Kurt was amazed at how quickly the days slipped by; it all seemed to be a blur of happiness and hormones. Soon it was Friday afternoon and Kurt was helping his dad prepare for Friday night dinner. Blaine was at the Anderson home, Kurt having dropped him off earlier so he could shower and change before joining them at 7PM.

“You know, bud, I’m really happy things are going so great with you and Blaine,” Burt said, glancing at Kurt as he prepared the chicken.

Kurt grinned as he chopped his carrots. “Thanks dad.” He paused for a moment, there was something he had wanted to broach with his father, but he hadn’t been sure of the right timing. “Actually, um... I wanted to ask you something, and I know it’s a lot.”

Burt put down the chicken breast in his hand and turned to Kurt with a frown. “What is it, bud?”

Kurt hesitated for a moment, not sure how to say it, then finally just blurted it. “Can Blaine stay over?”

Burt seemed surprised, but Kurt quickly continued before he could say no.

“It’s just that Blaine, he uh, he doesn’t have a very supportive home life, and I thought it would be nice if he could stay here sometimes, mostly just on weekends, but this way-” 

“Whoa, slow down, bud,” Burt said, cutting him off.

Kurt stopped for a moment and took a breath. “I just don’t want Blaine to spend the whole weekend locked away in his room,” Kurt finally said, hoping his father could see his sincerity.

Burt opened his mouth and then closed it again, and he looked as if he was chewing on a rock. He was obviously conflicted.

“Please, dad?”

Burt sighed. “You know, Kurt, I want nothing more than to give you a lecture about ‘my house, my rules,’ and tell you you’re too young to have your boyfriend sleep over.” Burt shook his head and considered Kurt for a moment. “But I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Kurt asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Because Kurt, I can’t tell you this is only my house when you’re the one running it while I’m gone,” Burt said, and he seemed to be both proud and grudging. “You do all the grocery shopping, you pay the bills for me, you make this house a home for our family. It’s just as much your house as it is mine.”

Kurt smiled at his dad, happy to be appreciated. “Thanks, dad.”

“And with all of those responsibilities on your shoulders, how can I deny that you’re a grown man, now?” Burt’s eyes shone and he grinned. “You are 18 after all - I can’t exactly dictate your life anymore,” he said before reconsidering. “Now Blaine, he’s a year younger than you, are you sure his parents-”

“They won’t mind,” Kurt said quickly, cutting Burt off. “And Blaine will be 18 in a couple of months.” It was a relatively common practice to delay kindergarten by a year for some children; Kurt wondered if that was the reason for Blaine’s age. 

Burt considered for a moment, before taking a deep breath. “OK, he can stay over,” he said. “I won’t say he can’t stay over on school nights, but I would prefer that you avoid it, at least most of the time.”

Kurt grinned and had to stop himself from jumping up and down, but he did grab his dad and hug him. “Thank you, dad!”

Burt smiled as he hugged Kurt and patted his back.

--

Blaine showed up promptly at seven, and they all sat down for dinner shortly after. The meal was delicious and the conversation was mostly centered around Glee and football. Kurt loved watching Blaine interact with his family; his boyfriend was already pretty comfortable around Finn, and he was slowly getting to know Carole and Burt.

After dinner, the two boys spent the evening watching movies in Kurt’s room. By the end of the night, Kurt was sitting up against the headboard, Blaine’s head resting on Kurt’s lap and Kurt happily playing with the loose curls at the base of Blaine’s neck. 

"It's late, babe," Kurt said. "Would your parents mind if you stayed over tonight? I don't really want you driving home tired."

"They wouldn't care," Blaine replied, before Kurt's question really sunk in and he looked up at Kurt with surprise. "Like, the whole night? What about your parents?"

"My dad said it was OK," Kurt said with a smile. He hesitated for a moment before letting his voice drop to an order. "Stay over with me." 

