Good Judgement for MAYBERRY_ROSE
Title: Good Judgment
Recipient: mayberry_rose
Author/Artist: wordplay
Rating: PG
Word Count: around 2700
Summary: Kurt's always had really good judgment in friends, but Burt's not too sure about this Blaine kid.
Author's Note: I started writing this immediately after "Blame It On the Alcohol", and want to thank you for giving such a lovely prompt to act as balm after all of that drama. I hope you've enjoyed the fest, mayberry_rose , and that you enjoy this story and it does what you wanted it to!
MOD EDIT: Spoilers for Blame It On The Alcohol
The thing is, Burt has been trying real hard to give this Dalton kid the benefit of the doubt. Kurt can make some real doozy kind of mistakes and his judgment is just as questionable as any other kid's, but when it's come to picking good people, Burt has never really had any real complaints about Kurt's friends. When Kurt was little it was because there weren't all that many and he was just grateful for Kurt to have people to bring home - it was important to know your kid's friends if you were going to know who they are when they aren't with you. But when he and Carole were dating there had been a lot of long talks about their kids, and the stuff she'd told him about everything that happened with Quinn and Puckerman... you know, this gay thing was really hard, but at least he never had to worry about that. And even though he'd never say it to Carole or Finn or, least of all, Kurt, once he'd had time to get over the knot in his stomach at what Carole had had to deal with when Quinn was living with them, once he'd held her while she cried and he searched his brain for something to say, he realized that this was something Kurt was pretty good at. He never knew what to say when Kurt's girlfriends filled up the living room or his basement, but they were good kids - clueless, a little pampered, but generally all right and not prone to getting into any trouble.
So when he had found Blaine in Kurt's bed, and then Kurt had told him that he was only there because he was sleeping off a bender? You're damn right his hackles went up. Right there, that was something Kurt from a year ago never would have been involved with, never, and it didn't matter that Kurt and Finn weren't drinking, because that just meant they hadn't been drinking that night - Burt's not stupid. And then Kurt had been on about how this kid was now maybe backpedaling on the gay thing, and he'd been so irritated about the unauthorized sleepover that he'd just glossed right over it.
(And really, how had Kurt thought that wasn't going to be an issue? Bad judgment, and this teenager thing was impossible to get right, because some times he looked at Kurt's sad smile and saw a heartbroken 8-year-old who had lost his mom, and sometimes he saw how tall he was and how his shoulders had filled out and he saw a man, and the real hard thing about it is that Kurt wasn't either of those. Parenting was a bitch, and it's a miracle he made it through any of these confrontations with just one beer.)
After it was all over, though, after Kurt had looked at him with hurt in his eyes and left the room with his shoulders slumped but his head held high (and he wished to god that wasn't so familiar), Burt had finished up the strawberries and slowly cleaned up the mess from the souffle and while he was up to his elbows in that fancy soft-hands-dishsoap that Kurt had turned Carole on to, he had a chance to think about everything that Kurt had and hadn't said.
What he finally figured out that night was that he really didn't care for this Blaine kid. It had been obvious from the start that Kurt had liked him; Kurt with a crush wasn't really a subtle thing, and Finn had started making funny faces every time Kurt brought him up within a week of the wedding. He'd talked to Carole about it, unsure if they had another problem on their hands after the whole "fag" thing the year before, but she'd been right about that - these things burn themselves out so fast that he'd just shut up about it, just watched and waited to see what happened.
And what had happened was that Kurt was all over the place - he was tense and agitated, and it wasn't like before the wedding when all that had gone on with the Karofsky kid. This was a different kind of tense; he had never spent that much time on his clothes just to wear around the house, for one thing, and it wasn't until he realized how often Blaine was in-and-out of the house or Kurt was at his or out for coffee or plays or whatever that he realized that Kurt was staying dressed-to-impress, all the time, just in case Blaine showed up. Blaine kept showing up more and more around mealtimes, too (seriously, didn't this kid have family of his own? or any other friends?), and Kurt would barely eat when he was there, a broad and fake smile plastered to his face, and he moderated the conversations at the dinner table like it was a freaking college interview - without Blaine, they talked about work and school and any gossip the kids brought home, but when Blaine was around Kurt wanted to talk about art, or music, or something he'd just read in the New York Times. And Blaine - he was pressed and polished and almost always in that damn uniform, and he was so charming, all the time - too charming, although Carole just laughed at Burt when he grumbled and said she thought it was sweet.
