“Your brother?” The words left my lips and my mind whirled. Here I was, covered in salty tears and (God, I didn’t even want to admit it to myself) a bit of snot from my self-indulgent crying, looking completely insane in front of my boyfriend, who was not cheating on me apparently, to whom I’d just said some very hurtful things. Oh. Shit.

“Your brother,” I repeated. Blaine nodded frantically at me, his eyes still shining with tears.

“Can you please come back in with me?” He shivered suddenly and I realized that he didn’t even have any shoes on and his shirt was inside out. He must have just gotten out of bed and run after me. And I pretty much insinuated that he was a whore.

“Oh, god, Blaine. I am so sorry for what I said,” I whispered. Why was this happening to me? I had finally found a decent guy and I went and fucked it up.

“Kurt, baby, please, just come inside with me,” Blaine pleaded. “I know you didn’t mean it.”

“No, Blaine that’s the problem,” I said harshly. My anger was no longer directed at him, but rather at myself, but he still cringed at my tone. “I said it purposely to hurt you. I’m a bad person.”

“I think, given what you saw and what you know about my past, it’s forgivable,” Blaine said with a sad smile. I hated that smile, the one he plastered on when he’d rather be crying or raging. He held his hand out even though I was still in my vehicle. I couldn’t help but find the gesture endearing.

“Please, Kurt. Come back with me?”

I swallowed my guilt and got out of the car, locking it more out of habit rather than real thought. Blaine walked right next to me his hand open at his side, but I had my arms wrapped around my middle, feeling slightly sick at what I’d said.

When we reached his room, Blaine hesitated. “Coop went to go get some coffee, so we should have a little time to talk.”

“I brought coffee. I left it on the table.” My voice was void of emotion when I stated this. Blaine just gave me that heartbreaking smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“I think he felt bad when he realized what you thought you were seeing.”

“Oh,” I said dumbly. I followed him into the room, shutting the door behind me and twisting the lock. Again, habit. “Sorry. Did you want to keep it open in case your brother comes back?”

“No, he’ll be fine. You’re what’s important right now.” He patted a spot on the bed next to him. I sat on the end, still a foot of space between us.

We both sat silent for a stretch of time. Finally, Blaine turned to me. “Thank you. For breakfast. It was very kind of you.”

I winced at the stilted formality of his words. Usually if I dropped by with a surprise meal I got a ‘Thanks, Babe.’ and a peck on the cheek. God if I only had stuck around for an explanation we would have been doing that and laughing about Blaine’s clinginess.

“Kurt, I’m so sorry.”

His words overwhelmed me. Why was he sorry? He didn’t misunderstand a situation, leave before an explanation was given, and then proceed to insult the man loved.

“I should have told you last night that my brother was here, but I was nervous because we haven’t spoken in over two years and I didn’t want you to worry about how it might go, even though I was worried about it, and I wanted to tell you so bad but then after we talked for a few hours it was really late and my phone was dead and we fell asleep and—“

“Stop!” I placed my hand over his mouth to halt his rambling. It was something he did when he was nervous and usually I found it to be the height of cuteness but right now I needed him to listen to me.

“You have nothing to explain to me, Blaine,” I started softly. “I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. I had no right to say what I said. It was cruel of me. I know I can’t take it back but you have to know I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Kurt.” Blaine’s hand on my cheek was comforting and I leaned into the touch. “I know you. I know you use your words as a defense mechanism.” He grinned slyly at me. “I guess I should be grateful that you’re a non-violent person. I’d hate to show up to class with a black eye. It would ruin my dapper persona.”

I couldn’t help but smile at his words. I loved to tease him about his gentlemanly ways. He was extremely chivalrous, but he could be so goofy sometimes. “Yeah, I guess. But I think you could totally pull off the badboy thing. I’ve seen your high school yearbook and that hair was totally 50’s greaser chic. Add a black leather jacket and blue jeans and you could pass for a T-Bird.”

He nudged my shoulder, laughing, and started humming Greased Lightning. The teasing exchange had cleared the tension from the air between us and I felt lighter knowing that I was forgiven.

“Blaine, I—“ My words were cut off by Blaine’s lips against mine. I didn’t mind, really. After thinking for a moment that everything we had was gone, the reaffirmation in the gesture was greatly appreciated. Though, after a moment what started out as a sweet, gentle kiss quickly turned into more.

