Blaine stood on the front stoop of Kurt's house and leaned forward to ring the doorbell, then took a step back so he wouldn't be invading the personal space of whoever it was who opened the door. He waited patiently for about 15 seconds before he heard Kurt shouting behind the door, but far off, "I'll get it, I'll get it! I swear on my wardrobe, Finn, if you open that door—"

Before Kurt got to finish his threat, the door swung open to reveal an extremely tall boy who looked to be about his and Kurt's age. His build was weird; he looked muscular but gangly at the same time. Short, brown hair was in tufts all over his head, like he'd just woken up at 5 o'clock in the evening. Blaine realized that he recognized the guy as the lead male in Kurt's glee club.

The kid looked him up and down once, scrutinizing, before turning slightly to Kurt and saying, "Hey, Kurt, your boyfriend's here."

"Yes, I can see that, Finn," Kurt retorted through gritted teeth. "Thank you so much for your help. You can go back to your video games now."

Finn headed back into the depths of the house, yelling out, "Hey, Burt, Kurt's boyfriend is here! It's okay, he's really short!"

Kurt looked mortified for a moment as he took Blaine's hand and tugged him in the house before calling back, "Shut it, Frankenteen! Compared to you everyone is short!" Then he turned his face to Blaine, all evidence of annoyance instantly washing away and being replaced with a smile. "I'm glad you're here. Come on, I'll take you up to my room and you can set your bag down," Kurt lowered his voice with a smirk, "and I can greet you properly."

"I heard that, Kurt," came a woman's voice from another room. "Better keep that talk to a minimum when Burt's in the room, you know I had to practically twist his arm to get him to agree to this little sleepover you've arranged." As she continued talking, she started coming into the room and smiled at the couple.

Suddenly, Blaine felt like he was in Grand Central Station. He was so used to it just being him and Laurel that when he was in a house of 4 instead of 2, it felt chaotic. People constantly running around and shouting at each other and having more than one conversation happening at once. It felt overwhelming, but in a good way; in a homey way.

"I know. I am forever in your debt, Carole."

She smiled sweetly again before opening her arms and engulfing Blaine in a hug. "You must be Blaine! We've heard so much about you, I feel like I know you already." She pulled away but kept her shoulders on his biceps, getting a good look at him. "Oh, and you're even more handsome than Kurt described."

Instead of being embarrassed, like Blaine would have been if the tables were reversed, Kurt just gazed fondly at him. "I told you I'd never be able to do him justice."

Finally, Blaine gained control of the situation, and his manners, and realized that he hadn't said a word since he'd gotten here. "Thank you, ma'am," he said. "I had my fair share of struggles trying to describe this one," he wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist, effectively getting out of Carole's grasp. "to my cousin."

"Laurel, right?" Carole asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

She put a hand to her chest and looked at Kurt like she couldn't believe his saying "ma'am" wasn't a one-time fluke. "Oh, Kurt, he has such impeccable manners, too! Blaine, you should bring Laurel with you next time, I'd love to meet her as well."

"Of course."

The three stood in a few seconds of silence before Carole spoke again. "Well, I won't keep you boys. Go ahead on up to Kurt's room, I'll call you when dinner's ready."

"Thanks, Carole," Kurt said, kissing her on the cheek before sliding out of Blaine's grasp but reaching out to grab his hand again and lead him upstairs.

Blaine didn't see Finn again on the way to Kurt's room and assumed that the boy had, indeed, gone back to his video games. Not that he exactly minded; it wasn't often that someone called him out on his height after only knowing him for a few seconds. He wanted to be a little bit offended, but instead he just found it endearing. These people were a cute little family, the one that Blaine never had a chance to have for himself. He wondered, fleetingly, where Burt was and why he hadn't seen the man yet, but then Kurt was leading him into a room and shutting the door behind them, and suddenly he was shoved against said door with a pair of lips attacking his own.

