Austin folded up the blankets he used the night before in silence and laid them back over the couch. Peering in Blaine’s direction, the young doctor wasn’t surprised that his boyfriend hadn’t spoken a word to him since he got up. Their fight, one of many, was the worst by far. Neither of them knew if they could find a common ground on the issue of Kurt and it scared them both to think this was what tore them apart. This however was the one thing that could spell the end of their 3 year relationship.
“Hey Austin, check out the new shirt Uncle Cooper sent me” Hunter smiled brightly as he spotted Austin hovering by the entrance to the kitchen.
“Looks awesome, bud” Austin chuckled weakly as he admired the seven year old’s superhero tee “Uh, I don’t have to be at work til late so I can drop you at school on my way if you want” he suggested with a weak shrug.
“He has band practice before school so I’m going to take him” Blaine answered before Hunter could say anything.
“Oh, ok then”
Austin slipped into the kitchen as Blaine finally sat down at the bench beside Hunter so he could grab a cup of coffee. Leaning against the bench furthest way, Austin didn’t need to create another reason for he and Blaine to fight again. However silent, they were at least civil in front of Hunter.
“Can Austin pick me up from school? Mrs Patterson said she’s going to give us our Art books back today and he hasn’t seen what I drew”
“Austin has to wor...” Blaine began before he was quickly cut off by his boyfriend.
“I’ll be there to pick you up, bud” Austin assured the young boy. Nodding to Blaine, he tried to silently assure Blaine as well that he would be there on time to pick Hunter up.
“And then can we go to the restaurant for dinner? The Raiders are playing the Giants” Hunter asked trying to push the envelope a little further. He knew he was asking for a lot especially when his Dad and Austin hadn’t said a word to each other all morning but it was worth a shot. He didn’t like seeing his Dad miserable like he was.
“Sure thing” Blaine nodded and took one last sip of his coffee “You ready to go to school? Can’t have you late for band practice”
Hunter nodded and jumped off his stool, racing back to his bedroom to get his backpack. Cleaning up his own and his son’s breakfast plates, Blaine slipped past Austin without a word. Austin took a step toward Blaine in hope to say something, anything but was interrupted by Hunter jogging back into the kitchen area.
“Have you got your sheet music this time? You won’t be much use without it” Blaine chuckled and smoothed down his son’s curls before grabbing his wallet and keys off the bench.
“Got it” he giggled “And the spare set Mr Murray gave me in case I lost the first set”
“Good boy”
Blaine headed for the door without even so much as a goodbye and waited for his son there. Hunter pulled Austin into a tight hug, the first in a few days before saying his goodbyes. Austin promised once more to be there when school let out and watched the pair leave. Sighing softly, he retreated to his and Blaine’s room to get ready for the day ahead. While he probably shouldn’t be leaving work early that day, he was determined to be outside Hunter’s school when that final bell rang out to pick him up.

XXXXX

“Blaine...Hey Blaine?”
“What?” Blaine snapped angrily causing Sam to jump back slightly in shock. Realising how harsh he’d just sounded, Blaine took a deep breath and turned slowly to his best friend “Sorry”
“Are you ok?” Sam asked tentatively. Blaine had kept to himself all morning staying reasonably quiet and it worried the blonde. His best friend was usually so happy and full of life even when work was slow or they had a difficult customer. He was always so calm even when something was pissing him off... Well usually.
“Austin and I...” he began but didn’t know exactly how to finish his sentence. They weren’t broken up, they weren’t happy, they were fighting but they weren’t talking. “Austin and I are on the rocks”
“Again?” Nikita sighed as she made her way past the bar hearing her boss’ conversation.
“Don’t you have a wine shipment to unpack?”
“Yes, sir”
Blaine knew he shouldn’t have snapped at Nikita but everything was setting off his anger today no matter how trivial. What Blaine hated more than fighting with Austin was how his mood and emotions affected his work. He couldn’t take his anger out on people who were just helping him run his business.
“You know I’m here if you ever need to talk” Sam smiled weakly with a slight shrug.
