Chapter 7

When Blaine and Kurt finally ended up downstairs, both found a terribly trashed home with red solo cups and beer bottles littered everywhere, a bra hanging somewhere a bra had no business, and a rather angry looking Burt standing in the middle of it all. They walked over to the couch where Finn and Rachel were seated, both looking down at their hands. Blaine sat close to Kurt, praying that Burt wouldn't shout anymore because his head was absolutely throbbing.

Luckily for him, the man had yet to speak. He only looked between all of them, starting from Rachel's end of the couch, then staring at his sons; Finn who had yet to look up, and Kurt who was glancing around the room, preparing for the punishment of a lifetime. Burt finally finished by landing his eyes on Blaine—trying to recall if he'd ever seen him around, but positive he hadn't. Burt knew he'd flip his lid if his son threw a party and had meaningless sex with a stranger.

Carole started picking up things here and there and Burt stopped her, promising Kurt and Finn would handle it all. The boys were quiet, and Rachel shifted uncomfortably, knowing Burt would tell her dads and she'd be in a world of trouble.

"I can honestly say I've never been more disappointed in my entire life."

Kurt winced at the words. He never thought he'd be the source of his father's disappointment, not like this. Instinctively he moved into Blaine and the other junior reciprocated, glancing from the side of his boyfriend's profile and back up to his father.

"Do you know what it feels like—no, of course you don't," Burt caught himself and smiled in disbelief, kicking a few bottles out of the way, "you don't know what it's like to think you can trust someone and have this happen. Carole and I sincerely believed that we could trust our two teenaged sons because they're good kids. Good kids who have never made us doubt them. And then I find out it's a lie. You've been misleading the whole time. These are the type of sons I have." he gestured around the house. "Sons I can't trust—"

"We're sorry, Burt—"

"I'm speaking." the man cut Finn off with a strong, commanding voice. Finn lowered his head once more.

Blaine squeezed Kurt's shoulder tightly after the boy began to tear up.

"Now look at my home. The home I work my ass off to make sure that you have a decent, safe place to stay." Kurt swiped a tear off his cheek and Blaine closed his eyes at the sight. "I come back to alcohol everywhere, my son in bed with some kid—"

"My name is Blaine."

The other teens in the room glanced over to see if Blaine was serious. Now was not the time for introductions. Not with Burt seconds away from flying off the handle.

Burt stopped his pacing and turned towards the kid. "I don't remember asking."

"I just thought you should know. I'm going to be around a long time."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Kurt wiped another tear and turned to face his boyfriend. "Blaine… just stop. Please."

Burt looked at the two of them trying to read the situation. There was no way his son was dating this snot nosed punk, and if he was, it'd be there last day. "As a matter of fact, leave. You and Rachel."

Blaine looked up at the man with anger all over his countenance. Rachel spoke up softly, "I don't have a ride."

"I'll take her," Finn suggested with a thoughtful tone. Burt rolled his eyes.

"No you won't."

Blaine stood up and looked to Rachel, "C'mon. I'll drop you off." He went over to his jeans and grabbed them before finding his boots. Burt watched the unfamiliar kid with a grimace, wanting nothing more than to throw the teen out on his ass. Rachel led the way to the door after apologizing to Burt once again, and Blaine only stared at him before looking at Kurt.

"Call me, please."

Burt shook his head. "Not happening. These two will be grounded for a long time."

Blaine stared at Burt some more and the older man smirked, not liking this kid's attitude at all. Eventually, Blaine exited the house, Rachel hopping into his passenger side, and the two sped off.

Burt sat down in his recliner after picking up a few cards that were scattered there, along with the cork to some bottle. He sat down and stared at Kurt and Finn, shaking his head.

"So who wants to tell me what the hell this is?"

Finn glanced at Kurt whose arms were crossed over his chest and spoke, since the whole thing was his idea. "Everything is my fault. I planned the party after hearing you two would take your honeymoon, and didn't give Kurt the chance to object really."

