“No, you’ve done enough already Kurt. Blaine, could you get out some plates and set out the table?”

“Yeah, sure.” He said. As he moved around the kitchen he was acutely aware of Kurt’s eyes following him. He avoided looking in Kurt’s direction at all. He suddenly wished he could take the hand holding back. He honestly didn’t know why he’d given into the compulsive urge to grab the boy’s hand. It had been too much hadn’t it? Too forward. Too…

He stole a look at Kurt (whose eyes quickly dropped to the floor, and if Blaine wasn’t mistaken, a slight flush coloured his cheeks at being caught), the way he was dressed, the way his hair was done so precisely… surely he hadn’t misread that?

Maybe he had. And that, well, quite frankly was a little embarrassing.

It wasn’t like he was coming onto him. Not at all. Kurt wasn’t even his type. It was just… Kurt had looked a little down and he’d thought the comfort might be helpful.

He tried to not think about it. Hopefully Kurt would put the little mishap behind him and Blaine wouldn’t have to think about it ever again. Instead, he tore his eyes away from the boy and helped his aunt put the food out on the table.

“So, Kurt, how was your day?” She asked.

Kurt shrugged. “It was alright.” He gave a forced, almost sarcastic smile. “I only got slushied once, so it was a vast improvement on yesterday.”

Shelby shook her head. “The things that go on at that school…” She said.

“S- slushied?” Blaine asked hesitantly. He was so sure he’d misheard what Kurt said. He was slushied? What was that? Some sort of public school slang he was severely out of the loop of?

Kurt met Blaine’s eyes briefly before looking away. “It’s when someone throws a slushie at you.”

Blaine could feel his jaw drop. “What? Like a slushie as in, ice and syrup?”

“Yep. That would be the one.”

“And that happens in school? During school hours?”

Kurt nodded and took another bite of his salad. “We’ve learnt to keep a change of clothes in our locker.” He shrugged. “I’m not the only one it happens to.”

Blaine was shaking his head. “That’s… that’s unbelievable. I honestly cannot… wow. And I thought my old school sucked.”

Kurt responded with another shrug and didn’t say anything else.

“What about Glee?” Shelby asked. “You guys gearing up for the new competition?”

“Yeah. This is our most important year ever.” His eyes lit up a little at the thought of Glee.

“Why is that?” Blaine asked curiously. For the Warbler’s no year was more important than the other, except maybe for the Senior’s, because it was their last.

Kurt’s eyes flickered to him, almost sizing him up, then sighed. “If we don’t place this year, the school is cancelling the club.”

“Good luck then.” Shelby said. “I can root for you guys now I’m not coaching Vocal Adrenaline anymore.”

“What about us Shelbs?” Blaine asked teasingly. “You’re not going to root for your own nephew’s choir?”

Kurt laughed. “I think that Shelby’s own d…” He stopped suddenly. “That it’s her own decision.” He finished quietly.

“Right…” Blaine frowned at Kurt

“So, Blaine, what’s new with you?” Shelby asked quickly changing the subject. “Any guys I should know about?”

Blaine felt his face heat up. “No Shelbs. There’s no one.”

There was a clatter from where Kurt was sitting and Blaine glanced over to see Kurt, red-faced and reaching down to pick something off the ground.

“What about that Jeff boy?”

He sighed. “Jeff’s straight we’ve been through this.”

“Oh, but you were so smitten, and he was so adorable.”

His face went redder, he could feel it and he found himself willing the ground to swallow him up. It was not a conversation he wanted to be having. “I was not smitten. I just had a misguided crush. Not that anyone could blame me.” He muttered. “I mean come on he bleaches his hair, and straightens it more than freaking Justin Bieber.”

“You’re gay?” Kurt asked in a quiet voice.

This time Blaine did look at Kurt. “Yeah, why?”

“Nothing I just…” He trailed off in a quiet mumble, and even straining Blaine couldn’t hear what he said.

“Sorry, what?”

“I’ve never met anyone else who’s out before.” He was a steady shade of red and Blaine couldn’t but smile at how cute it was.

“Oh…” Blaine actually couldn’t work out what else to say and a silence fell over them.

In the silence, a small whimper could be heard. Blaine looked around confused. Beth's room was all the way down the other end of the house... so what was the sound? There was a second whimper, and without a word Kurt suddenly stood up and left, headed towards Beth's room.

“What was that?” He asked Shelby.

“The baby monitor, he's just checking up on her.”

