AN: So I started this story last November for National Novel Writing Month. I've got quite a bit of it written and hope to update on a regular week basis while I finish it. My goal is to tell the story of the Hudmels between "Theatricality" and "Furt" as we got so little of them in the show. I think the events of "Theatricality" influenced Burt and Carole's relationship and we didn't see any of that in the show. I hope that this story does that untold story justice.

This story picks up directly after the basement scene in "Theatricality" and I am trying to stay true to canon as time progresses while adding missing things into the storyline we already know.

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks to supergirl102 with her help with editing this! I appreciate it!

Disclaimer: Glee and it's characters do not belong to me and this story is for entertainment purposes only.

Even though he had left the basement, Burt could still see the hurt in his son's eyes clearly. The word Finn had used still echoed in his mind, it was the tears on Kurt's face that broke his heart. There was nothing in the world that he wanted more than to protect his son, and tonight he felt that he had failed, and in his own home at that. As much as he loved Carole, he wouldn't take the chance of having Kurt in that position again. He didn't want to lose Carole over this, but right then he didn't see anyway around it as he wasn't about to let Finn back in the house.

Reaching the kitchen, Burt stood in the doorway and glanced around the room. He needed something to do to try calming his racing thoughts. He thought about retreating to the garage but he wanted to be here when Carole got home from work. Throwing Finn out had been his decision and he wasn't about to leave Kurt here to explain anything to her. Not to mention he didn't want Carole thinking that he was running to the garage in an effort to avoid her. He had never been a man that avoided anything. He had made a decision and he would face up to the consequences of that decision, whatever they may be.

Walking over to the cabinets under the counter, Burt made the decision to start dinner. Though Kurt was usually the one to cook the evening meal, when they didn't do it together, there were a few meals that Burt could manage on his own and one of those was spaghetti.

Probably making more noise than was necessary, Burt found a pot and pan to cook in. Somehow the clanging of metal and the slamming of doors helped ease the frustration he was feeling. He had the water on the stove heating when he heard the front door open. Not sure he could keep a hold of his temper if it was Finn sneaking back into the house, though he wasn't sure where the teenager had even gotten to after leaving the basement, Burt continued with his dinner preparations. As he unwrapped the frozen lump of hamburger and let it fall onto a plate, he heard footsteps coming toward the kitchen.

~Definitely not Finn then, ~ Burt thought to himself, doubting that the teenager would come to face him again so soon after the altercation. Mentally he tried to prepare himself for facing Carole. There was no doubt in his mind that she would be upset with his decision - after all he had just kicked her son out of the house and he knew that Carole was as fiercely protective over Finn as he was of Kurt. Not that he expected anything less from her, though he did wonder if she had already talked to Finn. Had the teenager made him out to be more of a villain than the situation called for.

Eyes focused on his task, Burt picked up the plate and headed for the microwave to thaw the meat out. The buttons chirped their activation as he pushed the necessary ones to activate the defrost cycle. The light inside came on, and the microwave hummed to life as he heard the footsteps come to a stop. Still he didn't turn around as he braced himself for Carole's anger.

"Burt, what is going on?"Carole asked.

Burt listened to the tone of his girlfriend's voice. To him, she sounded hurt and confused but not angry. ~At least not yet, ~ Burt added silently as he slowly turned around. He had no doubt that the anger would come once she found out what happened. What he wasn't sure of was who that anger would be directed at. Would she be angry at him or Finn or just the situation in general? Would Finn's choice of words even bother her at all?

Burt took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to get his emotions out of control before responding to the question. He wasn't mad at Carole and showing that emotion to her would not help the situation at all. Turning around slowly, he leaned back against the counter. "Where should I begin?" he asked, not knowing if she had talked to Finn yet or what the teenager might have told her. He inwardly cringed at the edge he heard in his voice.

