dad's face when he and Blaine stopped in front of him and though he had rehearsed several explanations to tell his Dad, Kurt suddenly found his mind blank now that he was faced with the prospect of actually talking to him.

"Congratulations, boys." Burt said stiffly. "You were great."

"Thanks." Kurt and Blaine said in unison, in the same small voice.

Burt fixed them both with a stare for a few long seconds before bringing up the subject Kurt had been dreading – his Dad had never been one to dance around something that needed to be discussed.

"So how long have you two been dating exactly?"

Kurt glanced sideways at Blaine, who shot him a 'just tell the truth' look. "Three weeks."

His Dad didn't reply immediately and Kurt chanced a quick look at his expression, expecting to see him looking furious at how long Kurt had kept this from him and how often Kurt had lied right to his face about his relationship with Blaine, but his Dad's face was still impassive which scared Kurt even more.

"Want to explain why I found out about you two from a girl I've hardly ever spoken to and who Kurt hasn't been friendly with in months?" Burt's voice was steely calm and Kurt had a sudden, vivid mental image of walking on a sheet of thin ice which could crack at any moment.

Kurt fixed his eyes on a point behind his Dad's left shoulder as he spoke, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Dad I screwed up again. I was so used to not telling you anything, to keeping everything a secret from you. And when I started being able to talk to you again I didn't want to tell you because I knew you wouldn't allow Blaine to spend the night at our house if I did and I wouldn't be able to spend any time alone with Blaine, you would barely let me be alone with Blaine when you thought we were just friends."

"Wait, you two aren't-" Burt sounded a little panicked. "You aren't-"

Blaine caught on to what Burt was trying to say before Kurt did. "We're not sleeping together, Mr. Hummel."

Kurt shot a quick look at his Dad before looking away again, his eyes darting around the room, his cheeks flaming.

Burt coughed. "Right...well, good you shouldn't- you don't want to be rushing into- into that sort of thing."

None of them spoke for a minute, and Kurt watched the last few audience members leave the building to avoid looking at his Dad.

"I can't say I'm not disappointed in you, Kurt." His Dad said suddenly, causing Kurt to snap his gaze to him. "Because I'm very disappointed. I thought when you told me about the curse and everything you went through those four years that you were finally back to being open and honest with me, but I was wrong. After all that you still kept secrets from me and lied to me."

Kurt hung his head in shame, tears burning the backs of his eyes.

"Although I probably shouldn't given everything that has happened, I do approve of you dating my son, Blaine."

Kurt looked up so fast he almost cricked his neck. His Dad was looking at Blaine, who was meeting his gaze apprehensively, biting the inside of his bottom lip.

"But I saw the way you were on that stage earlier, you could clearly see how much you two care about each other and I haven't seen Kurt this happy in years as he is when he is with you, Blaine." He paused. "Just promise me you'll take good care of my son."

"Always." Blaine said, his voice a little choked.

Burt smiled at him. "Good." He glanced between Kurt and Blaine. "I have to get going, congratulations again. I'll talk to you later, Kurt and I'm sure I'll see you again soon, Blaine." He smiled at the two boys, clapped Kurt on the shoulder and left.

Kurt watched his Dad pull open the doors and then he dropped Blaine's hand and ran after him, catching him just outside the doors. He threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Dad."

Burt returned his son's embrace. "For what?"

Kurt buried his head in his Dad's chest. "For giving Blaine your approval – it meant a lot to him – and for just being a great Dad."

"No problem, kiddo." Burt said. He stepped back when Kurt dropped his arms from around him. "Your friends must be wondering where you and Blaine are. I'll call you during the week, ok? Love you."

"Love you too, Dad." Kurt smiled and watched his Dad turn and head off to where his car was parked before going back inside to Blaine.