Burt could see that Kurt was getting stir crazy on Wednesday (as Kurt hadnt hesitated to tell him) and, though he made him stay home from school and skip Glee, he made Kurt a deal. So long as he could stay on his feet for long enough, he was allowed to go to the LARP session in the park.

Kurt was sure to take it slowly as he got dressed and did his hair, and then ventured downstairs to watch TV. He pretended that he was remembering every single detail of the show that he was watching, though maybe his concentration was still not so great. His balance was much better and Kurt was celebrating the little victories. He felt a lot better than he had, and his recovery in the last few days alone had been phenomenal.

Burt came home in time to drop Kurt at the park, not trusting him to drive in the slightest, and seeing that he was up and dressed and seemed fine Burt stuck to his side of the deal. Kurt was fairly quiet when they first got into the car, and stayed that way until he couldnt avoid the conversation with small hums of agreement.

"Theres a boy who goes to these sessions, isnt there?" Burt asked, "Not just a boy, but a boy, right? As in one you have a crush on, or whatever."

Kurt took a deep breath. "Yeah, there is."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Burt offered.

"Thanks, dad, but you dont have to do that. I know all the gay stuff makes you uncomfortable." In all honesty Kurt was as uncomfortable talking about it with his dad as he perceived Burt was, and he didnt feel any need to bring up the subject himself.

"Hey, none of that. You are you, and I love you, and I certainly am not uncomfortable. Do I want to know all of the details? Not really. But you can tell me about boys, you know, no different to if you were telling me about some cute chick or whatever."

"Is this because you want to meet Luke and Erica? You dont believe that there are responsible adults that I hang out with regularly?"

"Kurt, dont change the subject. Whats his name?" Kurt sighed.

"Hes called Blaine."

"Is Blaine on the table?" Kurt gave Burt a puzzled look as they pulled into a parking space by the park. "I mean, is he gay too? Does he like you back?"

"Hes gay, yeah, and sometimes it seems like he could like me, but... I dont know, dad," Kurt said as he slid on Darcys leather jacket. "Thanks for driving me."

"Its no problem, kiddo, theres no way I would let you get behind the wheel concussed and all. You can barely steer yourself, let alone a hunk of metal."

"Hey, dont talk about my Navigator that way." Burt chuckled appreciatively.

"If someone can give you a ride home that would be good, but you can call me and Ill come and get you, alright bud?"

"Yeah, I know." Kurt opened the door and stepped out of the car. Burt waved at him and waited until Kurt had greeted the group to drive away. He had arrived later than he normally would when he was coming from Glee, but that didnt seem to be a problem and there were more people there to be sociable with while he waited for more group members to arrive. They all seemed to have missed him and Darcys absence was apparently notable, though Kurt would have thought otherwise.

As the session began, Kurt found his hand in Blaines as almost second nature. He certainly didnt question who had taken whose hand or why it had happened, he just found himself effortlessly caught in the relationship between Darcy and Nightbird. "I hope youre not mad about me having to deal with Jet the other day," Blaine said. Kurt gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Not at all. I was a little upset, but it was mostly just confusion. This is making it up to me, so you dont have to feel bad."

"When I asked you to leave, I was just protecting you, you know. Shes an elite villain, and Im not ever going to let her hurt you."

"Yeah, I know," Kurt said. He paused for a moment before he asked, "Nightbird? Are we official?"

"What do you mean?" Blaine said.

"Can I tell people that youre my boyfriend yet? And not just the guy Im seeing?"

"Oh. I dont see why not. This is the date that Im supposed to fly you home on, and I dont just do that for anyone. But boyfriends would qualify. You arent going to make me meet your parents now, right?" Kurt laughed.

"No, no," he said, shaking his head a bit, "dont you think its a little bit funny how I only know you as a superhero? Thats not usually how these stories work. Is there some normal person who is you in disguise who Ive been rude to or anything?" Blaine grinned at him.

"Nope, just me as Nightbird. I mean, there was once a normal person there, but hes been gone for so long that I dont even think were really the same person."

"I dont think I can really imagine you without the spandex, honestly."

"It does show off all my best features, doesnt it?" Blaine teased.

"Yeah, it really helps emphasise what a good person you are, or how much I like you, or how nice your voice is," Kurt said sarcastically. Blaine laughed.

"Those are traits rather than features, dont you think?" He paused for a moment before he added, "How much you like me isnt really a trait of mine."

"I beg to differ. It says a lot." They walked around for a bit before they walked past Jeff sitting on the ground with a bitter look on his face. "Braxton?" Kurt asked, "Are you okay?"

"Oh hey, Darcy. Ill be fine, Im just sort of lonely," Jeff said. Kurt shot a look that was purely Darcy to Blaine, one of concern for the boy in front of them. Blaine, in total Nightbird, sighed, but sat down. Kurt was glad to see that they knew exactly what was happening with just communicative looks.

We need to help him, sorry to ruin the date.

No, Darcy, its fine, there will be more dates.

"Whats up?" Kurt asked, "and this is my uh, boyfriend," both of them smiled at the new usage of the word, "Nightbird."

