In hindsight, Carson thought he really should have recognized the first sign of trouble afoot when Kurt decided, seemingly out of the blue, that their bedroom needed to be redecorated. Carson had caught him one evening sitting on their bed and looking thoughtfully through an abundance of wallpaper swatches, his lip caught between his teeth as he concentrated.

“What are you doing?” Carson had asked innocently, settling down beside him and slinging one arm casually over his shoulder, surveying the array of swatches laid out in front of Kurt. “New project?”

“Yeah,” Kurt had replied, his mind clearly a million miles away. “I think it’s time our room got a new look, don’t you?” 

“Uh…” Carson said, looking around at their already impeccably decorated bedroom. “I guess? What’s wrong with the way it is now?”

“Nothing,” Kurt had said, “I guess I just think it’s time we updated it to reflect more…diverse tastes.”

“OK,” said Carson, confused but willing to go along with it if it was what Kurt wanted. Something in his gut was telling him that there was something up that Kurt wasn’t telling him about, but he pushed it aside, concentrating on the intoxicating way Kurt smelled. He had used the coconut scented body wash that day, and Carson thought it had to be the best scent in the entire world as he rested his chin on Kurt’s shoulder to breathe it in deeply. Who cared why Kurt was looking at wallpaper, as long as he was happy?

The next sign that there was something going on that Carson wasn’t privy to was the fact that their father had started mysteriously going out at night after work, looking unusually happy and usually stopping to ask Kurt his opinion on his clothes before leaving. 

“What’s up with that?” Carson had asked Kurt on several occasions. “You don’t think he’s, like, dating or something, do you?”

“What? Oh…no, I…I wouldn’t worry,” Kurt had always replied. “I’m sure he probably just has a new social circle.” Carson couldn’t help but notice that Kurt avoided his gaze and instantly busied himself with some insignificant task every time this was brought up. Kurt obviously knew more than he was letting on. This went on for about a month, but Carson tried not to worry about it too much. It helped that these nights usually meant him and Kurt lounging around on the living room couch watching one of Kurt’s musicals or a romantic comedy. Carson would snark his way through the movie while Kurt lay with his head in Carson’s lap, occasionally rolling his eyes at his comments but mostly laughing. It was quite pleasant. 

Carson’s suspicion took a sudden, horrifying turn one day after glee club when he overheard Kurt asking Finn’s opinion on the wallpaper swatches. Why the hell would he want Finn’s opinion, of all people? Sure, he had a weird crush on the guy that Carson couldn’t even begin to wrap his brain around, but even Kurt had to know that Finn’s knowledge of interior decorating was about on par with that of a goldfish. 

A disturbing thought began to worm its way into Carson’s brain, a thought he absolutely refused to let come to the surface. There was no way….surely there was NO WAY. No, of course not. He was just being stupid. Just….the very thought! It was absolutely ridiculous. The universe wouldn’t be so cruel. It couldn’t possibly. Right?

Wrong, as it turned out. Very, very, horrifyingly wrong.

“What do you MEAN, you’re dating Finn’s mother?” Carson exclaimed, horrified at the words that had just come out of his father’s mouth. It was a Friday night, and he, Kurt, and their dad were sitting at the kitchen table for their weekly dinner together, one of the few things that had continued on after their mother’s death. It had been a perfectly routine dinner, until Burt had announced that he had something to tell them. He had then uttered the absolutely horrible words that Carson still refused to believe he had actually heard.

“I mean exactly what I said,” Burt said calmly through a mouthful of chicken. “I’ve been seeing Carole Hudson for almost a month now, and I thought I should officially let you boys know, since it looks like it might be getting serious.”

“But…I mean….WHY?” Carson practically whined. He didn’t like where this was headed. “You aren’t getting married, are you? Because I don’t want Finn as a stepbrother! I just….I couldn’t handle that!”

“No, Carson, we’re not getting married any time soon, but we are considering living together in the near future, and I will fully expect  you to treat both Finn and his mother with respect,” Burt said firmly. Carson pushed his food around his plate, having suddenly lost any and all semblance of an appetite.

“How the f…how did you even meet her anyway?” he grumbled.

“Kurt introduced us at the parent/teacher conference last month,” Burt answered, looking between the twins. “Kurt, why doesn’t he know this? I thought you said you told him.”

“No, he didn’t,” Carson said, shooting a glance Kurt’s way. Kurt looked like a deer caught in the headlights, which definitely confirmed what their dad had just said. What the FUCK? Kurt had known this whole time and had kept it from him? “Kurt, why? How could you do this to me?”

Kurt was silent for a minute as he slowly and deliberately chewed his food. “I just thought that Dad could use someone new in his life,” he said at last, carefully placing his fork on his empty plate and clasping his hands together.

“And that someone just conveniently happened to be the mother of Finn Hudson, of all people?” Carson asked, his arms crossed across his chest. Kurt gave him a look that was pleading with him to shut up, and Carson understood this to mean that Burt didn’t know a thing about Kurt’s crush on Finn. Carson closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying hard to be calm and keep the sharpness out of his voice. “And you didn’t think that this was maybe something that I should know about?” he asked, his head suddenly pounding. “You know, considering how I can’t stand Finn?”

“Actually, that’s why I didn’t tell you,” said Kurt, looking uncomfortable. He cast his eyes down toward his plate and nervously played with his fingers. “I knew you’d be mad, and-“

“Mad?” Carson exclaimed. “More like in the mood to smash things! So many things!”

“Boys!” Burt interrupted, exasperation creeping into his voice. “Look, I know this is going to be something that’s going to take some getting used to for both of you. And Carson, I’m sorry you didn’t have any idea. But there’s no use blowing your top over it. Carole and I are only considering living together right now, alright? It’s not set in stone. So can we please just have a pleasant evening?”

“I guess,” Carson grumbled. He still didn’t feel very much like eating anymore. As stupid as it was, he felt betrayed. He couldn’t understand why Kurt would do something like this, knowing how Carson felt about Finn. 

They finished their dinner in silence, Kurt sneaking glances over at Carson the whole time, which Carson ignored. Nobody said much of anything other than Kurt quietly volunteering for dish duty when the meal was over. Carson walked out of the kitchen, intending to go down to their bedroom and leave Kurt to do the dishes alone, but the sad look he caught on his brother’s face as he passed him made him stop in his tracks. He sighed and backed up, deciding to stay behind with him. He may have felt pissed at the moment, but he still couldn’t stand to see Kurt looking so miserable.

