He’d also mentioned that once Kurt started, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

It was all so very, very true, which was how Kurt found himself in bed with Blaine more often than not as the weeks rolled by.

The second time they’d had sex had also been the first time Kurt had been naked in front of someone who hadn’t changed his diapers as a baby. Blaine had begged, begged, and Kurt had been unable to deny his pleading.

It was so much better naked. The slick slide of their skin together, so much of Blaine open and exposed for him to explore – Kurt knew he would never get enough of that.

The third time they had sex as the first time that anyone other than Kurt had touched his bare cock. He’d practically come on the spot (much to his embarrassment and Blaine’s utter pride). Kurt took much pleasure in the fact that he’d done the same thing to Blaine the first time he tried giving Blaine a blow job (also known as the fourth time they had sex).

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, Kurt knew every nook and cranny on Blaine’s body – where to touch, where to lick or suck or bite – anything that made his husband turn into a pleading, whimpering mess. Kurt fared no better – Blaine knew all his spots, knew exactly how to make him cry out in ecstasy with just his hands.

“How did we survive without this?” Kurt asked. It was two days before Thanksgiving and he and Blaine had tumbled into bed after Blaine had officially declared his paper for his English class finished.

Blaine laughed. “I’m pretty sure that’s why they invented masturbation,” he answered.

“Blaine,” Kurt muttered, scandalized.

“Are you seriously turning red?” Blaine teased, looking at Kurt’s embarrassed expression. “Come on, Kurt, I just had your cock in my mouth, but the idea of masturbation embarrasses you?”

“Shut up.” Kurt stuck his tongue out at him. “It’s not that… it’s just… before we… sometimes I used to think about you.”

“While you were…” Blaine trailed off, his eyes wide.

Kurt covered his face with a pillow. “I can’t believe I just said that.” He wasn’t sure if Blaine understood him since his voice was muffled by the pillow.

“Me too,” Blaine finally spoke. Kurt chanced a glance at his husband from under the pillow.

“Really?” Kurt wanted to know.

“Really,” Blaine confirmed, pulling the pillow away from Kurt’s face. “And you don’t have to be embarrassed. The fact that you thought about me… it’s hot.”

“Yeah?” Kurt breathed out. Blaine nodded, his eyes darkening, his gaze never leaving Kurt. Kurt licked his kiss swollen lips and groaned. “I can’t, oh,” Kurt managed to get out before Blaine’s lips were on his.

“Oh, I think you can,” Blaine murmured, nipping lightly at his bottom lip. Blaine’s hand grazed his half-hard cock, and he shuddered, surrendering himself to Blaine’s capable hands.

*

“Come in!” Blaine heard Kurt exclaim from his spot in the kitchen. He was putting the finishing touches on Thanksgiving dinner. Carole and Finn were relaxing in the living room, Carole with a glass of wine and Finn with a soft drink. Cooper was regaling them with tales of exploits in LA. Kurt was letting in the last of their guests – Rachel, her friend, Brody, and Kurt’s boss, Isabelle.

He was nervous – this was their first big family gathering (and for a boy who’d thought last May that he didn’t have any family left, this was huge), and he was panicking. Blaine knew he wanted today to go well - it was Kurt’s first Thanksgiving without his father and even though he was hiding it well, Blaine knew he was taking it hard.

“Blaine!” he heard Isabelle’s voice. “I brought wine.” Blaine turned to see her standing in the doorway to their small kitchen.

“Isabelle, it’s good to see you,” he greeted, taking the wine from her. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to put it to good use.”

She patted his cheek. “You are just too cute.”

He wondered how much she’d had to drink at this point, grinning.

“Blaine, honey, come join us,” Carole called. He followed Isabelle back into the living room, where everyone was settled but looking kind of awkward. He supposed it would be weird to be face-to-face with an ex who’d found someone new, so that explained Finn and Rachel’s behavior. It didn’t help that Finn was on crutches (there was a mishap with a gun, Blaine didn’t know all the details, but it had gotten Finn discharged from the Army). He was pretty sure Rachel wouldn’t have invited Brody if she’d known Finn was going to be there.

“Dinner will be ready any minute,” Blaine told them, standing there awkwardly. The couch was full – Finn, Carole and Kurt were taking up all the room. Rachel and Brody were sharing the oversize armchair, much to Finn’s chagrin (if his expression was anything to go by), and Isabelle and Cooper had commandeered the chairs they’d moved out from the bedrooms.

“Come sit,” Kurt encouraged. “The timer will go off when the turkey’s done.”

“There’s nowhere to sit,” Blaine replied. Carole was in discussion with Isabelle about acid wash and whether Isabelle ever thought it could make a comeback. Finn, Rachel and Brody were awkwardly discussing her latest dance class at NYADA (he couldn’t believe Rachel’s dance teacher actually referred to her as “Schwimmer”). Kurt just tugged on his hand, effectively pulling Blaine into his lap.

Blaine could feel his face turning a delicate shade of pink. It wasn’t very often they were publicly affectionate. He could feel Carole’s eyes on them and wondered what she thought about the changes in their behavior.

“I have an announcement,” Kurt’s voice rang out above the small conversations going on. Blaine smiled, knowing what was coming. “So, I’ve been working at Vogue for the last few months but you guys know it was my dream initially to get into NYADA, like Rachel.”

He reached over behind Blaine and picked up a letter.

“A few weeks ago I emailed the admissions office and explained to them about… about Dad and what happened last spring, and I requested a second audition for the new semester starting January,” Kurt continued. “I heard back from them a few days ago, but I wanted to wait until we were all together to tell you the good news.”

