Chapter One:  I Love You This Much

Monday March 24, 2014

“How are you doing, kiddo?” Burt Hummel asked when he heard the door to the garage open. He knew without looking that it would be his son, right on time for his shift.

“Exhausted,” Kurt said with a sigh as he dropped his bag in the corner behind Burt’s bag. “Aly had me up all night.”

“Is everything okay? Is she sick?” Burt dropped his pen, looking up at his son.

“No, she had a nightmare and then she refused to sleep in her own bed. For a three-year-old, she sure can kick.” Kurt took the chair opposite his father, closing his eyes wearily.

“She gets it honestly,” Burt said with a laugh. “I’m going to get back to work.”

“I’ll be there in a minute, Dad,” Kurt told him. He waited until his dad had left the room before leaning his head back against the chair with a sigh. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe how his life had turned out, though he regretted nothing.

Tuesday August 3, 2010

It was a nice humid sunny August day. School hadn’t started up again and Kurt was enjoying the remainder of summer vacation. Brittany had texted him earlier that day to meet her in the park and bring some ice cream. So, armed with an ice cream cone in each hand, he went to find her.

She was sitting on a bench, arms in her lap, the sun shining on her blonde hair, illuminating the few hairs that escaped her ponytail like a halo. Her normal vacant smile seemed slightly more strained as she looked around for him. When she spotted him, she jumped up. “Dolphin!” she cried, running to him.

Kurt laughed and held out one of the ice cream cones. “ Hey Brittany. I come bearing gifts. The strawberry-banana ice cream cone is yours. Mine is the frozen yogurt.”

“You remembered! Thank you!” she took the ice cream from him and sat on the bench, licking it and attracting the attention from many a man.

They sat there in silence for a while, eating their ice cream, before Kurt ventured to ask, “So, uh, you asked me to come here? What for?”

“I asked you to come here?”

“Yes, Brittany, you did.”

There was another long pause as Brittany thought, ceasing to eat her ice cream to focus on why she had contacted Kurt.

When the ice cream started to melt and drip down the cone, Kurt nudged her. “Your ice cream is melting. You should take care of that.”

“Oh, thank you.” She smiled at him and she worked on eating it for a while, before she grinned. “Now I know what I called you here for!”

“Really? So, why did you call me?”

Brittany turned to him. “I’m pregnant.”

An ice cream cone with frozen yogurt tumbled to the pavement, but Kurt paid it no heed. He just gaped at the blonde cheerleader. “What do you mean you’re pregnant, Brittany? I thought you were on the pill.”

Nodding vigorously with a blank expression on her face, Brittany replied, “I am. I take Vitamin E every morning.”

Kurt bit his lip. “How did this happen?”

“I thought you knew. You were there too,” Brittany reminded him as she licked at her ice cream. She’d finished the strawberry, had gotten to the banana and was enjoying their flavors mixing.

“Are you positive? Have you been to the doctor?” Kurt asked, his heart pounding hoping that she would answer negatively.

“I went yesterday with Santana to make sure. I’m twelve weeks along already,” Brittany answered.

Kurt raised a hand to his hair, to tug on a strand, only to stop midway. No matter how messed up the situation was, he didn’t need messed up hair to go with it. “Oh my God, this cannot be happening. Have you told your parents? What am I supposed to tell my dad? I’m seventeen-years-old. I can’t be a father.” He bit his lip again, before resolutely swallowing past the lump in his throat and setting his jaw.

“And I can’t be a mother,” Brittany commented, her lower lip protruding slightly. “I’d probably end up forgetting to water it. I forget to water plants all the time. Lord Tubbington always has to remind me to give him food and water. But babies can’t talk to remind me.”

Kurt’s voice trembled as he asked, “So what do we do?”

Brittany sniffled, looking at her remaining ice cream mournfully. “I don’t know.”

"Dude, are you okay?” Noah Puckerman’s voice jarred Kurt from the memory.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kurt told him.

The bell from the front door sounded. Kurt looked up. “That’ll be a customer.”

Kurt got to his feet and strode out of the office. He paused for a second when he saw a handsome man standing in the main room. He had a mess of curly black hair with gorgeous hazel eyes.

“Can I help you, sir?” Kurt asked as he crossed the room.

“I hope so. My car has been having difficulties starting lately and now the exhaust smoke is black,” the man explained. “I needed to be at work thirty minutes ago.”

“It sounds like a bad carburetor. Let me take a look,” Kurt said. He followed the man over to a black Mercedes-Benz. “Nice car.”