"Perhaps by explaining to me what Finn wasn't able to?" She asked, gesturing in the direction of the front steps. "I come home to find him sitting out on the front steps looking miserable. When I asked him what, he was doing there, all he would tell me was that you had kicked him out of the house but he wouldn't tell me why, just that I should probably talk to you."

Burt felt relief flood through him. Finn could have easily told Carole his side of the story first and have her on his side before Burt even had a chance to speak. Before he had a chance to salvage his relationship with her. As angry as he was at Finn right now for his choice of words, he still loved Carole, and cared about her son. He didn't want to lose the happiness that he had found with her and hoped that somehow they would be able to work their way past this whole situation. To do that, But knew that this couldn't be matter of who was at fault in the situation - everyone had their roles in the altercation. The best he could do was explain what had happened and try to make her understand why he had taken the actions that he had.

So that is what Burt began to do. He started with telling her that he had heard raised voices in the basement and had gone to see what was going on. Told her about the word that Finn had used, careful to keep it in the same context that it had been used in. Still, given that the word 'faggy' had been used to describe things that Kurt had chosen to redecorate the room in, which Burt had to admit weren't what a typical teenage boy would choose, was a reflection on his son. There was no way around that, even if Carole didn't choose to see it that way. Burt wasn't about to let something like that slide. He loved Kurt, and he would do anything he could to protect him, be it from hurt feelings or physically being hurt. Burt knew he had already failed in that plenty of times, just like he had tonight, but he wouldn't sit by and give the situation a chance to happen a second time.

"I may not be able to protect Kurt out there all of the time," Burt finished, his voice raising in spite of his efforts to control it, as he waved a hand toward the front yard, "but I should be able to in my own home and I will do whatever is necessary to do just that. Kurt deserves to have a place where he can feel safe! A place that he can escape the cruelty of this world! A place where he doesn't have to deal with the narrow-minded and hateful things that people are going to say and do to him because of who he is!"

"I know," Carole said simply, not allowing Burt's show of emotion to affect her. She knew he wasn't mad at her and that his reaction stemmed from the love that any parent had for their child. Even though she thought he was overreacting to the situation, she wasn't going to condemn him for that. Put in the same situation, Carole knew that she would protect Kurt almost as vehemently if she had witnessed the situation. Burt had already told her about some of the things that Kurt had already gone through that Burt felt he had failed to protect her from. She also knew that Kurt was going to face even more of that in his lifetime, and was ashamed to know that her son had participated in something like that, not matter what the circumstances were. In the short time that she had known him, Carole had come to think of Kurt as almost a second son.

"I get that they won't always see things eye-to-eye," Burt continued, not giving Carole a chance to add anything else. "I grew up with two brothers and yeah we argued and teased one another but we also respected one another. If anyone outside our family tried to mess with one of us, the other two were always right there to back him up. That's what I was hoping our two sons would find but that isn't what I witnessed down there."

"Something like that isn't going to happen overnight. The situation is new to all of us. All of us are going to go through an adjustment period," Carole said, trying to be the voice of reason. She hadn't love anyone like she did Burt and Kurt since her husband had died and she didn't want to lose what she had found.

"So you think, I'm overreacting?"

"I never said that," Carole responded, knowing that she had to tread carefully to keep this situation from getting out of hand. Though he wasn't exactly big on showing emotions, she knew that Burt was a very passionate man, and that the one thing he was the most passionate about was his son and his son's well being. It was one of the things she loved about him. Reaching out, she took Burt's hands in her own. "I'm not going to try and defend what Finn said. It was wrong and not the correct way to display dislike over the room. You have every right to not want certain things said and done in your home because your right, Kurt does deserve a safe haven. However, I do think that perhaps you and I rushed things by moving in together."

Burt suddenly felt like a tire that had been slashed and was losing air. This was exactly what he had been afraid of. What he had hoped so desperately that he could avoid. He searched for the words to ask the question that would etch his fears in stone but couldn't find them. It was Carole's voice that broke the silence.

