A/N: This story is set after Kurt's transfer and Finn and Rachel's breakup. For the purposes of this story, Sam and Quinn aren't a couple. Whether you want to believe that he goes to McKinley or not is up to you. Enjoy!
It's funny, Finn thought, how a word he had once used pretty casually- even to Kurt himself that day in their bedroom over that stupid lamp, when Burt got so angry with him- can come out of someone else's mouth and sound so awful. Karofsky had been walking down the hall, laughing to Azimio about how Kurt had transferred just to get away from him. "I guess the fairy boy couldn't handle it. Transferred to the fag school."
Finn didn't even think twice before swinging his fist. The first thing he recognized was the cracking sound as his hand collided with Karofsky's cheekbone. Second was his head being slammed backwards into a locker, and everything starting to blur around him as he slid to the floor. Third was, in the last clear moment before everything went black, the horrified look on Quinn Fabray's face from across the hall.
XXX
It had been four days, and Finn had yet to wake up. According to the doctors, he had suffered blunt force trauma that had caused his lapse into unconsciousness, but the bright side was that his brain activity seemed to be functioning well. They kept saying that they were hopeful that he would wake up on his own. They said that it was the best-case scenario after a hit to the head like that, that they were lucky that there wouldn't be permanent damage. But as Quinn stared at him hooked up to all those machines for what seemed like months, waiting for his eyelids to flicker or his fingers to move, it sure didn't seem optimistic.
She had seen him hit the ground. More accurately, she had heard the bone on bone crack that had resulted from Finn's punch. He had looked into her eyes, for a second, before he went out of consciousness, and she had never felt such a chill running through her veins. Everything after that seemed like it had moved in slow motion. Or fast forward, whichever made it all more blurry. She vaguely remembered the silence that filled the hallway, someone telling another student to get a teacher, the look of shock on Karofsky's face. She remembered charging towards him and crashing her fist into his nose with more strength than she knew she had, then hitting every part of him she could reach, and somewhere throughout beating him up, she remembered starting to cry. She remembered Mr. Schuester pulling her away from Karofsky as Coach Beiste held the bleeding boy strongly by the arm. She remembered the clicking of Ms. Pillsbury's heels as she frantically escorted the paramedics to where Finn lay on the floor. She remembered Mr. Schue's arms being the only things holding her up as they rolled the stretcher towards the ambulance, and Rachel Berry's face, a mixture of shock and tears, standing a few feet away. They shared a look, and for the first time, there wasn't any resentment from either of them. Just a mutual recognition that they were absolutely terrified.
Ms. Pillsbury rode in the ambulance with Finn, and as Coach Beiste cleared the hallway of gaping students and led Karofsky to the Principal's office, Quinn had remained in the middle of the hallway, still gripping Mr. Schue's arm. Rachel hadn't moved a muscle, and as the bell to start fifth period rang, Mr. Schuester looked between the two girls.
"Come on," he said softly, all thoughts of going back to class forgotten, "let's get to the hospital."
They walked wordlessly to his car, and by the time they arrived at the emergency room, Burt and Carole were already in the waiting room. They didn't question why Quinn and Rachel were walking in behind Will, too preoccupied with finding out what had happened. Quinn heard something about Burt threatening to destroy the kid who had done this, and Carole was asking repeatedly what had prompted it.
"I don't know, Mr. and Mrs. Hummel. I wasn't there until it was over, I wish I could tell you."
The five of them stood there in a silence for a moment, before a voice- Quinn recognized it as her own only after she'd said it- whispered, "he was protecting Kurt."
All four of the other heads whipped towards her. "Karofsky called Kurt...a name, and Finn punched him. So Karofsky shoved him into the locker."
A mutual sigh went through the group, and eventually the doctor came out, saying that he was stable, and he could have two visitors at a time. Carole and Burt headed in without question.
"I'm going to go find Ms. Pillsbury, I have no idea where she went once the ambulance got here. You girls will be okay here?"
They both nodded at Mr. Schue, and flopped into uncomfortable waiting room chairs.
