#mttewbomer

It's Blaine's turn to roll his eyes. "I don't believe that for a second, and neither do you." 

Kurt huffs, because Blaine is getting way too good at this. When they had first started out on this little partnership he had been so much easier to fool. But now they've been working together for almost half a year and Blaine's damn near to figuring Kurt out. Not all of Kurt's tricks, of course, but just enough to avoid falling for certain guises. 

There's this tentative friendship between them now. Both of them are afraid to get too comfortable in their relationship. Kurt knows it's not because he's the criminal that Blaine devoted a good chunk of his career to catching. He knows it's something more that's keeping them so... cautious. Kurt has always been good at reading people. It's a necessity in his line of work. He sees the look in Blaine's eye that only shows up when Blaine doesn't know Kurt is looking, or the almost too civil way Blaine reacts with Kurt's (admittedly plentiful) male conquests. And if those tells hadn't tipped him off, Santana's rude gestures behind his back would have.

So yes, Kurt knows that Blaine is interested in him, but he's not about to make any movement that way. It's not that he isn't curious, he definitely is, he's just very aware of how many ways curiosity can kill a cat. Or a con. 

If he expresses his interest in Blaine, people might start to say that Kurt is manipulating Blaine. Kurt wouldn't blame them if they did. He's proven that he's excellent at manipulating a situation to get what he wants. But he would never, ever do that to Blaine. Not with something like this. 

He doesn't want to abuse Blaine's feelings or hurt him in any way. He may be the man that put Kurt behind bars, but Kurt cares about him. Blaine is genuinely good just for the sake of being good. He’s got a big heart and he sees the best in people... even people like Kurt. Not a lot of people are willing to do that. Especially cops.

Nothing good has ever come from Kurt genuinely caring about people. After what happened with Adam and the plane, Kurt’s not sure he’s ready to let people get close to him. He doesn’t want to be the reason for any more pain.

“You know, if you keep this up they’re not going to let you keep helping for very much longer.” Blaine’s voice comes, pulling Kurt up to the surface of his thoughts.

The ex-con smirks, “Yes they will. How could they split us up when we make such a perfect team?” He throws an arm around Blaine’s shoulders, smiling charmingly down at him.

"Jeff!" the girl says and damn, Jeff! Alex knew it was something like that. 

Because of the split second Alex takes to note Jeff's name, he almost lets the boy fall. Luckily, he stretches out his arms just in time and steadies the tourist. 

The girl lets out a relieved breath, and Jeff takes a moment to let his own heart sink back down to a normal pace before looking up. Alex watches the boy with worried eyes, "Are you okay?" he asks, pretending not to notice the colour rising in Jeff's cheeks.  

"Fine thanks to you." Jeff answers, straightening up and stepping out of Alex's arms with an embarrassed shrug. "Sorry."

Alex lets out an awkward half-laugh, bringing up one arm to rub the back of his neck and trying to stay in character. "Don't mention it. After running from guards for so long your reflexes start to get pretty sharp." 

It's so weird, because Alex never has any troubles keeping his character. He certainly never has to focus so hard to avoid dropping the persona entirely. 

He and Jeff lock eyes for a moment, and Jeff's lips quirk up into a kind and thankful smile that Alex returns. albeit a little bashfully. 

"Ohhh." Alex and Jeff both look up to find Jeff's friend has lowered the camera, looking between the two boys with a knowing look. She covers up the look once they're watching her. "I uh... got the picture." she says, holding up the camera and biting her lip. "It's an itsy-bit blurry because I was in a hurry when I snapped it."

She walks over and holds up the screen for them to see. It depicts Jeff, arms still held out to catch himself, with Alex's arms wrapped around him to keep him upright. Both of their faces look surprised and, yes, a little blurry.  

"Oh my god, no." Jeff says, at the same time that Alex lets out a chuckle. 

"I think it's cute!" Alex insists, nodding at the redhead. 

Jeff shakes his head. "I don't need evidence of the fact that I can't walk in a straight line." 

