"And the winners are...New directions!"
The next couple minutes passed by in a blur, with excited shouts and squeals, a lot of hugging, and wide eyes accompanied with large grins of pride and joy.
Kurt didn't participate in any of this, mind you. He stood off to the side with 'his team'- the Warblers- as his former te-his friends huddled around a very large trophy, moving and dancing around in a frenzy of joy. He didn't even notice that Sue wasn't throwing some sort of murderous tantrum, but seem almost approving of the outcome, and Vocal Adrenaline stormed out like the Divas they wished they were.
Other Warblers were currently moaning, ranting, and cursing about how they should have won, that if the judges weren't-Homophobic, I mean, CLEARLY the only reason we didn't win is because we had two men performing a duet. We should report them! Or-
Kurt, obviously, was tuning them all out. Beside him, Blaine was trying to re-assure them that they all did their best, and that they would win next year, but Kurt couldn't even seem to focus on that.
He was busy looking at his team. His real team- and he felt anything but resentment towards them for winning. He felt happy for them, amused at how silly they looked, proud at how far the bunch of misfits had come-
And so lonely.
He longed to be with them, to be grabbing Rachel in a tight hug, to be squealing with Mercedes, to be giving Finn an approving smile- to belong again.
Even if he was safe at Dalton, it just wasn't the same. It could never be the same.
Nothing could ever replace that aggravating, overly joyful, peppy, but warm and welcoming atmosphere that was his glee club.
Sure, he liked Blaine, a bit less than he might have admitted to before the 'Gap' incident- but the boy still held a place in his heart. But it couldn't fill the part of him that was ripped out as he had to watch what could have been play out right before his eyes.
The young soprano gave Blaine a tired smile as he gently squeezed his shoulder in a comforting way, which used to send his heart fluttering, but now gave him a pleasant hum of warmth through his body, as they made their way off the stage, as other people started to file out.
As he walked, he saw Carole and his Father, who looked torn between going to comfort his son's loss, or go to congratulate his other 'son' for his victory. Kurt gave a dismissive wave of the hand in New Direction's, well, direction, and then a stern look as Burt hesitated, but he soon scurried off after running over to tussle his son's hair in an affectionate matter- much to his displeasure. (But secret pleasure.)
"It's a good look for you?" Blaine offered sheepishly.
"Shut up Anderson." Kurt quipped as he tried to shove to the exit quicker.
.
"I can't believe we won!" Tina was gasping slightly, having had her boyfriend just finish squeezing the life out of her in a breath taking hug.
Santana snorted slightly, smirking as she wrapped her arm around Brittany's waist like it was the most natural thing in the world, "Was there any doubt?"
"Of course not." Puck piped in, "Because we're awesome."
"Totally awesome!" Finn exclaimed, bro-fisting with Puck and exchanging grins, to which Quinn rolled her eyes, but still smiled fondly at her two ex's.
Rachel hugged the trophy a bit closer to her body, as photographers made their way over, ignoring Puck's little of remark of "Cool it, Berry. They're not here to steal it from us."
"Oh!" smiled at them, "Are you here to take pictures for the paper?" The one holding the fairly expensive looking camera nodded and everyone scrambled to make themselves look presentable, and then get into a suitable formation.
"Alright, is everyone in New Directions present?" Many of the members nodded, attempting to hurry along the photos so they could go celebrate, but that sentence struck a chord in the back of Puck's mind. He frowned slightly, glancing past the camera lense to look at the backs of everyone leaving. It took him a second or two to pick out a slightly smaller build in the sea of black and red uniforms. When his eyes landed on a small, black clad back with a sliver of porcelain skin and a head of brown hair, he scowled, then voiced aloud. "No."
Others in the group started to look at him questioningly, and the photographer raised his eyebrow, as Puck's eyes locked with the other males in the group and he motioned only slightly, but they seemed to catch on immediately and nodded. Artie gave a small polite and apologetic smile as he laughed, "Sorry, there's one more member to get."
"Is there someone you've been hiding in a closet or something?" Lauren accused, and the guys could have laughed at the irony of that sentence, as they quickly made their way off the stage.
Puck was a bit faster than the others, and he managed to reach their target quickly "Hey, Kurt!"
Said boy blinked in surprise, and turned, shock clear on his face. "Puckerman, what are you doing? Don't you have a picture to take? The trophy means you won" And he only looked more confused as he saw his step-brother and co. settle behind him.
Puck rolled his eyes, "Yeah Yeah, cool it with the sarcasm for a second, will ya?" He asked, as he grabbed Kurt and started to peel his coat off, and the brunette gave something between a surprised squeak and quiet shriek. "Noah Puckerman- What are you doing!"
Puck, of course, offered no explanation as he got the coat and tie off, handing it to Artie who folded the belongings neatly in his lap. Blaine just stood there, watching in confusion, but more so amusement as Puck, Sam, Finn and Mike hoisted Kurt into the air by respective limbs, and he shrieked.
"You four- put me down right now- or I swear to the god I don't even believe in-Put me down!" He didn't dare struggle for fear of being dropped, but he could still give them an earful.
"Hey, Birdy boy." Blaine had to wonder for a moment if he was who Puck was referring to, but realized almost no one was left in ears shot, so he answered. "Yeah?"