“Oh...” Blaine thought over it for a moment. “Isn't that sort of your job?”

“I know he's got it under control, besides, as much as I simply adore being a mother, it's nice to have a break every now and then. And Kurt's always more than eager to help, plus he’s amazing with her.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen, but... about Kurt...” Blaine bit his lip, unsure of how to approach the topic with his aunt.

Shelby raised and eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

“Don't you think he's, well... really attached to Beth? I mean, just the way he was acting with her today... I dunno, it just seemed... odd, I guess. He’s just her baby sitter.”

“Blaine, honey,” Shelby patted his shoulder, “Kurt has... well, he's been through a lot. It's not really my place to tell you. But I can tell you for a fact, that Tuesdays are his favourite day of the week because he gets to come here, and look after Beth. And there's a lot in his life I wish I could take care of for him, but I can't. So letting him take care of her every once in a while is the most I can do.”

Blaine shook his head. “I really don't understand.”

“That's because you have Dalton. He’s taking a little while. Do you want to go and see if he needs help at all?”

He froze. “I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Kurt will show you.”

He felt like he was walking through the hall in slow motion before he finally reached the door of Beth’s room. It was wide open, but Kurt hadn’t seen him. Blaine was going to go straight in, but stopped when he saw Kurt cradling the girl gently and muttering to her.

He should have turned away. It seemed like such an intimate private moment that wasn’t meant for an audience, but he couldn’t tear himself away.

“I love you Beth.” He was saying, there was agony in his voice as he struggled to keep it steady. “I wish… I wish you could know that. I wish you could know I’d be there for you, in a second, I’d be there. For any thing, any time. I can’t bear the thought that you might ever think I’ve abandoned you.” He gently put her in the cot, she was now fast asleep. “But you deserve more out of life. So much more. Sleep tight baby girl.” He leant over and kissed her.

Blaine chose that moment to knock gently on the door, making his presence known. Kurt spun around quickly, looking alarmed. Blaine didn’t miss his bloodshot eyes, but didn’t comment.

“Just seeing if you needed help. But it looks like you’ve got it under control.”

Kurt nodded. “She won’t wake up again for a couple of hours now.”

“I know I said it before, but, you’re amazing with her. Where did you learn to be so good with kids? Do you have younger siblings?”

Kurt cast a glance back to Beth, before they left the room and he shrugged. “No, no siblings.”

Blaine frowned, but Kurt moved ahead of him and walked back into the dining room.

“She's fine.” He announced to Shelby. “Just somehow managed to get tangled up in her blankets. It was kind of cute actually.”

“Thank you sweetie.” Shelby said smiling at him.

Kurt sat back down. As he did a smile crossed his face. “Oh, I have to tell you what Rachel did last week. It was a whole new level of, well... Berry.”

Blaine felt his aunt shift in her seat and looked at her to find an uncomfortable look on her face. Kurt, must have seen it too.

“Oh, it can… wait for another time if you want.” He said, he gave a concerned glance to Blaine.

Shelby shook her head. “No, you've already got me hooked, I need to know. What happened?”

Kurt launched into a story about this girl, Rachel (who sounded almost clinically insane, to Blaine) and how she chased away an exchange student by sending her to a crack house, or something. Blaine just stared at Kurt in disbelief as Kurt retold the story as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. Apparently, the new Vocal Adrenaline coach caught onto the new girl’s talent and got her to transfer.

Blaine nearly spat out his drink. “They did what?”

Kurt nodded gravely. “Oh yes. I wish I was kidding.”

“Does this sort of drama always go on in the show choir circle? I had no idea about it.”

Kurt gave him an amused smile. “You really do have no idea.” He shook his head. “Oh the stories I could tell you.”

“But they can wait for another day.” Shelby said pointedly.

Blaine shook his head, ever thankful for the order and tradition the Warbler’s had that meant they avoided fiascos like that.

Kurt left straight after dinner, he disappeared to say goodbye to Beth (even though she was asleep) and hugged Shelby goodbye. When he'd gotten to Blaine there had been a moment where neither was sure what to do, and they settled on an awkward handshake. Just before he left, Blaine had found himself blurting out,

“If you ever want to talk... I... well, I'd be happy to listen.”

Kurt had given him a strange look and nodded before leaving.

Before he left, an hour later, Shelby slipped a piece of paper into his hand and told him to put it to good use. Once in his car, Blaine looked at it. It was a cell number with Kurt Hummel written on it.