
July 11, 2012, 2:24 a.m.
July 11, 2012, 2:24 a.m.
Blaine woke up wrapped in Kurt. Sometime in the night they had shifted and when he woke up, Kurt was pressed up close against his back, arm tight around his middle, and his knees were even tucked in behind Blaine’s. He could feel his breath playing against the back of his neck, soft and warm. No way was he going to move. He didn’t want to, and he didn’t think he’d be able to if he tried. Laying there, having Kurt so completely curled around him, he felt safe and secure and without any of the anxiety or stress that he’d felt the night before.
He didn’t know how long it was until Kurt woke up, but he could tell when it happened because his breathing changed and his arm twitched in around him tighter. Blaine smiled, his arm resting over top of Kurt’s. “Morning.”
“Morning,” Kurt murmured, his voice sleep rough, and damn if Blaine didn’t think that was one of the best things he’d ever heard. “You sleep okay?”
“Mhmm. Did you?”
“Yes. Your bed is much more comfortable than mine.” Kurt stretched out a little before going right back to how he’d been before, and Blaine thought he could really get used to being the little spoon. “Especially because there’s a Blaine in it.”
“Blaines are known to be found around here, yes. It’s their natural habitat.” Blaine smiled as Kurt huffed a laugh out against the back of his neck. He laced their fingers together and gave his hand a squeeze. “Thanks for staying.”
“Wouldn’t have left for the world,” Kurt murmured, sighing and pressing a soft kiss against the crook of his neck. Blaine shivered, caught off guard by the gesture, and his hand tightened over Kurt’s. “Except now I’m going to because I have to go to the bathroom.”
“So long as you come back,” Blaine said with a mock sigh, and Kurt dropped a few more kisses against his neck and cheek before pulling away. It felt so lonely to be there without him, listening to the soft padding of his feet against the floor as he went to the door and then down the hall to the bathroom. He turned onto his stomach and burrowed his face against his pillow, smiling into it and staying that way until he felt the bed dip down beside him again.
“Mmkay, now I’m good to be here for a while,” Kurt sighed, half draping himself over Blaine and nuzzling against his hair. It was perfect, how cuddly and affectionate he was when he was sleepy. Blaine had been worried that maybe after hearing everything the night before, Kurt would have shied away from that sort of thing. He didn’t want that, didn’t want him to worry any time he wanted to do something like that. “What are you doing for fall break?”
“Hm?”
“Fall break? It’s next week. Well, not this coming week, the one after.”
“I know when it is,” Blaine murmured into his pillow. “I wasn’t going to do anything?”
“Is that a statement or question?”
“Statement. I mean, I didn’t have any plans other than not go to classes.”
“I’m going back to Lima for the week,” Kurt said, his hand rubbing gently over Blaine’s back. “Did you want to come with me?”
Blaine popped up almost immediately, propping himself onto his elbows and angling his head toward Kurt. “You want me to come with you.”
“If you want.”
“To Lima.”
“That’s where I’m going, yes.”
“Where your dad is.”
“Yes,” Kurt said, hesitating before going on. “I’ve, um, I’ve told him about you. He’d like to meet you sometime and if this is way too crazy and soon that’s totally fine, I was just putting it out there--”
“No, it’s... it’s fine,” Blaine said, shaking his head, a slight blush rising in his cheeks. “He sounded really nice when you told me about him. I just don’t want to... impose.”
“Impose? Blaine, I just invited you,” Kurt chuckled. “You wouldn’t be imposing.”
“Then, um, yes. I think that would be nice.”
That was how Blaine ended up in the car with Kurt for almost two hours the next Friday afternoon. The week had flown by, whether just by good graces or because he was feeling nervous about it. It had taken a lot of careful packing, both of his own things and what he needed for Roscoe, and he still wasn’t sure if he everything he would need or want. It hadn’t hit him until he’d agreed to go that he was very nervous about meeting Kurt’s dad. This was the person that Kurt said was the most amazing person he knew. It was a scary thought that he was going to meet him, and that he was meeting him as Kurt’s boyfriend. He’d never had to do that sort of thing before.
“It’s fine, Blaine, he’s going to like you,” Kurt offered reassuringly as they drove up the street toward his house. Blaine had been mostly quiet the whole drive, and had voiced his concerns right as they took the exit into Lima.
“But what if he doesn’t?” Blaine whispered back.
“Blaine.”