So then Kurt had told him that maybe Blaine wasn't even gay, maybe? And Burt had no idea how all that worked, and for a second he just thought, "jesus, the things these kids have to figure out now - who can do all that while they're trying to pass geometry, too?" before he flipped over into a cool parental rage, the kind he'd been slipping into for as long as he's had Kurt. Because, really: Kurt's always picked really good friends, but this kid? This kid's drinking and sleeping in his bed and besides that, all this kid knows how to do is make Kurt miserable and uptight, apparently. How's that supposed to be good for him?
So all that had happened, and Burt had been prepared to play a real hardass when Blaine was around, to put his foot down and try to keep them from spending so much time together, but things were busy and these kids all had cars, anyway. He'd done his best and Kurt had given him some real nasty looks a time or two, but then one day in March he was washing dishes again and he'd looked out the window to see them standing in front of Blaine's car. Blaine was leaning against the car and just gazing at Kurt, and Kurt was standing ramrod straight just a few feet away but he was looking down, looking at those white boots he loved, and he was talking, and that look on Blaine's face - and then he'd seen it, watched Blaine reach out for his son like he was some kind of lifeline, and Blaine had reeled him in for a hug, just to hold him. Kurt's face was hidden from him, but Burt didn't need to see it because he knew what Kurt had to look like right now, because the look on Blaine's face was drawn, like he was hurting from how much he was feeling, but he had this blissed out little smile, like he couldn't believe he got to hold something so precious.
Burt had had to leave the room before he saw his son kissing another boy (he was trying, okay, but he wasn't ready for that yet for a whole lot of reasons) and he went straight to where Carole was folding clothes on their bed and, after stomping around their room in a huff for 15 minutes, all he could say was, "They're together. Or they're getting together, or something - I don't know. But Blaine's finally pulled his head out of his ass and - I need to get ready."
And Carole had just laughed at him a little, which kind of pissed him off before she sighed and put the clothes back in the basket and pulled him down onto the bed to rip off his cap and hold his head against her chest (and hey, it's not like he's complaining - never getting old) and say to him, "I know you don't like him, but that's really about what you think he's doing to Kurt. He's not a bad kid, Burt, he's just not one of ours. You have no idea how many times I wanted to rip every hair from Quinn Fabray's perfect little head, but you have to let them do this by themselves, or they'll never forgive you." She'd kissed him on the head while he had railed about that stupid little jumped-up poser, and when he realized she was muffling laughter he lifted his head to look at her and she'd only said, "Honey. Haaaaaave you met Kurt?" and yeah, she had a point and god he loved her smile, so he kissed her until he broke and just lay there on the bed, his hands over his face and said, "So, just let it go?" and she had nodded.
He never found out exactly what it was he had seen, and Kurt had waited another two weeks to tell him anything at all, but even then it was just, "We're dating. I mean, it's exclusive, and it's really good, but it's... we're not in love, or anything," which was an absolute lie, at least on Kurt's part, but then he'd jumped in with, "or having sex. So don't worry - it's fine" and that much, at least, had been the truth.
And then they'd just gotten on with it. Blaine was around a lot more, and watching the two of them sing together at Regionals had made him thaw just a little bit because, god, the way they looked at each other! He'd had a talk with both boys about sex, which had been awkward as hell and definitely a two-beer conversation, and by the time it was over he still had no idea if they were sneaking off somewhere to do it, but Blaine was definitely not spending the night at his house (he wasn't above random late-night bed checks, and if Kurt never found out, all the better) and he could live with that. And he'd never heard another word about drinking, and when he asked Kurt, all he'd said was, "Believe me, we all learned a few things last time, and if kissing Rachel Berry isn't the worst thing that can happen when you're drunk, neither of us wants any part of it."
