It was somewhere between Finn's death and his breakup with Quinn, again, that Noah started to lose it. Finn's death changed him, made him more aware of his love for Quinn, for Beth, and for life. And after Quinn went back to school, even though it was hard, they were happy together. Noah would send her cute texts everyday, Quinn would call him for hours each evening, and they would see one another in the flesh almost once a month.
The first time Quinn had to cancel a meet up, it was hard on Noah, but he understood. Finals were the next week, and she needed to study. It was her senior year. That was fine. Then, she got a summer job, and the phone calls basically stopped. Not all at once, but within the first month.
That's when Noah started drinking. A cold one with dinner and something stronger to help him fall asleep at night, to relax after cleaning pools all day. Then, he added in one or two over his lunch break. Eventually, that turned into a stiff drink with breakfast, too. He still texted Quinn all the time, but she barely responded; most of the time when he called her, she ignored his calls. If she did answer, they talked for only a minute or two. At that point, Noah was barely functioning on his own; some days he didn't work at all. He was losing pools left and right.
A change was set in motion the day he showed up at Burt and Carole's at 10am, yelling gibberish at the top of his lungs. He stumbled down their sidewalk, barely managing to stay on his feet.
Carole came running out the front door, frantically wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Noah?"
"Hi, Miss H," Noah slurred as he pulled her into a hug, leaning heavily against her.
"Noah, are you okay?" Carole asked. She could smell the booze on him as if it were leaking from his pores.
"I'm grrrrrrreat. Nooooooot really. Quinn won't...And I lost anoooooother pool today. Only have one," he said sticking his right index finger into the air in front of Carole's nose, swaying dangerously.
"Oh, dear. That sounds awful," Carole sympathized as she wrapped an arm around Noah's waist, leading him toward the house. "Why don't you come inside and sit a while so we can chat. We'll get you some water and a PB and J. Sound good?"
"Suuuure thing, Miss H," Noah replied lazily, leaning too hard on her for a moment, making her stumble.
Carole led him to the living room, getting him settled on the couch. "You stay here, Noah. I'll be right back with the sandwich and some water."
As she turned to go, Noah said, "Yer the best, Miss H. Finn has the best mooooom."He pointed at her with a heavy hand before letting it fall, hard, against his thighs.
Though his referral to Finn in the present tense made her want to tear up, Carole threw Noah a half-hearted smile. "Thank you, sweetheart. I'll be right back," she assured him again. Quickly, she grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and threw together a sandwich, keeping her ears alert for any distressed sound that Noah might make.
He was mysteriously quiet, and when she returned to the living room, she discovered why. Noah was fast asleep on the couch, head pillowed on the sofa's arm.
Carole took the opportunity to really study him, then. He looked terrible, she decided with dismay. He had huge, dark bags beneath his eyes, at least a weeks worth of scruff on his dirty face, and his clothes looked and smelled like they hadn't been clean in at least that long. The sight of him nearly broke her heart. She remembered what a handsome boy he'd always been, eager to please and cute as a button.
Carole had been looking out for him for a long time. Noah and Finn had been friends since preschool, and due to his dead-beat father, Noah's mother was always at work, trying to make ends meet. So, Carole looked after him as best she could. After he and Quinn had gotten back together, she'd thought he'd finally found someone who would love him like he deserved. Quinn had seemed like she really cared about him. Obviously, she had been wrong.
Carole was not surprised at all that Noah had ended up at her house. She'd known about the "break up," however unofficial it was, for a while now. She'd watched from afar as Noah's life had started to fall apart, feeling sorry that there was nothing she could do for him until he came to her. She couldn't force her help on him like she could when he was a child; he was legally an adult, and he'd been in the military. After seeing how quickly Noah was falling into an unhealthy state, though, Carole had worked with Burt, Blaine, and Kurt to come up with a plan for when his meltdown eventually became too much for him to handle alone. It was clear to Carole that they had reached that point now.
Lovingly, Carole pulled Noah's shoes off his feet and threw a light blanket over his sleeping form. She set the plate and water bottle down on the coffee table for later, then went back to the kitchen. She picked up her cell from the counter and dialed. Burt picked up on the third ring.
