“You okay there, Gin?” Blaine called out; starting to get worried she’d gotten herself stuck or something.

“Yes, daddy!” He heard her annoyed voice from behind the closed door and Kurt giggled softly next to him. Blaine softly swatted at his knee and Kurt mouthed a ‘sorry’ at him, trying to hide a grin. Then the door opened and Ginny walked out, showing off her costume, twirling before her dad and Kurt. It was a little dress with big black dots on it and a ruffled skirt. She had wings on her back and apparently Kurt had even made her tiny antennae. It was absolutely perfect. Kurt apparently didn’t agree, because he jumped up, told Ginny to hold still and used some pins to adjust something in the upper part of the dress.

“What do you think, daddy?” She asked seriously.

“I think you look like the best ladybug ever.” Blaine replied honestly, his chest swelling with pride because of his little girl.

‘There, that’s better.” Kurt took a step back and admired the adjustments he’d made. “Perfect. Now you can go change back and I’ll pack it up for you, okay?”

“Yes! Thank you, mister Kurt!” She chirped happily and quite literally hopped back into the other room. Kurt smiled at Blaine then and Blaine grabbed his bag.

“So, how much do I owe you for this miracle?” Blaine asked as he took out his wallet.

“The materials were – “ Kurt opened his little notebook and flipped through it until he got to the right page “17 dollars and 60 cents.”

“You have to be kidding me.” Blaine’s mouth dropped. “That’s not – that can’t be –“

“That’s all, I swear.” Kurt said firmly, his hands resting on his hips.

“I – uh – okay. And for the rest?”

“Oh, you don’t have to pay me for making a costume.” Kurt smiled genuinely “It was my pleasure, really.”

“No, I can’t – I can’t accept that. I – ” Blaine stammered, but Kurt held up a hand to stop him.

“You bought me coffee.” He reasoned. “And if that’s not enough for you, you can pay me in eternal gratitude.”

“You have that, anyway.” Blaine laughed. “Seriously, I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for you.”

“Having a nervous breakdown, probably.”

“Very true.” Blaine smiled as his daughter reappeared and handed the costume to Kurt. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Kurt said firmly as he packed the dress and gave it back to Ginny. “Materials are all you’ll be paying for. The rest is on the house.”

“Isn’t there anything I can get you in return? Anything?” Blaine pressed. He felt like he was stealing something. Kurt raised an eyebrow and then grinned.

“You can sign my books.”

---

Friday evening Blaine got Ginny dressed and together they went to pick up James and his mother. James’ father stayed home with his little sister, who was too young to go out trick or treating and would provide the passing children with candy. Sandra had made James the cutest little Spiderman outfit and Blaine made the most embarrassing cooing noises when he saw it, earning him a swat on the leg from Ginny. They both got their bags and headed out, James and Ginny running ahead a bit and the two parents walking quietly behind as their children went from door to door. A small pirate ran past, shaking his sword at Blaine, who just laughed and watched him get scolded by his mom for running off. Ginny and James had stopped in front of a door and were now collecting their treasure. When the door closed behind them, Ginny came running to her dad.

“Look how much I have already, daddy!” She squealed as she held up the bag for Blaine to look.

“That’s a whole lot, Gin!” Blaine said with a smile. “I think that alone will last you for weeks, but I think I heard someone say that that house over there has really nice candy.” He pointed at some house and winked, watching his daughter clap excitedly, grab her friend and run off to that very house. Blaine smiled at Sandra.

“I just hope she doesn’t eat it all in a day.” He shrugged. “I swear last year I thought her teeth were going to fall out.” Sandra laughed.

“James saved it all up for ages, he always does.” She said. “Even tried to share some with his sister, but she was way too young. He was so disappointed.” They were quiet then, walking past the decorated houses and greeting the parents they passed, even congratulating some children on their costumes. After a while Blaine felt like Sandra was holding something back and his suspicion was confirmed when he heard a quiet “Blaine?” next to him.

“Yes?” Blaine looked at her, slightly confused.

“You’re… gay.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I am, yes.” Blaine never shared much about his personal life. His close friends knew that he was gay and anyone else whom that concerned, of course, but he tried to avoid talking about his private matters in interviews or even in the disclaimers of his books. He’d always assumed that Sandra knew, though, and he wondered now if this was something that bothered her and that she’d only dared to bring up now. What if, after all these years, she wanted James to stop hanging out with Ginny? Blaine was positive that would break her heart, and his.

“I – how were – “ She sighed deeply. “How did your parents react? When you told them, I mean.” Blaine was slightly taken aback by her question.

“I – Why do you ask?” Blaine frowned. Sandra sighed again, looking up at the dark sky above her, trying to look for words.

