Blaine squirmed in his shoes, fingers glad to have the roses to hold onto because he knew he'd otherwise be fidgeting madly.  He didn't mean for those songs to go viral so damned quickly, but thanks to Wes and Rachel's interference, they were online, and being played, and he knew he needed to get to Ohio before Kurt heard them.

Except, at the door, Burt seemed surprised that Blaine was there and not a reporter.  Blaine thought for sure he would undergo twenty questions from Kurt's dad, but all he got instead was “Maybe you could deal with all the news people since it's your damned song causing this commotion buddy.”

Blaine blushed to his roots and shrugged apologetically, “I'm sorry sir… may I see Kurt?”

The congressman had rolled his eyes at him and stepped back, “Like I'd be able to stop you.”

Now here he was, slack jawed as he looked at the little kid that had initially come between them - so much bigger now and angling along the edge of the table, repeating “dadadadada” over and over as he toddled about.  Could he walk on his own yet?  Had it really been that long since he had been here?

And there Kurt was, staring at him with eyes wide and face reddening.  Still, so gorgeous but also so alien.  He looked tired again, worn out… and even now Blaine had a hard time seeing him without the pink hair and piercings everywhere.  

It didn't make his heart flutter any less though.

“You!  What the hell do you think you're doing here?!”  Kurt snapped and shot up suddenly, walking forward to get face to face with Blaine, who, in shock, stumbled back a few steps.  He hadn't been expecting that.  What he had been hoping for was for Kurt to jump into his arms, say he had been wrong, and take him back then and there… but what had his dad always told him?  Hope for the best and prepare for the worst… Blaine had forgotten to prepare clearly.

“I… I…. needed to see you Kurt… I wanted to… the song…”

A finger was shot up, centimeters away from Blaine's nose, “Right.  The song.  You write a song about me, without telling me, after ignoring my calls for god knows how long… What the fucking hell Blaine?!”

“Ooo… kay.”  Carole stepped in and scooped up K.J., “Let me just take him out of here for this…”

As she walked off Blaine frowned and glanced down guiltily at his toes, “I didn't know how I'd be able to talk to you on the phone Kurt… thinking about it…. well it hurt.”

“So you make my name even more public than it already is?  Even though you know I HATE being put on a stage? Then you show up here and assume I'd just what… jump into your arms and giggle like a schoolgirl?”

Blaine shook his head quickly, “No… no… that's not it at all Kurt…”  Except that it was.  He glanced up, “I thought I'd get here in time… to let you know that Wes released it… I didn't know Kurt…. I really didn't….”

Kurt's nostrils flared out for a moment and he crossed his arms over his chest. “I haven't heard from you in months! Not so much as an ‘I'm still alive!' or ‘I hate you!' or anything!”

“I'm sorry….”

“I was worried!”

“You're the one who dropped me off at the train station!”

“You're the one who didn't want to be here!”

“I do now!”

Blaine panted after he yelled it out, gripping the roses, thorns and all, under his white knuckles.  

Kurt looked at him, taking a step forward until they were nose to nose and whispered, “You can't be here without… really being here.”

“I know Kurt…  I know…”

His face was scanned over by blue eyes, searching for something before Kurt's face pulled away.  “I listened to the other songs you know…”

“Wes told me he released three in all…”

“Waking and Cage were the other two….”

Blaine winced a little.  Of all the songs he'd been recording, the three that Wes had released on him were the most exposing.  “You listened to them?”

Kurt nodded, “I donated a whole three dollars and eighty seven cents to the Blaine Anderberry cause.”

“Dollar and twenty nine cents each huh?”

“Your math is good.”

He could hear Kurt's breaths become more calm and less ragged as looked Blaine over and then reached to take the flowers.

“You're bleeding…”

“Thorns….” Blaine shrugged, glancing at the cuts he had suffered from holding the flora too tightly.

He found himself being pulled to the kitchen where Kurt first got the flowers into water and then directed Blaine's hands under running water while he got out some bandaids.  “How can I know Blaine?”

“Know what?  Ah!”  Blaine winced as Kurt sprayed some hydrogen peroxide over his cuts and then gave him a paper towel to dry off on.

“Know you're being truthful… about wanting to do the dad thing like you said in the song…”

“Because I named that song after him.”  Blaine watched as Kurt wrapped the bandages over his needy fingers and he then flexed them, “Thanks.”

“That song was named Cage.”

“Say the letters K.J. together really fast Kurt…”

“Kay-Jay… Kay-juh… Oh… I get it.”  He smirked, eyes alight with amusement. “Beats the hell out of Kurt Junior.”

“I happen to like your name.”  Blaine admitted as he looked shyly at Kurt.  He just wanted to lean in, press his lips to Kurt's, and just.. be back where he belonged.  His heart ached to close the gap between them, but he was afraid of jumping to any conclusions, especially after being torn apart back in the living room.

