Blaines return to the Hummel home was far less cheerful than it had been the previous times. At twelve years old, he was more than aware that his mother was unfit to care for him, but knew he would return to her once she finished yet another stint in rehab.

There was no physical abuse in the past five years since he had left the safety of the Hummels, but his mother would often disappear for days on end. When she was home, he usually found her passed out and sleeping off a drunken bender. Last time he had been sent back to her, it hurt more than he could ever explain. He hadnt remembered the first time he had been with the family because he had been too young, but the last time he remembered too clearly.

The love the family showed him was all that kept him from completely breaking down while in the care of his mother. She had, of course, thrown out the slip of paper with the Hummel number on it as soon as she discovered it, probably because she was reminded of her failures, Blaine thought.

The last five years had been dark and lonely for him; his only happiness came from the two photos he had been hiding since his return. The first one was a photo of him in Elizabeths lap (the woman who taught him what a mother truly was) and Kurt in Burts lap. The second was a picture he looked at enough that the edges had begun to tear. In it, he and Kurt were outside during a snowstorm and they were hugging tightly and had smushed their faces together. Their cheeks were equally as rosy from the cold and their smiles were bright and directed at the camera. It was taken days before Elizabeths death; one of the happiest days of his life.

Rebecca herself initiated Blaines third stay with the Hummels, surprisingly enough. In the first real motherly act he had ever seen, she drove him to the child welfare office and held a meeting with Joan stating that she wanted to be a better mother and show Blaine that she really did love him. Hed heard it before, but somewhere deep inside, he felt the flicker of hope once again. Hope that she really would change, hope that she really loved him enough to do it, to put him first.

Burt was shocked when Blaine walked through the door. Joan had once again kept him updated and gave him the message from Blaine that he no longer had their phone number, but he still wasnt ready for what he saw. Though the boys features were pretty much the same, if not five years aged, it was the look in Blaines eyes that really got to Burt. Where there was once childhood innocence and lightness, a playfulness, his eyes were now dull and sad. He saw deep, deep pain that could only be in the eyes of someone who was repeatedly let down. Blaine smiled a little when he saw Burt and stuck his hand out to shake the mans hand. Burt glanced at the outstretched hand a moment before pulling him into a hug.

"Its good to see you, kid, its been too long."

"Thank you for letting me stay with you again." He said quietly when he pulled back.

"I told you wed always be here if you needed us."

Blaine nodded but did not reply. After the papers were signed and Joan had left, Burt carried Blaines one suitcase to the same room he had stayed in the past two times he had been there. The room that felt like the safest place in the world.

"Kurt should be home soon, the bus should be getting here in the next half hour."

"Ok." His voice was quiet and Blaine couldnt help the butterflies that took over his stomach at the mention of Kurt.

"Are you hungry? I could make you a sandwich or something."

"No thank you Burt, Ill just unpack I think."

"Thats fine, kid. Just ask if you need something, ok?"

"I will."

Burt looked at him a moment longer then nodded and left the room. Blaine put away the few articles of clothing he had and then sat on his bed and looked around the room. Besides the furniture and wall color, nothing looked the same. The toys had mostly been replaced by magazines and sketchpads, there were a few pictures of Kurt and friends, but the one that were out took Blaines breath away. The boy he had grown up with was absolutely beautiful. Blaine forced himself to look away, knowing thinking a boy was pretty was something people didnt like. A kid in his old school had an uncle who liked men and the other kids said mean things about him. Blaine went back to the bed and sat back down. He grabbed one of the fashion magazines on the bedside table and began to flip through it. He mustve gotten lost in reading the article about Ann Hathaway, because suddenly someone was throwing themselves on top of him and squeezing him tightly in a hug.

"Blaine! Oh my god youre here!"

"Kurt! Hi, yea!" He squeezed him tightly back.

They pulled away from each other after a long moment and sat side by side staring at the other. Kurt broke the silence.

"Wow, you…"

Blaine smiled, "Yea…you too."

"Its so weird, you look the same but…different, I dont know."

"So do you."

They smiled at each other until Burt clearing his throat grabbed their attentions.

"Well, I see you guys havent had any trouble reconnecting."

They laughed a little embarrassed, light blushes stained both of their cheeks.

"I was thinking wed just order a pizza tonight, maybe watch a movie and catch up. What do you think?" Burt asked.

Kurt turned to Blaine, "I hope youre not the kind of guy who gets the meat lovers pizza or anything like that."

"Kurt makes us eat healthy here now. Hes taken over Lizzies place of watching everything I eat."

