Blaine half expected Burt to strangle him or something when he followed Kurt into the kitchen (even Burt wouldn't be so insensitive as to get his shotgun out in light of recent events). Sure, he'd bought Blaine a plane ticket to New York at Christmas and he knew they'd hung out when Kurt was back in Lima for Mr Schue's disaster of a wedding, but he was still waiting for the man to realise that he didn't deserve to be around Kurt anymore and kick him out the house. Plus, Burt must have been very much aware of the fact that Kurt stayed over at Blaine's house last night without parental supervision.

Thankfully, Burt didn't kill him and instead greeted him as Carol had; with a hug. He stiffened instinctively at the touch, like he does with anyone who isn't Kurt, but then relaxed into it. When he pulled back, he patted Blaine on the shoulder once and then turned back to Carol who was putting some sort of dressing on a salad.

"Kurt, would you mind going to get Finn? Lunch is ready." Carol asked over her shoulder.

"Sure. Come on, Blaine." Kurt led him out of the kitchen, walking close enough to Blaine that their arms brushed and he doesn't try to interlace their hands once. Finn, unsurprisingly, was in the living room playing Call of Duty, swearing under his breath as he fired at the screen.

"Hey Finn," Kurt said cheerily, walking over to him and snatching the controller out of his hands. "Lunch is ready."

"Kurt!" Finn shouted before proceeding to wrestle Kurt into a hug. "I didn't know you were coming home!"

"Yeah, well, after what happened at McKinley..."
It was then that Finn noticed Blaine a few paces behind Kurt.

"Oh, hey dude," He greeted, nodding awkwardly at him. Blaine smiled back. "So are you and Kurt back together or what?" Blaine grimaced; tact was not a quality Finn possessed.

"Finn!" Kurt rolled his eyes. "We're just friends. Friends can hang out, you know."

Finn's head tilted to one side and he squinted his eyes as he looked slowly between them.

"What?" Kurt asked eventually, raising his eyebrows at his stepbrother.

"Sorry dude, it's just, like it's weird...It's weird thinking of you and Blaine as anything but you and Blaine, you know? Like a couple..."

"Yes, well, get used to it." Kurt said indulgently, rolling his eyes again and walking back into the kitchen. Blaine ignored the sharp sting his words caused. Get used to it; that sounded permanent. But then, what else had he been expecting? Kurt wasn't going to magically forgive and trust him again because of a stupid shooting at McKinley and Blaine would never expect him to.

Finn turned off his game and followed Blaine into the kitchen where everyone else had already gathered round the table. Blaine hovered awkwardly, unsure where to sit until Kurt patted the seat next to him. Carol began passing various dishes around and Blaine felt himself relax with the familiar company as they exchanged idle chatter. The food was as delicious as usual and Blaine realised that he'd missed this, too; just being around the Hudson-Hummels and being included in their family. He caught Kurt watching him out of his peripheral vision and turned his head to look at him.

"What?" he mouthed, one side of his mouth quirking upwards in a smile. Kurt returned his smile and shrugged, turning his attention back to Burt's story about a particularly rude customer he had served the other day.

"Dad, it's ok if Blaine stays over, right?" Kurt asked after swallowing a mouthful of salad. Blaine looked up again, surprised. Kurt didn't mind him staying the night, wanted him to even?

He braced himself, glancing at Burt warily, but Burt's eyes were fixed on Kurt. After a beat he shrugged.

"Sure, that's fine. It'll do you good to have some company, kid, after what you went through the other day." Blaine smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you B-Sir." He corrected himself quickly, unsure whether the offer to call Mr Hummel Burt had been revoked or not.

"You can call me Burt, Blaine. How many times have we been through this?"

"I-I just thought—because of—when I..." Blaine trailed off and saw Kurt squirming awkwardly in his seat next to him.

"Burt's perfectly fine." Burt said in an oddly steely tone that left no room for argument. Blaine nodded dumbly and returned his eyes to his plate. The awkward silence was broken as Finn seemed to catch up with the conversation.

"Wait, how come Blaine's allowed to stay over when I couldn't have Laura from the grocery store?" He asked, sounding genuinely outraged.

"Because Blaine and I are just friends, you idiot," Kurt snapped, glaring at his brother. "From what I heard Laura wasn't interested in sleeping here."

"So it's just like when Puck stays over for gaming marathons?" Finn asked slowly.

"Yes." Kurt replied a little too forcefully.

"So he'll just be sleeping on the floor?"

If looks could kill, Finn would have been dead on the floor from the glare Kurt shot him. Burt watched the scene amusedly, one eyebrow quirked at the question.

"Y-yeah, I will." Blaine responded when Kurt didn't answer. Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Blaine will be sleeping wherever he feels comfortable because, in case you've forgotten, he almost died the other day. Is that alright with you, Finn?"

