"How is it that every time it seems like Kurt is getting back on the right track he slips and dives right back into trouble?" Blaine's mom asked, her face a mix of shock and exhaustion.

Blaine couldn't believe he had just asked his mom for legal advice for his boyfriend. What happened to the good Dalton student who just wanted to fall in love and date a cute, innocent musical theater lover with whom he could watch silver screen movies and hold his hand while they talked all night?

All of those things suddenly didn't matter anymore. That wasn't who Kurt was, and that wasn't who Blaine had fallen in love with. Instead he had fallen in love with a guy on a motorcycle with holes in his jeans and studs on his boots, a guy who punched people in the face and called him a sappy girl when he got emotional – and that was the guy he loved, who loved him back, who was all he cared about.

"I don't know, mom. He tries so hard. He just wanted to help, I swear. But he feels really bad about it. He's so scared," Blaine explained, hoping he could speak more to his mom's concern about Kurt than her concern about her son.

She took a moment to take off her glasses and rub her eyes with two fingers. He had caught her in the middle of some paperwork for a case she was closing down. She stood up and found a bottle of water from the fridge. She drank half of it before she sat back down and looked at him, obviously a plan on her mind.

"Of course I will help him," she said heavily.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, mom. So much!" Blaine started blabbering out, but stopped when he could see on his mom's face that she hadn't finished talking.

"On one condition -" she said sharply when she was sure Blaine was back to paying full attention. He swallowed hardly and nodded in indication that he was ready for her declaration.

"Sure. Whatever you say. I just want Kurt to be okay," Blaine agreed. At this point she could tell him to bring her the moon and he would do it, as long as it meant that Kurt would get out of trouble.

"I need you to help Kurt back to who he was," she stated, her eyes trained on him.

Blaine stared quizzically at her. He was lost for words. He had no idea how to react to that. What did his mom know about Kurt's past? What did she know about who he used to be and how he had turned out the way he was now? Not to mention: how did she know?

"While you were visiting Cooper I ran into Kurt at the mall. He was hanging out with some friends, so he played tough. When I was on my way home I ran into him at the parking lot and he apologized. He ended up coming here for coffee over the evening," his mom started to tell.

Blaine was puzzled. He was turning his fingers oddly around in his hands, his eyes flickering around the room. He couldn't decide if he was mad or hurt that Kurt hadn't told him about that. Or that his mom hadn't, for that matter.

"We talked and he told me about his life. About how much he loved glee club and fashion and – but he also told me the things that happened to him. About when his dad got sick and he was all alone to take the struggle. About the bullying that no one did anything about. About how neglected he felt when his dad remarried. How lonely he was. And in the end how he changed to distance himself, to protect himself."

All of this wasn't any news to Blaine. Yet it still made everything inside him tie up and twist around in heavy knots. He hated thinking about the things Kurt had been through.

"But – what struck me the most was when he told me that he misses it. He misses really being a part of glee club and not just being that guy in the background. He misses being able to gush about clothes and wear the best brands. To go crazy over musicals and tear up at songs," she told.

There was nothing Blaine could do but stare at her. He knew that Kurt wasn't as tough as he claimed to be, and he knew that Kurt was slowly starting to let himself soften up, but he had no idea it was troubling him.

"The thing is that he's afraid that if he changes it will change how you feel about him. He's scared that you won't wanna be with him, then. Because that's not the boy you fell in love with," his mom said, her face contorted in worried lines.

"I could never -" Blaine started to blabber, no need to think it over.

"I know, Blaine – and he does too. But that doesn't stop him from being scared that he'll lose you if he changes. Being with you is the most important thing in the world to him."

Blaine leaned back in his chair and stared at the papers spread across the dining table. They were filled with legal terms and symbols. Notes were scribbled all over in his mom's elegant handwriting.

"But – what should I do? I can't just... I mean, I've told him so many times that -" he stammered awkwardly.

"I don't know... I was thinking if you could just find a way to steer him in the right direction. Just make sure to let him know that you support him in those things. Talk to him about clothes and music and let him know that you love doing those things with him. I really think it would mean a lot to him. Maybe he even could get back to his plan of studying musical theater," she suggested.

He took a moment. Considered what he could do in a general every-day-situation where he and Kurt were together. He thought of the times he had considered asking Kurt for his opinion on an outfit or when they had agreed to watch a movie and he had wanted to suggest a musical or another romantic movie but avoided it because he didn't want to hear Kurt call him a girl.

