Sept. 25, 2011, 7:44 p.m.
Need You Now: Carole
T - Words: 2,497 - Last Updated: Sep 25, 2011 Story: Complete - Chapters: 9/9 - Created: Sep 25, 2011 - Updated: Sep 25, 2011 1,239 0 0 0 0
The unimaginable had just happened. Blaine asked Kurt out. Kurt Hummel had a date tomorrow, and not with just anybody but with Blaine. The more he thought about it, he couldn't contain his excitement. Bringing his hands over his mouth in an attempt to muffle himself, he let out a thrilled shriek.
Walking downstairs, a chipper Carole Hummel appeared holding a tray filled with various breakfast foods. "Honey, are you alright?" Clearly he didn't muffle his shriek as well as he thought and removed his hands from his mouth. Kurt eyed Carole as she walked down the stairs and over to Kurt's bedside. He noticed the tray she was holding immediately and began to protest. "Carole, you didn't have to, and I'm perfectly fine."
She set the tray on his dresser, next to the glass of water that laid there from Finn and Kurt's cell phone. "I know how health conscious you are so I brought down some apple juice, wheat pancakes and a bowl of strawberries." Kurt smiled up at Carole, thankfully. Carole couldn't have tried to be more of a perfect mother if she tried. Kurt as well as Carole knew she could never replace his mother but Kurt considered her as one.
"After last night, I thought you could use a good pick me up." Carole shrugged and looked over at Kurt giving off a worried expression. "Is everything…" She stammered and sat next to Kurt, turning to him. "Is it Blaine?" Kurt had almost forgotten about that Oscar winning performance he had put on for Carole and his father. If he wasn't so sure Carole would mention it to his father, Kurt would've spilled to Carole about the whole drunk dialing mishap.
He had told Carole everything when it came to Blaine. Carole was practically one of his best friends, it was weird but it was true. But Kurt reminded himself that even if he was very close with Carole, she was still his parent."Oh yeah, about that, everything is okay now. Blaine and I…" He began to think, trying to come up with a way to incorporate Blaine asking him out into this story. Kurt knew he had to still play along but he wanted to spill about his date tomorrow. "We had a little fight."
He dished out this master plan that wasn't necessarily a lie. "I was jealous, over that guy the Warblers and I sang to for Blaine. I was aggravated and I couldn't take it anymore so I just told him how I felt about him. He just called me though." Carole placed her hand on Kurt's shoulder, smiling. "So everything worked out then?"
Kurt then turned to Carole, blushing wildly. "He asked me out, Carole. I have a date tomorrow. My first real date ever, with Blaine." Carole squealed and reached out for Kurt, pulling him into a hug. "Congratulations Kurt! I'm so happy for you!" Kurt smiled, wrapping his arms around Carole and hugging her back. Carole pulled back and looked at Kurt with that same worried expression he'd seen when she first came in. "Do you think it will be easier for you or for me to tell your father?"
Kurt winced, biting down on his lip. Telling his father about the date he had with Blaine tomorrow was the last thing on his mind at the moment. He wasn't ready for that awkward conversation but he knew it was something he had to deal with himself. "I'll tell him. I think he might want to hear it from me." Carole laid a small kiss on Kurt's forehead and stood up. "Well eat up then come upstairs. Your dad's already up if you want to talk to him."
He nodded and let out a soft mhm as Carole went her way back up stairs. Once out of sight Kurt peered over to the beautiful display of food Carole had made for him and considered eating the pancakes. He began to reach over for the plate but paused. Eating might not be the smartest thing to do considering he was still hung-over from last night. Instead, he grabbed a strawberry and took a bite out of it. He knew he had to get something in his stomach so after a few minutes of picking at his strawberries he decided now would be the best time to move and get dressed.
