Days went by and the situation with James did not get any better. Burt and Carole did their best to accommodate him. At school, James stayed by Kurt’s side like a lost puppy, which Blaine was not too fond of. Kurt did his best to make him feel comfortable and accepted.

Kurt and Blaine’s relationship was as strong as ever and though Kurt’s time at McKinley was almost over, they tried their best not to think about the inevitable.  When Kurt was not trying to help James with his family, he and Blaine were inseparable. They had been together for two months now and Kurt thought it was about time to tell his father about their relationship. Though worried and still slightly frightened of him, Blaine agreed.

That weekend, Burt asked Kurt to help him at his garage. Kurt dressed in his oversized overalls, an old striped t-shirt, and ratty Converse.

“Kurt, could you hand me that wrench?” his father called, from inside the hood of an old Ford Mustang.

“Yeah, which one?” Kurt answered, as he raked his eyes over the mess of a bench.

“The socket wrench, ¼ inch.”

Kurt pulled out the correct tool and handed it to his father.

“Hello?” called a voice from the entrance.

“Hey, come in!” Burt answered.

Kurt’s stomach flipped. It was Blaine. He walked into the garage in wearing a light grey button up shirt and black slacks. Kurt couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. Blaine had dressed up for this meeting with his father and for whatever reason; it made Kurt like him that much more.

“Hey,” Burt said, wiping off his hands and offering one to Blaine.

“Hello, sir,” Blaine responded, shaking his hand.

“Hey, Blaine,” Kurt squeaked. Blaine smiled in response, not looking directly at him.

“So, uh, what can I do you for?” his father asked, taking in their exchange.

“Dad, this is Blaine.”

“Is he a friend of yours, Kurt?”

“Well, yes, and no, well sort of.”

Burt looked between them with a judging expression. He kept his sight on Blaine the longest, taking in his smaller frame, dark curly hair, and yellow eyes.

“You wouldn’t happen to be Samuel Anderson’s boy, would you?”

“Yes, sir,” Blaine answered as steadily as he could.

“Uh-huh. So you’re Kurt’s childhood friend then. The one from the playground.”

Blaine nodded. Just as he had feared, Burt remembered that day in the clearing just as vividly as they did. Burt crossed his arms impatiently. “Kurt, what’s this all about? Do you need me to fix your friend’s car or something?”

“Oh no, sir, I came here on my motorcycle.” Kurt smacked Blaine on the side.

Not the time to bring something like that up, Blaine! Kurt scolded internally.

“I was talking to my son,” Burt said, not wanting anything to do with the shorter boy.

“Dad, please,” Kurt pleaded. Burt raised a hand for him to continue. “Dad, the reason I asked Blaine to come here today is because I don’t want to keep secrets from you. You’re my father and I love you and I want you to be a part of every aspect in my life. Even those you may not approve of. I was going to tell you before, but judging by the way you’re acting now, I don’t know if-”

“Kurt, get on with it,” his father sighed.

“Blaine is my boyfriend, Dad,” he said, taking Blaine’s hand. Blaine looked down at the ground with a smile blushing to the tips of his ears.

Burt looked at them, not knowing what to say. Sure, he knew that Kurt was gay and he was fine with it, in fact he had tried his hardest to be the most supportive dad a kid could have. But this? This was the boy who had caused Kurt so much harm in the past. It was his fault that Kurt had been hurt in the first place.

“Kurt, you know I love you and I support you, but I don’t know about this.”

“Please, sir, may I say something?” Blaine piped in. Burt nodded, “You see, sir, Kurt is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. When I moved here all those years ago, I had no one. No one would talk to me, but then Kurt befriended me and we stuck like glue! And later, after years of separation, as fate would have it, Kurt was thrown back into my world again, to save me again. But this time, he saved me from myself. I wasn’t honest with who I was and then Kurt came along and showed me that it’s all right to be me.”

“And you expect me to believe that after everything that you put him through?”

“Mr. Hummel, I would never do anything to hurt your son. I care far too much about him ever think of hurting him, even for a second. And I’ll stay with him as long as he’ll let me.”

Kurt and Blaine stood their ground against Kurt’s father, knowing that their words were true and pure.

“You like this kid, Kurt?”

“Very much, Dad.”

Suddenly, the beeper on his belt beeped. Burt sighed heavily.

