Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

Chapter four

"I... I don't know about this one, Blaine, it just seems so... I mean, I look too dressed up, sort of like a snob, and I don't want to look like a snob for this; that'll just make everyone hate me, and it'll make your father hate me even more."

"Kurt..."

Kurt ignored him, then pulled another dress shirt out of his closet. "What about this one? It's purple, and you told me that your mom likes purple right?"

Blaine opened his mouth, planning on agreeing with Kurt, but then Kurt shook his head.

"No. No, this won't do. Purple means royal, and I can't go to a dinner like this wearing a color that means royal. It'll make me even more of a snob, and it'll tell them that I think I'm better than them."

"Kurt, I - "

"A-and I can't wear that yellow shirt that you say looks really good on me, because yellow is way too cheerful and this isn't an event that you go to in bright colors, right? It'd just be rude and - "

"Kurt!" Blaine suddenly yelled, moving up from the bed to grasp Kurt's arms in a gentle grip. "Kurt, breathe." Blaine took in a slow breath, caught Kurt's gaze, then exhaled, nodding his head slowly.

Kurt nodded with him, finding a rhythm and inhaling deeply before letting it go. Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against Blaine's, breathing along with his boyfriend. "Okay... okay, I feel better now."

"You calm?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I like the dark blue one the best. The one that you were wearing when I got here before you decided that it was too blue," Blaine said, his hand running up and down Kurt's back. Kurt nodded against his forehead, a grin slowly appearing on his face.

"I do look good in blue, huh?"

Blaine agreed, pressing a kiss to the side of Kurt's lips. "Very good in blue," he said as Kurt pulled away and took his shirt off before he reached for the blue one. As he pulled the shirt on, Blaine allowed his eyes to roam over Kurt's back, taking in the muscles, the skin; his boyfriend was ridiculously attractive, and what Blaine would have given to pressed Kurt down into his mattress, pressing kiss after kiss down his spine and -

"Blaine?"

Blaine blinked, his head jerking back up to face Kurt, who had finished putting the blue shirt back on. "Are you ready to go now?"

"Oh yeah, let me just get my shoes back on..."

"Blaine."

"Yeah?"

"You already have your shoes on."

Blaine glanced down at his feet to see that he did, in fact, have his shoes on. "Oh."

Kurt let out a laugh as he moved forward to press a soft kiss to Blaine's lips. "Are you as nervous as I am?"

Blaine pulled back a bit to stare down at his boyfriend, thinking. Kurt was going to be meeting his family. His boyfriend would be meeting his parents, and by extension, their friends. He gulped, but nodded, because if Kurt knew that he was nervous as well, then they would be nervous together. "Maybe this won't suck so bad?" Blaine stated as he gave Kurt another kiss.

"Who says it's going to suck at all?"

Blaine let out a groan as the two began to make their way down to Blaine's car. It's going to suck because my dad doesn't like you even though he's never met you. My mom tries to act like she cares but I've never gotten the feeling that she does care at all. Who knows how Cooper will act during this dinner; if he'll be the perfect son or my brother and friend. It's going to suck because you're going to see the side of my family that I don't like. He wanted to say all of those things, he wanted to say them so badly, but instead he just gave Kurt a small smile and said, "I just have a feeling."

Kurt gave him a tiny frown, then took both of Blaine's hands in his and stopped walking; Blaine stopped as well, turning to face his boyfriend completely, a look of confusion on his face. "Tell you what," Kurt stated, lacing their fingers together as he looked Blaine in the eye. "If it gets to the point where you're uncomfortable or I'm uncomfortable, we'll leave the dinner and go to our park; we'll make it our night."

Blaine exhaled, grinning softly. "Deal. I'll find a way to sneak us out. Although, by the time the champagne gets opened I'm pretty sure we'll be able to walking right in front of my parents and leave and they'd never notice."

"I can tell you kind of don't want to do this."

Blaine had to sigh at that. "Originally I did, but then my father started talking about all of the people he's invited, and I realized that a lot of them are actually rather horrible, and I don't want to put you through that. I thought that the dinner would be a lot smaller than what it turned out to be."

"Aw," Kurt said as he gave Blaine a swift kiss on the nose. "It'll be okay, and if it's not, we have a backup plan."

"We do, don't we?"

"Yes," Kurt stated, letting go of one of Blaine's hands and continuing the walk to Blaine's car. "Now, let's get going; it'll be nice if we show up on time."