But had Kurt's original plan been getting into musical theater? How had he never mentioned that when he knew Blaine was hoping to go that way himself?

"Sure. I mean – I can try. It's just so hard, you know. But of course. I will do anything for him. I love him so much, mom." Blaine's voice was thick and he felt a sudden need to protect his boyfriend and show him exactly how much he was willing to do everything for him.

"I know, honey. And he loves you too," Blaine's mom cooed and squeezed his hand on the table between them.

"If you could give me the number of Kurt's dad I will call him and see if I can arrange a meeting tonight or tomorrow so we can discuss how to tackle Kurt's situation. Don't worry, honey – it will be fine," she assured him, and Blaine knew that it meant he was supposed to leave her to close up her work, so he agreed and left to go to his room where he called up Kurt.

No reaction. He fell on his bed and stared at the hat-stand at the corner of the room with his phone clenched in his hand, his arm curled between the mattress and his chest. Now he had nothing to do but wait for Kurt to respond to his missed call.

After ten minutes he was going insane. He was staring mindlessly into the wall, so he found his phone and called up Tina instead. Of course she picked up with the speed of lightning. The first thing she asked to was if Kurt was okay. That honestly made him grin. Apparently Tina and Kurt had become close very fast over the morning.

He told her about the letter and Kurt's talk with his dad. Then he told about his talk with his mom – leaving out too much of Kurt's personal business. Even though he completely respected Kurt's choice to not talk to anyone about these things Blaine still felt the need to discuss it with someone. And now he considered it, a lot of the things his mom had told him about Kurt were things Tina would have known considering she and Kurt had been in school together for a long time before he changed.

"Did you – did you know that Kurt wanted to do musical theater?" He asked carefully. He shifted to lie on his back and looked to the ceiling. He could feel his eyelashes tickling the top of his eyelids, so he closed his eyes while waiting for an answer.

"He talked about it before. Back then, before he, you know... changed. He didn't use to talk much, he was very introverted. But he whenever he talked it was mostly about musical theater, and how he wanted to get into a musical theater college when he had finished high school. But that's a long time ago," Tina explained.

She sounded unsure, not much to Blaine's surprise. It was a very out-of-the-blue question. Somehow the atmosphere in her voice felt like she was afraid to say something wrong, but all Blaine wanted to know was the truth. He needed to know how much the people who had known Kurt longer than him knew about the person Kurt used to be – if getting into musical theater was a dream of Kurt's that was where Blaine wanted to direct him.

"Why are you asking? Did he say something? Is he back to wanting that?" She asked.

"No. It was just... I never heard about it. I mean – I knew that he used to be in glee club before and he was pretty excited about it. But he never mentioned planning of taking it as a future," Blaine told quietly.

"Then how do you get to that now?"

"Apparently he told my mom. While I was in New York with Cooper."

Blaine did his best to sound as casual about it as he possibly could, but he knew that it wasn't exactly like he was good at hiding anything from Tina.

"Blaine... don't take it too heavy. The past few years he has done everything he could to be all about his image of being tough. He probably didn't want you to know because he wants you to see him as this hardcore, badass guy. But he's softening up to you," she said softly. Blaine knew that if they had been together she would have smiled at him and stroked his hand lightly before getting an idea with the purpose of cheering him up.

He knew all of that. He just needed to find out how to help Kurt the best. With a heavy breath he was just about to pour his worries out to Tina, but he was interrupted by a knock on his door. He called whoever it was in, a suction filling his stomach.

"Tina, I gotta go. Kurt just came," he said and took her accept and goodbye before hanging up. He only made it to let the phone fall to the bed before Kurt was on the bed, pushing him to the mattress so he could lie on top of Blaine with a heavy kiss.

Kurt tasted strongly of cigarettes and coffee. It was a long time ago Kurt had started making sure he had a lot of gum to cover up the taste whenever he was with Blaine, so it was a surprise that the taste of nicotine was so prominent in Blaine's mouth.

"Hey. I had no idea you would be coming over," Blaine said as Kurt backed away to stroll his fingers down Blaine's temple.

"I wasn't. But I saw that you called and I missed you. I was just in the neighborhood, so I figured I would come see you," Kurt smiled and nudged his nose playfully against Blaine's cheek, but his eyes were sad.

With a quick movement Blaine had his arms around Kurt and twisted him to lie on his back so Blaine could lie atop of him. He looked down on Kurt under him, watching his boyfriend, take in his face and features.