“Kurt, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy. But kid,” he said directly to Blaine, “If you ever hurt my son, I will not be afraid to hunt you down.”

Kurt squeaked with joy, giving his dad a big hug.

“Now, I’ve got to go pick up a car on route five that broke down. I trust you can hold the fort until I get back? Try to finish that car for me, all right?”

“Yes, Dad, yes! Thank you so much.”

Without another word, Burt left the room, waving over his shoulder to his son.

Kurt spun on his heel to work on the Mustang, practically bouncing with happiness. Blaine felt his face turn up into a smile and he unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt. Kurt’s dad had given them his consent. It was okay. He and Kurt could be together! Blaine turned to celebrate with Kurt when he had to stop himself.

Oh, right. Blaine had been trying very hard to not look at Kurt during the confrontation. To put it simply, Kurt looked hot in his work outfit. It was unfair. He watched as Kurt bent over into the hood of the car, his baggy denim overalls tightened over his ass. His tight striped shirt rode up revealing his toned sides. His hair was all disheveled and his skin was shiny from sweat from working. But what surprised Blaine the most was how much he liked the grease. Working in the automotive world, one would inevitably get grease all over.

Kurt moved out from the car and shut the hood, wiping his brow with the back of his hand, smearing more grease across it.

Blaine’s voice caught in his throat. He strode across the small space, turning Kurt to face him and kissed him fiercely on the mouth, kissing him as if he needed him more than air. Kurt’s eyes widened, kissing him back. Blaine pushed Kurt down onto the hood of the Mustang, holding his arms above his head and climbing on top of him. He smirked down at his boyfriend who gawked up at him. Blaine attached himself to Kurt’s neck, sucking at that sensitive spot that he was slowly learning drove Kurt wild.

“Blaine, what are you doing?” he gasped.

Blaine began to trail hot kisses all over his neck, licking and nipping at his soft, porcelain skin as he gradually made it up to Kurt’s ear.

“Kurt,” he breathed, causing Kurt to shiver from head to toe. God how he loved when Blaine did that. It was sinful. He continued his assault on Kurt’s ear, taking his earlobe into his mouth.

“Umf.” Kurt writhed beneath him. This should not be happening. This was his father’s work place! But the way that Blaine licked at the shell of his ear scrambled his brain so much that he really couldn’t care less.

He made hot, wet trails back down Kurt’s jaw and finally kissed Kurt on the mouth again. Mother of God! Where did Blaine learn to do these things? Blaine traced Kurt’s lips with his tongue, making lazy lines over them. Kurt groaned in frustration, wanting to kiss him properly. His boyfriend laughed, granting his unspoken plea and kissed him deeply.

Good god, Kurt thought, how can one person be so talented with their tongue?

Trying his hand at it, Kurt circled the other boy’s tongue with his own. Blaine moaned in response and Kurt took that as a sign that he was doing well. He licked at Blaine’s lip and took his bottom lip between his teeth. Blaine began to move his hips, effectively turning Kurt’s brain to mush. The car creaked beneath them.

“You look so hot, Kurt.” Blaine moaned into his mouth.

“What?” Kurt laughed. “I’m sweaty and gross and covered in grease!”

“Mmm, and it’s driving me up the wall.”

“Uh… what about you?” Kurt panted, extending his neck so Blaine could have better access. “How- how do you- gah, shit, how do you do that with your tongue?”

“Practice,” he said with emphasis, pressing his thigh down where it lay between Kurt’s legs. Kurt groaned, clutching to Blaine shoulders and pulling him back for another hungry kiss. They kissed like this for what felt like hours, all tongue and teeth and hands in hair and arms around each other.

“Kurt,” Blaine gasped, pressing one last kiss to his lips and leaning his forehead on Kurt’s. “We have got to stop.”

His boyfriend’s eyes widened. “What? No we don’t my dad won’t be back for a few minutes-”

“No, that’s not the problem,” he said, sliding off of the car and onto the floor.

Kurt followed suit, straightening his overalls and tucking in his shirt again.

“What’s the matter, Blaine? Did I do something wrong?”

“What?” Blaine whipped around. “No! No, that’s the problem, you see. You’re too good.”

Kurt blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“Kurt, if we don’t stop, I- you’re going to have to wash more than just the grease off of this car.”

