After Blaine's violent reaction to the mere mention of his father at Thanksgiving, Kurt is desperate to know more. He's afraid of upsetting Blaine though, so he goes to the only other person he can ask.

"Hey dad, can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing," Burt responds, muting the TV.

Kurt thinks for a moment, trying to find a good way to word the question. "Do you know anything about Sally's ex-husband?"

Burt looks completely shocked at the questions but says, "I know enough. Why?"

"I was just wondering because Blaine seemed to react pretty strongly last night…" Kurt trails off. He hadn't really wanted to bring Blaine into the conversation, but it seems impossible not to.

Realization dawns on Burt's face, and he hums. "He hasn't told you about him?" When Kurt shakes his head, Burt looks away, scratching his head. "Well then I'm not really sure it would be fair of me to say anything."

"But dad-" Kurt starts to protest.

"Sorry kid. He'll tell you when he's ready." Burt sighs and then, almost to himself, he says, "Poor kid. God knows nobody deserves something like that."

Kurt's hands begin to sweat and he starts to feel a little dizzy. What did Blaine's father do? He has to call Blaine right away and figure this out. Kurt quickly leaves the table, ignoring his dad's shouts, and takes out his phone, preparing to dial Blaine's number. His thumb is hovering over the button when he tells himself to calm down because he needs to think this through a bit more before he calls. Blaine's father is obviously a sore subject with him, and he doesn't want to scare him away. Burt's right, he'll tell him in his own time. Kurt just hopes he can nudge him along. He takes a deep breath, dials Blaine's number, and waits for him to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi Blaine, it's Kurt."

"Oh, hey Kurt!" Blaine says, his tone picking up.

"I was just wondering… what happened at dinner the other night?" he asks, hoping that Blaine will understand what he means.

Blaine pauses for a moment before saying, "Oh that? I just wasn't feeling too well. Probably ate too much too fast," and then forces a chuckle.

"Blaine…" Kurt warns him. They had a talk about lying and how they would never do it with each other. Kurt knows it's an almost impossible goal but Blaine is so blatantly lying here, and this is something important.

"I-I'm just not use to my father being brought into a conversation, especially not at someplace like the family dinner table. It took me by surprise, that's all," he says in a very hesitant voice, as if he's choosing each word very carefully. It may be the truth but it's definitely not the whole truth.

"I feel like there's something you're not telling me," Kurt says, as he tries to keep the hurt out of his voice. This is about helping Blaine after all, not Kurt's trust issues.

"My dad and I didn't have the relationship that you and Burt have. Sometimes... I guess it just hurts to remember that, so I try not to think about it. Not the healthiest thing, I know, but it works for me."

Kurt's heart breaks a little at Blaine's confession. He could have guessed that Blaine didn't have a great relationship with his dad but to know that it affects him in this way is just so painful. "I'm sorry Blaine. I wish there was something I could do." Kurt wants to be there just to hold Blaine, because at least for him, that's sometimes the best kind of help.

Blaine doesn't answer, and Kurt can practically feel him shrugging through the phone. "Anyways," he starts, changing the subject, "I have to babysit tonight, you want to come along?"

Kurt let's the issue drop for now and says, "We'll see, I have some French homework I need to finish up. I'll text you later?"

"Sounds good, bye Kurt."

"Bye."

Kurt hangs up the phone and goes downstairs to get his backpack. When he passes his dad, Burt raises an eyebrow at him. "That was a pretty quick escape you just made there," he says.

"I just had to call someone. By the way, I may go over to help Blaine babysit tonight."

"Again?" Burt exclaims, "He better be paying you for all the times you're helping him."

Kurt rolls his eyes at his dad and continues into the front hallway. Blaine, ever the gentleman, always offers Kurt half the money, but Kurt refuses. He hardly even talks to the kids, so getting paid for just keeping him company is ridiculous. Of course, this only spurs Blaine's desires to pay for coffee whenever they go out. After getting his bag out of the front closet, Kurt heads upstairs to start the grueling task of his irregular verbs packet. Kurt usually isn't a procrastinator, although he's starting to become one thanks to Blaine. The thought of turning down an opportunity to be with him in favor of doing school work is something that has caused a lot of homework to be pushed to Sunday nights. He's about half way done when he decides to rest for just a moment, but the next thing he knows, he's jerking awake in a dark room. He checks the clock and realizes it's just after ten o'clock. He thinks of a string of curse words, none of which he would have the guts to say out loud, and pulls out his phone.