“It would be if it was running right,” the man replied with a smile.

“Can you pop the hood?”

“Sure.” The man turned away from him and opened the door to pop the hood. Kurt found his gaze being drawn to the other man’s backside, before he quickly focused them on the car instead, lifting the hood up and looking inside. He couldn’t let himself be distracted. The man was a customer.

Kurt examined the car with a frown. He pulled his head out from under the hood and turned to the man. “It’s your carburetor all right.”

“How fast can you replace it?” the man asked.

Kurt smiled. “Not very. It’ll take at least an hour and I can’t even work you in until tomorrow at the earliest.”

“Tomorrow? How am I supposed to get to work?” The man asked frantically, his voice elevated. Kurt felt bad for him.

“What do you do?” Kurt found himself asking.

“I have my own restaurant. Look, is there any way you could get it fixed today?” the man pleaded.

Kurt sighed, biting his lip. “I’m not supposed to do this, but since we happen to have the part in, I might be able to bend the rules. One of our customers is out of town anyway so their car can wait until tomorrow. I can have yours fixed by noon but it will cost extra.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” the man exclaimed. “Let me make it up to you. Can I take you out to dinner?”

Kurt hesitated. Here he was with a beautiful man asking him out, knowing absolutely nothing about him. His first thought went to Aly, who would always be his first priority. He hadn’t even attempted dating since she had been born. He was afraid she would get close to someone and then they’d leave. He didn’t want to complicate her life any more than it already was with a young, gay, single father.

The man could read the hesitance on his face. He bit his lip and avoided Kurt’s eyes. “If you don’t want to I completely understand.”

“He’d love to,” Burt interrupted as he wandered over to the pair.

Kurt flushed, spinning around to face his father. He mouthed, ‘What are you doing?’

“What’s your name?” Burt asked, ignoring his son.

“Blaine Anderson, sir.” Blaine extended his hand for Burt to shake.

“Burt Hummel. This is my son, Kurt. He’d be more than happy to go to dinner with you.” Burt clapped Kurt on the back.

“Dad, can I speak with you for a moment?” Kurt asked, his eyes flashing angrily. Not waiting for an answer, he pulled Burt aside. Kurt hissed, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“You never go out, Kurt. You’ve never been on a date, not one that counted. You deserve to have some fun,” Burt answered simply.

Kurt glared at his father. “What about Aly?”

Burt shrugged nonchalantly. “Carole can watch her.”

Kurt clenched his hands. “He’s young. He won’t understand.”

Burt rolled his eyes. “You don’t know that until you try. Come on, Kurt. You deserve some happiness in your life.”

“I have plenty of happiness,” Kurt answered instantly, his mind flying to his beautiful daughter.

Burt smiled, knowing Kurt was thinking of Aly. He clasped his son’s shoulder. “I know you do. But everyone could always use a little bit more.”

Kurt sighed heavily. “Fine. You win. This won’t end well, though, mark my words.”

Burt raised an eyebrow. “Not if you don’t try, it won’t. Just give the guy a fair chance.” He pushed him back towards Blaine, who was still waiting for an answer.

“How’s tonight around seven?” Blaine asked when Kurt returned.

“Sounds great. I’ll give you my address.” Kurt grabbed one of the business cards for ‘Hummel Tires and Lube’ to write his home address on the back. He handed it to Blaine, who accepted it with a gracious smile. Kurt watched him sit down in one of the waiting chairs and felt his eyes on him the entire time he was working on the Mercedes.

KAB

“I can’t believe I let Dad talk me into this,” Kurt moaned as he stood in front of his closet. “What am I supposed to wear?”  He pulled out a dress shirt, examined it for a few moments, before putting it back in. He passed by a few others, only to reject them as well. He sighed. This was getting him nowhere.

“Kurt, you have two closets filled with clothes. You cannot tell me you have nothing to wear,” Carole called from the kitchen.

“I don’t,” Kurt answered as he left his bedroom and entered the kitchen of his small apartment. He smiled when he saw Aly feeding herself Cheerios. “I should just stay home. Aly needs me.”

“Aly will be just fine with Mimi. Won’t you, Aly?” Carole asked with a smile.

“Yep,” Aly chimed.

Kurt flopped down in one of the wooden chairs next to Aly. “Don’t you want Daddy to stay home with you, Aly Cat?”

“No, I want Mimi.” Aly didn’t look up from her bowl of cereal.

