An Okay Guy
Chapter One
Finn wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to handle this situation. He was new to this whole brother thing, and although he was totally cool with Kurt being whoever he wanted to be, he was pretty sure that the fact that Kurt was his brother wasn't exactly easing the situation.
So when he woke up at two in the morning to Kurt shaking him furiously, eyes red with tears, Finn was at a bit of a loss.
"B-Blaine," Kurt whispered, eyes wide as he wiped at his eyes. Finn pulled himself up in bed, as he stared at Kurt, waiting for his brain to wake up enough to process the information.
"Blaine what?" Finn asked and Kurt choked out something inaudible through tears. "Kurt!" Finn said louder, pulling his stepbrother's arm until he fell down onto the bed. Finn stood up and crouched down in front of him, placing both hands on his shoulder. "Kurt, take a deep breath. What is wrong with Blaine?'
The smaller boy ran a hand over his eyes, wiping away tears that weren't stopping. "You have to help him. I think he's hurt," he whispered, eyes pleading.
Finn sighed, glancing at his clock that read 2:14 in the morning. Burt would kill him for going out this late.
"Kurt, listen, I'm sure he's fine. It's late, why don't you just-"
"No!" Kurt yelled, fists balling up in frustration. "Listen, he's really hurt okay! I don't, I can't explain it. He called me because his parents-he didn't take-he's all alone Finn!"
Finn looked at his stepbrother, lost in thought, before he groaned.
"Where is he?" He asked and Kurt sputtered on his tears and sniffed before answering.
"I'm not sure, he said the Dalton parking lot. I don't know why, we're on break; it's a closed campus. I'm sure he had a reason, but I'm not-"
Finn cut off Kurt's rambling as he raced around the room, pulling a sweatshirt over his shit and slipping on his sneakers. "Alright Kurt, listen, I'll be back. I need you to stay here incase Burt or Mom wake up. Alright?"
The younger boy made to object, but Finn crouched down in front of him again, eyes full of a seriousness that was seldom seen on Finn.
"Lay back down," Finn instructed, motioning towards his pillow, and tossing a blanket at Kurt. "Try to sleep. I'll call you when I get him, okay buddy? It's all going to be fine."
Finn continued to stare at Kurt until the smaller boy finally complied, letting his head hit the pillow with a sigh and pressing his palms against his eyes. Finn patted Kurt's shoulder before grabbing his keys and leaving his room, his clock now reading 2:26.
Finn took the stairs two at time, still trying to be quiet while he rushed. He hadn't braced himself for the cold night air, and he hissed as the wind and snow hit him as soon as he stepped outside. Under normal circumstances, when sneaking out of the house, he would've pushed the car down the driveway with the help of Puck or Mike, but Finn hopped into his truck and started the engine without a second thought.
Time couldn't be wasted, not this time.
Finn had only been to Dalton once, when the family had first brought Kurt to Dalton, two months ago. Unsure of the exact route Finn turned onto the major highway hoping for the best as he shifted the truck into the highest gear and floored it.
Finn deserved the 'best stepbrother' award, he was sure of it. Probably even the 'best-brother' award, after waking up in the middle of the night to go save his brother's 'boy who is just a friend, but not really', who could very well be perfectly safe.
Finn liked the kid, he really did, but he'd never known anyone to actually cry over spilled milk and that was just the tip of the iceberg with Kurt.
If Burt didn't call every night to check in with Kurt, Finn would receive a flood of texts and calls from Kurt in hysterics, convinced something unspeakable had happened to his father.
Then there was the incident a month ago when Finn had been nailed in a football game, leading to a quick ER trip. Burt had informed Kurt in passing, during a nightly phone call and promptly forgotten, thus never warning Finn. That night Finn endured an hour long conversation of Kurt begging him to quit football, to save his life before it was too late, only hanging up after Finn promised to at least sit out a game until his leg healed.
The kid wanted to be in control of everything, and if anything out of his control should happen, well, lord help them all.
So when Finn finally reached Dalton two hours later, he didn't expect much, positive that Blaine had gone home or never even left home. Finn pulled his car into the parking lot, shining his bights around the lot, his heart stopping when the light landed on a huddled form.