“What do you- oh,” Kurt whispered as realization hit. With really meaning to, Kurt’s gaze flickered down to Blaine’s lower half, spying his growing problem. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh,” he smiled, walking back over to Kurt, and wrapping his arms around his neck. “You’re better at this sort of thing than you give yourself credit for.”

Kurt leaned down to give him a small chaste kiss. “You’re not so bad yourself, Anderson. Listen, why don’t we wait until my dad gets back so I can get cleaned up? Then we can head back to your house and I can show you just how good I can be.”

Blaine’s head dropped to Kurt’s shoulder with a groan.

“Jesus, Kurt you can’t just say stuff like that!”

As the days went on, James became more and more dependent on Kurt. Having been a twin his whole life, it felt as if he was missing someone who had always been by his side.

And it was starting to wear on Kurt and Blaine’s relationship.

(12:35pm) From Blaine:

So, are you up for a movie marathon tonight? I thought we could put in a Harry Potter movie starting at number three, you know, when Harry starts to get attractive?

(12:40PM) To Blaine:

Sorry, Blaine. James asked me to hang out with him today. I feel like he’s relapsing or something.

(12:42pm) To Kurt:

Oh, all right then. I’ll see you at school.

(7:24am) To Kurt:

Good morning, Sunshine! Care to accompany me to the Lima Bean for a Monday morning pick me up? We could get coffee while we’re there too. ;)

(7:29am) To Blaine:

Sorry, but James needs me right now, today would be his older brother Aaron’s birthday and he wishes that he could celebrate it.

(7:31am) To Kurt:

Right, sorry. I’ll see you in class.

(2:45pm) To Kurt:

Where were you in Chem. today?

(2:46pm) To Kurt:

Let me guess, James got a hangnail and you had to kiss it better?

(2:50pm) To Blaine:

What? No. James saw Jeremy in the halls today and locked himself in a bathroom. I’ve been trying to coax him out.

(2:51pm) From Blaine:

Of course you have.

(2:53pm) To Blaine:

Is there a problem?

(2:55pm) To Kurt:

No. None at all…

(3:10pm) To Kurt:

So I’ll see you after school to study Chemistry?

(3:16pm) To Blaine:

Can’t. I promised James I would take him out for ice cream if he came out of the bathroom.

(3:17pm) To Kurt:

Fine.

Kurt shut his locker with books in hand. Directly behind the door, Blaine stood leaning against the row of locker. Kurt jumped, dropping his books and clutching at his heart.

“Jesus, Blaine!” he said, picking up his books. “You scared the hell out of me!”

“Oh sorry,” Blaine grumbled. “I guess you must be so used to not having me around that my presence is shocking to you.”

Kurt blinked. “What are you talking about?”

“Where were you yesterday?” he snapped, getting right to the point.

“What do you mean?”

“We had plans, Kurt. We were going to go to the movies and then hang out at my house. But you never showed up. No call. No text. No nothing.”

“Oh my god, that was yesterday?” Kurt gasped. “Oh god I’m sorry, Blaine! You see, James-”

“Yeah, I know, James. I’m hearing an awful lot of that lately. James started crying, James misses his mother, James has indigestion! What about me? What about your boyfriend who you hardly ever see anymore?”

“Blaine, calm down. You’re over reacting.”

“Am I?”

“Yes,” he said with as much patience as he could muster. “James just needs a friend right now. He’s going through a lot.”

“I never had this big a problem when I came out.”

“No, you didn’t,” Kurt said, wrapping his arms around Blaine’s neck. “You had me to help you through it. You had someone who cares about you to make everything easier. You had the glee club that accepts you no matter who you are. James? His family turned his back on him. His best friend and twin brother doesn’t even look at him the same way anymore. The football team taunts him constantly. He needs someone right now, Blaine. And if I’m the only one who is willing comfort him and keep him from doing the unthinkable, I’ll do anything I can.”

Blaine grumbled with his brow furrowed.

“Come on, you have nothing to worry about.”

Kurt placed a quick kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead, as if to smooth his brow. Blaine looked up at him with long lashes and sighed. Kurt’s eyes were wide and pleading, his lip jutting out comically.

“No fair, you can’t use that face on me.”

“Sure I can! Look, why don’t we make a date for this Saturday seeing as it’s my last week here at McKinley? We can spend the whole day together. No school. No parents. No James. Just us.”

“That sounds great. Only, I wish you wouldn’t talk like that.”

“What do you mean?” Kurt asked.

