A/N: Firstly, I just want to apologize. I realize that it has been a really long time since I last updated. Between blocks and my computer crashing, it seemed impossible to update. This chapter is very short compared to my others, and this does bother me, but it was meant to be more of a tie in. I realized that the chapter before this would not connect well with the next chapter's beginning without some kind of explanation about Kurt going back to school and whatnot. I know this isn't much, but at least it's something. Secondly, I'd like to thank you for your reviews. They have been absolutely wonderful, and I am being completely honest when I say that I cherish them. So thank you for reading! If you ever have any questions or you want to talk to me, don't hesitate to send me a message. I'm friendly!

The weeks following Elizabeth's death were the hardest experiences either Burt or Kurt had ever had. With Kurt staying home from school, Burt was unable to work, which meant less work being done at the garage. Less work meant less money, but the two of them managed to scrape by. Their meals mostly consisted of frozen dinners anyway, so it wasn't like they were spending a fortune. The most they did that counted for going out was grocery shopping – the two preferred to stay seated on the couch, watching silly cartoons to try and balance the gravity of the situation.

As the weeks passed, however, Burt was beginning to see how this sort of situation might be more harmful to Kurt than beneficial. He was allowing him to stay home, eat a lot of junk, and laze around doing nothing. He knew that wasn't a far cry from what some kids were doing, and that there were probably many more kids doing the same or worse, but he felt somewhat ashamed. Elizabeth would never have allowed this sort of behavior.

He was arguing with himself more frequently. There was a part of him that knew how Elizabeth would react, knew what she would say in certain situations, and it often tried to reason with his own reactions and responses to things. Burt, however, did not listen all that well to himself telling himself how Elizabeth would do things. Sometimes he had to stop and ask himself if he was going crazy, but then he remembered that someone once said that only the sane question their sanity.

Dave was beginning to visit nearly as often as he used to, the three of them adjusting to the presence of one another minus the fourth family member who had always seemed to tie things together for the four of them. Burt began to pull the two of them out of the house, making them play catch with him outside or walk to the park with him. He didn't know if Dave realized what he was doing – how could he? He was just a child, after all – but Dave helped Burt to encourage motivation in Kurt to do things any normal eight year old might do. Though Burt was still worried, he was glad to see progress in Kurt, even if it wasn't exactly what he hoped for Kurt. At the same time, he could feel himself healing. The days were still hard, and most things made him think about Elizabeth and how much he wished she was here, but he was getting into the rhythm of life once again.

Relief shined through on a day that he didn't expect it to happen, and he hadn't realized how much he had needed it until it happened.

Kurt and Burt were sitting together quietly at the kitchen table – having recently taken back the kitchen, rather than letting the ghost of Elizabeth's memory render it a room unfit for the pair of them. They sat close together, Burt studying the pieces of the puzzle they were working on, while Kurt sat in a chair on his knees, leaning over the table and fiddling with pieces that hadn't yet been fitted into the puzzle. Burt could tell that something was working on Kurt's mind, but he knew from experience that it was best to let Kurt bring it up on his own, or he risked never knowing what it was.

"Hey Dad?" Kurt asked quietly, keeping his eyes on the puzzle while trying to be casual.

"Yeah, bud?" He asked, not looking up from the small square he was working.

"I think you should go back to work."

This startled a laugh out of Burt, and he looked up at Kurt, chuckling. Kurt's face was mostly serious, because as a child, he didn't really understand how what he'd said was funny, but he would let it pass anyway. He liked hearing his father laugh. It reminded him of old times, and he felt safe, protected when his father seemed happy. He never knew when it was real and when it was forced, but it didn't matter. As long as it was there, he could feel like everything was okay.

"I will. When you're ready to go back to school."

"That's what I mean," Kurt said, looking back down at the puzzle. "I wanna go back to school."

A flood of relief flooded over Burt – he didn't know he'd even been hoping for this at this point. Their way of life had become so completely normal, that he hadn't really thought about Kurt going back to school. It felt like it had been years since Elizabeth's death, when really, it had only been a little over a month. Kurt might not have realized it, but Burt saw this: if Kurt was ready to go back to school, he was finally ready to move on – past Elizabeth's death. And finally Burt truly believed that they were going to make it through this. He truly believed that Kurt was going to be okay, and if Kurt could be okay, then he could, too.

So, just like Kurt vowed, he returned to school the following Monday. He was surprised to be so eagerly greeted by his old classmates, some of which had never really liked him in the first place. However strange it was, he was happy to be among his old friends once again, and for the first time since Elizabeth's death, he allowed a little bit of normalcy from before her death settle back into his life. She might have touched every little aspect of his life, but this was one part that he could return to and not so strongly feel her absence.

His classmates were abuzz with his return to their lives, and many demanded the details of his fight with Eric that had seemed to happen an eternity ago. Kurt could remember the details, recall the anger and the hatred that had flooded over into physical violence, and though he didn't know why, it made him sick to think about it. He didn't voice that, but he did tell his classmates that he didn't want to talk about it. They pressed him every which way for details, but to his surprise, Santana piped up, telling them all that they needed to shut up because it was his own business and he didn't have to share if he wanted to.

He liked that. A lot.

After his prolonged absence, it was difficult to settle back into the normal routine of school, but Burt had told him that it wouldn't be much longer before he was out for summer break, anyway. He took comfort in that, especially when it came to Dave. At school, they couldn't carry on as they had at home, and Kurt wanted their friendship to just stay the same all of the time.

Dave had helped him to stay strong after all of this time. Kurt knew deep inside of him that Dave's hand was the one that he would never let go of. No matter what happened, they would still be best friends in twenty-years, and they would live right next door to each other and see each other every day. Kurt knew this because he was never going to give Dave up. Dave would never not be his friend, and he would always be the best friend that he could be to Dave.

In his return to school, the teachers kept a closer eye on Kurt. Not because of his previous violence, but because they were concerned about how Kurt was dealing with the death of someone so close to him. His teacher was not at all surprised to find that Kurt had become more subdued, being particularly less antsy in class. She had also noticed that Kurt had become much more short-tempered, and while he seemed to have more social contact with other students now, he also seemed much more withdrawn.

When summer began, it was a confusing mess for the Hummel boys as they tried to figure out some sort of routine that worked. Kurt was out of school, but Burt had to work. Burt sought out Dave's mother, Katherine, to see if they could work something out. Katherine agreed to watch Kurt throughout the summer, and so Kurt spent a good deal of time with Dave at his house. It felt a bit strange to be there and not at his own house, but he slid into it all quickly. Some days, he accompanied his father to the shop, where he would sit on the counter, drumming his feet against it while watching his dad. Sometimes it was nice to just have the sort of peace that came with sitting at his dad's work.

As Kurt went through the summer, he realized that they weren't doing the camping or going to the lake or doing the family things that they used to. Even the Karofskys had stopped, and he wondered if it was all on account that his mother was gone. Truthfully, he didn't feel that it would be the same without her, but he also didn't want the sad, lonely sort of life where they didn't have cookouts, and they didn't go camping. He went fishing with his dad and Dave a few times, but even that felt strange and off-kilter.

So it was that this was the summer Kurt realized that not having a mother changed everything. Even the best things.