The boys got up and Blaine packed a bag of clothes and other necessary traveling items. Kurt didn't need to pack as he was still borrowing Cooper's clothes, soon he'd be home and able to get all of his own clothes. Kurt was excited that he would finally be able to incorporate fashion into his life again. He got tired of the army scrubs he was constantly wearing.

The airport was chaos. Kurt was a nervous flier. He told Blaine that it wasn't the height or thought of crashing, but rather the noise. Back at his camp at night it would be silent, which meant they were safe, but every once in awhile he could hear a plane going by overhead. In those moments he would close his eyes and hold his breath. If that was an enemy plane carrying a bomb, he would think to himself, these could be the last few seconds of my life. Kurt could never sleep on plane, the second he closed his eyes and heard the hum of the engine he was back to a place he never wanted to be.

Once they boarded the plane it only got worse. Blaine walked Kurt to his seat and looked at the guy next to him. He was big and looked menacing. Kurt had the window seat so he had to shuffle over him and the man looked very uncomfortable.

“Excuse me, sir,” Blaine squeaked to the burly man. “Are you traveling alone?”

“Yes,” came the answer in a rude tone.

“Is it alright if I sit here and you take my seat? It is row 30 seat A,” Blaine explained. The seat was only five or six rows behind Kurt's, but Blaine wanted to be able to hold Kurt's hand and ease his anxiety.

“Why should I help out a fag?” The man spat, gesturing to Kurt.

Kurt's face fell and he was speechless. Blaine's face turned red with anger but he was determined to keep his cool. “If he bothers you that much then maybe you should move!” Blaine said, though it came out as a yell.

The man thought for a few seconds but finally agreed. He got up and moved to Blaine's seat. Blaine sat down next to Kurt and grabbed his hand. “I'm sorry Kurt,” Blaine apologized. “I didn't mean to imply you are what he said, I just really wanted this seat.”

“It's okay. Cooper actually taught me a way to get over people calling me a fag.”

Blaine a raised and eyebrow at Kurt but then a memory floated back to Blaine. He was on the playground playing with another little boy and some guy walking by called them that word. Blaine didn't know what it meant but he remembered Cooper yelling after the guy something about how his brother was most definitely a ‘Fricken Awesome Gay'. Blaine just smiled and pecked Kurt's lips. This was going to be a long flight. Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand on take off but loosened his grip once they were in the air. Blaine rubbed soothing circles on his back throughout the flight. Finally the plane landed and Kurt's worries went away, but Blaine's came back in full swing.

Kurt noticed the sudden switch. “What's up Blaine?”

“What if your family doesn't like me? What if your mom thinks I'm not good enough or your dad tries to kill me in my sleep?”

Kurt would've laughed at Blaine's second comment had he not mentioned his mother in the first. Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and dragged him away from the foot traffic. The last place he wanted to tell Blaine about his mother's death was an airport in the middle of Colombus, OH. He certainly didn't want Blaine to have a flashback to when Kurt had told him about Cooper. Blaine stopped voicing his doubts when he felt Kurt dragging him somewhere. They sat down on a bench outside of one of the gates.

“If we don't leave Kurt we won't make it before dark,” Blaine said. He didn't understand why Kurt was stopping them.

“Blaine, look at me,” Kurt said softly. Blaine looked up at Kurt and saw sadness in his eyes. “My mother died when I was eight. She had Leukemia. My dad has since remarried a wonderful woman named Carole, and her son Finn was drafted along with me. He died in the service, but I didn't hear about it right away because he was in a separate camp than me. His girlfriend from high school, Rachel, will be joining us for dinner, along with her two dads. I'm telling you all this because there is no reason for you to worry. Everyone there knows what it is like to lose a loved one, everyone there is okay with homosexuality.”

“Kurt, I am so sorry about your mom.”

“It's okay Blaine. If my mom didn't pass away than my dad wouldn't have met Carole and I wouldn't have been friends with Rachel. I'm not saying it is good that my mom died, but I am saying a lot of good came from the bad. Maybe you need to see that.”

Blaine nodded. “When you told me Cooper died, I didn't know what to do. Sure, I've survived without talking to him for six years, but everything I did was to make him proud. I thought I had no reason to live, but everyday you show me a new reason to carry on. Thank you, Kurt.”