"I can't believe this happened." Quinn said quietly.
"I can't believe you broke his nose."
Quinn widened her eyes at Rachel, and they both burst out laughing. Somewhere along the way, she started crying instead, and when she realized that Rachel was doing the same- and for real, this time, instead of the dramatic fake crying she normally did- she leaned her head into Rachel's shoulder without question, and they cried together.
She had never imagined that she would willingly have any contact with Rachel that wasn't slapping her, but now that they were sitting in this ugly yellow waiting room crying over a boy that neither of them could claim anymore, she couldn't remember why she'd hated her in the first place.
"Girls?"
Carole's voice was soft and motherly, and Quinn closed her eyes briefly, remembering that she'd used that tone quite often to comfort her when she lived with them. She'd always felt guilty that Carole had been so nice to her.
"Do you want to go in? They said he's stable for now, and even though he's not conscious yet, he might be able to hear you if you talk to him."
Quinn could see how red Carole's eyes were as she and Burt sat down, and she and Rachel stood hesitantly and walked towards his room. They took one look at him, hooked up to wires and monitors, and took in a shaky breath. She felt Rachel slip her hand into hers as they took their first step towards his hospital bed, and she gave it a squeeze, deciding that after all this time, she had just run out of reasons to torture her.
They had spent the afternoon switching off between sitting on opposite sides of Finn's bed- Quinn was pretty sure that if Finn had been conscious, he would think he was dreaming seeing the two of them voluntarily in a room together- and waiting in the waiting room with Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury while Carole and Burt visited Finn. Eventually, Carole convinced them to go home, and the ride back to their houses in Mr. Schuster's car was silent. Ms. Pillsbury was sitting in the passenger seat, and Quinn noticed Mr. Schue reach across the console to take her hand. She and Rachel shared a glance before he pulled into her driveway, and as hard as she tried to fall asleep that night, she sat awake, seeing the look in his eyes as he slumped against the lockers over and over again in her mind.
Now, three days later, she sat in a plastic hospital chair, her elbows resting on Finn's bed. They had set up a schedule so that there was always someone visiting- technically against hospital policy, but even the nurse's didn't want to face the wrath of an angry Rachel Berry and allowed them to stay as long as they were quiet during the night. Quinn volunteered to stay with him from when school let out until late in the evening, despite Carole's protests that she should worry about getting some rest herself. The Hummels brought her dinner sometimes, and she occasionally stopped by on her way to school, too, without her mother knowing. Rachel was there on the evenings that she could be, but Quinn insisted that she go to Glee every day.
"Someone needs to hold down the fort, Berry."
She told him stories. Just in case he could hear her, she told him about their first date, about the time he'd asked her to the dance in eighth grade, about doing the "Single Ladies" dance at the football game.
"I broke Karofsky's nose. And Rachel and I are kind of friends now," she said, laughing a little, "would you believe it? It's because of you, you know."
She sighed, watching as his eyes refused to open once again.
"I miss you, Finn. And not just now that you can't answer me, I've been missing you. I know you hate me for what I did to you, but I just wish…I wish I would have told you how sorry I was before this happened. How my life has been absolute hell without you, and I wish we could give this another shot, because we never had a chance, you know? Everything just fell apart so fast, and I didn't know how to fix it. I was awful to you and I didn't deserve you then, but I wish I could take it all back. I just…I'll be waiting for you. And…" she tried to steady her voice, "I love you, you big dork."
"Quinn?"
She turned around quickly, wiping tears away. "Kurt."
This was her first time seeing Kurt since his transfer. She had heard that he'd visited Finn once, but it had been while Quinn was at home, and Carole had told her that he just couldn't get himself to go back again. So she was surprised to see him here, standing in the doorway in his Dalton Academy uniform.
"How…how are you?"
"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head, "I'm fine." Her voice cracked despite her best efforts to control it, and with one look at Kurt's face, she cried for the first time since the night they brought him to the hospital. She felt his arms go around her as he sat down in the chair next to her, and his grip was stronger than she'd expected.
