Don't Keep Your Distance: Family

Blaine's couldn't hear anything over the sound of his heart pounding in his chest.

Kurt's tongue darted out to moisten his parted lips, and Blaine's followed the movement, his stomach twisting hotly at the sight.

Blaine felt as though his whole life had been leading up to this moment. Suddenly, nothing else seemed to matter other than the boy in front of him, the person who had saved him so many times. Blaine loved and trusted him more than he could have ever thought possible, and now here they were – this was it, the pivotal moment. Kurt's expression was both nervous and inviting, and Blaine couldn't hold back any longer.

He leaned in and paused, giving Kurt the opportunity to pull back – or push forward.

He didn't have to wait long. Two hands quickly came up to cup Blaine's face, and then soft lips were pressed against his. Blaine gasped against Kurt's mouth, the world around him seeming to disappear and come together all at once.

Kurt's lips parted beneath his, and Blaine's whole body shuddered, his stomach twisting and burning as he tasted the hot, sweet warmth. It was still just a simple kiss, a chaste pressing of mouths – but it felt unbearably erotic, and it rocked Blaine to his very core.

"Kurt," Blaine moaned, breaking away for just a moment, just long enough to catch a breath. Kurt whimpered, pulled Blaine back in, and it was as if a dam had broken. Blaine's hands found their way to clutch at Kurt's narrow waist, and Kurt scrambled somewhat awkwardly until he was straddling Blaine's lap, neither of them allowing their mouths to part for more than a second.

They kissed deeply and passionately for an indeterminable amount of time, varying between fast and slow, frantic and hesitant. Blaine could tell that Kurt had never done this before, but he didn't hold back, didn't shy away. Instead, Kurt gently pulled on Blaine's hair, tilting the man's head back so he could kiss him even deeper.

Blaine pulled Kurt closer against his body, and realised a moment later that they were both achingly hard. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he should probably slow things down, pull back so that they could both take a moment to breathe, but it was just too good, too fucking good, and it had been such a long time coming. They deserved this.

They kissed and kissed and kissed, and Blaine never wanted to stop.

Kurt's phone rang.

Their mouths parted with a loud smack, and Blaine nearly lost it when he caught sight of Kurt, staring back at him with wide eyes. He looked messy and debauched, his face flushed and hair mussed. His lips were red and wet and swollen, his pupils dilated so wide that Blaine could barely see the blue of his irises.

With the way Kurt was staring back at Blaine, he figured he must be in a pretty similar state.

Kurt's phone was still ringing.

Blaine glanced at Kurt's bag, and Kurt hastily scrambled to find his phone. His eyes widened almost comically when he looked down at the display.

"It's my dad," Kurt said, his voice breathy and hoarse.

Blaine felt a brief moment of panic, before realising that there was no way Burt could know what had just happened on his kitchen floor. It didn't stop his heart from racing.

Kurt cleared his throat before accepting the call. "Hi, dad!" He greeted, even more high-pitched than usual. Blaine winced.

"No, no, I'm fine," Kurt said, his eyes flickering over to Blaine. When he spoke again, his tone was weary. "Yeah. I'm at home. Blaine had some bad news and he called me at school. His dad passed away last night, he had a stroke…yeah, he's right here…okay."

Kurt held the phone out to Blaine. "He wants to talk to you," he whispered.

Blaine felt another irrational stab of panic, but he took the phone from Kurt and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, bud." Burt voice was gentle and caring and fatherly, and Blaine swallowed uneasily. "I heard about your dad. I'm so sorry, kid. How are you holdin' up?"

"I, uhh…" Blaine said, glancing briefly at Kurt, "I'm okay. I'll be okay. I'm sorry for calling Kurt out of school."

"Don't worry about it. You shouldn't have to deal with this alone, and I'm glad that you and Kurt have gotten closer lately - close enough that you would turn to him for support when you need it."

Oh god.

"Y-yeah," Blaine stammered. "I…I feel a lot better, now that he's here."

"I'll try to come home soon, see if I can get one of the guys to cover for me -"

"No!" Blaine exclaimed, a little too loudly. He grimaced, lowering his voice before he spoke again. "Burt, you don't need to leave work early. You can stay, I'm fine, really. I have Kurt." Blaine eyes flickered over to where the other boy sat, smiling reassuringly back at him.

