“Kurt? Can I, um, can I come in?”

“Technically, you have to cross my room to get to yours,” Kurt says in amusement, looking up over the book in his lap at his stepbrother. “So yeah, I’d say you can come in.”

Finn takes the last few steps down the basement stairs, finally standing in Kurt’s room properly. Kurt continues to peer at him from his bed, expecting Finn to continue his journey to the door that leads to his own section of the bedroom. When Finn does no such thing, standing instead at the end of Kurt’s bed and wringing his hands together nervously, Kurt finally marks his place in his book and sets it aside on his nightstand.

“Was there something you needed?” Kurt wonders aloud.

“Can I talk to you? A-about some stuff?”

Kurt sighs, already knowing where this conversation is heading. “If you’re here to rag on Blaine and tell me how much of an idiot I’m being for dating the biggest nerd in school, then no. We can’t talk.”

“No, it’s – it’s not about that,” Finn hurries to say.

“Then have a seat,” Kurt says, drawing his legs up to cross them so Finn has room to sit down on the end of his bed.

“Well, okay,” Finn says, cheeks going red. “Quinn did kind of say I needed to talk to you about that.”

“Of course she did,” Kurt mutters darkly.

“But that’s not – dude, I don’t care about that.”

“…You don’t?”

“N’aw, man. Blaine actually seems like a cool, little guy. I mean, he was really nice at dinner after the game the other night. And he held your hand and like, made you smile and stuff. You seem really happy.”

“I am,” Kurt replies quietly, touched by Finn’s observations. “Blaine makes me happy.”

“Good,” Finn says, nodding all the while. “That’s good.”

After that, though, Finn doesn’t elaborate, causing Kurt to wonder exactly what he wanted to talk about, if not his relationship with Blaine.

“So…is that all?” Kurt asks.

“I wanna break up with Quinn,” Finn blurts, catching Kurt off guard.

“Okay,” Kurt says slowly. “Why?”

“She’s not – I’m not – ugh,” Finn groans, flopping down on Kurt’s bed so that his torso and his head are stretched horizontally along the end of Kurt’s bed. “This sucks.”

“What sucks, exactly?”

“Because Quinn’s like, the most popular girl in school,” Finn supplies. “And she’s super hot.”

“Which certainly doesn’t hurt your image.”

“Right,” Finn agrees. “But I’m just…”

“Finn,” Kurt prompts. “Just tell me.”

“I’m not in love with her,” Finn finally admits, voice soft and it almost sounds like he’s a little bit ashamed of the fact. “We’ve been together for a year and a half and I’m not in love with her.”

Okay. This is definitely not how Kurt expected to spend his Sunday night. It’s actually nice, though, that Finn trusts him enough to open up about this when he clearly seems so upset about the entire issue. It reminds Kurt that they really are brothers now, after their parents’ quick wedding over the summer that shocked them all.

“We need snacks,” Kurt decides.

Ten minutes later, Kurt and Finn are seated, cross-legged, at opposite ends of Kurt’s bed with a bag of pita chips, a bowl of pretzels, a jar of nutella with two spoons, and a tub of spinach dip in between them. Kurt does his best to ignore the probability of crumbs all over his bedspread later and focuses on his stepbrother’s problems.

“Were you ever in love with her?” Kurt asks, dipping a pita chip into the spinach dip.

“I thought I was,” Finn says truthfully. “But now it’s just like, I don’t know, like maybe I just got used to her being around.”

“So you stayed with her out of…habit?”

“Yeah! Well, mostly.”

“And because she’s popular and pretty,” Kurt concludes. “What made you realize you weren’t in love with her?”

“Well, we went out to dinner last night,” Finn explains, “and she started saying all this stuff about, uh, about you.”

“About me and Blaine, you mean.”

“Right.” Finn nods, stuffing a handful of pretzels in his mouth. “And she just – I mean, she was going on and on about how bad it was for you to be with him because he isn’t popular and he doesn’t have the same reputation as you guys do since you’re Cheerios. And she was like, saying how it was gonna make the whole squad look bad and all this stuff. She just kept talking, you know? I tried to tell her that Blaine was actually really nice but, well, I couldn’t really say anything because she talked the whole time.”

“The whole time?”

“We were there for an hour and a half and the only time I got to say anything was to tell the waitress that I wanted extra meatballs in my spaghetti.”

“Wow.”

“It’s just like, she doesn’t care, y’know? She doesn’t care what I think and it’s just…always the same stuff. She’s always talking about the Cheerios or about her nail appointments or she’s laughing about that one time Puck and Azimio stuffed that kid in the wheelchair into a port-a-potty.”

“Finn,” Kurt says gently, “you know you’re no saint, right? I mean, neither am I. I’ve done some pretty shitty things, but you weren’t always so nice.”

“I know,” Finn sighs. “But I’m – I’m trying to be better. I try not to pick on people anymore and after doing all that stuff to you freshman year, I just – I’m trying to grow up.”

Oh, Finn, Kurt thinks. Tall, goofy, usually-oblivious, big-hearted Finn.

“So am I,” Kurt admits.

“Yeah,” Finn says. “I know.”

Kurt clears his throat. “So about Quinn. You basically want to break up with her because, one, you don’t love her, two, she’s superficial, and three, she’s kind of a bitch.”

“Um, basically. Yeah.”

“So break up with her.”

