CHAPTER 11: Homecoming

Burt had gotten up early and was still on the phone with Carole when Blaine came upstairs. He didn't really understand why the boy had stayed in Kurt's bedroom when he had his own room in the house. Surely, Elisabeth hadn't gone as far as to allow the two boys to share a room. Luckily, Carole interrupted his train of thoughts and after a quick goodbye he hung up the phone and pointed to the coffee on the table. The kid was still hovering in the doorway when Burt told him to grab a cup of coffee.

"Any news?" Blaine asked while pouring some coffee. "Carole went down to the bus terminal, but the lady at the ticket counter said she wasn't working yesterday. She did tell her though that if Kurt took a bus he wouldn't be here before some time this afternoon, unless he hitchhiked or took a train or rented a car. I just don't know. Maybe he's still in Texas after all."

Burt wasn't used to feeling helpless. He usually was a hands-on kinda guy. "It worries me that Carole hasn't heard from him either or that he didn't try to contact me."Blaine told him. It worried Burt too, but he didn't want to tell the kid that. "He probably hasn't been able to get to a phone or something like that. He's gonna show up somewhere. Probably when we least expect it."

He didn't want to talk about it anymore, especially after spending two hours on the phone with his wife, who kept reminding him that the mess they were in was all his fault.

Burt told Blaine to go to school but the boy just shook his had and told him he wasn't his father, so he took care of some things in the house that needed fixing up while Blaine was cleaning the house to keep himself busy. They ate lunch in silence, while Burt tried to figure Blaine out. He didn't look any different than Finn's friends, he liked sports and wasn't much of a cook either.

Burt wondered whether it would be easier for him to get along with Kurt, if Kurt were more like Blaine; less flamboyant and more masculine.

In the afternoon Blaine's phone rang multiple times but the kid never picked up. "Aren't you going to get that? Sounds important," he couldn't help but ask as the phone rang yet again. "It's just my friend Rachel. She'll probably just want to know why I didn't come to Glee club and I'm not in the mood to deal with her right now."

Burt had never met Rachel, but he had heard a lot about her. After all, officially that girl had been his son's girlfriend for nearly two years. "Maybe you should let her know what's going on. Aren't they close?" "I'll call her tomorrow when we know more. There's another bus coming in tomorrow at eight and I thought I'd drive to the station and check if Kurt's on it. Just in case you wanted to come with." The kid trailed off. Apparently Burt wasn't the only one who thought there situation was incredibly strange.

Burt decided to call it a night early and for the second time had to walk up to his former bedroom. It had been a shock to walk into the room at first, because nothing had been changed. The furniture was still in place and a faint smell of Elisabeth's favorite perfume lingered in the air.

He had had trouble sleeping the night before and again fell into a fitful sleep. He was woken up by a loud scream coming from the basement where he knew Blaine camped out. What if someone had broken into the house? Burt quickly made his way downstairs and prayed that his baseball bat was still where he had left it all those years ago.

He grabbed the bat from the supply closet, opened the door to the basement and turned on the lights before quickly making his ways downstairs while brandishing the baseball bat. Well, he couldn't have been more surprised by the site that greeted him.

Blaine was sitting up in bed, his hair curly and unkempt, looking around in confusion. Half on the bed and half of the bed was his son. One of his arms was in a sling and because he was shirtless, Burt could also see the bandages around his ribs and the bruises on his back.

Burt dropped the bat and tried to rush over to his son, but Kurt flinched when he approached, and Burt immediately stopped in his track. He couldn't deal with this in the middle of the night. All three of them needed sleep, and Kurt needed a doctor first thing in the morning.

"Kurt I'm glad we found you. Blaine, please go upstairs to your room. We all had a hard couple of days and could do with some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

Blaine looked conflicted like he didn't want to anger either Kurt or Burt.

"Five minutes Blaine," he called over his shoulder as he made his way back upstairs to his former bedroom. He didn't have the energy to stay up and check that Blaine slept in his own room, so he just sent a quick text to Carole telling her Kurt was safe and then promptly fell asleep.

As soon as Mr. Hummel had left the room, Blaine had pulled Kurt fully onto the bed careful of his many injuries and had pulled him into a hug. The last two days had been hell, not knowing where Kurt was. As soon as he had been released from the hug, Kurt had pressed his lips to Blaine's and they had ended up kissing passionately until Blaine had pulled away because he was sure his five minutes were up.

Kurt had tried to convince him to stay with him, but Blaine didn't want to upset the truce he and Kurt's father silently seemed to have agreed on and so, for the first time in months, he had slept in his own bedroom.

When Blaine got up the next morning only Mr. Hummel was in the kitchen. "I'm taking Kurt to the ER this morning. You should go to school." Kurt's father said while Blaine filled his cup with coffee.