“Here, let me help,” he said, taking a plate out of Kurt’s hands and running it under the water in the sink before placing it in the dishwasher. He could feel Kurt’s eyes on him as he worked, even though he wasn’t looking.

“I’m sorry,” Kurt said as he passed Carson another plate. Carson sighed and turned to face him.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, trying to sound calm and not as irritated as he felt. “Of all the people you could have set Dad up with, you chose her? This wasn’t really about Dad at all, was it, Kurt? It was about Finn. You want Finn living here. No matter how much it will make me want to throw up every minute of every day.”

Kurt crossed his arms and looked down at his feet, not answering him. 

“And why do you want to make him your stepbrother?” Carson continued. “I don’t get it. I mean, not that I care, and not that I would ever approve of it anyway, but him being family would actually make it that much harder for you to be in a relationship with him.” Something unreadable flashed across Kurt’s face, but Carson barely noticed as he realized the irony in what he had just said. 

“So, are you mad at me?” Kurt asked after a moment of silence, lifting his head up, his lip quivering as he bit down on it slightly. Carson’s heart broke for him. He crossed over to Kurt and enveloped him in a tight hug. “No, Kurt, I’m not mad at you, I’m just…it’s a lot to take in,” he said.

“I know,” Kurt said, hugging Carson back just as tightly, if not tighter. Carson decided that, for Kurt’s sake, he would suck it up and try not to worry. After all, their dad had said that nothing was set in stone.

Nothing is set in stone, nothing is set in stone, nothing is set in stone, Carson repeated to himself, hoping desperately that the day would never come when he would have to share a house with Finn Hudson. 
                           *************************
Kurt was sorry for doing this to Carson, he really was, but he had to. He had no other choice. If Carson only knew his real reasons for setting their dad up with Carole Hudson, he would understand why it had to be done. He would also probably feel really creeped out and never look at Kurt the same way again, so Kurt hoped he never found out the real reason.

It had been that stupid snowball fight over winter vacation. Well, it hadn’t started with that, but it was definitely the catalyst for Kurt’s decision. He had been noticing his changing relationship with Carson for a long time now, ever since last summer when the two of them had gone to the local community pool almost every day to beat both the heat and their boredom. Kurt had not been able to stop noticing just how good Carson had started to look shirtless, no matter how much he tried, and no matter how disturbed he was to be checking out his own twin’s body. It was just there in his face, and he was pretty powerless to stop looking. Then, one day, Kurt had slipped on a stray puddle of water on his way to collect his towel. Carson, of course, had been right there to catch his fall, and Kurt had suddenly found himself pressed up against the very chest he’d been trying not to eye all summer. And, ok, touching Carson’s chest wasn’t anything new, since they never wore shirts to bed in the summertime and usually ended up sleeping curled into each other. The difference, though, was that when Kurt got hard from it at night, he was always facing away from a sleeping Carson and didn’t have to worry about his problem being discovered. This was an entirely different story.

“Careful, Kurtsie. You ok?” Carson had asked, setting him upright and keeping a grip on his arm.

“Fine,” Kurt had squeaked, grabbing his towel quickly and frantically wrapping it around his shivering body, even though his shivers had nothing to do with being cold, and praying that Carson hadn’t glanced down. Ever since then, it had been a constant battle for Kurt to suppress the inappropriate thoughts that kept sneaking their way into his brain. It was a battle he won most of the time, but every so often he would think something like “God, he looks good in those glasses” or “Those jeans make his ass look really good,” and he would mentally chastise himself. What would Carson say if he knew what you were thinking, you pervert? Stop it. Just stop it. 

And then that stupid snowball fight had happened. Kurt remembered Carson chasing him and pinning him down onto the snow-covered ground, and how he had felt a surge of head flood him as Carson pressed him there with his weight on top of him. Kurt had felt dizzy and had quickly stopped struggling to get up. He wasn’t sure he ever wanted Carson to let him up. And then something had happened and Carson had leaned his face down, and Kurt had been so sure that he was going to kiss him, and his heart had started beating a million miles a minute. He wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or disappointed when Carson just kissed his cheek, as he had done thousands of times before. Of course, Kurt had thought. Of course he wasn’t going to kiss me. Why did I think that? What’s wrong with me that I would actually WANT that? To put it frankly, the way he felt was scaring him.

Hence the reason why he threw himself headfirst into pursuing Finn, no matter how straight and uninterested the boy was. Kurt knew he had no chance with him. He knew, but he didn’t care. Focusing on another boy, any other boy, was better than living with such impure thoughts about his brother. And it wasn’t like he didn’t actually have feelings for Finn. He did. He wasn’t sure whether or not they were love, exactly, but they could have been. Maybe love didn’t require a constant butterfly feeling in your stomach. Maybe that’s what made it “true love,” or whatever.

So, Kurt had convinced himself that his thoughts about Carson were just the result of him being a lonely, gay teenage boy in a small town with hardly any romantic prospects. It made perfect sense. Kurt had actually laughed out loud with relief when he realized this. 

“What’s so funny?” Carson had asked from behind the laptop he was clacking away at.

“Oh…nothing,” Kurt had answered cheerily. Nothing was wrong. Not anymore. He was sure of it. Or, at least, there wouldn’t be once he had a permanent, live-in distraction.

                                   *********************
Carson may have vowed to suck it up and not worry, but he was still anything but happy about the situation. In fact, he was about as far away from happy as it was possible to be. He tried not to roll his eyes or let his feelings show whenever Burt left the house for a date, or when Kurt disappeared over to the Hudson’s house for hours, saying he was going to give Carole a makeover, or when he caught Kurt with various catalogues, picking out new furniture for the soon-to-be-redecorated bedroom. Really, he tried. But, well….easier said than done. Just the thought that he may eventually have to share a bedroom with Finn made him break out in a cold sweat. Usually, he calmed down by remembering that, if he was going to be forced to live with him eventually, at least Finn would be close enough to kill.

He was in the middle of thinking that in the middle of glee club one day when his train of thought was interrupted by Kurt speaking up next to him.

“Mr. Schue? If I may?” he asked, raising one finger in the air. Carson hadn’t been paying attention to whatever was being discussed, so he had no idea what Kurt had in mind as he got up from his seat and stood in front of the piano, facing the club.

“New Directions is clearly a club with a dearth of direction,” he began, one hand planted on his hip. “Rachel and Jesse refuse to accept that all of us would rather die before we allow them to become the next Beyonce and Jay-Z,  and Finn’s mother’s romance with my father is sending him into a wholly unnecessary tailspin of despair.”