“It’s just – It’s James.” Blaine followed Sandra’s gaze to her son, who had found a friend and was proudly showing him his candy. “I mean, I don’t know. I just have this feeling, you know? And it wouldn’t matter to me. I’d love him all the same, but I just want to know – what to do when – to be prepared, at least a little.” Blaine gently put his hand on her back and she smiled at him.

“Well, to be honest, you’ve come to the wrong person.” Blaine said apologetically. “When I came out my parents weren’t exactly – let’s just say they weren’t happy. They never threw me out or treated me bad or anything.” Blaine quickly added when he saw Sandra’s horrified look. “They just expected so much. I’m from a family where image is pretty much everything and I just didn’t fit in the image they were trying to create for themselves. The night I came out was mostly long silences and frustrated stares. There was no screaming, there were no questions if I was sure, because they knew – I know they did. But me telling them just made it official, you know? Their son was officially not perfect anymore. There were also no hugs and they definitely didn’t tell me they were proud of me, but it could’ve been worse.”

“Would you have wanted them to tell you that?” Sandra asked quietly. “That they were proud of you, I mean.”

“What son wouldn’t want to hear that from his dad?” Blaine shrugged. “Look, the only advice I can give you is to let him know that you’ll love him no matter what from now onward. Teach him to be open and to accept himself and other people and then, if he does turn out to be gay, let him have his moment. Let him come to you. He’ll do it when he’s ready. And just – just love him.” Blaine hadn’t even noticed the tears that had formed in his eyes until Sandra grabbed his arm to stop him and hugged him. Blaine wanted so bad to just hold on to her and sob, but he had to contain himself. This was not the time, nor would it probably ever be. He pulled back and smiled at her.

“Thank you.” She squeezed his arm softly and he nodded.

“It’s nothing.”

---

The next morning Ginny was organizing her candy on the kitchen table when Blaine walked out of his study with an empty coffee cup in his hand. That week he’d finally started a vague outline for something that would have to be his next novel and he’d been halfheartedly doing some research in his Lazy Chair – as named by Ginny – before coming out to get a refill.

“How much did you get, Gin?” He asked with a grin as he walked over to the coffee machine.

“A lot.” She said, picking up a lollipop and showing it to Blaine. “It’s probably because my costume was so good. I think like five people told me I was the adorablest ladybug they’d ever seen.”

“That’s cause you were.” Blaine kissed the top of her head.

“I should give mister Kurt some of what I got. He made the costume after all and I don’t think he goes trick or treating anymore.”
Blaine was tempted for a moment to suggest that they could go visit Kurt, bring him candy, but he had to remind himself of the fact hat he had no business going to Kurt’s shop again. He didn’t really know Kurt. They weren’t friends; they were nothing but a man selling fabrics and a costumer. A costumer who wasn’t planning on using fabric again for at least another year and therefore had no reason whatsoever to visit a store selling only this type of goods. Blaine just had to accept that it was very unlikely he’d ever even see Kurt again and that he would have to get over his crush and move on with his life. And besides, did he even know if Kurt was gay? He’d never actually said so and even though Blaine had this feeling that Kurt played for his team, he couldn’t just assume. So instead of suggesting going to Hummel’s Threads and Lace that afternoon, he just shrugged.

“He has that coffee shop around the corner, remember? Where you got the muffin? I think he’s got plenty of sweets to keep him happy.”

“That’s too bad, I liked mister Kurt.” And at that she actually put her chin in both her hands and grinned at Blaine.

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing.” She said sweetly. Blaine stared at her for a moment, then sighed and shrugged while he turned around. His daughter had gone crazy.

But the truth was that the next two weeks Blaine found himself looking at Kurt’s name in his phone a bit more often than he should be, sighing wistfully and keeping himself from calling him and asking him to come over. He didn’t want to admit it, but he really missed Kurt, even though they’d spent so little time together. He wanted to call him, just to talk to him or maybe hear him laugh. It was ridiculous how easily Blaine’s mind wondered off to Kurt during the day and how often he would catch himself looking for the man between the people passing by in the streets. And Blaine really did try to get Kurt out of his head, but for some reason it just wouldn’t work. For two weeks he just kept thinking about his hair, his eyes, his laugh and not to forget his ass, because that was probably the most perfect ass Blaine had seen in years. After that thought he punished himself with looking at the ‘special’ magazine – filled with ladies in little to no clothing – Cooper had forgotten after some visit, which Blaine now used to kill awkward morning boners and apparently had now found itself a new purpose: to get Blaine back for having inappropriate thoughts about strangers. Now he was driving to town, planning to run some errands before he had to go pick Ginny up from school. It was pouring, the sky dark and threatening. He kept telling himself that he changed his route because of roadwork and that this street just went past Kurt’s shop by accident and that it had nothing to do with the man who owned this shop and Blaine’s stupid crush. I mean, he’d just drive by and probably not even see him through the rain and that would be it.

At least, that’s what he thought, until his car made a bang, started spluttering and slowed down – right in front of the shop.

“Shit.”