Two Weeks Later

Kurt watched with a bit of melancholy as the train rounded the corner. His best friend Rachel had just left to meet her fathers in New York City so they could look at housing options for when she went to NYADA. Although she was only going to be gone for a few days, Kurt knew that this was the close of a major chapter in their lives. Even worse, it looked like Finn had just lost the love of his life.

The past two weeks had been a flurry of activity. Blaine slowly but surely started healing. Thanks to Kurt’s ministrations and a bit of arnica gel, the bruises on his face and body were just about gone. His rib was healing nicely, and as long as he took it easy, he was able to take part in day to day activities. They were still unable to find Blaine’s father, but a fully-fledged investigation was underway. Burt and Carole passed their Child Protective Services inspection with flying colors, and Blaine Anderson officially became a part of the Hudson-Hummel household.

Things were even busier for Kurt. Between settling in and taking care of the new member of his family, he was in charge of keeping Rachel busy while Finn talked to his parents and Rachel’s dads regarding his decision to join the army. It was tricky, and Kurt could tell Rachel knew something was up, but he successfully got her out of the house by buying tickets for most of the gang to see a revival of Cabaret at the community theater. Rachel spent most of the production lamenting the fact that she never had the chance to play the female lead in front of a paying audience in sophomore year.

He also felt guilty helping her plan her imminent wedding knowing that it wasn’t going to happen. However, he had promised Finn that he wouldn’t say anything, so he went through all the motions of being the Maid of Honor… or was it Master of Honor?

Kurt had also changed his hair back to its beautiful reddish brown. As much as he enjoyed channeling his inner Adam Lambert, he missed his old hair color. He got his hairdresser friend Carla to strip the black out of his hair. However, he still enjoyed his new look, so he adopted his spiky hair style. Besides, it was summer, and it would grow out before long. Although he wore his new clothes for the most part, he tried to integrate his old clothes from time to time. He was making a point to put a little bit more variety in his life. Today he had decided to wear one of his old suits, a dark blue number with blue and white striped sleeves.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for Quinn, her internship was pushed back a month. Sadly, this would conflict directly with her start time at Yale. She had until the end of the week to give the internship committee her decision. She still wasn’t sure what she was going to do. It was a huge decision, but it had to be made.

Burt had returned to Washington as he couldn’t put off his meetings indefinitely. Carole stayed home to make sure that Blaine’s transition went smoothly. Between her and Kurt, Burt was sure that things would go well, so he returned to work with a promise to visit again as soon as he could.

As the train turned the corner, carrying their friend to a new life, all the members of the New Directions started hugging each other with tears in their eyes. They knew exactly what was going on, and it felt like an end of an era. Yes, Rachel was coming back for the summer, but things would never be the same again. Kurt could definitely relate.

He looked down the train platform at his brother. Finn ran after the train until it got too fast for him to keep up. He just stood there with his shoulders slumped and his head down. He looked defeated. Kurt turned to Blaine and said, “I’ll be right back. I think my brother needs me.”

“Take your time, babe. I’ll just wait here on the bench,” Blaine responded. Although he was almost 100 percent better, the injuries that his father inflicted on him had taken a lot out of him. It was going to take a while for him to have the energy level he had before.

Kurt nodded, embraced his boyfriend tenderly, kissed him, and started jogging down the platform toward Finn. As he got closer, he could see Finn’s shoulders shaking, as if he were crying. His back was to Kurt, so he couldn’t tell what was happening with his brother.

“Finn!” Kurt called out.

Suddenly, Finn’s head snapped up and he roughly wiped at his face. He turned and Kurt could tell he had been crying by the red rings around his eyes. “Hey, Little Brother,” he said quietly.

Kurt put his hand on Finn’s wide shoulders and asked, “Hey, Big Brother.” Finn tried his hardest not to make eye contact with him. “Finn, are you alright?”

