Blaine shrugged the snow off his coat as he entered the small, cramped cafe. Spotting the ever familiar head of bronze hair by the window, he made his way over to Kurt’s table sitting down with a soft sigh. He’d had a rough morning with Austin not even coming home and Hunter throwing a tantrum in an attempt to have a day off school.
Kurt pushed a large coffee cup toward the curly haired man with a slight smile. It looked like he needed it. Taking a sip, he savoured the sweet taste and aroma of his Caramel Latte for a moment before setting his cup down.
“Are you...” Kurt began, not quite sure how to start their conversation “Is.. How’s Hunter?”
“Hating me a little right now” Blaine chuckled dryly and told Kurt about the seven year old’s tantrum to rival all tantrums. For a child that was usually so calm and adored school, Hunter knew how to throw an epic hissy fit which usually got him what he wanted. Blaine didn’t want any of his son’s manipulation that morning and Hunter was sent to school with a little candy bar in his lunchbox and a reminder that Christmas was only a few days away. “He can get in line”
“Behind who?”
“I think Austin and I broke up last night”
“Oh Blaine, I’m sorry” Kurt sighed genuinely sad for his friend despite any romantic feeling he still harboured for the man. It was never good to go through a breakup and it’s a pain no-one should ever have to feel “Do you want to talk about it? About why?”
“It was because of you”
“Me?” Kurt coughed almost spilling his coffee. Taken by surprise, he really needed Blaine to explain himself before he jumped to his own conclusions.
“It wasn’t your fault exactly” Blaine clarified “Austin couldn’t respect my decision to give you another chance with Hunter”
“He was right to have doubts...”
“At first, yes. I had them too” he sighed and took another sip of his coffee before continuing “But you’ve proved yourself. You’ve made Hunter a priority since you came back a couple months ago and I know you Kurt, I can see you’re in this for the long haul”
“You’re not worried I’ll bolt like last time?”
“Are you going to run away again?” Blaine asked as he kept eye contact with Kurt. He had known the other man for a very long time and even after their time apart, he could still tell when Kurt was having doubts about something.
“I’m back for good this time” Kurt assured him “Hunter is my whole world and I’m going to be the father I should have been 7 years ago”
“I’m not asking you to be in DC full time because that’s not possible and I won’t let you, I just need Hunter to know that you’re always going to be there when he needs you” the curly haired man insisted with a soft sigh. Hunter’s life was going to change when Austin and Blaine did break up; he was going to need someone like Kurt in his life.
Blaine couldn’t help but feel he was going to let Hunter down when his relationship with Austin came to it’s inevitable and definite end. The seven year old had gotten so close to Austin and now it was over. Blaine had introduced Austin into his son’s life after years of keeping people away and while it would break Blaine’s heart to see him go, he couldn’t imagine what affect it’ll have on Hunter.
“I’ll always be here when both of you need me. I adore Hunter, he’s a beautiful child but you’re a big part of my DC visits too. I haven’t even begun making up for breaking your heart. I’ll spend forever apologising to you, Blaine” Kurt smiled as he reached across the table and took Blaine’s hand in his own. It wasn’t time to reveal his true feelings for Blaine but he at least wanted his ex-fianc� to know that he would always care deeply for him.
Blaine looked down at their joint hands for a moment before pulling his away gently. Kurt was prepared to fight for him without even asking and it stunned Blaine a little. He was thankful that both Kurt and Austin would do anything for his son but it was nice to have someone think of him too.
It was nice but Blaine couldn’t help but think of Austin.

XXXXX

“This is crunch time Dad, the Raiders have to win or there’s no hope left” Hunter sighed with great exaggeration as he bounded in front f his father toward their apartment door. After coffee with Kurt turned into a late lunch, Blaine didn’t have time to do much before he needed to pick Hunter up from school. The talk of that night’s football game filled their journey home and maintained Blaine’s reasonably good mood.
“No hope huh?” Blaine laughed as he unlocked the door to their apartment. His laughter instantly died off when he noticed two suitcases packed and ready by the door “Hey Hunter, why don’t you go play in your room for a little bit? The replay doesn’t start for a while and I just want to talk to Austin”
“Ok” Hunter smiled and skipped over to Austin, pulling him into a quick hug. Pressing a soft kiss to the little boy’s hair, Austin watched Hunter disappear into his bedroom before turning back to Blaine.
“So you’re leaving?”
“I’m going to stay with my brother til I can sort a few things out, find a place of my own” Austin shrugged as he dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans. As much as he wanted to avoid an awkward situation with Blaine, he needed to see Blaine before he left. He at least owed that to him. “My share of the rent is on the counter and Hunter’s Christmas presents from my Mom are under the tree. I just wish it wasn’t so close to Christmas, I know how excited Hunter is”
“You’re still welcome at Christmas lunch, for Hunter” Blaine suggested quietly. He hated that Christmas was going to be negatively affected for his son but Blaine and Austin just didn’t work together anymore.
“I’ll drop by sometime Christmas Day to see him but it’s going to break my heart every time I see him... and you” the young doctor sniffed “I think it’s better if we make a clean break, for everyone’s sake. I’ll say goodbye to him then”
Austin took a deep breath to calm himself down before he made his way toward the door. Catching Austin’s hand as he slipped past, Blaine squeezed it gently.
“I’m sorry Austin”
“I’m sorry too”
Austin turned to Blaine slowly and pressed a sweet kiss to his temple. Lingering for a moment, he whispered a soft goodbye before picking up his bags and walking out of the apartment. Blaine took a deep breath and watched the door for a moment. It wasn’t that he hoped Austin would walk back in an all would be ok; he just had to adjust to life without him.
“Dad?” Hunter called from the corridor. He wasn’t sure what was going on and it worried him to see his father look so sad.
Blaine snapped back to reality at the sound of his son’s voice and turned away from the door “How about we make up some pasta for dinner? Grandma’s secret recipe”
“Can I stir the sauce?”
“Course you can, bud” Blaine smiled with as much conviction as he could muster and made his way over to his son. Pulling him into his arms, Blaine hugged his son gently before setting him up on the kitchen stool.
“Hey Dad?” the seven year old piped up after watching his father bustle around the kitchen for a few minutes.
“Yeah?”
“Austin’s not coming back is he?”
“No, he’s not”