Blaine rolled his head, eyes closed, brain still slurred. “Mmm.”

“No, come on.”

A hand squeezed his shoulder, shook him a bit. Blaine gasped, ice water wake-up hitting him, and opened his eyes.

“Ugh, thank you.” Kurt shoved a phone in his face, the bright screen making Blaine squint. “I don’t know who Cooper is but he will not leave you alone.”

“Coop? I… what?”

Kurt rolled his eyes and pushed himself away, dropping the phone onto Blaine’s chest. Blaine let his head loll on the pillow, watching Kurt stand up. He was wearing only his briefs and Blaine stroked his eyes up the back of Kurt’s thighs, across his back, down to his ass when he bent down. Kurt looked back over his shoulder and laughed when he saw Blaine staring at him. The phone buzzed again, vibrating against Blaine’s sternum.

“You going to answer that?”

“In a minute. I’m busy.”

Kurt smiled, wiggled his ass a bit, and straightened up. He climbed back onto the bed on his knees. He pushed clothes at Blaine. “You have to get dressed.”

“Why?” Blaine whined, stroking his palm up the front of Kurt’s thigh. “I like this.”

“Because everyone’s coming home soon and I need you dressed and presentable and sitting on my couch like you’ve just spent an afternoon doing totally wholesome boyfriend things, like TV and maybe foot rubs. Up.”

Blaine groaned. He tossed his phone onto the bed and leaned up on his elbows, tilting his head back. “One day we will have our own place to live. We’ll have sex all day and never put clothes on and no one will be there to say we can’t.”

Kurt’s fingers stroked through Blaine’s hair and he hummed in contentment. “I can’t wait,” Kurt murmured. Blaine opened his eyes, catching Kurt’s blush. He grinned, about to say something more, but his phone started up again. “Seriously, who is that?”

“Cooper.”

“I got that part. Who is he? Some other boyfriend I don’t know about?” He tugged on Blaine’s curls.

“God, no. He’s my brother.”

Kurt stilled. “You have a brother?”

“Yeah? Didn’t I mention him?”

“No. You never talk about your family with me, except that one time, but you’ve never brought it up again.”

“Cooper would be offended. I’m sorry, I should have mentioned him.”

Kurt slid off the bed and started pulling his clothes on. “Yes, you should have.”

“Are you angry with me?”

“Yes, actually.”

Blaine pulled his shirt over his head. “Why? I forgot to tell you about my big brother, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was that big of a deal.”

Kurt threw his shirt onto the bed. “Of course it’s a big deal! You’re my boyfriend and my best friend and you know everything about me. You’re so much part of my family that I’m surprised my dad isn’t trying to adopt you. I get that your parents aren’t like mine. That they’re not acting the way they should be, but you could at least tell me about them. You could tell me why your mom looks at you with dead eyes, or why they’re out so much, or why you get that look on your face when you think about your dad. You could tell me that you have a brother, because to me, that seems like a pretty big deal.”

“I don’t get why you’re so annoyed about this.” Blaine stood up, tugging his jeans on. “They’re my family. It’s my business.”

“And you’re my family,” Kurt hissed, pulling his cardigan on viciously.

The phone buzzed again and Blaine grabbed it, turning his back to Kurt. “Hello? Hi, Coop, how’s it going? No, I’m fine… What, right now?… Yeah, I’ll be there. How’s Mom doing?… Ah. Yeah, yeah, I’ll set off now… I’ll tell you when I get home.” He clicked off, set the phone down and pulled his jacket on. “Looks like my brother’s in town.”

“He isn’t normally?”

“He’s in college in Pennsylvania.”

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. Are you leaving?”

Blaine tilted his head, taking in Kurt’s shoulders which were hunched up towards his ears, and the way he was staring at the floor. He sighed and crawled across the bed, kneeling up in front of him. “I hate fighting with you.”

Kurt tilted his chin up, taking a sharp breath through his nose. When Blaine didn’t move, and just watched him, eyebrows tilted low in distress, he relented. “Me too.”