"Chill, dude, I was only asking." Finn shrugged, a piece of lettuce falling off his raised fork into his lap. Kurt wrinkled his nose but thankfully didn't comment. Carol carefully manoeuvred the conversation back to the weather and the rest of lunch passed in a blessedly uneventful manner, even if Blaine remained a little too quiet.

After they were done, Burt suggested they watch a movie as it was raining out and no one felt like doing anything more active. They traipsed into the sitting room and Blaine shifted awkwardly in the doorway before Kurt patted the sofa next to him. Burt and Carol took the loveseat (his and Kurt's old place) and Finn opted for sprawling on the floor rather than sitting in the remaining chair. Blaine carefully sat down as far away from Kurt as the sofa would allow. Yes, last night Kurt had held him close, but that was only because he'd been so upset, it didn't mean they were back to cuddling during movies. But after Kurt had got up to put the DVD into the machine, he sat back down closer to Blaine. Not close enough to touch, but enough to make Blaine swear he could feel the heat radiating off him.

As the movie started playing and the opening fight sequence commenced, Blaine forced himself to look at the TV and not Kurt's face illuminated by the glow of the screen, giving it an almost angelic quality. He managed to follow the story but it required so much concentration to keep his mind on the film, his brain hurt.

"Could you be thinking any more loudly?" Kurt's warm breath ghosted over his cheek as he leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Sorry," he whispered back, still resolutely not looking at Kurt. A few more minutes passed before Kurt spoke again, his voice still hushed.

"Seriously, those frown lines are gonna stick..." Blaine grinned, and pressed a hand to his forehead as if to actually smooth the creases out.

"Dork." Kurt muttered and this time Blaine couldn't help it, he turned his head to look at Kurt's smile. Suddenly the protagonist fired at the bad guy in the movie, the gunshot sound making Blaine jump violently and cower backwards into the sofa. Everyone's eyes were instantly on him and he felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment. Carol looked at him sadly and then turned back to the screen, apparently thinking better of saying something, and after a second Burt and Finn followed suit.

Blaine exhaled shakily, willing his heartbeat to slow down, and then Kurt's fingers found his in the dark. He worried momentarily about how clammy his hand was as Kurt slowly flipped it over and placed his own on top so that they were palm to palm, their fingers laced together. He began tracing random patterns over Blaine's knuckles in a manner he found deeply soothing. He sank back slowly into the cushions, Kurt humming approvingly when he noticed Blaine's body relaxing again. The next thing he knew, Kurt was swinging his legs up and tucking them underneath himself, turning his body slightly so that he could lean into Blaine. He smiled at Blaine shyly before dropping his head on Blaine's shoulder and turning back to the TV.

Blaine watched the rest of the movie feeling much more relaxed, not even flinching when more bullets ricocheted off various buildings. In fact, he became so lethargic that at some point towards the end, he felt his eyelids begin to droop and the screen blur.

The next thing he was aware of was that someone had opened the curtains again (probably Carol) and the movie had presumably ended as someone was now watching a baseball game (probably Burt). He thought for a second the room had flipped over but then realised that he was now lying on his side, stretched out lengthways on the couch. Huh. When had that happened? He rolled over slowly, yawning, and found himself face to face with a sleepy looking Kurt, who smiled when he saw Blaine was awake.

"Hey," He said softly, his eyelashes fluttering as he woke up properly.

"Hi," Blaine replied with a smile of his own.

Someone cleared their throat loudly behind them and Kurt seemed to suddenly realise where they were, struggling to sit up as his eyes widened. This proved incredibly difficult in the tiny space between Blaine and the back of the couch. After finally managing it on his third attempt, he extricated his legs from where they were tangled with Blaine's (and, seriously, when had that happened?) and then proceeded to try and clamber over Blaine, awkwardly attempting not to touch him.

"Budge over," He muttered as he sat on Blaine's legs and then finally managed to get up completely.

Blaine yawned loudly and watched appreciatively as Kurt's shirt rode up again as he stretched. And then he noticed Burt, beer in one hand, remote in the other, watching him with a strange expression on his face. He immediately scrambled up, face flushing, feeling very much like a little kid being caught stealing a biscuit before dinner.

"What time is it?" Kurt asked, his voice almost too even.

"Half four," Burt replied, eyebrows raised.

"Wow, ok, I was completely out of it there." His tone was even more deliberately calm.

"You both were." Burt agreed pointedly.

"Yeah, well, we didn't get much sleep last night." Kurt apparently didn't notice how that sounded to a parent, but Blaine did and he felt his cheeks redden further. Thankfully, Burt chose not to comment.

"We'll be in my room if you want us. Give us a shout when dinner's ready." Kurt walked out the room, headed to the basement, and it took Blaine a moment to realise he was meant to follow. He couldn't be certain but he thought he heard Burt mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "Friends my ass" as he closed the door behind him. Regardless, he was grinning like an idiot as he descended the stairs to Kurt's room.