It was a voice he recognized, usually at his front door before his son disappeared to another musical, or to go shopping, or to go get coffee; and speaking of coffee, there was Blaine, with a cup of coffee in each hand.

Blaine shuffled a little, giving off an air of being unsettled, Burt decided, perhaps a little scared.

“Blaine,” Burt nodded, “something I can do for you?” He asked as he wiped his hands off on a towel. Blaine did a little half dance as though he were reconsidering his presence before he offered up one of the cups to Burt.

“Coffee,” Blaine managed to declare and the teenager smiled as though that explained his appearance in Burt’s garage. Burt took the cup from Blaine’s hand.

“Thanks. Everything okay? You aren’t here to talk to me about sex again, are you, because I did what I could and—,”

“No, sir. I just,” Blaine stared at the cup in his hand and bit his lip. “Kurt and I always get coffee together after school.” Blaine seemed completely lost when his eyes met Burt’s and Burt felt a little sorry for the kid.

“I’m guessing you guys aren’t on break yet.”

“No, not till next week.” Blaine shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry if I’m intruding or anything, it’s just…it’s the longest I’ve gone without talking to Kurt since…well, since we met,” Blaine finished, his tone somewhat bitter. Burt watched a hundred different emotions rush across Blaine’s face and he marveled at the emotional depth the teen was able to display so casually.

“It’s okay. You know, he’s in Florida, not Antarctica. You can call him,” Burt teased.

“I-I don’t want to do that. He’s on vacation and he just went back to McKinley a few weeks ago. If he wants to talk to me, he’ll call.” Blaine shrugged. Burt didn’t protest, though he knew that Kurt was probably waiting for Blaine’s call as much as Blaine was waiting for Kurt’s.

Burt wondered what that said about them. He knew that Kurt liked Blaine in a romantic way, but he still wasn’t sure about Blaine. Even if Blaine had overstepped the last time he was in Burt’s garage, Burt had to give him props. He knew the boy must, at least, care a great deal for his son to have to come to him like that.

“Do you mind if I stay for a little bit?”

“Sure, pull up a stool,” Burt finally took a sip of his coffee, he could see why Kurt was so addicted to it, though he had a feeling Kurt’s addiction had more to do with the boy now perched on a stool a few feet from Burt than with the actual coffee.

Blaine’s eyes roamed over the garage and Burt went back to working under the hood.

“So…it’s a nice place you’ve got here.” Blaine stated, taking another sip of his coffee. His fingers drummed along the cup and he looked as though he might run away at any second.

“Thanks,” Burt responded, soaking in the garage. Truth be told, he was quite proud of this place. He had worked so hard after he got out of school at fixing up cars. He hadn’t always been this responsible and preferred to forget about some of the things he got up to when he was around their age.

He knew Kurt didn’t get involved in the kind of shit he did when he was younger, Kurt had always been incredibly mature for his age, wise beyond his years in a lot of ways.

It helped that Kurt was gay, in a way; at least he wouldn’t be knocking up anyone. He couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like for Carol when they thought that Finn had gotten Quinn pregnant—he would never have to deal with that.

Burt had always been responsible when it came to working on cars. He wanted it to be done right and done well. That’s not to say he hadn’t gotten up to mischief, he was a bit of a wild child when he was young. Then he met Samantha and everything changed, his party boy persona slipped away as he fell head over heels in love with her.

He wondered what this Blaine guy was up to, he didn’t even know what the two of them did most of the time, just that (usually) Kurt would come home after seeing Blaine and he would just glow with happiness. The smile that kid could radiate…

Sure, there had been moments, like when Kurt got to audition for that song from Wicked that he kept going on about. There were moments where Kurt was happy, but that’s all they were, moments. They were fleeting and they didn’t last.

Aside from a few hiccups, it seemed as though Blaine was the real deal, a true friend. He made Kurt happy, even if they weren’t together in the romantic sense that Burt knew Kurt wanted.

Burt set down his tools and leaned against the car. He considered the boy in front of him for a moment.

“Blaine, can you tell me something?” Burt’s words seemed to pull the boy out of some sort of reverie.

“Of course, sir.” Blaine straightened up, his eyes curious.

“What exactly….what do you guys do together? You and Kurt.” Burt wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to know the answer especially if…

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you two get together pretty much every day. What do you even talk about? Most of the time, I don’t even know where to begin with him.”

“Oh,” Blaine smiled a little bit. “We talk about…. everything. Music, theater, fashion, though he knows far more about fashion than I ever will.”

Burt nodded, thinking that made sense. Kurt was a bit of a fashion diva or whatever they were called. Both of them drank more of their coffee, neither sure where to go from there.

“We talk about you, well, he talks about you a fair amount,” Blaine admitted. Burt spluttered over his coffee.

“Really?” He asked, taken aback.

“Yeah, he worries about you a lot.” Blaine observed the frown that curled Burt’s lips downward.

“He worries about me? I don’t want that. Kid’s got enough on his plate as it is.”

“I know, he knows that too. After the heart attack though…he just worries. I think logically he understands. You have Carole and he’s been so good with you, trying to make sure you eat right, but it’s still there. The emotional part of him. He doesn’t want to lose you.”

Burt considered Blaine’s words. He hadn’t thought of it that way. Sure, Kurt had Carole now too, and Burt knew that should anything ever happen to him, she would definitely take care of Kurt, but he…Kurt was so young. He shouldn’t have to worry about that kind of thing.

Burt vowed then and there to be better about the diet and not give Kurt such a hard time about what he was made to eat.

“Thanks for, thanks for telling me.”

“Of course, sir,” Blaine stated as though Burt were thanking him for giving him the time. Blaine tilted his head towards the coffee cup in Burt’s hand. “You know, coffee is known to be good for the heart.”

Burt nodded, he had heard that too. The coffee certainly seemed to be good for Kurt’s heart, though it could just be the boy who was good for Kurt’s heart, the boy Burt was sure cared more about his son than either of them necessarily realized.

“You should call him.”

“But I—,” Blaine began to protest.

“I’m sure he’d like to hear from you.”

After a few more minutes of stilted conversation, Blaine took off and Burt thanked him again for the coffee. Blaine might be a strange kid; he might not be as put together as others. He might not have as many answers as he might like to project, but he seemed to be a good kid.

Burt smiled a little as he tossed his cup in the trash, noticing for the first time that Kurt’s name was scrawled on the side. Blaine must have gotten the coffee before remembering that Kurt was out of town.

Burt wondered how long it had taken the boy to realize that Kurt wasn’t coming and what had made him decide to visit Burt instead. Did he just want to see Kurt that badly, that even seeing Kurt’s dad was enough?

It seemed to Burt that Blaine might be addicted to something more than coffee too.