So now it's a Thursday night late in May, and New Directions is holding a bake sale to raise money for the trip to Nationals. Finn had started the evening in the kitchen with Kurt, who is pitching in mostly to show off his skills and in some kind of "artists' solidarity", but when Puckerman had shown up to 'help', he and Finn had disappeared upstairs to play some kind of video game, leaving Kurt alone in the kitchen to shriek up the stairs at them and then grumble discontentedly. Burt had been on the point of joining him when Blaine had just walked into the house like he lived there (and, fine, Puckerman had just done the same thing, but he didn't care what Kurt said - it still wasn't the same, and didn't this kid have any respect?) and Kurt called to him from the kitchen - he must have called or texted or something, because Blaine just gave Burt a sideways smile as he strolled past and said, "hey, babe, how can I help?" and Kurt exploded with a flurry of frustrated directives at him.
He hasn't had much of an opportunity to watch them together lately - The Talk had put Blaine off a little, which was okay with him, if a little unnecessary - and so, after about an hour of listening to them laughing and talking quietly, he walks into the kitchen ready to say, "Hey, it's getting late - you guys need another pair of hands?"
He's not quite prepared for what he sees. Blaine and Kurt are standing together in front of the sink. Blaine is taking out his contacts while Kurt chatters at him, mindlessly washing a handful of spatulas and looking on kind of absently but fondly, like this is something he sees all the time, and when Blaine rubs his eyes and slips on his glasses and says "oh god, so much better," Kurt just smiles at him and says, "it always is - I don't know why you wear them around here anymore." Blaine's dark t-shirt has a smudged set of floured handprints low on his back and trailing down pretty far on his jeans, and Kurt's put on one of Carole's aprons over his cut-out sweatshirt and yoga pants. He hangs back in the shadow of the doorway for a second, watching while he figures out what seems different. Blaine doesn't know what he's doing in the kitchen, clearly, but he's happily taking direction from Kurt, who manages to tell him about egg whites and macarons without being condescending (he wouldn't mind a little more of that consideration himself, thanks), and when Blaine reaches up to smudge a little powdered sugar over Kurt's nose, he just says, "not good for the pores, Blaine," and when Blaine goes to lick it off, he just rolls his eyes with a "not much better, thanks" but he lets him, lets Blaine put his sticky, sugary hands on his face and slobber all over his nose with no more comment than a wry "mhmm, very sexy."
Blaine takes that as a challenge, apparently, because he growls "oh, I'll show you sexy" and starts backing Kurt against the counter, and Kurt just giggles and squeals but locks his arms around him and lets himself be pushed, and Burt sees Blaine pull at the cut-out neckline of Kurt's sweatshirt and is starting to back out of the kitchen, horrified, when Blaine plants his mouth on Kurt's neck and blows a big, loud, obnoxious raspberry, and Kurt erupts into shrieks of laughter and starts slapping at his back, and Burt can't help chuckling himself.
The boys' eyes, when they meet his, are a little bit shy but not embarrassed, and they're all still laughing and this - it's so easy, and it's still easy later when they've gone quiet and he's working through a mammoth pile of dishes and he hears Kurt snort out "sexy!" under his breath from across the room and Blaine's faint murmur in return. He looks up then and catches a glimpse of their reflection in the dark kitchen window, and Blaine's gazing at Kurt again, only this time it's both of them, and Kurt is slumped against the kitchen counter, tired and rumpled and covered in flour, but his smile - his smile is real.
And if that smile is edged with something he really doesn't need to see - well, he trusts Kurt. He's always been good at picking his friends, and he seems to be doing fine with this, too.
Highest rating preferred: NC-17
Prompt(s) used: 2. Any established relationship fic that shows Kurt and Blaine being really comfortable with each other - Blaine leaving his hair curly, Kurt (gasp) relaxing his skin-care routine... If possible, nothing dramatic. Just a sweet, slow fic that shows the love and trust between them.