I seriously should start paying attention during club meetings, because I have no idea what he’s getting at, thought Carson as he busied himself with thoughts of how Kurt’s Cheerio uniform was looking particularly good on him today.

“What we all need right now is to explore the idea of a sense of place,” Kurt continued, picking up a stack of sheet music off the piano and handing it to Mr. Schue to hand out to the club, “and how, if we find that place within, we will get that happy ending.” He finished this little speech with a flirty look in Finn’s direction, which Carson was not at all amused by. He was even less amused when Kurt then launched into a rendition of “A House Is Not a Home” which was clearly directed at Finn.

What the hell? Kurt, how does this song even make any sense? You don’t need Finn to make your house a home. You have me, you know….your voice is beautiful, though. Just like always. Even if you ARE singing to an overgrown chimp. Finn looks uncomfortable. Oh, that’s just delicious. Also, fuck you, Finn. You should be grateful and feel lucky that you’re being serenaded by Kurt right now. 

He may not have approved of the song’s message, but Kurt still sang it beautifully, so Carson clapped enthusiastically when he finished, the extremely melancholy look on Kurt’s face as he turned around to face the piano not escaping his notice. Did he really want Finn that badly? Come on, Kurt, he’s not worth it. You can do so much better. You DESERVE so much better. Why waste your time on Finn? Even if he was capable of returning your feelings, he would never appreciate you. Fuck, look at how he treated Rachel for the week and a half they were a couple. Not that I care about Rachel’s feelings, but shit.

“Kurt, what was that?” he asked as the two of them left the choir room after the bell.

“What was what?” Kurt replied in his “I’m going to pretend I’m innocent and have no idea what you mean” voice.

“You know damn well what,” said Carson. “All that stuff about a house not being a home. FINN is what completes your home? Really?”

“I have to go, Carson. I’ll be late for Cheerios practice,” Kurt mumbled, hurrying down the hall toward the gym. Carson watched him go and sighed, shaking his head. Sometimes, even I don’t understand what goes on in your brain, Kurt.

The following night was one of the most awkward of Carson’s life as the Hummels met up with Finn and his mother at Breadstix for dinner. Carson would rather have been having dental work done than have to suffer through the experience of eating a meal with Finn, but he had no choice. The minute he had started to protest, his father had given him a look that said, in no uncertain terms, that he was going and that he was to behave. Carson made sure to slide into the booth after Finn when they arrived at their table, counting it as a small victory that he at least had put himself between Finn and Kurt. The irritated look Kurt shot him (and the fact that Carson was going to be stuck sitting next to Finn for the duration of the meal) were small prices to pay for that, he figured.

Surprisingly, he managed to make it through the meal without incident, mostly because Finn didn’t say much and looked just as miserable to be there as Carson felt. His mom was nice enough, Carson decided, but not nice enough that he would be willing to share a living space with Finn. Maybe if they could ship Finn off to boarding school…

“A toast!” Kurt said toward the end of the meal, raising his virgin Shirley Temple into the air. “Tonight is a momentous occasion. It marks the first real communion between the Hummel and the Hudson clan.” Carson somehow managed to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Really, Kurt?

“I imagine that when the Bouviers and the Kennedys first broke bread, there was a similar sense of joy and urgency,” Kurt continued. “So, let me raise my Shirley Temple to our new little family!” he finished with a smile, clanking his glass together with the adults’. 

The conversation quickly turned into a football discussion between Finn and Burt, and if Kurt thought nobody noticed his dejected expression as he was shut out of the conversation, he was wrong. Because Carson noticed. Carson always noticed.

He also noticed that Kurt was extremely quiet for the entire ride home that night and barely said a word as the twins went down to their room, and he noticed that Kurt was sitting at his vanity table with tears in his eyes as Carson emerged from the bathroom after taking a shower. He didn’t bother asking Kurt what was wrong, because he already knew. He just crossed over to him and threw his arms around him from behind, hugging him tight as one of Kurt’s hands came up to grip at his arm.

                                     *********************

Carson slammed the car door shut and made his way into the house, leaning against the door as he shut it and closing his eyes. It had been an extremely long day at school, and he had skipped glee club that afternoon. He just couldn’t deal with anyone’s bullshit today. He had gone straight to Sunny Pastures to visit his grandmother instead. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of those days on which she threw him out of the room, so he had just accepted defeat and gone home.

He shuffled into the kitchen and was surprised to see Kurt sitting at the table, still in his Cheerio uniform and playing absentmindedly with the edge of the fruit bowl.

“You’re home early,” Carson said, checking the clock on the stove. “Was Cheerios practice cancelled or something?”

Kurt looked up at him. “No. I just decided I didn’t feel like going.”

“Ok, what’s wrong?” Carson asked, taking a seat across from him. “You sound like you just found out that they won’t be making those sweaters you like anymore. The ones with all the buttons and shit.”

Kurt gave him a tight smile. “Funny.”

“No, seriously, what’s wrong?” Carson asked.

“I saw Dad at school today,” Kurt replied.

“Wait, what? What was he doing there? I didn’t see him.”

“Well, that’s because he was only there to pick up Finn in order to take him to some stupid baseball game,” Kurt said glumly. “Because Finn is obviously the son he always wanted. Neither of us were ever into sports, and now he’s just eating this up.”

“So? We DO hate sports. I mean, I hate Finn, but at least this way Dad has someone to do all that boring sports crap with,” replied Carson.

“Yeah, but that’s not the point,” Kurt said, crossing his arms. “The point is that all of a sudden, he’d rather do things with Finn than with either of us.”

“Aaaaw, Kurtsie’s jealous,” teased Carson. “May I just take this moment to point out that this wouldn’t be a problem if you hadn’t decided to play matchmaker?”

“Shut up,” Kurt mumbled, picking a kiwi out of the fruit bowl and throwing it at Carson.

“Hey! Don’t throw fruit at me,” Carson protested, setting the kiwi back in the bowl. “I was just making an observation.”

Kurt glared at him and didn’t say anything. Carson sighed. “Since we’ll probably be on our own all night, why don’t we have one of those movie marathons that you love so much, and I’ll even refrain from making too many snarky comments. Ok? Will that make you feel better?”

Kurt considered the offer. “I kind of like your snarky comments, though.”

“Fine, then I’ll make all the snarky comments.”

“And I want to watch Titanic,” said Kurt.

