August - Part 1

The weekend before Finn left for football camp in Texas, the Hummel-Hudsons plus Tala, Blaine and Sarah got together for dinner in the Hudmel's backyard, where they had yet another BBQ.

Burt had decided to invite Finn's girlfriend over as well, because he wanted to avoid another argument with Finn, and Tala and Blaine were invited because Tala wanted to share some news with them.

The group of seven was sitting at a large table in the backyard enjoying Burt's burgers and steaks, but Carole noticed that the boys were still acting strange. Kurt had replaced the steak she wanted to have with one that wasn't rosy anymore and when she tried to get a glass of wine in the kitchen, Finn followed her and stopped her from pouring it.

"Okay, Finn, what's wrong?" she asked exasperatedly. "Can you not drink that mom?" Finn asked, because alcohol wasn't good for pregnant women. Carole raised an eyebrow at her son. Since when was her having a drink a problem.

"Ahm," Finn stuttered, trying to come up with a reason that wouldn't give away that he knew his mother's secret. "Sarah's mom drinks too much, so Sarah doesn't like to see other people drink," he told her, proud of his lying skills.

"You do realize that Tala and Burt are drinking as well," Carole reminded him, but Finn shrugged. "It's not like I can tell Blaine's mom what to do." Carole put down her glass and sighed.

"I'll go and talk to them," she promised Finn who looked relieved. "Thanks, mom. And can you please not tell Sarah I told you," Finn asked his mother who nodded. Now he just had to keep Sarah's parents from his own lest Carole would talk to Sarah's mom about her drinking problem.

When Finn came back outside after a trip to the bathroom, everyone at the table was raising in glass of sparkling cider in a toast to Blaine's mom.

"What did I miss?" he asked his girlfriend when he sat down next to her. "Blaine's mom got her divorce finalized and got a nice settlement out of it," Sarah whispered into Finn's ear before she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Finn smiled because he was happy that Blaine and his mom didn't have to deal with Blaine's asshole father anymore. He had learnt in the past year that Burt wasn't perfect either, but after what he had heard about Blaine's dad, Burt was the best dad ever.

All in all it was a successful evening and if anyone noticed the tension between Kurt and Burt that still existed no one mentioned it. The Hudson-Hummels told their guests about the trip to lake Michigan, leaving out details that were private of course, while Sarah told them about the med camp she attended with Mike and Tala also announced that she would be joining Carole at community college in a few weeks to get a college degree herself.

Everyone could see how proud Blaine was that his mom was finally doing things for herself and had gotten away from his father.

When it was time for everyone to leave, Kurt tried to leave with Blaine, but Burt put his foot down and told him to stay because his brother would be leaving for 3 weeks the following morning.

Kurt would have started another argument with his father, if Blaine hadn't intervened and promised him they could spend the next day together as he didn't have to work.

The Hudson-Hummels weren't a perfect family, at least not yet, but things had improved a lot over the past year and Burt vowed, not for the first time, to do his best to bring them all together for the last year the boys were living at home.

His first day at football camp, Finn breathed out a sigh of relief when he realized that no one from his former school was there. He had been afraid to be faced with people who knew what had happened at McCullum the previous fall because he wanted to just focus on football this time instead of having to deal with all the crap that surrounded it before.

He wanted to get back on the football team, because he enjoyed playing and was hoping to get a football scholarship for college because his grades still weren't the best, not because he thought it would make him super popular again.

The past year had taught him that having friends he could count on was so much more important than being on top because people feared you, not because they respected you.

The first few days at camp were actually great and Finn relished the feeling of wearing his pads again and being out on the field, but as always the peace didn't last long, unfortunately.

The Friday after their first week Finn and the rest of the guys got together for a small party to get to know one another a bit better. He was on his second beer when Toby, a tall sophomore, spoke up next to him.

"So Finn, how come you came to camp in Texas when you live in Ohio?" he asked the question Finn had avoided answering so far.

"Um, I lived here until about a year ago, " Finn told him, keeping his answer vague, but unfortunately the other guys were suddenly interested as well.

"Which school, man?" Mark, a senior like himself, wanted to know. "I thought you looked familiar somehow.

Finn didn't really want to tell them because he didn't know if they had heard about "the incident" but he couldn't lie about his school in case someone looked it up.

"McCullum in Austin," he finally said and to his surprise another guy, Luke, Finn thought, immediately fist-bumped him. Finn knew their team had sucked so he didn't understand why the other boy would do that. Unfortunately, the answer was exactly what he had feared.

"Awesome, dude. That's the school where they beat up that fag right? Man, I wish I had been there." Finn felt the sudden urge to punch the guy but before he could do or say anything, Toby spoke again.

"Not cool dude. Guys like you are the reason people think we're nothing but dumb jocks. Keep your opinions to yourself, I don't want to hear them." A couple of other guys nodded as well, and Finn was relieved he was surrounded by a whole group of homophobes, because he wasn't sure if he had the courage to stand up to all of them.