Kurt’s face fell and, putting his arms on the table, let his forehead rest on them.

“She’s only three, Kurt. Don’t let it bother you.” Carole reached across the table to squeeze Kurt’s hand.

“But what if something happens?” Kurt asked, lifting his head and a hand to stroke his daughter’s blonde hair.

“Nothing is going to happen, Kurt. I have raised a child before, you know. I think I can handle a few hours of babysitting,” Carole reminded him. “Come on, let’s go pick out something for you to wear.”

“I’m sorry,” Kurt said as he followed her into his bedroom. “I know you can handle it. It’s just. . .” he paused, “I just hate being away from her, especially when it’s completely unnecessary.”

“I know you do, but your dad is right. You deserve to have some fun,” Carole said as she pulled clothing options out of his closet.

“I have fun,” Kurt protested as he took a shirt from Carole, returning it to his closet. He picked a different one and laid it out on his bed with a pair of skinny jeans.

“I mean fun without a three-year-old involved. I’ll leave so you can change,” Carole said as she left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

Kurt dressed quickly, knowing Blaine could be there to pick him up at any time. He wanted to be outside waiting so there wouldn’t be any awkward questions. He had decided he would tell him about Aly when he was ready. As long as Blaine didn’t know about Aly, he knew she was protected. There was no risk of her getting too attached to someone who would just abandon them both, like her mother did. Brittany had been the first person to abandon Aly and Kurt did not want to add any names to that list. He refused to.

Just as he walked out of his bedroom, Kurt heard the buzzer announcing he had a visitor. Sighing reluctantly, he turned to his daughter. He picked her up, holding her close.

“Daddy’s going to miss you, princess,” Kurt told her, burying his head in her blonde hair. “I love you.”

“How much?” Aly giggled as she asked.

Kurt smiled, setting her on the ground so he could spread his arms wide. “This much!”

"I love you this much!” Aly spread her own arms as far as they would go.

“That’s an awful lot, Aly Cat,” Kurt said as he fought back his tears. He hated leaving her. Trying to date was stupid. He’d rather stay home with his daughter.

The buzzer sounded again, reminding him that it was too late to back out now. Blaine was waiting for him. Kurt knelt down so he was at Aly’s level.

“Can I have a kiss?” he asked.

“Fishy kiss,” Aly told him.

“Okay, a fishy kiss.” Kurt sucked his cheeks in so his lips looked like a fish’s as Aly did the same. He kissed his daughter, smiling when he saw the happiness in her blue-green eyes. “Daddy will be home in a few hours.”

“Okay.” Aly ran off to play with her stuffed animals.

Kurt sighed.

“We’ll be fine. If anything happens I will call you,” Carole told him as she hugged him quickly.

“I thought you said nothing would happen?” Kurt asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing will happen,” Carole assured him. “Now go. Don’t keep your date waiting any longer.”

“Call me if anything happens,” Kurt told her.

“I will. I promise.” Carole ushered Kurt out of the door before he could stall any further.

Sighing, Kurt walked down the stairs and out the door of the apartment building. Blaine’s finger was raised to press the buzzer again when Kurt walked out. Blaine smiled at the sight of him.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” Kurt said as he awkwardly followed Blaine to his car. True to his word, Kurt had replaced Blaine’s carburetor before noon that day and the car was as good as new.

“It’s all right. I wasn’t waiting long,” Blaine replied. He opened the passenger side door for Kurt, who blushed. Kurt slid into the seat and Blaine closed the door behind him before hurrying to the driver’s side.

The short drive to Breadstix was filled with awkward silence. Kurt didn’t know what to say. Blaine mistook this for shyness and didn’t press him for conversation until after they were seated and the waitress had brought them their drinks.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Blaine said, taking a sip of his water.

“There’s not much to tell,” Kurt answered, as he fiddled with the straw in his glass.  He wasn’t exactly lying because, since he wasn’t going to tell Blaine about Aly, there wasn’t much else to talk about. His little girl was his entire world.

“You work for your father?” Blaine asked.

“Yes,” Kurt confirmed.

“Did you always want to take over the family business?” Blaine questioned.

Kurt stiffened. Ten minutes into the date and they were already heading into dangerous territory. He had never wanted to be a mechanic. Once upon a time, he had had big dreams. New York. Broadway. Those dreams died with Aly’s birth, not that he regretted it. The second he had heard his daughter’s heartbeat he had known he couldn’t give her up.