Blaine looked from Burt to Kurt and smiled, "We can get whatever, I havent had pizza in a while, so any kind would be great."

Kurt looked sad momentarily at Blaines remark, but then he smiled and clapped his hands, looking at his father, "Great! Mushrooms and Broccoli then?"

"Sure, kid."

The three men spent the evening reconnecting and making Blaine feel as welcome and as comfortable as possible.

As the weeks progressed, Burt began to notice, more and more, how in tune Kurt and Blaine were. They both seemed to hang on each others every word, and they were pretty much always together. Blaine would watch a football or basketball game with Burt, but would still comment and discuss whatever fashion Kurt was looking at in the magazine he was reading next to him.

Burt had his suspicions about them, but it took over two months after Blaine moved in for him to find out that he was correct.

He was walking down the hall, passing the boys room when he heard them talking. The door, usually open, was closed and so a concerned Burt stood there for a minute to make sure everything was ok.

"Im scared." Blaines voice stated quietly.

"Me too, I dont know what it means." Kurts high voice rang out.

"Maybe were wrong and just thinking about it too much."

"Yea, maybe, but none of the other boys in my class have ever said anything like it before."

"Mine either."

Burt stood there confused, unsure as to what they were talking about.

"Well," Blaines voice sounded cautious, "Maybe we could just try? What could it hurt, right?"

"Yea, at least you know I wont tease you and you wont tease me and neither of us will tell anyone."

"I would never tease you, Kurt."

"I know, Blaine, me neither."

"Ok, so…well just do it?"

"Yea just…ok."

They became quiet and a million worst case scenarios ran through Burts mind as he quickly opened the door. None of the thoughts, however, included Kurt and Blaine sitting side by side on Kurts bed kissing.

"Oh!" Burt blurted out in a half laugh, relieved they werent stabbing each other or one of the other terrible things he had been thinking.

At the noise, the boys quickly separated and Blaine moved away so quickly he fell off the bed and on the floor.

"Dad, we…"

"Burt, Im sorry!"

They spoke at the same time then looked at each others surprised faces before turning back to Burt.

He almost wanted to laugh at the sight. They wore similar expressions of surprise and horror at being caught. Both sets of eyes were wide and unblinking, staring up at him. While Kurts face was bright red from embarrassment, Blaines was white as a sheet in terror. He wanted to laugh, but this was definitely not the time.

"Guys, relax ok? Im not mad, lets just sit down and talk about this."

They stared at him for a moment before Blaine picked himself up off the floor and shakily sat back down next to Kurt on his bed. Burt sat down across from them on Blaines bed and noticed that neither would make eye contact with him. He knew hed have to start.

"Ok so, whats going on?"

They turned to each other and Burt could tell they were having some silent conversation that Kurt apparently lost because he looked at Burt for a moment then averted his eyes back down before speaking.

"We kissed."

He smiled a little at his sons answer, "Yes well, I saw that. Why did you kiss?"

Kurts face turned even more red, "We…uh…we wanted to see."

"See what?" He asked gently

Kurt side eyed Blaine, desperately begging for his help. Blaine nodded and opened his mouth to speak before closing it again to clear his throat a little, finally speaking quietly, "If we were gay, sir."

Burt nodded his head, even though neither boy was looking at him. He wasnt all that surprised, had known about Kurt since he was three and had been suspicious about Blaine. He knew hed have to be careful with how he proceeded.

"You both know Im not angry, right?"

They both looked up at him.

"Youre not?" Kurt asked, relief flooding his voice.

"Of course not," He looked at them both, "Of course this means well have to have a few more conversations that Im going to need to look into before they can happen, but that will come later. What makes you think you might be gay?"

"Well," Blaine began, but looked quickly to Kurt who nodded that he should continue, "We both like the boys in movies and TV shows more than the girls….like thatway."

Kurt nodded, "And all the boys in school are always talking about how pretty the girls are," he blushed, "but I think Blaine is prettier than any of the girls."

"Me too!" Blaine blurted out, then finished more quietly, "About Kurt, I mean."

They both looked at Burt with wide eyes and he knew they were hoping he carried all of the answers. Answers he knew he didnt have.

"Well, it sounds like youve given it a lot of thought." They both nodded, "So what do you think? Do you think youre gay?" He kept his face as neutral as possible.

"Im not sure," Blaine said quietly, "Maybe?"

"Yea…maybe." Kurt sounded just as confused.

"Ok, thats ok. You dont need to know for sure right now, I think this is something you figure out as you get older." He smiled, "Just know that you can talk to me about it, ok?" He stood up and walked to the door after both nodded at him.