"OK," Blaine agreed easily, but then he frowned a bit. "I don't have anything to sleep in."

"That's alright," Kurt said, gently pushing Blaine to sit up on the bed so he could get up and walk over to his closet. He pulled out his best pair of blue silk pajamas and handed them to Blaine. "You can wear these, if you’d like."

Kurt hoped Blaine wouldn't mind, that he wouldn't think Kurt was crossing a line. But Blaine’s eyes lit up and Kurt relaxed. 

"They're beautiful, Kurt. Of course I’ll wear them."

They both got changed for bed, eyes catching furtive glances of each other as they stripped down and changed into their pajamas. 

“Make sure you hang up your clothes, I hate seeing great clothes tossed about the room like they don't matter” Kurt said.

“OK,” Blaine nodded, accepting Kurt’s instructions easily and hanging his clothes in the closet.

Kurt showed Blaine to the bathroom, and they both shared the sink as they readied for bed. Kurt found himself enjoying the simple feeling of domesticity; he had even picked up a new toothbrush, just for Blaine, and it now lived in the cup next to Kurt’s.

“What about your hair gel?” Kurt asked. “Don’t you usually rinse that out?”

“Oh,” Blaine said, reaching up to touch his hair. “Well, yes, but...” His face turned a bit red. “My curls are a bit much; I don’t know if I should subject you to the worst bed head imaginable.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Kurt assured. “Come here, let me take care of it.”

There was just a slight hesitation from Blaine before he let Kurt lead him to the sink. Kurt carefully guided his head under the spray of warm water, using his finger tips to gently work the product out of Blaine’s hair. When he was done we grabbed a towel and lightly scrubbed him dry, pulling it back to revealed wild and untamed curls.

Blaine straightened, took one look at himself in the mirror and squeaked, covering his face with his hands.

“It’s not that bad,” Kurt said, chuckling. “I think you look adorable.” He grabbed the top of Blaine’s head and kissed it. “You and your frizzy curls.”

Blaine groaned, but peeked out at Kurt from between his fingers. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Kurt pressed a quick kiss to Blaine’s lips, then took his hand and led him back to the bedroom. "Come on." Kurt beckoned towards the bed, turning back the sheets and climbing under the covers.

Blaine crawled up the bed and slipped in next to Kurt, cuddling into him with a happy sigh. Kurt reached over to switch off the lamp before he wrapped Blaine up tightly in his arms, pressing another kiss to his curls.

"Goodnight, babe," Kurt whispered.

"Goodnight, Kurt," Blaine murmured, already half asleep.

Kurt smiled as he felt sleep claim him, warm and content with his boyfriend in his arms.

--

The first thing Blaine was aware of as he drifted awake was the warm weight pressed to his back and draped across his waist. As his mind cleared, he realized it was Kurt, wrapped around him from behind. Blaine sighed and let his mind drift, enjoying the security of Kurt’s arms.

“Good morning,” Kurt whispered in Blaine’s ear, his voice husky with sleep.

“Good morning,” Blaine replied, turning in Kurt’s arms to look up at him.

Kurt grinned at him fondly and pressed a quick kiss to Blaine’s lips, and then another to Blaine’s hair.

“I love your bed head.”

Blaine groaned and blushed; he knew he must look like a complete mess. But when he looked up at Kurt and only found adoration in his eyes Blaine tentatively smiled back, grin growing wider when Kurt kissed him again.

“This is wonderful - I love waking up with you,” Kurt said, smiling fondly at Blaine. “Will you stay over tonight as well?”

 “Of course I will,” Blaine replied easily before he frowned, considering something. “But I might need to go home for some clothes today.”

“Alright.” Kurt nodded. “Then I'll drive you.” Blaine had only stayed over the one night, but Kurt was already reluctant to separate from him. 

“OK,” Blaine agreed. He seemed a little surprised, but he didn’t try to change Kurt’s mind.

