As far as Burt knows, not that he’s been hunting for information, Kurt and Blaine have made no great leaps into intimacy after discovering that they are both clean. Burt’s glad of this – he was worried that having The Talk with them would be seen as Burt giving them permission which would then be seen as encouragement. He should have known his boys were smarter than that.

     September arrives and brings with it the return of school for Burt’s three boys. The closer the summer drew to a close, the more frequently Blaine and Kurt could be heard debating which school Blaine should return to. After their fight in July, Kurt seemed to have learned a valuable lesson about not trying to control his boyfriend and his decisions. Instead of resorting to begging, pleading or asking “But don’t you love me?” Kurt was helping Blaine draw up pros and cons list. Eventually it was agreed that Blaine would make his own decision, no later than the first day of school.

     Burt honestly doesn’t understand why it is such a big deal to them. Being in different grades, they wouldn’t have any classes together. The most they could see each other would be at lunch and Glee. But Glee was important to both of them. Competition was also important to both of them. Perhaps that’s what the problem was. Both boys were so used to going into each day fighting against the world, they would find it that much harder to compete against each other. They’d made a team all their own, they were their own best support, their own best ally. Competing against each other would go against so much of their relationship.

     Burt chuckled to himself. If Blaine was to stay at Dalton, he’d probably be sleeping over even more with the explanation of “We never see each other anymore!” However, if Blaine was to switch to McKinley, he’d probably be staying over just as much, saying “We’ll just head to school together tomorrow morning! We’ll carpool!” Oh well, Burt thought, they’d figure it out.

     Sure enough, things get sorted out and Blaine decides to transfer to McKinley. When the boys come home that day, they aren’t anywhere near as cheerful as Burt would have expected. Turns out that Blaine’s big debut performance got commandeered by the Cheerios, who set fire to one of Schuester’s prop pianos. Burt got why that upset Blaine so much – the kid was very self-conscious and tuned into how people perceive him. A big musical number intended to show his allegiance to his new school and new Glee club ended up making him look even more like an intruder than before.

     Burt could tell that there was something more to it than that. So he asks.

      “Anything else bothering you?”

     They’re sitting on the couch in the living room, watching the game. Kurt was making some elaborate after-school snack. Blaine looks over his shoulder before answering.

      “Nope.”

      “You sure?”

      “Uh huh.”

      “Okay then.” Burt says, scratching his head. “Have you told Kurt, at least?”

     Blaine cringes a bit, as if annoyed by Burt’s perceptiveness.

      “It’s probably nothing.” Blaine says eventually. “Just still learning my place in public school life. I’m sure I’ll get it all figured out soon enough.”

      “And if you don’t?” Burt asks, his concern getting the better of him.

     Blaine doesn’t seem to have an answer for this. He opens his mouth to reply, but closes it again. Burt’s slightly frustrated. Surely by now Blaine should know that he can’t freak Burt out. That no matter what he says, he’ll still be accepted.

      “If you don’t figure things out,” Burt says. “Please tell me. We’ll work it out.”

     Concern – or is it disagreement? – crosses Blaine’s face.

      “Whatever it is.” Burt adds. “No matter what.”

     Finally Blaine nods.

      “Sure, okay.” He says, too casual, his eyes focuses firmly on the TV.

      “Okay.” Burt says. He’s pushed enough.

     Kurt’s having a weird first week back to school. He’s discovered that his dream school – Julliard – doesn’t even have a dramatic arts program. He’d quickly replaced Juilliard with “NYADA,” whatever that was. Burt hadn’t been able to get Kurt to talk slowly enough to make his rambled explanation coherent. Whatever NYADA was, Kurt had gone to an event to meet other future students with Rachel.

     When he comes home, he walks through the front door, pulls out his phone and takes the stairs two at a time, saying “Blaine? You there? Cool. I have to tell you something.”

     Burt waits about twenty minutes before going up to find out what happened.

     Apparently, NYADA is only the very best school for dramatic arts in the country. The event was a mixer for prospective students. Kurt and Rachel were very much intimidated by the competition that they mixed with, but decided to channel their concern into greater determination. Kurt was going to beef up his list of admittedly limited extra-curriculars by running for Senior Class President. Burt tries to not automatically suggest developing Plan B’s after hearing how strong the competition is to get into the school. He knows it won’t do any good. Once Kurt sets his mind to something, it becomes the only acceptable option. Not always the healthiest way of looking at things, really.

     Then again, Kurt was really talented. And a hard worker. Quite the combination, really. Kurt wouldn’t rest until he felt that he had done literally everything he could to get into that school. And wouldn’t it be amazing if he did? After all, Kurt really did deserve a win.