Not that he would complain. Blaine immediately reciprocated, dropping his bag of clothes for the night at their feet and wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist, pulling him flush against his body. Kurt ran the tip of his tongue along the roof of Blaine's mouth, which of course made him moan because that was even better than when Kurt had been nipping at his earlobe, but Kurt pulled away. He pecked Blaine's lips again before leaning his head back so they weren't tempted to dive back in.

"Hi," Kurt whispered.

Blaine laughed and tightened his grip on his boyfriend's torso. "Hi, yourself. That was…"

"I told you I'd bring you up here and greet you properly."

"You should properly greet me every time you see me, if this is what happens."

"I just might," Kurt murmured, leaning in to kiss him again.

One moment, they were blissfully happy making out against Kurt's bedroom door, and the next they were thrown violently to the floor, Blaine lying on top of Kurt, both of them groaning in pain. Blaine rolled off of Kurt before things got too awkward and rubbed his eyes, trying to ignore the awful pain in his knee where it had fallen directly onto the floor between Kurt's legs.

He peered over to Kurt, who was struggling to sit up but glaring at the now open door and Finn standing in the doorway, his hand still on the doorknob.

"Sorry, dudes. Didn't know you were standing there. You shouldn't really be standing right behind a door anyway."

"Yes, I'm sorry, Finn," Kurt grunted. "I didn't anticipate you throwing my door open without knocking first. This was clearly my fault."

Finn looked uncertain for a few moments, shifting from foot to foot, and Blaine decided that Kurt wasn't just being mean when he said Finn was a little on the dumb side, he was just being honest.

"Are you going to stand there all day or tell me why you felt the need to burst into my room?" Kurt snapped.

"I, uhh…Can I borrow your…I just needed…Okay, honestly, Burt told me to check on you guys. He said my job for tonight is to come across the hall to your room every 10 minutes to make sure you weren't doing anything gross."

"Because metaphorical heaven forbid I kiss my boyfriend, right?" Kurt slowly sat up, then winced.

Blaine noticed immediately and shot up to place a gentle hand on his boyfriend's back, tucking the boy's phrasing away in his brain to ask him about after Finn left. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he said softly. Then, he directed his attention back to his step-brother. "Finn, however, I can't say the same for. Go away before I battement your derriere."

Blaine giggled at his boyfriend's word choice and looked up at Finn to see the boy sputtering, clearly not having any clue what Kurt just said, and he laughed again.

"I don't even know what that means."

"It means he's going to kick your ass," Blaine supplied.

"Oh." Finn looked unsure again but started backing away. "I wouldn't really take you seriously except for that I've seen how many boots you have in your closet, and I'm afraid of what you'd to do me while wearing them. So, uh…I'll just see you guys at dinner."

"Wise decision," Kurt said as Finn finally left the room, closing the door behind him.

Now that Finn was finally out of their hair again, Blaine could concentrate on the important matters, like the fact that Kurt was reaching one hand behind to massage his lower back and bringing the other to the back of his head. His face was contorted with pain, and Blaine jumped into action.

"Come on," he urged, drawing his boyfriend to his feet and guiding him over to the bed. "Lie down. You're hurt."

"I'll be okay," Kurt said, entirely unconvincing. Blaine didn't miss that this was the second time he said he would be okay, implying that at the moment, he wasn't. He also didn't miss that despite the fact Kurt was brushing him off with his words, he was following Blaine's guidance and collapsing onto the bed. "I just landed on the floor wrong. It's not a big deal. I'll be alright."

"Hush," Blaine murmured. "You're in pain; let me take care of you."

"It's temporary, don't worry about it."

Blaine knelt beside the bed and rested his head down on the mattress, directly in front of Kurt's face so they were staring at each other. He lifted a hand and started to run it through Kurt's hair, trying not to dwell on the small bump he felt at the back of Kurt's head. "When are you going to get it through your head? I worry about you. That's a good thing. It means I care." Kurt still seemed reluctant, but didn't say anything in response because he was too tired. Blaine furrowed his brows, upset by his boyfriend's rebuff of someone taking care of him.