Burt adjusted the cap on his head. "How'd you get all of this liquor?"

"A friend." Finn answered, not wanting to rat out Puck. Though he was sure Burt suspected him anyway.

"We're sorry, dad," Kurt spoke up now, still not believing any of this was even happening. "We were stupid and we know you're disappointed—"

"Good." Burt got up from the seat. "Go get our luggage, take it up stairs, and then leave your phones, laptops, tablets, video game systems, everything in my room. Unplug your televisions and if there is anything else in that room of yours that makes you happy, get rid of it. Until I feel like letting you off punishment, you are on punishment. Am I understood?"

Both boys nodded.

"I didn't hear that."

"Yes, dad."

"Yes, Burt."

"After that is done, you will come back down here and clean this house until it is spotless. After school, you will report to the shop at exactly 3:00."

"What about glee club?" Finn exclaimed, wincing at how the sound of his own voice hurt his head. "Nationals is coming and we can't give up on the club."

Kurt shook his head, still in disbelief.

"Well on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can show up later. When does glee club end? At 4?"

Both boys nodded.

"I'm sorry?"

"Yes. At 4, sir."

"Then you will be at the shop at 4:15 on those days."

Kurt and Finn both looked at their father/step-father with an understanding nod.

"Now, go do what I asked of you."

….

"Can you please slow down? My head is still whirling."

Blaine sped up the block with his eyes glued to the road. He couldn't believe anything that had happened. "This is such bullshit."

"I'm going to be dead when I get home. You're lucky he doesn't know your parents because Burt would definitely call them if he did."

"They're too busy fucking other people and keeping up the façade of a happy family to give a damn about what I do."

Rachel glanced over to the driver's seat.

"Kurt is the only good thing I have. I know you hate me—"

"I don't, Blaine."

Blaine sighed. "He's like… everything good. And now that's fucked up. Where do I turn?"

"At the light."

Blaine indicated and made a left, driving a few houses until Rachel told him to stop. Putting the car in park, he leant back and waited for the girl to get out.

"Thank you. I'm sorry you and Burt had to meet under those unfortunate circumstances."

Blaine nodded. "Me too."

"I'll see you in school tomorrow."

Blaine nodded, watching her get out the car. She smiled sadly before closing the door. "It will get better. He'll warm up to you."

She frowned at his laugh, and watched him put the car in gear. "Okay, Rachel."

….

It was Tuesday. Kurt sat in his sixth period class staring at the empty seat next to Mike. This made day two since he had seen or heard anything from Blaine. He was actually looking forward to school because it'd be the only place he could see him, with Burt having him on lock down, but apparently Blaine wasn't as pressed to see him.

The bell rang and Kurt stood up, lazily packing away his things. He didn't know why he bothered taking anything out as of late. It wasn't like he took any notes.

Mike and Tina cornered him outside of the classroom, walking with him to his locker. Kurt smiled over at them sadly and gave a small greeting.

"Hey guys."

Tina grabbed Kurt's hand in hers to slow the boy down. "Hey, we wanted to talk to you. Make sure everything is okay? I feel terrible about what happened, and Finn said you won't speak to him at home."

Kurt shrugged. "I guess I'm mad at him, though it's just as much my fault as his." he glanced over at Mike. "I mean I did tell him we should get everybody's ass out that night, but he insisted you guys stay. And while I'm still bitter that no one wanted to listen, I acknowledge it's my fault as well. All of this could've been avoided if I introduced Blaine to my dad when we started dating. Now," they turned the corner, walking slowly, "I don't know where he is, or if he's alright, or if he's pissed with me. Part of me thought to skip the rest of the day and go to his house but my father probably has spies in the school."

Mike leant against the row of lockers as Kurt jimmied his open. "I'll tell you what. You come to glee club this afternoon, get everything off your mind."

Kurt shook his head, unsure. "I still don't know if I want to come back. I did, before this. But now… I just want to go to work, and then go home and wallow."