"I think you're beautiful," Blaine cooed, the corners of his mouth twitching ever so lightly.

Kurt shot him a smile. A sympathetic smile, it seemed. He chewed on his lower lip and tilted his head to the side as he looked up at Blaine.

"I love how you always find the best in everything. Even in the worst," he said with a thumb brushing over Blaine's elbow.

"And – the best in the best. Like with you," Blaine grinned broadly.

"Like I said; even in the worst," Kurt objected a little dryly. He padded Blaine's back lightly so Blaine could lie down next to him rather than on top of him. Kurt turned on his side so he could rest his head on his arm.

"I uhm... I was wondering – have you figured out what you wanna do after school? I mean, it's kinda too late for you to apply anywhere now, but if you start preparing now you can apply to start after Christmas," Blaine mumbled.

His eyes were locked on the way his palm was running over the bedding, evening out the folds and feeling the soft fabric under his fingers. When he looked up at Kurt he was watching him with a confused glance.

"I told you – I'm going to work for my dad until you graduate and we can get away together. I can't do that if I'm wasting my time applying to a school that won't take me any way. Besides, there is nothing I wanna do. So I might as well stay here and make some money so I can be your sugar daddy while you go to college," Kurt said like it was the most logical thing in the world.

"But Kurt... I don't wanna keep you back here. You can go out and do so much!" Blaine said and clasped his hand over Kurt's between their chests.

"Blaine – there's nothing I wanna do or can do. So I might as well do the one thing I'm good at: work at my dad's shop. When you get your freedom I will follow you wherever you wanna go and I can get a job at some tire shop there," Kurt sighed heavily, stroking his thumb over the back of Blaine's hand.

With a roll of his eyes and a patient smile Blaine quickly sat up. He crossed his legs and grabbed Kurt's hand between both of his own as he looked down on him, Kurt still lying on the bed but a puzzled expression covering his face.

"Listen... lately I've considered that – when I graduate I wanna get into a college for performing arts. Musical theater," he said and watched as something flickered in Kurt's eyes, but he kept his pokerface.

"I want you to go with me. I know you miss it. And I'm sure you'll be amazing. I'm not saying we should be one of those couples that can't do anything by themselves... but I can feel in you that this is what you love. I don't want you to miss out on your happiness because you feel like you have something to prove," Blaine said, doing his best to show Kurt the plea in his heart – the plea that Kurt would allow himself to do what he wanted to.

"I'm not trying to prove anything. I just think musical theater is lame," Kurt mumbled.

"No, you don't. You love it. It's a part of you. Please, prove to me that you will allow yourself to do something good for yourself. You can always stop if you feel like it's not your thing. But please," Blaine continued.

He felt stupid for begging Kurt to do this. This was supposed to be Kurt's dream, what Kurt wanted and needed for himself. It shouldn't be so hard to convince him.

"Musical theater sucks. I thought you were supposed to make me happy," Kurt snorted.

"I am. But you're supposed to make yourself happy as well, dumbass!" Blaine chuckled and leaned forwards to place a kiss on Kurt's hair.

"Just – think about it. For my sake," he said softly, closing the issue in a way he hoped could make Kurt remember it later.

"You chick. Come here and kiss me. I wanna grope you," Kurt laughed and put his arm around Blaine's neck so he could pull him down to lie back next to Kurt.

Kurt dragged Blaine close so they were clasped together. He kissed him, and they granted their hands freedom enough to run around under shirts and hands down over jeans. Their crotches were rutting against each other barely enough to get any friction, but still enough to make a tingling spread in Blaine's body.

"My mom promised to help you. She wants to have a meeting with you and your dad so she can hear about it all and so she can make some sort of strategy. She'll get you out of this. It'll be fine. When are you going in for hearing?"

He almost didn't wanna open the subject. If he could decide Kurt would get to forget all about it and never have to worry about it again. But he had to ask, and he had to tell Kurt what his mom had promised.

"Thursday," Kurt said and as predicted his mood dropped visibly.

"I'll go talk to your mom before I leave. Can we not talk about this?" Kurt grunted and curled his arms around each other as he moved closer to Blaine, forcing Blaine to wrap his arms around him.

"Sure. Of course," Blaine sighed, even though he knew it was a bad idea. They needed to discuss it.

They stayed with Blaine's arms around Kurt on the bed. Kurt had his entire face hidden against Blaine's chest and every now and then he would do a quiet hum followed by his lips featherly pressed to Blaine's neck.