He was about to ask about it when they heard a knock on the door and a man with a baseball cap and a plaid, flannel shirt was stepping into the room. It took Blaine a moment to realize that their current position, with how close their faces were and his fingers threaded through Kurt's hair, was probably more intimate than his boyfriend's father should be seeing. So he shot away, rocking back on his heels before standing and walking over to the man, extending his hand.

"Hello, sir. I'm Blaine Anderson."

Kurt's dad took the proffered hand and gave it a good, firm shake before narrowing his eyes at Blaine, studying him, and letting go. "I know who you are."

"Right, yeah," Blaine said, and he hated himself for feeling so small in front of Kurt's dad, a man that meant so much to Kurt. He wanted to badly to impress the person before him, he had only tonight to do so, and already he felt like he was failing miserably.

He heard Kurt get off the bed and felt his boyfriend press up against him from behind, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder. "Be nice, Dad."

Burt rolled his eyes at his son, ignoring the reprimand. "Carole sent me up here to tell you dinner's ready."

"We'll be down in a sec."

Burt looked like he wanted to fight him on it, saying they could just come down with him right now, but let it go and left without another word.

Blaine felt Kurt's lips pressing lightly along the back and side of his neck before he spun around in Kurt's arms.

"Your dad is terrifying," Blaine said.

Kurt smirked and nuzzled his nose against Blaine's cheek. "Nonsense. He liked you."

"He hated me."

"He loved you."

"He's going to kick me out after dinner."

"Blaine," Kurt laughed. "stop being ridiculous. That handshake was a test. My dad gauges a man's worth based on his handshake, and I could tell by his face that he was impressed by yours."

Blaine pulled away and looked at Kurt. "Really?"

"Really."

They smiled at each other for a moment before Blaine relented, taking Kurt's hand. "Alright. Then I guess I'm ready for dinner."

…

Once Blaine met everybody, he felt a little calmer about dinner. Carole had been lovely, the epitome of the perfect step-mother; Finn was…well, he was cool enough, just a bit of a doof. Burt was the only one Blaine was still worried about, but Kurt was quick to reassure him that his dad wouldn't be a problem.

So there they all were seated at the table, Burt at the head of the table with Carole on his right, Kurt on his left, and Blaine next to Kurt and Finn next to Carole. The seating arrangements worked out perfectly, almost like that's how it was supposed to be. Burt chose to eat with his fork in his left hand so that he could hold Carole's in his right over the corner of the table. Blaine smiled at the sight, not having had a functional couple to look up to. His parents were certainly not a good role model in that department, and even they were gone now. But looking at Burt and Carole put a kind of warmth in his heart, like he could see that being him and Kurt in the future.

Blaine scooted his chair closer and wrapped his foot around Kurt's ankle under the table, causing his boyfriend to glance up through his lashes at him, giving him the sweetest look ever, before taking his left hand off the table and placing it just above Blaine's knee, mid-thigh.

Their interaction didn't go unnoticed. Burt coughed, clearly about to say something, when Carole piped up. "So, Blaine, Kurt tells us you're going to NYU in the fall as well, and in the music program like him."

"Yes, ma'am," Blaine replied politely, smiling at her. "I almost didn't believe him when he told me he was doing the same."

"It was quite the story for us all. What are your plans for after you graduate?"

"Carole," Kurt whined, "we haven't even started college yet and you're already asking him about what he's doing after?"

Blaine smiled and nudged Kurt with his shoulder. "Technically, we have started college. That's how we met, remember? And I don't mind answering." He felt his heart swell at the blush that rose in Kurt's cheeks at the mention of how they met, which was just such a coupley thing to do, and turned his attention to Carole. "To be honest, I'm not really sure yet. The only thing I know for sure is music. It's the only thing that's ever made sense to me in my life, no matter what I'm going through. I like to say that there's a song for everything. Whatever you're feeling at any given time, there's a song out there that expresses it exactly. When language fails, there's music." He broke off, staring down at his plate for a second before looking back up to his boyfriend's parents' faces. "So, whatever it is I end up doing, I just know that it has to be music."