Mike looked to Tina for help.

"C'mon," she smiled. "It'll get things off your mind."

"I doubt that."

Mike smiled. "You go to glee, and afterwards I'll go looking for him. Make sure he'll be at school tomorrow. And maybe after your punishment, you'll be able to convince your dad that he's a good guy."

Kurt smiled, closing his locker and looking at his friends. "I probably won't be off punishment until I'm 21. And by then I'm sure Blaine will have moved on."

Karofsky walked by, books under his arm, glaring at Kurt, and Mike stepped in front of him protectively. Karofsky smiled, continuing down the hall.

"Thanks." Kurt said shakily. Tina mumbled how much of an ass the jock was as Mike whispered it wasn't a problem.

"Just come today, and like I said, I'll go find him. Okay?"

"K."

….

It was Wednesday, and Blaine still hadn't shown up to school. Mike caught up with Kurt on the way out, explaining that the previous day he stopped by the Anderson house and they said he was boxing. Mike came back to the school, but the locker room was empty, so Kurt gave him the address to the gym Blaine spent his time at. The footballer promised to go that afternoon.

Kurt drove to the shop and it was a long afternoon of non–stop work. Eventually, it slowed down, and Kurt went over to help Burt with a few things.

"Go get the jack stands."

Kurt nodded, walking across the shop for a couple stands. He walked back over lugging the tools and placed them down besides his father's feet.

"And where's the torque converter?"

"To your left."

Burt nodded, lowering himself in front of the vehicle. "How was school?"

"Fine."

Burt began working, Kurt handing his father a wrench before wiping his oily hands on the fabric of his overalls. He took a deep breath and glanced to the clock, hoping they'd close up soon. He had a bunch of homework to tackle.

"Good," Burt responded. He began working on the loosening the link cables to the transmission and fluid cables from the radiator. Kurt watched and looked around the shop, Finn across the way doing an oil change.

"Is there something for me to do?" Kurt questioned in a bored tone. If he had to do this every day after school, he'd like to have something to do. Burt glanced up at him and shook his head no.

"Just stand there. I want to talk to you."

Kurt nodded, chewing on his lower lip. He watched as his father used the wrench to begin removing a couple bolts from the rear end. After Burt got them carefully removed, he worked on taking out the speedometer gear and lower bell covering. It was a good few minutes before the man spoke, and Kurt had almost forgotten he wanted to talk at all, lost in his own thoughts.

"Carole spoke with me, saying I should give you a chance to tell me your side of the story. As far as that boy went."

"Blaine?" Kurt questioned. He was sure Burt hated him, and it probably went both ways, but this wasn't the conversation he expected to engage in.

"Yeah," Burt continued to work fixedly, "him. Who is he?"

"We started dating in January. Just so you know he's not some strange guy that came over and got drunk."

"It's April."

Kurt nodded. "We weren't as open as we should've been."

"Why not?" Burt turned to face his son, stopping what he was doing completely.

Kurt sighed, glancing at the blue of his father's eyes. "He has a reputation. In the past, when people found out he was gay, they beat him rather brutally. Now, he believes the only way to keep people away is to be this bad guy and scare them off."

Burt was silent, looking at him expectantly for the rest of the story.

"I told Finn and everyone else about us about a month and a half ago. Finn hated him, and Rachel, but they didn't know him. No one did, because he refused to even speak to anyone but me. So of course, I didn't tell you, because obviously you'd hate him too. I just… he's a great guy, dad. And I apologize profusely for going behind your back. I just want you to know Blaine would never do anything to hurt me."

"He's a little rude one, you know."

Kurt smiled. "Blaine's protective of me. That's all."

Burt scratched his head tiredly, moving away to work on the transmission again. "I guess what I'm failing to realize is why he feels he needs to protect you from your own father."