"Nonsense!" Alex exclaims, "I love the picture! I wish we had these cameras in Agrabah so I could take more like this one!" He smiles at Jeff, throwing in a wink for good measure.

Beside them, the girl is practically shaking with the effort not to coo, but it goes unnoticed by both boys. 

The red head stops pushing, crossing her arms over her chest in an act of frustration. "Screw his relaxation! There is a cute shirtless boy who is paid to take pictures with us and you're being ridiculous!" 

Alex raises his eyebrows at the first part. Not that he entirely disagrees with her, pictures are sort of what he does, but the way she gets worked up about it makes him bite back a chuckle. 

"Would you hush oh my god I didn't know you were going to be so loud when we met. You seemed so sweet when we were half a country away from one another." The boy says, putting a hand over his friend's mouth, then pulling it away a second later and looking scandalized. Alex guesses that she licked his palm. 

He decides to put an end to their comedy show, standing up straight and clearing his throat. "You guys know I can hear you, right?" he asks, trying not to laugh at the looks on their now-red faces. 

"Oh my god. I am so sorry!" the boy exclaims, wiping his palm on his pants. 

"It's alright, you don't really have anything to be sorry for. Do you... still want a picture?" Alex asks, once again trying not to laugh at the duo as they gently hit one another behind their backs. 

Life with the Doctor is so different. So much better. There's uncertainty and excitement and this totally unique feeling of togetherness between them that he loves. No matter how crazy it gets, running through time and space with the Doctor's hand in his and with the two of them smiling at each other... it's a brand of life that he can't get anywhere else. 

"It was one of the most amazing moments of my life so far. And I live in a space ship with an alien so... that's saying something." He says finally, lips quirking up into a smile. 

A bright, dazzling smile breaks onto the Doctor's face and there's a sparkle in his eyes. "Exactly. So don't complain... dummy." 

The Doctor kisses Jeff on the cheek, throws him a wink, straightens his kitten-patterned bowtie.

"The only problem I have is you two! You're always right there hovering over me! I can't do anything without you

 right there

. Do you know how hard it is to just go to school and have a normal day when dad drops me off wearing his weird clothes?! Or how embarrassing it is when the loudest cheerleader at my soccer games is my papa wearing bowties with soccer balls on them?"

 Eli didn't stop once to take a break, like a dam had broken and he just couldn't hold it in any more. "Do you want to know why almost all of my friends are girls?! It's because none of the guys want to hang out with the kid who has fags for parents!"

The words were like a slap in the face to the husbands. Blaine actually took a step back in shock. Kurt was rooted to his spot behind the kitchen counter. As soon as he realized what he said, Eli’s face paled and his arms fell to his sides.

There was a long period of silence before anyone spoke. “Shit, guys. I’m sorry I...” Eli trailed off, at a loss for words.

Kurt took a deep breath, attempting to speak around the lump in his throat. “Don’t curse, Eli.” He sounded guarded, defeated. The look on his sons face was akin to heartbreak.

“I really didn’t mean—“

“We know, buddy.” Blaine said, walking over to stand beside his husband. “For now it’s probably best if you just go to your room, okay? Make sure all of your homework is done.” He tried to smile at Eli, hoping to send him a sign that it was alright, but the gesture came off as forced at best.

Eli nodded and turned, heading towards the stairs. “I really am sorry, you guys.” His voice cracked on his words as he obviously tried not to cry.

“It’s okay, Bud. We’ll be up soon to see if you need any help, okay?” Blaine assured him, trying with every bit of his strength not to show the disappointment he was feeling.

--------------------------------------------------

Almost half an hour later there was a knock on Eli’s bedroom door,  and without waiting for an answer Kurt slowly opened the door to peak his head in. “Hey bud, you mind if I come in?” He asked in a voice that showed his hesitance and nervousness.

Eli looked up from his open history book that Kurt was sure he hadn’t read a word from and nodded slowly.

