Disclaimer: Don't own Glee. If I did, I'd totally cast myself as Dave's fag hag…and as you see, he doesn't have one. So it's not mine. Sadly.
Title: Shock
Author: Lenora
Pairing,Character(s): eventual Dave/Kurt, Mr. Berry/Mr. Berry, eventual Puckerberry
Rating: M
Word Count: 1,833
Spoilers: Up to Silly Love Songs, potentially AU after that.
Summary: Funny what a walk through a parking garage can do…
A/N: The POV will alternate between Dave and Kurt for a while...
Kurt had accepted long ago that he would always be the emotional support for those he deemed 'his girls'. At first, that title had only belonged to Tina and Mercedes, both vulnerable in different ways and in need of his occasional help.
But then the three Cheerios joined the club and Kurt was introduced to Brittany. She confused him most of the time and her comments often left his head aching, but he soon discovered that she was sweet and willing to help others when she agreed to help him with his 'Single Ladies' video. He was even there for Quinn in the aftermath of her pregnancy being revealed to the school.
The two girls in the club that he hadn't helped in some way were Santana and Rachel. One because Santana didn't seem to have any emotions other than lust most of the time, and the other because Kurt really couldn't stand Rachel the majority of the time.
However, in the aftermath of the failed makeover, and the realization that the two of them really were too much alike than Kurt was comfortable with. Kurt slowly began to let Rachel into his exclusive group of girls, even if none of the other girls knew at the time.
It was due to that fact that Kurt slowly began to show care and concern for Rachel in front of the others. The first instance had been when Finn had blabbed about Rachel dating Jesse St. James. If the two had met at any other time, Kurt would have encouraged Rachel to go for it. The two were equally diva-ish, the boy was fine, and it left Finn single once more. But, the fact that they met right after New Directions became Vocal Adrenaline's biggest competition just set off warning bells in Kurt's instincts.
He had tried to warn her without coming right out and say it, but it seemed like she was ready to just brush off the idea that oh-so-perfect Jesse could be playing her. And he had really hated to be right…
The second instance had been in the aftermath of the egging that Vocal Adrenaline had performed on Rachel. Even though Puck hadn't included him in the call to arms, Kurt still jumped right up to defend his girl. However, he still worded it so that the others wouldn't suspect the true reason of his willingness to defend Rachel.
Rachel, in turn, was the one that Kurt turned to when Finn used the f-word to describe Kurt's redecorating efforts. He figured, out of all the Glee kids, Rachel would understand the utter hurt and devastation that shook Kurt after what Finn said. It was also the reason that Rachel hardly looked at Finn during that time, not that he noticed.
Kurt and Rachel took the time over the summer to get together to keep their burgeoning friendship together. Kurt took the opportunity to rant to the girl about losing his mother as a child while she returned the favor about her birth mother seeking her out only to abandoning her again when the relationship wasn't what Shelby wanted it to be.
It was that time they spent together over the summer that let Kurt and Rachel come to terms with calling each other on their bullshit and at the same time, allow them to comfort the other if needed. It was due to this that allowed Rachel to realize that Kurt was hurt by Finn's interference in the duet with Sam.
It was their friendship that stopped him from bursting into his dad's hospital room when Rachel was singing. He might not have liked what they were doing, but he respected Rachel enough to not interrupt her while she was performing.
Then, once again, it had been Rachel that had noticed that something was off with Karofsky's bullying of Kurt. The two diva's friendship had stayed strong through that ordeal and Kurt's transfer to their rival school.
It was that friendship that came to a head one day not too long after Christmas vacation ended. Kurt was in the middle of a meeting of the Warblers for ideas for Regionals when his phone started ringing loudly in the middle of a quiet spell.
"What the-?" Kurt cried, diving for his bag. He didn't bother turning it off during the meetings because he knew that no one that called him would call during the meetings because they were usually either at work or in Glee. "I'm so sorry guys, no one calls me during Warbler time," he apologized, pulling the phone out to silence it. His brow furrowed when he saw the name flashing on the screen. "I'm sorry guys, I've got to take this."
"Why is Rachel calling you Kurt?" Blaine asked, looking over Kurt's shoulder at the phone.
"I don't know, there's no reason she should be calling. She should be in Glee right now." He accepted the call before it could go to voicemail. "Rachel? I swear if this is complaints about not getting a solo, I'm going to hang up on…sweetie, why are you crying? What's wrong? Is it Finn?" he asked, in a panic.