Kurt shrugged, not really having an answer. "I can't say. It might have something to do with his own father being… someone he doesn't respect. But I don't know. I haven't even spoken to him, you know,"

Burt smiled. "Because I asked you not to?"

Kurt joined in with a smile of his own. "No. Come on, I'm crazy about him, dad. If he actually came to school this week I would've definitely tried to see how he was doing."

They both were quiet. Kurt continued to help, handing his father the appropriate tools and helping with replacing the vacuum lines. Burt noticed it was late, and Carole called soon after saying dinner was long ready.

"Let's get out of here."

….

Blaine flexed his hand a few times. The tape wrapped around it was really tight, but ensured he wouldn't reinjure his hand. He forced his right hand into the glove, taking a look at the punching bag and walking over.

He hated this. Everything was falling apart. His parents were of course acting as if everything was peachy in front of his face and in front of company when they had, but every night, Blaine lay there listening to the arguing.

He was dying to talk to Kurt but couldn't bring himself to get out of bed. Rachel texted him Sunday night saying that Finn broke up with her. She said that Burt was making Kurt and Finn end their relationships because he was pissed, and they wouldn't have any time in their life for significant others, with school and work and being in solitary confinement and all. Blaine just knew if he walked into school, Kurt would give him the same story, and he couldn't do that. He couldn't show up knowing that Kurt was going to end things between them.

Sweat was dripping off of the junior's body. He thundered a combo against the leather, grunting as the bag swayed, breathing heavily with no intention of stopping. It felt good doing this, getting his anger and frustrations out. It helped, for maybe a half hour or so. Then, he was right back to feeling like shit. As for now, he was going to continue beating the shit out of this punching bag until he could forget everything completely.

"What did the poor thing do to you?"

Blaine turned around to see a smiling Mike approaching. He said hello and stood in front of Blaine, watching him relax and return the greeting.

"Hey, Mike. What're you doing here?"

Mike walked closer, holding the bag for Blaine. Blaine put the gloves up to his face and began punching, swinging furiously with one fist after the other. Mike held the bag steady as best he could.

"I came to check on you. You weren't in school and Kurt is worried. He looks so lost, staring where you should be seated every day. Hasn't asked to go to the bathroom at all."

Blaine laughed, the tension leaving his shoulders as he stood up straight, looking at his friend.

"Seriously, bro," Mike continued. "What's up with you? Why aren't you coming? I know you can't afford to be out like this with that report card you showed me at the party."

Blaine smirked, shrugging. "Rachel said Finn broke up with her because Kurt's dad made him. Kurt's going to do the same thing."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Is that what Finn told her?"

"Yes."

The taller teen shook his head. "Well I don't know how factual that is. From what I understood, some shit went down with her and Quinn after you took my last condom and went upstairs. We all got to watch them make out and Finn wasn't pleased, to say the least. He probably told her that because neither girl remembers, though I don't see the big deal."

Blaine pulled his gloves off. "So Kurt doesn't want to break up with me?"

Mike smiled, "Um, no. He only wants to see you."

Blaine looked around the gym and smiled at some little kid trying to reach the speed bags. That was him once upon a time. "Let me go shower and then we can get out of here. I don't want to go home just yet."

Mike nodded. "The Thunder play against the Mavericks tonight. Puck and Sam are coming over to watch."

Blaine smiled. "Cool."

….

"Okay. So do you remember the plan?"

Blaine nodded, looking at Puck where they stood in Hall A. "Yes."

"Now go easy on him. Brad is our man." Puck said, wrapping his arm around Sam who was nodding. "But we want Kurt to be happy. He was in the dumps all week."

"You'd think he'd be happy to come back to glee after missing so much of it," Sam said, looking towards Mike. "But Tuesday he didn't even seem to care."

"Where are you going to be 6th period?" Mike questioned.

Blaine glanced around. "Um, I'll just go to gym. It's Finn's gym period right? Maybe he can sneak me in."

Mike nodded. "Okay, perfect. Just stick to the plan."