“Ok, we’ll watch Titanic,” answered Carson. “Pizza for dinner, then? I know it’s not quite dinner time yet, but I’m ravenous.”

“Ok,” replied Kurt, a smile forming on his face. “I’ll go shower and change out of this damn uniform while you order it. Oh, and by the way, you totally picked the wrong day to skip glee club.”

“Why’s that?” asked Carson.

“Because GUESS who has lost their voice and absolutely murdered the song they tried to sing for this week’s assignment?” Kurt asked with a devilish grin.

“Certainly not….I don’t dare hope it was…” Carson said excitedly as Kurt nodded his head, his grin growing bigger.

“Oh my god, Trollberry has lost her pipes?  Fuuuuuuuck, why did I skip today of all days?” Carson exclaimed. “I would have given anything to be there in order to laugh like a hyena at her expense!”

“Thought you might enjoy that,” said Kurt. “Thankfully, I had the foresight to start recording it on my phone for you. It was rather easy to be discreet. I am awesome.”

“Oh hell YES! You are the BEST!” Carson said, making grabby hands as Kurt pulled his phone out of his bag. “Gimme!”

“Here,” Kurt said, handing him the phone. “Use it to order the pizza first before you lose yourself in the wonderful joy that is Rachel being unable to sing.”

He headed down to their room and Carson busied himself with first calling the pizza place, and then sitting down to play the video Kurt had recorded. Words could not even begin to express the amusement and sheer glee he felt at watching Rachel hit wrong note after wrong note.  He hoped she was planning on continuing to attend glee club rehearsals, because he was going to have SO much fun giving her shit about it.

Kurt emerged from the basement just as the pizza arrived, and they settled themselves on the floor in front of the TV with the pizza box and a stack of napkins, watching Titanic for what seemed like the hundredth time to Carson. It was one of Kurt’s favorites. Carson’s attention was focused more on Kurt than on the movie as Kurt unconsciously mouthed along to most of Kate WInslet’s lines. 

Somewhere along the way Carson ended up sitting against the couch with Kurt settled between his legs, his warm back pressed to Carson’s front and his head on his chest. Carson could lean forward and breathe in the fresh, clean scent of Kurt’s hair this way. It smelled like strawberries today. He felt Kurt let out a shuddering breath as the movie neared its end.

“You know,” Carson said, clasping his hands around Kurt’s middle, “If Rose had just moved her ass over a few inches, there would have been more than enough room for both of them on that door.” 

Kurt snorted and brought his hands up to dry the tears that had spilled down his face while watching the movie. “You say that every time, and every time I tell you that it wasn’t about room on the door, it was about distribution of weight. Sure, they both could have fit on the door, but with two people weighing it down, they would still be halfway in the water. And then both of them would have froze to death.”

“Ok, ok, point taken. So hypothetically, if we were on a sinking ship, and we couldn’t get a lifeboat, and we ended up in the middle of the ocean, and there was only one thing to float on, which one of us gets it?” Carson asked.

“Honestly? I’d let you have it,” said Kurt, craning his neck to look back at Carson. “You’d need it. You wouldn’t have as many layers of clothing to keep you warm as I would.”

“Good point,” said Carson, “But no, I would insist that you take it. If you froze to death, I couldn’t live with myself.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Neither of them said anything else for the rest of the movie.

                                 **********************

The baseball game was only the first of many things that their dad had started doing with Finn, unfortunately. The two of them were spending more and more quality bonding time together, and it was killing Carson to see Kurt looking more and more dejected every time it happened. Of the two of them, Kurt had always been the closest to Burt, and Carson could only imagine how terrible it felt for him to watch their dad spending all the father/son time with Finn that he used to spend with Kurt. It was only a matter of time, Carson thought, before Kurt’s patience snapped. Which, as it turned out, happened a few days later as Carson came home from Sunny Pastures to find Kurt sitting in their room dressed like….well…not dressed like himself, that was for sure. In fact, he was dressed an awful lot like…

“Um, Kurt? Why are you dressed like Dad?” Carson asked, taking in Kurt’s appearance and grimacing. This was so not the Kurt he knew and loved.

“What do you mean? I’m just working on my glee assignment, that’s all. I’m doing a John Mellencamp song to reflect the way I feel about myself right now, and these clothes are now the new me,” replied Kurt in a voice several octaves lower than it usually was. Carson gaped at him.

“MELLENCAMP???”

Kurt nodded and waved a piece of sheet music in the air, as if to prove his point. Carson shook his head.

“Have you lost your freaking mind? Kurt, this isn’t you! This isn’t you at ALL! I know you too well for this crap to work on me, so spill it. What brought this on? Is this about Dad and his newfound love of talking about boring-ass sports with Finn?”

“No,” Kurt said a little too quickly. “Not at all. People change, Carson. I’ve realized that this is who I really am, and I’m embracing it. I hope you can accept it, too.”

Carson pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Clearly, he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Kurt right now. His twin was stubborn if he was anything, and he had obviously decided that he needed to do whatever the fuck it was he was trying to do. Carson decided it would probably be easier just to let this run its course instead of argue with him. “Ok, Kurt. Fine. I accept you and..um…I hope you’re happy with your new look,” he said slowly. “I’m gonna go shower now.”

“Ok,” replied Kurt casually, flopping back down in his seat and staring at his sheet music. Honestly, I love that boy to death, but sometimes I just can’t with him, thought Carson.

Kurt was still rocking his “new look” for the next several days, and it was obvious as hell that he wasn’t comfortable with it at all. And on top of that, to both Carson’s horror and amusement, Kurt added a girlfriend, of all things, to complete his new image. He hadn’t thought Kurt would actually consider Brittany’s offer to date him after she heard him sing “Pink Houses” in glee club, but lo and behold, Carson came home one afternoon to find the ditzy cheerleader sitting at the kitchen table with Kurt. The two of them were playing a game, which Carson identified as Candyland when he got close enough, and one of Brittany’s hands rested casually on Kurt’s thigh, which Kurt looked less than thrilled about.

“Um…ok, what the hell,” Carson said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Hi, Other Kurt!” said Brittany brightly. She looked over at Kurt and frowned. “Hey, where do you keep your cloning machine? I keep meaning to ask you but then I forget. Can I use it? It would be so awesome to have a second me.” 

Kurt was clearly trying not to roll his eyes. Carson felt an evil smile start to form on his own lips as he cleared his throat and set his bag down. 