They pulled into the driveway and Blaine gripped his seatbelt tight in his hands. There was something about being there, actually being there out in front of Kurt’s house, in which was Kurt’s dad, that made all the anxiety he’d been avoiding all week come to the front of his mind and make him want to sink down into his seat and hide. Kurt had told him time and time again that it would be fine, but what if it wasn’t? What if his dad thought he wasn’t good enough and it was the most awkward week of his life because he was stuck there in a house with a man who hated him? What if he didn’t let him stay once he decided he didn’t like him? What if he had to find some way to get back to Westerville from Lima on his own? The more he sat there, the more he thought, the worse it was building up in his head.
“Hey, stop that.” Kurt’s voice was gentle, just like his hands as they cupped Blaine’s face. “I can see you thinking, you know. You do this thing where your forehead gets all furrowed when you think really hard about something.”
“I’m not trying to,” Blaine muttered, but he did feel touched that Kurt had noticed something like that. He didn’t even realize he was doing it, half the time, but apparently Kurt did.
“I know you’re not,” Kurt said, thumbs stroking against his cheekbones lightly before he let his hands drop. “So are you ready?”
“No,” Blaine said honestly, but he knew they couldn’t sit in the car forever.
“Well we could sit here all night, but I have a feeling at one point we’ll get hungry,” Kurt mused, linking their hands together. “And if we get hungry, that means Roscoe would be hungry, and then he would start eating us. I, for one, don’t plan on being eaten by a dog today.”
“Don’t be silly, his food is back there,” Blaine said, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth despite himself. It was always incredible when Kurt could just say one thing and make him feel worlds better. He was still nervous, of course, but no longer in the way that made him feel like he couldn’t get out of the car. “I’d give him that before he tried to eat either of us.”
“Still, I’d rather not risk it.” Kurt squeezed his hand. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
As it turned out, Blaine didn’t have to be ready at that exact moment. Kurt’s dad had to go back to work for an emergency, or at least that’s what Kurt told him it said on the he’d left. That meant that Blaine had a little more time to pump himself up and get less anxious.Or do the opposite, where he retreated back into his nerves and made himself feel like he might be sick thanks to it all. It was usually the second option, almost always the second option.
Kurt might have knowingly been trying to distract him, or maybe he was just doing what seemed right at the time, as he gave him a tour of the house. New places were always hard for Blaine, and it took him awhile to adjust. He chalked it up on the list of things he resented about being blind. No one else thought about how something as simple as walking into a new room could be difficult. An entire house full of new rooms was even worse. Each time they stepped across the threshold, it was like he opened up a new file in his head and started storing away information about it to help him for the next time. Couch against the far wall, door on the right, coffee table in the middle so don’t run into it.
It was a small house, but Blaine supposed that made sense considering it was just Kurt and his dad. His own family had a house that was too big considering there were only four of them and Cooper didn’t exactly count because he didn’t live there anymore. Of course he stayed there when he was in Ohio, but it wasn’t like he actually lived there. Kurt’s house seemed nice and from the way he talked about it, it seemed very homey.
They’d just gotten back to the living room, and Kurt had started to say something about how he was going to call his dad to see if he knew when he was going to be home because dinner was something that should be thought of, when a car pulled up in the driveway. Any distraction that Blaine had been feeling by Kurt talking aimlessly about the house was completely gone, and he was right back to feeling nervous.
“Don’t freak out,” Kurt murmured, giving Blaine’s hand a squeeze and kissing him on the cheek. “He’ll adore you, just like I do.”
There was no chance for Blaine to question that statement, because the door opened and Kurt’s hand left his as he moved to hug his dad. “Whoa there, bud, I’m glad to see you but I know you’ll be mad at yourself later if you get grease all over your clothes.”
His voice was kind of gruff, but much softer than Blaine had expected. He wasn’t sure what he’d based his expectations on other than knowing that he worked on cars all day so that must mean he was super rugged and manly, right? His fingernails pressed bluntly into his palms in an attempt to pull himself back into the moment. You are an Anderson, he reminded himself. Andersons were good in social situations, they were proper, and hell, even Cooper could pull off being a gentleman. He could do this.
“Mr. Hummel,” Blaine said, mentally kicking himself for how meek he had sounded. He unclenched his fist and held out his hand, taking in a deep breath. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
“You must be Blaine,” he replied, giving his hand a firm shake. Kurt’s dad had rough hands, calloused and big and completely unlike Kurt’s. “You can stop that Mr. Hummel business, kid, my name’s Burt, and I don’t know about that honor business but it’s good to meet you too. Sorry about being late, there was a car that got into the shop right when I got home the first time and Larry needed a hand with it.”
“That’s alright, I just showed Blaine around a little,” Kurt piped up, slipping his hand back into Blaine’s. It was such a contrast, soft with long fingers, familiar and comforting.