They started walking away and Blaine stood there, watching.

"And go easy on Brad!" Puck shouted.

Blaine walked away, going towards his first class, careful to avoid all the places his boyfriend would usually frequent. Hopefully, Kurt wouldn't be upset with him.

….

Kurt was livid. Blaine wasn't in his seat, and Mike failed as his accomplice and claimed to know nothing. This was bullshit. How was he supposed to tell Blaine his father wanted to have him over for dinner if he wouldn't come to school and he couldn't contact him?

….

Mr. Schue looked at his watch and frowned. "Where the hell is Mr. Brad? We were supposed to start 10 minutes ago."

Puck looked at Mike. "Where the hell is Anderson?" he whispered. Sam looked around nervously.

"What if he got caught?"

On cue, Blaine entered the room nervously, looking as if he'd just been in a struggle. "Hello?"

Everyone except for the three amigos gasped at the bad boy's arrival. Kurt's eyes went wide at the voice and he looked up to find exactly who he thought it was, standing in the middle of glee club.

Mr. Schue looked at the young man suspiciously. "How can I help you?" he knew of Blaine's reputation and he didn't think he wanted the young man distracting away from their focus during the time they were supposed to be getting ready for Nationals.

"I was sent here by Brad… he said he couldn't make it and wanted me to fill in."

Everyone looked around at one another, Mercedes glaring at Kurt questioningly and the young man shrugging his confusion.

"To fill in?" Mr. Schuester repeated. "You play piano?"

Blaine nodded, searching throughout the room for Kurt and smiling when they caught eyes. Kurt smiled back, so happy his boyfriend was okay and there with him.

"Okay…" Schue looked towards his students. "Let's get this show on the road."

Rachel had three solos that day. She gave Blaine sheet music after sheet music, and the boy tiredly played each song. After what seemed to be three days, four o'clock finally came, and Blaine let his head fall against the keys loudly.

"Okay guys, next week we have booty camp so please show up on time!"

Blaine sat up and looked at the director after hearing the words 'booty camp' shaking his head. Fucking perv.

Sam, Mike, and Puck rushed over after dismissal, and Blaine stood up, putting his hoodie back on.

"What'd you do with Brad?"

"Second floor janitor's closet."

The boys ran out of the room and Kurt swayed over not too long afterwards, an amused look playing on his face.

"I'm pissed at you, and if I didn't have to rush out the door to go to work, I'd hit you."

Blaine zipped his sweater up and smiled. "I'm sorry. It's a long story."

"Bye Blaine!" the girls shouted, waving as they left. Artie did too, following behind them.

"Bye," he said, before looking back at Kurt. "I missed you."

Kurt adjusted his bag on his shoulder. "I need to go."

Blaine walked over and kissed him chastely, hugging him closer. "I'm sorry you got in trouble."

"It's fine," Kurt smiled, "my dad was a little hot, but he cooled down. So if you'd like to come over for Friday night dinner tomorrow, that would be greatly appreciated. By both him and me."

Blaine quirked his eyebrow in shock. "Dinner? He wants me over for dinner?"

"Yes." Kurt kissed him on the cheek and walked towards the door, "I need to go before he extends my punishment. See you tomorrow in class, right Anderson?"

Blaine smiled. "I promise babe."

….

The next day, Blaine showed up to class on time, lollipop in his mouth and skateboard under his arm. As he took a seat between Mike and Mercedes in their geometry class, he couldn't help but feel that something was missing.

"Notebook, Blaine."

Blaine turned to Mercedes and smiled. "Oh yeah. Thanks."

Mike shook his head, getting up. "We have two minutes before class. I'll walk with you."

They headed over to Blaine's locker, slapping five with Puck along the way. They stopped in front of locker 143, the teen putting in his combination and opening it. Mike laughed as he told Blaine that Brad was out to get him, and Blaine rolled his eyes, telling Mike about dinner that night.

