Chapter Twelve

Kurt sat downstairs on the chaise lounge in his bedroom that afternoon after school, with a needle and thread, repairing several tears in the silver fabric of his Lady Gaga costume. The gentle 'nudge' from Karofsky & Co. had resulted in multiple small imperfections in his delicate ensemble.

Things had begun to smooth themselves out slightly in the Hummel household. Following an invite from Burt, Carole and Finn had slowly moved in with them over the past couple of days. Carole, of course, was now sleeping upstairs with Burt (much to the disgust of Finn), and Finn himself had taken up refuge on the fold-out couch in the basement, next to Kurt's bed. Even though Kurt had constructed a makeshift partition curtain from designer fabric, Finn had protested to no avail, and Kurt knew that the taller teen was obviously uncomfortable with the new living arrangements, so he had simply kept to himself and had not even initiated a conversation with him.

Things had been slightly awkward only once for Kurt - The morning after Finn had slept over for the first time. Kurt had woken up, and like any other weekday, made his way to his bathroom for his morning routine. He'd dozed slightly, as he walked, but then suddenly snapped awake as he noticed the gangly teen flopped haphazardly over the fold-out couch. Finn was so tall that his limbs were sticking out all over the place, hanging off the side of the tiny bed as he snored. Kurt had tilted his head in wonder and held back a small snicker before continuing on towards the bathroom. To date, there had been no awkward 'walk-ins' to the bathroom or anything, but Finn intentionally had kept his distance. It hurt, but Kurt could almost understand where the other boy was coming from. It was new to him too. This was obviously not what he'd had in mind when he'd introduced his father to Finn's mom. Kurt could hardly believe that they were already moved in together. It had only been about a month! Burt had explained to Kurt prior to him asking Carole, that when people get to be their age and fall in love, there is no time to waste. Kurt was saddened only temporarily, in thinking that Burt was trying to replace his mother with Carole, but after a deep conversation (and a tub of Oreo ice cream together on the couch watching Mulan) Kurt had decided that Carole was going to be wonderful for his dad. And for him. After all, she was more than willing to let Kurt go shopping and help her chose new outfits.

Kurt looked over to where Finn sat on a white stool, facing the mirror on Kurt's 'manity', scrubbing at his face, attempting to remove his black face paint. The boys (less Kurt) had performed a stirring rendition of the Kiss classic 'Shout it Out Loud', complete with leather costumes and black makeup.

Kurt had to admit, most of the boys had pulled off the look. Puck's ass had looked fine those black leather pants, and Finn, well… yeah.

Although, as much as it pained him to admit, the idea of ever becoming romantically involved with Finn was becoming more and more of a pipedream. The boy was just too damn straight.

Still, it couldn't hurt to look, right?

Kurt decided to break the stalemate.

"Can you have a word with Azimio and Karofsky about harassing me without damaging my Gaga outfit?"

Finn looked up, his black and white painted face now held a red tinge as a result of the boy scrubbing aimlessly.

"Are you serious?" Finn looked astonished. "Do you know how difficult it is with those guys? They attacked me in the bathroom today Kurt. Me!"

Kurt looked the boy over. He didn't seem any worse for wear.

"You know what they said?" Finn continued. "'You move in with that little Kurt kid and now you've got a bad case of the gays.'"

Kurt would have laughed at Finn's impression of Azimio if not for the content of the message.

"Thanks Kurt. Thanks a lot. They already think we're boyfriends."

Kurt struggled to contain his smile.

Would that be such a terrible thing?

"Let them think what they want. They're Neanderthals. In three years they'll be cleaning my septic tank." Kurt supplied casually.

"Don't you get it? We live in Ohio, not New York! I don't understand why you have to make such a big spectacle of yourself." Finn exclaimed, gesturing towards the silver costume in Kurt's hands. "Why can't you just work harder at blending in?"

Ouch.

Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away. He didn't think he could find the words to explain to Finn that he had been working on blending in for as long as he could remember. Now, finally, he was actually gaining the courage to even consider coming out of his shell and showing the world his true self. His clothes were a form of self expression. Maybe not the Gaga costume, Kurt admitted that it was maybe a teeny bit extreme, but his regular clothes, most of which were his own personal designs and combinations were his own (maybe not so subtle) way of showing the world that he accepted the fact that he was different.

Finn's harsh words burned through his mind for several more minutes. Kurt gathered up another round of courage when he noticed that the taller boy was still struggling with the black face paint.

He casually walked over to the vanity and pulled a damp cloth from a package and proceeded to try and help the boy wipe some of the makeup off.

The taller boy was oblivious to what was happening until Kurt touched his face, he then jumped up from the stool and slapped Kurt's hands away, with a horrified look on his face. "Don't touch me!"

Kurt put his hands up in defense, heartbroken for a second time.

Christ, it's not like I was going to bend him over the table and have my way with him!

"What is your problem Finn? It's just a moist towelette!"

Finn mumbled something about finishing in the laundry room and then stormed upstairs.

Kurt gritted his teeth then shouted after him, "Grow up Finn!"

After an awkwardly quiet dinner that evening, Kurt had convinced Finn to join him in the basement to show him a surprise.

"I had to skip school to finish it, but I think you're really going to like it." Kurt said as they walked down the basement steps.

He flipped on the light switch which revealed that Kurt had redecorated the basement in several different colors and designs that afternoon, in hopes that Finn would appreciate what Kurt thought to be a more traditionally 'masculine' scheme. Truth be told, the room was far from masculine. There were different shades of pink and burgundy fabric draped throughout the room.

"Consider it a peace offering after all the yelling that we've been doing."

Finn just huffed something under his breath and ignored him.

"It's a perfect blend of the masculine and the feminine." Kurt explained, "And the muted and the theatrical."

Finn looked astonished. "A-are you freaking insane? I can't live here. I'm a dude."

Kurt was speechless.

"What the hell is that suppose to be?" Finn scowled, pointing to the opposite side of the room.

"It's a privacy partition." Kurt explained, walking over to his newest purchase. "It's the only one I could find on such short notice."

Finn shook his head once more, still looking visibly upset.

"Why are you getting angry about everything? I worked hard on this."

"Why is it so hard for you to understand?"Finn finally scowled, turning towards the corner of the room where Kurt stood. "I don't want to get dressed in front of you."

Kurt's brows furrowed.

Where did that come from?

Kurt was about to reply, but Finn continued in an obviously distressed tone, "Why can't you just accept that I'm not like you?"

A blush crept up Kurt's face and he looked down to the floor in shame as he whispered, "I have accepted that."

"No, you haven't. You think that I don't see the way you stare at me? How flirty you get? You think I don't know why you got so excited that we were going to be moving in together?" Finn threw his arms up in the air as he finished venting his frustrations.

Kurt was pissed. He was pissed that Finn would say such horrible things, he was pissed that the taller boy was not as oblivious as Kurt had assumed he was to his affections and he was pissed that Finn didn't appreciate the hard work that Kurt had put in to re-creating the shared bedroom.

"It's just a room Finn!" Kurt shouted. "We can redecorate it if you want to!"

Finn was also becoming increasingly angrier. "Okay. Good!" He shouted in return. "The first thing that needs to go is that faggy lamp!" He pointed towards the brand new brown and gold lamp that Kurt had purchased that very afternoon.

Kurt's jaw dropped.

Did he just say…?

"Then we can get rid of that faggy…" Finn had started before he was interrupted by heavy footsteps thundering down the basement stairs.

"Hey!" Burt Hummel shouted, pointing a finger towards Finn, whose face had lost every ounce of color. "What did you just call him?"

Finn started to backpedal, both verbally, as he began to stutter out a defense and physically as he backed away from the obviously distraught Burt.

