Kurt sits up, rubs the sleep out of his eyes, and looks over at Blaine. Throughout the course of the night Blaine had shifted so he was laying down sideways, taking up almost the entire bed. Kurt had stayed huddled to one side to avoid touching him. Blaine's still asleep, so Kurt gets up and goes over to his vanity to begin his morning routine. Routines are good because they always help calm Kurt down. He likes having a steady schedule; it helps him feel in control. Kurt's plan is to wait until his dad leaves for the shop before waking Blaine up and getting him home. His plan is foiled when suddenly Burt is knocking at the door and walking in.

"Hey bud I'm leaving for the shop but I-" Burt stops talking after realizing it's not Kurt who's in the bed.

Blaine half sits up and rubs his face looking towards the door. "Huh? Where am I?" he mumbles before collapsing back onto the bed and, apparently, falling right back asleep.

Burt looks at Kurt with an unreadable expression and asks him to come out into the hallway to talk.

"You have some explaining to do," Burt says with crossed arms.

"Blaine got locked out of his house last night so I told him he could crash here," Kurt says, deciding to leave out the part about Blaine being drunk.

"Mhmm," Burt hums in disbelief. "And why didn't he stay in the guest room or on the couch or somewhere other than your bed?"

"He was tired?" Kurt offers lamely but, after seeing Burt's expression, he sighs and tells the truth. He's never been good at lying, especially to his dad. "He was drunk and I didn't want him waking up in a strange place and being confused."

"You guys are drinking now?" Burt asks, looking a bit distraught.

"Not me. And we had designated drivers so it was safe."

Burt huffs out a laugh at that and says, "There's nothing safe about teenage drinking."

When Kurt doesn't answer, Burt softens up and says, "But I'm glad you told me. And that you made sure Blaine got somewhere safe. Now why don't you go wake him up and take him home. I'm sure Sally is worried sick about him."

Kurt nods and says goodbye to his dad before entering his room again. Blaine had definitely fallen back asleep so he walks over to the bed and gently shakes him awake. He groans and rolls over burying his head into the pillows and Kurt has to fight back a giggle at how adorable it is.

"Come on Blaine it's time to wake up," Kurt says, shaking him even harder.

He finally sits up and mumbles a bunch of things Kurt can't make out.

"What was that?" Kurt asks.

"What happened?" he finally manages.

"We went to Rachel's Halloween party last night. You got really drunk, and when I tried to take you home the house was locked. So, I brought you here, remember?"

Blaine nods but Kurt isn't convinced that Blaine actually processed what he said, let alone remembered it all.

"Let's get some coffee and painkillers into you before you go home," Kurt says, grabbing Blaine's hand and forcing him out of bed.

They walk to the kitchen, and Kurt goes to start the coffee before joining Blaine at the table.

"Kuuuuuuurt," Blaine groans, and Kurt can't help the blood from running south because he's imagined Blaine saying that in quite a different situation, "my head hurts."

"Well that's what happens when you drink your weight in alcohol," Kurt says with a smile.

Blaine groans again and rests his head on the table, not saying anything else until the coffee is ready. When Kurt hands him the drink and some advil a few minutes later, he sits up and takes them gratefully. The boys sit in silence for a few minutes, sipping their coffee before Blaine says he better be getting home so his mom won't worry. Kurt nods and puts on his slippers before grabbing his keys and walking out to the car.

When they stop in front of Blaine's house two minutes later, Blaine turns to Kurt, and he notices that this is the first time all morning he seems to be somewhat coherent.

"Thank you so much Kurt. I don't really know…" he trails off, then continues, "but anyways just thanks for being an awesome friends and letting me stay over and everything. " He opens his mouth as if to say something else but then closes it and shoots Kurt one last smile before getting out.

&&&&&

Tuesdays is the worst day of the week in Kurt's opinion. Yeah, Monday's suck, but it's the first day back so you just had two whole days off. But by Tuesday, you are already behind on sleep and annoyed by school. You still have almost the whole week ahead of you. Today was even worse than usual because for some reason Blaine is mad at him. Well, Kurt doesn't know that for sure, but judging from the way he's been basically ignoring him for days, it's a pretty good guess.

Kurt walks into his room, throwing his backpack on the floor, and flops down on his bed. He only lifts his head up for a second to send Rachel a quick text before collapsing back down. It's only about five minutes later that his phone starts ringing and he is forced to roll over to take the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi Kurt. What's wrong?" Rachel asks cutting right to the chase.