Blaine put a hand on the back of his head and drew him into a kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Cooper. He’s not like my parents. He’s… he’s my big brother, you know?” He grinned. Kurt peered up at him, smiling just a little. “I want to tell him about you.”

Kurt twisted his head to kiss Blaine’s wrist. “Okay. Everything?”

“If I can.”

“He’ll be all right with it? With what I am?”

“I’ve never really talked to him about… about faeries or anything like that. Not what he feels about them. I don’t know. I trust him to listen to me, though.”

Kurt nodded, slipping an arm around Blaine’s waist and kissing him again. “You should go.”

“I should.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“Kurt Hummel, you can’t ravish me whenever you please.”

“I thought that was my job.”

Blaine kissed him again with just a hint of his teeth against his bottom lip before pulling away. “I wish I could stay, but I have an Anderson family gathering to attend.”

“Sounds thrilling.”

“With Cooper there, anything could happen.”

“Mmm, I think I like him already.”

“Blaine! How’s my baby brother?” Cooper bundled him up in a hug the moment he walked into the living room. Blaine laughed, hugging back, and just breathing in his brother for a minute. With Cooper home, everything felt a little bit lighter. His parents didn’t feel like such a pressure on him, the house didn’t feel as quiet or as dark, and Blaine knew he could look forward to something when he got home.

“He’s good. Offended at still being your ‘baby’ brother.”

Cooper laughed, putting a hand on Blaine’s back when he pulled out of the hug. “One more spurt and you might grow out of it.”

Blaine turned to his parents. His mother was sitting stiffly in an armchair, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. His father was sipping from a tumbler filled with amber liquid.

“Where have you been?” his father asked.

“With friends.”

“The Warblers?”

“No, just… just friends of mine.”

“Where do they live, these… ‘friends’?”

“You haven’t shown me your room yet, Blaine. Mom said you redecorated.”

Blaine turned to his brother, feeling as if he could hug him and never let go. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll take you up now.”

Cooper sat on Blaine’s bed, looking around at the freshly painted walls, taking in the new desk by the window. “Who is he?”

Blaine leaned his back against the door. “Who?”

“The guy you were with.” Cooper locked his gaze on Blaine’s, eyes sparkling.

“H-he…” Blaine leaned his head back against the door and let out a laugh. “Okay. Very good.”

“What’s his name?”

“Kurt.”

“And he’s…”

“My boyfriend.” He trailed over to the bed, flopping onto his back next to where his brother with was sitting. “And he’s amazing.”

“Aww, Blaine.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“I’m guessing they have no idea.” He gestured to the door.

“Can you imagine their faces?”

Cooper lay down beside him, staring up at the ceiling with him. “What did your friends say? The Warblers – they’re cool, right?”

Blaine shifted, pulling his feet up to rest on the edge of the bed. “I haven’t said anything to them.” He could feel Cooper’s head turn towards him.

“Still pretty new?”

“Um, no. No, we’ve been going out since February.” He didn’t have to look to see the frown that was being directed at him. “If I tell you something, can you promise not to repeat it to anyone?”

“Blaine…”

“Please just say yes.”

“I promise.”

Blaine closed his eyes. He rubbed the heels of his hands into them; let his arms fall to the bed again. “Kurt’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. He’s my best friend and I’m so in love with him it shocks me sometimes. He has so many things to deal with every day, and it amazes me how strong he is. I want to be like that, you know?” He tilted his head to find Cooper still watching him. He took a deep breath. “He’s a faerie.”

Nothing was said for a minute. Cooper rolled onto his back. His hands flexed on his chest a couple of times. “Woah.”

Blaine started to laugh. Cooper glanced at him, and laughter started bubbling up inside him. He leaned his head back, chuckling.

“Is that really all you could think of?”

He snorted. “Yeah. I’m sorry, I don’t really have a prepared response for something like that.” He laughed again, and Blaine joined in. They laughed themselves out, side by side on Blaine’s bed. “Wait, so, if your boyfriend’s a faerie, doesn’t that kind of cause problems? How can he kiss you if you’re just going to want to rip his clothes off?”