Tuesday August 31, 2010

“I understand you have agreed upon adoption?” Dr. Adams asked.

“Yes,” Kurt said with a resolute nod. “We’re both too young to handle the responsibility of having a child.”

“Adoption is an amazing option,” Dr. Adams said.

“We thought so too. Do I get to gift wrap the baby before I give her to her parents?” Brittany asked.

Dr. Adams stared blankly at the girl. Kurt shook his head, willing her not to ask any questions. Mercifully, she didn’t.

“This is going to be a bit cold,” she told Brittany as she squirted the ultrasound gel on her belly. She brought the transducer probe to Brittany’s stomach, moving it around until she found the baby. “I know you’re placing the baby for adoption but do you want to know the sex?”

“It’s up to Brittany,” Kurt said instantly. He knew in the end the sex wouldn’t matter because the baby wasn’t his to keep.

“Sure,” Brittany answered brightly.

Dr. Adams paused and pointed at the screen. “Sixteen weeks is still a little early to tell so I’m not one hundred percent positive, but it looks like you’re having a girl.”

“Sweet!” Brittany said enthusiastically.

Kurt shook his head with a smile. Somehow, Brittany managed to liven up the entire situation.

“Now let me check the heartbeat and then we will be done,” Dr. Adams clicked a button on the ultrasound machine. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat filled the small room.

“Is that it?” Kurt asked in shock. “Is that her heartbeat?”

“That’s it. She seems to be perfectly healthy,” Dr. Adams said as she put the transducer probe down. She wiped Brittany’s stomach clean before helping the girl sit up.

“Are you all right, Kurt?” Brittany asked, noticing how pale the boy had gone.

Kurt’s hand trembled. “I can’t do this,” he said in a whisper.

“You can’t do what?” Dr. Adams asked gently.

“Give her up. I can’t.” Kurt ignored the tears that rolled down his cheeks. His eyes were on the still shot of his daughter.

“Are you saying you want to keep the baby?” Dr. Adams questioned. She hadn’t expected this turn of events.

“Yes. Yes, I am,” Kurt shocked himself with how sure he sounded.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Dr. Adams told him.

Kurt closed his eyes as he nodded. “I know. But I’ll make it work. She’s my daughter. I might never have another chance like this. She’s… she’s part of me.”

“Is everything okay?” Blaine asked, jogging Kurt from his memory.

“I’m sorry. Yes, everything’s fine. In answer to your question, no it was never my dream to work at my father’s garage,” Kurt said truthfully.

“So what changed?”

“Everything.”

Kurt’s phone interrupted them before Blaine could ask any more questions. He pulled it out of his pocket. When he saw Carole’s number his heart stopped.

“I’ve got to take this,” Kurt said to Blaine before he answered the call. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Aly had a nightmare. She won’t stop crying. I tried to get her back to sleep but she keeps calling for you,” Carole said in a rush. He could hear his daughter crying in the background and it broke his heart.

“I’m leaving now. Just talk to her and stroke her hair. It helps calm her down,” Kurt said.

“I’m sorry I ruined your date,” Carole told him.

“Don’t be. She comes first. She always comes first. You know that. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Kurt hung up without another word. He turned to Blaine, who was clearly confused by Kurt’s half of the phone conversation. “I’m sorry but I have to go.”

"Is everything okay?” Blaine asked, getting to his feet, eyebrows drawn together.

“It will be. I just have to go. I’m sorry. You should stay though, eat some dinner. I’ll call a cab,” Kurt said as he slung his messenger bag over his shoulder.

“Are you sure?” Blaine asked.

Kurt nodded. “I’m positive. I’ll call you later.”

Kurt was running out of the restaurant before Blaine could stop him. He called a taxi and jumped into it the instant it appeared. After what seemed like ages, he was home. He flew up the stairs and into his apartment, hurrying to Aly’s bedroom.

“It’s okay, princess. Daddy’s here.” Kurt pulled her into his arms, holding her close to his chest. He stroked her hair slowly, continuing to whisper to her until she calmed down. When she finally relaxed against him he asked, “Was it the clown again?”

“Yes,” Aly said with a whimper.

“It’s okay now, honey. Daddy won’t let anything happen to you.” Kurt kissed the top of her head.

“Can I seep with you?” Aly asked, clearly still frightened by the nightmare.

“Of course you can, princess. Come on, Daddy will carry you.” Kurt stood up, lifting her into his arms. Aly wrapped her legs around him, holding on tight. “Thank you for watching her, Carole. I can take it from here.”