Still not being aware of how hard it was to move fast, Kurt placed both hands beside him and tried to push himself up to stand. This didn't work as swiftly as he planned because he had barely slid an inch and felt a bit dizzy. "Slow, Kurt, slow." Taking his time, he ended up getting out of bed within 2 minutes. He stood in front of his bed, contemplating whether or not he would make it right then and there. Kurt Hummel was a bit of a neat freak. Usually he would make his bed before venturing out into the day but right now, he couldn't get himself to do so.
Sluggishly he dragged himself over to his closet, picking out his attire for this lazy Sunday. His day was going to be uneventful, seeing nothing could top Blaine asking him out. Maybe he'd call Mercedes up to check how she was recovering from last night and invite her over to share his feelings about the date he had tomorrow. Obviously Kurt was excited but he also felt a mixture of nervous, worry, and giddy. Yes, he would call Mercedes.
He reached for a plain white, cotton V-neck shirt he had bought from Urban Outfitters. Kurt wouldn't have been caught dead shopping at Urban Outfitters if Blaine hadn't have dragged him there last week when Blaine had surprised Kurt with an impromptu shopping trip at the mall. It was the first thing Blaine picked out for Kurt to try on and shockingly enough, Kurt didn't deny the fact that he filled out the shirt nicely. Kurt ended up liking it and most importantly, Blaine liked it, so he bought it.
On the top shelf of his closet, Kurt picked out a pair of ugly grey sweatpants that he kept for purposes like today. Today comfort was more important than fashion and he knew he wasn't going to step foot out of his house. Kurt stripped out of his clothes and changed right there in front of his closet. Luckily no one barged into his room, but even if it happened he wouldn't have cared.
The only thing Kurt was concerned about at the moment was how he was going to break it to his dad that he was going out with Blaine tomorrow night. There was many ways Burt could take the news. Burt could be happy for Kurt because even he knew how much he liked Blaine. It was obvious from day one. Burt could be protective like any father would after hearing their child was going on their first date. Kurt expected that reaction more than anything. Or Burt could feel awkward about the whole situation. Kurt understood that Burt accepted him for being who he was, but was Burt ready to see Kurt act on these impulses? Yes Kurt is gay, but he still is a regular, hormonal teenage boy that does what any other teenager does. Kurt was finally about to go out on a date with the boy he had been crushing over for months now.
With all these thoughts rushing to his head, he thought it would be the right time to talk to his father about this. Gradually, he walked up stairs and through the living room. There he saw Finn, sprawled out on the sofa watching something that resembled ESPN. He passed soundlessly unnoticed by Finn and into the kitchen where he saw Burt reading the news paper and finishing up his breakfast. Burt hadn't notice his son standing there until Carole, who was going to open the fridge saw him. "Did you eat enough, Kurt?" Burt looked up from the paper at his son, acknowledging his presence.
"Thanks again Carole, you didn't have to do that for me." Kurt made his way over to the kitchen table when Carole met him, embracing him in a hug. "Anything for one of my boys." A wave of warmth filled Kurt's body once he heard Carole refer to him as one of her boys. As she let go and made her way over to the fridge again, he slumped into the chair across from his father. He wasn't sure how to approach the topic of tomorrow night. He brought his thumb to his mouth, letting his lips slide over it and biting down. He really needed to stop this nervous habit.
Returning from the fridge with a carton of milk, she walked over to the counter, noticing the hint of wary from Kurt. "So Kurt, any plans for the week?" Thank god for Carole, really. He didn't know what he would do without her. "School, massive amounts of studying and Warbler practice has got me all booked up. I was actually thinking of having Mercedes over, if that's okay with you, Dad?" Kurt thought he'd open up with something small compared to what he was going to drop on Burt after. But Burt didn't look up from the newspaper this time. Instead, he placed it down on the table and sighed. Was that a sigh?