He hadn't planned on going to school now that he had Kurt back, but he also understood that Kurt's father wanted to have some time to talk to his son alone. He nodded and quickly prepared some sandwiches to take to school with. "I'll just go downstairs and tell him," Blaine told Mr. Hummel as he left the kitchen.

Kurt woke up to a hand stroking his cheek. At first he thought he was still dreaming until he remembered the previous night's events. "I'm sorry to wake you, but I have to go back to school today. Your dad wants to take you to the ER after breakfast and I'll come home as soon as my last class is over," Blaine said before he dropped a quick kiss on Kurt's lips.

Kurt turned his head. "Morning breath," he said blushingly. His boyfriend leaned in and kissed him again, this time deepening the kiss.

"Don't care. I just got you back and I'm not losing you again. I'll get an apartment down there if I have to. Your dad isn't going to keep us apart any longer." One look into Blaine's eyes convinced Kurt that his boyfriend had really meant everything he had just said.

He gladly accepted Blaine's help when he got dressed and barely protested when Blaine carried him up the stairs. Kurt could see his father outside bent over his Navigator and quickly ate some breakfast while they were still alone.

Because they only had one car - his mom's car had been totaled in the accident, and his father had arrived with Blaine - they had to drop off Blaine at school first before they could drive to the hospital. Kurt wanted to protest at first and tell his father that he didn't need to see a doctor, but in the end the desire for proper pain medication won. Burt still hadn't really said anything and after a while Kurt couldn't take it any longer.

"I'm not going back. I can't go back. I know how these things work. They might get questioned by the police and then they return to school where they are going to make the person pay that told on them. And next time I won't get so lucky. Is that what you want?"

He hadn't meant to say all that but he couldn't keep it in any longer. If his dad made him go back, Patrick, James and the two nameless meatheads would find him and make him pay for talking to the police. There wouldn't be a fancy private school nearby that would protect him from the Neanderthals that had threatened him.

He hadn't even realized that he was crying until his father handed him a tissue. "I'll talk to Finn. Get him to tell the truth." "Don't bother. People like us don't get justice in cases like that." Out of the corner of his eye he saw his father flinch and wondered what that was about.

"We haven't decided anything yet. About what's gonna happen. Carole and I are going to talk while you're with the doctor. I…" Kurt didn't know what else his father had been trying to say, because they arrived at the hospital before he could ask.

"He just went in. The doctor said it's probably going to be a while. They want to take another x-ray of his ribs to check he didn't make it worse when he ran away." Burt sat down on an uncomfortable looking orange plastic chair in the waiting room while he brought Carole up to speed.

"So what now? Finn's still refusing to talk and the school called because he hasn't come to school since the attack," his wife told him. "I don't know what's best in this situation. I never expected to have to deal with stuff like that," Burt admitted.

"Well neither have I, but we have to do what's best for the kids; for both of them. If we stay in Austin we could try and send them to a school in another district, but I'm afraid it wouldn't change much." He could hear how tired his wife was, even on the phone.

Burt took off his baseball cap and rubbed his balding head. They had passed the shop he used to work at on their way to the hospital and the for sale sign had still been there. Maybe they did need a fresh start.

"How would we even do that? Moving to Lima, I mean? School has already started. You've got your job. I guess Lou could manage the shop for me, but what about everything else. We would need a bigger house." Could he really ask Carole to uproot her life for him?

"I can quit my job any time Burt. You know I don't really care about it. I could fly up and start looking for houses while you take care of everything in Austen. That would also give us time to sort out the mess Finn has made."

How could his wife sound so sure all the time? "Promise we'll get through this?" "I'll pack some bags and try to get a flight for Saturday or Sunday. Finn's helping at the shop on the weekend so he should be fine on his own for a bit. You do what you need to do in Lima and then we'll talk some more when you are back in Austin."

Burt nodded before remembering that his wife couldn't see him. "Sounds good. At least Kurt will be happy now." He was about to say goodbye and end the phone call when Carole stopped him.

"One more thing, Burt. I know you don't like it but I can't do it any other way. I want Blaine to move in with us. Kurt's mother took him in when he had nowhere else to go and as a mother I can't just let a sixteen year old continue to live on his own, legal adult or not."

Burt did not want his son and that boy under one roof, but he knew that Carole would put her foot down this time. "Fine. I'll talk to the boys tonight. But you make sure when you go house hunting that their rooms are as far from each other as possible." Burt heard Carole laugh before she hung up. What was he getting himself into?

It was easy to spend time with Blaine yesterday because the kid at least made an effort when he talked to him and kept out of people's ways when they needed space. Living with Blaine was easy. But having Blaine, Kurt and Finn under one room practically screamed disaster.

