"You know, if this leaves any kind of permanent mark, I'm suing your father." He called out to Blaine, who was arranging his meagre supply of clothes in a cleared out section of Kurt's wardrobe.

"I'll help you make the case." He called back, stuffing the last shirt onto a hanger and closing the wardrobe doors. "Are you sure my staying here will be okay with your dad? I can always go live with Wes or David."

Kurt turned to face his boyfriend, smiling softly.

"He'll be fine with it. I'm more worried about what I'm going to tell him about this." He pointed at his cheek, brow creased in concern.

Blaine sighed, crossing the room and taking Kurt's face gently in his hands.

"I'm so sorry he hurt you Kurt. I should have stepped in sooner, this is all my fault." He dropped his gaze, looking thoroughly dejected.

"Blaine, no." Kurt gripped Blaine's waist, shaking him slightly till he looked up again. "This is most definitely not your fault. You didn't hit me. You're not being completely homophobic. It was your dad, and I know how hard it is for you to confront him. Don't blame yourself for his ignorance, there's nothing you could have done that would have calmed him down."

Blaine smiled softly again, sliding his hands down slightly so the rested on either side of Kurt's neck, and touching their foreheads together.

"I love you." He whispered, as Kurt pulled him closer.

"I love you too." Kurt angled his head to press their lips together, about to deepen the kiss when the doorbell rang. "Damn cock-blocking doorbell." He muttered before turning and dragging Blaine downstairs.

Once they reached the front door, Kurt wrenched it open, making a small noise of surprise when he saw who it was.

"Dad, what are you doing home? I thought you were going to take Carole out for dinner." Burt stepped through the door, closing it behind himself and taking off his shoes.

"Yeah, I was, but she got stuck with the night shift so I... what happened to your face?" Burt had looked up at last and noticed the purple bruise covering his son's cheek.

"Oh er... I um..." Kurt floundered for an excuse. "I ran into a door." It was so pathetic that Kurt knew his dad wouldn't believe him before it had even left his mouth.

"Oh really?" Burt raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Was it that Karofsky kid again? Cos we can get him expelled with evidence like that."

"No Dad, it's nothing, just an accident. Look I-"

"Kurt you need to tell me if people are hurting you. How else am I supposed to help?" Burt was getting more and more worked up about it, but Kurt didn't know what to say.

"Kurt, maybe we should just tell him what happened?" Blaine murmured, causing Burt to whip round and face him.

"What did happen?" When both boys remained silent he continued, "Come on Kurt, I need to know these things."

"Fine, I'll tell you." Kurt threw his hands up in exasperation. "But first I have to ask you something. Is it alright if Blaine moves in with us? Only when he's not boarding at Dalton. Things aren't great for him at home right now." Kurt glanced at Blaine, who was nodding, as if to back up the truth of his words.

Burt looked completely confused but nodded anyway.

"Yeah, I guess. You know you're always welcome here kid." He smiled tensely at Blaine before turning back to his son. "Now tell me what happened to your face."

"Well, Blaine hadn't told his dad that he was gay yet, so we went round to his house to talk to his dad and well..."

"Blaine's dad did this to you?" Burt gestured at Kurt's face, the anger clearly building beneath his calm facade.

"Yeah, but I was being really rude to him anyway so..." Kurt mumbled, trying and failing to placate his father.

"You were just standing up for me." Blaine argued as Burt said

"That doesn't mean he can hit you!"

Burt pulled on his shoes again before turning to point at Blaine.

"There is no way I'm letting you go back to living in that house. Now come on. I'm assuming you've got some belongings to get, and I'd like to have a word with Mr Anderson."

Kurt groaned, planting his feet as his dad tried to usher him out the door.

"No dad. You'll just get into an argument with him and end up in a police cell or something. Blaine and I were planning to get the rest of his stuff tomorrow. I suppose you can come along if you really want, but you have to calm down first. I'm fine, Blaine's fine. We just want a bit of time before we have to go back there."

Burt sighed, dropping his key in the bowl by the door and stepping out of his shoes again.

"Sure Kurt. I'll give you a lift tomorrow and then I can have a very civilised conversation with Mr Anderson."

Kurt smiled at his dad, giving him a brief hug before turning to the stairs.