"I think emotions are probably running too high for us to sort things out tonight. We all need to take a step back and let things settle down. I'll grab some things for me and Finn tonight and head to a hotel for the night. You and I can get together tomorrow and discuss what we're going to do long term," Carole told him, silently thanking that this had happened soon enough that the small home she and Finn had been living in had yet to be sold.

Burt nodded in agreement. What else could he do? He didn't want Finn back in the house yet, much less spending the night in the same room as Kurt.

"I'll pay for the hotel room," he told her, cringing at how harsh and inconsiderate the offer sounded even in his own ears. Still, covering the cost for Carole and Finn to have a roof over their heads for the night was the least he could do giving the current situation.

"I appreciate it," Carole replied, raising on the balls of her feet to give him a kiss. With a final squeeze of his hands, she turned and headed back outside. She wanted to inform Finn what was going on, and find out what he wanted from the house for the night before doing her packing.

It was fifteen minutes later when Carole walked back into the house. Finn was sitting in the passenger seat of the car waiting for her. Both of them agreed that him keeping his distance for now was the best for everyone involved. Carole had also decided that putting off in depth discussion of what had happened was best left until they were settled in a hotel room.

The smell of the spaghetti was now wafting in from the kitchen, reminding Carole that she would have to figure out something for dinner for both her and Finn. Deciding that giving Kurt a little more space couldn't hurt, she headed to the bedroom she was sharing with Burt first. It didn't take her long at all to have a small duffel bag packed with the things she would need for the night.

With that done, going down to the basement bedroom was the only thing left for her to do. She covered the short distance to the basement steps, and placing the bag by the door, knocked on the slightly opened door. Though the gesture elicited no answer, Carole pushed the door open the rest of the way and quietly began her descent.

"Kurt, is it okay if I come down," Carole called out as she slowly made her way down the steps. "I want to get some of Finn's things for the night." She paused as she waited for an answer.

There was a brief moment of silence before Kurt called out for her to come down. Carole finished the descent into the basement getting her first look at the room that had caused all this trouble. Taking in the decor she could understand why her son hadn't liked it, though that didn't excuse the way he had handled the situation. When her eyes fell on Kurt, looking over his shoulder at her from where he was sitting, the red-rimmed puffy eyes were no surprise to her, having heard the waver in his response only moments ago.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said as soon as Carole had taken the last step off the stairs. "I didn't think that Finn would get so upset about the room. I guess I should have consulted him about it. I didn't mean to ruin things between you and my Dad."

"Oh, Sweetie, you haven't ruined anything," Carole rushed to assure him as she crossed the room and took a seat next to him. "Nobody is blaming you for anything. I know it was just a misunderstanding that got out of hand." Reaching out, she took one of his hands in hers. "And Finn should have never used the word he did, no matter what he thought of the room. It wasn't right."

Carole saw tears starting to sparkle in Kurt's eyes again at the mention of what Finn had said. Not wanting to see Kurt start crying again she glanced around the room. "You did a lovely job with redecorating this place but you know, it doesn't really seem like Finn."

"I guess not," Kurt said with a sigh. "I think I liked it the old way better myself," he admitted. Kurt paused as if considering if he should continue or not. "I don't think the way the room is really the issue though. Finn just isn't comfortable sharing a room with me. I tried to make him feel like it was his room too, though."

"I'm sure you did," Carole assured him, giving the hand she was holding a slight squeeze. She had quickly learned just how sweet, and sensitive a person Kurt was and knew he tried hard to make people happy. Especially people that he cared about. "I think the issue here though is that your father and I rushed into this without giving you or Finn any warning. The four of us should have probably sat down and discussed this new living arrangement before we went through with it. Gave both you and Finn time to get use to the idea or maybe even waited until you both could have had a room of your own."

"I don't want you and Dad to break up because of this," Kurt told her, his voice taking on an almost pleading tone.

"Don't you worry yourself about that? This is something that your dad and I have to work out for ourselves and if we can't then perhaps this wasn't meant to be."