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Recipient: mayberry_rose
Author/Artist: wordplay
Rating: PG
Word Count: around 2700
Summary: Kurt's always had really good judgment in friends, but Burt's not too sure about this Blaine kid.
Author's Note: I started writing this immediately after "Blame It On the Alcohol", and want to thank you for giving such a lovely prompt to act as balm after all of that drama. I hope you've enjoyed the fest, mayberry_rose , and that you enjoy this story and it does what you wanted it to!
MOD EDIT: Spoilers for Blame It On The Alcohol
The thing is, Burt has been trying real hard to give this Dalton kid the benefit of the doubt. Kurt can make some real doozy kind of mistakes and his judgment is just as questionable as any other kid's, but when it's come to picking good people, Burt has never really had any real complaints about Kurt's friends. When Kurt was little it was because there weren't all that many and he was just grateful for Kurt to have people to bring home - it was important to know your kid's friends if you were going to know who they are when they aren't with you. But when he and Carole were dating there had been a lot of long talks about their kids, and the stuff she'd told him about everything that happened with Quinn and Puckerman... you know, this gay thing was really hard, but at least he never had to worry about that. And even though he'd never say it to Carole or Finn or, least of all, Kurt, once he'd had time to get over the knot in his stomach at what Carole had had to deal with when Quinn was living with them, once he'd held her while she cried and he searched his brain for something to say, he realized that this was something Kurt was pretty good at. He never knew what to say when Kurt's girlfriends filled up the living room or his basement, but they were good kids - clueless, a little pampered, but generally all right and not prone to getting into any trouble.
So when he had found Blaine in Kurt's bed, and then Kurt had told him that he was only there because he was sleeping off a bender? You're damn right his hackles went up. Right there, that was something Kurt from a year ago never would have been involved with, never, and it didn't matter that Kurt and Finn weren't drinking, because that just meant they hadn't been drinking that night - Burt's not stupid. And then Kurt had been on about how this kid was now maybe backpedaling on the gay thing, and he'd been so irritated about the unauthorized sleepover that he'd just glossed right over it.
(And really, how had Kurt thought that wasn't going to be an issue? Bad judgment, and this teenager thing was impossible to get right, because some times he looked at Kurt's sad smile and saw a heartbroken 8-year-old who had lost his mom, and sometimes he saw how tall he was and how his shoulders had filled out and he saw a man, and the real hard thing about it is that Kurt wasn't either of those. Parenting was a bitch, and it's a miracle he made it through any of these confrontations with just one beer.)
After it was all over, though, after Kurt had looked at him with hurt in his eyes and left the room with his shoulders slumped but his head held high (and he wished to god that wasn't so familiar), Burt had finished up the strawberries and slowly cleaned up the mess from the souffle and while he was up to his elbows in that fancy soft-hands-dishsoap that Kurt had turned Carole on to, he had a chance to think about everything that Kurt had and hadn't said.
What he finally figured out that night was that he really didn't care for this Blaine kid. It had been obvious from the start that Kurt had liked him; Kurt with a crush wasn't really a subtle thing, and Finn had started making funny faces every time Kurt brought him up within a week of the wedding. He'd talked to Carole about it, unsure if they had another problem on their hands after the whole "fag" thing the year before, but she'd been right about that - these things burn themselves out so fast that he'd just shut up about it, just watched and waited to see what happened.
And what had happened was that Kurt was all over the place - he was tense and agitated, and it wasn't like before the wedding when all that had gone on with the Karofsky kid. This was a different kind of tense; he had never spent that much time on his clothes just to wear around the house, for one thing, and it wasn't until he realized how often Blaine was in-and-out of the house or Kurt was at his or out for coffee or plays or whatever that he realized that Kurt was staying dressed-to-impress, all the time, just in case Blaine showed up. Blaine kept showing up more and more around mealtimes, too (seriously, didn't this kid have family of his own? or any other friends?), and Kurt would barely eat when he was there, a broad and fake smile plastered to his face, and he moderated the conversations at the dinner table like it was a freaking college interview - without Blaine, they talked about work and school and any gossip the kids brought home, but when Blaine was around Kurt wanted to talk about art, or music, or something he'd just read in the New York Times. And Blaine - he was pressed and polished and almost always in that damn uniform, and he was so charming, all the time - too charming, although Carole just laughed at Burt when he grumbled and said she thought it was sweet.
