I thought I had uploaded this ages ago but evidently not...oops, also hi, I'm still here! Happy New Year!

and it has been one year and one day since I first uploaded chapter 1, wow I'm slow

"Hey dad!" Kurt greeted as he and Blaine stepped into the kitchen. Mr Hummel's eyes immediately fell to Blaine, brows crossing as he looked between the two boys. Blaine felt his body stiffen, suddenly wondering why on earth he had agreed to meet Kurt's dad.

"Who's this?" Burt asked gruffly, taking a beer out of the fridge and uncapping it.

"He's the guy I told you about," Kurt said calmly while Blaine's heart was beating at an exponential rate. Kurt had already told his father about them? "You know, the guy who's been helping me with Chemistry?"

Blaine watched as Mr Hummel's eyes widened in understanding.

"Blaine, right?" he asked, extending a hand towards him.

"Uh...yeah," Blaine confirmed timidly, taking the hand and allowing Kurt's dad to shake it firmly.

"I appreciate you helping Kurt out. Let me tell you, I was not happy about him failing."

"It's no problem at all!" Blaine assured, attempting a smile.

"Is it okay if Blaine stays for dinner?" Kurt asked, opening the fridge to pull out some ingredients, "I was going to make chicken Kievs."

"No problem," Kurt's dad agreed before retreating to the lounge, the sound of the television blaring moments later.

"Need a hand?" Blaine offered as Kurt began to prepare the meal. He smiled brightly at Blaine who stood beside him at the countertop.

"Sure," he agreed, handing him a knife and some garlic cloves, "could you crush these?" They worked in silence for a while, comfortable enough with each other and the work they were doing that it didn't feel awkward at all, much to Blaine's surprise.

"How's this?" Blaine asked a little later, handing Kurt the bowl of garlic butter he had prepared.

"Perfect! But don't expect me to kiss you goodnight after we've had these," he said playfully, voice hushed as he was aware of his father still in the next room. Blaine pouted overdramatically as he began helping Kurt slice the chicken fillets, sending them both into fits of giggles.

Eventually, dinner was served and the three sat at the table, delighted with the meal Kurt and Blaine had prepared.

"Mmmm, he can cook too," Mr Hummel said around a mouthful of food, to which Kurt quietly chastised him for. "You should invite him over more often, Kurt."

Kurt's eyes met Blaine's as they shared a quick, meaningful look. Kurt's dad had indirectly approved of Blaine which, at the very least, was a positive step in the right direction. Although no words were spoken, Blaine knew what Kurt was thinking. He knew how important his dad was to him and when they were ready to be more open about their relationship, maybe Mr Hummel would be more accepting than they had first thought.

"Today was amazing," Blaine admitted as they stood on Kurt's front porch, hidden from view. "Our first full day as an actual couple." Blaine loves the feel of the word on his tongue, the way it rolls off so naturally.

"Couple," Kurt repeated, testing the word out for himself. The smile he offered afterwards told Blaine he felt the same way.

"Wow," Blaine said and Kurt laughed.

"You really need to stop being so surprised," Kurt said with amusement, "It's way too cute."

Blaine bit his lip as he tried to contain all of his feelings from bubbling out of him and trying to comprehend the fact that everything he ever wanted was actually happening.

"Are you really not going to let me kiss you goodnight?" Blaine asked, remembering their conversation from earlier. Kurt smile teasingly.

"Maybe I'll make an exception, just this once," Kurt said with an exaggerated sigh. He leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss against Blaine's lips. It was nothing on the heated kisses they had shared before but somehow, Blaine appreciated it a whole lot more than he did those. This was sweet and caring and comfortable and playful and everything he thought kisses should be.

"You reek of garlic," Kurt murmured once they'd pulled apart by a few mere centimetres. Blaine gives an affronted look.