"You know my friend, Drew?" Kurt nodded, "he got a boyfriend." Blaine smiled smugly, pure Nightbird radiating through him, that the characters were coming out, finally. It made Nightbird look like his dream of helping gay kids realise theyre okay was working.

"And this upsets you because...?"

"Now I have no one to muck about with! Screw this, Im going to go spray paint a wall or something." Jeff stood up and effectively ran away, leaving Kurt and Blaine sitting on the ground together.

"You look pleased with yourself," Kurt commented.

"I am pleased. Because I know Drew when hes busy being Dovetail- I didnt just tell you that- and now he has a boyfriend and no one cares, which I mean in the best way possible. I feel like Im really doing something. Im making a difference, and you have a hand in that, you know."

"Yeah, I know. Its like they can finally believe that youre gay because you have a boyfriend."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think youre exactly right." Blaine stood up and offered Kurt a hand. When they were both on their feet they started walking again, swinging their joined hands between them. It was what Kurt enjoyed most about the roleplaying, how effortlessly the pair could pretend to be in a relationship with one another. Some days it Kurt a lot of hope that they could slide into a relationship of their own as easily, though he still felt like he knew next to nothing about Blaine himself.

It didnt take long before Kurt was tackled to the ground from the side, taking Blaine down with him. When he tried to let go of Blaines hand, he was still holding on so tightly that it wasnt possible. He looked up to find Erica on top of them both. The next few moments went by extremely quickly, but Kurt stumbled along behind Erica, clearly Darcy being kidnapped as promised, while Blaine called after them, immobilised by Marley sitting on top of his legs.

"Oh, Darcy," Erica said, "If only you had a hero now." She pushed him to the ground in a way that looked rough but didnt hurt Kurt in the slightest. He sat obediently and waited. "What, you dont want to defend yourself or your precious Nightbird?" she taunted.

"Arguing isnt going to get me anywhere. May as well save my energy," Kurt said, sighing emphatically. Erica sat down beside him, looking at him attentively.

"I was going to go and claim some victims, but you are absolutely enthralling."

"I thought I was just being hero bait for you."

"Not until Im done cracking you, Mister Peterson. I just dont get it. I dont understand you, or why you want to do anything here in Dreamweaver. It sounds like you had bigger things on the horizon for you, before you moved back in with your parents, huh?"

"Its only temporary! My apartment lease is about to come through."

"I see. Well, Ill be back to finish this chat later." She got to her feet and sashayed off, leaving Kurt to sit by himself until Marley came by and pushed Leo to the ground beside him.

"I thought JetCat worked alone," Kurt said to Marley.

"Everyone needs to call in backup sometimes. Darcy, meet Hawkbeak. You should have plenty of time to get acquainted." She ran away again, leaving Kurt and Leo. Kurt shifted about on the grass uncomfortably.

Leo sighed. "I was on a date when they pounced on me."

"Me too," Kurt said, "my boyfriend was meant to fly me home on this date and everything."

"Im not sure that my boyfriend is quite my boyfriend yet. Its just a new thing. Damn, Im meant to be a hero myself, and yet they can contain me so easily. Im meant to be helping to establish the villain institute, not being trapped like this myself."

Kurt took a moment to put two and two together. "You dont happen to be dating a kid called Drew, are you?"

"Uh, yeah, I am. You know him?" Leo seemed suitably surprised at the connection.

Kurt shook his head. "Not well. I know his friend, Braxton."

"Oh," Leo said, "I know him. He doesnt seem thrilled that were dating."

"Hes worried about getting lonely or something. And hes really acting out without Drew to keep him in line."

"Oh, really? Thats not good."

"He told us he was going to go spray paint a wall."

"Damn, thats another thing Ill have to clean up," Leo grumbled.

"Just get Drew to let him know that you arent going to take him entirely away from him. Get Drew to keep spending time with Braxton, too. Let them have some friend time," Kurt advised. He glanced over to find that Erica was sitting on the bench, clearly having tapped it. Kurt and Leo silently approached the bench to tap it, keeping in mind that Darcy and Hawkbeak were still trapped in JetCats lair.

"I didnt tackle you too hard, right?" Erica asked Kurt, "especially with the having fallen down stairs and all that."

"No, Im fine. Ill probably go to school tomorrow and everything. We have glee club sectionals coming up and I need to be there to help pick our set list."

"Thats good; its nice to hear that youre recovering."

"Can we please talk about how Hawkbeak and Dovetail are dating?" Ethan said, "Who knew about that before today? You know, aside from those two?"

"Didnt you? Carlton told Darcy that Drew was dating someone," Kurt said. He had seen the relationship between Leo and Ethan and examined the dynamic a lot. They had been together for so long that there didnt seem to be much that they didnt know about one another, so Ethans question did surprise him. Ethan walked towards Leo and punched him playfully on the arm.

"I didnt know it was Leo."

"I meant to tell you! And then we got a little bit... distracted," Leo defended.

"Its okay. I dont mind, babe. Its not like youre cheating on me with Nick, of all people."

"Babe? Since when do you call anyone babe?" Leo teased, looking questioningly at his boyfriend.

