AN:

Thank you for all of your reviews so far. This chapter gives us a little glimpse into Kurts past, and present. I'm hoping to have the net chapter posted by Sunday. As always, reviews make me edit and type faster. I'm shameless, I know…

Chapter 4

Kurt parked outside of his brother's house, collected his grocery bags, and walked in the front door, taking care his shoes were clean before crossing the threshold. "Hey, it's only me…" he announced cheerfully.

"In the kitchen," was the shouted reply. He tried not to cringe as he negotiated his way down the cluttered hallway and through to the kitchen at the rear of the house. A penchant for order and tidiness was just one of the many personality traits he and his step brother didn't have in common. As used to it as he was, every time he visited he still had to fight back the urge to roll up his sleeves and attempt to bring order to what seemed like borderline chaos. Regardless, it was a lovely two-storey renovated brown stone house. Located in a nice, quiet neighbourhood, it also had the benefit of a good school nearby for his six-year-old niece and eight-year-old nephew. He would be forever grateful to Henry Parker for his generosity in providing the means to extricate Finn, Ellie, and Joe from the run-down neighbourhood house they'd been living in up until six months ago – the same neighbourhood he and Finn had grown up in after his own mother had died.

Although he'd managed to leave the neighbourhood behind after finishing high school and getting his first full-time job, Finn hadn't been so fortunate. He'd sacrificed his own chance of escape, becoming a stay at home single dad, after his girlfriend, and the kids mum had died during the birth of Ellie.

After the second break-in at their old home in as many months, and with crime continuing to escalate in the area, Kurt had feared for their safety and grown increasingly anxious to relocate them to a nicer house in a better area. Finn had been struggling to find work at the time, making the difficult situation even more grim. Kurt had planned to use his savings and secure a second mortgage so he could buy them a house. Failing that, he'd considered selling his apartment and buying something big enough that they could share. It wouldn't have been ideal, but if it meant getting his family away from the neighbourhood he'd despised for as long as he could remember, it would have been worth the sacrifice.

It was around the same time that Henry had found out he was terminally ill. Not having any children or family of his own, he began making plans to divide up his vast neighbourhood amongst his friends and employees. Kurt hadn't wanted anything for himself, but when he voiced his worries about his brother and his young family, Henry – a man who had remained stubborn and intractable until his final breath – had insisted on giving them the money for a new home. Finn had refused at first, but Kurt managed to talk him around, urging him to put aside his pride and accept the gift they'd been offered.

After Henry's passing, Kurt had been stunned when the deceased man's solicitor had presented him with a cheque for a ridiculously large sum of money, telling him it was Henry's final gesture of gratitude to the young man who had given him comfort and companionship in his final days. Kurt hadn't wanted the money, but it had been Henry's wish that he have it, and he'd felt honour-bound to accept it with good grace. He'd used some of the money to pay off the mortgage on his apartment, but the majority remained untouched. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, but he intended to use some of it to give his niece and a nephew the best possible start in life. He didn't want them to endure the hardships he and Finn had faced throughout their formative years. He himself had been a bitter, sullen and lonely teenager, silently struggling with coming to terms with his sexuality and keeping it safely hidden, while his boyish appearance, awkwardness and small size for his age had ensured he was on the receiving end of bullying and abuse from his peers. He'd hated his life and circumstances, resented the premature death of his mother years earlier, and had little respect for his downtrodden, emotionally absent father who had changed in front of his eyes. To escape his misery, he sought refuge in books and drawing, losing himself in fictional worlds and the application of pencil to paper. As a rule, he tried not to think about the past, but when he found himself looking back, he sometimes wondered how he'd survived those dark, desolate years.

Kurt found his brother standing at the kitchen table, sorting and folding an enormous pile of laundry. Finn stopped mid-fold and raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey bro, what's the occasion, you don't usually show up during the week?"

"Thought I'd stop in and say hey." Kurt put down his grocery bags and leaned in to give him a one armed hug. "How are you?"

"Good," he replied, smiling at Kurt as he finished folding a towel and added it the pile. "Just trying to catch up on this mountain of laundry…" he glanced down at Kurts shopping bags and narrowed his eyes. "What's in the bags?"

"Just a couple of things for the kids." Kurt gave Finn a sheepish shrug. "A new Lego set Joe wanted and a Barbie for Ellie. Oh, and I noticed you were almost out of twinkies, so I got you a box to keep your energy levels up to deal with the kids." Kurt sat down at the table and started folding laundry.