"You weren't part of that, right?" Mark asked, his tone actually a bit threatening. "My cousin is gay, so I'd have to beat your ass if you did."

Finn shook his head. He wanted to be brave and tell them that it was his brother who had gotten beat up but when he saw the look Luke gave Mark he decided it was better to stay out of it.

"Must have happened after I moved to Ohio. Can't believe the guys I was on the team with, would do something like this though," he said instead.

"Rumors are the guy hit on the linebacker and wouldn't accept a no so it was really just self-defense," Alec, the guy sitting next to Luke said and Finn balled his hands into fists. His former friends had gotten away with just getting suspended for a few days and now they were spreading rumors like this.

He was tempted to drive all the way down to Austin and confront them, but he knew his parents wouldn't approve of it. So he did what he always did and stayed quiet while he let others fight his battles around him.

Finn was sick and tired of never fighting for what he believed but he still didn't intervene because in the end he was a coward. He knew it would have been different if Kurt had been here, but as his brother was hundreds of miles away, he couldn't do it and he felt like he was letting Kurt down all over again.

Instead of joining the argument he grabbed his beer and walked away. Hopefully he would have the courage to talk to Luke and his friends when they were all sober again or when camp was over.

A week before the deadline for announcing a candidacy, Carole and Burt drove to Columbus so Carole could announce her intention to run for office. She kept checking and rechecking that she had all the necessary documents during the drive until Burt put his hand on hers and gave her an encouraging smile.

"I'm really proud of you for doing this," he told her and Carole finally relaxed a bit.

There weren't many people around when they reached the capitol as everyone was on summer break and after asking around for a bit they found the right room and went inside.

"My name is Carole Hummel-Hudson, and I want to run for the Ohio State Senate on an independent ticket," she told the bored looking man sitting at the table across from her.

"ID and fill out these forms please while I do a background check," the man told her and shoved a bunch of papers in her direction.

Carole started filling out the forms with Burt's help when the man interrupted her.

"Mrs. Hummel-Huson, I don't seem to find you in our voter registry. Could it be under a different name?" he asked her and Carole shook her head.

"I'm not registered to vote here yet because I only moved here last October," she told the man.

"Oh I'm sorry. You do know that you have to be a resident for at least a year before you can run for an office in this state," he informed her and Carole could see that he wasn't sorry at all.

She stood up abruptly and told Burt she had to go the restroom for a second. Her husband told her to go ahead while he talked to the man some more and Carole quickly fled the room.

She felt so stupid because she apparently hadn't be thorough enough when she researched Ohio politics and now the other candidate would run unopposed and would write all those bills that would maker her step-son's life even harder. If she had only known she would have tried harder to find another candidate instead of deluding herself that she could become a state senator herself.

Once she had composed herself again she walked back into the hallway where Burt was already waiting for her and as soon as he saw her redrimmed eyes he pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry honey. I know how much that meant for you," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head and Carole felt herself relaxing into his arms. They would be okay because they were a family now and she would move again if it meant helping out Kurt.

"The people of Ohio don't know what they are missing out on because you would have been amazing. You are an inspiration to me and you would have been a great inspiration to so many other people as well," Burt assured her and Carole started crying again, but they were happy tears this time after hearing how much her husband believed in her.

"Thank you Burt. But don't underestimate yourself either. You are a good man Burt. You are an inspiration as well because you acknowledged that you made mistakes in the past and you're trying to do the right thing now. Not many people would set aside their pride to confess they aren't perfect and have faults," Carole told her husband once her tears had stopped.

"Come on, why don't we stay for a couple of days. Finn's at camp and Kurt doesn't mind spending his time at Blaine's. I think we deserve a couple of days to ourselves, don't you think?" Burt asked her and Carole quickly agreed.

They never had much time just for the two of them and after that blow she wanted to spend some time alone with her husband.

"And you know, now that I'm not running for office, we really should start trying to have that baby," she winked and nearly lost her balance when Burt grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her back to their car.

Burt had called Kurt from Columbus to tell him about his and Carole's plans and to inform his son that he wanted to spend some time with him once they got back to get past their argument in Grand Haven.

He knew Kurt didn't want to talk about it and he wanted to avoid it as well, but they had to if they wanted to get their relationship back on track.

Carole had gone out with Tala and so it was only Burt in the living room when Kurt came home. When Kurt spotted him, his son immediately made a beeline for his bedroom but Burt stopped him.

"Kurt, sit down please. We really need to talk." His son stopped in his tracks but didn't come closer.

"What's there to talk about? You think I'm disgusting," Kurt argued and Burt flinched. Was that what Kurt thought he thought?

"You know that's not true, right? You just caught me off guard." Kurt finally came into the living room and sat down in the armchair facing Burt.

"But that's what you thought, wasn't it?" Kurt sounded very young when he asked that and all Burt wanted to do was pull him into his arms and hold him tight, but he knew Kurt wouldn't allow that.

