Saved for a Rainy Day.

It was the Saturday afternoon following Kurt’s first part-week at Dalton Academy; and Burt stood at his son’s bedroom door with worry.  For the first time in the history of the combined Hummel-Hudson household, Finn had woken up, showered and got dressed before Kurt on a Saturday.  Hours before.

“Whoa! How come I’m not allowed to sleep ‘til one in the afternoon?” the larger boy grumbled, joining his step-father at the door.

“Kurt’s tired; he didn’t even notice Carol sticking the digital thermometer in his ear earlier.  He doesn’t have a temperature; I don’t think he’s sick.” Burt whispered, “I’m guessing that the stress of moving schools has really taken it out of him.”

“But Kurt doesn’t know how to sleep in! He has to get up at half-past-stupid to do his skin thing and get ready… he’s going to be pis-I-mean-mad when he wakes up.” Finn grinned sheepishly as Burt raised his eyebrow at his almost bad language. “Is he still wearing his uniform shirt? Or is it some designer white PJ top?”

Suddenly noticing what Finn was seeing, Burt crept over to his son and gently pulled the covers up to see that Kurt was still wearing yesterday’s shirt with his boxers and socks. 

“I think this sleeping in and wearing the same item of clothing for over twenty four hours is definite proof of something bad… we’ll let Kurt wake up on his own and then have a talk.” Burt decided, tucking his son in and kissing his forehead gently before leaving the room and closing the door.

Kurt opened his eyes and closed them just as quickly.   He felt dreadful, utterly exhausted.  Forcing his eyes open, he clambered to sit up in bed, getting himself tangled in his shirt… the same shirt he’d had on at school.

“Oh GaGa, what happened?” he croaked, pressing the heels of his hands into his forehead, looking over at his alarm clock and seeing 14:23.  With a groan of disappointment at wasting half the day, Kurt dragged himself from the bed and into the bathroom.  The first thing on the agenda was making himself look human, hoping that he’d start to feel human shortly afterwards.

Padding softly into the Kitchen, Kurt squinted at the bright sunlight coming in through the window.  Burt and Finn were finishing off sandwiches as Carol sipped a cup of herbal tea.

“And, as the Kurt comes out of hibernation, he stumbles to the watering hole…” Carol said, mimicking the voice of a nature documentary narrator.  Burt laughed quietly while Fin looked confused.  Carol got up and placed a large glass of water on the kitchen table for Kurt, which he gratefully sipped slowly.

“Morning.  Sorry I’m up so late! I didn’t realise I was so tired.” Kurt said sheepishly, looking around the room.

“Do you feel okay Bud? Are you sick or just tired? You’ve been through a lot recently.” Burt said, standing behind his son and pulling him securely backwards to lean into his abdomen and chest, hugging his boy firmly from behind.

“I don’t think I’m sick, just tired, Dad.  It’s been a long week.  First there was  Karovsky coming back, moving to Dalton, getting up even earlier so I can commute to school, school itself, commuting home again…” Kurt trailed off, not wanting to complain.  His Dad, Carole and Finn had sacrificed the trip of a lifetime to send him to Dalton; Kurt didn’t want to sound remotely ungrateful.

“It isn’t really local, is it? It’s like an hour-and-a-half each way.” Finn said.

“I know it isn’t ideal, but at least you’re safe there, Kurt. Hang in there for me.  I’m sure you’ll be fine in a few weeks once you’re used to it.” Burt reassured, giving Kurt one more squeeze before returning to his own seat at the table.

“I… I was thinking of looking into boarding for the rest of the year.” Kurt said quietly, not looking up to meet the eyes of other occupants of the room.

“Boarding! But that means… Boarding?” Burt spluttered, looking somewhat shocked.

“It means I get more rest.  We won’t have to pay so much in gas because I won’t be commuting.  There are all the school resources available at any time I want them… I was looking on the school website yesterday at lunch.” Kurt mumbled, still not looking up.

“Dalton’s like McKinley on good steroids!” Finn piped up, “You don’t have a School Nurse, you have a Doctor who lives there!  All your teachers have an i-pad provided by the school, with apps written just for Dalton!  The locker room has power showers that always have hot water!  You get food where you can actually tell what the meat is – and it tastes super good!  Dude, even the graffiti in the bathroom had all the words spelled right!”

“I worry about your priorities, Honey.” Carole said with a sigh.

“Kurt, I’m sorry kiddo, but we can’t cover the cost of board too.  The gas prices aren’t too bad, we can manage.” Burt said, trying to sound as upbeat as possible.

“I was going to tap into the ‘Rainy Day Money’ Mom left me.  She said in the letter she wrote that it was for when I got older and moved out… well I’m not as old as she probably imagined, but I need to board – if I carry on with this schedule then I’m probably going to end up running myself into the ground.  I can put some of my designer clothes on e-bay to raise some more money – some is two seasons old, some doesn’t fit any more.  I think it will be enough to cover to the end of the year.” Kurt said, finally meeting his Dad’s gaze.

