He and Kurt, they haven’t always had the greatest relationship, with Sam gone and them not having much in common…it’s tough, but they try and they work at it. Sure, he may have hidden a few hospital bills from Kurt, but he’s never kept something like this from his son, something that is so involved with Kurt, but somehow isn’t.

Burt does tell Carole and when she agrees that it might not be best to tell Kurt just yet, he relaxes, but only a little.

If Burt were being completely honest with himself, he was a little scared of what was to come on Wednesday. This was the most he had ever and likely would ever put himself out for someone other than Kurt or one of the two women he had fallen in love with.

So far it had just been Blaine. Blaine being scared, Blaine being far more terrified than he was likely to ever admit.

Part of Burt liked that Blaine was a little afraid of him. Perhaps it showed respect, it showed that Blaine knew Burt was the one in charge, that he held all the power, both in their budding friendship, relationship, whatever this was, and in his friendship, relationship, whatever that was, that Blaine had with Kurt.

Burt had the power to say no. He had the power to stop Blaine being able to see Kurt.

The other part of him, the flip side of his protectiveness, extended to Blaine. Clearly his own father needed to work through some things if he thought working on a car might make his son straight.

Hell, the man had to work through some things for even trying.

He wanted to be there for the kid in a way on a father knows how or really understands. So he would let the boy continue, and perhaps he could grow a little closer to Kurt through his interactions with Blaine.

Kurt really liked Blaine; he may as well see what all the fuss is about.

Time inched by that afternoon. It seemed every task he completed somehow took less time than normal because each time he would look at the clock he swore time was going backwards.

When Blaine still hadn’t arrived shortly after four thirty, worry set in, twisting through his stomach and resulting in an unexpected mild panic. Had something happened to Blaine or was he just caught in traffic? Surely he hadn’t forgotten.

Burt mentally kicked himself as he realized he didn’t even have the kid’s number to be able to check in on him. For one crazy moment, he considered calling Kurt to get Blaine’s number, but was saved when a gelled head appeared in the doorway.

Blaine moved slowly, delicately balancing a coffee tray with two cups in one hand and a boom box in the other with a guitar slung over his shoulder.

“Here, let me help,” Burt stated as he rushed over and grabbed the coffee tilting out of Blaine’s grasp.

“Thanks,” Blaine muttered. “Sorry I’m a bit later than normal. It took a while to get everything ready.”

Burt winced at the confession. This kid really went all out.

“Don’t worry about it,” Burt waved it off. “C’mon,” Burt started as he turned Blaine towards the front offices, “as much as I would like to learn about musicals for my son, I don’t think the rest of my staff wants to have this little lesson.”

By the time Burt has Blaine’s boom box plugged in the teen pulls out a stack of well-used, but well-cared for CDs from a bag that Burt was pretty sure the kid hadn’t been carrying.

“You’ve got quite a collection,” Burt stated, a little stunned. Blaine shrugged.

“This is actually only part of it. I have multiple recordings for most of these, different casts, but Kurt has a bunch of them right now.” Blaine blushed a little and noticed the concerned look Burt was giving him.

“Oh! I don’t mind,” Blaine exclaimed. “He’s just getting them into his iTunes and, yeah, I don’t mind. He loans me stuff all the time, like pencils and then I feel bad because I almost always forget to give those back and Kurt can get a little testy about his pencils, but borrowing a pencil is hardly the same as borrowing a mint condition recording from the original cast of Babes In Arms…” Blaine trailed off.

Burt stared at the kid wondering what exactly had just happened.

“I’m sorry. I have a tendency to ramble sometimes.”

Burt attempted to repress his smile, but a low chuckle escaped that turned into a loud bubbling laughter. Blaine’s voice joined Burt’s and they were soon howling with laughter, tears streaming down Burt’s cheeks.

Burt took a few calming breaths before he was able to find his words.

“It’s okay Blaine. Kurt can get that way sometimes, Finn too. Don’t worry,” Burt gave Blaine a pointed look, “you can be yourself.”

“Thanks,” Blaine replied, his voice somber despite the smile on his lips. What had this kid’s dad done?

“Shall we begin?” Blaine’s voice struck through Burt’s thoughts. Burt nodded for Blaine to go ahead.