“You're welcome,” Kurt replied. Then he leaned over and kissed Blaine. The kiss was slow and sweet. Just before it could get too heated, Kurt pulled away. He stood up and pulled Blaine up along with him. Kurt decided it wasn't enough to just hold Blaine's hand after the emotional conversation they had just had, so he wrapped an arm around Blaine's waist and walked towards the entrance. They got in the car and drove to a cute little house less than an hour away. The ride was quiet except for the occasionally joining in on a song.

Kurt was deep in thought. He didn't know what it was about Blaine, but the younger boy made him feel safe and comforted. Kurt didn't believe in fate or soulmates, but he couldn't imagine his life without Blaine. Had he not seen the boy at the airport, he wondered if he would have met him in a different situation. Except Blaine had just told him that he wanted to kill himself when he found out Cooper had died. Kurt is the reason Blaine is still alive, and Kurt did not like that pressure.

“Here we are,” Kurt announced, pulling into the driveway. He gave Blaine a smile that reassured Blaine of any other doubts he may have been having. Blaine got out of the car and grabbed his bag from the back of the car. He could have put it in the backseat but he was wary of ripping holes in the rental car.

“Kurt!” Called Carole from the front porch. She ran over to him and gave him a big hug! “You've gotten so tall!” It was true. Kurt was tall in high school, but he grew taller over his time in the service. “And you're so skinny, but we'll fix that soon enough. Oh, who is your friend?”

“Carole, this is my boyfriend, Blaine. Blaine, this is Carole.” Carole gave Blaine a big hug and then the three started walking up to the door. Blaine was in front so he didn't see the approving look Carole shot his boyfriend.

Kurt barely made it through the door before Burt wrapped his arms around him. “Kurt,” was all the older man was able to get out. He was crying into Kurt's shoulder. Kurt in turn started crying to and hugged his dad back. Burt missed his son while he was away. He really hoped Kurt would be okay, but he knew about men in the army. Even if Kurt survived the battlefield, he still had to survive homophobes at camp.

After the two finally broke apart, Burt noticed Blaine. “Dad, this is Blaine. His brother was my bunkmate in the army.” Burt nodded to Blaine, he knew his brother was dead because Kurt's use of was. After everyone was inside, Kurt saw Rachel sitting on the couch. She was so skinny but there was a light in her eyes. Kurt soon figured out why when a little boy, no more than five years old came running into the room and jumped on her lap. Kurt froze, he was the spitting image of his stepbrother.

“Mamma, who are all these people?” He asked, tugging on her hair to get her attention.

Rachel stood up, taking the little boy with her. She walked over to Kurt and said, “This is your uncle Kurt, and his friend Blaine.”

Kurt stared at the little boy. He didn't even know she had been pregnant. Did Finn know? “Hi uncle Kurt,” he said, though his voice was muffled because his face was on Rachel's shoulder. Then he turned to look at Blaine. “Are you friends with my uncle like my mommy is with Mercedes or like my Grandpa Leroy is with my Grandpa Hiram?”

Blaine didn't answer because he didn't know who most those people were, but Carole stepped in and said they were friends like the latter two. Burt raised his eyebrow but Carole shot him a look that said ‘not now'. Kurt still hadn't said anything. He was just looking at the little one. “What...how?”

Rachel chuckled. “Finn was really worried about the war. When he heard there was going to be a draft, he knew he would be taken from me. We decided to make the most of our last night. Then Finn left and I found out about this little one. I wrote him a letter, but I don't know if he got it. Just six months after the draft they came and…” Rachel choked. “They came and told me Finn had died.”

Carole took the little boy from Rachel and the brunette fell into Kurt's arms. “I wanted to tell you Kurt! I tried to write you but they wouldn't let me because we're not family.” Rachel exclaimed, sobbing into Kurt's shoulder.

“Its okay Rach,” Kurt comforted. He took a minute for it all to sink in. “What's his name?”

“Nicholas Finn Berry-Hummel-Hudson,” Rachel answered. “I didn't want his first name to be Finn because it'd be confusing if Finn had come back,” she chuckled.

Kurt hummed in agreement. “Please tell me you didn't name him Nick after the male lead in Funny Girl.”

“Of course I did!”

“Your son is running around named after a gambler,” Kurt clarified and started laughing.