“Thanks” Blaine nodded as he picked up a tray of glasses he needed to take to the kitchen “I don’t think there’s much left to talk about”
Blaine went about his business quietly only talking to answer questions or ask his staff to do something. While he did was necessary around the restaurant, Blaine’s staff walked on eggshells around their young boss. No-one wanted to upset him especially after Nikita informed them all of his personal issues. Nothing travelled faster in that place than gossip.
“It’s almost four, take a break” Sam insisted as he took the stack of clean plates from his friends hands “You’ve been working your ass off since you got here this morning, you need to relax for a minute”
“I’m fine” Blaine insisted even though his shoulders were killing him. If he stopped then he would just replay every little thing he and Austin had been fighting over for the last couple weeks. Work was distracting him from life.
“At least...”
“Phone call for you Blaine” Emma called out from the other side of the kitchen
“Perfect timing” Sam chuckled nudging his best friend slightly. Sighing loudly, Blaine asked Emma to put whoever it was on hold so he could take it in his office. Maybe he did need a break even just for a minute.
Blaine made his way into his office and took a seat half expecting to hear Austin’s voice on the other end of the phone telling him he wasn’t going to pick Hunter up. He was pleasantly surprised when it was another familiar voice.
“Blaine, hey” Kurt smiled as he took a seat on the edge of the stage. At rehearsals, he thought he would give Blaine a quick call while everyone broke for lunch. After his talk with Mercedes a couple days before, he was determined to clear up everything with Blaine. He needed to know where he stood in their little family.
“Hey”
“You sound tired”
“Apparently” he chuckled softly and relaxed back in his desk chair. Ok a break was just what he needed after his day so far. “Hunter had a great time with you the other day. He’s been asking when he can go skating again”
“I had such a great day with him too; he’s a gorgeous little boy”
Blaine smiled slightly at how Kurt spoke of his son. The pure happiness in the other’s man’s voice carried all the way from New York “Let me know when you plan on coming back down to DC and I’ll make sure his skates are sharpened”
“Uh, I was actually thinking of heading down tomorrow but not to see Hunter” Kurt began knowing Blaine had his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. It was always the cutest the expression in Kurt’s mind “I wanted to talk to you actually”
“About your run in with Austin?”
“He told you?”
“Not in so many words” Blaine chuckled dryly. Austin didn’t need to tell Blaine what happened when he saw Kurt to know roughly what happened.
“I’d like to just catch up for coffee and talk” Kurt suggested with a shrug “Just us?”
“Sounds good” he smiled “Same place as last time?”
Kurt agreed to their meeting point and time before excusing himself to go back to rehearsals. He couldn’t help but think how easy it was to organise all that when he had been slightly freaking out since the last time he was in DC.
Making his way back out into the restaurant, Blaine was happy to see the bright face of his son walking through the door. He was also happy to see Austin walk in behind him even if it only meant the young doctor kept his promise. It didn’t take long for Hunter to dive into a detailed recount of his day at school and the snowball fight he was a part of at lunch time. Both Blaine and Austin listened intently but never uttered a word to each other.
Hunter excused himself when he finally took a breath and raced off to the bathroom. Turning to Austin, Blaine took a deep breath praying what he was about to say wouldn’t end up in a fight.
“I’m going to be honest with you because I think we both at least deserve that much” Blaine began “I got a call from Kurt and he’s coming down to DC tomorrow”
“You’re not going to let him take Hunter out of school for a day when they only just saw each other, are you?”
“He’s not coming to see Hunter...”
“Right” Austin sighed softly “So I guess you’ve made your choice”
“That’s not fair...”
“What’s not fair is you forgiving him for what he did” the doctor snapped softly “I just can’t sit here and watch you do something stupid like this”
“Stupid?” Blaine scoffed “I’m trying to give Kurt a second chance and all you’re doing is fighting it”
“Maybe I’m sick of fighting” Austin mumbled before he stood up from his stool “I have to go back to work for a surgery. Tell Hunter I will see him in the morning”
Turning for the door, Austin was almost there when he heard Blaine speak up “I respect you for fighting for Hunter, I know that he means the world to you. Not once though did you really fight for me. I have to wonder what I mean to you...”
“I loved you Blaine” Austin answered softly as he placed his hand on the door
“Past tense...”
“Yeah”