Carole was looking at him with this proud look on her face, and he knew she must have been satisfied with his answer. It threw Blaine off, for a second, that a woman he'd known for less than a day could be proud of him, when his own parents couldn't be proud of him in his entire 18 years of life.

"That's perfectly fine. At least you know it's music. I changed my major, oh, 4 times in college before finally deciding on nursing."

Blaine stiffened, praying that no one would be able to tell just by looking at him. Kurt, however, with their close proximity and his ability to know everything about Blaine with a single glance, definitely noticed. He raised his eyebrows questioningly at Blaine but didn't say anything, so Blaine pretended it didn't happen and continued with the conversation.

"You're a nurse?" he asked.

"Yep, at Lima Memorial Hospital. I work mostly in pediatrics, but if they need me I float around just doing what I can."

The sudden constricting Blaine felt in his chest just got worse when she mentioned pediatrics. Just thinking about hospitals made Blaine think about that night his parents kicked him out, and it hurt like hell. All night long, he just needed people to attend to him, but the stupid nurses and doctors in pediatrics kept treating him like a kid. It had annoyed the heck out of him, because in that moment, after being beaten and thrown out of his house by his father for being gay, he didn't feel very much like the 14-year-old kid he was; he felt so much older. Carole talking about being a pediatric nurse just brought back all those memories he worked hard to keep pushed away.

Kurt seemed to catch on and opened his mouth to change the subject, but Finn cut him off. "Are you okay, dude? You look kinda pale."

Carole, true to her nurse training, sprang into action and came around the table to pat Blaine on the back. "Oh, I forgot to ask Kurt if you had any food allergies! I hope you're not allergic to anything I made." She started feeling his forehead, his cheeks, his neck.

"No, no, it's fine." Between Kurt next to him and Carole above him, Blaine suddenly felt very claustrophobic.

Burt must have sensed this because he stood up and lightly grabbed his wife's arm, tugging her back to her chair. "Let the boy breathe, Carole. He said it's not the food."

Kurt turned and brought his hands to Blaine's face, forcing him to look Kurt in the eye. "Blaine, sweetie, you're okay. Look at me. Look at my face. I'm right here. You're okay." Kurt moved one hand down to Blaine's chest and felt how fast and hard his heart was beating. "You're fine, Blaine. Feel my hand on your heart, calm down. I'm right here."

Blaine hated when this happened. The room would feel small and he would feel big, like in Alice in Wonderland. He felt like he was growing and the house was shrinking, and he started feeling anxious. It made him feel like he had to gasp for air because there wasn't enough room for both his body and the oxygen it required. His heart was beating in his throat and his pulse was resonating in his ears.

But with Kurt's voice cutting through everything, he felt safer. He concentrated on the warmth he felt on his chest and realized it was Kurt's hand over his heart, just like he was saying. He focused on the other hand he felt on his face, and realized it was trying to direct his attention to whatever was in his line of sight. So he looked, actually looked instead of just blank staring, and found Kurt's eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes, with all the swirls and flecks of color swimming around. Blaine was holding onto those eyes like a lifeline, trying to keep his mind on them instead of on the night he had suddenly found himself transported back to.

And just like that, he was back. He tried to think back to the last time he'd had a panic attack had been, but then that just lead him to the memory that it was because of Trevor, and that wasn't exactly the right path for his brain to be travelling down right now. So he shook his head and closed his eyes tight, dispelling the thoughts, then opened them again and took in the worried expression on Kurt's face. Which, of course, lead him to look around and take in the worried and awkward expressions on everyone else's faces.

In that moment, Blaine wanted to die of embarrassment.

"Oh, God," he groaned, recoiling from Kurt and placing his face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Jesus, you guys probably think I'm crazy now."