"Are you sure?" Burt asked, sounding reluctant. "I'll probably be stuck here until about 7."

"That's fine," Blaine said. "Kurt and I will make dinner."

"You don't have to -"

"I want to. Cooking helps me calm down when I'm stressed. Really, Burt, you don't need to worry about me."

Burt sighed. "Okay, if you're sure. Hang in there, kid. I love you."

Blaine's hand tightened on the phone. "I love you, too," he mumbled, almost certain that Burt would be able to hear the guilt in his voice.

"Can you put Kurt back on the phone for a minute?"

Blaine handed the phone back to Kurt, who talked to his dad for a few more minutes, promising to take care of Blaine and let Carole know what was going on. Blaine stared at the floor, silent. His whole body was thrumming, his hands were shaking, and he had so many thoughts and emotions flying around in his head that for a second he felt as though he might explode.

Eventually, Kurt hung up the phone, and immediately moved towards Blaine as if sensing his distress.

"Hey," Kurt said, and then there was a hand under Blaine's chin, tilting his head up to meet Kurt's gaze. "What's wrong?"

Blaine exhaled a shaky breath. "It's just...it's a lot."

Kurt nodded in understanding. "Of course, I'm sorry, I haven't exactly helped -"

"No, no, don't apologize," Blaine said quickly. "Please don't be sorry about what happened. I'm not."

Kurt smiled. "No, I'm – I'm not sorry for what just happened. But it was the wrong time. I shouldn't have pushed you into telling me something that huge when you were trying to deal with so much already. I've completely overwhelmed you and I'm really, really sorry, it was the last thing you needed right now -"

"Kurt, stop," Blaine said firmly. "There is no right or wrong time for this. You don't have anything to apologize for. Yes, it has been one hell of a day. I'm feeling so many things at once that I can't even begin to make sense of most of it. But there's one thing that I'm sure of, and that's that you always make me feel better. And something tells me that you'll always make me feel a million different emotions at once, but I don't care. I love it. I love you. I have spent far too long feeling nothing at all other than pain and regret, and I'm done. I'm through with that. This is the best day of my whole fucking life and I intend to enjoy it."

Blaine leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kurt's in a firm, close-mouthed kiss. When he reluctantly pulled away, Kurt grinned widely, his eyes crinkled and twinkling.

"Blaine Devon Anderson, you sure know how to make a convincing argument."

Kurt got to his feet and extended a hand to Blaine to help him up off the floor. He didn't let go once they were both standing.

Blaine was suddenly aware of how disgusting he felt. His earlier panic had caused him to sweat profusely, and his damp shirt was now cooling and sticking to his skin. The sweat had also loosened the gel on his hair, and stuck his curls to his forehead. He was pretty sure that his eyes were still blood-shot and he seriously needed to blow his nose. He couldn't believe that Kurt had willingly made out with him in this state.

"I need a shower," Blaine said, wrinkling his nose.

Kurt quirked an eyebrow mischievously. "Is that an invitation?"

Blaine's jaw dropped, and Kurt let out a giggle that made Blaine's stomach swoop. Kurt was flirting. They could flirt now, apparently.

Blaine smirked, grabbing Kurt's waist and pulling him close against his body. "Oh, I see how it's gonna be," he teased. "Should I expect this level of cheek all the time, now that we're together?"

Kurt's eyebrows shot up, his body tensing in Blaine's arms. "Is that we are?" He asked. "Are we together?"

Blaine swallowed nervously. "I – I'd like us to be," he said honestly, desperately hoping that he and Kurt were on the same page. "I know that we couldn't really broadcast a relationship all over Facebook or make out in the back of the movies like a normal couple, but…I want to be with you."

Kurt smiled softly, wrapping his arms securely around Blaine's waist. "There's no such thing as a 'normal couple'," he said. "I know that this would be a somewhat…unconventional relationship. There's the fact that you're…well, famous. Not to mention our rather unique history and the whole age difference thing. But I just want to be with you. We don't need to be like every other couple out there. We can just be ourselves – Kurt and Blaine."