“Well I’m going to go get cleaned up, you boys figure out what you want for dinner. There’s not much in the kitchen, so order in something if you want, okay?” Burt’s hand clapped down on Blaine’s shoulder and then he was gone. He had meant it as a friendly gesture, Blaine was sure, but it had still been startling and a little bit jarring.
“See? Not so scary,” Kurt whispered, nudging him lightly.
“Not for you maybe,” Blaine mumbled, and he rolled his shoulders back.
Burt came back once they were in the kitchen trying to decide on dinner, and apparently he’d changed into something clean because Kurt gave him the biggest hug. They settled on ordering dinner from a local place after Kurt shot down Burt’s choices of pizza or KFC, mentioning something offhand about his heart. It wasn’t that long before they were all gathered around the dining room table and Blaine was carefully dissecting the mandarin chicken salad he’d ordered.
“So,” Burt started, and Blaine froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Kurt tells me you play the piano.”
“Oh, um, yes I do,” Blaine said, taking the bite off his fork and chewing it down.
“I don’t know a whole lot about music except I know what I like,” Burt continued. “I haven’t heard a much piano, but sometimes that classical stuff is nice to listen to, so you’ll have to recommend me some of it to get.”
Blaine sat up a little straighter, honestly shocked. Kurt had described his dad as a good old fashioned guy, someone who loved flannel shirts and ball caps, classic rock and nothing too fancy. He would listen to Kurt sing anything, and gladly so, but he’d never much cared for any of the operas or oratorios that Kurt had shared with him over the years. Yet he was sitting there, asking Blaine for recommendations of piano music to listen to. It took a few seconds but then it hit him – Burt was trying to make him feel comfortable, accepted, welcome, all those things, and he was using what Kurt had told him to do so.
“I could do that,” he said slowly, nodding as a smile tugged up at the corners of his mouth. “I have a lot, I could probably make you a bunch of playlists.”
“You should start recording yourself when you play,” Kurt mused, nudging Blaine’s foot under the table. “That’d be better than anything else.”
“That’s… not true at all,” Blaine said, blush creeping up into his cheeks. “There are tons of better people out there, and the notes are all the same anyway.”
“Not in my book. At least, as far as I can remember. I haven’t heard you play in a while…”
“I haven’t been in the mood,” Blaine replied, quickly taking another bite of his salad.
It was a complete lie, of course. He’d been in craving it, but he still couldn’t quite make himself go and do it. The anxiety that came with the thought of going into the fine arts building definitely outweighed the desire to do it. He’d even gotten to the point of getting out the keyboard that usually lived under his bed and tried to play on that instead. It didn’t work as well, it never did. It didn’t have weighted keys, didn’t feel the same under his fingertips. If there was ever a time that he felt like the most untalented person that ever tried to play the piano, it was every time he tried to use that keyboard to play.
“Well if Kurt says you’re good, I’m going to believe him,” Burt cut in. “I know my kid, and he doesn’t just go around saying that sort of thing unless he means it.” The subject was dropped after that, and Blaine was grateful.
The rest of dinner passed without incident, and mostly it was full of Burt and Kurt catching each other up on what had been going on in their lives. Blaine knew that they talked on the phone often, and emailed occasionally, but that didn’t mean everything was always said. There seemed to be endless amounts of people in Lima that Kurt knew, or at least knew about, of whom Burt had stories to tell.
Afterwards, Burt asked Kurt to clean up from dinner so Blaine could introduce him to Roscoe. They’d put all of Blaine’s things in the guest room on the first floor when they’d gotten there, and Roscoe had immediately curled up in his bed and settled in. He tended to be the laziest dog ever when he wasn’t working, and that suited Blaine just fine. None of that stopped Blaine’s nerves from kicking in again as he walked with Burt toward the room, just the two of them.
“Thanks for letting me bring him,” Blaine said, chewing on his lip a little as Burt leaned down to pet at Roscoe. He could hear his tail smacking steadily against the floor, so clearly he was happy with the situation.
“Hey, doesn’t bother me any,” Burt said, and then his hand was on Blaine’s shoulder. It wasn’t like earlier, when Blaine thought his knees might give out – partially because of the force of it, and the rest because of shock. It was gentler than before, reminded him more of when Kurt did it. “Listen kiddo, I wanted to talk to you for a minute without Kurt around.”
“O-okay,” Blaine stammered. He hated how that always seemed to happen when he was caught off guard. He just wished he could talk to Kurt’s dad of all people without sounding like an idiot.
“You seem like a good kid,” he started, and Blaine’s heart sank. Here it was, the moment he’d been expecting for the entire car ride. The ‘you seem nice but not nice enough’ moment. He’d thought maybe he was okay, considering how dinner had gone.
