Blaine awoke the morning after his friends' impromptu visit still confused about Kurt. His reaction to the Warblers showing up had not been what Blaine had expected. It had been almost like Kurt was mad at him at first, even if Kurt had insisted he wasn't. Kurt hadn't wanted to come along for coffee, even though he did when Blaine pressed him. He'd never had to force Kurt to hang out with him before. Then when Nick, Jeff and Sebastian had left, he'd just offered to take Blaine home; his voice had been all weird. The ride home had been silent.

Blaine had stewed about it all night, spending dinner distracted and was glad when Julie came in late and got in trouble because it kept the focus off him. He'd gone to bed without coming up with any answers and when he woke up, he still didn't have any.

"Blaine, sweetie," Elaine said through his bedroom door. "You better get a move on; the BMV is going to be packed."

"Okay," he called back, sliding out of bed and heading for his closet. It wasn't every day that he got to take a picture for an ID and he had to choose his outfit carefully. He put all thoughts of Kurt out of his mind.

*

Blaine bounced excitedly on his heels as he waited in line with Elaine. Even the knowledge that his new license would have the "wrong" name on it (as he was going to have to use Blane Danvers, since it was his legal name), couldn't put a damper on his mood.

"You're in a good mood today," she noted, looking overjoyed.

"I guess I am," Blaine admitted. He didn't like being upset all the time – it wasn't who he was. At least, that wasn't who he'd been, when he was living at home with his parents. Here, living with the Danvers, he didn't recognize himself half the time. "I had a good day yesterday and today I get to do this."

"And why was yesterday so wonderful?" she asked, a shadow crossing her face for a half second and gone so fast Blaine thought he might have imagined it.

Blaine bit his lip, debating if he should tell her the truth or not. "Because," he finally replied, "a couple of my friends came down from Dalton and we had coffee. Please don't be mad; I didn't call them I swear. They just showed up."

Elaine gave him a small smile. "Did you have a good time?"

"We did," Blaine whispered. "It was nice to see them again." Thinking of the Warblers made him ache and it was only compounded by thoughts of his parents and how much they must miss him. He couldn't imagine losing two children in one lifetime. He had no idea how people could recover from that kind of agony. "You're not mad?"

"No," Elaine murmured. "It might be good for you to see them sometimes."

"Does that mean I can have my phone back?" Blaine asked softly. She put an arm around his shoulder and hugged him to her for a moment. Blaine let her, even though he still wasn't on board with being touched by Elaine in that way. It was just one more way things had changed, because Blaine had always considered himself a tactile person before.

"I'll speak to your father," Elaine promised. Blaine startled at the use of that word where Michael was concerned and hoped she didn't notice.

"Next!" the woman behind the counter called and Blaine was pulled back to the reason they were at the BMV – he was getting his temporary license to he could start practicing and then take Driver's Ed.

The woman behind the counter seemed harried, handing him a stack of forms to fill out. Blaine started filling in the form, making small talk with Elaine before going back and reading through it.

He stopped short when he realized that he'd filled it out wrong.

*

When they got home, Blaine breathed a sigh of relief. He'd kind of had a break down after he'd realized what he'd done, throwing Elaine for a loop. She'd had to take him outside and calm him down. Blaine had just... lost it. All of it was too much to take, too much to handle, and he just wanted his mother to take him in her arms and hold him tight like she used to.

He couldn't have that, however, and he'd had to settle for Elaine. She'd gone back inside and gotten new forms and then filled them out for him, putting in the correct information. He watched silently and then followed her inside when she'd turned them in. He took his license picture with a forced smile and he knew he'd always remember that horrible moment when he looked at it.

Julie and Michael were waiting in the driveway when they got home, standing in front of what looked like something under a blanket.

"Well?" Julie asked as they got out of the car.

Blaine pulled out his license and showed it to her. She jumped up and down and then hugged him. "This is so awesome. As soon as you get your license, you are totally driving me everywhere."

Blaine groaned playfully but knew that was probably the truth.

"He has to have a car and a full license first," Michael reminded them.

"Yes, a car is important," Elaine said pointedly. Blaine glanced at them, wondering where this was going.

"Which is why we got you this!" Michael whipped the car cover back (because that's clearly what it was now that Blaine was up close to it), to reveal a rundown car.

"Thank you?" he offered, unsure if he should be glad or not. "Does it... work?"

Michael laughed. "Nope, but it will by the time we get done with it," he told them. "I figured we could work on it together."

"Oh," Blaine said. "I don't... really know anything about cars."

"Me either," Michael commiserated. "But we can learn."

"Sure," Blaine agreed, thinking that this was a bad, bad idea.

"Nothing manlier than getting your hands dirty, am I right?"

Blaine couldn't even come up with a reply to that, his heart sinking even further. Still, he wanted his phone back and he had a feeling that if he fought with Michael, he might say no.

So he bit his tongue and hoped against hope that he could have his phone and could have two way communications between him and his parents so they could find him a way out of this... life.

*

Blaine nearly cried again when Elaine brought him his phone, just a few hours later. "Just be sensible with it, okay?" she asked. Blaine nodded, his hand shaking as he took it from her. "Don't ignore the new friends you've made for your old ones."

