With the storm over and the plows running, they made good time from Youngstown to Akron and Akron to Mansfield. The leg from Mansfield to Lima was much slower because they were no longer on the interstate, and the road conditions were more treacherous. Still, they arrived in Lima around lunch time.

Amid hugs and exclamations, Kurt introduced Blaine to his dad, Burt, and his step-mom, Carole. Then the two men lugged their cases into the house.

The phone rang, and Burt went into his home office with a quick apology to the group to take the work-related phone call.

“Why don't Blaine and you take your stuff up to your room? Lunch will be ready in about fifteen minutes,” Carole instructed.

Kurt's eyes grew wide, “You want us both to stay in my room?”

Carole smiled and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder, “Kurt, you're not a teenager anymore; youre a grown man.  Your dad knows that if you have a boyfriend serious enough to bring home, then you're bound to be sleeping with him. He's not going to freak out."  Seeing the pensive look on Kurts face, she continued, "However, if you're worried, you can put Blaine in Finn's old room”

The mention of Finn seemed to change the mood of the room in a way that Blaine didn't completely understand, but he picked up his bag and said to Kurt, “Come on, you can show me your old room.”

Kurt turned and Blaine trailed behind him to Kurt's room. Once they were there, Kurt excused himself saying, “I'll be right back,” and he left Blaine to look around Kurt's tastefully decorated and spacious bedroom.

When Kurt returned, he was pale and looked a little bit sick.

“What is it?” Blaine asked, guiding Kurt to sit on the edge of the bed.

“I didn't really think this through,” Kurt said shakily. “Dad's turned the guest room into an office, and Finn's room…it's the same…it's like he's still here. You can't sleep there; it would be too weird.”

Blaine looked at Kurt puzzled.

Kurt took a breath. “Finn was my brother. Step-brother,” he amended, “but really like my brother. He watched out for me. He died our freshman year of college. It was stupid and sudden. Mostly we're all okay; we've had time to adjust…but, his room, I haven't been in there since…It's still the same. I kept expecting him to walk in and say, ‘Hey, dude, whatcha doin in my room?'”

Blaine sat beside Kurt and rubbed circles on his back, “Kurt, it's okay. I get that it would feel weird for me to sleep there. It's no problem. I can sleep here on the floor. Compared to last night, the floor here sounds really great. And Kurt?” Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine, “I'm really sorry about your brother.”

“Thank you,” Kurt said in a small voice.

“Boys, lunch is ready,” Carole called to all three men from the kitchen, and Blaine and Kurt stood up and went back upstairs, meeting up with Burt as he emerged from his office.

The four chatted amiably during lunch, and Kurt and Blaine deftly reflected questions like, “So, how'd you two meet?” and “How long have you been dating?” with appropriately vague comments like, “We met on the street,” and “We've known each other for a while.”

After lunch Blaine surprised Kurt by asking Burt if he could accompany him to his auto repair shop. It turned out that Blaine was a bit of a car enthusiast, and he enjoyed getting his hands greasy. Kurt opted to stay home and help Carole pick out new drapes for the living room.

“Blaine seems really nice,” said Carole, after Burt and Blaine had left.

“Yeah, he seems to be.”

Carole gave Kurt a startled look, “He seems to be?  What does that mean? Is he a closet puppy kicker or something?”

Kurt chuckled, “No. I mean…” he paused for a moment to come up with something, “I mean we haven't been together all that long.”

“You must like him enough if you're willing to go on a cross-country road trip with him. What's he going to do when you get to Seattle? Is he going to live with you?”

“Of course he's isn't going to live with me! I hardly…I mean…we're just still figuring stuff out, okay?”

“It seems like you would have talked about it.” Carole looked up and saw the pained expression on Kurt's face. “I'm sorry, honey. It's none of my business. I shouldn't have pried.”

Kurt smiled, “No, it's okay. It's just that we're taking it one day at a time.”

Carole laughed, “You make Blaine sound like an addiction.”

“That might be a good way to put it.”

After an evening of dinner, laughter, and movies, it was finally bedtime for everyone. Carole and Burt headed off to their bedroom, and Blaine and Kurt went downstairs to Kurt's room. Kurt shut the door. After two days of travel without showering, they both agreed that they couldn't stand to be so gross one minute longer. Blaine insisted that Kurt clean up first, and when Kurt stepped out of the bathroom in pajama pants and a t-shirt, hair wet and tousled, he found that Blaine had spread his sleeping bag on the floor.

“I'm being ridiculous about Finn's room. You should sleep there. Or you can sleep in my bed, and I can sleep on the sofa in the living room.”

Blaine stood up and touched Kurt's arm. “Kurt, it's fine. We settled this earlier. If either of us sleep on the sofa, your dad and Carole will know something's up. I'll sleep right here; I'll be fine. Just get in bed.”

Kurt looked indecisive, but then he said, “Okay, but you can't sleep on the floor. My bed is huge. At least, it's a lot bigger than the car. We can both sleep in the bed…if…if that's okay with you.”

Blaine smiled, “Are you sure?”

“I'm sure.”

“Okay, just let me shower.”

A short time later, Kurt was in bed waiting for Blaine and trying hard to think about anything except the fact that an attractive man was naked on the other side of the wall. He nearly gasped when Blaine walked out of the bathroom, towel around his waist and curly, wet hair rioting around his face. Gone was the hat head and the beard stubble replaced with nothing but sexiness.

“Forgot to bring my pajamas into the bathroom with me,” Blaine explained sheepishly, bending down to dig into his bag.

Kurt's eyes were on stalks looking at Blaine's wet chest, but when Blaine bent over, Kurt thought he might hyperventilate. Then when Blaine, without fanfare, simply removed his towel and stepped into his pajama pants, Kurt nearly passed out. Blaine was naked perfection, at least from the back, and what front Kurt could glimpse nearly made him moan. He turned to his side away from Blaine so that he wasn't visibly tenting the covers.

Pulling on a wife beater, Blaine walked around to the opposite side of the bed from Kurt and pulled the covers back. “Are you sure?” he asked one more time, and when Kurt nodded, biting his lower lip but not looking at Blaine, Blaine slipped in.

“Wow, these sheets are amazing.”

“I worship at the altar of high thread counts. I admit it's a lot better than what we had in the car. And hopefully I can avoid spooning you in my sleep this time,” Kurt joked.

“No way,” Blaine disagreed. “The best part of sleeping with another person is getting to snuggle with them. Sleeping alone sucks. It might be the only thing I miss about Sebastian. Don't you love having someone hold you while you sleep?”

Kurt didn't really know. He wasn't a sleep-over kind of guy. He was a “well, this has been fun, but I have a really early appointment tomorrow, so off you go,” kind of guy. However, he didn't plan to share that aspect of himself with Blaine, so he lied, “Yeah, it's the best.”

“I'm glad you think so,” said Blaine, reaching across a startled Kurt and shutting off the bedside lamp. Then he wrapped Kurt in his arms and pulled him over so that Kurt's back was pressed to Blaine's chest. “See, isn't this nice?” Blaine breathed into Kurt's ear.

“Yeah, it's nice,” Kurt agreed, because what else could he say? It really was nice, but as Blaine drifted off to sleep almost instantly, Kurt stayed wide awake for a long, long time.