Later that morning when they pulled up into the driveway, Blaine was glad his parents were always gone on the weekends, off doing whatever it was they do at the country club. As he unlocked the front door, Kurt's hand was warm on the small of his back.

"This is the first time I've been in your house," Kurt commented at they walked inside. "It's beautiful."

"My mother would be happy to hear you say that," Blaine said, hoping Kurt couldn’t hear the bitterness in his voice. "Thank you."

Kurt was quiet for a minute as he took in the large house and beautiful entry, following Blaine up the stairs towards his room.

"Blaine, why haven't I met your parents?" Kurt asked.

Blaine chewed on his lower lip as he climbed the stairs. He wanted to answer Kurt as truthfully as he could, but his parents were a complicated issue.

"Well, they don't really know that I have a boyfriend," Blaine admitted as they reached the top stair.

"What?" Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand so that he had to turn and face him. "Why not?" Kurt's eyes were more confused than anything, but there was a hint of worry, and possibly insecurity.

Blaine frowned and looked at his feet. "My parents don't exactly approve of my 'lifestyle choices.' They’re ashamed of having a gay son."

Which was to say, his father thought he was disgusting and his mother thought he was going to hell.

"Oh, Blaine, I’m so sorry," Kurt said, tugging Blaine into his arms. “I can only imagine having parents that don’t support you. But I’m here for you.”

Blaine sagged against Kurt's chest, letting out a shaky breath. He shut his eyes and tried to push back the sting.

"Come on, show me your room," Kurt said, voice strong in a way that always relaxed Blaine.

Blaine nodded and wordlessly led Kurt into his room. Obeying Kurt always made him feel better, but today it didn't entirely make the knot in his stomach release. Talking about his parents was stressful for Blaine.

"I love your room," Kurt said, wandering over to Blaine’s book shelf to examine it’s contents.

“Thank you,” Blaine replied, crossing to his closet. He was still wearing the clothes he had worn the night before, and he needed to change.

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

“So, I chose the schools I’m apply to,” Kurt said, as if looking for a change of subject. “Parsons, FIT and the Pratt Institute. They’re all top rated fashion schools in New York.”

Blaine’s stomach clenched at the unwelcome reminder; he was starting to hate New York, and he’d never even been there. He glared at his closet, hiding his agitation from Kurt, and suddenly choosing clothes seemed like the most difficult task he’d ever faced.  

Blaine couldn’t even begin to figure out what to wear, just looking at his clothes made him anxious and irritated. He let out a long whine of frustration, burying his face in his hands.

"Babe?"

Kurt crossed the room in a couple long strides and wrapped his arms around Blaine from behind. Blaine left out a huff and dropped his head back on Kurt's shoulder.

"I don't know what to wear," Blaine said. "Pick something out for me? Please?"

"OK," Kurt agreed, kissing Blaine's neck before he let go to move around him to stand in front of the closet. He quickly flipped through each item, eyes scanning quickly to take stock. He ducked down to the racks where Blaine's kept his shoes and accessories, thumbing through them.

"Wear this," Kurt said, pulling out a green button up, a white sweater and grey slacks. He paired it with Blaine's white Chucks and green belt.

Blaine let out a relieved sigh, smiling as he took the clothes. "Yes, Kurt."

"Oh, also," Kurt crossed to Blaine's dresser and started pulling open drawers until he found what he wanted. 

Blaine blushed when he realized Kurt was in his underwear drawer, but god that was so hot.

Kurt pulled out a pair of green socks and slate grey briefs, grinning as he handed them to Blaine. "And these."

"OK," Blaine said, ducking his eyes as he took the socks and underwear.

Kurt grinned and grabbed Blaine's face, kissing him firmly.

--

Blaine ended up sleeping over Saturday night as well. Kurt liked it that way, he always felt better when Blaine was with him, when Kurt knew that Blaine was safe and his needs were being taken care of. On Sunday night Blaine finally went home.

