This was a meme on the glee_fluff_meme on LJ by sotto_voice. I loved it so much, I had to write it. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly.
Staring out the coffee house window, Finn Hudson frowned, sighing at the site of wind whipping angrily through the trees, rain pounding down onto the cement. He and Rachel were supposed to be having a date and he had gotten a ride from Kurt—as he had yet to get a car of his own—only to have Rachel suddenly call and cancel on him, something about her dads.
Now it was pouring; as soon as he would step outside, he'd be soaked to the bone, and it was awhile away back to his new house, so he was waiting for Kurt to come pick him up—he and his mom had once again moved into that house. He shared a room with Kurt until their parents find an affordable house with enough rooms they wanted to buy. Finn pleasantly admitted that sharing a room with his gay step-brother was not as bad as he had thought it would be the year before.
Granted, the fact Kurt no longer had a crush on him helped a bit, but… it was still a lot better than he had hoped.
"Hey, you should give that to us for free." Came a smirking voice, and Finn looked up at the counter, frowning at the sight of two college-age looking guys. The one whom had spoken had dark hair and was about as big as Finn himself—but not as big.
"Eh?" a smaller looking teenager question, who couldn't have been any older than he and Kurt. "Free? But I'm not allo—"
A hand slammed down on the counter and the boy flinched, inching a bit back. "You heard him," the other one said, not as large as his friend but still rather intimidating, at least to the boy behind the counter. "Give it to us free. Coffee made by fag ain't worth shit."
A spark of hurt crossed the boy's face and Finn quickly looked around to see if anyone was going to say anything, but many of the people seemed to agree with the two guys. Others looked uncomfortable about what was being said, but they did nothing to stop it.
Finn frowned as the two continued harassing the poor teenager, flashes of himself throwing his now step-brother into dumpsters, tossing pee-balloons at him, and calling his things—him—"faggy" flashing through his mind. Kurt had gone through this, hadn't he? And what was Finn doing now? Just sitting there when he told Kurt he'd protect him from his bullies.
Kurt was at Dalton now, he didn't need him to protect him while there, but this boy—who reminded him so much of the pre-transfer Kurt—had nobody standing up for him. He probably got it just as bad at his own school, if not worse, and he had to take that where he worked? It didn't seem right to Finn.
Without a second thought, Finn quickly stood from his seat and started toward the front of the café, working up the courage for what he was about to do. "I'd appreciate it if you'd shut up with those words."
The air in the room seemed to become stiff as the talking halted—Finn having said it loud enough for everyone to hear, but he wasn't surprised, everyone had been paying attention to what was going on between the three anyways.
"What?" the first man questioned, his face shocked for a quick second before falling back into a smirk. "This your boyfriend or something? You a fag too?"
"My step-brother is gay, and I don't like hearing you bully this guy while I'm trying to enjoy my coffee." Not that he was enjoying it anyways, but that was honestly beside the point.
"Heh, figures. Tell your step-brother to go die next time you see him, kay?" Finn's hands clenched, and he had to forcefully stop himself from punching the man in front of him—it'd do no good to do something like that now. It would be… what was the word Rachel sometimes used? Counterproductive? Something like that.
"Don't talk about my brother like that—in fact, don't talk about anyone like that, asshole." Finn glared, feeling oddly protective over both Kurt and this other boy.
"Who are you to tell me what to do?" the man crossed his arms, stepping forward slightly, not at all intimidated by the slight height Finn had on him, but Finn had height on everyone it seemed like.
"And who are you to talk to this guy like that?" he snapped back, gesturing towards the boy behind the counter. "Has he done something to hurt you, or someone you're close to? He's doing his job, he shouldn't be attacked when he's minding his own business, especially for something like this." He almost felt like a hypocrite, saying all of this, but that was the old Finn, wasn't it? And this was the new—and improved—Finn Hudson.
"So pay him for the coffee or leave." Finn continued, arms crossed over his chest as he stared down his 'opponent'.
"Tch," the guy rolled his eyes, obviously giving up as he slipped back on his jacket before nodding to his companion to follow him. "It's not even worth it, let's go someplace where they have good employees."
The two of them walked out and it was quiet for a moment before talk quickly filled the room and Finn felt uncomfortable as he realized they were talking about him—whom none of them even knew.
"Thank you," a quiet voice said and Finn looked over at the boy behind the counter to see him smiling. "Not many people—if any—would do that for someone like me… your step-brother is very lucky to have you as a brother."
Finn shifted awkwardly, feeling odd at being complimented by a complete stranger, but he managed a smile and nod just as his phone vibrated.
From Kurt: I'm outside. There is no way I'm getting out in this rain and ruining my perfectly good—and expensive—outfit! Get out here, Finn Hudson.
Grinning in amusement, Finn pushed his phone back into his pocket, flipping his hood out over his head before running out into the rain. And he was right; by the time he reached Kurt's car, he was absolutely soaked.
"Oh, a towel! Thank you!" Finn exclaimed, moving to take one of the towels from the seat only to have his hand slapped.
"Finn Hudson, if you dare move that towel and get my leather interior wet, I will slowly torture you until you beg for death." Kurt told him darkly and Finn slowly sat down on the towels covering the passage seat, too scared to say anything.
Kurt relaxed when he saw him sit on top of the towels, telling Finn to put on his seatbelt before carefully driving away from the curb, the street difficult to see from the rain pouring heavily down on them.
"I'm sorry," Finn stated quietly, partially hoping Kurt didn't hear him.
"What was that? Did you say 'I'm sorry'?" Kurt glanced over at him for a split second before turning back to the road.
"I—I guess… Kurt, I'm sorry for ever bullying you. I understand if you can't accept it, but I just wanted to let you know—"
"It's fine," Kurt smiled slightly. "I never really blamed you for any of that and compared to everyone else, you were positively kind… even if I did—and do—take your choice in fashion as a personal insult to me, but… it's okay."
Finn frowned a bit at the jibe to his clothes, but decided not to take it too seriously. What was wrong with his clothes? "Are you sure? 'Cause even if I wasn't the worst, I was still pretty bad, especially that time…"
"Finn," Kurt sighed, stopping at a red light. "We were both in the wrong that time and we learned from our mistakes. You learned not to speak that way—especially in front of my dad—and I learned not to obsess over something that's impossible. I don't like you any more Finn, you know this, you're my brother now, and I've already thanked you for everything. You don't need to keep apologizing."
"Okay," Finn hesitated before curiosity got the best of him. "And what's wrong with my clothes?"
Kurt laughed loudly, shaking his head. "So many things, Finn Hudson, so many things…"