“About this week being your last.”

Kurt tightened his embrace, pulling Blaine in for a hug, “I know, I’m sorry. We’ll still have coffee after school and weekends?”

“It won’t be the same,” Blaine mumbled into his shirt.

Kurt could only hold onto his boyfriend, rocking him softly back and forth because after all, it was true. When Kurt went back to Dalton, things wouldn’t be the same.

Later that day, Kurt ran to his locker just after glee club. He fiddled with the combination and roughly pulled it open, in a hurry to get back.

“Kurt!”

The porcelain boy turned around to see James jogging up to him. His face looked unlike anything Kurt had seen in weeks; it was accompanied with huge smile.

“Kurt! Kurt!” he said over and over again, practically laughing the name.

“James, what is it?” Kurt asked, picking up on his light tone.

“Kurt, it’s Jeremy!” he said out of breath. “Jeremy, I saw him just now and can you guess what he said?”

“No?”

“He said that he missed me! And mom does too! He said that mom wants me to come home and that he’s sorry about what happened and he misses me, his brother and best friend! Me! Kurt, we did it! You did it!”

“James, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you!”

James bent down to hug Kurt tightly. When he pulled away, his expression was suddenly much more serious than it had been moments ago.

“It was you, Kurt. I was all you. You kept my head above the water and kept me going forward. If- if it hadn’t been for you, Kurt, I don’t know if I would be standing here right now.”

“No, James,” Kurt contradicted softly. “It was you who persevered. I just held your hand, you lead the way.”

“Kurt,” James whispered, stepping closer to Kurt, pressing him into the lockers behind him. “I don’t think I can ever thank you enough.”

“It, uh, it was no problem, James.”

James leaned down ever so slightly, invading Kurt’s personal space. “God, Kurt, I care about you so much.”

With that last statement, James closed the distance between their lips. He pressed Kurt into the locker, hard, with every bit of emotion he could. Kurt gasped and James took the opportunity to slip his tongue into his mouth. Kurt was paralyzed. How had it gotten to this point? He hadn’t even realized that James had developed feelings for him. But now that he thought about it, how could he have been so stupid? All the signs were there; the time spent together, the words exchanged, the closeness.

James kept his hold on Kurt as the smaller boy tried to wriggle free. Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt thought he saw someone coming to help him, but of course, he must have been imagining it because no help came.

“James,” he managed, struggling against him and finally pushing him off. “What the hell?”

“What?”

“You can’t just do that to someone! I have a boyfriend!”

“I know, but-”

“No buts, James. You’re a great guy and I like you, but not in that way.”

“I- I’m sorry, Kurt,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess I don’t know what came over me.”

“I think I do. Think about it, I’m the first gay guy that you’ve met and the first one to show you kindness when you came out. It’s natural to think you have feelings towards me. But listen, James, you’re going to find someone someday. You just have to wait for the right person. I mean, look at me. A year ago I thought I would never find someone like Blaine. And there he was! He’s everything I could ever dream of and more. I care about him more than anything and I love him-”

Kurt stopped. Love. He really did love Blaine, didn’t he? He’d never said it out loud before but when those three little words escaped his mouth; they couldn’t have felt more right. He was in love with Blaine Anderson.

And he had to tell him right away.

“I- I love Blaine.”

“God, I’m sorry, Kurt,” James whispered.

“Please,” Kurt said, raising his hand to stop James from continuing.

James nodded awkwardly. “Jeremy is coming over soon to pick up my things, so I, uh, better go.”

“I think that would be best,” he responded, crossing his arm defensively out of habit.

As James walked down the hallway he turned back one more time. “You know, I’m glad you came to McKinley, Kurt, and I’m sorry that you have to go.” And with that, James turned the corner.

Kurt turned on his heel and headed for his car.

I’m glad too, James, I’m glad too.

Kurt pulled into Blaine’s driveway, practically falling out of the car in his rush to get to the door. He knocked quickly, waiting for Blaine to answer the door. Kurt could hardly contain himself. He was going to tell his wonderful, perfect, amazing boyfriend that he was in love with him. Kurt looked at his empty hands.

Huh, maybe I should have brought flowers or something?

The door swung open slowly, revealing a less than happy looking Blaine.

“Blaine,” Kurt breathed with a smile. “Hi.”

Blaine just stared at him.

“Uh, can I come in?” Kurt asked.