Blaine closed his eyes. He’d forgotten. He’d been completely stupid, because he was so used to the knowledge now; he hadn’t realised that people didn’t know, that people may never know.

Cooper took his expression the wrong way. “You guys have shagged, haven’t you?” There was the hint of a laugh in his voice. “Jesus, Blaine.”

“No, Cooper, just… I have so much to tell you.”

To: Kurt
He wants to meet you.

From: Kurt
Did you explain everything?

To: Kurt
Yeah. Wish you could have seen his face :) Don’t think he’s ever looked that shocked before. Not even when I came out. Actually, he wasn’t really shocked at all that time…

From: Kurt
It’s the bowties. Does he really want to?

To: Kurt
Hi, Kurt. Cooper here. I’d be honoured to meet you. Anyone who makes Blaine blush is someone I need to be acquainted with. Don’t worry, I won’t force an unwanted connection on you ;)

To: Kurt
Sorry

From: Kurt
Bring him to Friday Night Dinner next week.

Carole let Blaine in as she was leaving on Tuesday afternoon. “He’s not back yet,” she said, rifling through her bag. “I think he went to talk to Rachel. Didn’t seem too excited about it.” She looked up at him. “Is that a good thing?”

“Yes, actually.” Blaine smiled at her, sliding past her into the house. “Who’s in?”

“Burt’s in the living room. Finn’s at football practice. You can go wait upstairs if you want.” She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek and then pulled the door to behind her, calling out a final farewell. Blaine stared at the spot she had disappeared from, wondering how he had managed to find a family like this one.

He shook it off and started to head upstairs. He reached the landing before realising he should probably say something to Burt and turning to walk back down. The doorbell rang. He paused, hearing Burt get up and open the door. The Hummels didn’t get many visitors, so whoever was at the door intrigued Blaine. He heard a few gruff words and established that the visitor was a man. When they moved into the living room, he crept down the stairs. He sat on one of the steps near the bottom and listened in.

“I’d really like to know who you are.”

“Mr Hummel, you have a son, correct?”

Blaine heard the creak of Burt’s armchair and felt something unpleasant settle deep in his stomach.

“Finn’s my step-son. Good kid.”

“Now, Burt, you know that’s not what I’m getting at.” The man’s voice was oily. Blaine could imagine the suit and slick hair growing back out of that voice. He clenched his fists on his knees.

“Well, you’ll have to make things a little clearer for me, then.”

“Your son is what I am here to discuss, Burt.”

“Mr Hummel is fine.”

“Yes, of course. I wanted to enquire about your son – your faerie son.”

The knot in Blaine’s stomach twisted painfully. He wanted to be in there with Burt, sitting beside him, offering some kind of support while everything started to fall apart around him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“There’s no use in playing games with me, Mr Hummel.” The man’s voice had an edge to it now. “I know. I was told by a man at my firm, an upstanding citizen—”

“Who?”

“Russel Fabray. His daughter is your step-son’s girlfriend, I believe.” When Burt said nothing, the man carried on. “Mr Hummel, I would like to buy your son.”

Blaine’s teeth dug hard into his fist. He gripped the banister with his other hand, trying not to scream, or storm into the room and punch the man in the face. He heard Burt’s chair squeak again.

“Get out of my house.”

“Mr Hummel, please sit down.”

“You’re not going to come in here and mess with my family. Get out.”

“Times are changing, Burt. The bill to repeal faerie rights is well on the way to becoming law. Wouldn’t you rather sell your son now, willingly, to someone who will use him the right way, than have him forcibly removed from you once the law passes?”

“You’re not going to use him for anything!”

“Burt, please—”

The door of the living room flew open. Blaine flinched backwards, but neither man noticed him. Burt was gripping the man by his shirt collar, dragging him towards the front door. He threw it open and pushed the man onto the doorstep. “Do not come to my house again. Do not come near my family, do not contact any of us. You make me sick.” He slammed the door in the man’s face; turned to lean against it, breathing heavily.