Hey! Sorry I didn't text you earlier, I fell asleep. Not only did I wrinkle my clothes (I was wearing that blue button up polo you love so much) but I also still have homework to finish so I can't come over. Coffee tomorrow? I have a feeling I'm going to need a pick-me-up… Anyways, goodnight sleep tight, I'll see you tomorrow 3

After Kurt shoots off the text, he gets to work on finishing the packet. When he's done, about an hour later, he's surprised at Blaine's lack of response. He leaves his phone in his room and goes to the bathroom to get ready for bed, expecting a text by the time he gets back. When he does and there is none, he starts to worry a bit. He quickly shoos the thoughts away, though, and tells himself to stop being such a worry wart. His phone probably just died or something like that.

&&&&&

When's he getting ready for school the next morning he realizes he still hasn't received anything from Blaine so he doesn't know whether to pick him up early to go to the Lima Bean. He eventually decides not to, because he figures Blaine had a late night last night babysitting and wants to let him sleep. When he pulls up in front of the house, Blaine doesn't coming bounding out as he usually does. Kurt's brows furrow, and he stares at the door, tapping his fingers against the wheel impatiently. Finally, when it comes time that if they don't leave now, they're going to be late, he gets out of the car and walks up to the house. He rings the doorbell and Sally, still in her robe and slippers, answers the door.

"Kurt…" she says, cocking her head to the side, "Oh! Kurt! I am so sorry!" she exclaims her eyes widening. "I promised Blaine I would call you and tell you not to come, I'm so sorry I forgot. Blaine's sick today and isn't going to school."

"Is he okay?" Kurt asks in concern. Blaine hates missing school, really hates it, so if he's staying home it must be bad.

"He was throwing up all night," Sally says sadly and Kurt notices that she looks more tired than usual. Kurt remembers the time that he got the stomach flu in first grade and how, even after he stopped throwing up and went to sleep, his mom stayed in his room in case she was needed. Apparently some things don't change.

"Tell him that I hope he feels better," Kurt says, before making his way back to the car. The drive to school is eerily quiet, and he realizes that he can hardly remember a time before Blaine rode to school with him.

It isn't until about fourth period that Kurt comprehends just how much of his day revolves around Blaine. Talking between periods, spending study hall together, even texting him during class occasionally. Then of course, there's physics which, without Blaine, happens to be Kurt's least favorite class. It scares Kurt a little to think just how much of his life revolves around Blaine now. He's always been independent, and that was fine. It was safe. This was scarier, knowing that his happiness relied on someone else, and could be taken away through no fault of his own. But its better this way, he decides. He thought he was happy before but honestly, knowing this happiness now, he wasn't. He was existing, not living. So maybe one day Blaine will leave and he'll be heartbroken and wish that he'd never met him. But after the dust settles and he really thinks about it, he knows he won't regret this time. He guesses it's true what they say, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

As soon as Kurt enters the choir room he can feel the tension in the air. Santana is the only one not present (besides Blaine), and it's no surprise. Over the weekend, a competitor of Sue's, whose running against her in the congressional election, aired a commercial that outed Santana and questioned Sue's own sexuality. How that guy even knew Santana was gay is a mystery to Kurt, although he has heard rumors that it was Finn. If that's true then Kurt will be completely shocked. Finn and he have never been real close, but last year when he was having trouble with Karofsky, he did eventually come to his defense. It took him long enough, but in the end, he made it clear whose side he was on. Then over the summer, since he was dating Rachel, Kurt actually saw him quite a bit. He was clueless and downright idiotic at times, but he was never cruel. And outing someone is one of the cruelest things in Kurt's opinion.

Once everyone settles down Finn gets up to address the room. "Um hey guys, I don't know if you've all heard but some guy made a commercial saying Santana was a lesbian." By the lack of shocked expressions on people's faces, Kurt guesses the rumor mill had done its job. "So I though this week we could all sing songs to Santana to let her know how much we all support her."

"Oh wow Finn, that is so sweet of you," Quinn says sarcastically and Kurt turns to look at her in surprise. Finn's ideas weren't usually great, but this one actually wasn't bad. Santana needs all the support she can get right now, and even though Kurt's sure she won't be outwardly thankful about the songs, it could help. "Would you care to tell everyone how that asshole knew Santana was gay in the first place?" Quinn continues.

Finn, who is still standing in front of the room, begins to look really uncomfortable and starts tugging at his collar. "Um I might have, uh, accidentally said something about it in the hallway last week," he admits.

"Said something?" Quinn asks incredulously, "I heard you shouting about it from across the school."

Murmurs ripple through the choir room and Kurt can tell he wasn't the only one who didn't know this. He hadn't wanted to believe it. The fact that he would out someone, a friend at that, in a public place is just despicable. Kurt tried to imagine what it would be like to have the ability to come out on his own terms taken away and shudders. He can't even bare to look at Finn, so instead he turns to Rachel. Rachel looks very uncomfortable but not surprised, so Kurt guesses she already knew. Suddenly the air in the choir room is suffocating and Kurt has to leave. This whole situation is bringing up a few too many memories.

