So, here he is. Back home. All of the other times Blaine has been excited to be home. He doesn't have to worry about buying groceries or making sure he's up on time for class. He can just…relax. Usually, it's wonderful. Usually, it's magnificent. But not this time. This time things are different.

Blaine never stopped finding boys attractive. The whole idea of being gay was always in the back of his mind, settled in a deep dark corner. For a while, especially in high school, he attempted to convince himself that his father was right, that the whole "fiasco" (as his father liked to call it) with Jeremiah was just a phase. After Blaine's first kiss with a girl, he began to believe that it was true. Maybe he wasn't really attracted to boys and perhaps his attraction to Jeremiah was some weird teenage hormonal thing. He liked his first kiss. It was nice and her lips were soft. Her skin was smooth and she smelled like strawberries. Those feelings didn't last very long, though because Blaine couldn't stop himself from staring at attractive men when he went to the beach with his first girlfriend. He couldn't stop himself from admiring the rough, toned bodies of men.

Blaine wanted a boyfriend. God, he wanted one so bad. He had for such a long time.

And then Kurt came into his life and turned everything upside down. He was a beautiful whirlwind, tearing Blaine's whole world apart in the best way possible.

"How have you been, sweetie?" His mother asks from the other side of the kitchen as Blaine stirs the homemade gravy sitting on the stovetop. His heart sinks a little because he wants to talk about Kurt so very badly. "Tired," Blaine admits with a small laugh. "I'm surprised the coffee shop gave me the days off."

"I'm glad they did, honey," he hears his mother say, her voice gentle. There's an edge to her voice. Like maybe she wants to mention something else, but she doesn't and lets a comfortable silence settle between them.

o~o~o

"So there's one last present I have for you," Blaine's father says the morning after Christmas. Blaine looks up from his phone. He's been texting Kurt since yesterday morning, telling him stories of his parents and his past with his father. Spilling his heart through little messages to a boy who he met a few months ago and found himself trusting instantly. A boy who Blaine is almost certain he has fallen for.

"What's that?" Blaine asks curiously, pocketing his phone.

"I've got another beautiful car I've been working on rebuilding. I hardly see you now that you're away at school and I think it'd be a great way to bond. Father and son. You haven't talk much about school or your new job. Maybe we can catch up. I know you loved it that one summer."

Pretended to, Blaine thinks, a little bitterly despite the smile on his face. "Sounds like fun, dad," Blaine says instead.

Within an hour they're out in the garage and the smell of oil and just—rebuilding cars brings back memories of darker times. Times he doesn't like thinking back on.

Blaine really doesn't want to do this because he knows exactly what this is. This is another one of his father's lame attempts to bond with his son in one of the manliest ways possible.

His father jumps straight into the questions Blaine has been dreading since he climbed onto the train back in Cleveland.

"How are you doing in your classes?"

Blaine opens up the toolbox. "Fine," he mutters. "I managed to get straight A's this semester."

"That's my boy." Blaine's dad says and Blaine can hear the smile in his voice.

Blaine doesn't hate his father. He just hates the way he decided to handle his son's homosexuality. He hates the way he decided to call it a phase and force Blaine to "move on." He doesn't understand that those feelings weren't just a little something his teenage son was going through. They were real feelings that followed him through high school and stayed with him through college.

"Didn't you say you were working at a coffee shop?" he asks, then adds, "Hand me the wrench."

Blaine nods as he pulls a wrench out and handing it to his father. "In the busiest mall in all of Cleveland, of course. This holiday season has been murder. I'm not sure how I made it out alive."

Blaine's father laughs as he leans back and rolls under the car. Blaine listens to him tinkering about for a few moments before he emerges again and sits up, wiping his hands on his jumper. "Any girlfriends?" he asks with a smile and a raise of the eyebrow.

And with that simple question, something sparks within Blaine. A fire comes to life and his heart skips a beat. "No," he says without a moment of hesitance. "A boyfriend, actually. I invited him over so you guys could meet him."

Blaine watches as his father's smile slowly fades. He purses his lips and nods. "Oh, ok," he says slowly. "Have you—did you already tell your mother?" he asks, suddenly avoiding eye contact as he stands to look through the toolbox.

"Not yet," Blaine says, voice a little weaker than before. In that moment, he feels like he can breathe again for the first time since he arrived in Westerville.

o~o~o

"Hey Kurt?" Blaine says, suddenly interrupting Kurt's rant about his stepbrother's terrible table manners.

"Yeah?" Kurt says after a short pause.

"Today I…kind of told my parents that I have a boyfriend. And I also sort of told them that he was coming over to meet them." Blaine bites his lip.

"Wait—you what? Blaine, you never told me you had a boyfriend."

"That's because I don't."