Despite learning more about Blaine’s parents, he had still expected them to disapprove how much time Blaine was spending at Kurt’s house. But Blaine’s assumptions had been correct; if anything they seemed to be happy to have him out of their hair.

The week passed quickly, and on Friday Kurt was getting ready for school when his phone buzzed, and he grabbed it off the bed. There was text from Blaine, who had stayed at the Anderson house the night before.

From Blaine

What should I wear today?

Kurt was surprised to see this come up again, but he was happy to help. In his mind he quickly ran through what he knew of Blaine’s wardrobe.

From Kurt

Red polo, black capris, red chucks, no socks, yellow belt. And my letterman's jacket, of course. :)

From Blaine

Ok. Um, underwear?

From Kurt

I want you to wear those little black briefs with the red piping. 

From Blaine

Yes, Kurt.

Kurt wasn't really sure where ”Yes, Kurt” was coming from, but Blaine started saying it more and more often. In person, Blaine’s eyes would glaze over and a small smile would ghost across his lips. It was also usually accompanied by Blaine's shoulders dropping and his whole body relaxing.

Kurt tried to pull his thoughts away from his boyfriend as he continued to get ready, fixing his hair in the mirror. A minute later his phone buzzed again and Kurt pick it up to find another text with a picture attached.

From Blaine

Is this ok?

The picture had been snapped in Blaine's full length mirror; he was wearing exactly what Kurt had asked for. Kurt smiled as he tapped out a reply.

From Kurt

You look gorgeous. I'm leaving soon to pick you up, be ready at 7.

The reply was almost instant.

From Blaine

Yes, Kurt.

--

When Kurt pulled up to Blaine’s house he was surprised to see an unfamiliar black BMW in the driveway. He assumed it must belong to Blaine's father, but the man had seemed to be entirely absent in the month that Kurt had known Blaine, so he couldn’t say for sure.

Blaine suddenly came flying out the front door, and before Kurt could step out the other boy sprinted around the side of the car and climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut. Kurt was startled to see anger burning on Blaine’s face.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Kurt asked, reaching out for Blaine.

"Please, please just drive," Blaine snapped. He wasn't looking at Kurt; he was looking at the living room window of his house.

Kurt turned and saw who could only be Blaine's father, glaring at them with his arms crossed over his chest. The look on his face was cold and disgusted, and Kurt felt a responding rage building in his gut. He glared back for a moment before he reached for the gear shift and put the car in reverse, quickly pulling out of the driveway and away from the obvious source of Blaine's distress.

They drove in silence for a minute, but at the first red light, Kurt turned to face Blaine.

"Tell me what happened," Kurt ordered, both needing answers and hoping that a direct command would help Blaine calm down.

It seemed to - Blaine's breathing started to slow and his shoulders dropped as he looked at Kurt.

"He found out," Blaine said. "He saw the hickey on my neck."

Kurt frowned. He loved that Blaine never made any attempts to cover the hickeys Kurt left on his skin; Blaine would walk around all day long with his head held high, Kurt's mark plain to see. Kurt had never considered what would happen if Blaine's dad saw it. But Kurt had been leaving marks on Blaine for ages now; was Blaine's dad so distant that he'd just now noticed for the first time?

"He asked if I had a new girlfriend he should now about," Blaine said, voice bitter. "He knows I'm gay, Kurt, I've told him. Why would he say that?"

"Oh, babe, I'm so sorry." Kurt reached for Blaine's hand and gripped it. He absolutely hated that Blaine's dad didn't support him; Kurt hated anything that caused Blaine distress.

"I said 'no, my boyfriend gave it to me,'" Blaine continued, letting out a frustrated huff. "That didn't go over very well."

The light turned green and Kurt had to turn back to the road, but he brought Blaine's hand up so he could press a kiss to his knuckles.

"I'm so proud of you for being honest, no matter how much it hurt," Kurt said. "My good boy," he murmured.

