Friday

Finn

                Kurt was leaving for Dalton today and Finn couldn’t put a label on what he was feeling at the moment. It was an odd mixture of happiness and sadness; maybe a little anger as well. Finn couldn’t imagine that his relationship with Kurt would have progressed to the point that it had this week. He had always wanted a little brother and well…he gained one this week. Or it felt like it, at least. He was the protector, the shield. Kurt spent the week in a strange flitting of emotions: happy to sad to angry to excited to scared. Not to mention he was having the beginnings of nightmares every night. Kurt had started sleeping with his door open since the night that everything happened with Karofsky. As long as Finn kept his door open too, he could overhear the beginning of quiet cries coming from his brother’s room. At the beginning of each nightmare, Finn crept into his brother room and clicked on the soft light of the bedside lamp. He pulled the covers away from his brother (who was either usually thrashing or curled up tightly in a ball) and shook his shoulder until Kurt’s eyes finally opened. Kurt almost always fell back to sleep immediately, but not without shoving over on the bed to leave room for Finn and muttering some kind of a raspy-with-sleep thank you.

                It was Finn’s job to drive Kurt to Westerville today. Burt and Carole were driving Burt’s truck, which was packed tightly with all of Kurt’s things.  Finn had opted to drive Kurt to Westerville because, well…He was going to miss his brother while he was away at school. Plus, he had to help Kurt carry in the heavier things. There was no way in hell that Kurt would let Burt do any of the heavy lifting, not after the heart attack.

 Finn can barely even comprehend how much he and Kurt had just talked this week. They had been step-brother for months, living together for a while even before their parents got married, yet they hadn’t had much of a decent conversation. Finn was never able to protect Kurt at school; he never really realized half the stuff that was going on in Kurt’s life. Mostly because Kurt kept everything bottled up inside. It was like a dam had opened last Friday night. Kurt had finally decided to confide in someone other than Blaine and now it seemed like he was always willing to share, to talk things out. Finn knew this was a good thing. It definitely was. But at the same time he was scared that Kurt was going to tell him something that he wouldn’t know how to respond to.  Finn can barely even think about what had been going through his brother’s mind before he had even met Blaine, not to mention now that he was practically attacked.

                None the less, Finn was glad that Kurt had decided to finally open up. The strange thing was, was that Kurt had this ability to make Finn (and most likely Blaine) spill whatever they were feeling whenever they spent time together. Kurt had this cold, hard exterior when he was around other people. It was like a shield to protect his vulnerabilities from the outside world. But when he was in a comfortable place, everything about Kurt softened. The stress melted off of him and his eyes became soft. He smiled more. He laughed more. He just had this look in his eye sometimes that made you want to tell him everything, because he was so trusting.

                Burt was hollering up the stairs for Finn and Kurt to get a move on. It was mid-morning and the family was aiming for arriving in Westerville by early afternoon. Burt and Kurt both wanted to be able to move everything in and unpack without making a big fuss, so they decided to move in while everyone was still in class. Finn was sure that Blaine and maybe even Kurt’s roommate Jeff (whom Kurt could not stop gushing about) would stop by the help, with permission to miss class. Finn threw on his McKinley High letterman jacket and quickly tied up one of his various pairs of converse sneakers, before walking down the hall to Kurt’s room. He stood by the doorway and watched Kurt walk slowly around the bedroom. Kurt was holding a paper in his hand, with most of the text highlighted in fluorescent yellow.

                It must be his packing list, he thought. “Dude, are you ready to go? Burt’s waiting downstairs.”

                Kurt whirled around to face his step-brother.  “Finn! You have got to stop sneaking up on me like that!”

                “Sorry, bro.” Finn shrugged. “I thought you finished packing last night.” He nodded vaguely to the list in Kurt’s hand.

                “Yes, I did,” Kurt said pointedly. “I was just making sure I didn’t miss anything.”

                “You are aware they have malls in Westerville, right? I’m sure if you just forgot something you could just go buy a new one.”

 Kurt rolled his eyes at him. “That’s not the point. However it seems like I haven’t missed anything anyways.”