“Mr. Hummel, I really like your son,” Blaine interrupted before he could stop himself, not wanting to be dismissed before he was able to put himself out there. “I’m sorry if you don’t think I’m good enough, but Kurt… I would… I would do anything I could every day to try and be good enough.” He took in a deep breath, half-startled by the words that had come out of his mouth. There was nothing but silence from the man beside him, so he added quietly, “I’m not… I don’t mean to be disrespectful, sir.”
“Blaine…” It was the first time Burt had used his actual name since they’d first met – since then it had just been all kid or kiddo. Blaine could feel himself flushing as Burt squeezed his shoulder. “I wasn’t going to say that. You’re a good kid, I can tell. Not just that but Kurt seems to like you a great deal, and he’s a good judge of character.” He paused. “He’s talked to me about you a lot, and anyone who can make my Kurt sound that happy is a-okay in my book. So don’t you worry about that.”
“Okay,” Blaine practically whispered, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “What did you want to talk to me about, then?”
“Kind of what just happened,” Burt said gently. It was the little things that made Blaine notice bits of Kurt in him. The way he’d said his name moments before, that same way Kurt did when he knew Blaine was being irrational and needed to refocus and calm down. The way it sounded like he was choosing his words carefully because he wasn’t sure how Blaine was going to take them, just like Kurt did. “You seem like you’re stressing yourself out over being here. Now I don’t want you to spend your break thinking you have to walk on pins and needles, trying to get me to like you. I already do, so you can relax, alright?”
“I’ll try.” That was all he could promise, really. He knew his head took over sometimes, so he definitely couldn’t say for sure that he would be able to.
“I’ll do my best to make it easy for you.” Burt patted him on the back, and Blaine nodded a little. “Kurt told me you got like that sometimes, a little, uh…”
“Skittery?” Blaine offered.
“Hm?
“That’s what my brother always called it.” Blaine rubbed at the back of his neck. More accurately, it was what Cooper had called him but he didn’t exactly feel like delving into the wide array of nicknames his brother had given him over the years. “I can’t help it. I try, but I’m sorry…”
“No need to apologize, everyone has their little quirks,” Burt said. Blaine found it very nice of him to be referring to his jumpiness as a quirk, considering it was pretty much a vice. “You don’t worry about it for a week at least, cause you’re just fine here. Well, so long as you cut that Mr. Hummel and ‘sir’ stuff. I know you’re being polite, and I appreciate it, but I’m just Burt.”
“Burt,” Blaine repeated, as if that would somehow help beat out the years of etiquette and manners telling him not to call him by his first name. Then again, Burt was very much unlike any other parent he’d met before. All his friends growing up, they’d been in similar situations as his family, that was how he’d gotten to know them – it was always etiquette and politeness and not much other than a façade. “I’m really glad I get the opportunity to meet you, after everything’s Kurt told me.”
“Well that makes two of us,” Burt said with a chuckle. “What exactly did he tell you?”
“Just that, um, you’re the most amazing person he knows and that you’re an incredible dad.” Blaine could feel his face getting warm, and he felt so awkward saying those words but it’s not like they weren’t true. “You seem like a really great dad.”
“I got lucky,” Burt said. “It’s easy to be a good dad when you’ve got a great kid.” Not true, Blaine thought, but he wasn’t about to argue that point with him. He wasn’t saying he was the best kid to have, or that he’d always been perfect, but if what Burt said was true then his dad would have been better. That point got pushed to the back of his head, just like most of the rest. “I can see why he said what he did about you.”
“What did he say?” Blaine asked, his head cocking to the side, and he could practically hear the wink in Burt’s voice when he spoke again.
“Now that I can’t tell you.”
yayyyy is this story always been in here too? :p
I have never been more terrified to write a character than I was to write Burt. (Roscoe is a tricky one, you know... :D)
This chapter was great! I love how you've written Burt, all of your characters are so well written! (Including Roscoe :P)
I really can't say! ;)
What did he say?????? I get all happy when I see an update to this story - can't wait for an update :)
Still loving this story a ton! Everything about this is awesome, from how Kurt and Blaine are adorable together (sleepy wake-up cuddles are always wonderful :D), to Roscoe, to Blaine and Burt interacting (I have a thing for Blaine + Hudmel/Burt scenes ;D). Can't wait for the next chapter!
Great chapter... I love how great Burt was with Blaine. Hopefully he'll be able to come out of his shell a bit this week. Thanks for the update!!!
Kurt told his dad he was in love, didn't he?! So fluffy. It tastes like skittles. Every update you have is like an automatic smile :)