"Kurt! Where are you going?" Rachel calls but Kurt ignores her and keeps walking. He doesn't know where he's going until he's there; the first floor girl's bathroom.

Since it's after school, Kurt expects it to be empty and it is. He walks to the sink and splashes some water on his face, trying to calm down. Kurt can't figure out why this is affecting him so badly. Maybe it's because, although nobody had outed him in so many words, people have been calling him gay for as long as he can remember. Even in elementary school, before he even knew what the word 'fag' meant, kids called him it. Then when he came out, his father said he had already known. Sure, it was comforting in some sense, especially since his father was completely accepting, but it was also a bit scary. Apparently Burt had known he was gay before even he did. Even though it shouldn't be, in today's society "coming out" is a big deal. It's terrifying because unfortunately it changes to way a lot of people look at you, and that's why it has to be the person who's coming out decision alone.

Kurt stays a few more minutes before exiting the bathroom. He plans to go back to Glee, but on the way he sees Santana standing at her locker. He hesitates before walking closer, trying to gauge her mood. "Santana…" he says cautiously as he approaches.

She spins around quickly, eyes fierce, but when she sees Kurt her shoulders slump. "Oh it's you," she says in an uncharacteristically defeated voice.

"Don't sound too excited," Kurt says trying, unsuccessfully, to lighten the mood.

"Look, if you're here to spew some it-gets-better crap then save it. I know it gets better… because there's no way in hell it can be worse than it is now."

"Santana-" Kurt starts but she cuts him off.

"No, just stop. You think you can understand this because you're gay but you can't. You weren't outed to thousands of people all at once without even knowing about it. Your dad didn't find out you were gay via a TV commercial. And either way, he's fine with you taking it up the ass so what does it matter anyways? If you think we're going to be best buddies now and spend our time running around waving rainbow flags or whatever else it is you do with that boy toy of yours, then you're wrong."

"Santana," Kurt begins, then pauses, waiting to see if she's going to interrupt him. When she doesn't he continues, "I'm not here to say any of that. All I wanted to tell you was that we're here for you, we all are. Yes our situations weren't the same, but I did have trouble with being gay in this school. In fact, I still do. All I'm saying is don't shut the people that care about you out, because that only hurts yourself."

When Kurt finishes, Santana is staring out him and for a second he's afraid she's going to slap him. But instead she turns away, slams her locker shut, and walks away.

"Thanks for the pep talk, but Santana Lopez doesn't need anyone, especially those losers in Glee," Santana calls over her shoulder.

"We dedicated this week's assignment to you. We're all singing songs to show you our support."

Santana turns back around and has such a disgusted look on her face that Kurt would have laughed under any other circumstance.

"Like I said, we're all here for you. You're not getting rid of us that easily. Oh and Santana," Kurt calls when she's half way down the hallway, "Blaine and I don't wave around rainbow flags… we make dresses out of them and then model them for each other."

Santana spins on her heel and saunters out the front door but not before Kurt catches a glimpse of a smile. She'll come around, Kurt's sure of it.

&&&&&

The next day, Blaine misses school again so afterwards, Kurt goes to his house to visit him. He's a little nervous because Blaine doesn't answer his text asking if he could come so he is just showing up. He's not sure if this is something normal couples do, but he does knows that if he was sick he would want Blaine to be there.
He's about to knock on the door when Sally bursts out of it, head down, digging through her bag.

"Oh!" she exclaims after almost knocking Kurt over. "Sorry hon, I didn't see you there."

"No harm done," Kurt says, bending over to pick up a fallen tube of lipstick and handing it back to Sally. "I'm just here to... um, give Blaine some homework and keep him company. Is that okay?"

"Of course, of course! I'm sure Blaine will love to see someone besides me," she laughs. "I have to go pick up Maria and stop by the grocery store so I'll be back in a little bit. Stay as long as you want," she calls and then hurries past Kurt and jumps in her car.

Kurt watches her go and then stands on the front porch, debating whether or not the ring the doorbell. He eventually decides against it, not wanting to make Blaine get up and answer it. The door is open so he walks in, hangs his coat in the closet by the door, and walks up the stairs in the direction of Blaine's room. Blaine's door is slightly ajar, but he still knocks before sticking his head inside.

"Blaine?" he calls softly after spotting him in the bed. He's not facing the door so Kurt's unsure if he's even awake. But at the sound of his name, he quickly rolls over and squints in his direction.

"Kurt? Is that you?" he asks, his voice scratchy.

"Yes, it's me. I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited…" Blaine laughs at the corny joke, so he must not be feeling too bad.

Kurt walks over and sits gingerly on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Blaine responds with a small smile. "You should have seen me yesterday… actually I'm glad you didn't." he adds, chuckling.