                “Cool, cause Burt and Mom are ready to go,” said Finn. Kurt just nodded a little bit and put on the peacoat and scarf that he had resting on the bench at his vanity.  Finn turned around to go down the stairs, but he stopped to wait for his brother. Before leaving, Kurt took one last look at his room before walking out into the hallways and closing the door behind him.

                “It’s not like you’re moving to Alaska, dude. You’ll be back next weekend.”

                “I know, Finn.” Kurt exhaled loudly. “It’s just kind of sad to leaving home, that’s all.”

                “At least you’ll be prepared for college,” Finn pointed out, as they walked downstairs. Kurt just hummed in agreement.

                Burt and Carole were standing in the foyer, waiting for their sons.  They both looked optimistic, but Finn couldn’t help but notice a touch of sadness hiding behind the eyes of both his parents.

                “Ready to go?” Carole asked, looking hopeful. The boys just shrugged in response. Kurt was the first one out the door. He stopped at his father’s truck, looking in the backseat and in the trunk bed, making sure everything was packed and secured.  Then he walked behind the truck to his own Navigator, packed with more of his things. He looked in the trunk; yet again making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. Seemingly pleased with the contents, he shut the car door and walked around to the passenger side door, waiting for Finn. Finn clambered over to the Navigator, attempting to keep on Kurt’s good side by leaving on schedule.

                “Okay, now. Both of the cars have GPS systems already set up to direct you to Dalton. You get lost, you call. You get there, you call. Got it?”

                “Dad, we’ll be fine. I’ve driven to Dalton tons of times,” Kurt called out, rolling his eyes.

                “You have, but Finn hasn’t.”

                “Hey!” Finn called out. “I can follow directions pretty well! Kurt wouldn’t let me drive unless he trusted me, right Kurt?”

                Kurt’s features softened. “That’s right.”

                Finn smiled and climbed into the SUV, adjusting the seat and checking the mirrors.

                “We’ll see you in two hours!” Kurt called out, before getting into the car.

                “Thanks again for letting me drive, dude,” Finn said, patting his brother’s shoulder.

                Kurt smiled. “It’s no problem. I barely got any sleep last night, which means I’m useless as a driver.  Just don’t run over a mailman and we’ll be fine.”

                Finn groaned at the jab and turned the key in the ignition. They were off.

Two Hours Later

Kurt

                Kurt was glad that Burt and Carole opted to excuse Finn from school today to help move him in to Dalton. He was a nervous wreck. He hadn’t slept all night. Even the tiny playlist of songs Blaine had recorded for him for Valentine’s Day didn’t help him fall asleep like it usually did. He wanted to call his boyfriend all night, so he could at least be comforted somewhat, but he decided not to. Blaine had always told him that it was alright to call whenever he wanted, even if it was in the middle of the night but Kurt figured he had been enough of a burden this week. Blaine needed his sleep; he had class in the morning. A sleepy Blaine is generally not the nicest version of Blaine and Kurt didn’t want to be responsible for a sleep-deprived Blaine saying something he shouldn’t have. So, he tossed and turned all night, eventually waking up at the crack of dawn to finish packing.

                Anxiety had been filling the gaps where excitement should be these past couple of days. On Thursday, Kurt had gone to McKinley to explain to his friends why he wouldn’t be returning to school. Mercedes, Rachel and Tina were all completely devastated. The boys erupted in an angry uproar. He had left before it had gone completely out of control, guilt settling heaving in his stomach. He called Blaine on the way home from school, absolutely freaking out, insisting he was a bad friend for leaving like he just had. Blaine, always the voice of reason, calmed him down and convinced him to simply invite his friends over after school to explain the situation.

                One word to explain that gathering would be: tearful. There were many tears and cuddles throughout the afternoon. Kurt promised time and time again that this wouldn’t be the end of the world and that it was necessary that he leave. When the girls left, Kurt felt like he still hadn’t managed to convince them that transferring would be beneficial for him. All they kept talking about was how much they would miss him and how horrible it was going to be to compete at Regionals without him. They didn’t even seem to care about what had happened to him in the first place. He’d been trying to brush it off but his thoughts were absolutely whirling. He was feeling sad and anxious instead of excited and happy to be moving to Dalton. He tried to keep thinking about how much fun he would have with Jeff and the other Warblers and how nice it would be to see Blaine every single day, but it just wasn’t working.