"We're gonna go finish unpacking Blaine's stuff, alright?"

"But I finish-" Blaine cut off as Kurt elbowed him in the side, giving him a meaningful look that involved lots of eyebrow. "Oh right yeah, unpacking. Loads left to do, probably take a while, yeah."

Burt rolled his eyes as he turned for the kitchen.

"Whatever boys, dinner'll be ready in half an hour."

Once back in Kurt's room the two lay side by side on the bed, hands clasped between them.

"I can't believe I told my dad. Yesterday I would never have dreamed of it, but I'm glad it's over with. And now I just get to spend that much more time with you." He gave Kurt's hand a squeeze, turning his head to stare at the pale boy's profile. From his position he couldn't see the bruise and he was thankful to not have to be reminded of how his inaction had caused Kurt harm. "I really am sorry for letting my dad hit you." He mumbled.

Kurt released Blaine's hand so he could roll onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow and reaching up with his other hand to stroke Blaine's face.

"You didn't let him do anything, silly boy. I don't blame you so you shouldn't either. And it's a good thing you told your dad, it was worth getting slapped to make you happy." He smiled sheepishly, rubbing his thumb across Blaine's cheekbone.

"Now who's being silly? I could never be happy if you're getting slapped." They smiled at each other for a moment before Kurt leaned down, pressing their lips together in a short kiss.

Blaine made a noise of appreciation, placing his hand on Kurt's waist and pulling him down so he was resting on Blaine's chest. He kissed Kurt again, this time longer and more passionate, but still maintaining the sense of love and romance between them, until Kurt shifted so he was pretty much straddling Blaine's waist.

Swiping his tongue across Blaine's lower lip, Kurt deepened the kiss, charging the atmosphere with raw lust.

"Hey Kurt, I'm ba-" Finn stopped in his tracks as he took in the way Kurt was sitting on Blaine and spun on his heels. Standing in the doorway with his back to them, he continued in a horrified tone. "Hey Blaine. Just wanted to let you guys know I'm back and Dad said dinner's ready so yeah... I'm gonna go know." Pausing only to reach back and shut the door, Finn scurried from sight, shaking his head and rubbing his fingers into his eyes.

Kurt dropped his head so it was buried in the crook where Blaine's neck met his shoulder, face flushing in embarrassment.

"Oh god. I'm never gonna be able to look at Finn the same way again." He shook his head as Blaine chuckled. "Come on, we'd better go down for dinner."

They ate with Burt and Finn in front of a college football game, both of them finishing quickly and depositing their plates in the kitchen before hurrying to the stairs.

"Going to bed now Dad, 'night!" Kurt yelled as they passed the front room. Burt grunted in reply before cheering on his team and groaning as they messed up.

Kurt was thankful that his dad wasn't paying attention. In his fluster before over finding out that Kurt had been slapped, he had forgotten to sort out where Blaine was going to sleep, and Kurt took that as permission to have Blaine in his bed.

Kurt changed quickly in his bathroom into pyjama shorts and a top before returning to his room to find Blaine standing awkwardly, still in his jeans and t-shirt, in the middle of the room.

"Erm, I kinda don't have pyjamas. Like, I usually just sleep in my... um... boxers." He blushed deeply, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck as he looked guiltily at Kurt.

Kurt, on the other hand, was secretly thrilled.

"I guess you'll just have to sleep in your boxers and t-shirt then." He said off-handedly, moving over to his bed and sliding in. He patted the space beside him before turning away to give Blaine some privacy as he pulled off his jeans and joined Kurt in his queen-sized bed, balancing on the very edge of the mattress. Kurt could practically feel the nerves coming off Blaine and he giggled at his modesty.

"I'm not gonna bite." He sighed, grabbing Blaine's arm and tugging him further into the bed. Blaine seemed to relax somewhat and let Kurt guide him down so they were both lying under the duvet.

"I love you Kurt." Blaine whispered, winding his arm around Kurt's waist and pulling him flush against his chest.

"Hmm," Kurt hummed his face pressed into Blaine's chest as Blaine kissed the top of his head. "I love you too."

They held each other close, forgetting about the world that would judge them, and just enjoying the chance to be together, falling asleep in each other's arms.