Blaine leaned forward and pressed his lips against Kurt's in a soft kiss. "Kurt and Blaine," he mumbled against Kurt's mouth. "I like the sound of that."

"Mmmm," Kurt hummed, ducking his head to press gentle kisses across Blaine's jaw and under his ear. "I want to be your boyfriend," he whispered.

"I want to be your boyfriend, too," Blaine gasped, his hands tightening on Kurt's waist when the boy began sucking gently on his neck – not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to make Blaine's toes curl. "Of course," Blaine said, his voice breathy, "we should really have a very long, very thorough talk about all of this. What this means, and how we intend to...to deal with…you're really distracting, you know that?"

Kurt chuckled as he pulled away from Blaine's neck, rubbing his nose against Blaine's in an eskimo kiss. "Sorry," he murmured. "I've just wanted to touch you for so long, it's hard to keep my hands to myself now that I'm allowed."

"I know exactly how you feel, believe me," Blaine whispered, hands skimming up and down Kurt's back. "But we really do need to talk."

"I know," Kurt said, reluctantly extracting himself from Blaine's arms. "Go have your shower. We'll talk after."

"Okay." Blaine leaned in to place a final peck on Kurt's lips before heading upstairs. It took serious effort not to break out into song.

Blaine showered as quickly as possible and made it out in record time. He threw on the first clean pair of jeans and t-shirt that he could find, not bothering to re-gel his hair. He wondered for a moment whether he should make more of an effort to look presentable for his new boyfriend, but he was too anxious to get back to him. And besides, past experience had taught him that Kurt seemed to have a thing for his un-gelled curls, even if Blaine thought that they made him look like a straggly puppy.

After getting dressed, Blaine made his way to Kurt's bedroom. He felt the urge to pinch himself to re-affirm the fact that this was actually happening. Kurt loved him, he loved Kurt, and they were actually together. In a relationship. Boyfriends. A couple.

Blaine took a moment to be glad for the fact that he had skipped lunch, because he kind of felt like he might puke with nerves and excitement.

Kurt's door was open, and Blaine walked right in to find Kurt lounging on his bed, a wide a genuinely happy smile on his face. Blaine couldn't help but smile in return.

Kurt patted the bed next to him, and Blaine swallowed nervously. He had lain in that bed with Kurt many times throughout his life, but there was suddenly a new layer there – new possibilities, new things that they could explore in that bed.

Deciding that those thoughts would best be saved for a later time, Blaine anxiously made his way over to the bed and slid into place next to Kurt, who quickly curled into his side. Blaine instantly relaxed at the contact. They leaned back into the pillows and cuddled, and it was comfortable and familiar but also brand new and exhilarating.

"So…" Kurt said softly, reaching down to entwine his fingers with Blaine's, "you wanted to talk."

Blaine nodded. "Yeah. But now that we're here, I just…I don't even know where to start. How are you feeling?"

"Honestly? I don't think this whole thing has totally sunk in yet. Today almost feels like a dream. Even lying here next to you right now, talking about this…I'm half expecting to wake up at any minute."

Blaine smirked. "If this is a dream, I will kill the man who tries to wake me."

Kurt snorted and rolled his eyes. "A Game of Thrones reference. You are such a dork."

"Hey, you understood it."

"And you're lucky I did, or else you would have sounded like a crazy person."

They stared at each other for a moment, giddy smiles on their faces. Eventually Blaine's smile faded as he realized that they would soon have to get to the serious stuff, even if he'd much prefer to bury his face in the sand and pretend that they were floating on a cloud, miles away from anyone else.

"I'm scared," he said, squeezing Kurt's hand tighter.

Kurt sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "I know. I'm scared too."

"You do know what you're getting yourself into, right? I mean, Kurt…we can try to keep this private for now, but assuming that this lasts – and I really want it to - there's no way that we could keep our relationship under wraps. Definitely not once I get back to New York."

"Because of the media."

Blaine nodded. "I don't want to have to hide you, Kurt."

"I don't want you to hide me."