Surprisingly, it was Finn's voice Blaine heard first. "Kurt doesn't believe in God, or Jesus, or whatever."

Well, that was unexpected. Not so much Kurt's beliefs, or lack thereof, but the fact that Finn just threw it out there.

"What?" Blaine asked, lifting his head up.

Kurt was giving him a sharp look, like he was trying to melt Finn into a puddle right where he sat. "Finn, don't you have a Halo date with Puck or something?"

"Just 'cause it's a date when you hang out with a dude doesn't mean it's a date when I hang out with a dude."

"He says 'dude,' a lot," Blaine said, because it was the only thing he could contribute to the conversation.

Kurt relaxed a little and gave Blaine a small smile. "Yeah, he does. He has a very limited vocabulary."

"Hey!"

"Be nice, Kurt," Burt said, parroting back Kurt's words from earlier.

Carole stood and started picking up the dishes from the table. "Finn, honey, why don't you help me with the dishes?"

Finn groaned but didn't say anything. Blaine figured he knew better than to argue with his mother, since they'd probably gone through this before and he'd lost every time. So Carole and Finn grabbed the dishes from the table and headed off into the kitchen, leaving Kurt and Blaine alone with who Blaine decided was the single most intimidating man he'd ever met, aside from the men in his family.

"You okay, kid?" Burt asked, looking at Blaine. It was disconcerting to Blaine to see how much this man genuinely seemed to care, despite how they'd only known each other for an hour or so. "You kinda freaked out for a minute there."

Blaine nodded but didn't trust himself to say anything. He really didn't like talking about his family or that night or what had happened as a result of it, Kurt being the only exception. When Burt didn't seem like he'd take his silence for an answer, Blaine offered, "I'm fine."

Kurt slipped his hand into Blaine's and laced their fingers together, giving it a light squeeze. "Don't be embarrassed," Kurt whispered, leaning towards Blaine to gain some semblance of privacy from his father. "I used to have panic attacks a lot after my mom died, and after Karofsky. He just wants to make sure you're okay now."

"I'm fine," Blaine repeated.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Burt asked, still looking at him strangely. Blaine just shook his head and turned his gaze away from the prying faces around him. He heard Burt sigh and say, "Kurt, why don't you give Blaine and me a minute alone?"

Kurt sounded extremely unsure and unwilling to leave Blaine alone. "Dad—"

"I just want to talk to him. He can meet you up in your room as soon as I'm done.

Kurt, just like Finn, seemed to know that he wouldn't win the argument with his parent, so he sighed and stood up. Before leaving, though, he reached down a hand to run through Blaine's ungelled hair, smiling down at him. "I'll be right upstairs, okay?"

Blaine figured he didn't really have any other option, so he just nodded. His boyfriend leaned down and kissed him before retreating upstairs.

Instead of turning his attention to Burt, which he knew was the polite thing to do, he just stared after where Kurt had left, hoping if he stared hard enough he could make him reappear. It didn't work.

"It was something Carole said, wasn't it?" Burt asked gently. "Something she said about being a nurse. You don't like hospitals, do ya, kid?"

"No," Blaine sighed, deciding it'd be better if he just answered the questions so he could go find Kurt quicker. "No, I don't."

"You want to tell me about it?"

He didn't want to be rude, but to be honest, the answer to that question was the same as the previous one. "With all due respect, Mr. Hummel, no. Not really. It's a long story, and one that you probably won't like."

Burt had that narrow-eyed, scrutinizing look again that made Blaine squirm in his seat. He felt like Kurt's dad had the ability to see right through him and know exactly what he was thinking, which explained where Kurt got it from. Finally, after an agonizingly long minute, Burt sighed and took his baseball cap off, rubbing at his bald scalp.

"You care about my son," Burt stated.

It wasn't a question, but at least this Blaine could answer positively. "Yes."

"A lot."

"Very much so, sir."