When Kurt glanced at Blaine, his eyes were hooded and dark, and his face radiated with need.

"Your good boy," Blaine replied, voice a little rough.

"Mine," Kurt said, pressing another kiss to Blaine's hand.

--

Blaine was quiet as he followed Kurt through the halls of McKinley, gripping his boyfriend's hand tightly. 

They reached his locker and he just glared at it for a long minute. He was still angry, and had to resist the urge to punch something to release the tension.

"Switch out the books you need for the first half of your day," Kurt said, his voice sounded concerned, but the command was clear.

"Yes, Kurt," Blaine replied, opening his locker and putting away the books he didn't need until after lunch, pulling out what he did need for his first block of classes.

Blaine shut his locker with a sigh, already feeling a little better. Just following that simple order had helped him release some of his stress and anger. Blaine looked expectantly at Kurt, and his boyfriend returned the look with concern, clearly worried.

"Hey, bros!"

"Good morning, Puck," Kurt said, appearing a little irritated to have his attention pulled away from Blaine. 

"We still on for Hudmel movie night tonight?"

"I forgot about that," Kurt said with a frown, looking to Blaine. "Do you think you still feel up for that?"

"Yes, Kurt," Blaine replied automatically. He wanted to please. He didn't want to be a bother by messing up his boyfriend's plans.

"You OK, bro?" Puck asked, looking right at Blaine.

Blaine didn't respond, he simply ducked his eyes and looked to Kurt, deferring to his boyfriend to reply.

Kurt frowned at him, confusion on his face. But he turned to Puck to say, "Blaine has just had a bit of a rough morning, but he'll be OK, right Blaine?"

"Yes, Kurt," Blaine said with a small smile, eyes only on Kurt. The more Blaine focused on Kurt the better he felt, and he was already putting his anger out of his mind.

"Um, I should get you to first period," Kurt said, eyes still worrying over Blaine. "See you in class, Puck."

"Yeah, see you," Puck replied, appearing quite confused as he watched them walk away.

Kurt took Blaine’s hand and led him down the hall, and Blaine followed a half step behind. He felt the remainder of his stress slip away as Kurt took the lead, guiding Blaine to class

Until Kurt squeezed his hand and walked away, leaving Blaine standing in front of his Calc class, and the bubble burst. 

He felt as if the stress of his real life was dropped back on his shoulders with a thud, his dad yelling at him, New York dragging Kurt away from him, all of it came flooding back.

Blaine wanted desperately to run after Kurt, to recapture that feeling of calm happiness he had felt with Kurt just a minute earlier. Blaine didn't really understand why Kurt could make him feel as if nothing else in the entire world mattered.

Blaine sighed and turned to class, walking briskly to his seat next to Santana. She raised an eyebrow at him when he dropped into his seat with a glower.

"Trouble in paradise, Munchkin?"

Blaine rolled his eyes at her.

Blaine had trouble focusing in class that morning, all he could hear were his father's cruel words in his mind, telling him how useless he was.

"Wonderful, so now you're a fag and a whore. No son of an Anderson would walk around with another boy's bite marks on his neck. Are you proud? Proud to be a queer slut?"

The words had hurt, rather terribly. Blaine already knew that his father was disappointed in him, that being gay was a wrench in all of John’s plans for Blaine’s life. But he’d never thought his father would be so cruel. 

That had also been the moment when Blaine realized that Kurt meant more to him than his father did. Which was why he snapped back at his father, voice full of venom.

"I am proud! I belong to him and I don't care who knows it!"

Blaine knew that above all else he had truly meant the words he had screamed at his dad that morning. The one thing he wanted more than anything in the world was to belong to Kurt.

--

Kurt was worried, and more than a little bit confused. Blaine had been acting rather strange all day; Kurt could only describe it as quiet and obedient. Kurt knew that Blaine was still upset about his fight with his dad, so this had to be some sort of stress reaction.