He turned around to find them looking at each other, "And guys?" They both looked at him, "Either way is good, alright?"

"Ok." They both said quietly and he left the room, leaving the door open. He knew this was something they had to speak about and discover together.

One thing was certain, five days after Burt found them kissing, Blaine turned thirteen and Burt suddenly had two teenagers in his home. Both were discovering their sexuality, as all teens do at that age, but he knew that it was no longer appropriate for them to be sharing a room. They were getting older and needed their own space, and though he was perfectly fine with whomever they loved, it wouldnt be responsible of him as the adult to give them a place to suddenly be alone and experiment with sex.

That is why Kurt found himself creating a room in the basement, while Blaine made their room his own. Kurt was happy to have a blank canvas to create whatever he wanted, and Blaine was just happy to not be in trouble.

Burt was not witness to any more kissing; he did however notice the boys talking to each other in hushed voices much more often. They didnt come to him very often but once in a while, and always together, they would ask him questions such as, "How did you know you were straight?" or "Why do people think its so bad to be gay?"

They were tough questions for him to answer, but he tried to be as honest and open as he could. He would answer with things like, "It wasnt something I really ever though about, I just always found myself attracted to women." And "Because they dont understand it and people hide behind their ignorance. Dont listen to anyone who tells you youre bad…if you are gay…or not, either way."

After hed answer theyd scurry away to talk about it together a little bit more.

The day they both officially came out, something Burt had been anticipating, they seemed to be nervous wrecks. Burt was somewhat amused that they were so anxious, but had read that the coming out process what a big deal so he didnt comment.

When Burt came home from work at the garage, they were waiting for him in the living room and asked him to sit down, that they wanted to tell him something.

Standing up in front of him, Burt could see that both of their hands were shaking.

"Dad," Kurts voice was wavering, "We, uh, Blaine and I want to tell you something."

"Ok," He nodded, looking them both in the eyes, "Shoot."

"Right," Blaine nodded and was seemingly readying himself, "Burt, Kurt and I…were um…"

"Were gay, dad." Kurt finished for him in an exhale of breath, and Blaine nodded his head.

Burt stood up and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "Thank you for telling me, guys. Im proud of you and you know I love you no matter what."

They both nodded but didnt comment.

"Now how about we do something special for dinner? Breadsticks sound good to you?"

"Yea, but why?" Kurt asked.

"Well, this is a big deal and I know it was hard for both of you to tell me, I think we aught to celebrate."

"Being gay?" Blaine asked confused.

"Being who you are and owning it." Burt smiled and walked past them, opening the front door, "Come on, Im starving."

They looked at each other and smiled before heading out the door.

Things werent easy for them at school, but they stuck together and were able to stop anything worse than name-calling from happening.

Burt was surprised when Joan called him after Blaine had been with them for only ten months. She had told him he would probably be there for about a year and a half since Rebecca had not gone straight to rehab, but had only just actually entered. He was even more surprised when he was told that Blaines father, Peter, a man Blaine himself had only met three times had decided he wanted to be in Blaines life once again. Joan told Burt that a home visit was going to be done and if everything checked out, Blaine would be placed into Peters care.

Blaine took the new hard.

"I dont understand, hes a stranger! I barely know him any more than a random person walking down the street!" He was angry and hurt.

"I know, kid, believe me I dont want you to go, but Joan says theres nothing we can do here."

"Dont I at least get a say in this? In my life?" He leaned into Kurts side when he put an arm around him.

"Im afraid not. Youre still a minor and as your birth father, legally he is allowed to say you have to go live with him."

"Its not fair!"

"I know, but Blaine Im sure it wont be so bad, and Joan will be watching out for you."

Blaine snorted, "Thats reassuring." He said sarcastically.

"Look, theres not much I can do here, but you have a cell phone, now. You have the home number, both Kurt and my cell numbers. You can call at anytime and if something happens, you call me and Ill take care of it, ok?"

"What if he refuses to pay for my phone? I dont have any money saved up for the service."

"Youre under my family plan and I am not going to shut it off. I want you safe, Blaine."

Blaines eyes filled with tears, "Thank you, Burt. I wish you were my dad, I wish I could stay here."

Burt joined them on the couch and pulled both boys into a hug, Kurt crying too at this point, "I wish that too, son, everyday."

One month later, Blaine left the Hummel home, his safety, once again to face an even greater unknown. He had no idea what to expect from his father, but knew that even in the best case scenario he would never be as happy as he was at his real home.