Oh shit.
Finn glanced at his cars weather thermometer, stomach dropping as he read the single digit number.
Oh fuck.
Finn left his car running, to keep the heat on, and quickly leapt out of the car, racing and sliding on patches of ice to the figure that was curled up against one of Dalton's brick walls.
Finn had never properly met Blaine, only seen him at sectionals, but he was more than positive that this was the guy. Finn crouched down next to the shaking form, reaching out to shake his shoulder, the boy recoiling at the touch.
He was only wearing a Dalton sweatshirt and jeans and Finn cursed silently as the mop of dark hair on his hair shifted, revealing his pale, blue face.
Damn't.
Finn shook the boy again, urging him to get up.
"Dude," Finn said, "Come on man, its Finn Hudson. Kurt sent me, come on man, don't do this."
Blaine groaned as he forced his eyes open, staring up at Finn through blurry eyes.
"Kurt?" he whispered and Finn nodded slowly.
"Kurt sent me, yeah. How long have you been out here dude?"
Blaine struggled to answer, but his teeth were chattering too hard to get anything out. Finn grabbed the boy and pulled him to his feet easily, wrapping his arm around the smaller boy to support him. Finn half dragged, half carried Blaine to his truck, trying to block out the constant clattering of Blaine's teeth.
He buckled Blaine in and ran around to the passenger seat, turning the heater up as high as it could go and removing his own sweatshirt, spreading it over Blaine like a blanket. Blaine was leaning against the headrest, eyes clenched shut as his teeth continued to clatter, his face still pale and blue.
Shit.
"You with me?" Finn asked and Blaine nodded slowly, eyes still shut tightly. "Alright."
Finn stared off into space, unsure of what to do next, of where to take Blaine. The longer he sat there though, he was sure the worst Blaine got, and so with a split second decision Finn turned the car back onto the highway and sped off in the opposite direction of Lima.
About halfway to their destination Blaine opened his eyes, glancing through half-closed eyelids at the street signs.
"Where?" He croaked out and Finn didn't answer for a minute, eyes focused on the road.
"Lima's hospital sucks, we'll have better luck at the major Columbus one," Finn replied, with logic and determination that even surprised him.
"No!" Blaine exclaimed, sitting up suddenly, only to flop back down as he was hit by a dizzy spell. "Can't, please."
Finn gripped the steering wheel tighter as he ignored the Dalton boy, instead hitting his accelerator harder. Blaine continued to mumble his objections and Finn continued to ignore them until he brought the car to a stop outside the ER, meeting orderlies who were on-call.
"What do we got?" One of them asked Finn as he and his partner helped unload a struggling Blaine. It was surreal to Finn, too much like one of those Medical Drama shows his mom made him watch with her before Kurt joined the family.
"I'm not sure, I mean, he's my brother's-he's my friend. I found him in a parking lot, I think he'd been out there for a while," Finn rambled, running a hand through his hair as he watched wide eyed as Blaine was loaded onto a stretcher and rolled inside.
"Don't tell Kurt," Blaine insisted, eyes locking onto Finn's as an orderly shoved a thermometer into his mouth. Finn nodded, despite his own silent objection.
Finn followed behind in a daze, eyes still wide in shock before the same orderly stopped him, gently putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Son, I need you to wait here. Fill out these forms," the orderly handed Finn a clipboard full of question on information Finn didn't know. "A nurse will come find you with any news."
And with that the orderly ran behind the doors Blaine had disappeared through and Finn stood, mouth gaping as the situation caught up with him.
He glanced down at his watch. 5:26.
Shit.
With a heavy sigh Finn dropped down into a stiff waiting room chair, staring down at the clipboard that had been shoved into his hands.
Name: Blaine
Finn stopped after that. Blaine what? Finn was pretty sure Kurt didn't even know Blaine's last name, how was he supposed to know? Shaking his head Finn moved on to the next question.
Age:
Finn paused again. Shit, he didn't know that one either. For half a second Finn considered calling Kurt, before he stopped himself. Blaine's pleading eyes and final question before he had been whisked away stuck in Finn's mind.
"Don't tell Kurt."