I’d heard before that the best part of fighting was the making up and until now I’d never understood it. Now I knew.

The feel of his lips moving against mine, his hands gripping my arms, gentle and strong at the same time set fire to something within me. It was different from any of the other times we’d made out. It wasn’t just my hormones and my body that was so unused to touch responding to him or my heart practically bursting at the seams with how much I loved him.

This was need.

I needed him, not so much physically, but for the sake of my whole being. My soul if you will. Maybe that sounds stupid but it was how I felt. The only other time I had felt anything close to this was when I made the decision to keep my son. It was just right.

I suddenly felt the bed shift under me and realized I was laying down with Blaine above me. When did that happen? I wasn’t really worried about it and just continued to feel Blaine: his lips against my lips, his fingers slotted through mine and squeezing almost painfully tight, his knees pressed against my outer thighs as he straddled me. Even in this fit of hazy love and lust and want and need he was ever the gentleman, keeping his hips hovering above mine, never touching.

I untangled my hands from his without breaking our kiss and placed them against his back, pressing down gently. I didn’t want to push him, but I wanted to feel all of him against me, not in a sexual manner—though certain parts of my anatomy begged to differ—but just to have him as close as possible in that moment.

He paused, pulling away from my lips just enough to look in my eyes. I stared back at him, not sure what he was looking for but I guess whatever he saw was enough of a confirmation for him and he slowly, slowly lowered himself down, his entire body resting against mine. I gasped at the sensation, a part of my mind registering that he was just as aroused as I was, but mostly just reveling in the fact that every part of him was touching every part of me.

It made me feel whole.

My mouth was suddenly under attack, lips and teeth and tongue assaulted by Blaine’s. I didn’t mind.

Noises I didn’t recognize invaded my hearing and I realized they were coming from me. I was whimpering and panting and making some kind of mewling sound that should have been totally embarrassing but wasn’t because for every high-pitched noise that escaped me, Blaine answered with a contended sigh or throaty growl. I had never realized how hot such wordless grunting could be.

I could feel my hips moving without my consent, pushing up into Blaine’s and my breath caught at the heat that shot through my body. I tensed when I realized what I was doing, but then he pressed back down against me and I moaned out loud. I needed to get ahold of myself before this got out of control.

“Blaine. Blaine.”

I had meant to say it with some conviction, to make him stop for a moment so we could calm ourselves down. Instead it came out pleading, needy and only seemed to encourage him. He groaned loudly and kissed me harder, his body practically shoving mine into the thin mattress.

I could feel myself teetering on the edge and I was desperately trying not to fall. He pulled back from kissing me again and I opened my eyes, unable to remember when I had closed them in the first place.

His face was so beautiful, his lips swollen and red, his eyes wide and lust-blown but still filled with love. His breathing was erratic but he managed to speak.

“Kurt.”

It was only one word but it was said almost reverently and that was all it took. I surged forward to capture his mouth as my eyes rolled back in my head a little. I felt his entire body tense and he held me so tightly I was sure I was going to have bruises tomorrow but I didn’t care. I couldn’t really care about anything right then.

I don’t know how much time passed, but eventually the world crept back into focus. Blaine was sprawled half on top of me, tracing random patterns on my chest with his fingertips. I looked over at him, but his eyes were trained on his handiwork.

“Hey,” I said simply. I knew I was smiling like a fool but I couldn’t help it. His turned his face towards mine, a smile plastered across his features, too. His eyes had returned to their normal hazel color but were still brimming with emotion.

“Hey,” he replied. I brought my finger to his lips, tracing them lightly. His breath hitched and I pulled my hand back, settling it against his cheek instead.

“I love you.”

We had both said it in unison and grinned dopily at each other. It was one of those moments that was so cheesy while at the same time so sweet and I began to giggle. Pretty soon we were both full on laughing, our bodies shaking with the force of it.

A loud knock on the door interrupted our fit of hysteria and Blaine hollered to his brother that he would let him in in a minute. I took that as my cue to put myself back together. This was the first member of Blaine’s family I would ever meet and I wanted to make a good impression. I scampered to the bathroom and began finger-combing my hair. I straightened my shirt and tried to readjust my pants but realized it was pointless. I was going to have to change.

“Blaine? I, er, need to borrow some pants,” I called through the door. Before the words were even out of my mouth, the door cracked open and a pair of gray sweats with the word ‘Dalton’ down the leg were thrust into the room. I took them gratefully, my fingers brushing against his and lingering there. I smiled when I heard him chuckle before letting go.