"Do you want to be in the picture? I mean, since Hummel has like, a gay boner for you-" Kurt promptly tried- and failed to hit Puck in the face while he was holding his arm, only making Puck smirk as he continued. "I know you're a Gobbler or whatever, but you could be like, an un-official member?"
The 'Gobbler' considered the offer for a moment, and then chuckled softly. "No, that's quite alright. This isn't my memory to make." He directed this towards Kurt, who gave him a small, confused look. "New Directions isn't my team, Kurt. But it is yours. They're your home." And Kurt suddenly felt a bit guilty, wanted to tell Blaine that it wasn't his fault that the warblers would never be his home, but he was suddenly being whisked away again as Puck offered a quick "Suite yourself."
They quickly made their way to the stage, and the glee girls offered smiles and hugs to their friend, as the guys made their way back to their respective places, and they quickly found a comfortable place to put Kurt. But Kurt wouldn't have any of it.
"Look you guys- I appreciate this. Really, I do!" His voice softened. "I miss you guys so much. I miss New Directions- but I left. I'm not on your team anymore. You guys won, not me. I don't deserve to be in this picture." For a moment, they all stood in silence.
"Bullshit."
There were a few surprised head turns as everyone realized that it was Puck who had spoken up first, and he looked angry, but it wasn't directed at Kurt. He pushed his way forward a bit, and stopped in front of Kurt, who had to crane his head slightly, looking a little more than put off.
"You're going to listen, because I am only going to say this once, got it?" Kurt nodded slightly, and his eyes were narrowed slightly, but they weren't hostile as much as they were confused.
Puck sighed, running a hand over the patch of hair on his head, as he looked Kurt dead in the eyes- the first time he had ever done so if it wasn't to see the fear and panic in his eyes as he prepared to toss him into a dumpster.
"Saying you're not one of us is bullshit. Just because you left the club doesn't mean you aren't one of us," and Puck had to raise his hand to silence Kurt "And I know what you're going to say- but it's more than just a stupid show choir club. We're...more like, you know, a family now. And last time I checked, you can't quit family. So you're stuck with us, Hummel."
Kurt couldn't find himself able to form any words, but thankfully he didn't have to as Sam decided to step forward as well. "He's right, you know. We are a family. Like, the Na'vi clan!" And Sam ignored a few choice groans, one of which was Kurt's, at the reference as he continued with a sheepish grin, "You know what I mean. And you know, family looks out for family. Always. We're sorry we couldn't protect you, Kurt."
"Yeah." Mike chimed in, smiling slightly "We should have noticed something earlier. I mean, if I had, I could have put some of my Asian kung-fu moves on Karofsky!" He had to shut up because Tina smacked him on the arm, giving him a threatening 'I-swear-to-god-if-you-make-one-more-asian-refrence-I-will-end-you-' glare.
Artie cleared his throat, "The point is, is that we should have been there for you, because you've been there for all of us. You helped us get to where we are now," He grinned.
"So this trophy is just as much yours as it is ours." Quinn said, smiling at him.
Tina laced her hand with Mike's, and placed the other to rest on the top of Artie's wheelchair. "Yeah, because even though you didn't sing with us, we could...you know..."
"We could still hear you!" Brittany chimed in, smiling widely. "You sounded really pretty, like an angel! Does that mean you're going to sprout wings? You could be like, a duck."
Santana rolled her eyes playfully at the blonde, sliding her pinky into a locked position with her own. "Your ass doesn't look as good in those uniforms , so I never thought of you as a Warbler anyways. Besides, they're all tightwads. Except maybe your dwarfish prince."
Finn walked over to him and put his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Kurt, I'm really sorry I didn't help you more than I did. Well, I didn't really help at all, did I?" He smiled weakly, "But can I make it up to you? Or try? I want to be a better friend to you. A better brother. I love you, Bro. I want you to know that..."
"While this is all very touching, we do have a photo to take, people." Rachel huffed, but the glistening in her eyes gave away that any semblance of annoyance in her voice was fake. nodded towards her with a smile, and Rachel promptly pulled Kurt beside her, shoving the trophy into his hands. "You can hold it. It was getting too heavy anyways." She lied, and Kurt could tell because as far as trophys went, this was pretty light.
Beside him, Mercedes squeezed his arm, and whispered. "Welcome back. We missed you, Boo."
"Are we done with all the sappy crap now?" Puck groaned, not about to admit that his own eyes were getting a bit wet.
"I would hope so." The Camera-man that they had admittedly all forgotten about grumbled angrily, "Because as touching as this all is, I have places to be."
They all shuffled embarrassedly, once again into their positions, the only difference now was Kurt in the center of the group, with Mercedes arm linked with his, and Rachel's hand in his, and Finn's hand on his shoulder, and a large trophy clutched between two trembling hands. And as he dully heard the man start to count down, and saw out of the corner of his eyes last little touches being made, he saw his Dad, and Carole. They stood in front of the first few rows of seats, and Carole was crying, and Burt was looking so happy and so proud, and Blaine made his way to stand beside them, his eyes locking with Kurt's and he smiled in understanding.
And in a second, the camera had gone off. And as the spots started to clear from his vision, Kurt knew his eyes had been wet long before the painful white light of the camera flash, and he didn't care.
He didn't care, because he was where he belonged again.
He was home.