Kurt was definitely going to keep Blaine at his house tonight; he hated the thought of his boyfriend going home to such a nasty place.

The two of them spent the afternoon cuddling in front of the TV, just quietly enjoying each other's company. Blaine seemed to come back up out of wherever his mind had been, at least long enough to provide his opinions on the Project Runway reruns they were watching. 

But Blaine got quiet again when their friends started to show up, and when they all started to pile onto the couch for their movie, Blaine slipped down to sit on the floor. He sat there, cuddled up against Kurt's legs and rested his head against Kurt's knee. 

Kurt frowned a bit, but reached out to rest a hand on the back of Blaine's neck, gently tracing his fingertips up and down along Blaine's skin. When the movie was over, the group fell into an easy conversation about their current favorite topic. College applications. 

As Rachel launched into her monologue about NYADA and how perfect the school was for her, Kurt could feel Blaine stiffen a bit where he was still leaning against Kurt's legs. Kurt's fingertips found the hickey on Blaine's neck and traced it with his fingers, feeling Blaine relax again.

The seniors took turns sharing their plans for next year. Finn had just shrugged; he didn't know what he wanted to do yet. Puck was LA bound - something about hundreds of thousands of pools. Mike had applied to dance school in Los Angeles and New York; Quinn had applied to Yale; Santana just wanted to be famous and didn't give a shit about anything else.

"What about you, Hummel?" Santana asked, looking at Kurt with narrowed eyes.

Blaine stiffened again.

"Oh, well, I’m applying to schools in New York," Kurt said, avoiding explaining which schools. Only Blaine knew he intended to apply to fashion schools.

This time Blaine didn’t relax when Kurt traced the mark on his neck. He just sat there and stared at the ground.

Kurt knew Blaine didn’t like being reminded that they would be separated next year; Kurt didn’t really like it either. It was so far away, Kurt was trying not to think about it too much. Despite how new their relationship was, Kurt was confident that they could make it work. Kurt hoped Blaine felt the same. 

They all chatted a bit longer, but eventually everyone started to get up to leave and Kurt pulled Blaine up to his feet so they could follow their friends upstairs. Blaine was quiet, a pensive look on his face, and he stayed close to Kurt's side.

"Hey Hobbit, do you need a ride home?" Santana called out to Blaine from where she and Brittany were putting their Cheerios jackets on.

Santana and Blaine had a strange friendship, but Kurt was just glad that Blaine had other people in his life who cared about him.

But Blaine didn't respond to Santana at all, he just looked up at Kurt and then ducked his eyes, a response that made Santana's eyes narrow dangerously. They flicked back and forth between Kurt and Blaine, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Um, thanks San," Kurt spoke for Blaine. "But he's staying here tonight."

Kurt hadn't told Blaine that yet, but there was no way he would let Blaine go back to face his father, not so soon. Given the way he could feel Blaine relax against him, he knew that was the right thing to say.

"OK," Santana replied, still giving them a suspicious look. 

Kurt was grateful that no one else seemed to be paying attention; having Santana sniffing around was bad enough.

Without a word, Blaine slipped away from Kurt and headed up the stairs. Kurt frowned, pulled by some instinct to go after him, but he thought maybe Blaine wanted some space. So Kurt stuck around to say goodbye to his friends, following Blaine upstairs several minutes later.

Kurt found Blaine already in bed, changed into his pajamas with his back to the door. His clothes were dumped on Kurt's desk chair in a haphazard pile.

Kurt frowned, quietly crossing the room to pick up the clothes. Blaine knew that Kurt hated abuse of clothing, that his clothes were to be hung up or put in the hamper. 

Blaine had never before ignored something Kurt asked of him. Kurt knew that Blaine was a little upset about New York, but in the past, following Kurt’s instructions seemed to help Blaine relax and overcome stress. Why would Blaine’s behavior suddenly change? 

And most importantly, what was Kurt supposed to do to fix it?