"You can talk!" he retorted, unable to keep himself from grinning. Kurt slapped his arm playfully and kissed him one last time before Blaine finally departed

The next few weeks of school passed by Blaine in what felt like rapid motion. Dakota Stanley turned out to be a much smaller threat than the Cheerios had anticipated, Mr Schue went back to directing the glee club again, some guys from the football team ended up joining glee club, an old friend of Mr Schue's decided to try high school life again, and, probably the most shocking, Quinn Fabray was pregnant! So much had happened that Blaine was struggling to keep up as he tried to figure out when exactly his school had turned into the set of a dramatic soap opera.

Tensions in the glee club were higher than ever and Blaine could see how much it was crushing Rachel that Finn and Quinn were going to have a baby together.

Kurt was still keeping his distance at school and it was killing Blaine more and more every day. They still texted in between classes and at lunch but the messages from Kurt were becoming less and less frequent so as not to arouse suspicion. Blaine understood, and he knew that this was the only way they could make things work for now but it didn't mean it hurt any less.

They still sat next to each other in Chemistry as it was no secret that Blaine helped Kurt out with his work. What people didn't know was that Kurt was more or less okay with his chemistry work now. His grade was up to a B thanks to Blaine's tutorage.

Glee club rehearsals were now Blaine's favourite period at school. He could actually talk to Kurt without people asking questions. They never talked about anything in detail, just the occasional smile with a "how are you?" or "how was your day?". It was discreet enough that nobody noticed though usually Santana would sneer at him, warning him to keep his distance. Blaine couldn't bring himself to be intimidated by her anymore, however, not after what he'd heard her say about him in Kurt's bedroom. Maybe all of his time spent with Kurt was making him arrogant?

After school and on weekends, they'd spend time at each other's houses, kissing and talking and just being together. Blaine's brother had unfortunately found out about them after failing to knock before entering Blaine's room one afternoon as they lay on Blaine's bed tasting and exploring each other's mouths. After much begging, Blaine had managed to convince him not to mention it to anyone for fear of who it might get back to and Adam had eventually agreed after Blaine promised him they'd be safe, leaving him positively mortified.

Kurt still hadn't told his dad, and the longer they left it, the more worried Blaine became over what his reaction will be.

Despite the outside world, their relationship was better than ever. It was hard for Blaine to get used to the fact that Kurt actually wasn't a sarcastic bitch most of the time and the fact that he only used that persona to protect himself was a little disheartening. Still, the Kurt he was coming to know was by far the sweetest, most compassionate person he had ever met. Blaine wasn't sure how many others were granted permission to see this side of him, Kurt really did make him feel like the only person in the world who mattered.

Kurt was secretly a hopeless romantic, he treasured his collection of Broadway musical soundtracks, his favourite food was sweet peas, he never really grew out of the habit of having warm milk before bed...Blaine cherished everything he learned about his boyfriend, storing the information away for future reference.

When it came to him and Kurt, Blaine was on cloud nine. It was just the rest of the world that was a problem.

It was a few weeks later when everything fell apart.

They were sitting on the sofa in Kurt's basement, lost in each other as they kissed heavily. Kurt's dad was upstairs so they were careful not to make too much noise. A tiny mewl here, a soft whimper there but mostly they were silent and overwhelmed by how much more intimate this made it. A movie played in the background on Kurt's laptop which had been left on the floor, the volume loud enough to not invoke suspicion from Kurt's dad.

They broke apart abruptly at the sound of Kurt's bedroom being opened at the top of the stairs.

"Kurt!" Burt called from above, "Santana's here!"

Kurt froze beneath Blaine as they heard Burt tell Santana to go down. He looked to Blaine pleadingly as he pulled away from Kurt. She was at the door and there was no way he could make under the bed in time like before. Kurt had better ideas as he ushered him into his closet, closing the door just as Santana came into view, leaving him in darkness.

"Hey, Kurt," she greeted casually, "you ready to go?"

"Uh...what?" Kurt replied in confusion. Blaine racked his brain, trying to remember what plans Kurt had that evening.

"The cheer rally tonight? I said I'd pick you up? How the hell did you forget?" Blaine heard her ask incredulously

"Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot, I'm so sorry," Kurt apologised. There was a scrambling about the room, which Blaine guessed was Kurt gathering his things. "Just...uh, go wait for me in the car please? I won't be a sec."

