The weekend had passed in a hazy blur, most of it spent giggling at the adorable texts he sent him or enjoying the sound of his voice when he called him. He knew that they weren’t close to being serious, but Kurt couldn’t help but hope that they’d reach that point. After all, it wasn’t often you found someone that was willing to go on a date with who he thought was a single dad, and that was essentially what he was now. Any guy who wanted to be with him had to know that Aimee was part of the deal. To know that Blaine loved Aimee as much as he did…

He really wanted this to work out. But it was still too early to tell where they’d end up. He seemed to good to be true.

Before too long, he could hear the scraping of chairs inside the classroom, which meant that the kids were packing their bags and preparing to go home. His heart suddenly hammered in his chest. It wouldn’t be long until he saw him again. Even though they had talked the whole weekend, this was the first time he was seeing him since Friday night at Breadstix. He was insanely nervous. He was soon put out of his misery when a sudden blast of noise told him that the classroom door had opened behind him. He turned around to look at it a moment before Blaine’s head appeared around it.

“I thought I heard someone creeping around outside the classroom,” he said with a huge grin, walking over to Kurt who stood up to hug him tightly. “So happy to see you,” he whispered softly into Kurt’s neck as he hugged him.

“You too,” said Kurt breathlessly, his hammering heart seeming to skip beats here and there. He was suddenly very aware of all the little pairs of eyes watching them and he pulled away with a small smile.

“Mr Anderson, is that your brother?” asked a sandy-haired girl with a confused look on her face.

“Not actually,” replied Blaine with a smile. “He’s Aimee’s big brother. We’re friends.”

“My daddy says that only family should hug each other,” said another boy with a frown. “Otherwise it’s gross.”

Kurt and Blaine exchanged a glance, and Kurt could see the dilemma. Blaine wanted more than anything to tell his student that there was nothing wrong with men hugging each other, but he didn’t want to say anything that would cause a bigger problem. What would happen if this kid went back to his father with what Blaine said to him? What if the father complained about his son having a gay teacher? Although it was completely unfair and unjust, Blaine’s position at the school was precarious. He was a really good teacher, but if his being there caused too much drama he would be fired without question.

Another reason Lima was one of the most charming little towns in the world.

“Well, I think it’s okay for friends to hug each other,” said Blaine tactfully just as the bell rang. Blaine’s face, which had been mildly concerned a few moments ago, was now covered in a massive grin. “Bye, guys! See you all bright and early tomorrow! Don’t forget – tomorrow we start with ‘Space Week’ so remember to bring everything you know about outer space!”

“Yes, Mr Anderson!” the kids chorused as they filed out of the classroom. Aimee stayed behind to give Blaine a hug and took Kurt’s hand pulling him away from the classroom, obviously thinking he had come to collect her.

“Kurt, come on,” she said seriously, stamping her foot when Kurt didn’t budge. “We’re going to miss Dora.”

“Honey, I’m not going with you,” said Kurt with an amused smile, kneeling down to look her in the eye. “I have a meeting with Mr Anderson now.” Aimee’s face immediately contorted into a look of pure terror.

“Is it because of my nightmare the other day?” she asked, her bottom lip trembling. “Am I in trouble?”

“Oh, not at all, Aims,” said Blaine, also sitting on his haunches to speak at her eye level. “Kurt and I just need to talk about some things. I promise you’re still one of the quietest mice.”

“Uncle Puck is coming to get you just now. You’re going to go to his house for the afternoon,” said Kurt, rubbing his thumb comfortingly over her hand.

“Do you think he’d teach me more guitar?” asked Aimee, her face breaking into a smile.

“I’m sure he would,” said Kurt giving her a small kiss on the cheek before he and Blaine stood up.

“Mr Anderson, can I ask you something?” said Aimee looking up at her teacher curiously.

“Sure thing, Aims,” said Blaine with a surprised glance to Kurt.

“Is Kurt really your friend?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“He’s one of my best friends,” said Blaine taking Kurt’s hand and lacing his fingers through his.

Aimee giggled nervously, not quite sure what to do with this new turn of events.

“Can I tell you something even cooler?” asked Blaine and Aimee nodded. “Because Kurt is my good friend, you get to call me Blaine when we’re not in class.”

“Really? I can call you… Blaine?” she asked with big eyes.

“Yup,” he said with a grin.

“Awesome!” she squealed. Kurt took in the scene, not sure whether to laugh or burst into tears. Watching them interact made his heart stop. The sound of a classroom door banging shut further down the hallway brought him back to reality.

“Aims, you better run. You don’t want to be late for Uncle Puck,” he said with a smile.