"I shouldn't even be crying," she murmured into his Dalton jacket, "He's not my boyfriend anymore. I don't get to do that."
"Yes, you do. He might not be your boyfriend, but you love him, and that gives you every right to be upset."
She realized that Kurt had heard her monologue to Finn, and she sat up slowly. "This is so screwed up." She whispered hoarsely.
"You said it."
They sat silently for a minute, until Kurt let out a shaky breath. "It's my fault."
She turned towards him wordlessly.
"This never would have happened if he hadn't been trying to protect me."
She saw tears starting to build at the edges of his eyes, and now it was his turn to cry as she pulled him into her arms, resting her chin on the top of his head.
"This is not your fault," she said, hating the lump that was rising in her throat again, "don't you dare think that this is your fault. Karofsky is the one who should be blamed here, okay? You didn't do anything wrong."
She felt him nod against her, but they sat that way for a while- neither of them knew how long- before he pulled away slowly. He reached for the Kleenex box, handing her one.
"Look at us." He laughed, "We're a mess."
She laughed too, and wiped the running mascara away from her eyes.
XXX
Finn really wanted that beeping to stop. He didn't know what it was, but it had been going on for what felt like years now, and he just wanted it to stop. He slowly forced open his eyes, realizing that he was in a hospital room, and that beeping was whatever machine was sitting beside him.
Suddenly, he remembered- Karofsky and the lockers and Quinn's face- and his eyes frantically scanned the room until they landed on Kurt and Quinn slumped in the chairs to his left. Kurt was loosely holding her hand, and her head rested on his shoulders as they both slept. Finn smiled groggily, and he reached out his left hand as far as it could go. It was a stretch, but he managed to reach Quinn's other hand, which hung off the edge of the chair. He shook it lightly, and after what seemed like forever, she finally stirred.
"Finn?" her eyes focused and she realized that his eyes were actually open, almost jumping out of her chair to grab his hand. "Finn, you're awake! Kurt!" she shook the boy, who opened his eyes slowly before seeing Finn, his eyes widening as he jumped just as much as Quinn had.
"Hi." Finn said, his voice hoarse, but unable to keep the smile off his face.
"Don't try to talk too much yet." Kurt said, standing to walk to the other side of his bed. "Finn, you didn't need to hit him for me. Look where it got you."
Finn reached out for him and grasped at the sleeve of his jacket. "Yes, I did. Kurt…you're my brother, dude."
Quinn felt tears spill over as Kurt tried to keep his from falling. "I'm going to go tell the nurse you're awake," he said, headed towards the door, "and call our parents."
Finn turned towards her then, and he let out a soft laugh. "I'm okay, see?"
She smiled, shaking her head. "I know."
He squeezed her hand, tugging it towards him. "Come here."
She didn't think she'd ever thrown herself into his arms more enthusiastically. He ran his hand through her hair and down her back, smiling. "Come on, don't cry."
Eventually, she took a breath and stood up, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"So you and Rachel are friends now, huh?" he asked, and she noticed he didn't let go of her hand.
"Yeah. I know it's crazy, I don't even know how it- wait. You could hear me?"
He nodded. Before she could answer, a nurse walked in the door, headed straight for Finn.
"You're awake! Let's see how you're doing." She turned to Quinn with a smile, "I'm going to have to ask you to step out for a few minutes. I promise I'll come get you when we're done here."
Quinn nodded, giving Finn a smile as she walked out to find Kurt.
"Wait, Quinn!" he called out as best he could with his tired voice. She turned around quickly, a concerned look settled on her face.
"I love you too, you know."
He watched as her eyes lit up and her lips curved into a smile. She nodded. "I'll be right outside."
He leaned back on his pillows as the nurse checked his vitals.
"Your girlfriend's very sweet, she's been here every day, all afternoon and evening waiting for you to wake up."
"Oh, she's not-" he stopped himself, and smiled when he saw Quinn sitting outside, excitedly telling someone on the phone that he had woken up, "she's great."