                So, Kurt didn’t sleep last night and he was feeling less than ideal this morning. He tried to zone out to the Adele album he convinced Finn to play during the ride, but nothing was working. Maybe once he got to Dalton and saw Blaine, he’d be alright.

                The Hudson-Hummel cars had arrived within minutes of each other at Dalton, where the Dean and a few students were waiting for them.  Kurt and Finn hopped out of the car and greeted those who were waiting to welcome them.

                “Kurt! It’s nice to see you again,” said the Dean, shaking his hand. Kurt smiled and nodded. While the Dean turned towards his parents and Finn, Kurt registered that it was Jeff, Nick and Blaine who were waiting along with the Dean. Without a second thought, Kurt flew into the waiting arms in his boyfriend, almost knocking him over. Kurt squeezed him tight for a few moments and breathed in his comforting scent. He could feel his heart settling in his chest a little, finally.

                “Hi Kurt,” Blaine chuckled quietly. “I missed you too, sweetheart.”

                Kurt just groaned into Blaine’s neck. “You don’t even want to know what went on yesterday,” he complained.

                Blaine backed out of Kurt’s grasp. “What do you mean?” he asked. The concerned look in his eyes made Kurt want to cry. “What happened last night?”

                “I called you last night but I think you were in the shower and I know I should have tried again but by the time I thought about it you were already in bed and I didn’t want to wake you up and…”Kurt trailed off, his voice becoming more frantic as he continued.

                “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’ll talk about it later, alright?” Blaine cupped Kurt’s cheek as a measure of comfort. Kurt looked up through his barely damp lashes and smiled softly.

                “Okay,” he said. Blaine tugged him into a hug and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “I love you,” he whispered.

                “I love you too.”

                Kurt stepped away from Blaine’s embrace and looked towards his family, whom of which were all distracted by the Dean and hadn’t been paying much attention to their little moment. Nick and Jeff on the other hand were watching them closely. Had this been a cartoon, Kurt would have sworn something like rainbows or hearts would be replacing their eyes right about now.

                “Enjoy the show, boys?” Kurt asked, cheekily.

                “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so sweet,” said Nick, sincerely. Jeff nodded in agreement. Kurt’s heart fluttered at the statement. He definitely wasn’t used to hearing compliments such as that from two boys.

                “Thanks, I guess.” Kurt flushed as Nick and Jeff continues to look at them with fondness.

                “So!” The Dean clapped his hands together. “Are we ready to get you all moved in, Kurt?”

                “Yes, definitely,” Kurt replied.

                “As you can see, I’ve excused Blaine, Jeff and Nick from classes this afternoon to help you move in quickly and get you settled in before dinner. Once classes end there will be chaos, so it’ll be optimal to try an avoid that.”

                Kurt raised an eyebrow. “Chaos?”

                “It’s the weekend. A lot of the guys are excited to go home and such,” Blaine explained.

                “Also, sleeping in!” Jeff cut in.

                “Oh! Yes, definitely. Sleep is good,” Blaine agreed.

Kurt snorted. “Says the person who goes to bed at 2am on the weekends.”

“I go to bed early during the week. I just like to stay up late, that’s all,” said Blaine, looking playfully wounded.

“I have to agree with Blaine,” Nick cut in, “I do some of my best thinking in the middle of the night.”

“I can’t tell you how many a cappella arrangements Nick and I have created at one in the morning.”

Nick nods in agreement. “It’s true.”

“Okay, fine. I get it. I’ll stop talking about it now,” Kurt huffs. “Come on, let’s go grab some stuff and start moving in.”

Within two hours, everything was unpacked. Playbills and photos were stuck to walls and the bulletin board on Kurt’s side of the room. The white fitted sheet on top of the ugly patterned mattress was replaced with a navy one and a comforter made of swirls of various shades of blue laid on top (with the addition of many decorative and non-decorative pillows). Kurt’s desk was set up carefully, his shelves filled with clothes, books, DVDs, etc.