Finn nodded and gave a smile, but Kurt knew that his brother was just putting on a brave front. “Sure! I’ll be fine.” He looked back to where the train had just disappeared. “It’s just… that she’s gone. And I’m not sure when I’ll see her again.”

“Finn…” Kurt said, trying to comfort Finn, who was obviously in pain.

Finn’s head slowly turned towards Kurt and panic flashed across his face. “Kurt, she’s gone. What did I do? I just made a big mistake!” he exclaimed. “I can’t do this! I can’t leave her!”

“Finn! You need to calm down! Come on... please?” Kurt begged, putting both hands on Finn’s shoulders. He had to reach up to be able to do so, but his brother was bordering on manic. “You were there for me when I was losing my mind. I need to be there for you. It’s going to be fine.”

“How can you say that, Kurt?” Finn cried. “A few weeks ago we were planning our wedding, and now I just set her free – whatever the hell that means! – and I’m leaving for the army? How is that fine??”

“Dude, I know what it’s like to have things change on a dime,” Kurt said, trying to adopt his brother’s speech patterns. He noticed that he was doing that more and more since the week from hell. “I lived it a couple weeks ago, remember? It’s going to suck big time, but things will get better. Mom told me that.”

“I just don’t want to lose her,” Finn said, starting to calm down. “She’s my everything. You know how that feels, right?”

“Finn, Rachel is completely devoted to you. You did the right thing. It would’ve been a sin if she stayed home for a year. We can always catch up to her in New York. She NEEDS to pursue her dream now,” Kurt responded. “You know the term ‘you need to be cruel to be kind,’ right? We studied it in English class.”

“I guess I get what you’re saying,” Finn reluctantly agreed. “I needed to force her to make the decision that might hurt now but help us in the long run, right?”

“Exactly!” Kurt said, giving his brother a smile. “I guarantee you’ll find your way to each other again.”

“But what if we don’t?” Finn asked. “I know I’m supposed to be the big tough man here, but I’m terrified.”

“Oh, Finn,” Kurt said and embraced his brother. This took Finn by surprise and he returned Kurt’s embrace and started sobbing.

“Why do I have a feeling this is the end, Little Brother?” Finn sobbed into Kurt’s shoulder. “It’s just too much to handle, with everything going on.”

“It’s never the end, my friend,” Kurt soothed. “I know it’s not the same, but you have me and Blaine, and the rest of the New Directions. We’ll get through all this together.”

Kurt held Finn, letting him sob his pain and grief out. It was a very surreal image, and Kurt felt that he and Finn’s relationship had come full circle at that moment. How they went from barely talking to each other to being close brothers still mystified him. They stood alone on the platform with Kurt being the strong one this time. His brother needed it.

After the tears started to subside, Kurt pulled away, took the handkerchief out of the breast pocket of his suit and passed it to Finn. “You need this more than I do,” he said. Finn wiped his eyes, blew his nose and tried to pass it back. “You keep it,” he said and gave a grimace. “I have plenty.”

“Thanks, dude,” Finn said. He looked back to the head of the platform where his friends still stood and added, “Look, I really don’t want to face everyone right now. I think I’m just going to go to the park or something to do some thinking. I’ll join you and Blaine later, okay?”

“That’s fine,” Kurt responded. “I have my phone with me so call if you need me and I’ll come right away, alright? You’ll get through this, I promise.”

“Yeah, sure,” Finn said. He hugged his brother one more time. “Thanks again, Kurt.”

“Anytime, Finn. Really. We’re brothers for life now,” Kurt assured and put his hand up for a fist bump. “Love ya.”

“Right back at ya, kiddo,” Finn said sadly as he returned the gesture. He then turned and slowly started walking towards his car.

Kurt watched Finn leave the train station then started walking quickly towards the rest of the gang. Most of the New Directions were still on the platform and talking in hushed tones, like someone had just died. Maybe someone did… or something.