..

To Blaine's surprise, no one from his family (and none of his father's business partners and associates) came up to him once he and Kurt arrived to the dinner. They wandered in without any issues, Kurt holding Blaine's hand as they slowly walked over to the appetizers table. "Do you want something to tide you over until the dinner?" Blaine asked, bringing Kurt's hand up to press a gentle kiss to the knuckles.

"I think that might help calm me down, so why not?" Kurt leaned over and picked up a mini plastic plate, then took his hand out of Blaine's hold and placed a few carrots onto the plate. "I feel all..."

"A bit too high class?" Blaine offered as he picked up his own plate.

"Would it be too bad if I started singing S Club 7's S Club's Party?"

Blaine chuckled and wrapped his free arm around Kurt's waist. "Probably. Let's save that for later, alright?"

"I'll have to wait, I guess; give me a minute to get over all of this sadness that's overcoming me."

Kurt leaned over and gave Blaine's cheek a kiss, as if on instinct, and he pulled away quick, eyes wide and searching the room to see if anyone was looking at them. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't think."

"Kurt, you don't have to apologize for kissing me, okay?" Blaine said as they made their way over to a completely empty table, side stepping the people that were chatting with each other about business or family. "Just, let's just pretend we're on a date in a really odd restaurant."

"You're freaking out too; your hands are all sweaty," Kurt pointed out as they sat down in the chairs.

"I know. Getting myself a little worked up here, huh? I think that once I introduce you to my father and mother I'll be okay, because that'll be over with."

"And what about this girl that your dad is trying to get you to date?"

Blaine shrugged and winked at his boyfriend. "Not nearly as stressful."

Fifteen minutes later, and Blaine had to admit that his nerves were dying down; he was still holding hands with Kurt, and they were laughing together, Kurt telling Blaine about Finn's disastrous attempt at dancing the Lindy Hop with Tina during Glee club practice earlier that day. Kurt, to Blaine, seemed to light up when he talked about Glee club, like the way that he lit up when he spoke about Blaine in certain ways; he loved it when Kurt was happy, and to finally see Kurt do something he'd wanted to do for a while, sing and perform, it made everything worth it.

"God, I love you," he muttered softly.

Kurt paused in his speech to give Blaine a warm smile back. "I love you too."

There was a small cough to their right, and both turned to see Cooper with his wife. "Dad would like you to join him over by main doors, Blaine."

Blaine nodded, then stood up, helping Kurt up after. "You ready?" he asked as they made their way over to Blaine's father and mother.

"A little too late to be asking me this, right?"

"Yeah... I love you."

"I love you too," Kurt whispered back, and then they were standing in front of Blaine's father and mother; his mother remained seated in the chair she was in, a wine glass in her hand. Blaine's father greeted his son, and then turned his gaze on to Kurt.

"Hello, Mr. Anderson. It's a pleasure to meet you," Kurt said, making the first attempt at conversation.

His father stared at Kurt for a moment, before inclining his head a bit. "Ah. So this is Kent."

"Kurt," Kurt replied back, smile still on his face, but Blaine could see the stiffness in his shoulders and how straight his boyfriend was standing; he moved his hand to grip Kurt's hip and squeezed, watching as Kurt's shoulders fell a tad.

Breathe, he told himself, hoping that his father would just let them get back to the dinner without any issues. It'll all be over soon.

A part of him knew that he shouldn't have asked Kurt to the dinner; but he'd been selfish, wanting to have his boyfriend there with him, to dance with him and hold his hand, everything that other couples got to do. He inhaled again, his thumb sweeping up and down that small part of skin that he was touching, due to Kurt's shirt having ridden up and out of his dress pants.

"The boy with the heart problem, I see."

No...

Blaine turned his head to his brother, who caught his eyes for a moment before he turned away. Blaine's eyebrows furrowed as he glared at his brother, who took up a conversation with a coworker of their father's. Coward.

To his left, Kurt just gave his father a grin. "Not anymore."

"I see... You've received treatment, then?"

"That would be correct, sir," Kurt said, with a forced politeness that Blaine only caught because he knew his boyfriend inside and out.

Blaine's father narrowed his eyes before letting out a "hmm" and turning back to the person standing beside him. Blaine exhaled softly, then moved his hand from Kurt's hip to his arm. "Let's go get you back to the table so we can relax until the dinner starts."

Kurt nodded and allowed Blaine to lead him over to their table. "Your father is intimidating for a short man."