He was all set to go.  Unfortunately.

He stood at the main entrance of his dorm building, attempting to delay the departure of his family. Kurt had not expected to get everything moved in within two hours, but with at least seven people making trips back and forth to the car, organizing things, helping to make the bed, hang posters and pictures…it barely took any time at all. He was excited to be there, of course he was. He also felt like his father was dropping him off at sleep-away camp (which Kurt had never attended as a child).

“Okay kiddo, we’re going to get going,” said Burt, hands shoved in his coat pockets. All seven of them were packed into Jeff and Kurt’s dorm room, his family huddled in the doorway. Blaine was sitting on Kurt’s leather desk chair and Nick and Jeff were sitting on Nick’s bed.

“Uh…Nick, didn’t you have that thing you wanted to show me in your room?” Jeff asked, looking at Nick intently.

Nick looked confused for about a second until his eyes lit up with realization. “I did! Thank you for reminding me, Jeff!” Both boys stood up from the bed and approach Kurt’s family at the door.

“It was lovely to meet you all,” said Nick, graciously.

“What Nick said,” Jeff added.

“It was nice to meet you boys as well,” said Burt. “Thanks for helping out and being so welcoming.”

“You boys are both welcome to join Kurt on one of his trips home to Lima, we’d love to have you over from Friday Night Dinner!”

The boys grinned. “We’ll definitely be taking you up on that, Mrs. Hummel. See you soon!” said Nick, as they left.

“So,” Kurt said, “I guess this is it until next weekend.”

“You gonna be alright, kid?” asked Burt, noting the uneasy expression on Kurt’s face.

“I’ll be fine, Dad. It’s just an adjustment. Blaine will help me,” he replied, looking over at his boyfriend. Blaine reached over and took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

“It won’t be long before he’s telling you he never wants to leave,” Blaine teased, winking at Kurt.

Kurt huffed and rolled his eyes, “I highly doubt that, Blaine.”

Burt and Carole just smiled at the couple. Kurt walked across the room to his parents and gave them both a big hug.

“Thanks for everything,” he said softly.

“Of course, sweetie. We love you. We wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Carole, brushing a hand over Kurt’s cheek.

Burt pulled him in for one last hug, “Be safe,” he whispered into his ear. Kurt just nodded as he pulled away.

“See you next weekend!” Burt and Carole left the room, Finn trailing behind them.

“Finn! Wait!” Finn stopped in his tracks, Burt and Carole walking ahead of him. He turned towards his step-brother.

“What’s up, dude?” he asked.

Kurt practically launched himself into his brother’s arms. “Thanks for everything,” he said.

Finn pulled away, looking a little puzzled. “Kurt, what are you talking about?”

Kurt just laughed, “Just, thanks Finn. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me these last couple of days. I’ll call you later, okay?”

Finn smiled fondly at him. Kurt had a feeling that maybe Finn didn’t quite understand the impact he’s had on Kurt’s life these past couple of days (months really, if he thought about it), but soon he would figure it out.

Finn waved as he walked out the door. Kurt shut the door behind him.

“So, how much time do you think we have until Jeff comes back?”

“He’ll occupy himself for a while. I asked him to make himself scarce so we could talk. We haven’t had much of a chance today.”

“Shall we?” Kurt nodded towards his wonderfully made bed. At the suggestion, Blaine and Kurt both toed their shoes off and Kurt removed his jacket and hung it carefully in his closet so it wouldn’t crease. They flopped onto the bed together, both laughing at the complete lack of give that the mattress offered.

“That wasn’t as comfortable as I thought it was going to be,” Kurt giggled.

“I know, I know. It could be worse though, I think,” said Blaine.

Blaine wiggled around a bit on the bed, propping himself up on the pillows. Kurt sat at his side with his legs crossed, leaning his elbows on his knees.

“So, ready to talk about what happened last night?” Kurt sighed and reached for his hand.

“Last night was…God, Blaine. I don’t even know what it was. It was a hot mess. That’s exactly how I would describe it.”

“So what happened?”