“But, I mean…aren’t we supposed to be together?”

“What do you mean?” Kurt asks.

“Well, you know, she’s the head cheerleader, I’m the quarterback. Isn’t that kind of how it goes?”

“It’s just a stereotype, Finn,” Kurt tells him. “You don’t have to do anything.”

“I don’t?”

“No.” Kurt shakes his head. “Listen. It took me a while to realize this too. But you’re not obligated to date any specific type of person. Look at me and Blaine. Look at the fuss this is causing. It’s stupid, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Finn agrees.

“But no one even cared when I was, um, briefly involved with that guy Sebastian.”

“Yeah, what happened to him, anyway?”

“He…wasn’t my type,” Kurt says shortly. “Anyway, they didn’t care because he was good looking. Everyone thought he was good looking and he was very smooth and somewhat charming and if he wasn’t gay, every girl would be tripping over herself to get to him. But he wasn’t the guy for me. He just wasn’t. And Blaine is.”

“So…what’re you saying?”

“I’m saying that you shouldn’t be with someone just because everyone else thinks that’s who you should be with,” Kurt explains. “You should be with someone who makes you happy.”

“Like how Blaine makes you happy.”

“Yeah,” Kurt says fondly, thinking about his boyfriend who he should probably call soon. “Like how Blaine makes me happy.”

“So I should break up with Quinn?”

“If she doesn’t make you happy, I think that’s the best course of action,” Kurt says. “Because, if you stay with her now and break up with her later when you just can’t stand her anymore, it’s all a lie. You’re lying to yourself and to her.”

“She’s just boring,” Finn says dully.

“And it seems like she doesn’t take an interest in you at all.”

“Yeah, that too.”

Finn nods, eyes averted as if he’s deep in thought.

“Finn?”

“What d’you think about Rachel?”

Kurt racks his brain, trying to figure out exactly why the name sounds so familiar. “Rachel who?”

“Rachel Berry.”

Okay, talk about two totally different ends of the spectrum here.

“The girl in Glee club?” Kurt asks, just to be sure.

“And she’s in drama club,” Finn supplies. “She sits next to me in home-ec. We’re partners. She makes really good cupcakes.”

“Well…I only remember her from my very brief stint in Glee during sophomore year. To be honest, from what I recall, she’s loud, abrasive, and bossy. Talented, though.”

“Yeah,” Finn concurs, though the description actually leaves him with a fond smile on his face. “Is it weird that I kind of – um, like that about her?”

“You like that she’s loud and bossy?”

“I don’t know,” Finn says with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. “She just – it’s just like she knows what she wants and she always talks about going to New York and being on Broadway. And I kind of like that she’s got so many big dreams. She’s…different.”

“I just don’t want you to go from one type of controlling girlfriend to another,” Kurt says in warning.

“Yeah, I know. But she…”

“She what?”

“She asks me stuff,” Finn says.

“Stuff about what?”

“She asks about me,” Finn attempts to elaborate. “Like, she always asks me how football practice went and she asks about the games and my friends, even though I don’t think she really likes the guys I hang out with.”

“Considering those friends of yours probably torture her on a daily basis, I don’t think you can fault her for that.”

“True,” Finn says. “But she’s, I don’t know, she’s different. In a really weird way that I kind of like. And it’s like, she’ll ask about me and before I even think about asking about her, she’s already telling me about her. And you know how bad I am about that stuff, I never know what to say or if I’m asking the right things. So with her, I don’t really have to worry about it.”

“So…you have a crush on her.”

“Um, maybe. Yeah.”

“How long have you had a crush on her?”

“…All year. Since I – since I met her. Or, since we’ve been in this class together.”

“Yeah, you definitely need to break up with Quinn,” Kurt decides.

Finn sighs heavily. “Yeah. I guess I should.”

“Soon. Like, tomorrow at school soon.”

“She’s gonna go ballistic.”

“So she goes ballistic,” Kurt shrugs. “There’s not much you can do about that. Some days, being selfish is okay. It’s called healthy selfishness. And if you’re not happy, it’s definitely time to make a change. The most you can do is let her down as gently as possible.”

“I guess so,” Finn says. Suddenly, he perks up at whatever thought he has. “Dude, I totally have an idea.”

“Oh, god.”

“No, it’s awesome. What if, next weekend or something, you, me, Blaine, and Rachel all go out.”

“You…want to go on a double date. With me and my boyfriend.”

“Totally! Because you kind of already know Rachel so it wouldn’t be that weird. And Blaine needs more friends.”

“Blaine doesn’t-”

“Kurt,” Finn says, looking thoroughly not amused. “The guy needs a friend that’s not you.”

“I suppose,” Kurt says, tightening his jaw. “And where exactly would this date take place?”

“We could go bowling!”

“Oh, no.”

“C’mon, Kurt! It’d be fun!”

“I do not bowl.”

“Dude, you owe me,” Finn states.

“And how exactly do I owe you anything?”

Finn gets this lopsided, adorable smile that makes Kurt even more wary.

“Because I’m totally gonna be your protector.”

An hour later, Kurt’s snuggled up in bed, phone to his ear as he waits for Blaine to answer his call.

“Hey,” Blaine says when he picks up.

“You aren’t going to believe any of this,” Kurt tells him.

“…What?”

“Mckinley is about to get a lot more interesting.”