It was Thursday night and Blaine was on the phone to Wes. "So, hows Kurt?" asked Wes, turning the conversation to the subject that hed been dying to cover.

"Better," said Blaine. "Ive been having lunch with him every day and slowly hes beginning to gain back some confidence. He smiles a lot more now too. Hes started therapy today, actually. I was going to go, but he decided hed rather try and go alone."

"Is he coming to your birthday?"

"Yes, I said he could come to dinner on the Friday with me and my parents and Coop and then sleepover until Sunday," confirmed Blaine.

"Brilliant! Nicks been dreaming of those pancakes he made since we last saw him. And itll be nice for him to be there. Im glad that youve made new friends at McKinley. As long as you dont forget about us, of course!" Wes joked.

"Sorry, what was your name again?" Blaine teased. "No, but seriously, Im glad too. Kurts awesome and I really enjoy spending time with him. I just cant wait until all of this is behind him and he can live a nice, stress free life."

"When do you think hell be ready to start dating again?" inquired Wes.

"Probably not for a while. He needs to find someone he trusts enough to date. And after all the trauma, hes still a bit jumpy around even the guys in glee. Why do you ask? Do you know someone thats interested in him? You know we were joking about Nick leaving Jeff for him, right?"

"I know you were joking; Im not talking about Nick. Niff will split up the day that you get rid of your bow ties," Wes chuckled.

"We both know thats never going to happen," Blaine replied. "No, but seriously, do you know someone whos interested in Kurt?"

"Someones eager."

"I just want to know. Hes like my best friend, Wes," Blaine said.

Wes gasped dramatically. "Ive been replaced!" he declared. "I thought you were my BGFFL!"

"BGFFL?" Blaine asked.

"Best Gay Friend For Life! And David is my BSFFL!" Wes clarified.

"Well, in that case, you are my BSFFL and Kurt is my BGFFL," Blaine chuckled.

"Glad we cleared that up. Theres no way youre getting rid of me. No matter what school you go to or what town you live in you are not getting rid of me!"

"Darn it! Ill just have to move out of the country," Blaine said.

"That wont work, Blainey boy. I will find you. I have trackers hidden among your curls!" Wes joked.

"Thats what those lumps are!" said Blaine. He heard Wes call to someone on the other end of the phone before bringing it back to his ear.

"Sorry to leave you Blaine, but the mother is calling. Apparently, the table cant wait another 2 minutes and must be laid now!"

"Id hurry if I were you," said Blaine. "That may be the only thing that you ever get to lay!"

"I hate my friends," Wes stated.

"Shut up and go before your mom gets pissed," Blaine chuckled.

"Okay, Im going! See you at the weekend, dude," Wes said.

"See you, man!"

On Friday, Kurt went straight home to get ready for dinner with Blaine and his family. He hated that he was missing a Friday night dinner, but at the same time he was so glad he was going to be with Blaines family instead. Ever since what happened with Alex, his dad had been a typical helicopter parent. Everything he did or said was questioned. Every time he wanted a little privacy he was followed into his room by his father or, on his dads request, Finn. So Kurt usually found himself escaping to Blaines nowadays in order to get a little peace and quiet. Blaines family treated him completely normally. They certainly didnt treat him like he was fragile.

As soon as Kurt had got dressed and added a few more things to his weekend bag, he hurried downstairs to say goodbye to his father and Carole. He popped his head around the door to the kitchen where Carole was and she gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him to enjoy his weekend. When he went to say goodbye to his dad, however, he was a little more protective.

"You sure youre going to be okay, Kurt?" Burt asked.

"Yeah, Ill be fine, dad," Kurt assured him.

"Youll be okay for the whole weekend? I mean, I know you have our numbers and if you need anything then you know how to reach us, but are you sure you want to go?"

"Yes, dad, if I didnt want to go then I wouldnt. Im fine, okay?"Kurt said.

"Im just not sure if you should be away from home for so long after such a traumatic experience," Burt said.

"Dad, please. Im fine," Kurt pleaded.

"Fine. I just... I worry about you," Burt admitted.

"I know, dad. But Im safe with Blaine. I promise, Ill be perfectly fine," Kurt said.

"Okay, if youre sure. Go on then, youd best be off. Dont want to be late for Blaines," Burt said.

"Ill see you on Sunday, okay?" said Kurt. He quickly wrapped his arms around his dad and kissed his rough, stubbly cheek.

"Bye, Kurt. Love you," Burt called out as Kurt left.

"Bye, dad!"

Burt waited for the door shutting to indicate his son leaving and then leaned forward, resting his head in his hands and sighing.

"Kurt!" greeted Linda as she opened the door. She inspected him from his purple dress shirt down to his shiny black shoes. "Oh, dont you look handsome, honey."

"Why, thank you, Linda," Kurt grinned. "I must say I love your dress. Is it Burberry?" he asked, motioning to her black and white unevenly checked dress.

"Yes, Im glad you noticed. Andrew bought it for me as a special 30th birthday present. I adore it!" Linda grinned.

"Well, you look stunning!" Kurt said.

"Thank you," Linda replied. "Blaines upstairs getting ready if you want to go straight up. Cooper should be here soon too."

"Okay," Kurt said with a smile, before lifting his bag and hurrying up the stairs to Blaines room. When he got there he rapped quietly on the door.