Kurt walked into the room and stood over Eli’s bed. The pre-teen himself was looking down at his Star-Wars sheets, too ashamed to actually look at his father. “Mind if I take a seat?” Kurt asked, going for casual.

“Yeah. Sure.” Was the answering grumble.

Kurt sighed and sat down in front of his son. He picked up the textbook and placed it out of the way. “Do you... want to tell me what that was all about?”

Eli didn’t look up, but he shook his head at the Luke Skywalker on his sheets. “No.”

“Eli, please just tell me.” Kurt insisted, “I’m your father and I want to help you.”

Eli began picking at a loose thread on the old blanket, and Kurt made a mental note to replace it sometime soon. “You’re worried about helping me? I mean... after what I said?” Eli finally looked up at his father, tears that he wasn’t willing to shed in his eyes.

Kurt scooted closer to his son to lay a hand on his shoulder. “Eli of course I do. You know that Papa and I will always be here to help you. We love you.”

“But I called you a...uh...”

“I know what you called us, Eli. We’ve heard the word before, trust me.” That only made Eli look more guilty, if it were possible. “What I mean is... your father and I have heard a lot of terrible things in our lives. One little word isn’t going to break us.”

Eli looked up to meet his Dad’s eyes. “I know it’s not, Dad, but I still feel like crap about it. You’re not supposed to hear that from your family. I didn’t even mean it! I love you guys. It’s just at school lately the guys have been saying... well you know.” Eli shrugged, obviously not wanting to get into the gritty details.

“Yeah, Eli. We know what the kids at school have been saying. But that doesn’t mean they’re right. Not about you and not about Papa and I. And just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you don’t care about us. Papa and I both know that. You’re not the first member of our family to call us that, and you won’t be the last I’m sure.”

“Someone else in our family called you guys that?” Eli looked absolutely shocked, almost comically so, but Kurt didn’t think that was the right moment to laugh at his son.

“Sure. Next time you see Uncle Finn ask him about when we had to share a room. Or actually... don’t. There are parts of that story I’m not ready for you to hear yet.” Kurt laughed nervously, thinking back to his sophomore year of high school. Oh how things had changed.

“Look, Eli. The point I’m trying to make here is that your Papa and I know that you love us. We’re not about to start doubting that because of one mistake you made. But next time, we want you to talk to us before it gets to this point. We’re here to help you through stuff like this. We don’t want you looking at us as the enemy.” He wrapped an arm around his son, hugging him. “If you’re having trouble at school, you need to tell us so we can do something about it. And if that means toning down my outfits when I drop you off or asking Papa not to be so enthusiastic at Soccer games them so be it.”

“No!” Eli said, almost too quickly. “I didn’t mean that stuff I said downstairs! I like that you guys do that stuff for me. I like that you’re a designer and that dad treats me like an Olympian on game days. I guess I was just so mad at the kids from school that I just.... took it out on you.”

Kurt nodded knowingly. “Been there.” He said, remembering when he was a teenager. “So is everything okay for now?” he asked, just to be sure.

Eli offered a smile. “Yeah, Dad. Everything’s okay for now.”

“Good.” Kurt smiled back at him, then stood and walked towards the door before looking back. “Now let’s go downstairs. I left Papa in the kitchen to make us all some ice cream sundaes, who knows what he’s got done to the place by now.” Kurt and Eli, who could both cook circles around Blaine, giggled at the inside joke.

They both headed downstairs to find Blaine wiping up some spilled chocolate sauce with a chocolate ice cream stain on his collar. All three Hummel-Anderson’s shared a smile at the once they were together, all of them glad to see that they were okay.

“Well if it isn’t our own personal master chef.” Kurt said, walking around the kitchen counter to hug his husband from behind.

“Hey! I do my best.” Blaine insisted, motioning to the three sundaes sitting on the counter. “What do you think, Eli?”

Eli smiled a huge toothy smile that was reminiscent of his Papa’s, looking from the ice cream to his parents. “It looks awesome, Papa. I uh... I love you guys.”