So Finn moved on to the next question, and the next and the next, leaving each question blank until the bottom of the page. He stared down at the clipboard, only a single words scribbled on the paper.
Blaine.
Some help Finn was.
He sat in silence for a long time, staring at the people who came in and out of the emergency room. Watching young mothers drag their children in, begging for news of their husband. Listening to sobs from relatives of a hit and run victim. Staring at a kid whose arm was wrapped in a blood soaked bandage.
But his mind never left Blaine.
Some first impression he was making. One for the books.
A nurse came and found him at 7:02, soft smile on her face.
"I'm sorry, I don't know much-he's my brother's boy-he's my brother's friend," Finn stumbled handing the woman the clipboard who nodded in understanding.
"That's fine honey, he had a drivers license on him, we were able to pull up his medical information. Would you like to see him?"
Finn stared at the woman for a second before the question registered in his brain and he nodded slowly. He followed the nurse into an elevator, and up to the pediatric floor. Even this early in the morning the hallway was busy, nurses in colorful scrubs pushing around carts of breakfast and medicine. Kids crying, kids laughing, parents crying, parents laughing, it made Finn uncomfortable.
But the awkwardness peaked when he reached Blaine's door, his stepbrother's 'non-boyfriend' who he knew nothing about besides a name. Why would Blaine want to see him? He didn't even know Finn. Finn didn't even know him. They were perfect strangers.
Regardless, Finn let the nurse push the door open and Finn stepped inside the nurse shutting the door behind him, leaving him alone with Blaine.
What shocked Finn the most was that Blaine was awake, pale, still blue and weak. He was propped up on a couple of pillows, covered by a mound of heated blankets and an IV tube traveled down under the blankets into his arm.
But he was awake.
'Hey," Finn said awkwardly, staring at the hospital equipment rather than at the boy in the bed.
"Yeah, hey," Blaine replied, his voice little more than a croak but still audible. The two locked eyes and stared at each other, both at a lost as to what to say, before Blaine broke it. "Do you want to sit?" he questioned awkwardly and Finn nodded, grabbing a chair next to Blaine's bed and flopping down into it.
Silence filled the room again, as question upon question ran through Finn's mind, until finally, he broke.
"What happened?" He asked the boy he hardly knew and Blaine shrugged, staring down at one of his blankets. Something inside Finn tensed as he leaned forward, closer to Blaine. "No, dude seriously, I think you owe me at least somewhat of an answer as to why my brother woke me up in tears begging me to come save you because you were asleep in a parking lot. There has to be some answer to that scenario."
Blaine fidgeted with a loose thread on his blanket for a minute before sighing, and rolling his eyes. He turned to Finn, worn and tired eyes pleading as he said, "Fine, but not a word to Kurt."
"You can't keep everything from him man, he cares about you," Finn replied, making no promise, but it didn't seem to matter. Blaine sighed, shaking his head sadly before he began, despite no promise on Finn's part.
"Kurt's really lucky," Blaine started; his eyes shut, "He's lucky to have a family like yours."
Finn stared at Blaine, heart racing as Blaine continued to tell his story, eyes still clenched tight, as if blocking out a memory.
"The first few days of break were bearable, we were waiting around for my younger brother's boarding school to get out before we went back to New York, so we were staying in a hotel in Columbus. My dad never really understood the fact that I'm-" Blaine's voice trailed off.
"Gay?" Finn whispered slowly, and Blaine opened his eyes, meeting Finn's.
"Yeah, exactly," Blaine whispered, eyes traveling up to the ceiling as he continued, "We got into this argument. It was a stupid argument, I was talking about some new musical I wanted to see while home, the Addams Family Musical.I had told my little brother during Thanksgiving that I'd take him to see it. Well of course, that was absolutely not acceptable for my father. I could not 'fag up Nathan too'."
Blaine stopped talking for a second as he chocked on his words and Finn leaned forward, handing him a cup of water that was on a tray next to his bed. Blaine took a long sip and briefly paused before he continued.