"But…God," Blaine said, "the media, the industry, the whole thing…it's just brutal. Completely and utterly brutal. They'll make up their own mind about me, about us, and the reality won't even matter. I mean, I haven't even come out yet. Once I do, 'gay' will become the key feature of my personality and my career, in their eyes. Any articles about me will read 'Gay singer Blaine Anderson'. My sexuality will be brought up every time my name is mentioned and I hate that, but I could deal with it. I will deal with it. But…" Blaine groaned in frustration, and Kurt squeezed his hand gently, reassuringly.

"…But?" Kurt prodded.

"But there's also the age thing," Blaine said. "It will make everything a million times worse."

Kurt frowned. "Our age difference…does it bother you?"

Blaine sighed, rolling onto his back and frowning at the ceiling. "No, it doesn't bother me. I don't even notice the age difference when we're together, but other people will care. They'll definitely judge me – judge us - and I want to be able to say that I don't care what anybody else thinks, but…the media will paint me as some kind of sexual predator, and there will be people who will play on the fact that you're a teenage boy, and that bothers me. I hate the thought of being labelled as a pervert for loving you. I want people to see us the way that I do, but I'm not naïve enough to think that that will ever happen."

Kurt didn't respond. Blaine turned his head to see a tear rolling down Kurt's cheek, and his lower lip was trembling as if he were trying to hold back sobs.

"Hey, hey," Blaine said, hurriedly rolling over to pull Kurt into his arms, "why are you crying? Stop that, I've done enough crying for the both of us today."

Kurt let out a soft sob, burying his face in Blaine's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so, so sorry. I don't want you to have to go through that because of me. You don't have to, Blaine. I understand if you don't want to be with me. I won't be worth it."

"No," Blaine said firmly. He grabbed Kurt by the shoulders and pushed him back so that he could look him in the eye. "No," he said again. "You are worth everything. God, Kurt – I have lived on this earth for almost 30 years. I've met a lot of men – attractive, talented, intelligent men, who are amazing in their own right – but none of them have ever made me feel even a fraction of what I feel when I look at you. I don't want to scare you away when I've only just got you, but…I'm pretty sure that you're it for me. You're the love of my life."

Kurt stared at Blaine as he spoke, his eyes wide and glistening eyes, lips parted in shock. Blaine forced himself to push on and say everything that he so desperately needed to say.

"Kurt, you are seventeen years old. I know that there is a very real possibility that you could change your mind about wanting to be with me. You could find someone that you like better, or find that you can't handle the pressure, or simply decide that you'd rather be single, and that's fine. But having said that…you told me that you love me, and I believe you. And that's why I'm telling you these things now – I'm preparing you for what it will be like to be with me, because that's what I want. I want a future with you. I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment, but I am asking that we try. Really try. Will you…will you do this with me? Please?"

Kurt's cheeks were flushed and tear-streaked by the time Blaine stopped talking. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. And then he lurched forward and kissed Blaine fiercely, and he knew that the answer was yes.

"God, I love you," Kurt murmured against Blaine's lips, looking at him through his lashes. "We're really doing this?"

Blaine just grinned, and kissed Kurt again.

"We need to talk about my dad," Kurt said.

Blaine pulled back from where he had been sucking a hickey onto Kurt's collarbone. "We really, really don't."

Kurt chuckled and gently pushed Blaine back onto his side of the bed. Blaine let out a whine of protest, and frowned when Kurt buttoned the top of his shirt back up.

"Blaine," Kurt said, "we can't keep this from him."

Blaine stared. "You want to tell him?"

"Well, we don't have to do it right now," Kurt said, sitting up next to Blaine and resting a hand on his chest. "But yes, Blaine, we will have to tell him eventually. I can't lie to my dad about something this huge."

"He's going to kill me," Blaine said, terrified.

Kurt snorted. "Are you kidding? He loves you just as much as he loves me."

"Okay, first of all, he doesn't love me as much as he loves you. Second of all, he's going to kill me, and third of all, he's going to kill me."

"Stop being so dramatic," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "He's actually very reasonable. He knows you, he knows that you would never manipulate me or force me into anything. I really don't think he'll be angry."

"I'm twelve years older than you, Kurt!"

