Not as Strong as You Think

Chapter 17- Dinners and Dads

Walking through the house, Blaine had felt like they were years back. Like he stepped into a time machine when he got off of the plane, and he was 17 again. Everything was the same as where they'd left off: the china neatly arranged in the glass case, the doormat that read "Even robbers should take their shoes off at the door", and framed pictures of the whole family, including the late Christopher Hudson and Elizabeth Hummel.

Some things never change.

"Blaine!" It was Carole, reminding him of reality and everything that was going on. She didn't have a happy tone, but it wasn't bad either. Perhaps shock would describe it.

"Uh...hey," Blaine said awkwardly, shifting on his feet and waving slightly before putting his arm behind his back.

Kurt and his father locked eyes, Burt looking panicked and jumping, Kurt having a nervous grin. Burt knew this would happen eventually, that his son would reunite with his soulmate, but deep down he wished it would be later.

"I hope it's okay that Blaine will be joining us for dinner," Kurt said, hating how quiet it was in the room and all of the pairs of eyes that followed him. "I'll go get a folding chair from the garage."

Now it was Blaine's turn to take the attention. He'd recognized some faces in the crowd, matching them with things he remembered them saying in the past. Like Kurt's cousin, and his question about gay sex at the dinner table a while ago, in which his mother shushed him and bowed her head shamefully. "So like, I've seen girl on girl cause like ... PornHub, but how does it work with guys?" Blaine could never forget that one.

"How are you, son?" Finn's grandma asked, breaking the silence, and reaching for her purse on the ground. "Would you like a peppermint candy?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. And I'm doing well, thanks for asking," Blaine answered respectfully, smiling at the old lady.

Just then, Kurt came back, holding the metal chair in his arms. Thank god, Blaine thought, not knowing if he could've spent a second more in that uncomfortable space with him.

Both of them sat down next to each other. Blaine was sandwiched between Kurt and Finn, thankful for being spared from the other people that were staring him down seconds before.

To his surprise, Finn scooted his chair to the right, away from him, as if he had head lice or B.O. Blaine was sure he had neither, unless he sweat off the deodorant he put on from earlier that day. He made a mental note to ask him about that later.

Burt Hummel stood up once again, and looked around the table with suspense. He damn well wasn't going to let this ruin his Christmas. "Well, who wants some ham?"

~~~

Dinner wasn't nearly as bad as Blaine thought it would be. Only a couple times was he brought up in conversation, some person or another asking when one of them would be popping the question (Blaine politely explaining that they weren't together anymore, not in that way), and trying to make small talk about how school was going.

For all they knew, Kurt and Blaine were still going steady, and they were in NYADA together, but nobody knew anything. None of them got too much into detail on what happened, but thankfully, nobody asked.

Blaine watched as Kurt was going down the line of people, saying his goodbyes. He saw how pained he was after each hug, the uncomfortable look in his eyes when someone squeezed unexpectedly, the sadness that overwhelmed his body constantly.

I have to do something, Blaine thought, while he was helping Carole clean off the table of all the nearly empty dishes. He couldn't bear to see Kurt tortured like that any longer.