"I'm doing my best here Kurt, but yes, there are still things I don't understand. But these things are my problem not yours, okay? Your job is to be who you are and my job is to love you regardless of who you love."

Burt loved Kurt and if some aspects of his son's sexuality still made him uncomfortable he had to deal with them without it affecting Kurt. He had never meant for Kurt to find out about this, but now that it was out there, he had to find a way to show Kurt he loved him nevertheless.

"I promised that I would fight for your right to love whoever you love, and I intend to keep that promise," Burt told his son with as much conviction in his voice as possible and it seemed to have worked because suddenly he found himself with an arm full of Kurt who had tears streaming down his face.

"Does that mean Blaine can stay in my bedroom when he stays over?" Kurt asked once they separated, but Burt shook his head. If he wanted to keep the peace in their home Finn and Kurt had to have the same rules at home.

"Sorry kid, my house my rules. You know I can't really stop you from sleeping over at Blaine's or going somewhere with him, but when you're home the rules stay the same. Blaine sleeps in his room and Sarah in the guest room."

Burt was preparing himself for another argument, but to his surprise Kurt nodded.

"I know Finn gets jealous when I'm allowed to do things he isn't allowed to do, so fine, I'll abide by your rules when I'm home."

"Thank you, Kurt. Now how about you come to the shop with me. I think Carole mentioned some back to school shopping you wanted to do. I'm sure you could use the money."

Kurt quickly ran upstairs to get changed and together the two Hummel went over to the garage to work on cars next to each other in comfortable silence. Burt was proud that he had managed to avert another crisis as he ran through what he had told Kurt again. When he remembered a particular sentence the proverbial light bulb went off in his head and he rushed into his office to make a phone call.

Maybe he had found a way to prove to Kurt how important he was for him once and for all.

A few days after his talk with his father, Kurt was anxiously awaiting Blaine's return from the lawyer's office where they would discuss Blaine's trust fund. He hadn't been worried initially but Blaine's paranoia had become stronger the past couple of days and had made Kurt antsy as well.

Finally the key turned in the lock and Blaine walk inside, straight over to Kurt who was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

After a quick kiss hello, Kurt asked the question he'd been itching to ask the past three hours.

"How did it go?" "What do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?" Blaine asked and dropped his head on Kurt's shoulders. "The good news," Kurt told him hoping the news wouldn't be as bad as Blaine made it sound.

"I still have my trust fund. In fact, I have two." Kurt looked at Blaine curiously. "And there is a bad news?" he wondered. Blaine nodded.

"I get one trust fund when I'm twenty-five. The other one is a college trust fund, but my grandfather added a clause that it would only pay for Ivy League colleges. So if I want to go to New York, I have to get into Columbia," Blaine explained and Kurt exhaled in relief.

That wasn't so bad after all. He didn't have a real college fund himself, but he would be able to pay at least part of the tuition from his mom's insurance money, money he hadn't touched yet, but would have to if he didn't get a scholarship, because the schools he wanted to get into were expensive.

"Well, you're smart and have amazing grades. Getting into Columbia shouldn't be difficult for you," Kurt reminded his boyfriend.

"Oh, come on. Everyone who studies for test can get amazing grades at McKinley," Blaine scoffed and Kurt didn't like the direction the conversation was heading to.

"What does that mean?" he asked, dreading the answer. Blaine sighed before he took both of Kurt's hands into his own.

"I've talked it over with my mom on the way here and now that we have the money from the divorce settlement she agrees that I should go back to Dalton for my senior year."

Kurt's face fell. He wanted his senior year to be magical and that wouldn't happen if his boyfriend was boarding at a school one and a half hours away. Then suddenly he remembered something else and he frowned.

"But isn't Sebastian attending Dalton as well? You can't go to school with him," Kurt argued, but Blaine just shrugged.

"I don't think he would dare to do something at school," Blaine said, but Kurt would have any of it.

"No, I'm not letting you board at a school with a guy who got you drunk and molested you," he told Blaine who suddenly looked angry.

"It's not really your decision Kurt and I would be doing it for us, so we can be together in New York next year. I thought that's what you wanted."

Kurt withdrew his hands and looked away. His boyfriend would go back to his old school were he was a star and would probably replace Kurt soon enough. Kurt had wanted to return to McKinley after Karofsky graduated because he missed Mercedes and Rachel and didn't like the uniforms that much, but the only reason Blaine had left Dalton was because he couldn't afford it any longer. He should have known that Blaine was just waiting for an opportunity to return.

"I think you should go," he told Blaine, still looking the other way. If his boyfriend wanted to leave him he wouldn't stop him.

"Kurt, come on, let's talk about this. Weren't you the one who told me to stop running away from our problems?" Blaine begged, but Kurt couldn't deal with this right now. He wanted to go upstairs with a pint of ice cream and cry his eyes out.

"I need some space," he cried out and ran upstairs to his bedroom. Kurt half expected Blaine to follow him but a few minutes later he heard to front door open and close.

People always left him, so why would Blaine be any different?

AN: The second part should be up tomorrow night.