Chapter 2

November 23, 2012

Luckily for the Hummel men the luggage claim didn't take a long time. Their suitcases were one of the first ones to come out on the belt so they left the airport building very quickly. Hiring a car went smoothly as well since Burt had filled in an online application a few days before they left. Despite the tiredness, their trip was going on well so far.

"Maybe we should get something to eat," Burt suggested when they began to drive away from the airport. "There must be a decent diner somewhere on the way."

"A diner? Like, one of those that they show in movies?" Kurt asked, trying to cover his excitement but failing miserably.

He couldn't remember ever eating in such place when he was a kid and whenever he saw a typical American diner in movies, he was always curious what it would be like. He always joked that it was in his blood to want such thing.

"I'll take it as an affirmative," Burt laughed and stopped in front of the zebra crossing to let some pedestrians cross the road.

"Well, you can't blame me! I've been hungry for a while now," Kurt replied with a blush.

"I told you to eat on the plane."

"I wasn't hungry then."

"Yeah, sure, it had nothing to do with that cute guy sitting next to you, right?" Burt teased him as he began to drive again.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Kurt said looking through the window at the passing buildings.

Burt made an agreeing sound. "I bet he found it really hot listening to your growling stomach."

"Dad!"

"What?" Burt asked innocently.

"Urgh, fine, I didn't want him to see me stuffing my face. I felt... self-conscious. I mean, he was cute and... God, I don't know what I was thinking..."

The man looked at his son for a moment to see him all embarrassed and went back to watching the road intently. "How about we go to the first diner we see and stuff our faces with some burgers and milkshakes and forget all about boy problems?"

"You have boy problems?"

"Yeah. Namely, Kurt Hummel," Burt said and Kurt stuck his tongue at his dad.

"I see I raised you well."

They stopped at the diner called 'Rosie's' fifteen minutes after their friendly banter. It was just like Kurt imagined a diner to be. There was a counter with stools behind which two waitresses were taking orders and making coffee. By the windows there were red booths where you could get slightly more privacy than while sitting in front of the working waitresses.

"Well, did it live up to your expectations?" Burt asked as he slid behind a table.

Kurt sat down in front of him and grabbed the menu. "The place is just how I imagined it to be. Hopefully the food will be good too."

They took their time looking through the menus and in the end Kurt couldn't decide what he wanted to try first. By the time the waitress came, they still couldn't order so Burt asked for some coffee first.

"Are you ready?" the same girl came up to them again.

"Um, I'll have a beef burger and a banana milkshake," Kurt read from the menu, hoping that he had made a smart choice.

"Alright," the girl wrote it down. "And for you, sir?"

Burt cleared his throat and pointed at the menu. "Beef burger with extra cheese and a chocolate milkshake."

"Great. I'll be back as soon as your order is ready," the waitress said and left.

"So... what was that about you being too self-conscious to eat in front of the cute guy?" Burt asked once they were left alone.

"Dad, can we just forget it?" Kurt whined, hiding his face in his hands.

"No, I need to know what is going on in that styled head of yours."

"My hair is styled, not head..."

"Okay, so what's going on in your hair?" Burt asked with a smirk.

Kurt glared at the man. "You are unbelievable. I have no idea how I grew up to be the way I am now since it's you who raised me."

Burt faked a shocked look on his face. "I think you just insulted me!"

"I think I did," Kurt laughed folding a napkin just to have something to do with his fingers.

At that time a bell announced that another customer came into the diner and Kurt could hear a male voice ordering a cup of coffee to take away. Kurt looked up and saw a black tattoo around his right wrist. He tensed and Burt followed his vision.

"Kurt–" he began.

"It's okay," the teenager forced a smile. "So, my boy problems..."

Burt watched his son for a moment but decided to drop it as his boy clearly didn't want to talk about what he had just seen. "Alright, spill."

"Well, I wanted to make a good impression on him, you know. Because that's how relationships work. In the beginning you are a proper gentleman and when the guy falls in love with you, you can start to ease him into your insanity. Then there is no way back because he already worships you and will put up with your bad eating habits. It's like a perfect plan."

"Aha, and what happens when you go on a dinner date?" Burt asked sipping his coffee.

"That's the tricky part because you need to find some really good excuses to avoid dinners. Or you can go to those expensive restaurants where you pay loads of money and get a piece of meat that is smaller when your finger."

"Sounds reasonable," Burt agreed and they both couldn't hold any longer and burst in laughter. "One day you are going to kill me."

They were still trying to catch their breaths when the waitress brought their food and drinks. They thanked her and were about to eat when Kurt saw the man from before leaving with the coffee. Moments later he was out and a female voice could be heard from outside.

"What took you so long? You can't do anything properly!" a woman shouted and there was a slapping noise.

The last giggles in their booth died and Burt squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Let's eat, you must be starving and I've been wondering if the burgers are as good as I remember," he forced a smile and they started to eat, neither of them feeling particularly hungry anymore.

They finished eating and after paying for the food they left the diner, Kurt feeling the lack of sleep crashing onto him. Less than five minutes after they began driving, he was out cold.

In his dream Kurt was back in the diner but instead of the man he saw earlier, there was his dad with the tattoo on his wrist. When he left, Kurt followed him outside and a woman was about to slap him. Thankfully, that's when the teenager woke up abruptly.

"Oh, sorry," he heard his dad's voice. "I didn't notice the light turning red on time."

"It's okay," Kurt yawned and looked through the window.

"We are already in Lima, by the way. We should reach our new house very soon according to the GPS."

Kurt didn't respond as his sleepy brain needed a long time to catch up with what was happening. Instead he watched people crossing the road in front of them. Soon he wished he was still in his nightmare because the sight of reality in front of him made his heart ache.

A boy was crossing the street. He had facial hair and the skin, which was not covered with hair or hid by the long dark curls, was obviously dirty but despite all that Kurt could see that he was a teenager, not older than eighteen year old. He was wearing nothing but dirty torn jeans and a t-shirt. It was almost December and he must have been freezing, especially judging by the way he had his arms wrapped around himself. What was even worse, he had no shoes on his feet.

"Don't look," Burt said, his eyes fixed on the traffic light.

Against his better judgement Kurt continued staring as the boy slowly made his way across the street, his thin legs carrying him with difficulty. When the car moved, Kurt turned around to get a better look but soon Burt turned to the right and he could no longer see the boy.

Their navigation system didn't lie and soon they were pulling over their new fully-furnished house. They had a rent contract for a year and at any point they could buy it if they wanted to because the owner was renting it until someone decided to buy the property.

There was another car there waiting for them already and as soon as they got out of the car, a man approached them.

"Mr Hummel, I assume?" he asked with a big smile and an extended hand.

"That would be me," Burt said and shook his hand.

Both men began talking about formalities and Kurt wandered off, looking around. Soon the man unlocked the house and gave them a tour. After half an hour or so he left and Kurt found himself in his dad's arms.

"Welcome home, kiddo."

"Welcome home, dad."

As they began to unpack the necessities that were in their suitcases, Kurt had so much to do that he totally forgot the barefoot boy from before.