It had been about two weeks since Blaine's grandiose proposal on the staircase where he and Kurt met.
That day Kurt said yes. After that he and Blaine made a hundred promises between loving kisses in the few hours they had. All too soon it was time for Kurt, Rachel, and Santana to board their plane back home to New York. On the short flight Rachel and even Santana gushed over Kurt's ring, they made fanciful plans for the wedding that's date was still to be determined.
In the time that the trio had been home Santana had made a possible new girlfriend in a fellow waitress named Dani, Kurt joined the restaurant's wait staff along with his two roommates, Rachel was cast as the lead in Funny Girl. Things were starting to really look up.
Kurt and Blaine's relationship was on the mend, with communication certainly better than it ever was. Blaine and Kurt called daily, sometimes several times a day, not to mention dozens of texts. He kept Kurt, and by default Rachel and Santana, in the loop of the goings on at McKinley. Just the week before not-so-poor Tina was Carrie-ed at prom. Fortunately the New Directions were there to help back on her feet again and they finished their two week long Beatles tribute with no more problems.
Kurt even found time to finally talk to Finn. They stayed up on the phone for a good three hours one night, joking about old times and catching up on the other's life. Kurt finally told him about his and Blaine's recent engagement and Finn actually screamed. Kurt would have given anything to see his brother's face in that moment. He'd originally wanted to wait until he and Blaine could tell him in person, but that could take weeks and he couldn't hold it in any longer. After Finn's inner banshee calmed down, he laughed merrily and congratulated Kurt, adding that he would be calling Blaine as soon as they hung up regardless of the time.
That would be the last time Kurt ever spoke to Finn.
. . .
"Where's Satan?" Kurt called from the kitchen. "Last time we had movie night without her used my toothbrush as a toilet scrubber."
Rachel giggled. "At least she actually cleaned something."
Kurt came into the living room carrying a bowl fresh popcorn and plopped down next to Rachel. He pulled the pillow underneath him and smacked Rachel in the face with it.
"She's just lucky I have a backup."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Anyway Miss Lopez is out with Dani."
"Ooooh. It wouldn't be a date, would it?"
"Uh huh. In which case I think we're safe from her wrath."
"I'm sure she'll be too busy sucking face to even care." Kurt agreed.
Rachel pressed the play button and the movie began. They were almost to the end of the the movie when they hear a frantic knock on the door. Rachel lightly smacked Kurt's arm. 'Door' was all she said. Kurt groaned and pulled the blanket off of himself.
"I swear if Santana thinks she can bring her friend here for a lesbian slumber party she's got another thing coming." He grumbled.
"I'm sure she just drank too much and forgot how to operate a key again." Both snickered at the memory. "Check your phone. If it is her she probably sent a bunch of texts." Rachel said pulling her own IPhone out.
Kurt grabbed his from the phone and pressed the home button. "Yep. Fourteen missed calls and," the knocks started up again. "Seven texts. Damn Santana. How drunk are you?"
Kurt hadn't bothered looking at who they were from. Meanwhile whoever was knocking continued their assault on the door, much louder and more desperate now.
"I'm coming!" Kurt called.
He unlocked the doors and swung it open to find -
"Blaine?"
Blaine surged forward gripping him into a tight hug, sending them stumbling into the apartment. Kurt awkwardly patted his back.
"Um, Blaine? Not that I'm not really happy to see you but-"
"Mr. Hummel?" Rachel asked uncertainty.
Blaine reluctantly loosened his grip just enough for Kurt to turn and see his father. Burt stepped further into the apartment, wringing his ball cap, and closed the door behind him. His father's expression was worn and sad. He truly looked like an old man and it was certainly an ominous sign. Kurt turned to Blaine, only just noticing the tears in his eyes.
"Blaine? Sweetie, are you crying? W-what's going on?"
Kurt's brain was whirring a million miles a minute. What was happening? Blaine and his dad wouldn't fly all the way out to New York for nothing. Oh God. Was the cancer back?
He looked in horror between his father, who he noted had puffy red eyes, and his fíance. The tears only poured down Blaine's cheeks faster and Burt shook his head, probably following his son's train of thought.
Rachel cleared her throat. "Um, m-maybe we should sit down and you can explain what's going on." Her voice sounding uncertain and scared. One look at her face and you could see the terror in her eyes even past the tears that were beginning to form.
They sat on the sofas. The television screen still showed the part of the movie they had paused. Kurt unconsciously reached for Blaine's hand.
"Kids," Burt began. "There was an accident a few hours ago."
Rachel clapped a hand to her mouth. Kurt glanced at her before looking back to his father.
"It wasn't Carol w-was it? Is she okay?"
Something broke in Burt Hummel. It was like that painful night all those years ago when his little boy was asking the same thing about his mother. Except this was a million times worse. He now had to somehow explain this heart breakingly terrible situation to not only his boy, but Finn's girlfriend as well. There was no easy or less painful way to put this. No matter what this would hurt.
"It was Finn." Burt said brokenly. "He didn't make it."
The world stopped spinning.
"N-no." Kurt's jaw worked furiously. He ripped his hand away from Blaine's grip and moved to put his arms around Rachel. "No. Stop. This isn't funny."
