Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of it's characters.
This is based off of what everyone was saying when the episode 3x04 "Pot O' Gold" of Glee aired. People really focused on Burt's small line about Glee Club saving his kid's life. I saw a few headcannons floating around on Tumblr so I ran with it and decided to write my own small drabble. This is my first Glee fanfic I'm publishing but I have a few others I might publish soon if anyone actually likes this one. Enjoy the story!
When Burt said to Will Schuester that Glee Club had saved Kurt's life he had not just said it. It may have been years ago at this point but it was still a big deal to him. Burt had noticed that Kurt had been quieter the past few weeks. He stayed in his room a lot and his normal smiles had gotten more and more far between. Kurt had always been very self-reliant but after Burt came home early one day and found two shirts in the sink covered in syrup and soaking in soapy water he didn't realize just how self-reliant he had become. The syrup had stained the shirts several different colors and seemed to come from those slushies that Kurt hated. Just last week he had offered to buy Kurt one at the gas station they had stopped at. He seemed shocked at the thought and refused claiming they would dye his teeth.
Calling out for his son he walked around the house. There were a few drops of blueish-purple water leading from the sink to the basement where Kurt's room was. The door was slightly open so Burt pushed it open calling out Kurt's name and letting him know he was coming down. There were clothes scattered around on the floor and a wet towel laying on the bed.
"Kurt, bud, you're the one who always yells at me for leaving my wet towels around. Where are you?" No voice answered him but a choked sob came from the small bathroom next to him. The white door had similar stains as those in the kitchen and hallway. The door handle was steamed up and it looked like Kurt had forgotten to turn on the fan again. "Bud, please open up, is everything okay?"
"Dad?" Kurt's voice seemed to catch in his throat, he seemed surprised that Burt was standing outside his door. "You're supposed to be at the shop."
"I thought that I'd come home early and surprise you. Why don't you come out and we can talk about whatever is bothering you." He heard shuffling from inside and waited for the door to open.
He waited almost a minute before hearing Kurt's soft voice, "The door is unlocked, you can come in."
When he opened the door he saw his son as dressed down as he probably ever would. Sitting on the ground, Kurt was wearing loose gray sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt. His hair had been combed through and left sticking every which way instead of neatly styled like it usually was. Looking more closely his scalp seemed to have been dyed different colors. Pink splotches covered his face and surrounded his eyes. As he went to kneel down next to him he found a small knife from the kitchen sitting on the floor next to him.
Pushing the knife away he tried to meet Kurt's downcast bloodshot eyes. "Kurt, what happened here? What were you thinking? Talk to me."
"I wasn't actually going to do it, I just, I don't know what I was thinking."
"Well you're going to try to think of something, we're going to go out of this bathroom and talk about it." Reaching over to help Kurt up he noticed Kurt backing away slightly, "Come on."
"This morning I hit my back against-, there's a bruise."
"Stand up and let me see." Reluctantly Kurt stood, bracing himself against the sink. Carefully he lifted the back of his shirt, running from his right shoulder down to his lower back was a fresh bruise, black and blue with just a hint of pink around the edges. There were smaller faded bruises speckling his fair skin. Sighing Burt wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close careful not to press against his sore back. "Why don't you come upstairs and lay down on the couch and I'll make some soup, that healthy kind that you like so much."
Kurt nodded and followed his father up the stairs. Burt had no idea how to deal with something like this but to take things step by step. He knew already that he would not be going to work tomorrow and Kurt would absolutely not be going in to that school tomorrow. Leading Kurt to the couch Burt sat him down somewhere where he would be able to see from the kitchen. After wrapping him in a blanket that was draped over the back of the sofa Burt let him know not to move and to just call out and he would be there.
As the soup was cooking on the stove Burt stood in the doorway keeping an eye on Kurt who at this point was sitting, going back and forth between picking lint balls off of the blanket that was wrapped around him and just staring at his hands. The brief moments where Burt was not in the doorway seemed to be the longest of his life. More than once he ran back just to see if Kurt was still sitting there.
When he brought the soup out to Kurt on the couch he saw the tears starting again. Burt set the steaming bowls down on the coffee table and sat next to Kurt. Moving to give Kurt a light hug Burt found himself with a sobbing teenager grasping onto him for dear life. "Daddy, I'm so sorry, I am just sick of everything. I don't want this to happen, I wasn't actually going to do anything. I just saw it and wondered what it was like, I needed a way to cope."
Burt enveloped his son in his arms and ran his hands through his hair in a way that on any other day Kurt would have been furious at him for. Kurt pressed hard against him as the crying continued. As the sobs continued and the hiccups started Burt asked what he had to, "Bud, what could have been so bad that you were thinking of this?"
"I was thrown into the dumpster once and I had two slushies thrown at me. I hit my back on the edge of the dumpster and despite what the football team thinks slushies are made of ice and do hurt when they are thrown at you. The syrup stinging your eyes is nothing compared to what they say though."
Burt had a pretty good idea about what they were saying about him, even Kurt didn't think he did. This is what he had been afraid of years ago. He wished his wife was still around for this, she would know what to do. "You know that I love you and that whatever they say, they are wrong. You are great kid and you are going to go places, those . Tomorrow is Friday, we're going to stay home and watch your favorite movies you are going to forget about today, but we are also going to talk. You are going to tell me everything, and we will cope together. Okay?"
Nodding Kurt leaned even further into his father, each holding the other close. The rest of the night was spent eating soup and watching Kurt's favorite movies with the promise that tomorrow they would talk.
The following Monday Kurt had come home excited, a list had been put up for Glee Club sign-ups. Burt had no idea what exactly that entailed but he was glad to hear the sounds of Kurt singing from his room in the basement once again. Despite the bullying taking an especially nasty turn at more than one point, Kurt remained true to his promise that he would not think of doing anything to hurt himself no matter how bad things got.
I'm posting this at around 7:00 in the morning after an all-nighter because I'm scared of the psycho roommate who just moved out but still has keys to the room. The drabble was bad, I know. Please still review and let me know what you think good or bad.