"They say intimidating things come in short packages," Blaine teased, pressing a kiss to Kurt's temple as they sat down. "I think in a few minutes my dad will start the dinner and then we can eat. Until then we can - "

"Oh my god, Blaine!"

"Oh no," Blaine muttered, his head ducking down and pressing against Kurt's shoulder. "She's here!"

Kurt shifted a little and placed his hand on the small of Blaine's back. "The Johnson girl?"

"Sarah Johnson," Blaine stated, clearing his throat as he sat up straight and turned to face a girl with blond hair pulled up into an up-do.

"Hello, Blaine," Sarah Johnson stated politely when she neared their table. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Sarah, and you?"

Sarah fluttered her eyelashes at him, pursing her lips just a bit before responding with, "Fine. Things have been rather boring as of late; I left my boyfriend."

Blaine inclined his head towards her. "Apologies," he said, his right hand landing on Kurt's thigh.

Sarah seemed to finally notice that Kurt was there with them, and she sent him a beaming smile. "Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Blaine's? What is your name?"

"Ah, Sarah, this is Kurt Hummel," Blaine said as Sarah gave Kurt a polite nod; Kurt sent a smile to her. Blaine inhaled, felt Kurt move his hand from Blaine's back to the hand on Kurt's thigh and squeeze it, then continued. "He's my boyfriend," he said slowly, his eyes watching her body movement to see how she reacted.

Sarah's lips twitched and Blaine could see that she wanted to frown, but instead she allowed her smile to grow. "Oh, well that's nice," she said as she turned around and left the two of them alone at the table

Blaine blinked, watching as she rejoined her father, who was busy conversing with a man that Blaine vaguely recognized as a close friend of his father's. "I... I didn't think it'd go like that," he said, still slightly stunned that she hadn't caused any issues.

"What did you think she'd do?" Kurt asked.

"I thought she'd throw a fit like she usually did when something that she didn't like made itself known."

Kurt didn't respond, only lacing their fingers together, his other hand coming to rest on top of Blaine's.

The time up until the actual dinner didn't bring them any issues, people avoiding them or giving Blaine polite nods, and once the meal had been served, they were joined at the table by Cooper and his wife and child; no conversation passed between them, though, each eating in complete silence. Halfway through the dinner, however, Blaine's father approached their table, his face sporting a frown that had Blaine tightening the grip that he had on Kurt's hand.

"Blaine, I would like to speak to you, alone, for just a moment. I'm sure that Kurt wouldn't mind," he said, turning away and heading into the room across from the dinning area.

Kurt gave Blaine a worried glance, one that asked, will you be okay? Blaine shrugged, letting go of Kurt's hand as he stood up from the table, ignoring the concerning gaze that Cooper was giving him as he moved to join his father. Once he was in the room, his father motioned for him to close the door, and he did as commanded.

"You wanted to speak to me, si - "

"How could you," his father started with, cutting Blaine off from his sentence. "How could you bring... him here?"

Blaine blinked, taking a step back. "You mean Kurt?"

"Yes, him."

Blaine shook his head, confused. "I told you that I would be bringing him as my date."

His father shook his head, bringing a hand up and pressing his fingers to his temple as if to ward off an oncoming headache. "I thought you were only saying this to rile me up; I didn't think that you'd actually bring your... friend with you."

Blaine frowned, anger rising up in him. "Okay, first of all, Kurt's my boyfriend, and I'd really appreciate it if you'd call him that. And second of all, I told you that I'd be bringing him more than once, and not as a way to rile you up. He's my boyfriend, the boy that I'm in love with, and - "

"Oh god, don't say that," his father said sharply.

"...what?"

His dad narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't say that you love him. You don't; you're a teenager. You don't know what love is."

"Excuse me?"

"Do not take that tone of voice with me, young man."

Blaine took a step forward, anger flaring up. "No, because I don't understand what you mean. How can I not understand what love is?"

"You're just a teenager, Blaine, and - "

"So what if I'm a teenager, Dad?" Blaine yelled out, taking another step forward. "I remember sitting with him on his couch, holding him because he was too tired to keep himself up, and I remember thinking, I can't lose this, I want to be here forever, just holding him, loving him, being in his life. Kurt means everything to me, Dad. Whenever I'm feeling angry or sad, I can call him up and he knows how to cheer me up, or help me get through whatever problem I'm dealing with. He just knows how to do that – just cheer me up at the drop of a hat, and he knows what I need to hear if I need advice.