“Right!” she said, pulling her backpack further up onto her shoulders and running down the hallway. “Bye, Kurt! Bye, Blaine!” she yelled behind her.

“Bye, Aimee!” said Blaine and Kurt together, before turning to smile at each other. Kurt realised that Blaine was still holding his hand and the thought made his smile widen.

“What?” asked Blaine, chuckling.

“This is just… it’s nice,” he said, giving Blaine’s hand a slight squeeze to show him what he was talking about.

“Ah, yes,” he said, lifting Kurt’s hand to kiss it softly. “Definitely.”

“Anyway, when you’re done being adorable, we actually scheduled a meeting,” said Kurt, blushing.

“Very true,” said Blaine. “Oh, wait, I promised coffee, didn’t I? Well, we’ll just have to move this to the Bean, won’t we?”

Kurt watched as Blaine gathered his things and locked his classroom. He marvelled at how easily he changed his plans. Kurt could clearly learn a lot from him.

The drive to the Lima Bean was amazing. Blaine turned on the radio and began singing along to the top-forty hit that was blasting from the speakers. He encouraged Kurt to do the same, and at first Kurt refused. However, after Blaine’s quip that Broadway kids probably couldn’t sing anything but show-tunes anyway, Kurt pointedly joined in and they spent the rest of the drive harmonising together.

“I could definitely get used to that,” said Kurt a few minutes later as they sat down at their table from last time, piping hot coffees in hand.

“I’m hoping you get the chance to,” said Blaine smiling. He took a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes, savouring the taste. “Now, about Aimee’s therapy – I want you to know that even though I’m paying, this is completely your decision and I don’t want you to choose a therapist based on price. I don’t care how much it costs, you have to send her to the therapist that you feel is going to help her the most. In fact, you’re not even going to be allowed to know how much the sessions cost. You’re going to pick purely on who you think is best for Aims.”

“But I –”

“No ‘buts’, Kurt,” said Blaine, taking his hand over the table. “You’re going to send her to whatever therapist she needs, okay?”

“No, I just wanted to say that I have no idea what makes a good therapist,” said Kurt, worriedly. “It was too long ago to remember mine from when I was younger and as a teen I only ever visited the school guidance counsellor. I don’t think I’ve even met another therapist since my last session when I was nine.”

“That’s okay,” said Blaine with a small laugh, “I’ve met many through being a teacher. There are five that we mainly work with; three are great, and two are okay. Of the three great ones, I would probably say Linda is your best bet, although Nerina and Tash are almost on par. Linda is the most open and friendly though. Aimee would love her.”

“Well, let me meet her and the other two and I’ll see what I think,” said Kurt, still feeling nervous. Never, in all his life, did he expect to be looking for a therapist for his baby sister. Yet here he was talking about them as if he were choosing a new sweatshirt for her. He supposed it would change once he met the therapists and he had faces to go with the names. It also couldn’t hurt to phone Rachel to find out which therapist she had always gone to as a child. He knew that that therapist would be worth their weight in gold.

“Sounds good,” agreed Blaine. Then he grinned mischievously, snaking his hand across the table to grasp Kurt’s. “Say, if we call our meeting closed there, does this mean we’re technically on our second date?”

“I think it does,” said Kurt with a grin, tightening his grip around Blaine’s hand. “But please, let’s go somewhere else. Not that the Lima Bean isn’t the most amazing coffee shop in all of Ohio, but, you know, a change of scenery would be nice.”

“Well, I know it’s not the most exciting of outings, but you could always come with me to pick out some new jeans?” said Blaine with a small smirk. “I really need a new pair and since your small comment about me buying my clothes online… I think I might need your expert advice.”

“Are you kidding? You just said all of my trigger words,” said Kurt with a grin. “That would be amazing. I’d love to.”

And he’d be able to check out Blaine’s (admittedly marvelous) ass and look like he was just doing his job.

“We should go then,” he said, jumping out of his chair, excitedly, still holding Kurt’s hand and pulling him towards the door as he laughed. Kurt’s stomach swooped happily. The more time he spent with Blaine, the easier it became to imagine him there forever.

———-

From a corner of the crowded coffee shop, Sebastian sat glowering at Kurt and Blaine. So Blaine Anderson wasn’t as “disconnected” as he had made himself out to be. And Kurt Hummel was more than just the sucker who was about to sign over his precious business to someone he just met.

They were together- a couple.

And he had planned to claim Blaine for himself.

Sebastian was furious for all of two minutes before he realised how big of an opportunity this was. There was definitely a way to kill two birds with one stone.

And, to be honest, he was feeling pretty murderous.