His bleary eyes could barely focus as he walked to the bathroom. After a quick shower he managed to wake up Finn before he went started breakfast. His dad was already sitting there reading the paper when he walked into the kitchen.

“Morning kid…is Finn awake?”

“Yeah, he should be ready in a minute,” said Kurt as he quickly scrambled some eggs and made toast.

“We need to hurry and get over to Verizon before too long or else we might not get home in time for your date son,” he looked at Kurt and noticed that Kurt seemed to be dragging himself around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Not sure…I really want to see Blaine but look at me dad. I’m not the same person I was a few weeks ago. I can’t sleep without nightmares. I’m all fucked up mentally. I’m scarred not only physically but psychologically. I hallucinate when I take pain killers and I can’t even read without having my eyes go all cross-eyed. Should I saddle someone with all this luggage that even I can’t handle? Is that fair?” he asked so frustrated that he didn’t notice he had drawn blood from where his fingernails were digging into his palms.

“At the risk of sounding like an ass, I gotta say Kurt – life is not fair. Yep, you are pretty messed up right now but that is through no fault of your own. I made an appointment for you with one of the doctors that Dr. Steele recommended and hopefully that will help you deal with some of this stuff. I really think you should go on this date. Try to just have fun talking to Blaine. It’s not like you are planning on getting married tomorrow. Hell, you might even find that he is totally not your type.”

“Blaine is so totally my type dad!” smiled Kurt.

“Well I guess you will never know if you don’t give him a chance – will you?”

“I’m sounding like an idiot aren’t I?” murmured Kurt.

“No you are sounding like someone who has lived through something pretty traumatic. I did notice that Jake is back on your bed this morning. I haven’t seen Jake in years,” said Burt remembering that Kurt’s mother had brought home Jake from one of her business trips shortly before she died. After her death, Kurt couldn’t seem to let go of Jake. He even managed to smuggle Jake into school on a daily basis. Of course he stayed in Kurt’s backpack but just knowing Jake was near was enough for Kurt.

“Ummm…yeah, I couldn’t sleep one night and I saw him sitting on my dresser so I just took him down to cuddle with him for a bit. Now he refuses to go back on the dresser,” said Kurt dryly. “Even my hang-ups have attitude.”

“Hey don’t be embarrassed. If Jake helps - cuddle away son, now let’s get moving…..FINN get your ass in here and eat breakfast so we can go!” he yelled hoping Finn could hear him.

“Okay, okay, jeez give a guy in a wheelchair a break why don’t you!” exclaimed Finn.

After they all finished breakfast they headed to the Verizon store to get their new cell phones. They rushed back home and it was already 11:30 and Kurt’s could feel the freakin’ butterflies in his stomach turning into pterodactyls and attacking his intestines. He was so nervous he could feel an anxiety attack wanting to hit. He tried to calm down and ran upstairs and checked himself in the mirror. He was wearing loose fitting jeans and a button down dress shirt. Nothing fancy or elaborate just “regular folk” clothes as Burt liked to call them. He put on his converse tennis shoes and he was ready to go when he heard the doorbell ring.

He walked down the stairs carefully – he didn’t want to end up sprawled on the floor in front of Blaine in his rush to get downstairs. He could hear his dad talking to Blaine in the living room and he in his breath when he caught sight of Blaine. Damn, the boy was gorgeous! How could his dad think this boy was not his type?
As if on cue, Bliane looked up and saw Kurt and
smiled, “Hi there.”

“H-H-Hi,” great thought Kurt he sounded like someone who had suffered permanent brain damage.

“Are you ready to go? I was telling your dad that we would be going to get coffee at the Lima Bean and then play it by ear if that is okay with you?”

“That’s sounds fine. Bye dad. I have my cell phone on in case you need to reach me.”

“Nice to meet you Blaine – make sure you have him home before curfew and call if you guys are running late,” said Burt closing the door on the two boys and unashamedly peeking out the living room window. He saw that Blaine opened the car door for Kurt before closing it and running around to the driver side. Kurt dating was new territory for Burt and he wasn’t sure what the rules were for a gay couple. Did they take turns opening doors or paying for dinner? He would have to ask Kurt so that he didn’t make any assumptions that would later bite him in the ass.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoooxox

“Can we address the ugly, white elephant in the room…or should we say puckered, pink elephant in the room?” he said as he fingered his scar.

Blaine just raised his eyebrows and looked confused, “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about my scar, Blaine. Have you not noticed it?”

“Well yeah, Kurt, I noticed it - but I was there that day I know what happened.”

“Does the eye patch or the scar bother you?” asked Kurt.

“Yes – but not in the way you might think,” said Blaine as he caught Kurt’s hand. As soon as he had uttered the first word Kurt had stood up and was ready to walk away. Blaine barely managed to catch his hand before he left. “Let me explain. It bothers me that you have to endure the pain and the daily reminder of that day. The fact that you were injured and that those injuries are visible does not bother me. I am not repulsed by that Kurt. I have my own injuries.”

Kurt raked his eyes over Blaine and looked at him questioningly.

“Do you remember that we were farther away from you guys in the airport? Whenever we travel to perform we always wear our Dalton uniforms. Those uniforms are made of this harsh polyester material that is seemingly very flammable. Of course, now that this interesting tidbit has been discovered the Dalton uniform has received a much needed facelift.”

“I don’t understand what you are saying Blaine.”

“Like you I also carry scars. The explosion knocked me off my feet. I flew a few feet in the air and landed on a pile of burning debris. I was knocked unconscious and did not notice that my uniform was on fire. I received some nasty burns on most of my torso. I was lucky that one of my friends was able to roll me around and stop the fire before the burns went any deeper. I’ve had to have a few skin grafts and I will probably need a few more but to answer your question – no – your scars don’t faze me.”

Blaine looked at Kurt and said, “Ever since I heard you sing in Coachella, I’ve thought of you and hated that I was too scared to go up and ask you for your name and number. I can’t believe that I’ve gotten a chance to get to know you. I’ve been calling around Ohio to every Hummel listed online. I had actually called your dad’s shop but some guy just kept telling me to call back later. I never stopped calling Kurt. I think I called the shop about three times a week until finally I was able to talk to your dad. I like you Kurt. I mean I really like like you and I want to see if this goes anywhere.”

Kurt was speechless. He had never had anyone interested in him, well other that Karofsky, but he wasn’t counting closeted, aggressive homosexuals that tried to sexually molest you at every turn.

“Wow, I really like you too Blaine and I want the chance to see if this develops into anything as well. I just have to warn you that I still have issues to deal with resulting from the attack. I still have some bad days but if you are willing to see where this goes then I am okay with that. I noticed that I’ve changed quite a bit since that day and I know how heartless this world can be so I’ve decided to just live life to the fullest which is why I decided to clear things up right away. Had that attack never happened I bet I would have danced around the topic of liking you for months before telling you how I really feel about you.”

“I know what you mean. Having survived has changed my outlook on life. I don’t take people or things for granted anymore,” whispered Blaine. He seemed lost for a bit but then he shook his head and focused on Kurt. “I’m really glad you decided to see me.”
Kurt leaned over and held his hand gently and whispered, “Me too.”