Burt let himself into the Anderson home using Blaine's keys that the boy had so graciously lent him after Burt expressed his incredulity that neither of Blaine's parents had taken time off work to stay with him and make sure he was okay.

"Burt, you really don't have to do this," Blaine had said to him even as he was handing over his keys (which Burt noticed had a letter K keychain attached to them, though he didn't comment on it).

"Like hell I don't. You can barely see, kid, and I'm not going to sit back and let you fall down the stairs or something and land yourself back in the hospital."

"But you have work and I live so far away and I can't in good conscience let you go out of your way like that."

"Blaine," Burt said sternly, knowing the kid's tendency to refuse others' help. He suspected it was because he had no one for so long that he just wasn't used to it. "I'm gonna be over here so much, you're gonna get sick of me and then you can complain to Kurt about how annoying I am and how much you hate me."

Blaine laughed. "I could never hate you, Burt, but okay." There was a pause, in which Blaine seemed to be contemplating what to say next. Finally, he settled on a whispered, "Thank you," which Burt knew wasn't what he wanted to say, but the kid had had a rough couple of days so he just let it slide.

"No problem." He stood and put a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Now, I gotta go, but I'll be back to check on you later, okay?"

"Okay." Burt turned to leave, but Blaine called him back. "Burt?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you just do me one thing before you go?" Burt nodded. "Can you hand me that picture?" He pointed to a framed picture of Kurt that was resting on his dresser. Burt picked it up and handed it to Blaine, who placed it lovingly on his nightstand. Burt's heart swelled at the sight of it because, damn, this boy really loved his son. With one last goodbye, Burt left, wondering how anyone would write off Blaine Anderson as a lost cause and not give him anything less than the world.

Burt knocked on Blaine's semi-open door. "Kurt? Is that you?" Burt checked his watch and realized that it was indeed almost time for Kurt to arrive. He had to do this fast, then. He pushed the door open all the way and chuckled when Blaine's face fell just the tiniest bit. "Oh, Burt. Hi."

The disappointment in Blaine's voice made Burt laugh out loud. "Sorry to disappoint."

Blaine looked positively mortified. "No, no, no… I didn't… I mean, I just…" He sighed. "It's been a really long day."

"Kid, calm down," Burt laughed. "I was just kidding." Blaine visibly relaxed and there was a beat of silence before he said, "So how you feeling?"

"Okay," Blaine replied. "It still hurts, but the pain meds help a little bit. I just wish they didn't make me as high as a kite." They both laughed at that.

"Nervous about the surgery?" he asked, sitting in the armchair next to Blaine's bed.

"Only a lot," the boy admitted.

"Don't be. Everything's going to be fine." After dealing with the overly dramatic Kurt for almost nineteen years, Burt had gotten very good at calming people down.

But it wasn't working on Blaine at that particular moment.

"But what if it's not?" he asked in a small voice and Burt wondered if he'd voiced these concerns to anyone, Kurt included.

"Well," Burt hesitated a fraction. What was he supposed to say when there was indeed the very real possibility that Blaine could permanently lose sight in his right eye? "Then Kurt's just gonna make sure your eye patch matched your outfit." That got Blaine to laugh. "Speaking of Kurt…"

"Is he okay?" Blaine asked automatically and Burt smiled because that was exactly what Kurt had asked when Burt had shown up at school with his NYADA letter.

"He's fine. Better than fine, actually." Blaine's one visible eyebrow furrowed in confusion. "His NYADA letter came," he elaborated but left it at that.

"And…" Blaine prompted, practically bouncing in his bed in anticipation.

"…He's a finalist," Burt supplied after left the kid squirm for a few more seconds.

"Oh, my God! Are you serious?" Blaine covered his mouth with his hand and Burt could see just how proud he was of Kurt. He could also see that there was something else underneath the pride – a sadness, almost.

"What?" he asked, putting a hand on Blaine's knee.

Blaine took a deep breath and, when he spoke, there were tears in his voice. "It's just… I'm so, so proud of him, but just… it's getting closer and more real and sometimes I lie awake at night and think about how if he would just stay here for one more year and then I feel like the world's worst boyfriend because I shouldn't want him to put his dreams on hold for me but I can't help it and, wow, I'm sorry for babbling. Must be the pain meds."

"Don't apologize," Burt said at once, mind still reeling from just how much Blaine loved Kurt. Whatever kind of love Burt had envisioned for his son, never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that it would be a love this strong, especially at such a young age. "And I know exactly how you feel."

"I just don't wanna lose him," Blaine said, the tears in his voice spilling on to his cheek, a few even escaping from underneath his bandage.

"And what makes you think you're gonna lose him?" Kurt would let go of his right arm before he let go of Blaine.

"It's stupid, really."

"Try me."

"Uh, okay. It's like, Ohio's not exactly crawling with gay guys, you know? But New York is and I just get so scared that he's gonna meet some guy and realize that I'm not really all that special and then I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and I just really, really don't want him to go."

Burt sighed, his heart reaching out for the boy sitting in front of him. He had so many deep-seated issues that he was just starting to deal with and Burt knew it would be a long time before he was really healed. "There are so many things from with what you just said I don't even know where to begin, so just let me say this, Blaine. And listen good because I'm only gonna say it once." Blaine sat up a little straighter, listening. "I know my son and the last thing he's gonna do is ever say goodbye to you. Also, I know it's gonna be hard with him so far away, but he's gonna have breaks from school and then he'll be right back here. Trust me, he's gonna be here so often it'll be like he never left. And before you know it, you'll have graduated and then you'll be in New York together.

"Besides," he added, allowing Blaine to let that sink. "You'll still have me and Carole and our door is always open and maybe the three of us can go visit him in New York together."

"I'd like that." Then without any hesitation or warning, Blaine reached out and hugged Burt, who hugged him back tightly. Burt might not have liked the kid all that much in the beginning, but now he'd become as much of a son to him as Finn had. "Thank you, Burt," Blaine said softly, still hugging him. "Just… thank you." He released him and leaned back against his headboard.

The door Burt had closed behind him opened with a soft knock and Kurt walked in. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on Blaine," Burt said innocently, remembering that he had promised Kurt he wouldn't tell Blaine about NYADA.

Kurt side-eyed his father and climbed into bed next to Blaine, kissing his cheek tenderly as if Burt wasn't even in the room. "Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here," Blaine admitted shamelessly, kissing Kurt full on the mouth. "Oh, and congratulations."

"What? Dad, you told him? But you promised you wouldn't!"

"Well, I better get going. Feel better, Blaine." Smiling at the still fuming Kurt, Burt left the room, closing the door almost all the way behind him. He was about to leave when Blaine started talking. He knew he shouldn't listen, but something inside him just wouldn't let him walk away.

"I'm so proud of you, baby," Blaine said.

"You say that like you doubted me," Kurt laughed.

"Not even for a second."

"Blaine, stop lying. Even I knew I was a long shot. But, just being a finalist… I'm really on my way to getting out of here and… why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just so amazed every day that I get to wake up and call you mime. I love you, Kurt, so much."

"I love you, too. So, so much."

It got quiet after that and Burt didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on in there and he took that as his cue to leave.

When Burt got in his car, he realized that this was the first time ever he hadn't given Kurt a time to be home by. He was reaching for his phone to text him when he decided against it. After all, what could they possibly get up to with Blaine drugged and half-blind….?

He turned the radio up really loud to try and drown out the thoughts that just popped into his head. Sometimes being the father of a madly in love eighteen-year-old boy was stressful.

But it was so worth it.