“Oh, he doesn’t keep it here, Brittany,” he said in as serious a voice as he could muster. “He can’t, you see. Too easy for the space aliens to find it.”

“Aliens? Like the ones on that ship where I got probed?” Brittany asked.

“Uh…yeah. Anyway, like I said, Kurt can’t keep it here, because if the aliens find it, then they would use it to multiply their army numbers, and then, well…it would be all-out war between earth and space,” Carson said seriously, hanging his head sadly. “It would be terrible.”

“Wait, what does multiplying have to do with aliens?” asked Brittany, clearly confused. “They make me do that in math class all the time, and nothing bad ever happened.”

Carson glanced over at Kurt, who looked extremely tired. He must have been having to deal with Brittany’s idiocy nonstop all day, poor guy.

“Just trust me when I say it would be horrible,” said Carson, grabbing an apple and taking a huge bite. “The devastation would be monumental.” He watched with amusement as Brittany tried to process the complicated words, a frown forming on her face.

“I still want to use the machine,” she said.

“Well, as I said, Kurt doesn’t usually tell people where he keeps it, but…” Carson said, trailing his words off and giving Kurt a mischievous grin, “…he can usually be persuaded to talk if you give him a great, big kiss right on the lips.”

The icy look Kurt gave him could have froze the hottest desert as Brittany smiled and leaned over in her chair, planting a huge kiss on Kurt’s mouth before he had time to react. 

“B…Brit…BRITTANY, he’s kidding!” Kurt said,prying her off of him and bringing one hand up to wipe his lips. “We don’t have a cloning machine.”

Brittany just looked from Kurt to Carson, confusion clouding her face. Carson thought that must be her default expression. “Wait, did I kiss the wrong one?” she mused out loud, staring at Carson’s mouth. Right, the hell with this. Carson got up from his seat at the table and grabbed onto Kurt’s hand. “Hey, Brittany, can you tell me what 6x8 is?” he asked sweetly. Brittany’s face took on a look of pure concentration at his words and Carson pulled Kurt into the living room.

“Ok, now that we have a few minutes, do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on here?” Carson asked Kurt. “I mean, come on. First the clothes and now you’re pretending to date Brittany? By the way, if you were going to get yourself a beard, you probably should have picked one that doesn’t have the mental capacity of a drunk toddler.”

“Oh my god, Carson, just leave me alone,” Kurt whined. “I have my reasons, ok?”

“I know you do, Kurt. You’re doing it because you want Dad to pay attention to you. But Kurtsie, this isn’t the way to go about it. In case you haven’t noticed, it isn’t exactly working, and you’re just more miserable than ever. Wouldn’t you at least be happier being yourself?”

“I am being myself,” retorted Kurt. “I’m so myself that I’m going to go downstairs right now with…with my girlfriend…and make out with her and stuff.” He turned on his heel and marched back into the kitchen, taking Brittany by the hand and leading her to the basement door. 

“But I haven’t figured out the answer yet,” she said. 

“Never mind that,” Kurt grumbled, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket and hanging it on the doorknob as he and Brittany disappeared down the stairs. Carson walked over to it and shook his head as he read what it said.

“DO NOT ENTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. I’M MAKING OUT WITH A GIRL.”

Oh, Kurtsie, thought Carson as he put away the game that had been left out on the table. What am I going to do with you?

                                   ************************

“Your hands are really soft,” Brittany said wonderingly as she and Kurt walked down the school hallway holding hands. Carson walked several steps behind them, unsure whether or not he was amused enough anymore to want to laugh. 

“My secret? Duck fat,” Kurt answered. Carson smiled and then let Kurt’s words sink in. Eeeew. So THAT was what was in all those lotions he used? Gross. “Heeeey guys,” Kurt said as they passed by Artie and Tina. “Just holding hands with Brittany!” 

Carson rolled his eyes. Oh, Kurt, honey. He spotted Rachel angrily slamming books into her locker just then and couldn’t resist a quick “Heeeey, Trollberry, how’s the laryngitis treating you? Still can’t sing, huh? What a shame, what a shame. I look forward to seeing you sulk more in glee club tomorrow!” He chuckled as Rachel gave him a death glare.

“Seriously, they feel like a baby,” said Brittany, still entranced with Kurt’s hand. “Now I know what it’s like to date a baby!”

Oh my GOD, thought Carson. This whole thing is just…I mean, come on, Kurt. How is she even in high school? How did she get even the minimal grades required to get this far? I just don’t GET IT.

“Hey Kurt! Carson!” a familiar voice called from behind the three of them. 

“Dad! Hey,” said Kurt as he and Carson turned around to see their father walking down the hallway toward them. Carson had a bad feeling that he wasn’t there to see them.

“Finn caught a foul ball on the ninth, so that means free hoagies at Lenny’s Hoagies and then half-price at the motocross tonight, so I promised him I’d take him,” said Burt, nodding a hello in Brittany’s direction as he finished talking.

I knew it. Fuck.Poor Kurt, thought Carson. He wasn’t even looking at Kurt’s face and he knew what it must look like. Like complete devastation.

“Can you excuse us for a minute, boo?” Kurt asked Brittany.

“What?”

“Just go away,” he said, his clear exasperation with her starting to show at last. Brittany walked away and Kurt turned back to Burt as Carson stayed behind him. “Did you ever think that might be something I wanted to do with you?” he asked him in a shaky voice.

“Look, Kurt, Finn needs a buddy right now, ok? At the game he got to talk about his dad and his mom thinks it’s a really good thing for him. Look, I promise you we will hang out as much as you want, ok? Just not tonight.” He patted Kurt on the arm and waved at Carson before turning and heading back the way he came. Carson stepped up beside his twin and put one hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Kurt was shaking.

“Kurt?” he said hesitantly.

“I have to go,” Kurt said, clearly struggling not to cry right there in the middle of the school hallway. “I…I think I’m gonna go practice in the auditorium. Gonna change my stupid clothes and go practice,” he mumbled, more to himself than to Carson. He turned around and hurried in the direction of the auditorium as Carson watched him go, frowning. 

God, Dad, why do you keep showing up at SCHOOL to take Finn to things? Don’t you realize how that makes Kurt feel? 

Before he could change his mind, he headed in the direction his dad had gone, hoping to catch up with him before he and Finn left. It was time they had a serious discussion. If he wouldn’t listen to Kurt, maybe he would listen to Carson.

“Dad!” he shouted, spotting him about to go into the front office. “Dad, can we talk?”

