Kurt could never remember feeling so carefree as he had been the past week.  After Scandals he felt like he could do anything and so he dragged Blaine to everything he could think of - movies, shopping, picnics, - he even made Blaine push him on a swing at a nearby park and his boyfriend had been nothing but amused by it all.  He caught the questioning glances, sure, and that was to be expected, but Blaine didn't realize how much coming back to Lima meant.  Not only had his dad accepted him back, but when he drew up the nerve to go not only go to Scandals, but also stand up to Karofsky, Kurt realized he had power, more than he ever knew.  He had his addiction beat, he was good at school, he had a smoking hot boyfriend, and he had the love of his family.  All these epiphanies hit him at once, as did the realization that he was wasting his life away in that apartment by hiding.  

No more.

He had goals now, a future.  He would make Blaine and his dad so proud of him and nothing would get in his way.  Especially not his past.

Except of course, when the week was up and Burt and Carole returned, Kurt's past decided to blindside and kick him right where it hurt.

“This story can't get out Tom!”  Burt yelled through the phone as Kurt slunk back into the arms of Blaine as they sat together on the couch.  “It's unacceptable!  Get the lawyers on this NOW.”

They had been given a pre-release of a story that was going to be printed the next day - interviews from Cole, and Big G, and several others all talking about Kurt.  What he had done, who he had slept with, how he'd do anything for a high.  Because he was no longer just a slut on the street, but the son of a congressman, what he had done to survive was sure to hurt Burt's credibility regardless of the fact that the two weren't related.  Burt's fathering would come into question, which would have the media questioning how he could govern if he couldn't even parent properly enough to have a kid that didn't fall into the cracks like Kurt had.  

Of course, it would also expose Kurt to the world.  Not even him, but the person who had seemed to occupy his body for those years.  Kurt had that person's memories, but he didn't feel like they were one and the same, though the press and the public wouldn't care about that small detail.

He felt horrible and guilty making his father have to deal with this.  Deal with his mistakes and maybe even suffer the consequences of them.  When they had gotten the call and Burt had checked his computer to read the story over, Kurt had watched as his face had gone beyond pale to almost transparent.  At that point Kurt didn't even know what the article was about, but he knew it was bad.  

Then his dad had let him and Blaine read it.  Kurt had been so angry that he excused himself to the bedroom to punch the mattress until his arms were boneless and numb, Blaine coming in after him to hold him tightly in his arms and rub his back over, telling him it would be alright, they'd take care of it.

“Kurt loved what he did.  He was a pro in the business.  Sometimes he enjoyed himself so much he wouldn't accept payment!” Cole had said about him at one part.  Lies.  Kurt had hated it all, and, until Blaine, he never enjoyed it.

“He'd do anything for a high.  Would mule for me… even tried to seduce me!” Big G had said of him, and apparently his name was Gabrielle.  More lies, and even more of a disgusting taste left in Kurt's mouth.

“You need to know Blaine…. some of what they said is true… but a lot of it isn't…” Kurt had told Blaine once he had calmed down enough to find his mind and use it.

“I know Kurt… and it doesn't matter anyhow.  A little unprofessional journalism isn't going to scare me OR your dad away.”

Still, when Kurt and Blaine returned to the living room to find his dad hollering into the phone like that, he couldn't help but worry.  How many dads had to deal with something like that?  He hadn't been expressly open with his dad about what had happened, leaving it vague until this point.  Now his dad knew precisely what kind of things Kurt had done - even if the question of whether or not he enjoyed it seem to be the topic of the article.

“I'm sorry dad… I didn't want you to have to… deal with all this…” Kurt immediately said once Burt had hung up, rubbing a hand over his bald head.

“We'll shut it down Kurt.  Don't worry.  I won't let them parade whatever mistakes you made out in the open like that.  No one should have to suffer that.  Not for newspaper sales.”

“What they said dad….”  Kurt felt Blaine squeeze him supportively, “... it wasn't all true… I didn't enjoy it…. I never did… I hated it.”

He watched his father wince and then wring his hands together, looking at the footstool intently as he kept his gaze averted, “I'm not… whatever you felt about it son is for you and you alone.  If those guys were lying we could get them for libel or slander or whatever the print one is… but they're already in jail and from what I'm told only did the interviews for their fifteen minutes of fame so I don't know that there would be a lot of point to it…”

“Dad, what can I do?”  He looked at his dad until his dad finally looked back, eyes full of stress and worry, “Do you need me to go back into hiding?  Do you want me to go back to New York?  I don't want your career to suffer because of the things I've done.”

It was just a gesture, one he already knew his father wouldn't accept, not after all he'd done and said to welcome Kurt back.  “No Kurt.  Never.  I went into Congress because I wanted to push bills that might have done things to help you back in high school, especially after what Finn told me about how him and those other guys were mean to you…  I would never give up what I've been fighting for all this time - you.  Your safety.”