"I d-didn't call him anything! I was just talking to the blanket…"

Burt continued to stomp towards the other boy, still pointing a finger and looking as though he was going to skin him alive. "I know what you meant! When you use that word, you're talking about him. Like being gay is wrong. Like some kind of punishable defense." Burt's tone changed from agitated to disappointed as he continued. "You think it's okay to come into my house and say 'faggy'? I thought you were different Finn. I thought that being in Glee Club and being raised by your mom meant that you were some new generation of dude, who saw things differently. I guess I was wrong."

Finn looked shocked; his brain was searching for words to create an appropriate response, but was interrupted as Burt continued with his tirade.

"I'm sorry Finn, but you can't stay here."

Kurt, who had been nestled in the corner of the room, taking in the altercation, gasped.

What was he saying?

Burt shook his head and continued on once more, "I love your mom and maybe this is going to cost me her, but my family comes first. I can't have that kind of poison around."

Burt turned around and looked towards his son with pride, "This is our home Kurt." Then he looked back towards Finn, "He is my son. Out in the world you do what you want, not under my roof."

Finn stood open-mouthed for several moments, waiting to see if the older man would come to his senses and change his mind. When Burt didn't, Finn turned around and scurried back up the stairs, leaving the two Hummel men to exchange wordless glances; Burt expressing to his son his immense pride. And Kurt, telling his father soundlessly, that he loved him and appreciated the support.

Burt clapped Kurt on the shoulder, "The place looks great." And he too climbed up the stairs, leaving Kurt alone as his tears began to fall.

The following afternoon in Glee class, the girls (plus Kurt) donned their Lady Gaga outfits for their final performance for "Theatricality" week. Both groups sat in the choir room anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mr. Schuester before they could begin their performance.

Kurt sat giggling with Tina before noticing that Finn was staring at him.

He turned around and looked at the gangly teen, wondering what it was he ever saw in him. It hurt him to admit that he'd been so desperately wrong about Finn.

Finn leaned in towards Kurt, "I wanna talk about this…"

Kurt frowned and lowered his voice to just slightly above a whisper. "There's not much to say," He said, shaking his head, "I feel sorry for you. I thought you were different."

Finn looked crushed. "I am different."

Mr. Schue made his appearance then, ending the conversation, much to Kurt's approval. He didn't think he'd be able to maintain his composure for another conversation with Finn.

Kurt was finished classes for the day, Glee club was done and he was going to the bathroom to change out of his Gaga outfit for the last time. The 'Bad Romance' performance had gone extremely well. He was quite proud of himself as he walked into the tiny bathroom on the North end of the school. Kurt often chose this bathroom because it was so far off the beaten path that no one regularly used it.

He had just placed a hand on the counter of the sink and reached down to remove his left silver platform heel when he heard the door swing open.

"Hey there, Nancy boy."

David Karofsky. Oh goody.

Kurt stood back up and was about to turn and walk out of the bathroom, when he was grabbed by both Karofsky and Azimio.

"We warned you." Karofsky said menacingly.

"Now Gaga's gotta go." Azimio added with a sneer.

Each of the jocks had grabbed him by an arm and they pulled him over under the window. They slammed him up against the wall and his head smacked into the hard concrete.

Kurt tried to cower away from the two jocks as tears freely flowed from his eyes. They had never threatened him like this. Usually it was just a quick shove, but this… something was different. A shiver ran up Kurt's spine as he absorbed the death glares coming from each of the two football players.

Kurt dug deep and found some false bravado.

"Fine. You want to hit me? You want to beat me up? Go ahead. But I swear to you, I will never change.

I'm proud to be different. It's the best thing about me. So, go ahead, hit me." His voice cracked only slightly on the last syllable, but the tears had continued to flow freely.

The two mammoth-sized boys exchanged an amused glance before setting their sights back on Kurt once again.

"I believe I will." Azimio smiled an evil smile as he looked at Karofsky. "Sir - would you like to go first?"