"When I look into the future, all I know is that he'll be there with me, that whatever I decide to do for my life, he'll be there as well. He's my constant happiness, Dad. I love him. I love him so much; I'd do anything to make him happy. I wish that you'd just see that; me not loving Kurt isn't going to happen."

His father didn't say anything, just stared at him with sharp eyes, and then he inhaled and spoke. "I can see you care for your boyfriend. I still wish you hadn't brought him, seeing as now Sarah and her family knows that - "

"She knows that I'm gay now?"

His father inhaled, then nodded.

"Why is that a bad thing, Dad? What were you going to do when I sent out my wedding invitations? Will me getting married to another man be what finally gets you to realize that me being gay isn't going to change?"

His father took another deep breath. "Blaine - "

Blaine shook his head and took a few steps back, heading towards the door. "I'm going to go back to Kurt, Dad."

His dad sighed, but nodded. "Okay. We can continue this during a more acceptable time."

Blaine bit his lower teeth, but didn't say anything else as he opened the door and headed over to Kurt, who was taking small bites of the dessert at the table. Taking a deep breath, Blaine calmed himself down enough as he slid into his chair, his hand immediately finding Kurt's thigh.

Kurt placed his fork down and put both hands on top of Blaine's. "Are you okay?"

Blaine opened his mouth to say that he was, but instead he shook his head. "Dad issues. I'll be okay later though."

"Do you want to leave?"

"That'd be nice, actually."

They got their chance to leave once people started mingling, getting up from their tables and crossing the room to speak to each other. Blaine, gripping Kurt's hand tightly, maneuvered them around the room, sidestepping people and going out of his way to avoid people who'd want to speak to them. They were nearing the door when Sarah Johnson stepped into their path.

"Uh..." She stated, giving them a quick glance. "You two weren't trying to leave were you?"

Kurt nodded. "We are, actually."

Sarah held a hand to her mouth, "Huh," and then stepped forward -

And promptly tripped one of the waiters, causing him to crash to the ground, the food he'd been carrying scattering on the ground, or flying up and hitting the nearby people. Sarah grinned at them, then took a step to the side. "Go," she stated.

..

"Oh my god, I can't believe that she helped us get out!" Kurt said, his arm around his waist as the two of them made there way back to Blaine's car. "I for sure thought that she would have informed your dad that we were leaving."

Blaine, still grinning, still laughing softly to himself as he remembered the looks on the faces of those who had been hit by the food. They'd looked like the end of the world had arrived. "I have to agree with you; I thought that she would have stopped us from leaving, but I guess that she's not the same girl from two years ago. She's not so... evil."

"Wow, was she really evil?"

Blaine opened the car door and Kurt slid in; closing the passenger door, Blaine hurried over to the driver's door and got in, keys already out and ready to be put into the ignition. "I had longer hair before I met you, and when I turned her down for a date on account of, you know, not liking girls, she snuck into my room a night that she stayed over and put a pack of gum in my hair."

Kurt cringed. "I can only imagine the pain it took to get out."

Blaine shrugged. "Yeah, it wasn't pretty, I have to say, but I got use to the shorter hair cut."

"I like the short hair," Kurt said, reaching over to take Blaine's unoccupied hand as Blaine pulled out of their parking spot and drove down the road, heading for the freeway. "I just like you."

"Aww, I like you too, Kurt." Blaine exhaled. "I'm sorry that the dinner didn't go as planned, and that we didn't get our dance."

"Hey," Kurt said softly, leaning in slightly. "We'll get our dance at at the park, okay? We can even mix it up: Lindy Hop, waltz, swing... the tango," he finished, the last word being drawn out in a purr.

Blaine shuddered. "I didn't know you knew how to dance the tango?"

Kurt pulled away. "I know some, not as much as you, Mr. I-Took-Ballroom-For-Fun."

"Hey, ballroom is fun."

"Hmm.. I guess you just have to have the right partner, then," Kurt replied.

The rest of the drive to the pond was spent in silence, their hands laced together and Kurt humming a small tune the entire time. While Blaine enjoyed immensely the time when he and Kurt did nothing but talk, he also enjoyed the times where they just sat there together, not speaking, hands touching or laying down together. He just enjoyed being with Kurt; because Kurt was still there. Kurt was still alive.

"Do you think that there will be any ducks there? Maybe Hezekiah will have stopped by?" Kurt asked once they pulled up to the parking lot near the pond.