His boyfriend turned into the house, leaving Kurt to follow. How was he going to present this? This realization that Kurt felt was about to burst out of his chest. Blaine took a seat as far away from Kurt as humanly possible in the small living room.

“So Blaine-”

“What are you even doing here?”

Kurt blinked in surprise, “W-what?”

He could see Blaine’s jaw clench in frustration, which only confused Kurt more.

“Can you really just sit there and pretend that you didn’t just have James fucking Bubb’s tongue down your god damned throat?”

Kurt’s eyes widened and Blaine knew he had him. Only a short time before, Blaine had gone to find Kurt to ask him if he wanted to hang out that afternoon. But when he turned the corner in those McKinley hallways, he was greeted with something he could never erase from his mind. James had Kurt pushed up against the lockers, his mouth on Kurt’s. And the worst part? Kurt had just stood there. He didn’t try to stop him or anything. When Blaine heard Kurt practically moan James’ name, he knew he had to get out of there. So he took his motorcycle home as fast as he dared.

“Blaine, how did-”

“I fucking saw you, Kurt! You and that tall, blonde Neanderthal going at it like you need needed each other’s spit more than air!”

“Blaine-”

“How could you do that, Kurt? How could you betray me like that? And with one of the people I hate most!”

“Why are you being like this?” Kurt recoiled. “If you would just-”

“Because, Kurt, we haven’t done anything together in weeks because of that kid! You’re spending all your free time with him and blowing me off and it’s killing me because I don’t know what’s going on between you two!”

That’s when the mood changed. Kurt put on his best bitchface, brow knit, arms crossed, hip cocked.

“I can’t believe what I am hearing!” Kurt scoffed. “You actually think I’m cheating on you?”

“What else am I supposed to think when there’s another guy pressed up against you?” Blaine shouted, throwing up his arms. “I never suspected Brittany would cheat on me but she and Santana had a thing going on for a long time before I found out!”

“And you honestly think I would do anything that Brittany does?”

“I don’t know! Maybe! I never see you anymore; I don’t know what you’re capable of! For all I know you could be out fucking those god damned Beelzebubs every fucking night!”

Blaine winced at his own words. Too far.

Kurt’s eyes widened with hurt as he bit down on his lip to keep it from trembling. His cheeks flushed as he blinked rapidly, trying his hardest to keep the tears from falling. Blaine couldn’t help but blush slightly. Kurt was so beautiful. But-

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Kurt said, taking a step away from him, shaking his head. “It’s like I don’t even know you.”

“Kurt,” he said, taking a step forward with an arm outstretched.

“No. Don’t.” Kurt flinched.

Blaine sighed. He felt as if his heart was being torn into millions of tiny pieces. But he couldn’t allow himself to get into another relationship like the last one.

“I-I think you’d better go.” Blaine choked.

Kurt looked at him as the tears spilled over. He wrapped his arms around his middle, and quickly ran from the room.

Once Kurt was out of view, Blaine legs gave out and he collapsed onto the couch in a heap of tears.

Kurt wasn’t in school the next day. According to Mr. Schue, he had taken the day off to pack for Dalton. Blaine squirmed in his seat. Today was supposed to have been Kurt’s last day and he hadn’t even come in.

Not that he cared. Kurt was the one who had cheated on him. Kurt was the one who had to deal with the guilt of what he had done to them.

So why did Blaine feel so terrible?

Rachel looked at him from her place next to Finn with a concerned expression that Blaine couldn’t bother to respond to.

Kurt unpacked his last box into his bleak and uninviting dorm room in a daze. It didn’t even feel like his room anymore. There was still a faint smell of the boy who had lived here prior.

He looked briefly at the clean, pressed uniform that hung in the doorway to the bathroom.

At the bottom of the last box, Kurt pulled out a picture frame that was face down. Curiously, he turned it over and instantly regretted it. The two people in the photo looked practically foreign to him. They lay on a comically clich� checkered blanket that Kurt could remember the other person laughing about. He could see blue eyes that were shining with the bright sunlight from overhead. The other boy had one golden eye closed as he snuck a kiss at the last second before the flash of the camera went off. It was a picture that he and Blaine had taken during one of their picnics a month or so before.

Kurt didn’t even realize that he had been crying until he felt something cold seeping into his shirt. He wiped his eyes on the back of his hands and set the frame on his nightstand.