"Kurt come on, we don't have time!" Santana demanded, "Just put your uniform in a bag, you can get changed on the way.

"Right uh...No Santana wait!" Kurt exclaimed as the closet door was suddenly yanked open followed by a scream as Santana dumped her ice cold Frappucino over Blaine's face in shock.

"What the hell are you doing in there are you a fucking stalker or what?" she bellowed, grabbing Blaine by the arm and hauling him out of the closet.

"Santana..." Kurt tried, attempting to pull Blaine away put she continued to push him around, shoving and poking him angrily while screaming obscenities in a language he didn't understand. Blaine stumbled backwards, trying to get the sticky syrup out of his eyes.

"Wait," she said, turning on her heel to face Kurt. "You knew he was there?" Santana accused.

"I - he - we were," Kurt stumbled, looking helplessly towards Blaine. His eyes softened when he realised Blaine was still covered in the remains of Santana's Frappuccino and, ignoring Santana who was still pressing him for answers, he strode to where Blaine stood fumbling with the cuffs of his soaked shirt. He lead him by the wrist to his bathroom, intending to clean him up.

"Kurt, we have to go!" Santana reminded him. The anger had softened and she had a tone of urgency in her voice. "Coach will kill us if we're late for this." She regarded Blaine caution but her focus was now primarily on Kurt. "But we are so discussing this later."

Kurt looked to Blaine where they stood in the doorway of his en suit. He was clearly struggling with the decision so Blaine made it for him.

"Go," he urged softly, "I'll just head home, it's okay." Santana had begun packing Kurt's sports bag with his cheerio uniform while Kurt considered.

"I do have to go but...you wash up here. You can borrow some of my clothes to change into first, okay?" Kurt suggested in a hushed tone as if Santana wouldn't be able to hear the exchange. Blaine regarded his dripping clothes, noting that he was actually shivering, unsure if it was from the cluster of ice dripping down his neck or from the shock of getting caught.

"I...okay," he said with a nod, "thanks."

"I'll see you later?" he asked nervously, unsure if he could actually believe such a simple promise. Blaine realised, with a sense of foreboding, that this could be what ends it for them. This could be it. He tried to keep his face calm as he nods in response, watching with dread as Kurt disappeared up the stairs with Santana.

Blaine sighed as he washed his face, a shiver running down his neck and spine at the cold that was beginning to sink in to his bones. Why must they always throw iced drinks?

He supposed he should be thankful that Santana hadn't been drinking a scalding hot coffee as that would have ended the evening in an entirely different way, most likely with a trip to the emergency room.

Blaine grimaced as he looked through Kurt's closet. A considerable amount of the Frappuccino that had missed him had made it onto his clothes. Very expensive looking clothes at that. Blaine examined some of them, recognising the brand names and some of the obscure trends from his vogue magazines. He'd never seen Kurt wear any of these, though he didn't have to wonder why. Kurt had told him about how he tried to blend into the background, how wearing these would be a death sentence for him. It was a shame, Blaine thought as he tried to imagine Kurt in some of them, smiling at the mental image.

He picked through some of those that were worst affected by the Frappuccino, taking them of their hangers and leaving them in a small pile on the floor. Kurt's bedroom doubled as the laundry room since it was so huge and since Kurt took care of the laundry for both himself and his father anyway. Blaine tossed the sticky clothes into the machine, adding some detergent and setting it to a rinse and spin. It all felt very domestic, washing Kurt's clothes for him, and Blaine desperately hoped that they still had a future together where maybe this became a part of their routine. With the glare that Santana had given him and the defeated look on Kurt's face, however, Blaine was unsure if he and Kurt would even last until the end of the week.

He changed quickly, picking something inexpensive looking and ordinary from Kurt's closet. Upstairs, he said a quick goodbye to Mr Hummel, who at this point insisted on being called Burt, and explained why Kurt had to leave so suddenly.

Blaine collapsed onto his bed as soon as he made it home, declining his mother's offer of dinner and falling asleep almost instantaneously.