So then Kurt had told him that maybe Blaine wasn't even gay, maybe? And Burt had no idea how all that worked, and for a second he just thought, "jesus, the things these kids have to figure out now - who can do all that while they're trying to pass geometry, too?" before he flipped over into a cool parental rage, the kind he'd been slipping into for as long as he's had Kurt. Because, really: Kurt's always picked really good friends, but this kid? This kid's drinking and sleeping in his bed and besides that, all this kid knows how to do is make Kurt miserable and uptight, apparently. How's that supposed to be good for him?
So all that had happened, and Burt had been prepared to play a real hardass when Blaine was around, to put his foot down and try to keep them from spending so much time together, but things were busy and these kids all had cars, anyway. He'd done his best and Kurt had given him some real nasty looks a time or two, but then one day in March he was washing dishes again and he'd looked out the window to see them standing in front of Blaine's car. Blaine was leaning against the car and just gazing at Kurt, and Kurt was standing ramrod straight just a few feet away but he was looking down, looking at those white boots he loved, and he was talking, and that look on Blaine's face - and then he'd seen it, watched Blaine reach out for his son like he was some kind of lifeline, and Blaine had reeled him in for a hug, just to hold him. Kurt's face was hidden from him, but Burt didn't need to see it because he knew what Kurt had to look like right now, because the look on Blaine's face was drawn, like he was hurting from how much he was feeling, but he had this blissed out little smile, like he couldn't believe he got to hold something so precious.
Burt had had to leave the room before he saw his son kissing another boy (he was trying, okay, but he wasn't ready for that yet for a whole lot of reasons) and he went straight to where Carole was folding clothes on their bed and, after stomping around their room in a huff for 15 minutes, all he could say was, "They're together. Or they're getting together, or something - I don't know. But Blaine's finally pulled his head out of his ass and - I need to get ready."
And Carole had just laughed at him a little, which kind of pissed him off before she sighed and put the clothes back in the basket and pulled him down onto the bed to rip off his cap and hold his head against her chest (and hey, it's not like he's complaining - never getting old) and say to him, "I know you don't like him, but that's really about what you think he's doing to Kurt. He's not a bad kid, Burt, he's just not one of ours. You have no idea how many times I wanted to rip every hair from Quinn Fabray's perfect little head, but you have to let them do this by themselves, or they'll never forgive you." She'd kissed him on the head while he had railed about that stupid little jumped-up poser, and when he realized she was muffling laughter he lifted his head to look at her and she'd only said, "Honey. Haaaaaave you met Kurt?" and yeah, she had a point and god he loved her smile, so he kissed her until he broke and just lay there on the bed, his hands over his face and said, "So, just let it go?" and she had nodded.
He never found out exactly what it was he had seen, and Kurt had waited another two weeks to tell him anything at all, but even then it was just, "We're dating. I mean, it's exclusive, and it's really good, but it's... we're not in love, or anything," which was an absolute lie, at least on Kurt's part, but then he'd jumped in with, "or having sex. So don't worry - it's fine" and that much, at least, had been the truth.
And then they'd just gotten on with it. Blaine was around a lot more, and watching the two of them sing together at Regionals had made him thaw just a little bit because, god, the way they looked at each other! He'd had a talk with both boys about sex, which had been awkward as hell and definitely a two-beer conversation, and by the time it was over he still had no idea if they were sneaking off somewhere to do it, but Blaine was definitely not spending the night at his house (he wasn't above random late-night bed checks, and if Kurt never found out, all the better) and he could live with that. And he'd never heard another word about drinking, and when he asked Kurt, all he'd said was, "Believe me, we all learned a few things last time, and if kissing Rachel Berry isn't the worst thing that can happen when you're drunk, neither of us wants any part of it."