"It's Blaine," Kurt admits with a sigh, "I think he's mad at me."

"What why? What did you do?" she accuses.

"I didn't do anything!" Kurt says angrily. Realizing that yelling will do no good, he takes a deep breath and says, "I mean nothing that I know of."

"When did it start?"

"Right after your party I guess. That weeken-" Kurt starts but Rachel interrupts him.

"Wait what did happen after the party? I saw that you took him home rather than his friends."

"Oh right well…" He hadn't told anyone that Blaine had stayed over, for what reason he's not really sure, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. "I was going to take him home but he got locked out of his house so he stayed at mine."

"I see. So had he said anything about it since?" she asks.

"No. He ignored my texts all weekend which didn't seem strange at first, because I figured he was grounded and had gotten his phone taken away, but when I picked him up on Monday he said he hadn't been grounded, he was just busy all weekend. And since then he's just been unresponsive to any conversations I've tried to start. He always looks distracted, and I swear he's been avoiding me in the hallways," Kurt says all in one breath.

"Kurt, calm down," Rachel says. "I bet you he's just embarrassed," she says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Embarrassed?" Kurt echoes.

"Yes embarrassed. I admittedly don't remember much from the party but I do remember him being completely smashed. I bet you had to practically drag him into your house."

"Well yes," Kurt admits. "And also he uh, ended up sleeping in my bed."

"What?" Rachel squawks.

"Nothing happened!" Kurt quickly assures her. "He just passed out there as soon as when got to my room, and I couldn't move him."

"Then that's definitely it. That dapper gentleman appearance of his was totally ruined by his drunken night out."

Kurt thinks it over for a second but still isn't convinced. Blaine doesn't embarrass easily, and when he does, he doesn't dwell on it.

"I guess I could ask him about it and see what he says," he finally responds.

"Yeah, talk to him about it tomorrow. I'm sure you'll have this whole mess cleared up in no time."

Kurt spends the night tossing and turning trying to figure out what's up with Blaine. He's almost positive it's not embarrassment, but he's also pretty sure it's not anger. Blaine just seems… distracted. Distracted by what is the question though. By the next morning, Kurt knows he can't go through another day of not knowing.

"Are you okay? You've been acting weird lately," Kurt says in the silence that's stretched since Blaine got in the car.

"Huh?" he asks looking as if he's only just realized Kurt is there.

"It's just you've been acting really different lately. Like quiet and distracted and I noticed it started right after Rachel's party and I don't know if you're embarrassed that you got drunk but if you are you don't need to be because everyone is kind of an asshole when they're drunk. Not that I think you were an asshole! I actually thought it was pretty funny. But anyways, you don't act like yourself. Finn actually has this theory that there are different types of drunks like there's a weepy hysterical one and a needy one and… well I can't remember the rest but the bottom line is you don't have to feel awkward about that."

As soon as he's done talking Kurt mentally curses himself for rambling on for so long and for bringing up the party in the first place since he'd pretty much eliminated embarrassment as the cause. He stares straight ahead and holds his breath as he waits for Blaine's response.

"Kurt," Blaine breathes out, "I am so sorry. I know I've been a horrible friend lately. It's not because of the party or anything, although I'm sorry for that too. I made quite a fool out of myself, and I was pretty out of it the next morning so I'm not sure I even properly thanked you. I've just had a lot on my mind lately."

"Do you want to talk about it? You can talk to me about anything."

"Thanks but this is just something I have to deal with on my own," Blaine responds.

Kurt grips the wheel tightly and tries not to grind his teeth. He hates when people treat him like he's too young or naive to understand. It hurts even more coming from someone he cares about so much.

Blaine, seeing Kurt's anger, quickly says, "No, Kurt, please don't be offended by this. It's not that I don't trust you or think you wouldn't understand or anything like that. I just need some time to process what's going on by myself before telling anyone else. You can understand that, right?"

Kurt doesn't really understand, but after seeing the pleading look in Blaine's eyes, he gives in.

"And I'm sorry again for being such a crappy friend. That's going to end right now. Have you started this week's assignment for Glee yet?"

The rest of the car ride is filled with idle chatter and Kurt is grateful for the return of normalcy. They continue talking as they walk into the school. Kurt is just thinking that things are looking up when he's hit in the face with a grape slushie. He wipes the drink off his face in time to see Azimio and another jock high fiving as they walk away.