"I don't think so." Kurt shot a confused look over at his father. "Oh?" Carole walked over to the table, placing a glass of milk in front of Kurt with furrowed eyebrows. This was unusual of Burt; usually he had no problem with Kurt having company over. Kurt grabbed the glass of milk, pressing it to his lips and taking a swig of it. "You're grounded, Kurt." Kurt eyes were about to pop out of his head as he nearly chocked from Burt's words. He made a small, gasping sound that had Carole's eyes focus on him without hesitation.
Managing to swallow whatever milk he had left in his mouth, Kurt replied in protest. "What?" With a stern look, Burt called out for Finn. "Finn, get in here." Finn walked to the kitchen, leaning on the counter. "You are both grounded for the week." Finn pivoted on his heals to his mother who was just as confused as they were. "What?"
"Am I a broken record? You are both grounded for the week. You broke curfew, and in this house that's not going to fly. One week, no company, no going out. Just school…" He looked straight at Kurt, "Warbler practice for you." Leaving Kurt's gaze, Burt turned back, looking at Finn. "Glee Club and football for you. Do I make myself clear?" Kurt was left speechless again. Burt's words hit him hard and he panicked inside. What about his date with Blaine? If he was grounded, he'd have to cancel. What if this was his only chance? This couldn't be happened now. Not today. Tomorrow was going to be the best day of his life and he wasn't going to let his Dad ruin it. This was not fair.
"But Dad I…" Burt soon interrupted him with a stern, serious tone. "I said do I make myself clear?" He turned to Finn who nodded defeated then to Kurt who looked like a deer caught in headlights. Kurt knew it wasn't smart to argue right now. If he didn't agree, Kurt would start off with some begging, pleading, and the argument would ultimately end with Burt hollering which wouldn't help anyone right now. All he could do was agree with Burt. Kurt didn't wait for anything else to be said and preceded out the kitchen, passing a stunned Carole and a bummed Finn. Rachel would have been proud for making such a dramatic, stormed off exit. He hurried to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and locking it. He leaned up against the door, and slid down it slowly.
All of a sudden, Kurt felt his face tense up. He knew what was about to come of this. Feeling that familiar sting in his eyes, he began to cry. He brought his knees up, pulling them to his chest and buried his face into them. Why did his Dad have to ground him this week? He finally gets a chance to go out with the boy he's been pawning over for months and his dad hits him with this shit? No, just no.
Vibration was sent through Kurt's spine as he felt and heard a loud, hard knock on the bathroom door. The loud knock didn't do any good for his headache either. "Kurt, honey, let me in." Carole was the only one who knew why Kurt had stormed off like he did. He was too upset and too hung-over to deal with any more knocking from Carole so he stood back up and unlocked the door. Opening the door, he wiped away his tears with his other hand. Carole stood in front of a puffy, red-eyed Kurt. She didn't bother to come in so she just stood in the doorway. "I talked to him."
Caught up in his tears, Kurt couldn't answer Carole and instead simply flung himself at her, wrapping his arms around her neck and pulling her into a desperate hug. There were a lot of hugs going around today. "You're still grounded of course, but I told him I'm taking you with me to run some errands tomorrow after school." He sobbed into the crook of her neck silently as she stroked the back of his head. "You'll have an hour and a half tops but it's better than nothing, right?" Carole was definitely a saint or a guardian angel of some sort.
Suddenly, Kurt's crying slowed down and his breathing started becoming more regular. "I'm not going to let him get in the way of your happiness Kurt. I know how much this means to you and I'm not going to let anyone, let alone your father, ruin this for you." Kurt picked his head up, still teary-eyed with his cheeks flushed. "Thanks, Mom." Then it was Carole's turn to cry, but with joy over what Kurt had said. "Oh, Kurt."
It was the first time Kurt had ever called Carole mom. Surely he knew she was the mother figure but it was the only word that fit Carole then and there. And Kurt meant it too; Carole had proven herself to Kurt. He could never thank her enough for what she did, and if Blaine and Kurt ever got married, she would definitely have to be in the wedding now. He let out a quiet laugh, holding onto her tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."