He spotted Blaine, huddled near the bottom of the stairs, teeth making marks on his fist as tears started to fall from his eyes. Burt’s eyes flicked up the stairs in panic.

“Is he…?”

Blaine shook his head. Burt sighed and came to sit beside him. He put an arm around Blaine’s shoulders and pulled him close, resting his head on Blaine’s. “It’s okay, kid. We’re okay.”

Blaine turned his face into Burt’s shoulder. “Finn told Quinn.”

“I figured as much.”

“Do you think… he was right?”

“About the bill?” Burt squeezed his shoulder. “Like hell he was. That thing won’t pass.”

“But what if it does?” Blaine murmured.

“Then… then we’re going to have fight. You know Kurt. He’s not going to sit back and let it happen.”

Blaine let out a watery laugh and sat up a little, wiping at his eyes.

“Come on,” Burt said, getting to his feet and holding out a hand to Blaine. “Let’s have a cup of something warm before Kurt gets back.”

Blaine nodded, taking Burt’s hand and letting him pull him to his feet. He followed him to the kitchen and sat at the table as he started opening cupboards. “Should we say anything to him?”

Burt sighed, leaning back against the counter. “I don’t think so. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Kurt has a bit of a martyr complex.” Blaine nodded, smiling wryly. “I don’t know what good it’d do.”

“I understand. I won’t breathe a word.”

Burt nodded at him and went back to making their drinks. He set a steaming mug in front of Blaine a few minutes later and eased himself into a chair on the opposite side of the table. “Now that I’ve got you alone, I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“Mmm?” Blaine said through a sip of hot liquid.

Burt’s eyes were sparkling. “Let’s talk about how much time you spend in my son’s room when I’m not here.”

From: Rachel
Why are you considering wearing clothes? It’s not like you’ll need them.

Blaine’s house was beautiful, as it turned out. Kurt gazed up at the high ceiling of the entrance hall, an awed smile on his lips. Blaine laughed, took his hand, and led him on a tour. Kurt stumbled into every room behind him, praising his family’s good taste. After a number of rooms, though, he started to notice it: the emptiness. It was picture-perfect postcard living; showroom. It wasn’t home. All of the photographs lining the staircase were posed, framed family portraits, or individual shots. There was one of a boy Kurt assumed was Cooper in a football jersey. One of Blaine on a polo pony, another of him fencing. Kurt paused at those ones, smiling. Blaine blushed and dragged him onwards.

Blaine’s room was the first that felt alive. It was still classic, still tasteful, but it was Blaine all over. Kurt sat on the end of the bed, looking around. Blaine stepped in front of him, running a hand through his hair. “What do you think?”

“It’s so you. I love it.” Kurt put his hands on Blaine’s hips, grinning up at him. “Now tell me, Mr Anderson, polo player, fencer extraordinaire: what was your reason for inviting me into your bedchamber?”

Blaine laughed, pulling Kurt in by the back of his head, smooshing his face into his stomach. “Stop it.”

“You haven’t answered the question,” Kurt said, voice muffled by the fabric of Blaine’s uniform shirt.

Blaine’s face fell, unbeknownst to Kurt. He carded his fingers through his hair, mind stuck on the day before. Flashes of an oily voice and a cheap suit flooded his mind; Burt’s broken expression; the sinking, clawing feeling of fear that was itching at his skin. “I just love you.”

“Good enough.” Kurt leaned his head back and Blaine just had time to school his expression into something sweeter. Kurt’s fingers started to unbutton his shirt.

Blaine laughed, doing the same to his own. “Making me feel a bit cheap here, Kurt.”

“What are you talking about?” Kurt smirked, folding his shirt over the back of Blaine’s desk chair and unbuttoning his shorts (Blaine had been trying to ignore that they were bondage shorts since Kurt arrived, but now that they were coming off, he looked to his heart’s content).

“We’re only in it for the sex.” Blaine dropped his shirt, pushing his slacks off and kicking them away.