Burt shook his head. "I'm sorry. H-he, h-he didn't... He's gone."
"No."
Rachel breathing stuttered. Her chest was heaving. Kurt scooted them away from the other men and tightened his grip around his friend.
"They took him to the hospital. He was in real bad condition,"
"No!"
The walls began closing in. His father and Blaine kept trying to scoot closer but every time he would inch even further away until the point he wasn't even holding Rachel anymore, he was standing behind the couch.
"The doctors did everything they could, but it wasn't enough. He's- he's gone!"
"No!"
Why were they doing this? Couldn't they see this wasn't funny? Rachel was having a goddamn panic attack!
"They called Carol and me before it happened. But we, we got there too late. I called your old teacher-"
"NO!"
"We wanted to tell you in person."
Kurt was lost. So he looked to the one person he could trust, his fiancee.
"Blaine?"
Blaine let out a sob. "He's gone."
Kurt looked in his eyes. There was no mistaking the brutal honesty in them. Rachel must have seen it too, for the breaths that had been slowly building up in her chest suddenly burst out in a terrible, anguished scream, so loud that the people out on the street could hear it.
Kurt collapsed in a heap on the couch. Broken sobs fell from his throat in gasps. A dense black fog seemed to slowly cover the room, billowing from every crevice and crack in the tiny apartment. Eventually he was even able to block out the bloodcurling screams still emitting from Rachel.
He was vaguely aware of a warm pair of arms holding him tight, the chest his head rest against, the heartbeat that was somehow keeping him sane, the lips pressing against his head. None of that really registered.
However, there was one thing that cut through the screams, pushed past the fog. An angelic voice whispered small comforts and his name over and over and over again. Perhaps some higher power took pity and swapped Finn out for Kurt and now Kurt was in a heaven being cared for by an angel. Then Finn could deal with the repercussions of his death instead. Finn could attend the funeral. Finn could deal with the painful emotions. Finn could cry with everyone else.
Suddenly there was soft singing and the fog dissipated just a little.
. . .
While Blaine was getting through to Kurt bit by bit, Burt was on the other side of the couch trying to comfort Rachel. She was simply inconsolable, sobbing deeply and screaming in earnest.
Burt understood her anguish, her pain. He would have been in a similar state when Elizabeth died had it not been for Kurt needing someone. Hell, if it weren't for Rachel he'd be the same way now. But he couldn't. There were too many people who needed him as a rock. He had to stay strong for Kurt again, for the sobbing girl in his arms, and especially for Carol.
Leaving Carole in this situation had been something that would haunt him forever, but he couldn't bear the thought of Kurt and Rachel hearing this over a phone call or a text message. Blaine who was with them when they got their phone call, had offered to go to by himself Burt wouldn't have to. Burt was tempted, but looking back now he knew he made the right choice in refusing. So they called Puck who needed to know anyway. It was Puck with Carol now. For now he would have to grieve with Carol until Burt could get back.
Breaking out of his thoughts, Burt Hummel did the only thing he could think of and wrapped his arms around the girl. It didn't help nearly as much as it would have had it been Finn, but he wasn't there to do that any longer. It didn't stop the sobs, it didn't end the yells, it didn't keep Burt from hearing the pleas for the very thing causing the screams, but it did somehow manage to soften them a little, and it did comfort the Rachel on some level.
Suddenly Santana burst through the door wielding a switch blade. It would have been comical if not for the situation.
She watched the scene happen before her. Took in the Blaine holding onto Kurt, clearly out of it, and then Burt Hummel holding Rachel who was the source of the screaming she had heard from outside.
She didn't know what the hell was happening in her living room. She didn't need to be explicitly told that someone was dead or close to it. The real tipping point was the occasional wail of 'Finn!' from Rachel. She ran out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. She jumped into the first cab she could hail.
"Bar! I need a bar!" She screamed.
. . .
That night nobody got much sleep, and what little they did was fitful.
Once Kurt's panic attack ceased, Blaine managed to coax him back to his pathetic little room. He gently placed Kurt and Finn's graduation photo on the bedside table face down. Neither needed to see it just yet. They layed back against the pillows holding onto each other. Blaine was the first to drift off. Once Kurt became aware of this he quietly reached over and grabbed the upside down photo. He looked at his and Finn's carefree faces until it all became to much. The moment Burt and Blaine had stepped into the apartment, before he was even aware, he lost a piece of himself. He was now left with a gaping hole that would always remain so. It was in moment that he truly understood grief, and now he would spend the rest of his life missing Finn.
Stifling a sob, he slid it beneath his pillow and snuggled back into his fiancé.
Out in the living room Rachel continued to sob into Burt's arms for hours until exhaustion finally overtook her.
Over the next twelve hours each New Direction member, old and new, would be called and informed of the news
At some run down bar a couple blocks from the apartment, Santana picked up a call from Mr. Shue telling her about how Finn tragically died just hours before. She was almost too drunk to feel anything. She didn't didn't go home to grieve. She didn't even cry. Instead she simply hung up and ordered another round of shots.
In a local hospital's waiting room Carol Hudson continued to sob all night into the arms of one Noah Puckerman, who refused to cry for in fear that he'd never stop if he did.