“Don’t really have the time right now, kid, I’ve gotta sign Finn out and-“

“Can you MAKE the time? Please? It’s important,” Carson insisted.

Burt gave him a long look and nodded. “Fine. Ok.”

“Great,” said Carson, leading them out the front doors and over into a corner near a tree where they could talk in private. “Dad, you’re kind of killing Kurt.”

Burt frowned. “What?”

“With all this Finn stuff,” Carson explained. “You’re always doing fun stuff with Finn and showing up at school to pick him up, and it’s really hurting Kurt’s feelings.”

“Well, I know he’s a little upset that we don’t do as much stuff together right now, but I’ve explained to him that Finn needs a-“

“No, Dad, really. It’s really hurting him,” interrupted Carson, crossing his arms across his chest. “You just don’t see how much because he doesn’t let you see him cry. But I see. I’m the only one who ever sees. It’s hurting him badly. He thinks the reason you prefer spending time with Finn is because Finn isn’t gay.”

“Now that’s not true!” Burt said. “You know that.”

“Regardless, that’s what he thinks,” said Carson.

Burt frowned, putting his hands in his pockets and looking at Carson carefully. “Really?”

“Yes,” said Carson. “Why do you think he’s been lowering his voice and pretending to date an idiot and dressing like…well…like you? He wants your attention, and he isn’t getting it because you’ve been spending so much time with Finn. I don’t think this is what he had in mind when he set you and Carole up.”

“I didn’t realize he felt that strongly about it,” Burt mused.

“Well, he does. And I think today was the final straw. He’s on his way to the auditorium right now to practice god only knows what depressing showtune. That’s how he relieves stress. He sings.”

Burt was quiet for a minute, thinking. “Maybe I should go check up on him,” he said at last.

“Yeah, I think that would be great,” said Carson. “Tell Finn you can’t hang out today. Please. Kurt needs you right now.”

Burt nodded. “Yeah….yeah, I think you’re right, kid. I’ll talk to Finn.” He started back inside the building and then turned around. “Hey, Carson, you don’t think I ignore YOU too much, do you?”

“No, Dad, I think we’re good,” Carson said with a smile.

Burt nodded. “Cause you’d tell me, right?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Ok.”

                                 **************************

“It was you who sent Dad to the auditorium today, wasn’t it?” asked Kurt that night as he settled into bed beside Carson. “He didn’t say it, but it was you.”

Carson nodded and closed his laptop, setting it on the nightstand. “Guilty. I just couldn’t stand seeing you so depressed anymore.”

“I wasn’t depressed,” protested Kurt.

“Yes, you were. And you’re my Kurtsie. When you’re sad, I’m sad.”

Kurt smiled and threw his arms around Carson’s neck, hugging him tight. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Any time,” Carson answered, patting him gently on the back. “Any time.”

                                 **************************

The day Carson had been dreading finally arrived several weeks later when Burt asked the twins to please meet him in the living room, as he had something very important to discuss with them. Carson had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he and Kurt took seats beside one another on the living room sofa. He strongly suspected this had something to do with the Hudsons. And he was absolutely right.

“Boys, as you know, Carole and I have been seeing each other for a few months now,” Burt began, looking back and forth between the twins, “and we’ve decided that we’d like to go ahead and start living together. Which means that they’ll be moving in here with us.”

Kurt clasped his hands together and squealed. “Oh, Dad, this is great! I’m so happy for you! Oh, I can’t wait to actually start redecorating the bedroom. I mean, Finn will probably have zero opinions on what he’d like, since he’s such a boy, but it won’t hurt to ask him.”

“Daaaaaaaad, do they have to move in?” Carson whined. “I’m not ready! I thought it would be a lot longer before you actually did this! I don’t wanna live with Finn!”

Burt sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I know, Carson, but I’m afraid you’re just going to have to deal with it. Finn is not that bad. I’m sure you can find a way to get along with him.”

“But…he has to share our bedroom!” Carson said. “I don’t WANT him in there!” His father had no idea HOW badly Carson didn’t want Finn in there. Lately he had been waking up with Kurt-inspired erections more often than ever before thanks to the fucking Cheerios uniform. It was getting to be quite a problem, although, true to his silent promise to Kurt, he had somehow managed to not think about him while he took care of matters. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep that up, since it was becoming more and more difficult to not think about Kurt. But the point was, if Finn was sleeping in the same room, it would be risky to sneak off into the bathroom at night without him noticing. Not to mention that he just plain didn’t like the idea of Kurt and Finn being around each other in various states of undress. 

Despite Carson’s vehement objections to the situation, their father did not budge on his decision. Which was how he found himself standing, arms crossed, between Kurt and their dad in the twins’ bedroom on the night before Finn and his mom were supposed to move in. They were waiting for Carole to lead Finn down the stairs. Apparently, Finn had yet to be told about this new development in their parents’ relationship, and was going to be surprised with the news when he arrived. Carson couldn’t wait to see his dismayed reaction. It would be the one bright spot in what was sure to be a sucktastic evening.

He wasn’t disappointed. Finn took the news about as well as Carson had. Carson almost felt sorry for him until he remembered that he was going to have to share Kurt’s attention with him all day, every day from now on. Then he went right back to being sorry for himself.

“The twins don’t have their own beds?” Carole had asked in surprise as she looked around the room. It was the first time she had seen it. Carson looked up sharply. Oh, hell no. If she thought she was going to join their family and make him and Kurt sleep in separate beds….

Thankfully, Burt smiled and shook his head. 

“Nah….when they were little the only way we could get them to sleep was to put them in the same bed together, and then as they got older it saved room to just have the one bed. Now they’ve been sleeping together for long it would be hard on them to make them sleep separately.”

“Oh,” Carole had said slowly. “Well, what about college? That will be quite an adjustment for you boys if you’ve never even slept alone.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Carson said quickly, eager for the conversation to be over. She was just going to have to get over it. There was no way he was being kept away from Kurt. No fucking way. Thankfully, Carole dropped the subject and left the room to find Finn, who had left to go sulk alone somewhere. Kurt stared happily down at the money Burt had just given him to redecorate the bedroom with. 

“Now that I have a solid budget, I’m sure I can make this room somewhat to Finn’s tastes,” he said.

“It’s still my room, too,” Carson mumbled.

“Oh, hush, Carsey,” Kurt admonished him. “Learn to compromise, will you? I promise, it won’t kill you.”

