“Thank you again for letting me stay with you tonight” Kurt smiled as he followed Mercedes into their town house. With his Dad out of town for a press tour in Texas, there was nowhere really to stay. This had already been a big weekend for him emotionally; the last thing he wanted to do was drive back to New York tonight.
“It’s no problem, boo. I wouldn’t want you staying in an empty house or a hotel when there is a perfectly good bed here” Mercedes insisted as she dropped her handbag on the bench on their way into the kitchen. Pulling two bottles of water from the refrigerator, she handed one to Kurt and offered him a seat on the couch “Plus Lauren has been asking if Uncle Kurt is coming”
“She has?”
“She always points to the photo of us at our high school graduation” she chuckled gesturing to the photo on the mantle “That was such a long time ago”
“It was, wasn’t it?”
“What’s up boo?”
“Just thinking about Hunter and Blaine. About this afternoon at the restaurant” Kurt sighed softly as he wrung his hands together gently.

XXXXX

“I’m sorry Hunter” Kurt sighed softly as he sat back down at the booth. For the first time since the pair had been in each other’s company, the seven year old was giving Kurt his full attention. “I know your Dad told you about me leaving when you were a baby. I just...”
“Did you love us?”
Kurt was caught off guard. He didn’t imagine that question coming out so fast “Of course I loved you buddy. I will always love you. When you were a baby I loved the theatre as well and I made a choice. It was a bad choice”
“What about Dad? Did you love him too?”
Kurt took a breath. When he left, he was in a bad place with Blaine. They had been fighting a lot particularly over Hunter. They hadn’t hugged in days, kissed in weeks or made love in months. It was a bad time for them and in a way it wasn’t surprising that Kurt did leave. Bad place or not it sill broke Blaine’s heart. Bad place or not Kurt still loved Blaine; he would never stop loving him. When he left he just needed time and he ended up taking too much of that time away from the two people he loved most in life.
“He will always have a special place in my heart” Kurt spoke softly. He couldn’t just admit to Hunter that he still loved Blaine especially after seeing him again. He was the same beautiful man he fell in love with on the staircase at Dalton. “I’m so sorry for leaving you both, I know now how big a mistake it was. I missed everything with you”

XXXXX

“I just feel so guilty for everything” Kurt sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. “When all I saw were photos it didn’t feel like I was missing so much of his life. It felt like I was staying in touch with everything”
“But now...”
“After seeing Hunter this afternoon made me realise how many moments of his life I never got to experience. I never saw him walk for the first time, hear him talk for the first time, be there when he got that scar about his right eyebrow”
“He fell off the swings at school when he was in Kindergarten” Mercedes answered remembering back to when she got a frantic call from Blaine from the emergency room. Scared that Hunter had a concussion or even something worse, Blaine wouldn’t let the little boy out of his sight for a week. If it wasn’t for Austin being there at the hospital and making sure everything was checked three times, Blaine never would have Hunter leave the hospital without being wrapped in bubble wrap.
“That’s exactly what I mean. I missed that, I missed pacing the hall worried sick about him. God knows what I was doing in New York while all this was happening”
“You were closing your run of ‘Singing In The Rain’. I was going to tell you but you were busy” she shrugged as she played with the cap of her bottle. Just as vividly as she remembered a stressed Blaine, Mercedes remembered considering giving Kurt a call. When it turned out Hunter had a couple bruises and scratches, thoughts of worrying Kurt were pushed out of her mind.
“I wish I could make it all up to Hunter but I don’t know how” Kurt sighed softly
“You’ve made a good start with Hunter. He’s the kind of kid who rarely leaves his father’s side. He and Blaine have been inseparable since he was little. Maybe Blaine is the key to making it up to Hunter. Have you apologised to Blaine yet?”
“Yeah of course” Kurt answered quickly. It only took one look from Mercedes for him to think if he had sincerely apologised to Blaine for everything that happened. “I... I can’t”
“Why not?”
“I’m still in love with him” he blurted out before dropping his head into his hands. This was the first time he’d been able to admit it out loud. “I’ve never stopped”
“It’s been 7 years...”
“And in 7 years he’s always been the only one. There have been other guys but none of them were Blaine”
“Oh Boo” Mercedes sighed as she rested her hand on Kurt’s knee. She never expected this. “Are you going to talk to him about this?”
“No way!” Kurt gasped “He’s happy with Austin. I can’t just barge in on that after everything that’s happened. I’ve caused enough trouble for Blaine as it is”
“But Kurt...”
“No. I would rather build a good relationship with Hunter and I guess be friends with Blaine. If I was to tell him how I felt, I would lose them both.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Kurt shook his head. This wasn’t what he wanted, it was far from it but it was what was going to happen. When he walked out he lost any chance of ever rekindling the flame with Blaine. His ex-fianc� had moved on and was happy; Kurt wasn’t going to ruin that. He couldn’t do that to Blaine and he couldn’t jeopardise anything with Hunter. Kurt was still building trust with the seven year old, he had to be careful.