Finn really appreciates Kurt's hand on his back, moving in small circles the way his mom always did when he got sick. He hadn't expected Kurt to be this, well, this kind. He expected the younger boy to laugh at him, to call him pathetic. Well…not really, but that's how he felt: big, strong Finn Hudson is curled up on the bathroom floor because he'd almost been…he couldn't even think the word. And that's pathetic. But Kurt is sitting with him, helping him breathe, making him feel human again. So he must be, right? Still human. Finn eventually falls asleep there, his head in Kurt's lap, Kurt's hand never moving away from his back.

When he wakes up, Finn has somehow wound up in his own bed, sprawled on top of the bedspread. Kurt's hand isn't rubbing his back anymore. In fact, Kurt is nowhere to be seen. The room is dark but the red numbers of Kurt's alarm clock assure him that's slept through dinner, which is good because he's not really hungry. He rolls out of bed and walks over to his dresser. On his way, he catches a glimpse of himself in Kurt's full length mirror. It's dark, but he can make out the edges of the bruise that has begun to form around the cut on his forehead. He shudders at the sight, at the memory behind the bruise. He wonders if that will ever stop happening, if he'll ever be able to look himself in the eye again. Finn knows it's irrational but he feels his chest tighten, feels himself start to cry again. He wonders if he'll ever run out of tears.

Just then he hears the door to the basement open, hears two voices, soft at the top of the stairs. One is Burt's, deep and growling. The other is obviously Kurt, but he sounds…exhausted. Finn frowns, trying to remember the last time Kurt had sounded anything but exhausted, but the voices at the top of the stairs are too distracting because, after a moment, Finn realizes that they're talking about him, about…it.

"Damnit Kurt, you know as well as I do that if Finn fell asleep with his head in your lap that there's something wrong there!" Kurt doesn't say anything in reply, but Finn can imagine the death glare that he's probably directing at his father. "Kurt, look, I don't mean anything by it, you know I don't. But you also know Finn and you know…"

"Look Dad" Kurt says with a sigh, cutting his father off "…yes, there's something wrong with Finn. But no, I can't tell you what it is. That's for him to decide." And then, in a lower voice, as if he knew that Finn was listening, "I'll just go back upstairs…you talk to him."

Finn hears one set of feet retreating up the staircase, hears the door close, and then hears another set of feet walking softly, slowly down the stairs. Before now, he hadn't given any thought to telling Burt and his mom but…when things went bad you were supposed to tell an adult, right?

So, when Burt puts a firm hand on his shoulder and asks "Finn, are you ok" Finn doesn't hesitate before saying "No." And when Burt presses further, Finn only hesitates a little, takes a deep breath, and tells him the whole story. And as he talks, he sees Burt's face getting redder and redder, even in the dark. He feels Burt's hand gripping harder and harder on his shoulder, as if the older man is using Finn for support, to keep himself standing. And when he's done telling, Burt pulls him into a hug and tells him, over and over, "I'm so sorry" and "It wasn't your fault," once for every time Finn apologizes, once for every time Finn says "I should have been able to hold him off."

"No son, this kind of thing, it's never your fault." Usually Burt's use of the word son would have made Finn burst out smiling but now he can only look down at his feet, ashamed. "No, look at me Finn, look me in the eye. This is in no way your fault, ok? We're going to do everything we can to make it better, your mom and me, ok?"

Finn looks Burt in the eye and nods, slowly, uncertainly. "Ok."

"Let's go tell your mom, if that's ok with you."

Finn hesitates again, but he swallows hard and nods, because if Kurt and Burt didn't blame him, if they believed him, there's no way his mom wouldn't. And he was right: the pair of them walked up the stairs and Finn told his mom, in as little detail as he could, and now he is wrapped up in her arms and everyone's crying. Well, everyone except Kurt who vanished down the stairs hours ago, almost the minute he saw Finn and Burt heading up them. Finn looks over at the clock and realizes it's almost 2am at this point and he figures that Kurt had just gone to bed. He's been looking really tired lately.


The next morning, Finn comes upstairs to his favorite breakfast—chocolate chip pancakes—a note on the fridge from his mom telling him that she had called him in sick to school today, and a grumpy looking Kurt with a half eaten apple in hand. Burt wanders into the kitchen a minute later and greets Finn with another big hug and a "how are you feeling this morning son?"

"Fine…I mean, not fine. But better. Thanks," Finn muttered, still tired from his late night. "I, uh, I made a decision last night though. I want to go to the cops."

Burt raises his eyebrows and smiles warmly. "I'm glad Finn, you know, that's really brave of you."

Although he isn't facing the table, Finn swears he sees Kurt frowning out of the corner of his eye. When he turns around to look more closely, he catches Kurt mouthing Burt's words to his apple that's so brave of you obviously mocking them. He has the same scowl on his face that Finn sometimes catches him making at his father's back when he makes plans to do something with Finn and not with Kurt. It's almost as if Kurt is…jealous or something. But that doesn't make any sense…something bad happened to Finn and Kurt's jealous that his Dad called Finn brave for wanting to do something about it?

"What the hell Kurt?" Finn exclaims, almost involuntarily.

Kurt's expression immediately softens and he opens his mouth as if to say something, but no words come out. Instead, he stands up, throws the rest of his still only half eaten apple into the trash, and picks his keys up off of the counter.

"I'll be sure to get your homework for you Finn. I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…I just…"

But Kurt never finishes his sentence, he just shrugs his shoulders sadly and heads for the front door.