Finn’s first night in the room was exhausting. All three boys had helped move all of Finn’s crap into the room. Carson would have been more than happy to just let Finn move all his shit by himself, but he had grudgingly decided to help when Kurt started helping Finn move his dresser down the stairs.

“No, Kurt, let me do it,” he had said, gently pushing Kurt aside and taking his place. The last thing he needed to top off his shitty new life was a heavy dresser falling on Kurt and killing him. The room was slightly more cluttered once all of Finn’s stuff was moved in, but there was still plenty of room to move around. So, there was that.

“There, it doesn’t look so bad right now, does it?” asked Kurt, sitting down on his and Carson’s bed and surveying their new surroundings. “It’s not decorated yet, of course, but it’s not bad.”

“It’ll do,” Carson grumbled. “I still don’t know why we couldn’t just stick Finn in the storage room upstairs.”

“Shh, Carson,” Kurt hissed, gazing in the direction of the bathroom, where Finn was showering. “He’ll hear you.”

“No, he won’t, and even if he did, I don’t give a shit,” Carson said. “My life is now officially over now that I have to share a room with him.”

“You are such a drama queen. Can you at least try to make the best of this?” asked Kurt. “Or at least not be so openly hostile to Finn? For me?” He gave Carson the pout, and Carson flopped down on the bed beside him and sighed.

“Fine. I promise to not make it so very obvious how much I hate Finn. Happy?”

“I will be as soon as I’ve gotten this room redecorated,” answered Kurt, patting Carson on the arm. “I wish Finn would give me at least some idea of what he’d like.”

“Decorate it however you want. I doubt he cares,” said Carson, resting his head in Kurt’s lap. “Mmmm..you smell nice. What is it today? Raspberry?”

“Melon,” replied Kurt. 

“I knew that.”

Finn emerged from the bathroom just then (fully dressed, Carson noticed, thank God) and  Kurt gently pushed Carson off his lap so that he could go take his turn in the shower. “Be good, both of you,” he warned playfully as he collected a towel and disappeared into the bathroom.

Carson sighed and grabbed his laptop, opening a new Word document so that he could jot down notes for the next week’s edition of The Muckraker. He looked up after several minutes to find Finn staring at him.

“Can I help you?” he asked irritably.

“Oh…sorry, dude. I was just wondering…” Finn trailed off.

Carson sighed. “Wondering what?”

“How come you and Kurt share a bed?” Finn asked, sounding confused. 

“God, Finn, don’t you know anything?” Carson said, not wanting to go into reasons with him right now. “All twins share beds. It’s customary.”

“Oh,” said Finn. “Cool. Didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, well now you do.” Fuck, he’s such an idiot. That was almost too easy.  

There was silence for several more minutes, and then Finn spoke up again.

“…Dude?”

“Yeah?”

 “Can I ask you a question?” said Finn. Carson sighed and shut his laptop.

“What?”

“Why do you always act like you hate everyone?”

“That’s not an act, Finn. I DO hate everyone. Almost everyone.”

“You treat Kurt pretty well,” said Finn.

“Kurt’s different,” Carson said sharply. “He’s my twin and he’s the only person in this fucking town who doesn’t set my teeth on edge.”

Kurt emerged from the bathroom just then, and holy hell he was shirtless. Carson was at least grateful to see that he had put pajama bottoms on in the bathroom, but still. He wasn’t too thrilled about anyone else enjoying that view.

“You look cold, Kurt,” he said pointedly. “You should probably put a shirt on. Like, as soon as possible.”

“I was just getting to that, Carson,” Kurt replied through his teeth. He rooted through the closet and quickly threw a T-shirt on. “Happy?”

“Very,” Carson replied.

“Let’s just all go to bed,” said Kurt, climbing in beside Carson. “Tomorrow’s the first day of Gaga week and I’m gonna have to be up super early to put on my costume.” Oh, yes, that Lady Gaga costume for glee club. Carson had almost forgotten. He had seen Kurt in it already and Kurt had looked hot as hell in it, especially with those heels he had made to go with it. Carson, of course, had absolutely refused to wear a costume. What was Mr. Schue going to do? Kick him out of the club?

He must have been more tired than he realized, because the next thing he knew he was being awoken by the sound of Finn screaming in terror.

What the fuck? he thought sleepily, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dark room. He quickly realized the cause of the screaming and scrambled out of bed. Kurt had been sleepwalking again. At the moment, he was standing right next to Finn’s bed with his head cocked to the side. Finn must have had quite the shock when he woke up.

“Shut the fuck up!” Carson hissed at Finn. “You’ll wake him up and give him a fucking heart attack!”

“Him? What about me? I woke up and he was just standing there like some weirdo,” Finn hissed back. “I didn’t know he sleepwalks.”

“Well, now you do. And this is another reason why we share the same bed. He can be dangerous when he sleepwalks, and I have to be there to get him back to bed,” Carson whispered, an evil idea taking shape in his mind.

“D-dangerous?” asked Finn.

“Oh yeah,” Carson whispered excitedly. “You never know where he’ll end up. Once, he had a dream that he was the monkey from The Lion King and I found him upstairs holding a teddy bear out of the window like it was Simba. And that teddy bear could easily have been a person. Kurt is pretty strong in his sleep, you know.”

“So what…what happens if he dreams that he’s a serial killer or something?” Finn asked nervously.

“I have no idea,” said Carson. “I guess you just hope I wake up in time to go find him. Pleasant dreams!” He gently grabbed Kurt’s shoulders and steered him back toward the bed, smiling to himself. Finn wouldn’t be able to sleep for the rest of the night now.

                                ************************

Carson trudged into the house, utterly exhausted, and tossed his bag onto the couch. School had been long and sucky, and he’d had to stay a few hours extra after school in order to see that the Muckraker was set to print the next day. He hadn’t even had Kurt (or his sexy Gaga outfit) to hang out with during the day because Kurt had skipped school in order to finish redecorating their bedroom.

“It really needs to get done today,” he had said eagerly that morning as they sat eating breakfast. “I want to surprise Finn with it. And besides, it will be nice to have one day where I’m not harassed by Karofsky and his cronies.”

“Wait, what?” Carson had asked sharply. “That asshole on the football team has been harassing you? What’s he done? I’ll kick his ass.”

“No, Carson. It’s nothing, really. Just don’t worry about it,” Kurt insisted. “I’ll be fine, he’s just an idiot. I can handle it.”

“If I catch him talking to you again, I will poison his lunch,” said Carson. “Do you want me to stay home and help you? I’m not much of a decorator, but I can try.”

