March 29, 2013, 7:19 p.m.
One In Four: Tie Me To A Post And Block My Ears
E - Words: 1,448 - Last Updated: Mar 29, 2013 Story: Complete - Chapters: 94/94 - Created: Jun 10, 2012 - Updated: Mar 29, 2013 332 0 0 0 0
"It was Truman."
"You're sure?" Burt pressed, his heart racing. Out of all the bad days, the horrible things that Kurt had done when the alters were in control, the screaming and hitting and breaking… this had to be the worst.
Finn nodded, leaning back against the kitchen island with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the floor. Carole immediately stood up from her seat at the table and wrapped Finn in a tight hug. Burt was still at the table, too stunned to really do anything useful. He was suddenly struck by a tidal wave of relief that Kurt was going to the hospital today. He was the first one to admit that he didn't want Kurt to be away from home, but if Truman was going to do this kind of thing, then he needed to be kept away from the family and away from Finn until things settled down.
Finn might be Kurt's rock, so to speak, but he was still just a kid.
"Do you still want to come with us to drop Kurt off?" Carole asked, her hands on her son's shoulders.
Finn swallowed and shook his head wordlessly.
"You want me to stay here with you?"
"Uh, no, I think… That's fine," Finn said, tugging his fingers through his hair. "I'll be okay."
At that moment, Finn suddenly stiffened as Kurt strode into the room, casually heading for the refrigerator and barely glancing at Finn or their parents. "Jesus, you all look like you need to take a twelve-pound shit," he remarked, leaning down to peer into the fridge.
"Truman," Burt said, standing up and trying to ignore how his stomach was twisting and turning in his gut.
"Where the fuck is the smoothie I left in here?" Kurt muttered.
"Truman," Burt repeated, this time forcefully. Kurt turned to look at him. "Tell us what happened last night."
"Why do you need him to tell you?" Finn cried. "I already told you!"
Kurt's eyes rolled and he leaned back against the counter. "Are you seriously still on that? It's just sex, you fucking prude. Not that big a deal."
"You do realize you're my brother, right?" Carole was clutching at Finn's arm, trying to keep him calm, but it wasn't working very well.
Burt's heart gave a painful lurch as Kurt's face contorted, morphing from mere annoyance into pure rage. "First off, I'm not your brother and you know that already," he snapped. "Second, you and Kurt aren't fucking related, so why the fuck do you care?"
"Because you freaking tried to RAPE me last night!" Finn yelled, making Burt and Carole flinch.
Kurt rolled his eyes again. "Please. It's not rape if we both got hard."
Burt had to clench his fists and grit his teeth to keep from throwing up then and there, and Carole began to cry, still grasping Finn's arm.
"I WAS ASLEEP!" Finn shouted, too angry to be embarrassed by what Kurt had said.
"So fucking what?" Kurt spat back, his voice rising. "You wanted it! You wanted my dick up your ass!"
"TRUMAN!" Burt bellowed, beginning to panic. "That's enough!"
Finn wasn't finished. "Stop talking like that!" he demanded, almost pleading. "I'm sick of it! If this is what happened to you, Kurt, I am really sorry, because it's freaking terrifying!" His words cracked, but he kept going, his voice quickly continuing to rise. "Butplease, just stop acting like all these different people when you know they DON'T EXIST!"
No one said a word.
Burt was at a complete loss for what to do. Things with Kurt had never reached this level of instability before, and now Burt had to manage not only Kurt and his alters, but Finn and Carole as well.
Kurt was watching Finn with an expression that made Burt's stomach churn, his eyes narrowed but his body unmoving, and Burt honestly didn't have any idea how Truman was going to react.
And then Kurt reached behind him and whipped a kitchen knife off the rack.
Without thinking at all, Burt lurched forward and grabbed Kurt just as he was heading straight for Finn. Carole shrieked and jumped in front of Finn, pushing him back, her eyes wide as Kurt tried to push Burt off him. Before Kurt could reach around and sink the blade into his father's shoulder, Burt snatched his wrist and wrenched it as hard as he could, making Kurt let out a snarl and drop the knife. It clattered to the floor and Burt kicked it out of reach.