So now it's a Thursday night late in May, and New Directions is holding a bake sale to raise money for the trip to Nationals. Finn had started the evening in the kitchen with Kurt, who is pitching in mostly to show off his skills and in some kind of "artists' solidarity", but when Puckerman had shown up to 'help', he and Finn had disappeared upstairs to play some kind of video game, leaving Kurt alone in the kitchen to shriek up the stairs at them and then grumble discontentedly. Burt had been on the point of joining him when Blaine had just walked into the house like he lived there (and, fine, Puckerman had just done the same thing, but he didn't care what Kurt said - it still wasn't the same, and didn't this kid have any respect?) and Kurt called to him from the kitchen - he must have called or texted or something, because Blaine just gave Burt a sideways smile as he strolled past and said, "hey, babe, how can I help?" and Kurt exploded with a flurry of frustrated directives at him.
He hasn't had much of an opportunity to watch them together lately - The Talk had put Blaine off a little, which was okay with him, if a little unnecessary - and so, after about an hour of listening to them laughing and talking quietly, he walks into the kitchen ready to say, "Hey, it's getting late - you guys need another pair of hands?"
He's not quite prepared for what he sees. Blaine and Kurt are standing together in front of the sink. Blaine is taking out his contacts while Kurt chatters at him, mindlessly washing a handful of spatulas and looking on kind of absently but fondly, like this is something he sees all the time, and when Blaine rubs his eyes and slips on his glasses and says "oh god, so much better," Kurt just smiles at him and says, "it always is - I don't know why you wear them around here anymore." Blaine's dark t-shirt has a smudged set of floured handprints low on his back and trailing down pretty far on his jeans, and Kurt's put on one of Carole's aprons over his cut-out sweatshirt and yoga pants. He hangs back in the shadow of the doorway for a second, watching while he figures out what seems different. Blaine doesn't know what he's doing in the kitchen, clearly, but he's happily taking direction from Kurt, who manages to tell him about egg whites and macarons without being condescending (he wouldn't mind a little more of that consideration himself, thanks), and when Blaine reaches up to smudge a little powdered sugar over Kurt's nose, he just says, "not good for the pores, Blaine," and when Blaine goes to lick it off, he just rolls his eyes with a "not much better, thanks" but he lets him, lets Blaine put his sticky, sugary hands on his face and slobber all over his nose with no more comment than a wry "mhmm, very sexy."
Blaine takes that as a challenge, apparently, because he growls "oh, I'll show you sexy" and starts backing Kurt against the counter, and Kurt just giggles and squeals but locks his arms around him and lets himself be pushed, and Burt sees Blaine pull at the cut-out neckline of Kurt's sweatshirt and is starting to back out of the kitchen, horrified, when Blaine plants his mouth on Kurt's neck and blows a big, loud, obnoxious raspberry, and Kurt erupts into shrieks of laughter and starts slapping at his back, and Burt can't help chuckling himself.
The boys' eyes, when they meet his, are a little bit shy but not embarrassed, and they're all still laughing and this - it's so easy, and it's still easy later when they've gone quiet and he's working through a mammoth pile of dishes and he hears Kurt snort out "sexy!" under his breath from across the room and Blaine's faint murmur in return. He looks up then and catches a glimpse of their reflection in the dark kitchen window, and Blaine's gazing at Kurt again, only this time it's both of them, and Kurt is slumped against the kitchen counter, tired and rumpled and covered in flour, but his smile - his smile is real.
And if that smile is edged with something he really doesn't need to see - well, he trusts Kurt. He's always been good at picking his friends, and he seems to be doing fine with this, too.
Highest rating preferred: NC-17
Prompt(s) used: 2. Any established relationship fic that shows Kurt and Blaine being really comfortable with each other - Blaine leaving his hair curly, Kurt (gasp) relaxing his skin-care routine... If possible, nothing dramatic. Just a sweet, slow fic that shows the love and trust between them.
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