Blaine searched Finn's face for any evidence that he was joking, but there was none. What Finn was saying made absolutely nosense. "What the hell—?"

"Did Kurt tell you how his mom died?" Finn asked, cutting Blaine off and throwing him off-guard.

"Uh… yeah, cancer," Blaine said, still trying to wrap his head around whatever it was Finn was saying.

"He lied." Finn looked out the window onto the darkened street outside. "She died in a car accident – a really, really bad one."

"I… I don't get it, why would Kurt lie about that?"

Finn sighed. "Because he was in the wreck with her. It's kind of a miracle that he's alive at all, but it's the reason he's like this."

Blaine shook his head, growing frustrated. "Like what? What are you talking about?"

Finn ran a hand over his face in agitation. "Kurt's got split personalities. Burt told me that it started a little while after his mom's funeral. It's like a coping mechanism or something."

Blaine was stuck on the word split. "So… so he's got two people living in his head?"

Finn shook his head, looking even more uncomfortable. It was obvious he was regretting his decision to talk to Blaine. "No," he said. "He's got seven."

Blaine's heart felt like it had dropped through the bottom of his stomach. "Seven?" he repeated breathlessly. "Why has Kurt never told me about any of this?"

"Why do you think?" Finn finally made eye contact. "Look, dude, you can't talk to him about any of this, okay?"

"Wh-why not?"

"Kurt doesn't remember the accident," Finn explained. "He knows it happened, but if you ask him about it, it'll make him feel threatened and someone else will take over. I've made that mistake before. You don't want to see it."

Blaine couldn't respond – he didn't know how. The waitress brought him his cup of coffee, but he didn't notice. "S-so… so who was it I saw this morning?"

"That was Robbie," Finn answered.

"Robbie," Blaine echoed, still not quite believing any of this.

"Yeah. He's fifteen and he's anorexic, which is why he was fighting with Burt about eating breakfast."

"He's fifteen? But Kurt's eighteen."

Finn shook his head. "That's not the way it works. They're all different ages. Zack is four, but Craig's fifty-six."

Blaine rested his head in his hands, feeling dizzy. "I'm going to be sick."

"I'm really sorry you had to find out like this, dude." Finn watched Blaine for a few seconds, then felt the need to caution him again. "You've got to remember, though, when Kurt switches out with someone else… he doesn't know you."

Blaine managed to lift his head. "What?"

"You have to remember," Finn repeated earnestly. "These are completely different people from one another. Kurt might be the one in charge most of the time, but once someone else takes over, he will be that person until he switches again. And Kurt is the only one who knows who you are."

Blaine felt bile rise in his throat. It definitely explained the deadened, unrecognizable look in Kurt's eyes that morning, and why there had been no crepes or morning skincare.

He was going to vomit.

"Wh-when did you find out about this?" he struggled to ask.

"After Karofsky assaulted him last year," Finn answered, returning his gaze to studying his hands.

"You know about that?"

Finn nodded, twisting his fingers together. "I found him in the locker room afterwards. He was just… yelling. I couldn't even tell what he was saying, and he tried to hit me more than once."

"God," Blaine whispered. "That's…scary."

"Yeah." Finn was still looking at his hands.

"Who was it?"

"Eleanor."

"One of them is a girl?"

"Yeah. Eleanor's always super angry and she breaks things a lot, but she can't do much real damage because she's only eleven. She usually comes out when Kurt's feeling really, really upset. We don't see her that much."

Blaine swallowed, resting his head in his hands again. "How often does this happen?"

"If Kurt's stressed out, it can happen a few times in a day, or it could happen just once in a week. Or less," Finn replied. "But the last few years, Burt says that he's been able to manage it so that the switches are more rare. It's only now starting to get worse again. We're not really sure why. That's part of why I told you – it was only a matter of time before you found out, and I didn't want you to find out the way I did. You deserve better."

Blaine was too busy trying to process this new information that he didn't hear the compliment. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Just treat him like a normal person."

"But he isn't a normal person!" Blaine argued. "He's seven people, and who knows how normal they are!"

"Dude, calm down," Finn said quickly. "When Kurt's in control, then you treat him like you usually would. If it's someone else, then Burt, my mom, and I will help you with it." Finn paused before adding, "But… if you felt like you had to leave, we'd get it. So would Kurt. No one would blame you."

Blaine let out his breath slowly, trying to calm himself down. He could easily hear that Finn was asking him if he wanted to stay, but right now, he didn't have an answer.

Finn didn't get home until after eleven, sneaking in the front door as quietly as he could. He figured that everyone had gone to bed already, so he was surprised to find Kurt sitting on the couch watching a re-airing of an earlier football game. A red flag popped up in the back of Finn's head – he knew that Kurt never watched sports unless Blaine asked him to or he was tied to the bleachers.

"Hey," he said, leaving off the name since he wasn't sure whom he was talking to.

"Quiet!" Kurt snapped, not even looking away from the TV.

Finn's heart sank when he noticed that Kurt was wearing an unbuttoned flannel shirt and an old white undershirt. An opened beer bottle was standing on the coffee table. He knew who was in control now.

"God damn it!" Kurt snarled as the football was fumbled. "These jokers don't know what the hell they're doing. College football, my ass." He grabbed the beer and took a swig.

"You're not supposed to be drinking that," Finn said automatically, his brotherly instincts kicking in a moment before he remembered that it wasn't really Kurt who was drinking.

Kurt's eyes narrowed at Finn, who swallowed almost audibly. "You really think a little shit like you is gonna tell me what to do?" Finn flinched; hearing swear words come out of Kurt's mouth was something he would never get used to. "Christ, you're worse than my son. Little faggot."

Finn cringed. He could deal with Robbie's snappish attitude and Eleanor's screaming fits, but out of Kurt's several personalities, Craig was the one Finn could stand the least. "You shouldn't talk about your kid like that," Finn said meekly, knowing that if he got angry, Craig would not respond well. Kurt did have muscles, and Craig knew how to use them.

Kurt's eyes rolled. "Yeah, and who's gonna stop me? You're a faggot just like him. I should kick your ass, but you know what? I'm feeling nice today, so why don't you take your faggoty ass up to Kurt's bed and fuck the living daylights out of him so that he'll stop whining about getting engine grease on his hands."

Finn felt like throwing up whenever he heard Craig talk like this. Kurt's psychiatrist had explained that Craig was the embodiment of how Kurt had been afraid Burt would turn out once he'd admitted his sexuality – in simple terms an abusive, homophobic version of his own father. When Craig was in a violent mood, Kurt could easily wake up with bruises from his own fists after Craig beat him up. Eleanor might be the most aggressive of the bunch, but Craig was the most frightening.

Finn turned on his heel and took the stairs two at a time, hoping that by the morning, Craig would be gone.