Kurt was not at all pleased with the situation he currently found himself in. Sure, he was happy for his father, and he definitely deserved happiness after everything he had been through. Since Elizabeth Hummel’s death, Burt Hummel had been in a funk. But now he had Carole, who Kurt adored. And then there was Finn… Kurt had some affection as well for his new stepbrother, but it didn’t extend too far quite yet. They hadn’t known each other long and Kurt and Finn were still trying to get used to the idea of having a sibling. Kurt knew that Finn meant well, even if he was awkward and stuffed his face with food at every opportunity in a less than appealing way.

Burt had been kind enough to find a house that wasn’t too old. Kurt had stressed this over and over to Burt, stating that he had a fear of old buildings. Burt had made a face, not really understanding Kurt and his quirky ways but ultimately agreed to move all four of them into a home where they could have their own rooms and close enough to the high school that Finn was attending.
The one Kurt would now be attending too. God, he just wanted his junior year to be normal. Of course, it couldn’t be. Not with a new school, two new additions to his family, and a small town he knew he wasn’t meant to be in. What was so hard about that? And yet, Kurt knew, it had never been normal for him in any sense of the word.

For one, he was gay. And he was damn proud of it. There was just no getting around the fact, however, that it could be a challenge. In a state like Ohio, and especially the small town of Lima where conservatives and bigots flocked in numbers, Kurt felt like an outcast if there ever was one. He knew that being gay was an enigma here where he was one of a kind, and it was hard adjusting. Adjusting to the torture and name calling and bullying and the looming fact that it’d take a miracle for him to ever be able to walk hand in hand down the street without getting dirty looks or hearing hushed whispers. Well, if he ever found a boyfriend.

And then there was the other issue.

Kurt furrowed his brown on his way to school with Finn. He kept staring out the window for some sign of one of them, but he just couldn’t see one. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be; there were supposed to be dozens of them here in Lima and yet he couldn’t spot a single one. Why weren’t they here?
But then, why was he complaining? He gave a small smile as he continued to gaze out the window. Maybe he had finally escaped them. After all, this was his new start. So maybe he wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore and he could just be a normal and get through his last two years of high school without a bump in the road.

He laughed bitterly then. As if. It wasn’t ever that easy and he knew it. There was an explanation to this, he knew that much. And he was determined to find out what.

“Dude, you alright?” Finn looked at him then, his face twisted with some sort of worry. Kurt had to admit, as much as he found Finn to be his opposite, he did find Finn endearing, especially at times like this when he truly acted like the big brother. This entire arrangement was new to him but he was grateful that Finn was the one he was sharing it with. Considering it could have turned out way worse. He could have gotten a completely idiotic brother, or worse, a homophobe. And Finn didn’t appear to be either so he counted his blessings.

“I suppose I’m just nervous,” Kurt replied, trying to avoid Finn’s eye. He hated any sort of question that may lead to him having to explain why he was jumpy and panicky at times. He knew that discussion was one best left alone. “Starting junior year at a new school in Lima, Ohio wasn’t exactly how I imagined things going.”

Finn gently patted him on the back and gave him a lopsided smile. “You have nothing to worry about, bro. Well, maybe not nothing…” Finn trailed off but at Kurt’s widening eyes, he gulped and continued. “I mean, it is high school, you know. But I got your back, man. No worries.”

Kurt wasn’t sure how that was supposed to help but he appreciated the sentiment anyways. “Thank you, Finn,” Kurt flashed him a strained smile. “It means a lot to me.”

“So look, I have weight lifting for my first class and I don’t wanna be late but I figured that you have your schedule and all that so you can find your way to your first class, right? And someone can show you the way if you get lost. I mean, not that I don’t want to show you around or whatever, but…”

“It’s okay, Finn. I’m sure I can get there on my own,” Kurt assured him as he gestured for Finn to get going. “I’ll see you at lunch, yeah?”

“Yep, see you then.”

And that was when Kurt spotted her. As Finn walked away with a small wave, Kurt’s eyes landed on his mother. She was glowing just slightly as she usually did, as they all did, but she had that beaming smile on her face that was so similar to his own and her blue eyes were as bright as they could be as she looked at her son.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” Kurt mumbled under his breath, not even glancing at her as he headed into the school. The last thing he needed on his first day at a new school was getting caught talking to his mother. His dead mother, who no one but him could see and speak to and even touch. All they would think was that he was talking to himself and he didn’t want his reputation to be stained with the fact that he was the new kid who was a lunatic and had conversations with himself.

“You think I’d miss my baby boy’s first day of school?” Elizabeth replied, ignoring the fact that Kurt had snapped at her.

“I’m starting my junior year, not kindergarten, Mom,” Kurt rolled his eyes but if he was honest with himself, he was glad she was here. She wasn’t always there when he needed her and he hated it but those rare times that she was, he was immensely grateful. When he wanted her there, she usually never showed up in his times of need. But now, she was here and he hadn’t even asked for it. Typical.

“Well, I had to come see you here, you know,” Elizabeth said, walking steadily in step with Kurt as he strolled down the hall, looking around at McKinley. “Haunting the house was just getting boring and I needed something new to do.”

“Because your spying on Dad and his new wife was inconclusive?” Kurt couldn’t help but grin at his remark. He knew what his mother was trying to do. “Mom, I promise you he’s happy. I swear, Carole is great, she really is. And no one will ever replace you.”

Elizabeth huffed out a sigh at Kurt’s response, her eyes riddled with sadness. “I know he’s happy, Kurt. At first I was skeptical of this Carole woman but I can tell she makes your father happy and that’s all I ever wanted, even if it isn’t me,” Kurt’s heart clenched at her words, knowing she wanted so badly to be alive. “And she’s good to you, which you know I’d meddle if she wasn’t.”

Kurt laughed at her, knowing full well what meddling meant to her. Spirits could be vindictive and spiteful, it was true, and there had been a few who had made Kurt’s life a living hell with their rage and need for revenge after suffering from an untimely death. But most of the time they were just playful and loved to play pranks, like poltergeists. He could just imagine what his mother would do if she truly had taken a disliking to Carole.

“So then what’s your deal? If you know Dad is happy, then why are you – “ Kurt began but he stopped himself. His mother had that look on her face she sometimes got and Kurt knew why. He had tried for years to get her to cross over, but she just couldn’t. It was his job as a mediator to get ghosts he encountered to figure out why they were still trapped as spirits in his world when they should move on to their next life. Whatever that may be.

And it hurt to know that the spirit who meant the most to him, the person who meant the most to him, he couldn’t help. She was hanging around in some sort of half life here on earth and he had no idea why. Not that he hadn’t asked. Of course he had. But just like him, Elizabeth had no clue why she was still here.

“Kurt, are you happy?” Elizabeth’s blue eyes bore into him and the intensity of her gaze made him shudder. She may have been dead for almost ten years, but in that moment, he could have sworn she was alive and just as real to him as anyone else. “Are you happy?”

Kurt sighed, racking his brain for a response. He couldn’t lie to her, he really couldn’t. She was his mother still and could detect when he lied. He considered himself lucky because even though he had lost his mother at such a young age, he hadn’t really lost her. Not like his father had, anyways. He could still see her on a regular basis and talk to her. And if he was being honest with himself, he knew the answer to that question as soon as it had left her lips.

“I’m happy, Mom. I really am.”

He could tell his mother didn’t actually believe him and he didn’t even believe it himself. Her face, though, gave way for a luminous smile at his words and he took that as a good sign. But he had to give his mother some sort of positivity, even if it was fake. She deserved some sort of happiness and it was the best he could do right now, even if it was a bold faced lie. He’d try to be happy for her too, if that was any consolation.

“I think it’s high time you tried, Mom. I’m trying for you and you need to try for me, okay?” Kurt asked gently, cupping her cheek in his hand. It was a risky move; anyone could have seen him and wondered why he was clutching at thin air but he didn’t care.

“Oh, Kurt,” Elizabeth’s voice broke as she spoke and so did Kurt’s heart. A single lone tear was falling down her cheek and Kurt reached up to wipe it away. “I have tried. But I just can’t.”

Kurt was standing by what was supposed to be his locker in an empty hallway. He knew was late for his first class but he highly doubted they would say anything; he’d just tell them he was new and couldn’t find his first class.

Life just wasn’t fair. He wanted so badly to pull her into his arms and never let go. Just as he was about to embrace his mother, something he rarely ever could do, something he should be able to do with his alive mother, she looked over her shoulder at someone else behind him.

“Will, please,” Elizabeth choked out and her lips quivered as she tried to hold back. “Please take care of him.”

To say he freaked out was an understatement. Kurt spun around and came face to face with a curly haired man in a vest and by the looks of it, a teacher at his new school. And, not to mention, a fellow mediator. He could only gape at him in disbelief, at a complete loss for words.

Will squinted down at him curiously. “I thought so.”

“Are you freaking kidding me!” Kurt screeched out, his eyes wide and his draw seemingly on the floor somewhere by now. “I cannot believe this is happening! You can see her?”

Will nodded at Kurt, a small smile playing on his lips. “Yes, I can. I suspected you could be like me, you know. After I heard your father talk about you, I thought your problems, so to speak, were just about you being gay, but I knew there was something else going on. I didn’t say anything, of course. Until now, that is…”

Kurt barely heard what he was saying now. He had stopped listening after Will had said yes, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that never in all of his seventeen years had he met another mediator. “So that’s why I couldn’t find any spirits here! You got rid of them all!”

Will looked at Kurt modestly and bowed his head, a low laugh escaping him. “You could say that, yes. There weren’t as many as you think, but there were quite a few. I was just doing my job, though, helping them as best I could.” 

Kurt rolled his eyes once again. “You would think of this as some great gift.”

“And you don’t?”

“Quite frankly, no I don’t. I have enough problems in my life being gay and constantly getting thrown around for it. You think it helps that people think I’m from the loony bin? Not that I’ve told anyone, God forbid, but I’m sure that’s what they’d say. This particular 'gift' you’re so fond of,” Kurt put emphasis with air quotes on the word gift. “Feels more like a curse to me.”

“You really believe that?” Will said, looking very surprised and Kurt felt sort of sorry for him. He really seemed as though he enjoyed being a mediator. “You think our gift is a bad thing?”

“All it does is get me in trouble and cause me problems. I have had to transfer so many times it’s not even funny, and I can never really fit in when people think I’m a lunatic who talks to himself and touches thin air like it’s real. I’ve spent countless hours in therapy, trying to explain myself but there’s no way you can. They either don’t believe me or just think I’m crazy. So I lie,” Kurt shrugged at his last words. “Not to mention my poor father who only ever wanted a normal teenage boy. He one hundred percent supports me being gay, don’t get me wrong, but I think it might be a shot in the dark to ask him to support my paranormal habits.”

Kurt could tell his words were sinking in by the way Will’s face contorted with pondering. “I can see how our miraculous gift would be considered somewhat of a hassle and a little… unusual.”

“Unusual? Are you serious right now?”

“It never really occurred to me that it must be extremely difficult for those of you without any real support - “

“Those of you?” Kurt raised his eyebrows. “You think there’s more than just me and you?”

Will gave him a knowing smile. “I don’t think, I know. I certainly didn’t expect to run into another teenage boy with the same ability, but rest assured, he’s out there. His name is Sebastian Smythe and he goes to our rival school, Dalton. He’s definitely the only other mediator I’ve met but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t others.”

“And does this Sebastian have the same view as you do?” Kurt was intrigued now; this was all so insane to him. That there wasn’t just another mediator out there, but two. And there had to be more, just like Will had said. He had to meet this Sebastian kid, if only to know for sure that there was someone else out there like him. “You know, that whole helping spirits cross over thing is so damn wonderful and heartfelt?”

Will scowled at him for his use of language but it quickly changed into a look of what Kurt though, might be a little caution. “Sebastian… has his own method of dealing with spirits. It’s not one I necessarily agree with.”

Kurt knit his eyebrows in confusion. “How so?”

“I don’t think he has the best of intentions,” Will said slowly, clarifying for Kurt. “I’m not entirely sure what his motives are at times, but he has come through for me on occasion when I’ve needed his help to deal to with some particularly… vicious spirits, if you will. So I can’t exactly say he’s a bad guy.” 

“That’s not really a stellar character reference.”

This time, it was Elizabeth who spoke. She had been mainly silent during their discussion, letting Kurt bask in the fact that finally there was someone like him. But at the mention of Sebastian, she had decided to throw in her two cents.

“Kurt, he’s not like you. And he’s not like Will. He’s selfish and wants nothing more than to get his way and he’s used plenty of spirits for that. Lord knows he’ll take advantage of this newfound knowledge somehow. And I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Kurt’s demeanor softened at his mother’s words. She was looking out for him, just as a mother would on something like this. But he knew this was different. For one, he knew he could take care of himself. After all, he’d been doing it for seventeen years and he was sure he could keep doing it. And second, he had another mediator on his side this time. That made a huge difference, even if Will wasn’t exactly the type of mediator he’d have chosen. But beggars can’t be choosers, right?

He looked pointedly at his mother and lied to her face for the second time that day. “Everything is going to be okay.”

How very wrong he was.

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

“Kurt?”

Kurt knew his father’s voice from a mile away and yet it seemed very foreign in their new home. “I’m in my new room, Dad!”

Burt slowly opened the door to find Kurt standing there and he knew Kurt was just drumming up ways to decorate his new room. He smiled at that, knowing that was what Kurt loved most about this moving thing; that he’d get to deck out his new room in style. “You okay, buddy?”

Kurt gave him a warm smile. He had to admit, he loved his father more than anything else in this entire world and it filled a little whole in his heart to know that Burt was finally happy again. And Kurt appreciated the fact that Burt had stood by him every step of the way, even unknowingly as his only son helped the undead cross over, unbeknownst to him. He had never asked questions, at least not so big that Kurt would have to tell him the truth, and every time Kurt got in trouble for something, Burt had always chalked it up to the death of his mother at such an early age. He’d never outright said anything to his father about his ability. He knew that his father only believed in what he could see, and to him, that meant no ghosts whatsoever.

Kurt couldn’t even begin to say how much he wished he could be like him.

“I’m glad you like this place, Kurt,” Burt said. “I was sort of worried because I know how you get about… old places.”

Old places were the worst for Kurt, as there was a higher chance that someone had died there and was still stuck there, waiting for his help. He’d been caught numerous times in old buildings, graveyards, churches, temples, mosques, other people’s houses… you name it. He could understand why his father was now sitting on his bed, lecturing him about fresh starts and their new life here. But it was getting sort of weird, considering there was someone else listening in on their conversation. Someone only Kurt could see. And this time, it wasn’t his mother.

It was definitely not his mother.

He tried to stay focused on his father as he rattled on, but it was getting to be sort of hard. Kurt could see him out of the corner of his eye, and needless to say, the glow he set off wasn’t just because he was dead.

Kurt had met many attractive ghosts in his day. But this one… this one, he thought, took the cake. He was quite simply, gorgeous. He must have been quite something back in his day and, judging by his outfit, was some time ago. He had on pleated pants rolled up just above his ankle, dress shoes without a trace of socks, a checkered shirt rolled up to his elbows that was adorned with a cardigan and of course, a damn bowtie. It made Kurt want to burst into laughter but he held back, letting his eyes linger for a moment on his biceps which looked particularly strong from this angle. He wondered what other muscles this guy had; did ghosts have six packs? It wasn’t something he’d ever had the occasion to wonder, or desire. His eyes drifted upward to slicked back hair that was heavy with gel. He had rosy lips too, full and plump and Kurt bit his own lip, trying not to think about those in any capacity. But what really caught Kurt’s attention, were his eyes. They were hazel, he could see, but so very golden. And they sparkled and were so bright, flickering and dancing like he had never seen from anyone before, dead or alive.

Holy mother of God.

“I should let you finish unpacking and we’ll talk more about your first day over dinner, okay?”

Burt’s voice snapped him back to reality and it hit him like a train. What the hell was he doing, standing there, practically drooling over a dead guy? “Sounds like a plan, Dad.”

Burt nodded and got up, almost out the door before he turned back to face Kurt. His eyes, Kurt could see, were brimming with tears. “I just want you to be happy, Kurt. That’s all I ever wanted. Do you think you can be happy here?”

Kurt strode across the room and wrapped the burly figure in an embrace, gripping him tightly. “I am happy, Dad. I feel at home already.” And Kurt wasn’t lying either. He’d had ghosts in his bedroom all the time where they used to live.

Burt finally left, okay with the answer that Kurt given him, and Kurt waited for the sound of his boots to disappear from the stairs before he turned around to face the spirit and said, hands planted firmly on his hips. “So, Dapper Dan, care to explain who you are and what you’re doing in my room?”