Our Love is All We Need to Make it Through // KLAINE

Chapter Eighteen

*Blaine Anderson*

 A knock on my bedroom door interrupts Kurt and I's conversation, making both of us startle. My mom's head pokes into my room, and a warm smile spreads across her face as her gaze settles on Kurt, who shyly returns the gesture.

"Dinner is ready." Mom tells us, and after shooting me a not-so-subtle encouraging look, clicks the door shut as she leaves us. 

Kurt and I look at each other, and I'm almost one hundred percent certain we both wear the same nervous expression. We both stand from my bed, and release hands, and part of me wishes we hadn't, but the majority of my brain tells me that it's better to go out there not looking completely infatuated with one another, although that's exactly how it is. Not only would Cooper give me hell for it, but this is the first boyfriend I've brought home, and I don't need my mom to lecture me on 'moving too fast' or God forbid another sex talk. 

Kurt and I make our way down the hallway, shooting each other nervous glances the entire way into the kitchen. My mom is reaching into the cupboard for plates, and looks over her shoulder at the sound of our footsteps. "Blaine, dear, would you mind setting the table?" she asks.

Kurt snickers at 'dear,' and I make a face at him as I walk over to her as she hands me the plates. I go around the table, setting a plate in front of each chair, Kurt standing in the middle of the room, looking like he's unsure of where to stand--completely uncomfortable. The longer he's at my house, the more I wish we had eaten at his house. Kurt doesn't know this, but ever since we started dating, I've been freaking out about the day he would come to my house and meet my family. More than freaked out, really. If I'm being honest, on more than one occasion I've sat in bed late at night, staring at the ceiling, worrying about this exact day.

I am grateful that we're having a normal dish to eat for dinner today--mashed potatoes and chicken, and not something totally weird that Kurt would have to choke down. (Thursdays are the Andersons Try Food You've Probably Never Heard Of days.)

I sit down at the table, patting the seat on the end, indicating for Kurt to sit there. He crosses the room and sits, and I see his shaking hands before he puts them under the table. I squeeze his knee once reassuringly, mentally willing for this to not turn into the absolute disaster that I've always imagined it would be.

Mom sets the dish of mashed potatoes in the middle of the table, and reaches out her hand to Kurt. "Hi, Kurt, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you." 

Kurt smiles back, shaking her hand. "Same to you." he says thickly, and clears his throat nervously. 

My mom finishes setting the table, the food all sprawled around the center, ready to be consumed. As if on cue, the front door swings open, revealing Cooper, who shrugs off his leather jacket upon entering, letting it drop, abandoned on the floor. 

Mom gives him a stern look that could quite possibly kill small mammals. Cooper, under the scrutinizing eye of his parental figure, gingerly picks up the jacket and hangs it on the coat rack, then proceeds into the room, whistling some tune. Everyone knows that when your mother gives the mom glare, you sure as hell better do what she wants. It's just how it goes.

Cooper stops in mid-note as his gaze rests on Kurt and I. With a roll of my eyes I address him. "Hey, Coop."

"Hey there, little brother." he gives me a wicked grin, and right then and there, I know that I am screwed. "Is this Kurt?" he asks, and if I didn't know him well enough I'd mistake his tone for innocence, but I know he's plotting to embarrass me to no end. I suddenly regret telling him all those things I have in the past. 

"Yep, that would be me," Kurt gives a little wave, and I catch a glimpse of amusement in his eyes, which catches me off guard, and kind of confuses me, if I'm being honest. "You must be Cooper?"

"That would be me." Cooper flashes a tooth-filled smile, pulling out the chair opposite of Kurt. "Blaine has told me oh so much about you." 

I resist the urge to face palm, not wanting to give Cooper the satisfaction of knowing he got under my skin. 

"Oh really?" Kurt cocks an eyebrow at him, one corner of his mouth tilting up. "Such as?"

I shoot daggers at Cooper across the table while Kurt isn't looking, willing him to not dig himself a deeper hole. I mean, I didn't really tell him much of anything, knowing that this exact scenario was bound to happen. But God knows what that boy can pull out of his head to make me uncomfortable. 

Cooper opens his mouth to speak, but my mom's voice interrupts him. "Shush, boys, and get eating." she chides kindly, pointing the spoon at each of us in turn, before placing it into the mashed potatoes. 

Each of us scoop our food onto our plates in silence, and for the first couple minutes or so we don't really talk much, me nudging Kurt's leg underneath the table with my foot every so often, him glancing at me momentarily, a mocking smile on his face.

"So, Kurt, how do you like McKinley high?" Mom asks, dabbing her mouth with her napkin.

"It's good." he responds, almost too quickly. 

"How did you meet Blaine, if you go there?" Cooper interjects, taking a bite of his potatoes.

I look at Kurt expectantly, wondering to myself how he's going to explain it. Kurt plays with his food for a moment, seeming to contemplate exactly how to answer. "We were both in the bookstore." he says after a moment. "We just kind of ran into each other, and and it went from there." Kurt's tone suggests there's more to the story than what he's saying, which puzzles me, considering that is how we met, after all. I'll have to question him about it later.

"Oh, how adorable." Cooper coos, fluttering his eyelashes, mocking us. I stifle a groan.

"Ignore Cooper." Mom waves him off. "That's very sweet." she smiles at Kurt and I. "He's just bitter that he hasn't found his love yet." Mom elbows Cooper, who scoffs. 

"Whatever, mom."

The rest of the dinner is filled with banter like this, and I can't help but beam as I watch Kurt slowly creep out of his shell before my very eyes. By the end of the dinner, he is helping my mom rinse plates, laughing and talking to her about glee club and restaurants around town, and to my dismay, looking at my not-so-flattering baby pictures. Granted, that was Cooper's idea. I hid in the furthest corner of the room, on protest from speaking to any of them until the photo album was put away, or better yet, burned. Unfortunately, neither happened.

"Thank you for the help, Kurt." Mom says. "You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like. I'm sure Blaine wouldn't mind." Mom winks at me, and I blush a little as Kurt crosses the room, looking at me with a smirk on his face, and I make a face at him as we walk to my room, closing the door behind us. 

Kurt wanders to into my room, his arms behind his back as she looks at me, looking like he's trying not to laugh.

"Kurt, I swear to god, if you say anything about those pictures of me--"

"But you were so damn cute!" Kurt explodes, grinning from ear to ear. 

"This is why I don't bring you to my house." I tease, and talk again quickly, my hands getting a little clammy from the lie. But Kurt doesn't need to know why I wouldn't want him to come over. "They're quite embarrassing."

"I think it's adorable." Kurt smiles, linking his arms around my neck, his gaze flickering to my lips momentarily. Before he can do it, I press out lips together, pulling him in by his belt loops, making his breath his in his throat, and sound that gives me more satisfaction than maybe it should.

"Well I wouldn't mind it if this is how we spend our time at my house." I murmur against his lips.

Kurt responds by colliding his lips with my own.