I've had the first scene in this story in my head for a while. But I just came up with the second scene after a sleepless last night. As always, Glee is owned by someone besides me.

Baggage – by BigDestiny

It was snowing a little in New York City. And as Kurt Hummel-Anderson stepped inside the brownstone he shared with his husband and their son, he gently brushed the snow out of his delicately styled hair. He was presumably the last one home, which was unusual if not unprecedented. As such, it was Blaine's job to get supper started. Which was why it was odd that Kurt couldn't smell anything when he came through the door. As a general rule, Blaine cooking meant something that would 'stick to your ribs', especially in the winter. Either Blaine was ordering in, or he'd picked a completely random day to start eating healthier.

Feeling almost a little disappointed by the second option, Kurt took off his outerwear and called out, "Is anybody home?"

Silence. No, not quite. There was a noise from the living room, that was half a sniffle and half a choke. Concerned, Kurt quickly removed his boots and hurried to the source of that sound.

Kurt was shocked to find Blaine slumped on the sofa, trying to wipe away the tears from his red-eyes. He wasn't having much success. "Kurt-" he started to say, only to find himself unable to continue.

"Blaine, what's wrong?" Kurt asked, trying to figure what might have happened. Was it Blaine's dad? Blaine's grandmother had been ill the previous winter, but she'd been doing much better since then...

Blaine started sobbing again. "It's- Tory, he-"

Kurt's heart stopped at the sound of their son's name, and he fought to keep calm. No, nothing could have happened to Tory. If he'd been hurt, Blaine would be there at the hospital. Not here weeping. He wouldn't just be here, even if Tory was-

Kurt couldn't even finish that thought. He knelt down in front of Blaine and forced his husband's head up to meet his eyes.

Kurt let go in shock at what he saw in Blaine's eyes. Guilt. The kind Kurt hadn't seen in years. Blaine's head dropped down again, and Kurt gasped, "Blaine, what happened?"

Blaine couldn't respond for a moment. But he finally did get his emotions under control. There was a long pause, and Blaine spoke in a small, broken voice. "You remember Eli." It wasn't a question. Kurt would remember that name until the day he died, and it was worse for Blaine.

But they'd worked through all that years ago. Yes, Blaine had never really 'recovered' from it (and when Kurt had worked with a guy with the same name two years previous, Blaine had almost gone to pieces when they were introduced), but it was in the past. "Blaine, why would you bring that up after all this time?"

Blaine tried wiping his eyes again, making slightly more progress. "Apparently, he teaches now," Blaine replied, bitterly. "Toronto's class. Eli said something about knowing me, and Tory went back on Facebook far enough to figure out what happened."

Kurt's eyes widened. Although biologically Tory was Blaine's son, with Blaine's wide puppy eyes and curly locks, Tory had Kurt's temper and occasionally imperious attitude. Kurt could only imagine what their son had said when he learned what had happened between Blaine and Eli. "Oh, boy."

Blaine nodded, and on the third nod his head stayed down. He started crying again. "I thought nothing could be worse than the pain I inflicted on you back then. But the way Tory was looking at me. Like he didn't know who I was. Our son hates me."

Kurt had taken a few more moments to cuddle his husband and whisper words of encouragement, before he went upstairs to deal with Tory. He knocked on the door, and before he could announce himself, he heard the angry teenager's voice growl back, "Unless you spent the rest of the afternoon going back in time and stopping yourself from being a DOUCHEBAG, I don't want to hear it!"

Kurt would have smiled at the turn of phrase, but doing so just validated Tory in situations like these. So he schooled his face to reflect the firm calm he needed in this instance.

And two could play at being the victim here. "I know you're angry at your papi," Kurt told him, dryly. "But I think that I, more than anyone else, don't deserve harsh words at this point."

Tory hurried to unlock, and open the door. The lock was put in when he hit puberty and was a sign of trust and respect (so long as Tory was the only one in there). It was the kind that could be popped open with a pin if need be, but Kurt and Blaine were of the opinion that unless it was an emergency it was worth the wait to get Tory to open it himself.

As Kurt had suspected, Tory was sullen. But his eyes were also red-rimmed, just like his papi's were. "Sorry," he admitted. "I just- You know who I thought it was."

Kurt strode calmly through the door. "I'm going to have to have a talk with your teacher," Kurt noted, seriously. "He shouldn't have told you any of that stuff."

Tory looked a little surprised, but shook his head. "I'm the one that started it. I got my phone taken away during class, and he recognized the picture of you and dad when he gave it back. He actually apologized for... you know."

This time Kurt had to hold back a smile and a frown. A smile, because Tory was fifteen and he still had his parents as his phone background. Said they reminded him that dreams and true love really did happen. The frown was not only because Tory had been using his phone during class, but also because it was only too evident that Tory was now disillusioned on that front.

Promising himself he'd talk to Tory about proper phone use some other time, Kurt shook his own head. "It doesn't matter, Tory," Kurt insisted. "You're fifteen years old. And he shouldn't be expecting you to have to deal with what happened."

Tory just shrugged. "I don't understand any of this."

Kurt sat down on Tory's bed, and with a gentle pat on the comforter Tory did come and sit down next to his dad. "I know this isn't easy to hear. Believe me, I wasn't that much older than you when your papi told me what happened. It's the worst feeling in the world."

"Then how could you forgive him?!" Tory shouted, exasperated. Not at Kurt though; the question wasn't even what Tory had asked.

It was 'how am I supposed to forgive him'.

Kurt considered that. Although he'd forgiven Blaine completely, it had happened in stages. And it took a few moments to condense it into words. "I forgave him... because I wanted to be with him more than I wanted to be angry with him. I know that sounds a lot easier than it was, and it took a long time. And while we're being fully candid here, I was with someone else after your papi and I broke up." Kurt didn't want to say much more about Adam, but didn't want to ignore that chapter only to have this all come back up again.

Tory gasped, shocked at his dad's admission. But he remained quiet, listening.

Kurt smiled and continued his story. "So you understand, I'd had enough experience by that point to know that your papi was the one for me. And I believed him when he said he was sorry, and it wouldn't happen again." Kurt looked into his son's eyes, willing the boy to believe what Kurt was saying. "And you know what, it never did."

Tory remained silent and thinking. Kurt decided to add one more thing. "I know this doesn't feel right to you. But forgiving him got me you, and this life together. That's more than worth taking him back, even if that had been the only reason. But it's not. I love him, and I know you love him, too."

Tory nodded, and looked a little chagrined. "I guess you want me to apologize."

Kurt shook his head. "This isn't like when you were mouthy about not cleaning your room. We want you to be honest with us. You know what I think your papi would much rather have? Your forgiveness. Do you think you can to that?"

"I-" Tory looked like he was going to cry again, and he was fighting it. "I'm not quite ready for that. Can I have a couple of minutes?"

Kurt smiled. "Well, since neither of your fathers is going to be up to cooking right now, I think I'll go order pizza," Kurt told him. "That gives you thirty, how's that?"

Tory smiled weakly. "That sounds good."

Kurt got up, decisively closing the door behind him as he left. This wasn't over by a long shot, but Kurt was confident in his son's compassion, as much as his own way with words. Tory would get past this in time. Kurt thought about the precious boy he and Blaine had raised. And about the wonderful, loyal husband he had downstairs. And for the first time Kurt looked back on the choice that he had made all those years ago.

"Yep," Kurt noted to himself. "Wouldn't change it for anything."

The End.