Two hours later Kurt was finally done. Fortunately, his trip across the country hadn't aggravated his injuries and as soon as they filled his prescription he would have proper pain medication. The doctor told him he was allowed to go back to school as long as he didn't do any heavy lifting or participate in any sports. At first he had felt relieved, before he remembered he had no idea what would happen now.

His father was still sitting where Kurt had left him and together they left the hospital to fill his prescription. It was still to early to pick up Blaine from school, so they drove to a little diner, Kurt remembered from his childhood. He wanted to talk to his father about what would happen to him now, but Burt seemed to be in his own little world.

After they had eaten, his father excused himself to make a phone call but Kurt couldn't hear what he was saying, because of the baby crying at the next table.

They were back in the car when Burt finally spoke up. "I have to take care of something before we drive to the school. We'll you be okay to wait in the car for a bit?" Kurt nodded. He was curious to find out what his father had to take care of.

They stopped in front of a familiar looking building and Burt got out of the car and went around back. Kurt gasped when he remembered why the place looked familiar. When he'd been little his father had taken him to work once or twice but Kurt had never been a fan of dirt. What was Burt doing here?

He finally got his answer when they went back to McKinley to pick up Blaine. They had arrived a little early and his father had insisted on coming inside with him. Burt went straight up to the principle's office and told the secretary that he wanted to register his two sons. The secretary gave him the necessary forms, and before Kurt knew it he was helping his father fill them out because Burt only knew the basics about him.

Blaine came up to them a few minutes later and Kurt couldn't help himself but hug Blaine tightly in the middle of a hallway at McKinley. Blaine invited him to stay for Glee, but Kurt just smiled at his boyfriend and told him it could wait till Monday.

Dinner was a tense affair, but Blaine couldn't care less. Kurt was staying in Lima and he would move in with him once Carole had found a house for them.

Mr. Hummel was still explaining some of the details, but Blaine was barely paying attention now. All he could do was stare at Kurt who squeezed the hand his was holding under the table when he caught Blaine staring.

Blaine was so caught up in staring lovingly at Kurt that he only caught the tail end of one of Kurt's questions. "…Finn?" Blaine had totally forgotten about the giant. How would that work if all three of them had to stay under one roof?

Kurt had tried all summer to talk to Finn but without any success so far and from what he had overheard Finn had somehow been involved in Kurt's attack. Of course he didn't know any details because he and Kurt hadn't had time to talk about it yet, but even if Finn hadn't caused Kurt's attack there were still a lot of things Finn had allowed his friends to do to Kurt and seemed to have enjoyed watching.

Blaine did believe that prejudice was just ignorance, but he wasn't sure if he even wanted to try with Finn again, after everything the teen had done to Kurt.

Mr. Hummel was talking again, and if he wanted answers he really had to pay attention now. "… take him to the station first thing Monday morning to give a statement if he wants to or not. Carole and I thought it best if he stayed in Austin with me until everything is sorted out with school, the shop and our house."

"What are you going to do with it?" Blaine couldn't help but be curious. Burt also seemed surprised that Blaine was interested in what would happen to their Austin home.

"Lou's wife, that's the guy who's managing the shop for me in Austin, is pregnant again, so I offered to rent out the house to them. I put down an offer for the shop I used to work at here in Lima today. I've been wanting to expand for a while, because Austin was going really well, so yeah, that's that."

They didn't talk much more at the dinner table after that, and while Blaine took care of the dishes and Kurt called Mercedes and Rachel, Kurt's dad was on the phone with Carole discussing her arrival.

Carole hung up the phone and continued packing the things she would most likely need until Burt moved the rest of their stuff. She had managed to get a flight first thing Saturday morning and Burt would fly back in the morning as well. With all the flying they were doing at the moment, she thought, they should have gotten one of those airline cards.

She had just carried her second suitcase downstairs, when the front door opened and Finn came in. "What's with the suitcases, mom?" Finn asked her as soon as he saw her. "Sit down, Finn. We have a lot to talk about." She motioned for him to join her on the living room couch.

Carole spent the next half hour explaining everything that had happened and what Burt and her had decided would happen now. Finn tried to interrupt her a couple of times but she told him to just listen until she was done.

"That's bullshit, mom. I don't want to move. And how long until you decide it's not working out and were moving back here?" Carole had expected this wouldn't go over too well. "You haven't been to school for the past days, you're avoiding your friends – friends who put your brother in the hospital – and you're most definitely not the boy I raised anymore."

It was time she played the guilt card. "I want you to think good and hard if this is the sort of person you really want to be. Someone who has to be afraid of his own friends because of his actions. This is your chance for a fresh start as well. To become a better person. A son I can be proud of again." Carole left him at that. Burt had promised to talk to Finn once he got back from Lima, and she just hoped that Finn would listen to at least one of them.