All of the Warblers couldn't help but sit up and stare at their countertenor. They all were fond of the junior in their own ways and weren't used to hearing that much emotion in his voice.
"Oh thank God. What? Your house was vandalized again? Honey, you usually shrug that off. WHAT!" Kurt screeched, jumping to his feet. "All right sweetie, you grab your dad and make your way to St. Rita's. I'll take care of everything else. I'm on my way." With that, he hung up the phone before making another call. "Puck? It's Kurt. I need you to grab all the ladies from your Nana's temple and bring them over to Rachel's house. It's been vandalized again. I also need you or your mom to go to Mr. Berry's office parking lot and grab his car…Noah, Mr. Berry's been attacked. I don't know how bad it is, but Rachel and her other father are on their way to the hospital now. Neither of them needs to worry about this right now. I need you to be me and take charge until I can get there. Can I count on you?" Kurt nodded in response to whatever Puck said. "Good. Oh, and see if you can keep Finn away for now. Rachel doesn't need him around making her feel worse at the moment. Lord knows he never means to, but somehow he always manages to make someone feel worse when they're down." Kurt laughed lightly. "Okay, see you in two hours Noah." He then ended the call and remembered where he was. "Oh."
"Kurt, is Rachel okay?" Blaine asked.
Kurt nodded, grabbing the sheet music he had been looking at. "Physically, yes. Emotionally, still undecided. One of her fathers was attacked on the way to work today in the parking lot of his office building. Someone didn't find him until almost an hour after his lunch break was over. He's being taken to the hospital right now. Unfortunately, someone also picked today to vandalize their house. Puck is going to arrange to get their house cleaned up and hold down the fort until I get there."
"But what about practice?" Thad asked, looking shocked that someone would want to blow off practice.
"Look!" Kurt yelled, throwing down his bag. "I don't know how it is here in privileged land for those of you who haven't had to deal with homophobic assholes all your life, but you will never know how lucky you are to be considered 'normal' by the general public. Rachel has grown up her entire life either being told that she's an abomination for being raised by two gay dads, or that people will pray for her soul for being exposed to such wickedness. I am the only one that can possibly understand what she is going through. And until you have been the emotional rock of a teenage girl, don't come to me asking about some stupid practice for a competition that is months away." At the end of his rant, Kurt's cheeks were flushed, his eyes were flashing, and he was panting. "My girls come first," he said finally.
Wes got up from behind the council desk and walked over to his friend. "We understand," he said softly. "Go, let her know that we're all rooting for her dad. And that if she needs anything, she had a cornucopia of friends with rich parents that can help: from hiring the best lawyers to prosecute to doctors for second opinions if the doctors in Lima have a problem with her dads."
Kurt smiled. "Thanks Wes," he whispered.
Blaine walked over. "Come on, I'll walk you out," he offered.
Kurt shook his head. "No, I'm relying on you to be my eyes and ears for what's being planned." The truth was, after being friend zone'd at Valentine's Day, Kurt needed a little time away from his friend for his sanity. He was trying to tone down his crush but he doubted that Blaine would pull a Finn to make him instantly get over the older teen.
Blaine smiled at Kurt and went to take the spot on the couch Kurt had been sitting.
XxXxX
Kurt drove back to Lima as quickly as he possibly could without getting a ticket. He didn't even bother undoing his tie or taking off the blazer in his haste. When he reached St. Rita's Hospital, he pulled into the closest parking spot he could find to the entrance of the Emergency Room and quickly made his way into the hospital.
He made his way confidently towards the triage desk, knowing that the nurses would be the ones that would know where Mr. Berry was. "Hiram Berry, please," he said politely.
"Are you family," the nurse asks before even looking up.
"Yes." Kurt didn't feel like beating around the bush with the woman. "I'm his daughter's half-brother," he fibbed. The two were close enough, he supposed, even if the blood tie wasn't true.
The nurse nodded, accepting it since there was no way to validate it. She led him through the doors and into the back, where all of the rooms were separated from the hall by curtains. As he passed one, he couldn't help but notice what looked like a McKinley High letterman jacket…but he must have been mistaken.
"Ms. Berry," the nurse said, stopping behind a dejected figure on a chair. "Your brother is here."
"Kurt?" Rachel asked, getting up immediately. When she saw that it indeed was her friend, she threw herself into his arms.
"I'm here Rach," he soothed, "let it out."
TBC
2nd A/N: I'm basing the layout of the emergency room by my local hospital. I figure, if Lima's supposedly as small as they say on the show, then my small town hospital can't be too far off the mark.