Burt nodded, accepting the information. "Alright, then I'm gonna tell you somethin', Blaine. And I don't want you to interrupt me. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now Kurt, he…he's been through some stuff. He's been through a lot of hard stuff in his life that no parent wants to see their child go through. He's been unhappy for a long time, and we all adapted to that in this house, just doing our best to keep him in as good a mood as we could. Then, he comes home from his first day of college classes and all he talks about is this dreamy boy he met at school." Blaine blushed and secretly found some satisfaction in knowing that he wasn't alone in his gushing to Laurel. "Not exactly what I expected to hear that evening, but it wasn't unwelcome either. It was the first time I'd seen him smile, a real, honest-to-God smile, in a while. So I decided whoever this kid was that my own wouldn't shut up about it, he's obviously worth keeping.

"He probably didn't tell you this, and he might kill me for doing so, but you were the only thing he talked about every day he came home. The week after he met you, he comes home and tells me that he asked you out. I hope that by now you know Kurt well enough to know that that was completely out of character for him, so I knew you were special. Then he comes home after your first date and tells me that he told you about Elizabeth, and took you to their spot. Needless to say, that through me for a loop. Kurt hasn't talked about his mom with anyone but me since she passed. And I know that when he came to your house, he told you about that Karofsky kid. So you know as well as I do that Kurt hasn't had it easy."

For a second, Blaine wondered what the point of him saying all of this was, but he kept listening regardless, knowing the man had a point to make.

"Now that I've met you, it's clear to me that you haven't had it easy either." Oh. "Don't worry, Kurt won't tell me the stuff you tell him, just stuff he tells you. But from what he does tell me, and from your reaction to Carole talking about hospitals, I can take a few guesses." You'd be wrong on all of them. "He says you live with your cousin?"

Realizing that he was actually required to speak again, he stuttered out a shaky, "Y-Yes, sir."

"He hasn't told me the details, but an out gay teen living with his older cousin speaks for itself. I'm not trying to bait you; you don't have to tell me anything, kid. I probably scare the shit outta you 'cause I'm your boyfriend's dad." Blaine couldn't help it, he laughed at that. "I just want you to know that no matter what happens with you and Kurt, you have a place here, alright? I know you'll only be here for about another month or so, but when you come back for holidays and stuff, if you need somewhere to go, you can come here. Not implying that your older cousin isn't good enough, but I know sometimes it helps to have a man around."

Blaine nodded shakily, unable to speak. He suddenly felt like a little kid who'd just had his diary read out loud right back at him, and it hurt more than he thought it would. But if felt nice, to have his boyfriend's dad do something his own father never could: accept him.

"Alright. Now I've said my piece. You can go up to Kurt's room if you want. When Finn has his girlfriend Rachel over, we generally have an open-door policy, but seeing as how you look like you need some privacy, tell Kurt he can bend the rules a little tonight."

"Thank you, sir," Blaine said. "I really appreciate it."

In reality Blaine wanted to just stand there and thank his boyfriend's father for the next ten minutes, he was so grateful. But he knew that wasn't a reality, and if he had it his way he'd have years and years to come to thank Burt. So for now, he settled for just heading upstairs to his boyfriend's room to let him know how lucky he was to have a father.

…

Never one to be impolite, Blaine knocked on Kurt's door before pushing it open, peering in to see Kurt lounging back on his bed, flipping through what appeared to be a photo album.

Kurt looked up at him and smiled sadly. "Hey, you. I hope my dad didn't traumatize you too irreparably."

Blaine shrugged. "Not at all, actually. Your dad is…really great."

Without another word, Kurt patted the spot on the bed beside him. Blaine got the message and climbed onto the mattress, sliding next to Kurt and curling into his side. Kurt lifted his right arm up so Blaine could nestle in there, then laid it back down around his boyfriend's shoulders and lightly scratched his fingers up and down Blaine's right arm.