"I just want Dad happy and you make him happy, Carole. I haven't seen him smile as much as he has been since Mom . . . "

The words were choked off as Kurt swallowed hard trying to keep himself from starting to cry again.

Carole let go of Kurt's hand, but slipped an arm around his shoulders pulling the distraught teenager close to her. "I've come to love both your father and you, Kurt. What happened this afternoon doesn't change that and I'm not about to give up on what we have so easily. Your father isn't either."

"But you're leaving?"

"Everyone needs some space right now, Kurt. That's all this is. It isn't good-bye, you understand me?"

Kurt nodded, still looking miserable.

Carole gave his shoulders another squeeze and kissed the top of his head. "Things will be okay and even if your father and I don't work things out, I'll always be there for you. Okay?"

The question received another nod in response. Quietly, Carole stood up and started gathering Finn's things. Once she had everything her son had requested, she grabbed his pillow from the other bed and headed upstairs. She was met in the entry way by Burt who was standing there with a bag in his hand.

"Dinner for you and Finn," Burt explained as he held the bag up slightly.

"Thank-you," Carole replied sincerely, relieved that one more thing had been resolved for her.

Carole went to retrieve the bad she had left on the floor, but Burt stopped her, picking the bag up himself.

"I'll help you take things out," he told her.

Carole didn't protest as it would give her a few more moments to figure out how to say good-bye. She didn't want them parting tonight with either of them thinking the other was mad at one another.

Silently the two made their way out of the house. Though she wasn't sure about the man beside her, Carole was scrambling for something to say to make this situation better. The fact was though, this wasn't going to be an easy fix. Feelings had been hurt on all fronts and each of them had to figure out a way to work those out with one another. Part of her wondered if that was even going to be possible in some cases.

Walking toward the car, Carole noticed Finn duck his head when he saw Burt walking toward the vehicle with her. She had caught the look of shame on her son's face briefly and knew that Finn genuinely regretted what had happened. Her heart went out to him, even though part of her was angry with him for using that word around Kurt. Hanging out with Burt these last few months had been good for Finn. Her son needed a strong father figure in his life because try as she might, there were some things she just couldn't provide for her son. Now, she wondered if that had been lost for good.

Reaching the trunk, Carole opened it and placed Finn's things in the trunk. Burt handed her the bag containing the food and then place the bag with her things in the trunk. Silently he reached up and shut the trunk lid. Though Carole saw his Adam's apple bob as Burt swallowed hard, his eyes were dry when he turned to face her.

"You'll call and let me know where your staying when you get settled?" Burt asked, the hesitancy clear in his voice.

"I will," Carole told him, forcing herself to smile despite feeling like her heart was breaking. She hadn't felt like this since the day she got the news that her first husband had been found dead after disappearing. Back then she had never thought she would find someone to share that kind of love with again. Her failed relationships over the years only helped reinforce that feeling and then Kurt had introduced her to his father. "I'm not ready to give up on this," she told him.

Burt swallowed hard again as he nodded in response. Pulling her into his arms, he hugged his girlfriend tightly.

"I do love you," he said softly into her hair as he held her tight.

"I know," Carole replied as she listened to the sound of his heartbeat. "And I love you," he assured him even as she silently asked if love was enough this time? Could their love see them through this? Could their two very different families figure out a way to become one? All those questions flooded through her mind as she held onto Burt like he was a lifeline.

Eventually the two of them parted. Stepping back, Carole caught a glance of Finn in her peripheral vision as he tried to watch them through the rear-view mirror. She had to suppress a smile. Her son had never been any good at being subtle about anything - something he took after his father in.

"I'll call you as soon as we check-in to a hotel and we'll go from there."

Burt nodded his agreement, stepping back onto the grass as Carole walked around the car and climbed behind the wheel. As she backed out of the driveway, Carole couldn't help but wonder if she would ever be coming back to this house again.