Karofsky and crew walked by, smiling at the couple. The jock stopped, making his friends stop as well.

"Michael, Michael, Michael. Hanging out with this homo now?"

Blaine slammed his locker and turned around to face the group.

"Go to where you're supposed to be," Mike responded shortly, "I don't have the patience for your nonsense today."

"Did I tell you boys I saw him and Hummel at the park last weekend? All over each other,"

Azimio made a disapproving face. "Can't you keep that gay shit in the bedroom, Anderson?"

"Karofsky didn't seem to mind." Blaine smiled, ignoring Mike when he tried to pull him away. "He kept watching, licking his lips, so I put on a show."

Karofsky pushed him back against the lockers and Blaine smirked until Mike broke it up. "Chill out, Karofsky! Shit!"

The bell rang and Azimio and friends led their leader away. "See you around, Anderson!"

"C'mon," Mike groaned. "I fucking hate those guys."

Blaine smirked holding his book close to him and following behind his friend.

….

Five minutes into sixth period, Blaine glanced around and noticed Kurt hadn't shown up. They'd spent all of lunch together, talking and occasionally kissing, Blaine smirking at a bitter looking Karofsky from across the room. Kurt wondered why everyone was giving Quinn and Rachel odd looks, but Blaine filled him in.

"Are you serious?"

Blaine nodded.

Now, he tapped his desk patiently, wondering where in the hell his boyfriend was. He got up and took the bathroom pass, entering the halls. The teacher didn't even bother reprimanding him for not asking.

He went to their special place in the basement, but it was empty. He shook his head, trying to remember Kurt's fifth period class. It was gym, so he headed towards the boy's locker room.

Though it was quiet because of students already dressed and in the gymnasium, Blaine could still hear the mumbling of a voice. He walked over to the aisle and heard the words more closely.

"What is it that you see in him?" the voice questioned. "He's a fake and a loser."

"Karofsky, just… j-j-just get your f-filthy hands off of me!"

Blaine's heart almost stopped. That was Kurt's voice. He ran over to the row of lockers where the voices were emanating and found Karofsky pressing his boyfriend into the lockers. The jock was too close to him, and seeing Kurt that scared automatically sent Blaine into protective mode. He rushed over and pushed the towering boy away, tackling him into the lockers and kneeing his gut.

"Blaine!" Kurt shouted, tears streaming from his eyes. "Blaine, please—"

Karofsky gathered himself and placed his hands around the shorter teen's neck, pushing Blaine until he was trapped against the other side. Kurt rushed over to help but Karofsky pushed him away roughly, sending him tumbling to the ground. Blaine gasped for air, watching the scene unfold before kneeing Karofsky in the nuts this time.

The Titan doubled over, clutching his midsection. Blaine took a few steady breaths, standing up and punching him twice in the nose. He fell over a bench on to the ground and Blaine rushed over to help his boyfriend up.

"Blaine… can you take—take me home? He… he kissed me…"

Blaine's face went red. He had to be hearing things. "What?"

Kurt wiped his face, "P-Please baby. Just take me home."

The bad boy stood up. He about faced, walking over to Karofsky. The jock was in the process of getting up when Blaine straddled him, connecting punch after punch after punch to his face. He could hear Kurt screaming for him to stop, and someone else calling for help. Karofsky was a bloody mess, but it still wasn't good enough. His hand was in pain, but he continued to punch.

Someone yanked him away and dragged him throughout the locker room, roughly by the collar of his shirt. He looked around, shouting for Kurt as the person told him it was over.

"You're out of here, Anderson. I warned you! We're going to Figgins!"

Blaine looked around him for Kurt while Coach Beiste dragged him out of the room. They ended up in the hallway, Kurt sobbing behind him as he followed.

"Kurt?"

"I'm here, baby."

Blaine felt Coach Beiste's hand tightening around his shoulder as she dragged him off. He knew he was going to get kicked out after this. "I'm sorry, Kurt."