Kurt sighed as he sat heavily on the bench beside Blaine. His boyfriend was having a heated conversation with Rory.

“Rory, what’s bothering you so much? Why won’t you tell me?” Blaine insisted.

“Mate, it’s not something I can talk about while we’re around the group. I’m really not comfortable discussing this with everyone around, Blaine,” Rory said and looked around frantically. “Let’s meet once things calm down. Me flight doesn’t leave until next week. Let’s just say that my life might be in danger if I stay.”

“What the hell?” Kurt asked. “What did I just walk into?”

“Oh, hi, Kurt,” Rory greeted. “I’m just having a wee bit of a crisis, but I think it’ll work out. I gotta go.” He then scurried away.

“What was that about?” Kurt asked Blaine. Blaine didn’t respond but just shook his head and shrugged.

Kurt let out another huge sigh and put his head in his hands, “I thought the drama was over, love.”

“It’s never over, babe. Otherwise our lives would be very boring,” Blaine said and put his hand on Kurt’s back, rubbing it in comforting circles. “Is Finn okay? It looks like he lost it a bit.”

“That seems to be going around a lot lately,” Kurt said sarcastically from between his fingers. “Can we just go home? I’m so done with today.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Blaine said, standing. “I think Carole wanted me to help with dinner this evening anyway. Then maybe we can work on redecorating my room. I think I’ve decided between the forest green and the light blue for my wall colors.”

“I always knew you had good taste, Blaine,” Kurt said, also standing. “You picked me, after all.” They both grinned at each other. Suddenly both Blaine’s and Kurt’s phones vibrated at the same time. They looked at each other with bemused expressions and pulled out their phones, wondering who the message was from; it was from Rachel.

My heart is broken… I think I’m dying, guys! I miss you both so much already. Why would Finn do this to me?

Kurt looked at Blaine and shook his head sadly. He hated lying to his best friend, and it hurt him that the two people who were the closest to him were hurting like this. “I know exactly what to text her, and I think you do too,” he said to his boyfriend.

“Yup,” Blaine responded and they both texted one word:

Courage

“Let’s go home,” Kurt said and put his arm around Blaine’s waist. They walked back to the car in silence, feeling for their best friends.

******

They eventually made it home, and Carole had already started dinner. She was concerned when she didn’t see Finn with Blaine and Kurt. Sam had decided to go hang with Santana and Puck, so he wouldn’t be home for the evening.

“So, how’s Finn holding up?” Carole asked.

“Better than can be expected, actually,” Kurt responded. “Mom, do you think he made the right decision?”

“Who knows?” Carole said. “I’m not sure how good of an idea it is for Finn to join the army, but this is something he needs to find out for himself. Otherwise he’d spend the rest of his life wondering ‘what if?’ Know what I mean?”

“A pain I know all too well,” Kurt lamented. “My entire life right now is one great big ‘what if?’ I’m going to reapply to NYADA, but I also gotta figure out what I’m doing about this internship. Right now, though, I just want to crawl into bed and forget the world.”

“Why don’t you go have a nap, babe, and I’ll help Carole make dinner,” Blaine said and kissed Kurt’s cheek. “I’ll come wake you when it’s ready.”

“Maybe I will,” Kurt agreed. “Talk to you both later.” He was about to turn away when he heard the doorbell ring. “I wonder who that could be?”

“I’ll get it!” Blaine called and quickly walked towards the front door. Kurt joined him as he was curious as to who it was calling unexpectedly.

Blaine opened the door and was about to give a happy greeting when his mouth fell open. Kurt looked over Blaine’s shoulder and stepped back in shock.

“Hey, Squirt,” said the person at the door. “So sorry it took me so long to get here. Busy at work and all.”

Blaine wasn’t sure what to say. This was the last person he was expecting to see. “Cooper, why are you here?”

END OF BOOK ONE (TO BE CONTINUED IN CRUEL SUMMER 2: BOYS OF SUMMER)