"You shouldn't have broke our deal you little twink!" Azimio calls over his shoulder.

Kurt looks over and sees that Blaine is literally shaking with rage. He puts an hand on his forearm and say, "Don't. They're not worth it Blaine."

"But look what they did to you!" he practically shouts and when others around him flinch, he lowers his voice. "You can't keep letting them get away with this."

Kurt is ready to argue but throws up his hands at Blaine's determined expression. To be honest, the bullying really has gotten out of control. Every since Blaine stopped letting the jocks copy off him in math, the bullying has increased tenfold. Locker shoves, slushies, name-calling; Kurt has to deal with it all. And it's only Kurt. Azimio realized pretty quickly that the way to rile Blaine up is to hurt Kurt, not him.

"Fine. After school today we can talk to Principal Figgins."

Blaine's face lights up as if he's just won the lottery, and he hastily offers to help Kurt cleanup before class.

&&&&&

Sitting in the office's waiting room, Kurt is transported back to the following year when he was here with his dad ready to discuss Karofsky. That meeting had produced minimal punishment for Karofsky even though he had threatened Kurt's life, so he has very low expectations for today.

"Come in," Figgins calls as Sue leaves the office, muttering something about her Cheerios. "Now what is this all about?" he asks once they've seated themselves.

"There are a number of kids, the main one being Azimio, who have been bullying Kurt on a daily basis," Blaine says right away.

"I see Mr.…"

"Anderson."

"Right, Mr. Anderson. Look, Mr. Hummel and I have had many discussions on this topic and I'm sorry to say there's just not much I can do. Boy will be boys and all that. High school is hard for everyone."

Kurt wants to say I told you so to Blaine but he just can't because of the kicked puppy look on his face. Plus, he knows Blaine isn't the enemy here.

"So you're telling me that you're just going to allow those kids to keep harassing Kurt?" Blaine asks, his sadness quickly turning to anger.

"Unless the altercations become deliberately violent or another threat in made on Mr. Hummel's life, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do," he says with a shrug.

At this point Kurt stands up and grabs Blaine's hand so he can tug him out of the office. Once they're back in the hallway, Blaine seems to truly process what happened, and he turns to Kurt pulling him into a tight hug. Kurt squeaks quietly in surprise but then melts into Blaine's embrace.

"I'm sorry Kurt," he whispers after he lets go of him.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Kurt assures him.

"But I couldn't help you. You were right, Figgins essentially ignored me."

"It's not your job to save everyone," Kurt says.

"It doesn't mean I can't try," he responds stubbornly.

Kurt sighs because he knows that Blaine's hero complex isn't completely healthy. Regardless, he can't deny that it feels good to have somebody fighting on his side.

&&&&&

Over the course of the next week things go relatively back to normal. Blaine's still a little spacey at times, but Kurt realizes he has to give him some breathing room. He has faith that Blaine will come to him with whatever he's dealing with in his own time. Until then, Kurt decides to hold off on telling Blaine how he feels about him. Blaine has enough to deal with right now without that extra burden being put on him.

Kurt is spending his Saturday morning as he usually does, eating a BLT and watching last week's episode of the Bachelorette. While he admits it's a trashy show and finds it unrealistic that your soul mate would just happen to be one of the thirty contestants chosen to be on the show, he enjoys it all the same. The show only has about five minutes left and Kurt is in the middle of freaking out because it looks like his favorite is about to go home when the show freezes. He looks around in confusion and sees his dad standing in the corner of the room with the remote in his hand.

"Hey kiddo, Donny is out sick today so I'm going to need your help in the shop," he says.

Kurt groans internally. He doesn't normally resent working in the shop, but he does when it interferes with his relaxing time. He use to help out a lot more often, almost every weekend, but eventually Burt must have noticed his son's disinterest because he hired Donny to take his place. Donny is what most people would call a Lima loser. Someone who is destined to stay in Lima for the rest of their life and be lucky to work a minimum wage job, but Kurt likes him all the same. He's always been kind to Kurt, even after he came out, and that was more than most of the town did. Even though Kurt likes Donny, he always feels a little guilty Burt had to hire him in the first place. He knows his dad had hoped for a son that loved working in the shop and who would eventually take it over after he retired. Kurt can't be that person, and Burt knows it, but it doesn't mean he won't help out when he can.

"Sure thing dad, but can I finish this show first? There's only about five minutes left."