Blaine let out a laugh as they got out of the car, Kurt grabbing the blanket from the backseat as he went. "No, I think that they're probably not here at this time of night. But that's even better for us; we'll have the area all to ourselves."

As it turned out, they did have the area all to themselves. The benches were empty, no ducks or people around, and Blaine inhaled deeply as he took the blanket from Kurt and placed it on the nearest bench, the one bench that they always sat on when they visited the pond. He glanced up, watching as his boyfriend walked over to join him on the bench, still humming that tune underneath his breath.

"What's that?"

"Hmm? What's what?"

Blaine nudged their shoulders together. "That tune you're humming; I don't think I've heard of it before."

"Oh. It's called All Souls Night. I've been listening to a lot of Loreena McKennitt lately. Bonefires dot the rolling hillsides, figures dance around and around. To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness, moving to the pagan sound," he sang, twisting his body around to grab Blaine's hands as he stood up, pulling his boyfriend along with him as he did so. "Somewhere in a hidden memory, images float before my eyes. Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires, and dancing till the next sunrise."

Kurt was turning them around in a circle, his arms around Blaine's shoulders and a smile on his face.

"I can see the lights in the distance, trembling in the dark cloak of night. Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing. A waltz on All Souls Night," he finished, bringing his body in to rest against Blaine's, his head falling onto Blaine's shoulder. "I love you, Blaine Anderson."

Blaine let out a sigh of complete content. "I love you too, Kurt Hummel," he said as he brought up his hands to place them on Kurt's back. His left hand had barely settled when he felt Kurt flinch at his touch and he immediately pulled away. "Kurt?"

Kurt was avoiding his eyes, his hand falling to play with his sleeve. "I'm okay," he said.

"Kurt, I didn't ask if you were okay, but - "

"It's nothing to freak out about, okay? I just s-slipped in the shower this morning and hit my back," Kurt said, leaning in and giving Blaine a gentle kiss, smiling that slow and beautiful smile only for Blaine. "Let's go back to dancing, okay? I'd like a few more before we have to get me home."

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows, but nodded, knowing that tomorrow he'd ask Kurt again how he hurt his back; Kurt didn't lie unless he felt like he had too, so whatever he was lying about must have been rather big for him to think it was lie worthy.

"Okay, let's keep dancing then."

He reached out and pulled Kurt back in, this time placing his hands on Kurt's waist and Kurt placed his hands back around Blaine's shoulders. They swayed together, Blaine humming out a tune for them to move to, and eventually, once he'd finished one song, he asked, "Does this count as a cross off for number eighteen?"

Kurt let out a laugh. "Yes, yes it does."

Number 18: romantic/important dinner date plus dance.

Humming softly, Kurt leaned forward until his lips were barely touching Blaine's. "Embrasse-moi," he whispered.

"What?"

"Kiss me," Kurt translated.

And Blaine obliged.

..

Kurt loved being more active in school; he could now participate in gym class (which he honestly never thought he'd be excited about), he could go on the field trips, and he was now in Glee club. But apparently, good things always came with a price.

With a small grunt, Kurt found himself wincing as he picked himself up from the floor, his hand moving to his back as it throbbed with pain from being thrown into the locker. Biting his lip, he glanced up to stare into Dave Karofsky's face, looking at the angry glare there. "Now you know your place, loser," Karofsky stated, giving Kurt one last shove into the lockers before continuing down the hall.

Taking a deep breath, Kurt calmed himself down, and turned to continue to class, only to be met with a slushy to the face. He inhaled sharply, his eyes burning and his facing numbing at the coldness. He could hear the laughter of Azimio Adams, as well as the laughter of Karofsky, traveling down the hall and bit back a few tears that weren't the cause of the slushy.

It'll be okay, Kurt. It'll all be okay one day.

Author's notes:

Oh god, guys, I'm so sorry that this took so long! I was hit with some of the biggest writer's block that I've ever had, and this chapter would just not come out. I still think it's pretty crappy and definitely not one of my best, but it's done, the writer's block is GONE and we're moving on to the next chapter :D

The song that Kurt sort of sings in this chapter is called All Souls Night by Loreena McKinnett. If you're going to listen to it (and you SHOULD), I recommend the live version of it, because Loreena McKinnett is honestly one of the only people I've listened to who sounds better live than in her albums.

Anyway, please let me know what you thought! It would make my day.