Burt was really not expecting to find himself back in Figgins’ office with Kurt, and Dave and Paul Karofsky. He’s surprised by how desperately Kurt seems to want to return to McKinley. When Kurt wants a moment alone to speak with Dave, Burt gets suspicious. Kurt’s keeping something from him; he is sure of it. He wonders if Kurt’s keeping it from Blaine, too. Somehow, he doubts it. Kurt decides to go back to McKinley, and as much as it worries Burt, it will be nice to have Kurt home. As they’re leaving, Kurt mentions being worried about telling Blaine. Burt worries with him.

     When Blaine comes by that evening, Kurt takes him to his room to tell him the news. Burt walks by a few times to monitor the conversation but Blaine seems to be nothing but supportive.

     When they come down to dinner, Blaine doesn’t get as involved in the conversation as he usually would. His smile is wide, but Burt notices that it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. Everyone gathers in the living room after dinner to watch a movie, but after just a few minutes Blaine excuses himself, saying he’s going to bed early because of a headache. He tells Kurt to go ahead and keep watching the movie. Burt waits about twenty minutes and then leaves to “grab another beer.”

     He heads up the stairs and raps once on the guest room door. He doesn’t hear any response, so he cracks the door open. Blaine is lying on his side, facing away from the door, but Burt can tell from the way is shoulders are shaking that he is crying. Burt sits down on the edge of the bed.

      “Let me guess. You want what’s best for him. And you’d never be selfish enough to beg him to stay with you, but you don’t know how you’re gonna manage without him.” Burt suggests.

     Blaine hiccups and nods.

      “H – how did you know?” he mumbles.

     Burt laughs sadly.

      “It was the same for me when he wanted to move into the dorms. I knew I was gonna have to let him leave at some point, and I knew it was best for him, but dammit I just wanted to keep him here.” 

     Blaine turns, lying on his back. He’s still not looking at Burt, but he’s not facing away any more.

      “It just hurts. I’m trying to stay rational about this. I keep telling myself that he’s not going to leave me. That he’s not doing it because of me. That I haven’t done anything wrong. That sort of thing. But it still hurts.”

      “You can tell him that, you know.” Burt says. “You can tell him that you’ll miss him, that you understand the strain it places on your relationship. This sort of thing is a two-way street, you know? You’ve helped Kurt out a lot, been supportive of everything he’s going through. Well, why don’t you let him do the same for you?”

     Blaine sniffles a bit.

      “I don’t know.” Blaine says thoughtfully. “I guess that it’s still really hard for me to open up to people. Even with Kurt. I’m just scared of being vulnerable.”

     This makes a great deal of sense to Burt.

      “When I gave Kurt ‘The Talk’, I told him that a person is never more vulnerable than when they expose themselves, physically or emotionally, to another person. You’ve spent a long time trying your best to avoid getting hurt, but you’re not going to get any closer to Kurt if you block him out for this sort of thing.”

      “I’m afraid to share a bed with him.” Blaine says suddenly. “I’m worried that if something happens between me and Kurt and we’re not together any more, I won’t be able to sleep without him.”

      “Well kid,” Bury says, scratching the back of his head. He tries a different approach. “You’re just gonna have to figure out what you want from the relationship. If you want to avoid getting hurt at all costs, you might be better off just being friends.”

     The terror in Blaine’s eyes is confirmation enough of how ridiculous that suggestion was.

      “Okay, well, since that is obviously out of the question, you might as well go for it. You get what you give, right? So whatever you put into the relationship, Kurt will put in, too.  And sure there’s stuff that you could lose, but thing about how great it’ll be to have that stuff, even temporarily.”

     Blaine nods, wiping his eyes and sitting up.

      “I’m being stupid, aren’t I?” He asks.

     Burt laughs but shakes his head.

      “Nah, I wouldn’t say that. Most people think through this at some point in a relationship. Plus, I know I’m biased and all, but Kurt is such a good catch. He would be a lot to lose.”

     Blaine laughs at this.

      “Are you really okay with us sharing a bed, though, Burt? Honestly?” 

     Blaine’s eyes are wide. Burt takes a moment to think, just so he can be sure he words things right.

      “Honestly, I am a bit uncomfortable.” Blaine looks anxious, but Burt holds up a hand. “Having said that, I am a hell of a lot more comfortable with it than I would be with letting Finn share a room with a girl. It is a big deal, but as long as both of you realize that and treat it accordingly, I can’t complain.”

     Blaine looks calmer after this, but still thoughtful.

      “I think I’m going to wait a while longer. I can still see us both being a little awkward about it, so it might be good to wait.”

     Burt shrugs.

      “Whatever you want, kid. You might want to tell Kurt about all of this, though, in case he’s been wondering.”

     At that moment Kurt pops his head in the door. Burt gives Blaine a pat on the shoulder and stands up to leave. Kurt smiles at him as he walk past. Burt thinks they’ll be okay.

     And it turns out that he’s right. After a long talk that night, the boys seem closer than ever. Blaine goes to McKinley on Monday to perform a song for Kurt. Burt hadn’t ever heard the song before, but Kurt was getting choked up telling him about it that evening, so Blaine must have chosen well. Blaine starts coming over even more often to make up for no longer seeing Kurt at school. Burt’s not really sure how Blaine can afford all the gas he goes through, but doesn’t really want to ask about it.

     Kurt loves being back at McKinley. Burt asks every night about Karofsky but Kurt just always says that he knows the guy is sorry, and that he isn’t worried at all. Burt hopes that Kurt knows what he’s doing.