"It's happened," Carole said, leaning against the counter and swiping the back of her free hand across her forehead.
"Have you called the boys?" Burt asked, already signaling to his coworkers that that he was leaving.
"Not yet," Carole sighed. "I thought I should tell you first. Just so you could go get his stuff." She took a shaky breath. "He looks awful, Burt."
"Don't worry, Carole. We've got it under control." Burt wished he could be there to comfort her. He knew how much distress it caused her to see someone she cared about doing poorly. "I'm leaving work right now," he told her, climbing into his truck and slamming the door shut. "I'll run by his place and pick up a few things. Call the boys. Let them know."
Carole was so thankful for Burt's calm demeanor. She swore the man rarely got his feathers ruffled, unless someone was threatening his kids. "Thank you, Burt," Carole said softly, her voice betraying her emotions.
"It's gonna be okay, Carole. We've got a plan. Noah's going to be just fine."
Carole smiled even though he couldn't see it. "Okay. I'll call Kurt and Blaine."
"Okay. I'll be home soon. I love you."
"Love you, too." She clicked the end button and took a deep breath to calm herself. Burt said everything was going to be okay, and she believed him. She went back to her contacts list and selected Kurt's name from the list.
Kurt was just sitting down with a bowl of popcorn and his husband when his phone began to buzz on the coffee table in front of him.
Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Who is it?" His finger was poised to hit play on their favorite Netflix show.
"It's Carole. I better take it." Kurt swiped to answer the call, then put the phone to his ear. "Hey, Carole." His brow furrowed as he listened to her talk. "Is he that bad? You talked to Dad? Okay. We'll catch the next flight out then. Yeah, if you could. Thanks, Carole. See you soon. You, too."
Blaine looked at him expectantly as Kurt hung up the phone.
"It's time."
That's all Kurt had to say. Blaine had the TV off and was up off the couch in a second. Kurt laughed. "Hey, Blaine?"
"Yeah?" Blaine poked his head around the doorway from their bedroom when he was in the process of pulling off his pajama shirt and putting on an undershirt. Kurt beckoned him back to the couch, and Blaine shuffled back, finishing pulling on his undershirt as he went. Blaine slumped down next to Kurt and leaned against him.
Kurt whispered in Blaine's ear, "I just want to take a moment to relax with you. This is the last time it will truly just be us."
Blaine nodded. "I know. It's just, you told Carole we'd be on the next flight, and we've been preparing for this for a while now."
Kurt nodded. "You're right. Can I just have a minute, please?"
"Sure." Blaine burrowed further into Kurt, bringing one of Kurt's hands to his mouth and kissing each finger as well as his palm gently. "I love you," he murmured.
"Love you, too. Are you sure you're ready for this? We're ready for this?"
"Yes." Blaine shifted so he could meet Kurt's eyes. "We can do this for sure. You promised Finn that you'd look out for Noah. And this will be the best thing for him, Kurt. He needs this."
Kurt smiled, feeling a little better. "What would I do without you?"
Blaine shrugged with a grin. "Who knows? I'm awesome."
Kurt chuckled and pulled Blaine into a deep kiss, both boys feeling the need to hold one another closely for a minute before pulling back, a bit breathless, lips barely swollen.
"I'll buy plane tickets while you pack?" Blaine suggested.
"Perfect."
Blaine came back to the bedroom a few minutes later. Kurt was deep in their closet, pulling things out to pack. "Our flight is at 12:15. We need to leave in about half an hour," Blaine announced.
Kurt poked his head out of the closet. "Kay. I'm almost done. Give me ten minutes."
"Alright. I'm going to go check and-"
"Blaine, stay here," Kurt commanded from the closet.
"Why? I was jus-"
"I need you," Kurt called.
"For what?"
Kurt emerged and walked to Blaine, pressing his body against him as he kissed his lips urgently. "I need you," he repeated in a husky tone, giving his hips a small roll against Blaine's.
"Ohhhh. I'll stay right here then," Blaine whispered, voice shaky as he felt his own arousal stirring in his stomach.
Kurt kissed him again, biting Blaine's lower lip as he pulled away and walked to the closet, sashaying his hips as he went. "I'll be ready in just a minute."