Azimio tries to make a snarky comment about Burt being in the hospital, and Kurt goes Hulk all on his ass.

Writing this fic made my heart hurt.

It's the day after, and he still blames himself.

He should've payed more attention to his diet.

He should've seen the warning signs.

But those things aren't supposed to happen to him. They're supposed to happen to that guy down the street, the lady in New Jersey, not him.

But it's happened. And he just has to hope he wakes up. Because if he doesn't—-

"Hey, faggot!"

He twitches as he hears the barking voice of the black football player reverberate through the crowded hall. His hands tighten around his books, and he clenches his teeth. He doesn't want to deal with them, not now, he's been trying to avoid them and he doesn't want to deal with something so small and unimportant right now—-

"Heard your old man's in the hospital." Kurt's eyes widen. No, oh no, he can't be going there, not while it's still a raw, bleeding wound—-

"What'd you do, tell him you lost your virginity? Gave him such a shock that he had a heart attack?" Kurt's blood turns to ice as Azimio's voice echoes through the hallway. Suddenly everything is deadly quiet and he can't breathe. And the ice turns to fire, he doesn't know what his face looks like and he turns. Around.

"Shut up, Azimio." He doesn't recognize his own voice. Azimio can't seem to read his body language, or feel the silent, cold rage rolling off Kurt in waves.

"Or maybe you kissed him and told him you were in love with him, huh? That would've caused a heart attack for sure." He just keeps talking, and Karosky-no, Dave-seems to read Kurt perfectly because he's stopped laughing and he's tugging at Azimio's shoulder.

"Dude, Z, I think you should-"

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm just getting started?" Azimio turns back to face Kurt, an ugly sneer curving his lips. "Or maybe he caught you getting fucked by some twink-"

"Shut. Up." And Azimio finally seems to understand how far over he's gone, because he blanches, backing up while waving his hands in front of him, like he's trying to placate the icy malice glittering in Kurt's eyes.

"You shut the fuck up." And Azimio's eyes widen because Kurt, goody-goody faggot Kurt, has never. Ever. Said that word. And Azimio knows he's in deep shit when Kurt hands his books off to Mercedes, her eyes wide and scared at this side of Kurt she's never seen before.

"You don't know anything about my dad. You. Know. Nothing." And the final word comes out as almost a hiss, and Kurt is almost nose to nose with Azimio, and would be, if he were taller. Azimio tries to hide how much this is freaking him out, how much that look in Kurt's eyes terrifies him, behind a wall of false bravado.

"Dude, chill. I was just-" and Azimio doesn't even get out his lame excuse before Kurt punches him in the face.

Not a lot of people know this side of Kurt. Finn learned about it when he'd started tossing the word 'faggy' around; he hadn't known that the look on Kurt's face meant he was going to explode rather than break down. The only thing that kept Finn out of the hospital was Burt, taking out aggression on Finn that meant to be from Kurt, but served just the same purpose. Finn hadn't felt the full effect like Azimio was. Kurt never hit Finn.

And he was hitting Azimio. Something is born when Kurt loses it, and everyone watches in awe as Kurt proceeds to beat Azimio, Azimio the football player, who probably weighs over 250 pounds, and who's currently being creamed by Kurt.

Azimio's just standing there like dumb animal waiting for slaughter, and he is being slaughtered.

Crunch! A broken nose.

Whump! He doubles over gasping, the punch to his stomach almost making him vomit.

Crack! His head comes back up, the impact from Kurt's knee pushing him upright, his eyes unfocused and a bruise blossoming on his forehead.

Smack! And he totters for a moment, his eye already darkening, before falling backwards, and landing with a thump on the linoleum hallway floor.

Almost everyone is watching Azimio, but Finn only has eyes for Kurt. He can see in Kurt's wide, unseeing eyes that he still wants to keep going, that he still hasn't cooled off, so he grabs hold of Kurt's hand. He almost gets his arm yanked out of the socket when Kurt pulls him in, trying to throw him over his shoulder before Finn manages to whisper in his ear, "Weight room, now, or you're going to kill him."

And Kurt bolts, not letting go of Finn's hand as he runs to the gym, and Finn allows himself to be pulled along.

When they get to the weight room, Kurt releases the death grip he's had on Finn's wrist, giving him a moment to nurse the forming bruise. He doesn't give him much time, though, before he steps over to a punching bag, body vibrating and still itching for impact, for destruction, for release.

Finn situates himself behind the bag, making sure his footing and grip are good, before giving a curt nod. Without a warning, Kurt attacks.

He launches volley after volley of kicks, punches, and various other attacks at the punching bag, and Finn staggers, struggling to keep himself from sliding back, or letting go of the bag that would otherwise be swinging madly.

He can hear Kurt's breath quickening, and he sees the sweat beginning to form on his brow and he knows Kurt's almost finished. With one final, herculean effort, Finn tenses for the hit that pushes him back a few feet, yanking the punching bag off its hook and busting it open, sand trickling down to the floor from various tears in the tough fabric.

Finn drops the bag, and rushes over to a sobbing Kurt.

He's shaking as he wraps his arms around him, murmuring comfort and just holding him as he wept.

This is what comes after. The wall comes up and he keeps it up, but once it's no longer needed, it crumbles. Just being here, as Finn is, helps derive comfort for Kurt, and he recovers faster than he would when he was alone.

Finn can hear angry footsteps, and Kurt clings to his t-shirt, tears soaking into the fabric. Finn feels protective of the boy he considers his brother, his friend, and maybe something a little more. His arms tighten around Kurt, and he whispers in his ear.

"Kurt."

"Mmm?" Kurt's calmed down more, and he's snuggling into his chest.

"They're coming. They'll want you to give an explanation, and I'm not sure how I can help. Geez, Kurt, I-"

Kurt puts his forefinger over his lips, stopping the stream of words. "I'll be fine. It'll work out." His mouth stretches into a trembling smile. "Don't worry. I'll explain it."

"But, Kurt-"

"I'll be fine." He repeats, a bit more firmly. He stands, wobbling on his legs. Finn is still kneeling, and he looks down at the boy that he knows is more a brother than a love interest, but he still holds onto a frail, little whisper that says, it could still happen.

On some strange impulse, he leans down and kisses Finn's forehead. He backs away, a faint blush decorating his cheeks, before heading for the door. "I'll go now. You get to practice, okay? I'll see you later."

Finn is left kneeling, shocked by the chaste kiss, as the door closes silently. His skin tingles where Kurt touched him, and he's stuck half-hard in a weight room.

Crap.

So I ended with a little slash in the end. I was going to end it really depressing, but nope, I wanted a happy ending.

And slash.

So…yeah.

I'm working on Skirts and Blush, and my Megamind fic, so don't worry! I'll upload some new chapters soon!