"I won't," he promised, setting it down next to him on the bed. He pulled out his charger from his bag and plugged the phone in, turning it on. He had a few text messages and missed calls and was focused on them as Elaine left the room. He'd wait though, to call his parents. He would call when everyone was asleep.

*

The house was silent when Blaine finally decided it was safe enough to dial his phone. He pressed the button for the home number and put it to his ear, eyes closing as it began to ring.

"Blaine?" His mother's distressed voice met his ears. "Is everything okay?"

"Mom," he said, his voice wavering as tears came to his eyes. "Mom." It was all he could say.

"Honey, are you okay?"

"No," he managed. "I want to come home."

"Blaine." His dad had the phone now. "What's going on? Are they hurting you in some way?"

"No," Blaine answered. "I just miss you." He couldn't tell them that Elaine and Michael were pretty much homophobic – they would freak out and it still wouldn't help.

"We miss you too, bud," his dad replied.

"Blaine, I heard voices-" Elaine poked her head in the room and stopped short. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one," Blaine snapped at her. "I love you," he said into the phone. "I have to go now." He hung up and stared at her, almost hoping Elaine would push it.

"You promised," she told him, looking startled. He laughed harshly, shocked that he could actually sound like that.

"I wasn't doing anything wrong," Blaine replied. "Since when is it a crime to call someone?"

She gave him a long look and then sighed. "We'll talk about this in the morning, Blaine."

"Looking forward to it!" he called as she disappeared into the hallway.

*

Blaine was nervous by the time he was actually called into the living room the next day, to speak with Michael and Elaine. They both looked serious, and he knew this could not go well. He'd probably have to give up his phone again right as he'd gotten it back.

"I received a phone call this morning," Michael began quietly, "from a very distraught Susan Anderson."
Blaine squirmed in his seat.

"You shouldn't have called them like that," Elaine chided him lightly. "You scared the hell out of them, Blaine."

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not," Blaine admitted. "It was worth it just to hear their voices."

Elaine and Michael exchanged a look. "We've come to a decision," Elaine started, and Blaine's hopes rose. Maybe they'd had enough and they'd send him home. "Every Sunday morning while we're gone," she said, "will be your time to call the Andersons."

"What?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"We've seen how hard this is for you," Elaine continued. "If talking to them once a week helps..."

"Thank you," Blaine gasped out, leaning forward and hugging her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she whispered quietly.

*

The following week passed rapidly. Blaine was ecstatic when he went back to school, filling Kurt in on the newest developments at home in between French verbs. Whatever mood Kurt seemed to be in had dissipated and Blaine wondered if he'd just read too much into it. Sectionals were also the following week, and he they had finally prepared a set list and were rehearsing round the clock. He'd warned New Directions that the Warblers were amazing, and they were taking him seriously.

Life was as good as it was going to get at the moment, he supposed, and he felt truly happy walking with Kurt out to his Navigator after school that Friday. They were on their way to get their customary after school coffee, Julie off with some of the girls for the night – something about a sleepover.

Blaine couldn't help doing a little shimmy as they walked; he was in such a good mood. Kurt laughed so Blaine did it again as they approached the Navigator. This time he stumbled over a loose piece of concrete, and he would have fallen, except that Kurt caught him. Kurt's hands were holding his upper arms tightly, inadvertently pressing him back into the side of Kurt's SUV to stop his fall. Blaine's hands automatically gripped at Kurt as a result. Blaine stared at Kurt in wonder, their eyes locked. Something shifted in the air and Blaine felt like he couldn't breathe. He had no idea what Kurt was looking for in his gaze, but he poured every ounce of love he had for Kurt into his expression.

Kurt's eyes widened and a slow smile spread across his lips. That's when Blaine knew – Kurt felt the same way he did.

"Kurt," Blaine murmured, his hand reaching up to cup Kurt's face. He moved slowly, afraid he might scare Kurt away. He pressed his lips to Kurt's firmly, but without any force, his heart beating a mile a minute. Kurt seemed frozen for a second but then his hand came up and cupped Blaine's face. Then they were really kissing and it was all Blaine could do not to melt into a puddle on the spot. He was dizzy. Every nerve ending was fire and he was pretty sure he was tingling from head to toe when Kurt finally pulled away.

They were breathing heavy, unable to look away from each other. Kurt was smiling widely and Blaine, well, he did what he did best and started rambling without care.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he managed.

"You have?" Kurt asked, wide eyed and breathless. His voice had risen in pitch and a thrill went down Blaine's spine; he'd managed to ruffle the unflappable Kurt Hummel.

"The first time I saw you," Blaine began, "I had this moment – all I could think was 'oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever.'"

"That might be the sweetest and yet the cheesiest thing anyone's ever said to me," Kurt replied, pressing his forehead to Blaine's. "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not good at romance."

Blaine chuckled lightly. "As wonderful as this is," he said, "we should probably continue this elsewhere."

"Coffee?" Kurt offered.

"Sure," Blaine agreed.

When he got home that night, he was the happiest he could remember being in a long time.