Rachel let out a delicate shriek and clapped her hands over her mouth.

“They granted my request and my audition is in a few weeks.”

Blaine knew he’d already told Isabelle about it (she was his boss, he’d kind of had to), but everyone else immediately moved in to hug Kurt congratulations. Rachel was first, even though she’d been across the room.

“Out of my way, Blaine Warbler,” she said. Blaine hopped up just in time for Rachel to fling herself into Kurt’s lap. Kurt laughed as he grabbed her, keeping her from tumbling into Finn. “We’re going to work non-stop,” Rachel continued. “We’re going to rehearse and rehearse and get you into NYADA if it kills us.”

The timer rang while everyone was taking their turns with Kurt, so Blaine excused himself to the kitchen. He pulled the turkey out of the oven, setting it up on the stove. Kurt had outdone himself.

“All right,” Blaine said, going back into the living room. “Dinner is served, everyone. Let’s eat.”

*

Kurt watched quietly as everyone went around the table and said what they were thankful for. Everyone said the same things: Family, friends, good health, and so on. Kurt knew they meant them, but he didn’t feel it.
He honestly felt kind of hollow.

His father should be here. He should be sitting at the head of the table instead of Blaine, getting ready to carve into the turkey. Kurt’s eyes burned and he blinked rapidly, taking a sip of wine that Isabelle had brought. He didn’t normally drink, thanks to an incident in high school where he’d ended up puking on the guidance counselor’s shoes, but he was making an exception tonight.

He just needed to not feel so raw.

Telling everyone his good news about NYADA had only distracted him for a few minutes, and he hated that feeling so happy was so fleeting.

It was Finn’s turn now, and his brother was raising his cup in the air.

“We’ve all kind of said the same things,” Finn began, “We’re all thankful to be here, and healthy.” He paused. “But I’d like to take this moment and remember someone who’s not here. Someone who helped make this family possible.”

Kurt bit his lip. He didn’t think he could sit through this. He wasn’t ready to do this.

“Burt Hummel was a great man,” Finn said, and that was all Kurt could take.

“Excuse me,” Kurt mumbled, scotching his chair back and fleeing the room.

It wasn’t long before there was a soft knock and Carole was poking her head in.

“I thought you might be Blaine,” Kurt greeted her, surprised to see her instead of his husband.

“I managed to talk him into letting me take this one.” Carole smiled sadly. She came and sat down next to him on the edge of the bed. “You’re having a rough day, aren’t you?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it, Carole.”

“It might help,” she encouraged. “I know how much it hurts, Kurt.”

“What good does talking do?” Kurt asked, staring at his feet. “It doesn’t change anything. Dad’s still… gone.”

“I know,” Carole replied, scooting closer and putting her arm around his shoulders. “And I miss him every day.”

“How do you deal with it?” Kurt wanted to know. “I can’t imagine how it must be for you…. to lose two husbands.”

“I have my moments where I scream and rage too,” Carole told him. “But then I think of all the good times we had together, and how much we loved each other, and even though it was only for a short time, I’m so, so thankful that I got to have him in my life.”

“Would you do it all over again, if you knew this would be how it would end?” Kurt couldn’t fathom opening himself up to that kind of pain on purpose.

“In a heartbeat,” Carole spoke softly. She cupped his chin in her hand and raised his head slowly so she could look him in the eye. “Falling in love with Burt gave me you – another son to love and take care of. I can’t imagine my life without you in it, Kurt. And if you hadn’t married Blaine, I wouldn’t have him either. I have three sons now.”

Kurt didn’t know what to say. He loved Carole, he did. She was nothing like his mother, yet they had the same caring spirit.

“I think Burt would be so proud of the man you’ve become,” she said. “I know I am.”

There was another knock at the door and then Blaine was stepping into the room. “Everything okay in here?”

“Fine,” Kurt answered quietly. “I just needed a minute.”

“I can go,” Blaine offered. He looked worried so Kurt forced a smile to his face.

“No, that’s okay.” Carole stood up. “I’ll get everyone started with the food. You two join us when you’re ready.”

“You’re having a tough day, aren’t you?” Blaine asked once Carole was gone.

“My running out of the room wasn’t a big enough clue?” Kurt replied.

“I kind of picked up on it this morning.” Blaine came and sat next to him on the bed.

“And here I thought I was hiding it well,” Kurt muttered. He was embarrassed enough as it was.

“You are,” Blaine assured him. “Or you were. I don’t think anyone knew but me.”

They sat in silence for a long moment. The clatter of dishes and cheerful voices reached them from the dining area.

“We should probably go back out there,” Kurt finally sighed. He wanted nothing more than to kick everyone out of the apartment so he could hide away.

“Before we do, I just wanted to say something,” Blaine stared into his eyes, intensity in his gaze. “Kurt, I…”
Kurt held his breath, wondering what Blaine could possibly finish that sentence with.

“I am so, so thankful for you.” Blaine pressed his forehead to Kurt’s, and Kurt closed his eyes against the emotions welling up in him. Blaine had this way of getting passed all of his defenses.

“Me too,” he whispered. “I’m thankful too.”

Blaine kissed him lightly before pulling away. “Come on. If we want to get anything for dinner, we better head out there.”

Kurt nodded after a moment. “I just need another minute.”

Blaine agreed and disappeared into the other room. Kurt stared at the floor and sighed.

He was Kurt Hummel, damn it. He could do this.

That reminder in place, Kurt went and rejoined the others.

He was going to have a good Thanksgiving, no matter what.