“Fair enough. It’s great sex.”

Blaine laughed, but the sound broke off when Kurt started mouthing across his hipbone. Kurt’s fingers were pulling at the top of Blaine’s briefs, working them down. Blaine let it happen, hands winding into Kurt’s hair. He stepped out of the pool of fabric around his feet, looking down. Kurt pressed kisses to his stomach, licking into his belly button briefly, eyes fixed on Blaine’s. He shifted, throwing his own underwear somewhere across the room with a graceful flick of his hand, causing Blaine to laugh, stomach trembling under Kurt’s lips.

Kurt paused, hands stroking Blaine’s sides. He gave him a smile that made Blaine’s heart flip. Blaine brushed his hair back, trying not to let his thoughts show on his features. People wanted Kurt for this. They wanted to sell him and barter him and use him.

“What’s wrong?”

Blaine shook his head, dropping to his knees. “Nothing. Come here.”

“Blaine.”

“Shh.” He wrapped his arms around Kurt’s waist, leaning into his chest for a minute. “Let me… Just, let me for today.”

“Let you what?”

Blaine pressed his lips to his sternum, breathing him in. He sat back on his heels, rubbing his hands up and down Kurt’s thighs, then took him in his hand. Kurt moaned, legs spreading wider around Blaine’s shoulders. Blaine shuffled forwards on his knees, hand pumping Kurt slowly. He looked up, locking eyes with him. Kurt was frowning a little, still trying to figure out what Blaine meant, but the first swipe of Blaine’s tongue over his head brought everything into immediate clarity.

“Blaine, no, stop. You don’t have to do this.”

“I know.” Blaine kissed the tip of his cock. “I want to.”

Kurt whimpered, hands gripping Blaine’s shoulders. “Promise me you’re doing this for the right reasons.”

Blaine didn’t answer. He slipped his mouth around Kurt’s length, sucking on the head. He closed his eyes, breathing shuddered breaths through his nose at the taste of Kurt on his tongue. He slid his mouth down, feeling Kurt swell on his tongue, hardening in his mouth. He moaned at it and Kurt’s fingers dug into his skin. He choked out Blaine’s name and he looked up. Kurt’s mouth was open, just staring down at him, chest heaving. Blaine wanted to smile at how bright Kurt’s eyes were, the blue piercing, but, well.

He took Kurt in until he couldn’t take any more, bringing his hand up to cover what his mouth couldn’t. He stopped, swallowed. One of Kurt’s hands grabbed at his hair, his whole body curving over Blaine in ecstasy.

He was hard, achingly so, but he ignored it; this wasn’t about him. He needed to do it for Kurt. There weren’t many things he could do, but this was one he could manage. It was one he wanted. He could unpick Kurt at the seams and make him feel good, make him forget. So he started to move, drawing his lips down Kurt, tongue sliding all around him, sucking.

He couldn’t stop. He slid his mouth up and down, head bobbing. He gripped Kurt’s thighs hard, little moans climbing up the back of his throat. Every vibration made Kurt louder. He was rocking a little, pushing himself further into Blaine’s mouth, unable to stop, so Blaine pressed his hands over his hips to hold him steady and moved faster. Everything was whirling together in bright colours and Kurt on his tongue, the taste of him in the back of his throat.

All too soon, Kurt was tugging frantically on his hair, letting out strings of half-words, some of them Blaine’s name. Blaine didn’t stop, didn’t pull back, but he lifted his eyes to Kurt, moaning again. Kurt cried out, back curving over Blaine, fingers gripping him tightly. Blaine felt him spill down his throat, held him still and tried to swallow it. There was too much, liquid spilling out the edges of his mouth, running down his chin, slipping down his neck. Kurt let out a startled ‘ah’ sound and drew back. Blaine let him go, hands on Kurt’s legs, holding himself up.

