The Other Hummel

Next to Normal

Louisa ringed the bell to her cousin's apartment and heard the high-pitched barks of a puppy. It was soon followed by a yell of "Blaine! I said it a thousand times that I don't want Satine on my couch!". Her laughter was joined by Kurt's, who had then opened the door:

"Welcome, boo."

"I came to finally meet my flurry niece."

Almost as if she had been called, the dog got hid of Blaine's grip and came running to lick Louisa's foot. The boy came right after, wearing a proud-parent smile. Louisa had never seen him so happy and he looked like even more comfortable with his life choices when he hugged Kurt and their engagement rings shone. She smiled from where she had being playing with Satine:

"Now I understand why you can't shut up about her; she's really adorable."

They both had dopey smiles on and she shook her head:

"I almost forgot; here, this is for her."

Kurt got the package from her hands with genuinely curiosity in his eyes. She watched him unwrap the fake-diamond collar and the way his eyes sparkled examining it. She chuckled:

"I brought her a diamond collar so she can be a real Moulin Rouge's Diamond Dog."

"Thank you, boo. It's gorgeous."

Kurt took Satine and went with her to the couch to try to put her new collar on. Blaine and Louisa just looked at each other trying not to laugh at the irony. He passed his arm around her shoulder and drove her in:

"Can I offer you a tea or something? I'd love to hear your impressions about the first week back."

"Tea would be great; thanks. But, you were there with me in almost every class, Blaine; what do you want to know?"

Kurt, who had managed to dress the dog up, joined them in their way to the kitchen:

"But I wasn't; tell me everything."

She smiled coyly:

"There isn't much to tell... I got a lot of catching up to do. Cassandra seems to be looking for every little opportunity to correct me in a way that will embarrass me in front of the class..."

Blaine came with the tea mugs and a malicious smirk:

"And what about Brody?"

"About Brody, Anderson; you owe me a lot. What were you thinking when you invited him to Kurt's party?"

Blaine smiled like a five-years-old who had just dropped his zippy cup on the white carpet and managed to slip the blame to a sibling:

"It reached my ears that there were some action between the two of you during Valentine's Day and... I couldn't help myself. Deep down, I'm a romantic at heart."

Louisa rolled her eyes and Kurt came to her rescue:

"But it still doesn't allow you to help him up, Blaine! We all know what he did and why Lou wants to be away from him."

Blaine looked down and spoke in a small voice:

"I'm just a firm believer of second chances. People sometimes do things they regret later because they are confused."

Kurt grabbed his hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. It seemed to have worked because Blaine looked up at him and smiled. Louisa cleared her throat: