”Hello?” a clearly sleepy voice answered. ”Finn?” Finn smiled a little. He had forgotten how sleepy and confused Blaine always was when he was woken up. It wasn’t the first late night call the two of them had had, discussing their respective significant others, or just talking. It probably wouldn’t be the last time either. Both of the boys had seriously fucked up sleep schedules for some reason unknown to man, and late night phonecalls had become sort of a daily thing.
”Hey, Blaine,” Finn said, bracing himself for what he was about to do to the younger boy. He wished there was some other way to fix his brother, but he was certain that there was nothing anyone else could do. It had to be Blaine.
”I need your help.” Burt saw how uncomfortable Finn was, having to ask Blaine this. He vaguely remembered how broken Blaine had looked that night five years ago when he had turned up at their door, no where else to go. Kurt had broken up with him, and since they had been sharing a house he didn’t want to go back there. His parents weren’t home either, and since he didn’t have a key, he had just jumped on a plane to get to those who were like family to him. He had showed up at the door, his expression so utterly lost that Burt couldn’t help but be scared that something had happened to Kurt. But no. Burt thought that maybe that had been a more pleasant story, if Kurt had gotten hurt and was at a hospital. Blaine had stayed at their house for a month, he, Carole and Finn helping him. Finn had been home at the time, having recently left his girlfriend and abandoning their home together, and so he helped piece Blaine back together. It hadn’t been an easy task, helping Blaine. It had been one of the hardest things Burt had ever attempted to do, but after a month of intense care, the boy seemed to get better. He moved out and went back to New York. He picked up his things when Kurt wasn’t home, and moved to another apartment, got a new job. He started to live again, but whenever Burt and Carole came by to say hello when they were visiting Kurt, they saw a hollow look in his eyes, like something had broken completely inside of him. But eventually, with time, that look faded too, and Blaine seemed to be okay again. And now – now they were ripping open that wound to help Kurt. Burt just hoped it would help Blaine as well.
”Yeah okay,” Blaine started, quickly thinking through all of the things that Finn could possibly need his help on. He didn’t find anything. ”What is it?” Finn swallowed audibly, and Blaine started to get nervous. If it was so bad that Finn was nervous, what could it be?
”It-it’s,” Finn began, before stopping and clearing his throat. ”It’s Kurt.” Blaine nearly dropped the phone as his whole body stiffened at the word. Kurt. Blaine’s eyes moistened, but he was determined not to cry. He had moved on. Or at least, that was what he was telling himself. He knew that there was no way he had actually truly moved on, especially now as the pain hit him unexpectedly.
”Oh,” he breathed out, focusing on his breathing, determined to keep it steady. Finn needed help with Kurt, something, he guessed, only Blaine could do.
”I-I’m sorry, Blaine,” Finn apologized, trying very hard not to think of how difficult it was for Blaine, hearing this, being told about Kurt, being reminded of their past. ”If there was any other way –”
”Does Kurt know you’re calling me?” Blaine interrupted, anger seeping in to his voice, as he forced the sadness and the sense of being broken away. He couldn’t feel that, not because of Kurt, not again. Finn sighed, as if he knew that this question would come.
”No,” he said, turning to Burt as if asking the older man for help. Burt just shrugged, seemingly just as lost as Finn was. Neither of them knew what to do to help the two boys, or in this case, one of the boys. Because Kurt needed help. From what Finn had seen, this wasn’t something that had just hit his brother, it was something he had been feeling for a while. Something, Finn was sure of, his brother had tried to hide away, bury in his work, but this time the problem didn’t just dissappear.
”He-” Finn gulped, not wanting to say what was on his mind.
”He what, Finn?” Blaine questioned annoyed, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep and forget all about that stupid boy all those years ago.
”He’s broken,” Finn whispered, and Blaine winced. He had only seen Kurt broken once, that one time when he had been in the hospital because he had tried to beat up some guys who were insulting Kurt. It hadn’t worked out so well. Kurt had beaten himself up over it, insisting that it was his fault that Blaine was injured and that he understood if Blaine wanted to leave him. Kurt had looked so utterly broken as he held Blaine’s hand so hard that Blaine nearly winced in pain, but he knew that he couldn’t. Because if he did Kurt would’ve shattered.
Blaine remembered that so well. The image of his strong, ferocious, beautiful Kurt so broken had haunted his nightmares for a long time. No, Kurt wasn’t his anymore, Blaine corrected in his mind. He was his own, always had been, at least to some degree. Yes, he had allowed himself to love Blaine, to lose himself in the boy, but he had never truly been Blaine’s. He had always known how it would end, always known that one day he would focus on his career and leave everything else behind.
”Why?” Blaine breathed out, unconsciously clutching his chest as every breath he took felt painful and shallow. The thought of Kurt broken devestated him beyond belief. If he had thought he was getting over the boy who had once needed a mentor, he was very wrong.
”He misses you,” Finn murmured, looking to Burt for guidance once again. He wasn’t prepared for the sight that met him. Burt was sitting quietly in his chair, but tears were rolling down his cheeks, and Finn had no idea why. Was it the fact that Kurt was broken, or was it, perhaps, the fact that they were breaking Blaine right now? Finn couldn’t tell, but he realized that it didn’t really matter. Over the years he had come to learn that the two boys were like one. One could not exist without the other, the world simply didn’t work that way.
He could hear Blaine breathe sharply on the other end of the line, and he sighed sady, thinking that calling the younger boy had been a mistake.
”I’m sorry, Blaine, I shouldn’t have-” But once again, Blaine interrupted, and surprised him.
”I’ll be there first thing tomorrow.” Finn raised his eyebrows questioningly, but he didn’t say anything. He supposed, that if this had been the love of his life, he would have been there as fast as he could as well.
”We’re at the farm.” Blaine nodded, before remembering that Finn couldn’t see him. He made an affirmative grunt, and then hung up the phone. He quickly started throwing clothes in to a backpack near his bed, before throwing in other essential things. He was going home.
Finn put the phone down slowly, thinking over what had just happened. What had he done? Why hadn’t he called Rachel or Mercedes or Tina and asked them for help? Why was he doing this to the boys? But as he turned to look at Burt, he knew that he had done the right thing. Burt was nodding to himself, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, or the fact that Kurt’s aunt, his sister, Lisa, had just walked in to the room. She looked worried at the sight of Burt crying in his chair, but Finn looked at her with a gaze that was so reassuring that she couldn’t help but feel calm.
”What’s going on?” she asked him, moving closer to her brother. Even if it wasn’t anything to worry about, she still worried and she hated to see him cry.
”Can you set up another bed?” Finn asked her, rubbing his temples. He still wasn’t sure he had done the right thing, calling Blaine and asking him for help, but now it was too late to do anything about it.
”Why?” Lisa asked, pushing the brown hair away from her eyes, as she wrapped an arm around her brother. Burt seemed to shake out of his own world, and he looked at Finn, smiling sadly. He hadn’t been entirely present for the conversation, but he realized what had happened. Blaine had heard that Kurt needed someone, needed help, and he probably didn’t even hesitate before saying that he was coming over. Burt had always liked that kid, except for that time when he had told Burt to talk to Kurt about sex. He hadn’t been very thankful for him then, but later he had realized just how big of a part Blaine would have in Kurt’s life. But even if Kurt had shattered his heart completely, he would still drop everything without hesitation to help Burt’s son. He drew in a breath, before looking at his sister, willing his voice not to shake on the short sentence.
”Blaine’s coming over.”