     A few nights later, they’re all gathered around the kitchen table eating dinner. Finn’s been looking at Kurt and Blaine strangely the whole evening and hasn’t said anything at all. When he breaks his silence, the words out of his mouth are strange, even for him.

      “Where were you last night around seven, Kurt?”

     Literally every jaw at the table drops. Blaine blinks several times. Kurt angles his head to one side and then to the other, as if he can’t believe what he just heard.

      “I was shopping. Running errands.” He says slowly.

     Finn nods, looking skeptical.

      “Sure, sure. Blaine, did he tell you what his errands were?”

     Now Blaine looks as confused as Kurt.

      “He did. He didn’t need to, but he did anyway.”

      “And you know every single place he went?” Finn continues.

      “Finn, if something is bothering you, why don’t you just ask? Stop beating around the bush and get straight to it!” Carole exclaims.

     The whole family turns to look at Carole, surprised by her tone.

      “I just wanted to make sure everything is okay with you two.” Finn mumbled.

      “No, you didn’t.” Kurt says, clearly annoyed. “Something’s going on. What is it? Are you not trusting Quinn, so you’re transferring it onto my relationship with Blaine?”

      “No! Well kinda, but that’s not what this is about! I just want to make sure you’re not keeping something from Blaine.”

     Burt can tell from the look on Blaine’s face that the kid is trying really hard to not look worried. Kurt looks absolutely furious.

      “Let’s get this straight, once and for all.” Kurt says, his voice substantially lower than normal, in a way that makes him sound dangerous. “There is nothing wrong with Blaine and my relationship. Blaine and I know pretty much everything about each other and I’m not worried in the slightest about the things I don’t know about him. The fact that I don’t tell you everything, Finn Hudson, does not mean that I am keeping things from my boyfriend. I’m not sure what you think you have on me, but I can assure you that whatever it is, Blaine knows the truth. I also know that Blaine trusts me, just like I trust him. So I suggest that if you want to continue to live happily, you will respect me, you will respect Blaine and you will keep out of situations that you are clearly too oblivious to be able to understand. Now, I’m going to go upstairs with my boyfriend, who I care about more deeply I can express, and we’re going to try to forget how rude and hurtful you just were.”

      “Sam wore that jacket of yours to school!” Finn blurted. “If you’re so innocent, then how did he get it? Did you give it to him when you two were at the motel together?”

     Burt and Carole could not be more shocked. Burt glances over at Blaine, and is horrified by how upset the boy looks.

      “You gave him your jacket?” Blaine nearly shouts. “Why would you do that?”

     Burt is just about to explode from worry when suddenly –

      “We talked about this!” Blaine says, “That jacket was absolutely wrong for him! It doesn’t fit his personality at all! I told you to give him the pullover instead!”

     Burt could not be more confused when Kurt kisses Blaine swiftly on the cheek.

      “And that is why I’m never taking fashion advice from you again.” Kurt says, shaking his head.

      “Okay, someone’s gonna need to start at the beginning and explain this whole mess to me, because I have no clue what the hell is going on.” Burt says loudly, and Carole nods in agreement.

      “Sam needed some clothes, so I picked out some of my clothes from last season and collected a few from guys at Dalton to give him. Finn seems to think that I am cheating on Blaine with a straight guy with awful hair and leaving my clothing behind after our sordid activities.”

     Burt, Blaine and Carole turn to look at Finn, shock on their faces.

      “It was the only thing that made sense.” Finn mumbled.

      “Let’s go up to your room and have a nice long chat about respect, okay, Finn?” Carole says, rubbing her forehead with one hand.

     As Carole and Finn leave the table and go upstairs, Kurt slides his chair over to get closer to Blaine. He snuggles up to the other boy, resting his head on Blaine’s shoulder.

      “You weren’t actually worried, were you?” Kurt asks gently.

     Blaine shrugs, looking at the floor.

      “I was trying not to be. He was just really playing into my insecurities.” Blaine says softly.

     Burt’s timing is off, because Kurt’s is just about to say something sweet and consoling, when Burt interrupts.

      “So what was all that about a motel?” Burt asked.

      “Sam doesn’t want the Glee kids to know, but his dad lost his job. They lost their house so they’re living in a motel temporarily. Sam needed new clothes but they couldn’t afford them. He overheard me mentioning to Mercedes about making my spring run to Goodwill, so he asked me if I could maybe bring him some of my stuff. I didn’t think he’d want most of my stuff, especially because I thought people might recognize it, so Blaine suggested asking the Warblers. I went over to the motel yesterday evening to drop of the clothes. Quinn’s been going over to babysit his siblings while he and his parents are all working.”

     Burt sighs.

      “You kids, it’s just one thing after another with all of you.”

     Blaine and Kurt chuckle a bit at this.

      “I’m proud of you, Kurt.” Burt says. “You’re doing a good thing, helping Sam out.”

     Blaine pulls Kurt closer to him, and kisses the top of his head.

      “You sure are.” Blaine adds. “The guys were talking about it today at practice; they were really glad to be able to help. I’m really proud of you, too. I’m sorry I got insecure.”

      “Well, I’m gonna grab a beer and see what’s on TV. You guys can come join me. Or not. Whatever.” Burt says, smiling at the two boys.

     As he heads to the fridge, he thinks about how much Kurt is like his mom. She’d do anything she could to help someone. Kurt definitely got that from her. It’s nice that he’s found someone like Blaine who shares that tendency. They sure are well matched, he thinks. He glances over at the boys, who are curled into each other, talking quietly about Sam and his family. Burt decides to suggest to Carole that they take some food over for the Evans family, maybe offer them repairs at cost at the garage. Times are tough and people have got to stick together. He’s glad that Kurt and Blaine have figured that out so quickly.