Chapter 25

Kurt was staring down at his own photos. One of the photos had the year that was two years ago written on the back on the picture. It was one of his orphanage portfolio pictures. He had never been so confused as right now.

‘'I'm coming, darling,'' Lydia's voice came closer and closer as she walked from the kitchen to Kurt. ‘'I forgot to ask you what tea you asked so I just made you your usual green-‘'

She stopped in her track when she saw Kurt holding the pictures, she gasped a little and a small amount of the how liquid spilled on the floor. Kurt's head whipped her direction and he got up to help her but she held up her free hand to stop him. ‘'Stay where you are, Kurt.''

Kurt gulped and he could feel his hands tremble. He wanted an explanation but what could possibly be the case, the reason why Lydia had these pictures of him.

She placed the tea cup down on a table beside her and slowly walked to him, rubbing her palms together until she reached him and sat right next to the boy.

Kurt's mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to say, what to ask. It felt like his mind couldn't manage any straight thoughts right now.

‘'Just let me speak, Kurt,'' Lydia said and her gaze moved from her hands to Kurt's own eyes. ‘'I've been planning to tell you this sooner or later and I would've wanted to tell you all of this under different circumstances but we stand where we do so I'm done at keeping secrets.''

Kurt felt like he couldn't breathe. His head was starting to hurt and he was starting to shiver. Whatever she was about to tell him sounded very serious and he'd been through a lot today so he didn't think he'd manage to take any more bad news.

‘'Basically my whole life I've been sick. I've been suffering from an illness and only last year I was told that I'm cured. It's not important what it was. It's behind he and I'm okay, I'll live for as long as I'm meant to but you just have to know this to understand,'' they still kept their eyes at each other, Lydia's were so soft and loving as never before. Kurt had craved that someone looked at him with love like this. So simple and calming, he never really had that back at the orphanage.

Lydia's eyes locked away from Kurt's for a second and she picked up the picture frame with the picture of the man and a boy in his arms that Kurt was looking at earlier. ‘'This man,' 'she placed her finger on the glass lightly,''is my son. His name was Burt. Burt Hummel. He...died many, many years ago in a car accident. And this,'' she moved her finger to the small boy,' 'is his son.''

Kurt's breath hitched in his throat and a thousand thoughts ran through his head all at once. If the boy in the picture happened to be him, it meant...

‘'After my son died, after other tragic accidents, my grandson was taken to the orphanage,'' Lydia's eyes welled up with tears, so did Kurt's. ‘'He was there, in the orphanage all these years...and I haven't been able to get him out of there because of my illness.''

A tear ran across Kurt's cheek. He couldn't believe this was happening. Finally, he has got answers to the questions he thought he never would get answered.

‘'I'm your grandmother, Kurt,'' Lydia said silently and a sob escaped Kurt as he surged forward whapping his arms around the woman. His grandmother. His family. His blood. Never he had thought he'd live a day like this. He had had dreams about the perfect family he could have and what his life would be like if he had a family.

It was time to find out.

x-x-x-x-x

Present

Kurt Elizabeth Hummel.

That was his official full name. And he loved it.

The past two months he'd basically stayed with his grandmother. He loved hearing everything about her past, the few stories she would tell about her son, though she never really wanted to get too deep into that. Burt had been her only son and it still pained her to remember.

But Kurt was okay with that. He wanted to focus more on the moment and forget the past. Since he did leave Cantare after the second stage in Florida Kurt was unemployed. But his grandmother couldn't let that happen. So she gave him a little job at the hotel reception. It was at least something before he found somewhere he'd more likely work.

Kurt visited Rachel less and less. And it wasn't because their friendship was getting weaker, no. He just preferred to meet with her at his own apartment. That way he wouldn't have to see Heidi. She was always at home. At least every time he went to the Anderson's mansion. And it also hurt a lot when she could see the small belly showing through her tight clothes. Well yes, Kurt had hoped that telling Blaine that she was pregnant was a crazy move and all a lie but it obviously wasn't. She wasn't bluffing. It was all real and happening.

So Kurt better stay away.

One thing he noticed was that Blaine was never home. Even Rachel told him that he spent more time elsewhere, even at nights. But refused to say where. Jeff had told him that often he would stay at his place.

Kurt was so happy to have friends like he had. They all were so, so glad for him when he said he'd found his grandmother. It was still like a dream and he thought he'd never get used to it. Someone he could always count on. She wouldn't leave. She promised. To always stand by his side. And that gave Kurt a lot of strength.

But it was very hard.

Once in a while, almost every other day or even more often, Blaine would reach out to him. Call him but always would be ignored or send a text. But Kurt deleted them every time. He just wouldn't be able to take it. Blaine had to start a new life. And so did he.

He dialed a Alex's number and told him to come over if he could. It would be a difficult decision but he needed it for himself.

x-x-x-x-x

Kurt knocked on Lydia's door and he heard her shout ‘come in' after a second. He entered the apartment that felt just like home now. He took off his shoes and went to the living room.

He smiled when he saw her sitting on the couch with crossed legs, reading a newspaper. ‘'Hi .''

‘'Hello, dear,'' she greeted back with a big smile. She never could hide her delight when Kurt came over. She patted the seat next to her.

Kurt sat down and folded his arms in his lap. ‘'I have something very important to tell you.''

Lydia's smile faded slightly and she removed her reading glasses, placing them and the newspaper on the coffee table in front of them. ‘'I'm listening.''

‘'I'm going away for some time,'' Kurt said after a long breath. He bit his cheek, waiting for any response.

He didn't get one. Lydia's eyes softened slightly but that was about it so he continued. ‘'It's not like I'm moving and it's not anything that you did just...it's hard still. I've been pressing down all my unpleasant feelings for months but it still stings me.''

Lydia placed a warm hand on his shoulder, squeezing reassuringly, seeing Kurt's eyes water a little. ‘'So ...I remember my friend Alex tell me about this small village outside LA. He said his sister lives there. There's like a little house...it's away from the city, near the nature and I just thought it's just what I needed. He's waiting for me in my place, I already packed my things...''

Kurt's eyes searched Lydia's. He just felt like he needed permission to do this and he really needed his grandmother's support on this.

After a moment of silence, the woman leaned forward, embracing her grandson tightly, running her hand across his back and whispered, ‘'I'm going to miss you.''

‘'I'm gonna miss you too,'' he whispered back.

x-x-x-x-x

‘'You can go down,'' Kurt said to Alex. ‘'I'll be there in a minute.''

After Alex exited the door, he went to his own bedroom in silence, sitting on the bed and dialing a number.

It went straight to voice mail, which was just what he hoped.

‘'Hi Blaine. It's Kurt. I'm giving you a quick call to tell you that I'll be out of the city for...a while. I don't know how long,'' he was silent for a moment and laughed at himself. What could he possibly say? ‘'Yeah , that's about it. I just wanted to tell you myself. I know Rachel would've told you but...I thought it would be better to hear from me. So, yeah. Have a nice day!''

He ended the voicemail and sighed. He looked down on his phone and stared at it.

He wouldn't need it.

He left his phone on the nightstand and, taking his last bags, went downstairs to the car that was waiting for him.

Kurt was on his way. He couldn't believe this was happening. He had mixed feeling about what he was doing.

Firstly, he felt bad for not properly saying goodbye to everyone, only to Tina, Rachel and Jeff.  Nick, Finn and Mike would be very confused about this whole thing but he tried to brush it off.

Secondly, he was excited. This was what he needed right now. A new breath of air, new people, new surroundings.

This could be a start of something.

Or maybe the end?