“Are you sure? I can stay if you’d like,” Carole offered.

“We’ll be all right. But thank you. She’ll be fine once I lay down with her.” Kurt followed Carole to the door.

“All right, call us if you need anything,” Carole said as she opened the door to leave.

“I will. I promise. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Carole kissed his cheek and Aly’s forehead before she left.

With a sigh, Kurt carried his daughter into his bedroom. He lay down beside her, smiling when she snuggled up to him. That just went to show he was right. Dating was a horrible idea.

KAB

Tuesday April 8, 2014

“How about we try that new Italian place for dinner? Daddy’s had a long day and doesn’t feel like cooking.” Kurt asked Aly as he carried her out of preschool.

“Can I have sghetti?” Aly asked excitedly.

“Of course you can,” Kurt answered as he strapped her into her car seat.

“Okay.” Aly nodded.

“So glad you approve,” Kurt chuckled. He climbed into the car and drove towards Caravelli’s. The restaurant had been opened for almost a year now but Kurt had yet to try it out since he was always so busy with Aly.

They entered. While waiting to be seated, Kurt took the chance to look around. It was tastefully decorated, with lots of dark brown wooden furniture. The tablecloths were layered with a brick-red paper one rotated at a forty-five degree angle to a beige fabric one underneath.  The cushions on the chairs were also brick-red. The curtains were beige and the walls were a soft cream. The only thing he’d change would be the fluorescent lamps overhead. They cast a more bluish light than he thought fitting. A more yellowish light would fit better, in his mind.

A waiter escorted them to two vacant places, after asking if Aly needed a booster seat or not. Kurt declined the offer, knowing Aly would refuse to use it away from home. Once they were seated, Kurt listened to Aly chatter about her day at preschool while he looked over the menu. He had finally decided on the lasagna when he heard a voice.

“Kurt?”

Kurt looked up, shocked when he saw the man standing in front of him. “Blaine.”

Kurt had almost forgotten about Blaine. Almost. At least he had tried to. He had never called the other man, though he had said he would. After their disastrous first date, which ended thirty minutes in, he had thought it best to forget that it had ever happened. And now, here he was:  Gorgeous Blaine Anderson, who clearly had not forgotten about him.

His eyes immediately flew to Aly, who was looking at Blaine wide-eyed, her head cocked to the side. He wished he could disappear with her on the spot, to protect her from whatever was about to happen. His eyes returned to Blaine when he spoke.

“How have you been?” Blaine asked casually.

“Fine. You?” Kurt asked, hoping Blaine would walk away without noticing Aly. But of course a three-year-olds mind is often too curious for their own good.

“Hi!” Aly said brightly to Blaine.

“Oh,” Blaine said softly as he noticed Aly sitting beside Kurt. “Is this your niece?”

Kurt’s mouth went dry. His tongue snuck out to wet his lips as he looked again from Aly to Blaine. He swallowed.

Unhappy that her father wasn’t explaining things, Aly asked, “Who’s that, Daddy?”

Kurt’s eyes grew wide as Blaine gaped at the little girl. Every instinct screamed at Kurt to snatch her up and get as far away from everyone as he could. But Aly was not happy with being ignored.

“Daddy?” she asked expectantly, as she crossed her arms and frowned at him.

Sighing, Kurt knew there was no way out of this. He turned to Blaine, biting his lip. He drew in a deep breath before he said, “Blaine, I’d like you to meet my daughter. Aly, this is Daddy’s friend Blaine.”

“Hi, Aly,” Blaine said softly. He sank down into the seat opposite Kurt, even though Kurt was wishing he would move on and forget this had ever happened.

An uncomfortable silence settled. Aly took no notice to this, though, and demanded, “Daddy, I want sghetti.” Aly quickly lost interest in the other man. She looked up at Kurt with her big cerulean eyes and he couldn’t help but smile.

“I know, Aly Cat. We’ll get you spaghetti.” Kurt ran a hand through her hair, forgetting that Blaine was there until he cleared his throat.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a daughter?” Blaine asked.

“I didn’t think you’d understand. I didn’t want you to find out about her and leave,” Kurt admitted, not taking his eyes off of his daughter.

An awkward silence followed.

Finally, Blaine spoke again, “How old are you, Aly?”

Aly’s eyes snapped to Blaine’s face. She turned to look back at Kurt who nodded encouragingly.

“Go on, princess. Tell him how old you are,” Kurt told her.