"Then…OK, you've lost me," Kurt says quickly.

"I told him that you were my boyfriend."

Kurt says nothing.

"I'm so sorry for dragging you into this mess. But, please, Kurt I need you to do me this huge favor," Blaine says in one, quick breath. "I just really need to prove to them—to my dad that I can have a boyfriend and be happy. I want him to realize what an idiot he's been—Kurt, I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll give you free coffee for the rest of forever...Or until I quit or get fired or—or something."

More silence.

"Shit. Did you hang up? Kurt?"

And then Blaine hears laughter. That adorable, soft laugh and he can just see the way Kurt's eyes get all wrinkly and his nose all scrunched up and his hand reaching up to cover his mouth.

"Is…is that a yes?" Blaine asks carefully.

Once Kurt's laughter settles, he sighs. "I suppose, if it'll get me free coffee for the rest of forever," he teases lightly.

Blaine nearly jumps out of bed out of excitement. "Thank you, Kurt!" he says quickly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're amazing!"

"I know," Kurt says.

o~o~o

So maybe Blaine wasn't as graceful as he thought he should have been in coming out to his parents. The night after the morning Blaine told his father about his "boyfriend", Blaine's father mentioned it over dinner.

"Honey, Blaine told me his…boyfriend would be coming over to meet us," he had said, voice a little tight around the word "boyfriend."

Blaine had sat in silence, head slightly lowered towards his plate but his eyes on his mother, watching her reaction.

"Is that so?" she asked after a short pause. Moments after her question, a small smile was directed towards Blaine.

Blaine had nodded, swallowing his food. "He lives in Lima."

Blaine's mother had nodded and just like that, the conversation had been dropped.

Everything was very…sudden. But there is no way Blaine could take back what he blurted to his father so now he just has to go on with his plan. And, by god, it's going to work out. He will make sure of it.

Blaine's sitting on his bed, legs crossed and attention on the book in his hands when his phone buzzes on the nightstand. Setting the book down he reaches for his phone to find one new message from Kurt.

11:57 AM

I'm here. I think. Do you live in a mansion?

Blaine laughs softly as he pushes himself off the bed and moving over to the window to see a car he doesn't recognize in the driveway.

11:57 AM

I see you. And, shut up, it's not a mansion, Kurt.

11:58 AM

It totally is. I'm getting out of the car now. Wonder if you can make it to the door before me.

Blaine rolls his eyes, stepping into his shoes and quickly making his way down the staircase, skipping the last three. He yanks the door open just as Kurt is lifting a hand to ring the doorbell. Blaine grins. "I win," he says. At that moment, he notices just how stunning Kurt looks.

His hair is perfectly styled, his skin is practically glowing. And his eyes. Good god, his eyes look so very blue today. "Hey," Blaine finally breathes out the greeting, laughing a little as he steps off to the side letting Kurt in.

"My parents will be home soon," he says, "they're over at their co-worker's house doing a late gift exchange."

"You never told me you were rich, Blaine," Kurt says as he hangs his coat up. "Now I might have an actual reason to date you," he teases.

Blaine sighs, nudging Kurt. "I'm not rich. My parents are just doctors and like to flaunt their money every way possible. Especially my dad."

"So what would these money flaunting parents think if they found their gay son alone in the house with his 'boyfriend'?" Kurt asks, making air quotes at the last word. Despite that, Blaine feels his heart skip a beat at the very sentence—hell, at the very idea of Kurt being his boyfriend. Because he just realized that they are going to be pretend boyfriends for the next few hours and Blaine knows he will enjoy it far too much.

They're sitting at the bar in the kitchen when Blaine hears the slamming of a car door outside. His heart nearly jumps out of his chest as he quickly looks in the direction of the door.

"Jesus, Blaine, are you OK? Why are you so nervous?" Kurt asks.

Blaine turns towards Kurt. "I don't…god, I don't know. I've just been hiding these feelings for so long and suddenly they've just all come out in the past month and it just feels so…goddamn overwhelming all of the sudden."

Kurt slowly raises his eyebrows, blinking.

Blaine bows his head a little, embarrassed.

He hears the key in the lock.

"Kurt, I don't think I can do this," Blaine suddenly says in one breath.

"No. Yes, Blaine. Yes, you can," Kurt whispers quickly. "OK? Just—You can do it. I'm right here."

"Blaine, honey?" his mother calls from the door.

"In the kitchen," Blaine calls back and he feels Kurt squeeze his arm. He looks back at Kurt who gives him an encouraging little smile. "You can do this," he mouths.

Blaine stands, nearly knocking the stool over. Kurt catches it before it crashes to the floor.

"Mom, dad," Blaine says to his parents. "This is Kurt, my boyfriend."