Burt agrees, and Kurt finishes the show, cheering loudly when Jeff survives the rose ceremony. He then goes upstairs to get changed. He puts on his grease stained Hummel Tires and Lube shirt, his baggy, ripped up jeans, and old combat boots before heading out to the shop. When he gets there, he sees his dad getting ready to roll under a car. He quickly shoos him away.

"Come on, Dad. You know what the doctor said. You're supposed to be taking it easy and leaving the majority of the manual labor to your employees," Kurt scolds.

"It just needs a valve cover gasket replacement, I could do it in my sleep," he complains.

"And so can I. Now, why don't you go man the register while I fix this up?" Kurt says crossing his arms.

Burt gives in and heads over to the shop office. Kurt swears he hears him mumble something about him being a fun-sucker. Kurt laughs quietly to himself and starts humming as he walks over to where all the car parts are stored. His thoughts happily drift back to last night, when he finally got some details out of Burt about his relationship with Sally.

"Do you realize what time it is mister?" Kurt asked in mock sternness when Burt had walked in the front.

Burt had jumped slightly and even blushed a little as he took his coat off and put it in the front closet. He didn't respond to Kurt's question and instead moved into the kitchen. Kurt stayed right on his tail, not willing to give up that easy.

"Come on Dad, this is the first person you've dated since Mom died and I just want to know what she's like," Kurt said quietly. Burt had spent a lot of time with Sally over the last two months but for the life of him, Kurt couldn't get anything out of his dad about her.

Burt sighed and rubbed the back of neck, looking anywhere but at Kurt. "She's great," he finally said, "funny, kind, and one of the sweetest women I've ever met. I haven't felt like this about anyone since your mom."

Kurt smiled big at that and said, "Well, I'm glad she makes you happy."

And Kurt really is glad they're getting along so well. His dad hasn't been this cheery in—well…Kurt doesn't know how long. Snapping back to reality, he grabs the part he needs and heads back to the Chevy Malibu. He's just gotten down on the creeper and rolled under the car when he hears footsteps and a voice calling out in the shop.

"Hello Mr. Humm- I mean Burt…" the voice says hesitantly.

Kurt rolls back out from under the car and is planning to direct the person to the back office. He stops short when he sees who it is. "… Blaine?"

"Kurt?" the boy asks whipping around the look at him. "I-I didn't know you worked here."

"I don't usually," Kurt says, standing up and wiping his hands on his jeans, "but my dad needed some help today."

"Wow uh you look…" Blaine trails off while looking Kurt up and down.

Kurt flushes and absentmindedly runs a hand through his hair, a habit he thought he kicked years ago. "Yeah I know I look awful. But I'll take looking sloppy for a couple hours over ruining any of my normal clothes."

"That's not what I meant at all," Blaine says and Kurt looks over at him and sees that his pupils are blown just like they were at the party.

This makes him blush even harder and he's at a loss for what to say. Blaine is suddenly much closer than Kurt remembers and his eyes are flickering between Kurt's eyes and lips. It feels as if all the air has been sucked from the room and Blaine is leaning towards him, their lips inches apart, when the office door slams open.

"Blaine is that you?" Burt calls, effectively bringing the two boys to their senses and causing them to jolt apart.

Blaine's chest is heaving as if he's just run a marathon and Burt gives him a strange look. "Everything alright?" he asks.

"Yes-yeah I-I'm fine," he stutters. "I'm here to pick up that steering wheel cover my mom saw the other day," he says, recovering slightly.

"Oh right your mom said you'd be stopping by. Let me just go run and get it, I have it back in the office."

"Blaine," Kurt begins as Burt starts to walk away but Blaine turns quickly to follow the man. Kurt huffs out an annoyed breath and leans against the car to wait for Blaine to get back. He can hear Blaine saying goodbye to Burt and a second later he's hustling by Kurt, obviously trying to avoid him. "Blaine, wait!" he calls out running to catch up with him.

Blaine turns around but doesn't look at Kurt as he says, "Sorry Kurt I…uh, I have to go like right now but I-I'll text you later okay? Alright-uh bye," and before Kurt can react, he's out the door and halfway down the street.

Kurt stands there staring at Blaine's retreating figure until it rounds a corner and goes out of sight. He eventually turns around and yells to his dad that's he taking a break, despite having been there for only ten minutes. He goes to the bathroom and stares at his reflection for a while before his lips twitch up to form a small smile. He has a plan.