Kurt nodded weakly, resting his head back against Blaine's chest with a soft sigh.  

The phone rang again and Burt quickly grabbed it, speaking loudly and animatedly to the person on the other end while Blaine stroked his fingers through Kurt's hair, “It'll be okay Kurt… We'll get through this.  Can't be any worse than dealing with a heartbroken Wes.”

Kurt chuckled softly, reaching to capture and entwine his fingers with the fingers from one of Blaine's hands, “Let's hope we never have to deal with that again….”  Kurt wriggled his toes.  “I miss Romeo… he always kept my feet warm.”

“We could always send for him?  There are a lot of parks around here that I'd bet he'd love to run around in.” Blaine offered,

“Let's see what happens with this first….”  Kurt sighed.

On cue, his dad finished the call, clapping his hands together, “Alright.  We got it delayed.”

“But it will still run…?” Kurt asked weakly.  He didn't know what good delaying it would do.  It would still be out one way or another.

“Yes.  But this will give me a chance to prepare a statement and….”  He glanced at Kurt and swallowed before continuing, “There's the suggestion that a statement from you might help too.”

Kurt's eyes went wide. “I can't talk in front of people… not about that!”

“Oh no son!  It could be a written statement… pre-emp them.  What you say could make the article worthless.  You don't have to do it son, but can you think about it?  It could make things a lot easier on you…”

Kurt looked to Blaine's hand latched together with his own, Blaine's thumb gently swiping back and forth over his hand.  “I can write… I might… I could do that… how much time?”

“My aide will be by in the morning to talk about it.  No need to rush into a decision now Kurt.  Just… let's just enjoy tonight - or what's left of it huh?”

Kurt readily agreed to that at least.

They had dinner, Burt and Carole talking about Washington and then Burt retreated to the sofa to watch a game, something Blaine joined him for.

“I never knew you liked basketball.”  Kurt said with a tip of his head.

Blaine laughed, “Thats because you never let me have the remote.”

Burt chuckled at that too.

“Well… I'm going to go do some reading.  Enjoy your sweaty men running around and playing with balls…” Kurt said with a wink, getting a grunt from his dad and a chuckle out of Blaine as he left for the bedroom.

Come morning, after getting ready and eating breakfast, a wiry man invited himself in, introducing himself as Tom and over-enthusiastically telling Kurt how happy he was to meet him and how glad he was that he was back in Burt's life before sitting down the family and laying things out.

“Okay.  We have a delay until next week.  Burt, you need to prepare a statement.  Last statement was that Kurt was back and asking everyone to give you space, now we need a statement addressing the deplorable things Kurt has had to experience and your desire to fight to make things better for kids who find themselves lost like that.  It wouldn't be too far off from your usual statements so it would be taken as face value.  And Kurt….”

Tom looked towards him, opening his mouth just as Kurt opened his and made sure he went first. “It's done.”

“Huh?”

Kurt pulled a folded over sheet from his hoodie pouch and handed it over to Tom.  “A statement right?  Here.”

While Blaine and his dad had watched basketball, Kurt had tried to read, tried to refocus his thoughts, but he couldn't.  He needed to make this right, and so, he found himself at his computer typing easily and then printing off the short piece he now handed off to Tom.  

Tom blinked a few times and opened the paper, reading it over and nodding as he mouthed the words.  On either side of him, Blaine and Burt looked at him with a blend of surprise and curiosity.

“This is good… perfect.  I have a few suggestions but nothing major.. just some wording changes.  Wonderful.  Truly your father's son Kurt.” Tom said once he was done.

“Thanks.”  was the simple reply Kurt gave.  “Anything else I can or should do?”

Tom shook his head, “No.  I think we have this all covered now.  Enjoy your family time.  I'll email a copy of my edit Kurt and if it looks okay to you we'll send it off right away.”

“Can I read it?” Both Burt and Blaine asked the instant Tom walked out, making Kurt chuckle as he knowingly pulled out a couple extra copies and handed them to each man who immediately went silent as they read it.

“Wow…”  Burt said after a moment.

“Oh Kurt…” was Blaine's response, lowering the paper and immediately drawing Kurt in for a hug.

“Can we not get all sentimental and emotional over this?”  Kurt laughed and he pushed Blaine back.  “I really want to watch a movie and if we don't get to the living room, Carole's going to pick some old action movie with some guy that delivers terrible one liners.”

“And what's wrong with that?” his dad and Blaine said in unison, blinking and looking at one another in surprise as Kurt laughed again.  His boyfriend was kind of like a dapper version of his dad and he had just noticed.