"Since now?" Ethan shrugged. They continued to bicker playfully, and Kurt was soon diverting his attention to the other side of their group, where Jeff was still looking upset and Nick was avoiding eye contact with him. Jeff walked across to Blaine, who Kurt hadnt even noticed was standing beside him chatting with Marley, and promptly threw his arms around him. Blaine hugged his friend back, a little bit surprised with the contact but seemingly adjusting to it pretty quickly.

"Its just in character," Kurt heard Blaine saying quietly to Jeff. Nick looked confused, and Kurt walked over to him.

"You know whats going on?" Nick asked, "Jeff doesnt seem happy. I didnt think he would have a problem with my character dating anyone..."

"Maybe hes upset that you didnt tell him?" Kurt suggested.

"But I did tell him."

"Oh," Kurt said, "Oh. I have survived enough glee club dramas to know whats going on." Nick looked at him in a way that Kurt knew was urging him to continue. "Hes jealous."

"Jealous? Of what? That I thought to ask Leo to plot before he did?"

"You really are that oblivious? He likes you. He likes you. This has nothing to do with your characters, okay? Take them out of the equation entirely." Nick didnt even seem to try to hide his surprise. No one really anticipated what happened next, though, as Nick walked across the group to where Jeff was still hanging onto Blaine. Everyone in the group could sense the tension and watched eagerly to see what was going to happen next, as Nick tapped Jeff on the shoulder, clearing his throat. Jeff let go of Blaine to face Nick, and Nick leaned forward and kissed his best friend. Blaine took a step back away from the pair, both looking shocked, and headed around to Kurt.

"What did you say to him to get him to do that?" Blaine asked. Kurt shrugged. He hadnt said anything he didnt think Nick knew deep down already.

"I told him that Jeff liked him. It wasnt hard."

"Im impressed. I told you theyve been dancing around the subject for a long time. They have a very serious talk ahead of them."

"Yeah, but I think they just changed the couple to singles ratio in the group anyway."

"I called it," Blaine said proudly.

"That you did."

"Are you going to get back to school tomorrow? Hows all the concussion and stuff going?" Blaine asked with a voice that suggested genuine concern to Kurt. He didnt even mind the sudden topic jump.

"I want to go back to school, theres glee stuff going on that I dont think I can miss much more of. I have zero chance of getting a solo if Im not there to fight for it."

"I would offer to come into Lima and catch up with you tomorrow, but Thursdays are busy for me. I have to make room for LARPing sometime, right? So to do that, I have two music lessons and a counselling appointment-" Blaine paused, as though he had realised what he had just said. He shook his head before continuing, offering Kurt a sheepish smile, which he took as a plea not to ask questions. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Yeah, I do, actually. Dad wont let me drive with the concussion and all."

"Hows the concentration going?" Blaine asked with a smirk.

"Better, but thats why Im not allowed to drive."

"Thats what I thought. Come on, Ill take you." The car ride back to Kurts house was spent chatting pleasantly, and they arrived to see that Burt was waiting in the driveway for Kurt to get home.

"Hes going to want to meet you," Kurt grumbled. Blaine laughed lightly.

"I can meet parents. Im a charming Dalton school boy."

"Who is currently dressed in a spandex superhero suit," Kurt reminded, "thank you for the ride, Blaine. Will you be at the social on Friday?"

"Yeah, Ill try to get there. See you then?" Kurt nodded, and stepped out of the car. Burt, as expected, raced around to the drivers side of the car and tapped on the window. Kurt couldnt even watch as he remembered what he had said to his dad earlier, and waved to Blaine before dashing inside the house, unable to bear the thought of what they were saying in his absence.

After dinner, Carole knocked on Kurts slightly ajar bedroom door and poked her head into his room. "Do you have time to talk?" she asked. Kurt nodded, so she let herself in, returning the door to its initial position before she sat down on the bed beside Kurt.

"We need to have a boy talk," she said, "your dad told me that theres a boy from your group that youre interested in."

"Oh my god, can we not do this?" Kurt asked, putting his face into his hands for a moment, "did dad send you to grill me for information? What do you want to know?"

"Kurt, I dont need to gossip with you, but he told me that he hasnt ever talked to you about sex."

"Oh my god, can we not do this?" he repeated, his voice raising an octave.

"Look, Im not accusing you of anything, but there are some things that you need to hear, and your dad isnt any more comfortable talking about it than you," Carole said firmly.

"I dont want to talk about... that."

"Youve done sex ed classes at school, right?"

Kurt scoffed. "Bearing in mind that we live in Ohio? Hardly."

"Exactly why it needs to be said, Kurt."

"Id prefer boy gossip to this, Carole."

Carole sighed slightly. "Can you at least promise me that youll do a little bit of research yourself, if you dont want to hear it from me?" she asked, "and I know you arent even dating anyone yet, but I just want you to know that the offer stands- if youre too embarrassed to buy protection for yourself, Ill do it for you."

"Oh my god, can we not do this?" Kurt said again. This time Carole just laughed at walked back towards Kurts door.

"Any time, Kurt," she said, before finally leaving his bedroom. Kurt buried his face in his pillow, and wondered what it was that made his parents need to talk about boys with him so suddenly.