"You're sweet. Thank you for caring," he whispered against Blaine's collarbone.

With a soft smile Blaine let his hand run over Kurt's hair and down his back, strengthening his other hand on the lower of his back, before he kissed the crown of his head.

"I love you. It's my job."

xXx

Monday night was excruciating to get through. When Blaine had come home from school he had asked his mom when they were going to Kurt's house to make a strategy for his hearing. Then his mom had told him that Blaine wouldn't be joining them.

"What? But I have to be there. Kurt needs me there!" Blaine objected. He was utterly confused as to why his mom wouldn't him go so he couldn't support his boyfriend.

"No, Blaine. Listen – Kurt's dad and I agreed that it was for the best if you won't be there. That way Kurt won't be distracted and he will be easier to soften up. I'm sorry, honey," his mom explained softly.

"But – he'll tell me everything after, anyway," Blaine stammered, uncomfortably aware of how right his mom was. Kurt would surely be a lot more difficult to talk to if Blaine was present.

"I know. And that is Kurt's choice. But we need Kurt to be focused and honest. No playing tough. This is too important," she sighed and continued watering the plants around the living room.

Damn how he hated when she was right.

And with that he accepted his defeat. He was tripping his foot nervously under the table as they had their early dinner and watched his mom's car leave the driveway and disappear down the street. The time following was a dread to haul through.

He played a little around the pavement in the driveway where his dad had put up a basket hoop when Cooper was a teenager. He walked around the garden. He flipped through magazines and went through every channel on TV. He was completely restless.

However, at 10.45 his phone and he was so quick that he dropped it to the floor. He fumbled around to pick it up and answer, his heart racing in anticipation of the news.

"Kurt? What happened?" He asked, hearing his own voice quiver lightly.

"Hey sexy. I had planned to open this conversation very differently," Kurt said with a smirk in his voice. Blaine knew that tone a little too well. He was not having any of that when he had been on toes all night to hear about what they had agreed without him.

"I was actually more planning about telling you where my hand is right now," Kurt groaned, not leaving anything to the imagination.

"Kurt, please – I wanna know what happened," Blaine sighed.

"But, Blaine... I kept thinking about was how you would look in one of those old school striped prison outfits, and I would make you my prison-bitch and just fuck you all the time in our bunks," Kurt grunted, fabrics rustling in the background.

"Kurt!" Blaine burst out, his cheeks flaming embarrassingly even after so many months of sex and fooling around and speaking dirty words bluntly, both on the phone and directly to each other.

"Blaine – fuck – Blaine. So good. Your ass. God the best, baby -" Kurt cried weakly into the phone, and there was a thump through the speaker. Probably Kurt dropping his phone as he came.

There was a moment where all Blaine could hear was rustling of tissues and whimpers from Kurt followed by tweaking springs.

"Fuck! I – I love you so much, Blaine," Kurt mumbled into the phone, sleepy and sated.

"Will you be serious now?" Blaine snapped, probably a little too catty, but he really didn't think Kurt was being fair.

"Yeah. Sure. Sure, babe. What do you wanna know?" Kurt moaned.

"I wanna know what's going on? What's gonna happen on Thursday? I just... Kurt, I'm actually really scared," he admitted.

"Blaine. There's nothing to be scared of. Honey, it'll be fine. We're just gonna go in there and I'll tell them what happened. Your mom is gonna talk to Puck too and she'll see if she can get a hold of those kids' parents. I'll either get a fine or some community service or something," Kurt cooed, the entire atmosphere in his voice changed to soft and caring.

"So – you definitely won't go to jail or something?" Blaine asked, needing to hear Kurt assure him of this.

"No. Of course I won't. You can't get rid of me that easy," Kurt chuckled.

"I don't wanna get rid of you. That's sort of my point," Blaine sighed, running his fingers down the bedspread he was lying on. He wished he could run his fingers over Kurt's back instead. He loved when Kurt was asleep on his front with no shirt on, so Blaine could watch him sleep and run his fingers down his back. His skin was soft and untouched there. No scars or bruises, only a tiny beauty mark where his muscles created a valley towards his spine.

"I love you, Kurt," Blaine said, suddenly feeling emotional.

"Your mom is tough and sharp. She'll save my ass," Kurt declared, uncertainty simmering under the surface of his voice.

"I know. I think she loves you. She definitely really cares about you," Blaine said and smiled about the thought that his mom was so happy about them being together. If only his dad felt the same way it would be perfect.