“Everyone was so upset when I broke it to the group. The girls were crying and the boys were angry. I just didn’t understand why all of a sudden they were fighting for me, asking me to stay. They were willing to protect me when I told them I was leaving, to get me to stay. But all I could think about was how they were never willing to do so before hand. I mean, I was being slushied daily, shoved into lockers. Can you really tell me that they’ve never noticed before? They never noticed how sad I was before I met you? I was so sad Blaine, all of the time. I was counting down the days until I graduated so I could get out of there and go to New York and live my dreams. And then later on, Mercedes and Rachel and Tina came over. They wouldn’t stop crying Blaine; I didn’t know what to do. It felt like they felt I was hurting them by leaving. It felt like all of the abuse I had being going through didn’t matter, because I was leaving my friends to go somewhere where I could be safe. God, the way Rachel was talking to me though. She was trying to convince me to stay; telling me that she was going to group the boys up and make them be my bodyguards so I could stay and be a part of New Directions. She didn’t want me to leave because I wouldn’t be there for Regionals and go to Nationals with them if they won. They never once said they were sorry for what had happened.”

Kurt started to cry as soon as he was finished explaining to Blaine what he had been feeling for the last 24 hours.

“I felt so horrible when they left, Blaine. I felt like I had let them all down, that I was leaving right before Regionals.” Kurt sniffed and wiped his eyes quickly.  Blaine’s brow was furrowed and his eyes were soft and sympathizing. Blaine opened his arms up, inviting his boyfriend to lie on his chest.

“They just don’t understand, Kurt. They don’t know what it’s like to keep everything bottled up inside because everything is just so hard and you know in your heart that they won’t understand. So you hide yourself. You don’t let them see what is going on in your head because there’s no point. And while I don’t mean any offence to your friends, Kurt, I think they are severely uneducated and, frankly, in complete denial about what was going on. I mean, to completely honest, as teenagers, we are all pretty self-absorbed.”

“Until someone comes into your life and changes everything,” Kurt cut in, tracing his fingers across Blaine’s chest.

Blaine coughed in surprise, “Um, yes. That. Exactly. But what I was saying, we’re all self-absorbed in high school. We don’t really realize what goes on outside our own little bubble until it happens to ourselves. I mean, I’m sure Rachel and Mercedes and Tina have all been slushied, or have been called mean names. But they don’t know what it’s like to be bullied because you’re gay. I think it clouds how they act and that’s probably why they reacted the way they did. I mean, you know as much as I do how important singing and music and Glee Club is in our lives, how much it made an impact.”

“That’s true,” Kurt mused. “I don’t know what I would have done without the Glee club, or even just having my music to help get me through.”

“Me neither,” Blaine agreed. “I mean, if you really think about it, music is how we met.”

Kurt lifted himself off of Blaine’s chest to gain some sort of insight about what he was thinking. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “We met because I broke my wrist.”

“Yes, but Kurt, how did you break your wrist?”

“By slipping on the ice going out to my car,” he said, still not understanding what Blaine was getting at.

Blaine huffed out a breath, “Yes, but Kurt, why were you going out to your car?”

“Oh! To get my iPod so I could listen to music while I made breakfast,” he said excitedly.

                They were silent for a moment, until Kurt burst out laughing. “Blaine, I really think you’re putting way too much thought into this. It sounds like you’re trying to analyze the themes in our relationship or something, like you would for a novel in English class.”

                “What can I say Kurt, the English classes here are really complex,” said Blaine seriously.

                Kurt just rolled his eyes and got off the bed. “Don’t come crying to me when deciding to get a degree in English doesn’t work out for you…”

                Blaine laughed. “Kurt, I was just playing around…”

                “I know, I know. Two can play at that game, as the saying goes. Now, why don’t you bring to me to the common room? I’m sure Jeff is just bursting with the need to tell everyone that I’ve transferred.”

                “We need to treat this delicately, Kurt. I’m afraid that Wes might pass out.”

                “Get the video recorder up on your phone! Let’s see how many youtube views we can get. We can start betting pools and everything,” said Kurt, as he began to walk out of the door.

                “Noted,” said Blaine, laughing. Kurt held out his hand, waiting for him and Blaine graciously accepted it before leading his boyfriend to what he was sure was going to be a large spectacle.