“Oh Buddy… that’s… but… your Mom left you that for when you moved out to go to college to cover text books and things… you shouldn’t use it all now.” Burt sighed.

“Dad, Dalton is safe, but the commuting isn’t great.  The classes are going to get tougher once I’ve settled in; and once winter gets here I don’t want to miss any school because of bad weather… I know you don’t like it, but I think it’s the only option I have.  I don’t want to get so tired that my grades slip, that’s just an insult to the sacrifice you, Carole and Finn made to send me there.”

“But we didn’t kill any animals for you to go to Dalton!  We just didn’t have a vacation!  Finn said, looking confused.

“Sweetie, not having the vacation was the sacrifice.” Carole said in the tone of voice she reserved especially for when Finn had managed to get something muddled.

“Kurt, the dean of Dalton said that tuition and boarding for one semester would cost somewhere in the region of twenty-thousand dollars… we’ve already paid fourteen thousand in fees – that six grand is every single dime of what your Mom saved for you gone.” Burt said with a deep sigh.

“Woah! How much?” Finn gasped, his mouth opening and closing in an unconscious impression of a goldfish. “Twenty thousand for one semester, that’s forty-K a year!”

“Dad, if I want to pass the exams at the end of the year, then I don’t really have much choice.  I can’t let everything you guys have given up go to waste because I’m too tired to study properly… As Finn has pointed out, the food is good so you know I won’t go hungry.” Kurt said, looking into his Dad’s eyes, biting his lip nervously.

“Burt, I see where Kurt is going with this.  I think he’s being very sensible and he’s also man enough to admit that he’s already struggling and he’s only a few days into his education there… I think that you should give him the access to the money his Mom left him for the boarding fees.” Carole said, acting as the voice of reason.

“Where’s the money going to come from next year?” Finn asked, “Does Dalton have scholarships?”

“There are a few financial awards, but you have to be exceptional to get them, and I’m not that good. I’m not a big fish in a small pond any more, everyone at Dalton is pretty much on the same level, I’m an average fish in the pond now.” Kurt admitted.

“I don’t get the fish thing.” Finn admitted quietly.

“Don’t worry about next September, we’ll have something organised by then… We really don’t mean to leave you out Finn, but we can’t afford to send you both to private school.” Carole said, taking Finn’s hand and giving it a quick squeeze.

“Mom, it’s Ok.  I’m not being threatened, nobody’s bullying me… plus I tried the test Kurt had to take when he transferred to see which classes they’d put him in.  Kurt left the questions on the kitchen table with the answer sheet.  I failed it.”

“I don’t like hearing the F-word Finn Hudson.  Nobody fails in this house.” Burt hissed.

“Fine, I didn’t pass – even though it’s the same thing as failing.  I didn’t come close to passing it.  I don’t think I’d do very well at Dalton.  I’m not book-smart like Kurt is.” Finn said, reaching to take his brother into a one-armed hug.  “You’re so clever Dude, you were one of the top at McKinley, and you used to finish your homework in class time!  I don’t really get why they need to make school so difficult at Dalton, but I think it’ll be good for you.”

“You’ve pretty much just explained the ‘fish thing’ you didn’t get earlier.” Kurt said, leaning into the hug for just a moment longer before Finn pulled away. The comfort of a sibling was still quite alien, but something he felt he could get used to.  “Thanks Finn, somehow you always manage to say the right thing at times like this.”

“Really? Cool! ‘cause Puck says I shove my foot in my mouth most of the time.”

“You do honey, but sometimes you come up with something special.  I’m proud of you Finn, I’m proud of both of you.” Carole said, beaming at her boys.

“So it’s decided? Kurt will be moving to Dalton on a permanent-ish basis.  You had better come home for some of the weekends though!” Burt grumbled.

“Of course I’ll be home to visit; I have to check you’re eating properly, Dad.  I’ve seen you giving Carole the ‘Puss in Boots Eyes’ when she gives you a salad or fruit.”

“I am not a rabbit.” Burt said, sticking his nose in the air haughtily.

“Yeah you have to come home!  The guys need you to translate girl into English for us!  I don’t get what Rachel or Quinn or Santana or Mercedes or Tina or Brittany or any of them are on about sometimes!” Finn said quickly, looking mildly alarmed at the prospect of having to navigate the minefield of femininity without a guide.

“That the only boy who understands girls in your Glee club happens to be gay says a heck of a lot, don’t you think?” Carole teased, earning a laugh from Burt.

“I still don’t know what Brittany is on about most of the time; I just nod and smile in the right places to keep her happy.” Kurt pointed out; wanting to provide a small disclaimer for his girl-understanding skills (he wasn’t all-knowledgeable in all things feminine). “I’ve got an appointment over the phone with the guy in charge of room assignments at five this afternoon to discuss options.  I’ll put the call on speaker so that we can all listen.” Kurt said.

“Come on, Kurt, you need to eat something and then we’ll go and start condensing your wardrobe down and working out what you want to pack and what you need to pack – because those are two very different things when it comes to you.”  Everyone around the table chuckled, Kurt blushing as he did so.