"Come in!" called Blaine from inside. As soon as Kurt opened the door Blaine began babbling. "I need to choose a bow tie. What do you think, mom, black or white or should I have something a bit more colourful?" He stopped when he turned and saw Kurt. "Oh, Kurt, I didnt hear the doorbell."

"I didnt know you had that many bow ties," Kurt commented, nodding towards to rows of bow ties laid out behind Blaine. Blaines cheeks reddened. "Aw, dont be embarrassed, Blaine. I happen to appreciate your approach to fashion," Kurt assured him.

"Thanks, Kurt. Little help?" he asked.

Kurt surveyed Blaines outfit. He was dressed in a black and white check shirt with an eggshell white sweater over the top of it and black dress pants. The sweater was tight and clung to Blaines slim frame, leaving the dress pants to compliment his small waist. Kurt considered the bow ties for a moment before picking up the white one and handing it to him.

"Id keep the style consistent. If you had a colourful bow tie it would look out of place," Kurt recommended.

"Thank you, Kurt. I dont know how I would go on without your fashion advice," Blaine said, grinning at his friend.

"Blaine!" Andrew called from downstairs. "Coopers here!"

"Be right down, dad!" Blaine called. "Right," he said to Kurt. "Ill just put these back in the closet and then Ill take you to meet Cooper." He began to gather the bow ties -very carefully Kurt noticed- and put them away in a draw in his closet. Then he lead Kurt out of his room and downstairs, talking to him along the way. "Im going to apologise in advance for Coop. He can be a bit much sometimes, so just tell me if I need to have words with him."

"Blaine, Im sure itll be fine," Kurt assured him.

"Blaine? That you?" a voice called from the living room and a head came out from around the door. "Ah, there you are baby bro!" A man came out into the hall and opened his arms for Blaine, who ran into them immediately and tucked his head into their shoulder.

"Cooper! Ive missed you!" Blaine said, his voice muffled by Coopers shirt.

"Missed you too, bro," Cooper said into his brothers hair. Another moment passed before Blaine stepped out of Coopers arms. "And whos this?" Cooper gestured to Kurt. "Hes not Asian enough to be Wes, not black enough to be David, not chubby enough to be Trent and he doesnt have another person attached to him so he cant be either of Niff."

"Cooper, this is Kurt," Blaine introduced him. "Hes a friend from my new school. Kurt, this is my brother, Cooper."

"Its nice to meet you," Kurt said, politely, offering a hand for Cooper to shake.

"You too, Kurt," Cooper said, taking Kurts hand. "This is a polite one, Blaine. Cute too." Kurts cheeks reddened slightly, and Cooper chuckled. "Id keep this guy around," he said.

"Cooper!" Linda called as she hurried down the stairs and ran up to Cooper, wrapping him up in her arms. "How are you? How was your flight?"

"Im great, thanks Linda. As was my flight. Gotta say, I love this place. I was just saying to Andrew how much I like the living room. I take it Blaines took advantage of it when hes had the guys over?" said Cooper.

"Of course he has," Andrew chuckled.

"Knew you would have, bro. Come on then, birthday boy. Shall we get some dinner in us?" Cooper suggested.

"Yes, lets get going," Blaine said and shot a grin in Kurts direction.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they settled down at a table. Kurt immediately felt guilty as soon as they opened the menus and realised the prices, but Blaine saw his eyes widen and gave his arm a squeeze with a whisper that he didnt even need to look at the price and to just get what he wanted. Cooper noticed the action, but didnt mention anything.

They discussed the plans for the weekend as they waited for their food and conversation soon turned to Kurt. "So, Kurt, how did you and Blaine come to be friends?" Cooper asked.

"Erm, actually, he literally ran into me on his first day of school. I dropped my books everywhere and he helped me pick them up. We got talking and he mentioned being in glee club at his old school so I invited him to our glee club," Kurt explained.

"You sing?" Cooper asked and Kurt nodded in response. "You any good?"

"Oh, Im not too great," Kurt said.

"Hes being modest. Hes amazing. His voice is just perfect. Hes a countertenor," Blaine insisted.

"Im really not that good," Kurt said.

"Dont listen to him. Hes brilliant," said Blaine.

"Ill have to hear you sometime," Cooper chuckled.

Conversation paused momentarily as the food arrived and then they chatted idly over their dinners. Kurt excused himself to the bathroom once hed finished and Cooper scooted his chair a little closer to his brothers.

"So, bro, whats going on with Kurt, huh?" Cooper asked.

"What do you mean?" said Blaine.

"Just, you guys seem rather... cosy," Cooper explained.

"I...Hes my best friend," Blaine replied.

"But, you like him, right?"

"Of course I do, hes my best friend," Blaine repeated.

"Oh, you know what I mean, Blaine. Im talking middle school like like," Cooper clarified.

"I... erm, I dont know..." Blaine stammered. "I never really thought about it."

"Why not? I take it Kurts gay, yeah?" Blaine nodded. "And hes an attractive guy. You seem to have a lot in common. Why not?"

"Kurts been through a lot," Blaine explained. "I dont have time to tell you everything thats happened, but lets just say Kurt was in a relationship with a complete dick when I met him and now his ex had been expelled for harm to another student and Kurts got both physical and mental scars."

"Oh, shit. Is he okay?"

"Hes getting there," Blaine said.

"Just... look out for him," Cooper said.

"I will, Cooper," Blaine said, sharing a sad smile with his brother, who gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder. Both of them grinned as Kurt returned from the bathroom.