Once back home, Kurt managed to make it from the entryway to his bedroom without interruption. Though he heard hushed voices coming from the kitchen that clearly belonged to Burt and Carole, they did not call out to him. Kurt moved sluggishly down the stairs, his need for rest completely overcoming his entire being. He set the alarm for 4pm, assuming that Blaine would not call before then. After stripping to his underwear and crawling under the sheets, he uncharacteristically fell into a deep sleep the instant his head hit a pillow.

What seemed like only minutes later, the alarm abruptly pulled him from a pleasant dream. His hand flopped around on the surface of the nightstand, stopping only once he managed to smash the snooze button, effectively cutting off the offensive noise. It took all his willpower not to shut off his phone and burrow deeper in to the safe cocoon of blankets. Against his better judgment he hauled himself out of bed, slipped into his robe and set off for the bathroom, hoping a shower might help him feel somewhat better about life.

Finally clean and spirits slightly improved, Kurt put on some music and began getting dressed. Humming along and happily lost in choosing an outfit, he almost ("almost" being the key word) forgot about what he had to look forward to later. While putting the finishing touches on his ever-immaculate hairstyle his phone began buzzing, and his stomach immediately twisted unpleasantly. Knowing exactly what the caller ID would say, Kurt felt reluctant to answer, though he knew that putting this off would only compound the imminent awkwardness. He paused the music, took a deep breath, picked up the phone, pressed "Receive," and spoke tentatively,

"Hi."

"Hi," came Blaine's voice from the other end. An uncomfortable pause followed, each boy waiting for the other so start talking. Blaine finally began the conversation,

"Look, I know we need to talk about last night, but... well, I mean, I'd rather not do it over the phone." Kurt heard a deep sigh before his boyfriend continued, "Can you come over? I know you've already driven out here once today, but my parents are still gone, so it's as much privacy as we can get."

Kurt had been afraid of this, but he wasn't really surprised by the request. Blaine had an obnoxious habit of being responsible enough to conduct their serious discussions face-to-face, no matter how much blushing, stammering or crying was bound to be involved.

"Uh, sure. Yeah. I just need to ask my dad."

"Ok," Blaine said in a slightly brighter voice, "just text me when you're on your way, or if you can't for some reason."

Both boys knew that the odds of Burt keeping Kurt home were slim to none, and for once Kurt wished his dad was a little stricter about letting him run off without much advance notice. Pretty much positive there was no way of getting out of this, Kurt said with a hint of defeat,

"I will. See you soon."

"See you soon."

Kurt moved to hang up but heard Blaine's voice shouting through the receiver at the last minute,

"Wait, Kurt!"

He gingerly placed the phone back to his ear.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

He only realized later that he may have waited a beat too long before responding,

"I love you, too."

After the call ended, Kurt put on a jacket, gathered his wallet and keys, and ascended the stairs in search of his dad. Burt sat on the couch, watching the news. Kurt moved in to his field of vision slowly, not wanting to startle him. When his dad still didn't acknowledge him, he cleared his throat loudly. At the noise the older man turned to face his son, a small smile breaking across his face.

"Hey, kiddo. What's up?"

Kurt mentally crossed his fingers, hoping he could get out of the house without needing to lie anymore.

"Blaine called and asked if I could go over to his place for awhile."

Burt's brow furrowed, but he didn't look like he was about to say no.

"Weren't you just over there this morning?"

Of course, Kurt thought, why would I get out of this easily?

"Yeah, but, I don't know, he said he wanted to talk to me about something. I'm not exactly sure what, but it sounds like it's important." There, that was technically true.

After considering this for a moment, Burt consented,

"Huh, ok. Sure, kiddo, just be home by 10, or call me if you'll be any later."

Kurt exhaled a small sigh of relief, not wanting to betray his hurry to leave the house. He opened his mouth to offer parting words, but Burt cut him off,

"Are Blaine's parents ok with this?"

Damn, Kurt's mind swam frantically to find one last not-quite-lie of an excuse. After a second he decided on,

"Dad, you know that half the time I'm there they don't even notice, and the other half they just ignore me." As soon as the words left his mouth he deemed this a satisfactory answer. Even though it really was the truth, a small part of him felt uneasy about bad-mouthing the elder Andersons twice in one day. Kurt wholly resented the way they treated Blaine most of the time, but still, it felt wrong to blatantly bash your boyfriend's parents with such frequency. Wasn't that supposed to wait until they were your legal in-laws?

The scowl from earlier that morning returned to Burt's features as he nodded tersely.

"Point taken. I don't like it, but I understand. Go on, get moving and find out what's up with Blaine."

Managing a smile, Kurt thanked his dad and flew out the door. On the front steps he shot off a quick text announcing his departure before climbing in to the car. As the engine roared to life he took a brief moment to compose himself. All he knew for sure is that he would be facing an exceptionally guilty-feeling Blaine, but beyond that, he honestly couldn't begin to predict what awaited him at the Anderson household.