They both just stared down at the pictures on the page, unspeaking. Blaine liked the silence; it was comforting for a second. It felt safe, familiar, and not as hectic as downstairs with Burt and Carole and Finn and Kurt always talking over each other. Blaine studied the pictures, there were 4 of them, two on each side. The two on the left both were Kurt posing in two different ways in what appeared to be a Halloween costume; he looked about 4 years old. Blaine couldn't help it, he laughed; his boyfriend had dressed as the Little Mermaid for Halloween one year. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if that had been him and his own father. The two on the right featured Kurt again, the same age, a much younger Burt, and a beautiful young woman who Blaine assumed to be Kurt's mother, Elizabeth.

"You were adorable," Blaine said, pointing to one of Kurt as Ariel. "I'm loving this costume. How did your dad feel about it?"

Kurt smiled. "He wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, but my mom convinced him that it was Halloween and every girl and boy deserved to dress up as whoever they wanted."

Blaine nodded, still looking down at the pictures. He couldn't take his eyes off Kurt's mom. She had the same bright blue eyes that Kurt did, and that alone would make the woman breathtaking, but everything about her was just beautiful. Blaine used to think Laurel was gorgeous, but she had nothing on Elizabeth.

"Your mother was…" he struggled to find an adjective to do her justice.

"Stunning, I know," Kurt said. "My dad always says I remind him of her. It's the highest compliment anyone's ever given to me."

"I can see why."

They went quiet again, and Kurt flipped the page, more pictures of him growing up and his parents. "I like to look at this photo album sometimes, when I'm feeling especially nostalgic." He brought the book up to his face and smelled, then pulled it back and smiled. "I sprayed it with the last bottle of her perfume that I stole from Dad's bathroom. It smells like her."

Honestly, Blaine had no idea how to reply to that, but he thought that maybe Kurt didn't need him to. He just needed him to listen. So that's what he did. They flipped through pages and pages of Kurt through the years, his mother or father or both always in the picture looking so proud of everything he did. Then, they got to a certain age, and the pictures stopped including Elizabeth. There were only a few without her before the album's pages turned empty.

Kurt gingerly closed the book and set it aside on his table next to his lamp. Blaine knew what was coming next, so he decided to put it off a little while longer.

"Look, I know you have questions, but can I ask a few first? Then I promise I'll answer anything you ask me."

Kurt looked skeptical, but nodded. "Alright. What is it?"

Blaine figured if Finn didn't take any time beating around the bush, why should he? So he just blurted out, "You don't believe in God?"

"No," Kurt bit out. Blaine immediately knew this was a sore spot for him. "I was going to tell you when I slept over, but I guess I just got distracted by other things. I just feel like…If there was a God, why would he take my mother away, or let me be sexually assaulted, or send all of his followers after me telling me how evil I am for the way he made me in the first place? So, no. I don't."

Blaine nodded. Frankly, Kurt's beliefs were Kurt's beliefs and he didn't really mind one way or another, so he started to continue on to the next question. "Okay. So, you said you used to get panic attacks—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second," Kurt said, raising his hand to signal Blaine to stop talking. "You're not going to try to convert me, or tell me I'm going to double rot in hell for not believing in God, or say anything?"

Blaine shrugged in Kurt's arms, lifting his face up to stare at him. "No. I mean, I'm not exactly the most religious person on earth. I think there's a higher being out there somewhere, something that created us and is controlling the universe. But I don't know if I exactly buy everything the churches are selling. If you don't believe in God, that's your prerogative."

Kurt's face broke into a relieved smile and he leaned his head down to capture Blaine's lips with his. He pulled away a little and whispered against his lips, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for accepting you for who you are, Kurt. That comes with the territory of being your boyfriend."

They smiled goofily at each other again before Blaine lowered his head back down onto Kurt's shoulder and chest and nuzzled his face against his boyfriend's body.

"Anyway," Blaine said, "so you said you used to have panic attacks too, after your mom and Karofsky. Is that how you knew how to…calm me down?"