"Get the fuck off me, asshole!" Kurt growled.
Finn shook his head, pushing past his mother and throwing up his hands. "I'm done," he said. "Let me know when he starts acting like Kurt again."
"I'M NOT KURT, YOU FUCKER," Kurt screamed after him, but Finn was already gone. Carole rushed after him. "FUCK YOU!"
Burt didn't release Kurt until he'd heard Finn and Carole go upstairs. Kurt let out a wordless growl, kicking over a stool in his frustration.
"You really telling me that you don't feel bad about any of this?" Burt demanded.
Kurt laughed hollowly. "God, you people make everything such a big fucking deal."
Burt clenched his jaw. "Truman, somewhere way, way below our feet, there's a special place in Hell waiting for you, and that's exactly where you're going once Kurt finally kicks you out."
The promise was met with only a level, unperturbed expression. "Well, that's not much of an incentive for me to leave, then, is it?" Kurt's mouth snapped back into a cold grin for a split second, then he turned and walked away.
Carole sat on the edge of Finn's bed while he paced the floor, raking a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry, Finn," she said, her hands braced on her knees.
He glanced at her for a second in confusion. "Why? You didn't do anything; Kurt did."
"Finn… you know Kurt would never even think of doing what Truman did," Carole said gently.
"Yeah, how?" Finn snapped, his expression hard. "How do we know that? Kurt used to be in love with me, Mom. That's how this whole family got started in the first place."
Carole pressed her lips together, trying to ignore how obvious it was that Finn was blaming not just Kurt, but her as well.
"Truman is not Kurt," she insisted.
"Yes, he is," Finn fired back. "I'm tired of everyone always saying 'don't worry, it's not him' when he does crap like this! It is him!"
"Finn, you know better than most people that Kurt can't control the alters," Carole reminded him, feeling horrible.
"I know he can't control them," Finn replied, his hands jerking in exasperation. "But I wish everyone would stop talking about them like they're separate people."
Carole frowned. "They are sep—"
"No, they aren't!" Finn cried. "I know he can't control them and I know he doesn't remember the crap the alters do. But they're still him!"
"Finn—" Carole started, not even sure what she was protesting. She just wanted Finn to calm down before he snapped.
"Then why are they there?" he argued, responding to Carole's unspoken contradiction. "If they're not him, then where the hell did they come from?"
"Well, I don't know about the others, but I'm from Pittsburgh."
Finn's gaze snapped towards the door. Kurt was leaning casually against the doorframe, watching Finn's rant. Carole jumped when she saw him, still on edge.
Finn lurched toward him, no longer afraid now that Kurt wasn't armed with a knife. "Get out of my room," he spat. "Get out."
Kurt quirked an eyebrow, clearly not taking Finn seriously. "Why? So you can have space to cry and heal from your little trauma? Get the fuck over it."
"GET OUT!" Finn screamed, looming over Kurt. Carole stood up, unsure of how Kurt would react if she tried to intervene. Neither Kurt nor Finn seemed to notice her, though, and Kurt only regarded Finn with an even stare that was almost threatening, his lip slightly curled. "GET OUT!" Finn screamed again.
Then, when Kurt barely batted an eye and still didn't move away from the door, Finn grabbed him by the shoulders, his fingers digging in hard enough to bruise as he tried to push Kurt back into the hallway. "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" Carole flinched.
"F-Finn?"
Carole felt her heart drop straight through the bottom of her stomach. Kurt was rigid, his arms held close to his chest as he blinked, staring at Finn with wide eyes. He was terrified.
Finn let go of him, turning around and pulling at his hair again. Carole approached her stepson, who was standing frozen to the spot with an expression in a horrible mix of fear, hurt, and confusion. "Kurt, honey…" she started, entirely failing to keep her voice steady. "Could you give us a few minutes, please?"
Kurt was still watching Finn. He swallowed, his eyes threatening to spill over. "Okay," he said, casting a final lost look at Finn before slowly walking down the hall to the stairs, no doubt in search of his father.
Carole stayed with Finn, and when the sound of Kurt (not the alters) sobbing downstairs reached them, she shut the door.