"Well I'm glad you're recovering. I've missed you."

"Thanks for coming Kurt," Blaine says, removing his hand from under the covers and grabbing onto Kurt's. "You being here makes things so much better."

Kurt leans down to place a kiss on Blaine's forehead before removing the covers and climbing under so he can snuggle up with Blaine.

"Kurt," he protests weakly, "You're going to get sick."

"You already held my hand which is the number one way germs spread," Kurt teases, but when he sees the guilty look on Blaine's face, he stops. "No, Blaine, stop. I don't care about getting sick. Besides, if I did, you would take care of me wouldn't you?"

Blaine hums in approval and shifts so his head is resting on Kurt's chest, and his arm is wrapped around his waist. Despite the fact that Kurt's still in his clothes and Blaine is breathing his germy breath all over him, Kurt has never felt more comfortable in his life. Blaine falls asleep immediately, and it takes Kurt a while but eventually he starts to nod off too. Suddenly, Kurt jolts awake at the sound of the front door opening. A muddled conversation, between Sally and Maria he guesses, drifts up the stairs, and Kurt quickly shoves Blaine off him and extracts himself from the bed. Blaine whines at the loss of heat, but Kurt ignores him as he straightens out his clothes and goes back to sitting on the edge of the bed as he was when he first arrived.

Sally walks in a moment later and asks, "How's he doing?"

"I'm feeling good," Blaine says, surprising both Kurt and Sally. They turn to see him sitting up and rubbing his eyes before getting out of bed.

"Really? That's great honey! Kurt, you must be some miracle worker," Sally says, flashing him a thankful smile.

"Oh he is," Blaine says, and Kurt wishes so badly he could lean over and kiss him right now.

"How about you come down and eat something? You must be starving." Sally says to Blaine.

Blaine agrees and after Kurt accepts the invitation to stay for dinner, they all make their way downstairs. Sally pulls out a rotisserie chicken she got from the store and some homemade macaroni salad. Blaine is looking hungrily at all the food, but Sally brings him a plate with some toast and a few pieces of cheese.

"You need to take it slow Blaine, you've hardly eaten in days," she says when Blaine tries to protest.

The mealtime conversation is mostly dominated by Maria and her complaints about how hard the fifth grade is. Apparently her teacher is a mean old witch who gives lots of homework and loves to cancel recess. Sally scolds her when she starts commenting on how she shouldn't cancel recess because she obviously needs the exercise but Kurt and Blaine have to stifle their laughter.

"Blaine," Sally says in desperate need of a subject change, "have you been working on your Berkley application?"

Kurt stops chewing and a feeling of dread fills his body. He had known Blaine was exploring his options in California, but he didn't know he was actually going to apply to a school there.

"Um yes," Blaine says, glancing at Kurt and then quickly looking away. "It's almost done. Along with my NYU application," he adds, emphasizing the 'NYU' part.

"Good," Sally says. The rest of dinner is light on the conversation and after Blaine yawns for a third time, Sally says, "Alright mister, it's time for you to get back to bed."

"Mom-" he starts to object, but Kurt cuts him off.

"No, she's right, you need to get your strength back. Sally," he says directing his attention to her now, "is it okay if I just go show him this one thing on her physics homework real quick?"

Blaine looks at him curiously, knowing that there was no physics homework, but doesn't say anything when Sally agrees. They walk back to Blaine's room.

"So Berkley…" Kurt says after he closes to door.

"Oh right," Blaine says guiltily. "Look Kurt, it's just a backup. You know, in case NYU doesn't work out."

"I'm not mad," Kurt assures him, "I just wish you would have told me. I mean, if Berkley is your dream school and you want to go there, then we'll figure it out."

"But it's not," Blaine says stepping close to Kurt. "My dream school is NYU, and I want to be in New York, with you." Kurt smiles, feeling relieved, and leans in for a kiss, but Blaine backs away. "Nope, sorry Kurt, but that is basically asking to get sick." Kurt pouts but Blaine won't give in.

"Fine," he sighs and starts collecting his things. He sneaks a kiss on Blaine's cheek as he walks him to the door, and Blaine promises to text him in the morning telling him if he's ready to go back to school.

With that, he leaves, and when he checks his phone he sees he has multiple missed calls from Rachel. They'd already talked about the Santana situation, she had known and although she was mad at him, he apparently hadn't meant to so she forgave him. Kurt's not really sure how you can accidentally do something like that but he's deciding to stay out of that portion of it and focus on helping Santana. She came back to Glee today, but it was only to make scathing remarks towards anyone who brought up the commercial or anything related to it. So with that already being settled, Kurt doesn't know what the big emergency is.

"Hello Kurt? We have a problem," she says after only one ring.

"And that is…?"

"Brittney is running for class president."