He felt Kurt nod above him. "Yeah. They weren't as bad with my mom, because I was younger, but with the whole Karofsky thing, I was older and it was a lot worse. My dad didn't know how to handle it, but then in stepped Carole, a registered nurse, and she knows exactly how to handle emergencies. So my dad learned by example from her, and I learned because I know what works for me. Personally, I need to have something rooting me to the present, bringing my mind back to where I am and not where it's trying to take me back. A touch, or the sound of a voice, or a face to concentrate on. So I figured I'd do all three for you and see if any of them worked."

Blaine craned his neck to kiss Kurt's jaw. "They all did. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Is it my turn to ask you my questions now?"

Blaine didn't want to say yes. He so badly wanted to just refuse and close up, throw up all the walls he so often kept up and only answer surface questions. But here, in Kurt's arms, he felt safe. He'd never been able to come down so quickly from a panic attack before. It was Kurt, and the gentle touches and the soft reassurances and the understanding eyes that brought him back to the reality, the beautiful, amazing reality that was Kurt. For the first time in a very long time, he felt really truly safe. Like, as long as he had Kurt, nothing could touch him. Not his parents, and not Trevor.

Blaine knew, in that moment, that he was finally ready to tell Kurt the Trevor Incident.

"Yes," he finally said. "Yes, it's your turn to ask questions."

"Your panic attack," Kurt started. "What brought that on?"

"Carole talking about hospitals. The night my dad beat me up and kicked me out of the house, when we finally got around to going to the hospital, we were in the pediatric ward. I was 14, I had just come out to my parents and the whole reason I was there was because of them; I didn't feel like a kid, but all of the nurses and doctors there treated me like one. They talked to me in those condescending tones and said stupid little things and offered me a stuffed animal to calm me down. It just made me even angrier. So when Carole was talking about how she's a pediatric nurse, it just brought that night back to me in my mind and I just…freaked."

Kurt sighed and started scratching Blaine's scalp. "I'm sorry. I should have known, I should have warned her—"

"Don't. Please don't apologize to me right now. It's not your fault, Kurt. You can't protect me from everything, just like I can't protect you from Finn." Kurt laughed at that, but suddenly Blaine shot up, remembering. "Oh, God, I didn't even think to ask you how you're feeling. You had a bump on your head earlier, and your back was—"

"I'm fine, Blaine," Kurt cut him off, sitting up to wrap his arms around his waist and bring him back down. "With Finn in the house, you get used to random injuries like that. The bump on my head is flat again and my back doesn't hurt at all."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Now lie back down with me."

Blaine smirked at the commanding tone Kurt suddenly took on and did as he was told. "Yes, sir. I wouldn't want to argue with you."

"You most certainly wouldn't," Kurt shot back, smiling with a gleam in his eye.

Blaine knew that Kurt was done with his questioning. In that moment, all he really cared about was Blaine's panic attack, and now that he had that answer, everything was fine in Kurt's mind. But that wasn't enough for Blaine. He was finally ready to talk about Trevor, and the fact that Kurt didn't even mention it when he knew that he had the opportunity to just solidified for Blaine that this was what he wanted to do.

"Kurt?"

"Yes?"

"I want to talk to you about Trevor."

Kurt sat up so fast that Blaine flopped down on the pillows before even knowing what had happened. "What?" he choked, staring back at Blaine like he'd grown a second head.

"I said I want to talk to you about Trevor."

"Are—Are you sure? You don't have to, Blaine, you know that. We agreed that when you're ready—"

"I'm ready, Kurt. You make me feel safe. When I was flipping my shit, you were the only one who was able to talk to me and get me to come back to myself; back to you. If I can tell you about my parents and talk comfortably with you about them, then I can tell you about Trevor."

Kurt's eyes were wide, but he nodded, breathing a little ragged. "Okay."

He crawled back up to the head of the bed and laid his chin on Blaine's stomach, staring up at him as he began speaking.

"It all started freshman year…"