"Well, I'm spoken for, so she can quit that -" Kurt laughed and Blaine could hear he was killing a yawn.

"Ew, Kurt – that's my mom!" Blaine cringed and laughed.

They chatted lightly about Blaine's school and how he had spent the day. Kurt hadn't gone to school, but Blaine didn't give him a hard time about it. He hadn't expected him to go after the events of the weekend. After a little while they said goodnight and hung up. Blaine got ready for bed, but laid awake for what felt like ages, thinking about what would happen to Kurt.

xXx

Blaine survived the upcoming days by listening to his mom's assurances that it would be fine, and from Kurt's texts about how much he loved his ass. He didn't tell his friends at Dalton about what had happened with Kurt – he didn't wanna risk them going back to judge Kurt.

Wednesday night he was worried sick. He couldn't eat anything, all he did was poke around his food on his plate, feeling his mom's sharp glance on him. He took a shower but didn't bother blowdrying his hair even though he knew that he would regret it when he had to fight with straightener and gel in the morning. Around eight he had wandered restlessly around the house several times when he finally dumped down on a kitchen chair in front of his mom. She was moving her fingers expertly around the keys of her laptop with a pencil in her hair, glasses on her nose and a large cup of coffee with the pot no longer than an arm's length from her.

"What's going on? Talk to me, sweetheart," she suddenly said and stared up at him.

He had been sitting there, his torso loosely swung over the table, for a good ten minutes. He was even starting to think that she hadn't even noticed he had joined her.

"What? No, it's nothing," he shrugged and sat up, resting his cheek on his arm as he looked up at her.

"You're a terrible liar. I know it's about Kurt," she sighed and pushed her computer a little to the side so she could have a better look at her son.

"It's nothing. I'm just worried. What if he messes up tomorrow? What if he – gets mad and locks up. He does that, you know. Sometimes, when we're having a fight, he'll just get all stubborn and snappy," Blaine told, biting his lower lip.

"You fight?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as if she wanted him to elaborate.

"No. Not like fight-fight. Just some bickering. Like everyone does. Nothing serious," Blaine assured her, way too worn out to bother getting upset about it.

His mom took a deep breath and leaned down over the table, resting her chin on her flat hands. Blaine mirrored her position and they were now nose-to-nose, eyes staring directly into each other.

"Kurt is not dumb. I know that you know that he isn't. He is slowly starting to get a grip back of himself. When I was at his house Monday night he was so mature and reasonable that I almost couldn't recognize him. I am sure he won't do anything to mess up. Not for himself, but for you. If he didn't have you he wouldn't care if he got locked away or if he got into other troubles. But I am certain that you make him wanna be a better person," she told him, her eyes as dark and shiny as Blaine's own.

Blaine had always loved his mother's eyes. To him they represented home and honesty. It was safety, like the way she made him feel when she sang to him when he was little. If there was one person in the world Blaine admired more than anyone it was his mom.

"Thank you. For helping him. I just – want what's best for him," Blaine said, almost biting his own tongue as his chin worked against his fingers.

"I know, sweetie. But I promise that tomorrow we will go in there and I will make sure he kicks ass on this hearing. I'll rub an onion on his eyes and get him to cry so we can pull the sympathy card," she laughed, but quickly fell silent.

She looked intensely at him with that pondering look only mothers use when they look at their child who seems to be in a huge crisis.

"I promise I'll take care of him. It's gonna work out," she cooed and ran her fingers through his loose curls. Blaine leaned into the feeling of his mom's hand softly in his hair, humming lightly from the calming gesture.

"I love your curls. I wish you didn't always do your best to hide them," she said and sighed heavily. He knew he had changed a lot after becoming a teenager. Everything would be much easier if he could go back to be five – if he still could have Kurt.

"My curls are sent from hell. I look like a caveman like this," he groaned and rolled his eyes, but smiled. His mom always told him how much she loved his curls. At least, she used to. Now they didn't talk half as much as Blaine wished because he often was busy with Kurt, school and other things.

"You do not! You're adorable," she grinned and jumped to her feet. She leaned down to kiss the back of his head.

She rustled around the kitchen for a little while and returned with hot chocolate for both of them. Yeah, Blaine really had the best mom in the world. She closed up her work and they curled up on the couch to watch Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. By the end of the night Blaine had fallen asleep coiled up against his mom, only interrupted when she carefully pushed him awake to get him to bed.