Finn sighed, shaking his head. "You spoil them, Kurt. All they have to do is show you something on tv or the internet and you go and buy it for them. They've got you wrapped around their little fingers. You know they think you're awesome. You don't have to buy them gifts all the time."

It was a familiar argument and one that Kurt always chose to ignore. He enjoyed his role of doting uncle. Since he was pretty sure he'd never have children of his own, he wanted to make the most of the time he had with Joe and Ellie before they reached their terrible teens and decided it wasn't cool to hang out with their uncle anymore. He was going to miss his Sunday afternoons building Lego with Joe and having tea parties with Ellie. "They're good kids. I like buying things for them."

"I know you do." Finn smiled, the wryness in his expression showing he'd already conceded defeat. "They'll be ecstatic when they get home and see what you got for them." He gave him a knowing look.

"So, tell me about this new boss of yours. You've been very secretive about him. What's he like? Is he cool?" Kurt only just managed not to cringe. 'Cool' didn't seem to be quite the right word to describe Blaine Anderson. Personally, he might have leaned more towards pain in his ass, and not in a fun way, although that seemed somewhat uncharitable when Blaine's only real offence was his highly distracting good looks. "He's nice," he agreed, deciding it was the easiest option. "He's... different. I'm not really sure what to make of him yet."

Remembering the appraising glance Blaine had given him on the weekend outside the garage, the warm touch of his hand, and his own absurd reaction to Blaine spending the night with the blond stranger, he felt a hint of warmth creep up his neck.

"Oh, no." Finn gripped a pair of balled up socks and stared at him.

"What?" Kurt asked in confusion.

"You're red, and you're eyes just went all stupid." Finn smirked and shook his head, throwing the socks towards Kurt.

"You like him, don't you?"

"No." Kurt caught the throw and exhaled hard. "All right... maybe. A bit." He sighed again. "He is very handsome," he admitted, this time not trying to hide his cringe of dismay.

Finn studied him, concern evident in his eyes. "Oh, Kurt..."

Kurt knew what his brother had to be thinking. He knew all too well his history of falling for the wrong type of men and probably thought he was repeating the same old pattern again. "I know, Finn," he agreed. "He's my boss. So nothing's going to happen. Even if he was interested at all, which I'm sure he's not, I'd never get involved with someone I work for. And definitely not with someone like Blaine Anderson."

He paused, thinking back to the coffee they'd shared after the awkward incident by the garage. They hadn't talked much and not about anything noteworthy or personal. But it had been nice all the same, just sitting with Blaine and having a cup of coffee together. He wasn't sure if he'd imagined that Blaine had almost seemed disappointed when he'd excused himself to go back to cleaning the car.

"He seems..." he began, then stopped again, shaking his head. "I don't know... he seems lonely. He lives in his huge house by himself. All he seems to do all the time is work." He decided not to mention Blaine's extracurricular activities from the week before.

"It's funny, isn't it?" Finn's eyebrows drew together in a thoughtful frown. "Looking like he does... successful... having all that money. It's what so many people dream about. Doesn't mean he's any happier than the rest of us though."

Kurt could only nod in agreement. His sudden and unexpected wealth hadn't made him any happier.

"You could always quit, you know," Finn suggested. Kurt shook his head, even though the thought had crossed his mind. "I've only been working for him for a week and a half. I can't just quit."

Finn shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Just tell him it's not working out. Make up some excuse. He'll find someone else to drive him around."

Kurt knew it would be the sensible thing to do. But the idea of quitting and not seeing Blaine again seemed worse than seeing him nearly every day and having to repress his attraction to the man. As much as he wanted to deny it, he was already growing attached to his new boss. "No. I couldn't do that. It wouldn't be professional."

Finn opened his mouth to respond, but Kurt cut him off with a warning glare. "Don't say it, Finn." He didn't need to be reminded that his professionalism was already well and truly on unstable ground.

A few moments passed before Finn spoke again, an indignant expression suddenly clouding his features. "What do you mean you're sure he's not interested? What's wrong with him? You're every bit as good as he is, and he'd be damn lucky to have someone like you. You can tell him I said so too."

Kurt spluttered on his own breathing and then he laughed. Blaine might be the master of his own domain, but if he ever ended up in the same room as Finn, he might just discover he'd met his match.