“You never called me…”  Kurt repeated with a shake of his head and sighing as he shut off the tap.

“It broke my heart… I knew I'd just cry… I didn't want you to just listen to that…”

“You think I didn't cry?!” Kurt snapped as he turned to face Blaine, face red again.  “You had absolutely no problem taking care of me, who made my choices, stupid as they were, but you clearly had every problem helping me take care of a kid who was innocent in it all!”

“I wasn't ready Kurt… honestly… I'm still probably not… but I don't think you are or were either really… but you're right.  He is innocent of all that, and he does deserve better.  I'm willing to try….”

“I need more than that Blaine.”  Kurt shot back, going back into his defensive posture, shoulders squared off and arms crossed in front of his chest.  “You can't just try and then decide it's not your cup of tea later on.  It fucking sucks.  It SUCKS being a dad.  I get no sleep, I don't know what he wants most of the time, and he makes a mess out of EVERYTHING…. but I don't get to go back on it.  I can't.  He needs consistency.  He deserves it after the shit he went through with Quinn. If you come in here and then leave….”  Kurt sucked in a breath as his eyes went watery, “... he can't lose another parent.”

Blaine's heart ached as he listened to Kurt's brutal honesty about his parenting experience so far.  He should have been there.  He should have helped.  He should have cared more….  “I'm sorry Kurt… I didn't realize how bad….”  

Kurt held a hand up, “No.  It's not bad.  Apparently this shit is normal, and no matter how crappy things are he makes up for it when he smiles at me and when the doctor tells me he's healthy and thriving.”

“But YOU deserve better.”

“But this is what I have.”

They stood there, eyes fixed on one another and panting in shallow breaths, both filled to the brim with emotion that had been bubbling near the surface for months that now was able to escape.

“I hate that you took me to that station Kurt.  I hated you for it.  I wish you had just been open with me instead of dumping me there and breaking my heart.” Blaine said finally, staring at Kurt with intensity he didn't know he was capable of.

“You should have talked to me about your feelings then before that!  I was trying to deal with the realization that I was a dad out of the blue!  I didn't have time to figure out all your insecurities!  I would have thought you would have been happy at the prospect of having a kid!”

“I am!  I just didn't think it would be so soon!  I thought we'd finish school… get married… spend a few years just enjoying one another… and then having kids… My god Kurt, up until earlier this year I was a virgin at an age when most people might raise an eyebrow at that but still be okay with it!  Now all of a sudden I have to be a full on dad!  You can't possibly have expected me to have been totally happy with that!”

“You were happy to take care of me though!”

“You didn't need diapers and feeding and nurturing… you did more for me than I ever did for you anyhow - don't you get that?” Blaine shook his head in disbelief.

“No….”  Kurt said quietly then, looking at Blaine in what appeared to be surprise.  “... but K.J. does more for me than I think he'll ever know either… I can't screw up anymore.  There's no and's, if's, or but's about it.  He ensures that I'm going to be good.”

Blaine sighed and leaned back against the counter, exhausted by the conversation and the emotional toll it was taking, “You should be good for yourself Kurt… not for anyone else.  You do it because you want to take care of you…”

Kurt shrugged at that, leaning against the kitchen island across from Blaine in turn. “Sometimes people need a push.”

“I thought I was your push.”

He got a crack of a smile from Kurt after saying that.  “You were.  Now K.J. is there like a boulder in the path of anything else that I might do.  You pushed me in place… he's keeping me there.”

Blaine took in a deep breath and shook his head, “Can I start again….?”

Kurt peeked over and nodded, one brow angled up in curiosity.

“Kurt Hummel… please take me back.  Please let me be with you AND K.J., whom I henceforth want to nickname Cage.  Please let me love you both.  Please let me help you parent and be there for you.  I don't want anything else.  I'm done.  If it means being parents early - fine.  At least we'll have the kids out of the nest earlier too.  We can make up for not having alone time together now then and in the meantime I want to have a family with you.”

He let out a shaky breath after all of that and let his eyes flick nervously towards Kurt's face, trying to check his reaction.  Kurt looked thoughtful, eyes dancing over the island-top as he considered what Blaine had said and fingers trailing over the marble countertop.

“What do you mean kids?”

Blaine blinked a few times and then shook his head, “I just… I always envisioned having more than one kid is all…”

“With me?”

“With you.” Blaine breathed out.  God, Kurt was a master of drawing out a response.

“I'm not sleeping with Quinn again.”  Kurt asserted, glancing back up at Blaine, a twitch in the corner of his mouth and a twinkle in his eyes.

Blaine couldn't help but let out a relieved laugh, “God… god no…. that's not… I mean.. there's other…”

“Shut up Blaine.” Kurt stated, silencing Blaine as he stepped across the floor and connected his lips with Blaine's, ending the ache in his heart with the kiss that he melted so easily into.  This was exactly where he belonged.