"My moth flipped shit on him, she thinks I'm breakable. Mentally breakable. A couple of years ago I tried to kill myself," Blaine stopped when Finn unintentionally gasped, and turned to look at Finn with a sickening smirk. "I know right? Sorry, I'm a blunt kind of guy. She's convinced I'm constantly on the edge. Don't get me wrong, I'm content now, but all she sees is me during breaks," Blaine's voice trailed off. "I'm not happy during breaks."
Blaine paused in his story, taking deep breath before rolling his eyes. "Look Finn, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this. I just-"
"What did your dad do?" Finn insisted, interrupting Blaine and Blaine sighed, taking one of his hands out from under the mound of blankets and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Well, it wasn't really his fault. Mom was the one freaking out; she started yelling at my dad about that incident two years ago when I accidently swallowed too many pills. Oops, right? So she's yelling and my dad's yelling and one of them gets the bright idea to turn the yelling on me. And it was this constant wall of screams. They weren't even insults, just yelling, about Dalton, and pills and expenses and grades and girls and guys and sexual orientation. So I left."
Finn stared at Blaine waiting for more but Blaine didn't have anymore to tell, he stared blankly back at Finn. Finn raised an eyebrow, staring in disbelief.
"You left?"
Blaine laughed a harsh barking laugh, "I sure did."
Finn continued to stare "To Dalton?"
The smaller boy shrugged, "It didn't really click until halfway there that Dalton was shut down for the holidays. I mean, when I first left it made the most sense to go there, that's my home. Halfway there it hit me like a brick, it was closed, and that I was wandering in Ohio's December weather to nowhere. So I called Kurt, reached the parking lot and passed out."
"That's it?" Finn asked, in slight disbelief and Blaine tossed him a sarcastic grin.
"That's it."
Before Finn could ask anymore a nurse came in, a plastic cup full of pills in one hand and another full of water in the other.
"Your mother and father are on the way," The nurse informed Blaine who rolled his eyes.
"Goody," He mumbled sarcastically, smirking at Finn whose brain was still racing to process all the information.
Blaine reached for the pills, but the nurse held back, handing each of them to him one by one, requesting him to show the underside of his tongue after each and every pill. It wasn't until the last one was gone that she left, with a concerned glance over her shoulder.
"Some mistakes stick with you," Blaine mumbled referencing the pills and Finn opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
"I'm telling Kurt," Finn finally said after a couple of minutes of silence and Blaine sighed, running a hand over his eyes and groaning.
"Finn, listen, I get why you want to. I do understand, but that'll mess Kurt up more than it'll help him," Blaine insisted, propping himself up more and staring at him. "Your brother, he's in an unfortunate, challenging, position right now, and he's found just a bit of strength in me. And that's not conceded bragging, that's just a sad fact of life right now. I cannot afford to lose the strength he sees in me now. He can not afford that."
"You can't afford to go at this alone man," Finn whispered, "I wouldn't let Kurt go through this alone, I'm not letting you."
Blaine shook his head, "Finn-"
"You don't have to tell him today," Finn continued, "Or tomorrow even, maybe not even until after break. But he's going to wonder, he's going to ask me, and I can only lie to him so much Blaine. I care about him and he cares about you."
Blaine avoided eye contact, opting to look outside the window.
"He's lucky to have you Finn," Blaine whispered as he watched snow come down outside and Finn smiled despite himself. He reached for Blaine's phone that was on his bedside table and pulled up his contacts, typing in his information while Blaine just stared outside silently.
"You text me as soon as you want to see Kurt, and I'll bring him here. That's a promise," Finn said, before he glanced at his own phone and saw five missed calls from Kurt and three missed calls from Burt. "Trust me," He continued, showing Blaine the missed calls, "He cares."
"You better get going before my parents get here," Blaine said with a smile, eyes drooping from the pills he'd taken earlier. Finn nodded, smiling at Blaine as he clasped his shoulder.
"I'll text you," Blaine mumbled right before Finn reached the door, and Finn turned around.
"Yes you will," Finn replied before smirking and leaving the room. As soon as he reached his car he unlocked his phone and pulled up a text message to Kurt.
He's okay.
And he was, Finn decided, the kids was an okay guy for his brother.
AN: Should I call it complete, or write more? Only you can decide, let me know. Reviews are better than red vines, and red vines are hard to beat.