“Oh, no no no,” Kurt had said. “You just go to school. No offense, but you’ll be way more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to this stuff.”

“That hurts, Kurt.”

“The truth does, honey. Now go to school.” 

Now that his long day was over, he was so ready to just chill out for a while. He wondered if Kurt had finished the room yet.

“Hi, Dad,” he said to Burt, who was sitting at the kitchen table paying bills. “You’re home early.”

“Hey, kid. Short day at the shop. How was your day?”

“Fine. Busy. How’s Kurt doing with the room?”

“No idea. He wouldn’t let me down to see it yet. Must be finished, though. He took Finn down there just now. I’m sure it looks like something out of a magazine. You know your brother.”

Carson smiled. He certainly did. He grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and headed downstairs, eager to see what Kurt had spent the day doing to their room. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting as he descended the stairs, but it certainly wasn’t Kurt and Finn yelling at each other, which was what he was greeted with. He froze halfway down the stairs and listened to the heated conversation happening below.

“It’s just a room, Finn! We can redecorate it if you want to!” Kurt was yelling. What? What the fuck is wrong with Finn? I mean, I can’t see the whole room from here, but it looks pretty damn good to me.

“Ok. Good,” he heard Finn reply. “Then the first thing that needs to go is that faggy lamp!” 

What.

WHAT.

WHAT???

What the fuck had Finn just said? Surely Carson had misheard. 

“And then we need to get rid of this fa-“

Carson descended the rest of the stairs in a split second. It took even less time than that for him to bound over to where Finn stood and connect his fist with his face with as much strength as he had in him. He punched him so hard it actually hurt his knuckles. Finn stopped yelling and stumbled back, holding one hand over the right side of his face where Carson had clocked him. Kurt screamed. Another set of footsteps descended the stairs.

“What is going ON down here?” Burt demanded, looking from Finn to Carson as he pieced together what had happened. “What did you just call him?” he snapped at Finn, completely ignoring the fact that Finn was nursing an injured face. Carson walked over to a shaking, crying Kurt and put his arm around him protectively.

“No, I didn’t call him anything, I was just talking about the blanket…” Finn stammered.

“No, you used that word and you’re talking about him,” Burt said, walking closer to Finn.

“Relax, Dad. I didn’t take it that way,” Kurt protested as Carson glared daggers at Finn.

“That’s because you’re sixteen and you still assume the best in people,” Burt answered Kurt, never taking his eyes off Finn. “You live a few years, you start seeing the hate in people’s hearts. Even the best people. You use the N word?” he asked Finn.

“Of course not,” said Finn quietly, wincing at the pain in his face. 

“Yeah? How about “retard?” That nice girl on the Cheerios with Kurt…you call her a retard?”

“Becky? No. She’s my friend. She’s got Down Syndrome. I’d never call her that. That’s cruel,” said Finn weakly.

“But you think it’s ok to come into my house and say faggy?” Burt asked. Carson looked at Kurt, who looked absolutely miserable. He wished he could just kill Finn right then and there for causing his twin to look like that.

“That’s not what I-“

“I KNOW WHAT YOU MEANT!” Burt bellowed, to Carson’s surprise. It was rare for their father to raise his voice. “You think I didn’t use that word when I was your age? Some kid gets clocked in practice, we’d tell him to stop being such a fag, shake it off. We meant it exactly the way you meant it. That being gay is wrong, or some kind of punishable offense. I really thought you were different, Finn. I thought that being in glee club, and being raised by your mom, that you were some new generation of dude who saw things differently. Who just kind of came into the world knowing what it’s taken me years of struggling to figure out. I guess I was wrong.”

Kurt shook even more in Carson’s arms. Carson held him a little tighter, looking down at his feet. 

“I’m sorry, Finn, but you can’t stay here,” said Burt. Carson looked back up in shock. Whoa. Dad’s not fucking around.

“Dad…” Kurt started to protest.

“I love your mom,” Burt continued, “and maybe this is gonna cost me her, but my family comes first. I can’t have that kind of poison around. This is our home, Kurt,” he said, turning back to look at Kurt and Carson. “He’s my son,” he said, turning back to Finn. “Out in the world, you do what you want. Not under my roof.”

The discussion over, Finn hurried back up the stairs, still clutching his swelling face. Burt looked at the twins for a minute, taking in the way Kurt was practically falling apart in Carson’s arms. 

“Carson, I understand why you did what you did, but you shouldn’t have,” Burt said quietly. “We’ll discuss that later. Kurt, the place looks GREAT.” He gave Kurt a pat on the shoulder before heading upstairs after Finn.

As soon as the basement door shut, Kurt seemed to let go of any shred of strength he had been holding on to this whole time and started sobbing against Carson’s shoulder.

“I know,” Carson said soothingly. “Let it out, Kurtsie. Let it all out. I’m here. It’s ok.” He sat down on the small couch Kurt had added to the room, pulling Kurt down with him and wrapping both arms around him. Kurt sagged against him and cried for what seemed like hours, making Carson hate Finn’s guts even more with every passing minute. He wished he’d had time to do more than just punch him in his stupid face. He wished he’d been able to kick him in the balls, too, among other various torture methods.

Gradually, Kurt’s sobs tapered off into gasps and sniffles as he started to calm down. Carson brought his hand to Kurt’s face and gently wiped some of the tears away with his thumb.

“Feeling better now?” he asked gently. Kurt sniffed and nodded. Carson looked around the room, really taking in for the first time all the work Kurt had put into it. He didn’t know what the fuck Finn’s problem was. The room looked awesome.

“You know,” he said, “I think I like the way the room looks now better than the way it looked before. You did a really good job with it. I kind of feel like I’m in a royal bedroom or something. Anyone who doesn’t like it is just an asshole.”

Kurt gave him a watery smile. “Really?”

“Definitely,” said Carson. “Can we keep it like this?”

Kurt laughed and swiped at his eyes with his hand. “Yeah. Yeah, ok. Let’s keep it.”

“Good,” Carson said, stroking his fingers through Kurt’s hair as Kurt rested his head back against Carson’s chest. “Now we officially have the nicest bedroom in town.” He kissed the top of Kurt’s head and noticed that his eyes had closed and, if the way his weight against Carson had suddenly sagged further was any indication, he was on his way to falling asleep.

“Kurt?”

“Hmm?”

“Just wanted to let you know I love you.”

“I know. ‘Love you too.”