By the time I reentered the bedroom, Cooper was pounding on the door and yelling threats involving Nair and shampoo bottles. Blaine was changed and leaning against the wall grinning and shaking his head at his brother’s antics.

“You’d better let him in. I’d hate for you to go bald. I don’t think I could kiss you if every time I went run my fingers through your hair I was reminded of my father.”

He barked out a laugh at that and shook his head. “You are cold, Hummel.” He moved to the door, smile still in place. Cooper’s fist was raised to beat on the door again and he stumbled a bit in surprise.

“Finally! I was beginning to think you were leaving me out here to die!” He swept in the room, flinging the door shut behind him.  He plopped onto the bed, bouncing slightly, but somehow managing to not spill any of the three coffee cups of coffee in his grip. He held one out to me with an apologetic smile.

“I didn’t know what you liked so I just got you a regular drip, but,” he paused then and began rummaging through his pockets, still holding his and Blaine’s cups with one hand. He let out a triumphant sound and pulled out two sugar packets and two mini creamers, “I brought these.”

“Thank you,” I said before introducing myself. “I’m Kurt, by the way.”

“I figured that out. Sorry about this morning. Blaine talked about you last night but his description of you didn’t really give me a good picture to work from.”

“Oh?” I asked, intrigued. I glanced over at Blaine but he was rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed.

Cooper just grinned at his brother’s obvious discomfort. “Yeah, he mainly went on and on about your eyes and how he can never decide just what color they are exactly and how when you sing it’s like birds and angels and every other cliché that his poofy-head could come up with.”

I grinned at Cooper as Blaine swooped in between us. “Alright, enough humiliating Blaine.” He pecked me on the cheek and settled onto the bed next to his brother, pulling me onto his lap.

“Kurt, I would like to introduce you to my brother and the only member of my family that I will still willingly interact with, Cooper Nathaniel Anderson,” he said with mock gravity. “Cooper, this is the love of my life, Kurt E. Hummel.”

Cooper’s eyebrows rose as he shook my hand. “What? No middle name there, Kurt?”

I blushed furiously and Blaine chuckled. “All I’ve gotten out of him so far is the initial, but one day I will find out.”

“Alright, first item on today’s agenda: Figure out Kurt’s middle name.”

“Yes!” Blaine’s enthusiasm was punctuated with a squeeze around my middle. I groaned, hiding my smile. I was just happy that one member of Blaine’s family was accepting of him and his relationship with me. It was nice.

The morning was spent on a wildly elaborate guessing game with Blaine’s being more conventional and Cooper’s leaning toward the ridiculous.

“Edward.”

“Ezikiel”

“Edgar”

“Eqbert”

“Edwin”

“What is with you and the ‘Eds’, Blainers? Ephram”

I eventually just gave in.

“Elizabeth,” I sighed. Both Andersons looked at me in surprise, theirs heads cocked at an angle. It was hilarious, made even more so by the fact that neither of them noticed the others mimic. “I had it legally changed six years after my mother passed.”

“That’s beautiful, Kurt,” Blaine whispered. Cooper smiled kindly at me.

“Okay, next item on the agenda: Lunch. C’mon, you two. I’m buying.”

That afternoon found the three of us spending three hours in a diner talking about anything and everything, from Blaine’s childhood to my family. It was nice and Cooper was easy to talk to.

I made to leave around four o’clock, wanting to spend the evening with Jude. Cooper shook my hand again before I left, saying he hoped to see me soon, and Blaine walked me to my car.

“I was planning on inviting you to dinner tomorrow night, but I don’t want to keep you from your brother, so…” I bit my lip, hoping he understood what I was trying to convey.

“I’d love to, Kurt. I can’t stay away from you, you know,” he said shyly.

“Cooper is welcome to come tomorrow night, too. I’m sure my family would love to meet him.”

Blaine’s smile was blinding. “I’ll ask him but I know he’ll say yes. After we’d been talking awhile last night he said he couldn’t wait to ‘meet the in-laws’.”

I smiled in return at his words. “You proposing, Anderson?” I joked.

“Not yet,” he said seriously. “But I will.”

I was at a loss for words. My eyes felt suddenly wet but I was able to hold back the tears, my lips trembling. I didn’t trust myself to speak. Blaine simply stroked my cheek and pressed his forehead to mine.

“I will.”