Approximately twenty-three minutes and forty-seven seconds later (not that Burt was counting or anything) Burt was completely and utterly confused. Blaine had spent time rattling off storylines and playing bits and pieces of songs from more musicals than Burt was sure actually existed.

The titles jumbled in his head in a twisted mess. Kate Get Your Gun or wait, no, it was Kiss Me, Kate wasn’t it? Who was supposed to get her gun? It was a girl, Burt thinks, Annie maybe? Wait, wasn’t that the little redheaded orphan? Maybe it was a sequel.

Needless to say, Burt was more than a little relieved when a knock interrupted Blaine’s nonstop stream of explanations.

Blaine slammed his finger down on the pause button as Jeremy popped his head around the door. Jeremy raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment on it.

“Hey Burt, sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got a situation with a customer up here…” Jeremy trailed off waiving towards the front counter where Burt could barely make out a flustered patron glaring in Jeremy’s direction.

“Of course,” Burt stated pulling himself up from his chair. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“No rush,” Blaine nearly stumbled over the words as he settled back into his chair. Burt pulled the door closed behind him as he left.

It took fifteen minutes and a lot of haggling before the patron was finally satisfied. Burt muttered to himself about ungrateful cheapskates as he headed back to his office. He was about to open the door when he heard it.

Music was playing, but it wasn’t coming from the boom box. Burt silently opened the door, grateful that Blaine wasn’t facing him since he continued playing.

Blaine strummed a melancholy tune on his guitar, his voice softly wrenching out the emotional song.

Without you, the hand gropes
The ear hears
The pulse beats

Without you, the eyes gaze
The legs walk
The lungs breathe

The mind churns
The heart yearns
The tears dry without you

Life goes on
But I'm gone
'Cause I’d die, without you
Without you

Blaine let the last crooning note die with the reverberations from his guitar.

It was a sad song, a sweet song. It almost hurt Burt’s heart to listen to it and the emotion Blaine put behind the song. It meant something to him.

Blaine let the silence surround him for a few moments, taking in a deep breath before shakily releasing it.

“That was really nice.” Burt winced at how loud his voice sounded after the song. Blaine jumped a little and turned to face Burt, his cheeks flaring a bright red.

“Oh, uh, thanks. It’s ummm, from Rent,” Blaine explained. Burt raised an eyebrow in question. “Another musical. Kurt and I saw it together in November, shortly before the wedding.”

Ah. That had been a busy time. Even before he proposed to Carole things were a bit hectic and then with all the Karofsky nonsense that happened.

“What’s it about?”

“Love.” Blaine didn’t hesitate in his response, but his blush darkened further. “I…I should get going,” he stuttered.

“Up to you.” Burt shrugged. Blaine rummaged through the bag that had the CDs and pulled out a sheet of paper adorned with an extensive list with several of the titles highlighted.

“These are most of the major musicals,” Blaine explained, handing the list to Burt. “I highlighted Kurt’s favorites in case you wanted to do a little more research on them.” Blaine’s voice softened just barely as he said Kurt’s name before going back to normal.

Burt looked over the list and found Rent to be among the titles highlighted.
“You sure you don’t want to stay for a bit?”

“Yeah, I’ve got stuff to get done.” Blaine shook a little as he packed up his belongings, refusing to meet Burt’s eye. When he finished he met the older man’s gaze. “I might not be by tomorrow. Since Dalton’s spring break starts on Saturday I have a bunch of tests on Friday and…”

“That’s alright. School comes first.” Burt threw a crooked smile in Blaine’s direction. “Blaine, I know that this, whatever this is, is a little strange, but don’t feel like you have to come. You’re welcome to visit anytime, but…”

“Yeah, thanks.” Blaine flashed him with a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes and just like that he was gone.

Burt settled behind his desk, gazing at the place Blaine had been occupying. Burt was never the smart kid. He definitely wasn’t the top of his class and sure, he didn’t know music really, especially not the way Kurt did, but even he could tell that that song meant more than just words and sounds plucked from a guitar.

He wasn’t terribly smart, but he wasn’t an idiot—Blaine Anderson was in love with his son.