Kurt closed his eyes and prepared himself as Karofsky raised his clenched fist.

"You're not hitting anyone."

Kurt released the breath he'd been holding and peeked open one eye to see who belonged to the voice that just saved his life.

Blaine Anderson stood in the doorway of the bathroom with his arms crossed across his chest and a very stern look on his face.

Karofsky and Azimio dropped Kurt, who hadn't even realized that they'd hoisted him up off his feet.

Blaine looked around the two boys until his eyes met the beautiful glasz ones belonging to Kurt.

"Kurt?" He asked slowly, "Are you alright?"

Kurt couldn't speak. He only nodded slowly.

Azimio and Karofsky exchanged glances again, only this time, they were written with utter confusion.

"Anderson? What the fuck?"

Blaine ignored them as his stare remained with Kurt. His honey eyes glistened with sincerity. "I'm not going to let anyone lay a hand on you."

"Dude. What's wrong with you?" Karofsky waved a hand in Blaine's line of vision to get the boy's attention.

"Get out." Blaine said with a growl.

Azimio looked amused. "Dude. You been takin' crazy pills or somethin'? What the hell's gotten into you?"

"I said get out. You're not going to hurt him anymore." Blaine swallowed as both Karofsky and Azimio strutted over to where he still stood in the doorway.

Kurt's brain had begun to function once again as he watched his two tormentors walk over to the much (much) smaller boy.

Oh god. They're going to kill him.

Karofsky looked incredibly angry. "Really dude? Cuz I'm pretty sure we can take both of you." He looked over to Azimio again and the two jocks shared a fist bump.

"Just leave him out of it this time." Blaine scowled. "He's suffered enough at the hands of you two idiots."

Kurt gasped.

Yup, he's dead.

"Dude, you playin' with me?" Azimio questioned, an eyebrow raised. "Cuz I know you did not just say that to my face."

"I said it, and I meant it. Now get the hell out of here and leave him alone." Blaine gritted his teeth.

Oh Christ. Someone call an ambulance.

The first punch that flew caught Blaine directly on the chin, sending him crashing into the wall behind him.

A fierce growl escaped the younger boy's lips as he straightened himself out and leapt at the pair of unsuspecting jocks. He was able to land a solid punch to the side of Azimio's face before his arms were trapped down at his sides by Karofsky.

Azimio straightened up and wiped a tiny trail of blood from his split lip with his thumb before advancing on Blaine once again. "You little prick. I'm gonna end you."

Blaine struggled to release himself from Karofsky's tight embrace, but to no avail. A second punch landed in his gut and he let out a loud "ooommmmpphhh" as he fell to the floor in a heap.

This time he was picked up off the floor by Azimio and held while Karofsky pulled back his fist, ready to strike.

Blaine aimed a strategically placed elbow to the midsection of the older boy who had grabbed him from behind. Azimio fell to the ground howling.

Karofsky's eyes turned black as he reached over and grabbed Blaine by the collar of his Letterman jacket and shoved him roughly up against the bathroom wall. Blaine's head struck the cement wall not dissimilarly to Kurt's moments before.

Blaine's vision sparkled with stars and he suddenly felt nauseated. He prepared himself for the punch that he knew was coming.

Only it didn't come.

"You have to stop this!"

Kurt pushed his way over and pulled Karofsky off of the smaller boy.

Karofsky looked shocked at the newfound courage that Kurt displayed. Azimio was just now getting back to his feet, while still holding a hand to his crotch as he shot daggers at Blaine with his eyes.

"Ohhh homo, you're gonna get it now. Get out of my way Anderson."

Blaine didn't move.

He had put his arm in front of Kurt and moved so he was standing in between him and the jocks.

"So what? You have a problem with him just because he's gay?"

"Fucking right." Karofsky said with a snarl.

Blaine seemed to hesitate for a moment. He gulped, looked at Kurt briefly, before looking back up at his former teammates.

"Then I guess you have a problem with me too."