"If it doesn't bother us, it shouldn't bother him."

"Cute idea, but he let me move back here out of trust and the kindness of his heart, and I repay him by hooking up with his teenage son. And you think he's going to bake me a cake saying 'congrats on the sex'?"

"First of all, I think this is quite a bit more serious than 'hooking up', don't you? Second of all, what sex? Third of all, he can't bake to save a life, so that won't be a problem. But there's no way that we could keep up a secret relationship under his roof for long. And I don't want to. We need to tell him."

Blaine groaned and buried his face in a pillow.

"Blaine, I swear to God, if you don't let me finish mashing these potatoes I will mash them on your face."

Blaine let out a hmmm of acknowledgement and tightened his arms around Kurt's waist, sliding his hands up the front of the front boy's shirt to rest on his toned stomach. Kurt wiggled in protest, but Blaine just continued his ministrations on Kurt's earlobe.

He had discovered that kissing and sucking on Kurt's ears made him turn into a quivering mess, and he was having fun putting his new knowledge to use.

"Blaaaaaaine," Kurt whined, his voice trembling with arousal, "my dad's going to be home in 20 minutes. It was your idea to make dinner, so if you want to eat tonight, I suggest that you make yourself useful and start cooking the steaks."

"Fine," Blaine conceded, letting out a put-upon sigh as he extracted himself from Kurt and put a pan on the stove. "Even though I'd much rather eat you."

"That is called cannibalism, my dear, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies."

"Aha! Who's the dork now?"

Somehow, miraculously, they did manage to get dinner finished by the time Burt walked in the door.

Burt made a beeline for Blaine and immediately pulled him into a tight hug. Blaine instinctively melted into the hug, and everything about the gesture was completely comforting and safe. Blaine realised, with a start, that although he had lost his father – he still had a dad.

Of course, Burt Hummel had always made it clear to Blaine that he was considered a part of the family. Blaine had appreciated it – and believed it, to an extent. He had always seen Burt as a fatherly figure in his life when his own dad was absent – but he had always retained a level of distance. He had never quite treated Burt like most people treated their fathers – had never argued with him over something stupid, or nagged him about eating healthy the way that Kurt did. He had never really sought comfort from Burt when the man hadn't first pushed for him to do so.

But what else could he really be, if not a dad? Burt was the person who had been there for Blaine all those years back, when he'd felt as though he had no-one at all. He had welcomed him into his home with open arms, into the home where he lived with his wife and son. Blaine had never once felt out of place among them, and when Elizabeth had passed away, he had mourned by Burt and Kurt's side. He had hurt them, and pushed them away, and made mistakes – but Burt's support had been there anyway. He had always been there, to give Blaine the support he needed when he felt like he could never get back on his feet.

That's what families did. They loved each other, and sometimes they made mistakes that wound up hurting each other. But at the end of the day, they were okay. They supported each other through fucking alcohol withdrawals, and relapses, and dramas, and deaths.

That was the meaning of family. Family weren't always the ones who shared your genes. Families, above all, are the people who show you unconditional love, acceptance, and understanding, even when it doesn't come easily.

And that was the moment, clinging desperately to Burt Hummel in the middle of the kitchen, that Blaine knew that it would be okay. He hadn't lost his dad. His dad was right here, holding him tightly, his actions speaking louder than a million words ever could.

Blaine knew what he had to do.

After taking a few deep breaths, Blaine gently extracted himself from the hug and placed his hands on Burt's upper arms to keep him in place. He needed to do this before the doubt and fear returned.

"Are you okay, kid?" Burt asked, concerned. "You're white as a sheet."

Blaine's throat felt like it was closing up, but he forced himself to push forward. "Burt, there's something I have to tell you." He glanced at Kurt briefly, trying desperately to convey his intentions, giving Kurt the opportunity to give him a signal to either go ahead or stop. The panic in Blaine's eyes must have showed, because Kurt swallowed nervously, gave a barely perceptible nod, and immediately rushed over to his side.

"There's something we have to tell you," Kurt said, looking his father dead in the eye. Blaine's insides squirmed in a mixture of anxiety and pride.

"Dad, you…you might need to sit down for this."