“Three,” Aly said proudly.

“Wow, you’re a big girl, aren’t you?” Blaine asked with a small smile.

Aly nodded, beaming from ear to ear.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her,” Kurt said, smiling when Aly cuddled into his side. “I have to protect her. I can’t let her get close to someone and then watch them abandon us. I can’t put her through that. I’m her father. It’s my job to protect her.”

“I get that,” Blaine said with a nod.

“Aren’t you going to ask how I got into this situation? I mean, I’m a twenty-year-old gay man with a three-year-old daughter.” Kurt was surprised that Blaine hadn’t already asked.

“If you wanted me to know you’d tell me,” Blaine answered with a shrug and raised eyebrows.

“I’m not ashamed of her,” Kurt said determinedly, locking eyes with him.

“I never thought you were.” Blaine offered him a lopsided smile.

“I made a mistake in high school. I tried to be someone I wasn’t so my dad wouldn’t be harassed about having a gay son. I wanted him to be proud of me, the perfect son. So I decided to date this cheerleader, Brittany, to make things easier on him. It was the first time I’d ever so much as kissed anybody . . . and I slept with her. We were both so young. Brittany decided she couldn’t be a mother yet so I decided to raise Aly on my own,” Kurt explained.

“That must’ve been hard,” Blaine commented his smile relaxing somewhat until it was just a hint, watching Aly color the children’s’ menu.

“It was, but I don’t regret one second of it. She’s my everything.” Kurt looked back at his daughter with a smile and ruffled her hair again.

“Is that why you ran out on our date? Your babysitter called?” Blaine asked.

Kurt nodded. “My stepmother was watching her. She had a nightmare and Carole couldn’t get her to calm down so I left. I’m sorry I didn’t give you an explanation.”

“It’s okay. I understand now. She takes precedent.”

Silence fell over them again. Kurt felt awkward as he reached up to flick a strand of hair back into position, but Blaine seemed to be accepting of his situation so he didn’t try to leave. Instead he asked, “So, are you here alone?”

Blaine laughed. “I’m not here to eat.”

Kurt blinked. “You’re not?”

“No. Remember I said I owned a restaurant, well here you are.” Blaine gestured around the building.

Kurt blinked again, his mouth dropping slightly. “You’re kidding!”

“I’m not. If we had talked some more you would have found that out.” Blaine grinned and winked at him.

“I’m sorry I never called you. I was just afraid. I’ve never dated anyone other than Aly’s mother and she didn’t count. Especially since she ended up dating a girl after me.” Kurt smiled at the memory of Brittany’s coming out as bisexual.

"Really? I can’t believe you’ve never dated anyone.” Blaine raised an eyebrow in surprise, his smile disappearing for the first time.

Kurt snorted. “And who would I date? I was the only out gay kid at my high school, and after Aly was born there was no time to meet anyone. I didn’t want to leave her to try to anyway,” he explained.

“And what about now?” Blaine asked coyly.

“What about now?” Kurt questioned.

Blaine smiled. “Would you like to try dating now?”

Kurt blushed. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Come on, Kurt. Give me a chance,” Blaine pleaded, giving Kurt big puppy dog eyes.

“Stop that,” Kurt said with a wry smile.

“Stop what?” Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The puppy dog look,” Kurt answered. “I get it enough from Aly and no offense but hers is cuter.”

Blaine laughed. “If you’d give me the chance, I’d really like to get to know you . . . and Aly.”

“No,” Kurt said abruptly, shaking his head. “I can’t have her getting too attached to someone-”

“For them to leave, yes I know. And I respect that. But that doesn’t mean that you and I can’t still get to know each other.” Blaine reached across the table to take Kurt’s hand in his. “Please, give me a chance? We can take things as slow as you want.”

Kurt sighed, still unsure. “You won’t change your mind?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Kurt,” Blaine assured him.

Kurt thought for a minute before he finally answered. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Blaine said with a smile.

“We can go on another date,” Kurt told him.

“Excellent. How’s tomorrow at seven?”

“I’ll have to check to make sure someone can watch Aly but that should be fine.”

“Great. I will see you then.” Blaine stood up. He turned to walk away but spun back around. “And for the record, I wouldn’t have run if you had told me that first night.” He winked and turned away again.

Kurt‘s mouth dropped slightly as he watched Blaine disappear into the kitchen. Not only had Blaine found out about Aly, but he still wanted to get to know him. A slight smile colored his lips. Maybe this dating thing wasn’t so bad after all.