Chapter 16

‘Okay, so this is just weird,’ Kurt said into his cell phone receiver the second Blaine picked up. He was careful to call exactly at the moment when it was the first break at Dalton, not to get his friend into trouble.

‘What’s weird?’ Blaine couldn’t help but smile a little at Kurt’s tone.

Kurt was sitting on a closed toilet in a hospital mensroom. His dad had just been wheeled into the operating room, and he sneaked out of the hall, telling the rest he needed a moment alone.

‘They all came to my house,’ he said, astonishment still clear in his voice. ‘The whole freaking Glee club! I’m still kinda waiting for them to play a prank on me, because it’s just- I don’t know- surreal? That they all ditched school to go to the hospital with me, while my Dad’s in surgery.’

Blaine raised his eyebrows, listening to Kurt’s rushed speech.

‘Well, maybe you misjudged them? Maybe they care about you?’

Kurt ran his fingers through his hair; it felt strange not having any product in it while being in a public place. He stayed silent a moment, trying to consider Blaine’s suggestion.

‘I don’t know. They never really gave me a reason to believe they gave a flying crap, but-‘ He sighed. ‘Anyway, at least that keeps me from worrying about my Dad.’

‘It’s gonna be fine,’ Blaine said, wishing he could send Kurt a comforting smile or hug him. ‘I could come after school, if you want to?’

Kurt’s lips formed into a beaming grin, as if those words were a magic spell.

‘I do want to.’

‘Great. I gotta go now, but- See you later.’

‘Later.’

And even though the concern for his father’s well-being still lingered deep within his mind, he felt much, much better. At least one person was definitely, beyond a shadow of doubt, always there for him.

***

The tiny smile that had crept onto Kurt’s face with Blaine’s promise to come to see him faded suddenly, as he heard the toilet door open and his eyes snapped up at the closed stall door.

‘Kurt?,’ a faint uncertain voice called.

Kurt pressed his lips together as he recognized the voice. Finn. He took a calming breath and went out of the stall.

‘Oh,’ Finn said at the sight of him, clearly uncomfortable. He definitely didn’t want to be in a restroom alone with Kurt. ‘They were starting to worry, so they sent me to check up on you,’ he mumbled, keeping his gaze carefully away from Kurt’s. ‘Um, the girls wouldn’t come into the mensroom, Santana said she didn’t want to suffocate from the smell. Anyway…’ He glanced fleetingly at Kurt, before averting his eyes again. ‘You’re fine, right?’

Kurt kept his face perfectly blank; he wouldn’t let Finn know how much he disliked the idea of being anywhere alone with him as well.

‘I’m fine.’ His voice was just as indifferent as his expression, even though controlling both was a struggle.

Finn nodded, eyes flicking over the tiled floor, and turned back towards the door. But then he stopped, his hand halfway to the handle, hanging in indecision for just long enough for Kurt to notice. And he swirled back around.

‘Kurt, I’m really, really, really sorry for what’s happened,’ he blurted out.

Kurt raised an eyebrow, disbelief mixing with resentment in his face.

‘What exactly are you sorry for? For my dad being in the hospital? For throwing me into that dumpster on a daily basis? For picking on me? For not helping me get on the team?’

He was no longer able to keep his emotions in check; everything had boiled over, flooding Finn in a wave of accusations, that they both knew were entirely accurate.

For a moment they fell silent, Kurt’s heavy breathing the only sound filling the room. But he noticed something that he didn’t think he’d ever seen on Finn’s face, at least not that clearly: shame.

And then Finn lifted his gaze back to Kurt, his eyes suspiciously glazed over.

‘I know I suck, but… I really am sorry. I didn’t mean for all this to end like this.’

‘Like what? You’re not the one guilty for my dad’s heart attack,’ he said icily. ‘Don’t assign my blame to yourself, you’re not that important.’

Even though Kurt was still looking up into Finn’s face, he could swear the boy had shrunk; his shoulders slumped as if someone placed a heavy rock on them. He was a different person for a moment. Not the popular klutzy jock, but a little boy, who’d done something he wasn’t supposed to do and was just confessing his fault to his mother.

‘But you wouldn’t have run away if I helped you on the team, right?,’ he said so quietly Kurt was barely able to make out the words.

Kurt’s breath hitched. He’d rather Finn didn’t know that.

‘How do you know if I wouldn’t have?,’ he snapped back, trying not to let on how much truth was in Finn’s words.

‘My mom told me your dad thought you were on the team.’ Finn shrugged. ‘I didn’t know it was so important to you that you would lie to him about it.’

Kurt bit his lip, dropping his chin almost to his chest. He felt so stupid, so incredibly idiotic for having let any of this to get to him as it had. Finally, he raised his head back again to look straight into Finn’s eyes.

‘Apology accepted.’ He started for the door, giving Finn a wide berth. This time it was him who hesitated before pulling the handle. ‘And just so you know, I lied to you, too,’ he said in a small voice. ‘I am gay. But I wouldn’t ask you to a dance, I know you’re with Quinn.’

With that he jerked the door open and rushed into the hallway, stopping midstep dumbstruck. A sobbing Quinn was standing in the middle of the room, with Puck opposite her, visibly angry, and the rest of the Glee club sitting around them and gaping awkwardly at them.

Finn emerged out of the restroom, passing Kurt in the doorway, but falling back a step at the sight of his crying girlfriend.

‘Dude, what did you do to her?!,’ he demanded, walking up to Puck.

‘Tell him,’ Puck said to Quinn, who only shook her head, a new flood of tears pouring over her cheeks. ‘Tell him, or I’ll tell him.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Finn was thoroughly confused, but he knew full well he wouldn’t like whatever they had to communicate to him.

He turned his gaze to his girlfriend.

‘The- baby,’ she sobbed, shaking all over. ‘It’s not- It’s-‘

‘What?’ Finn’s voice broke halfway through the word. ‘You… You were lying to me all this time?’

Quinn failed to answer, bursting into even more violent sobs instead. Santana hurried to her side, putting an arm around her shoulders and trying to soothe her. In the meantime, everything seemed to have clicked in Finn’s brain and he looked at Puck.

‘But you- Why would you do that to me?’

With a last look of contempt at Puck, Finn turned on his heel and stormed out of the hallway.

‘Finn!,’ Quinn wailed after him.

No one else dared to speak.