Kurt petted Blaine’s hair with quaking fingers. Blaine took one hand and kissed his palm, tongue licking out across his own chin. The sight seemed too much for Kurt, he flopped onto his back. Blaine forced himself to stand. He put his hands under Kurt’s arms and shifted him up to lie fully on the bed, legs not dangling off the end. He lay down beside him and threw a blanket over them. Kurt made a sound of protest, but his eyes were drifting shut already.

“Bl… Blaine… you…”

Blaine shushed him with a kiss to his temple. “Don’t worry about me. I wanted to do this for you.”

Kurt tried to say something again. Blaine smiled at the pitiful sound that came out. Kurt was spent, his entire body giving in to sleep again. Blaine wondered if it would always be like this – whether Kurt would always be so boneless after that he couldn’t keep his eyes open. He thought about what Kurt was and felt the weight settle over him again. He sighed, laid his head down beside Kurt’s and watched him drift into sleep.

The day leading up to the Friday Night Dinner was one of the most stressful in Kurt’s memory. He was up before daybreak, too nervous to sleep. Blaine kept texting him throughout the day about normal, mundane, not-Cooper-related things until Kurt told him he was shaking he was so hyped up and he was not helping.

He turned his phone on silent and started cooking at midday. He was done with all of the prep quite quickly and stared at the counter for a minute, tapping his hand frantically against his thigh. He pulled open cupboards, got out the flour and started to bake.

He picked his phone up again at four o’clock, just as Blaine called him to say he was nearly there. He knew he sounded a bit hysterical, but the baking had done nothing to slow his rabbit heart. He actually jumped when the doorbell rang.

“Calm. Down.” Blaine took hold of his shoulders when he started pacing around the kitchen. “My brother already thinks you’re the coolest kid in all of Ohio just because I love you. He’s not scary. I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

As Kurt pulled Blaine’s arms tight around him he wished he could say that, yes, it was partially to do with Cooper, but it was also a lot to do with the way his dad and his boyfriend had been acting the past few days. He’d catch them staring at him, eyes hollowed out, or they’d drift off mid-conversation. One time, Blaine went for an unusually long trip to the bathroom and came back with suspiciously bright eyes. Kurt kept asking what was wrong, but they shrugged him off. It was unnerving.

He didn’t even know what to think of Wednesday afternoon. It had been wonderful, earth-shattering, everything Kurt could have imagined and more, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been off with Blaine. There was a melancholy under the surface that worried him.

Blaine reached up and wiped a streak of flour off Kurt’s cheek. Kurt caught his wrist and kissed his palm. “I know I’m being stupid.”

“It’s not stupid. I understand, believe me. I remember the first time I met your dad. He’s pretty terrifying when he wants to be. Even now.”

“Blaine, are you blushing?”

“No?”

“What’s my dad done to you? Blaine,” he said, laughing when Blaine tried to turn away. “Tell me.”

Blaine hung his head. “It was mortifying.” Kurt just waited, biting on his thumb as he watched Blaine blush harder and harder. “You remember when you said the house being empty was going to catch up with us?”

“Oh, he didn’t.”

“Yeah… yeah, he did.”

Kurt pressed a hand over his mouth, but he couldn’t stave off the laughter. Blaine looked up at him, affronted.

“Hey! Don’t laugh – you didn’t have to sit through it!”

Kurt just shook his head, laughing harder. Blaine pouted, but Kurt didn’t stop, so he just grabbed him around the waist, burying his face in his neck.

“So that’s why – your house.”

Blaine made an affronted sound into his neck, cheeks still burning. “Stop it or I’ll tell my brother what we did.”

“Blaine, why would you even say that?”

“He’d never let it go. He’d hint at it all through dinner.”

“Blaine, no, please.”

Blaine chuckled, kissing Kurt’s neck. “Stop panicking. Come on.” He stepped back, keeping a grip on Kurt’s hand. “Show me what you’re making.”

Blaine watched Kurt talk him through everything that was happening in the kitchen, opened his mouth for a baked good which Kurt gave him with a long-suffering look. He grinned, and wrapped his arms around Kurt’s waist, and tried to forget his fears for just a few hours. It was time for the first Anderson-Hummel dinner.