AN: yeah, so my updating weekly isn't working well. Sorry. Hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Burt took note of his son's Navigator as he pulled into the driveway, indicating that Kurt had already gotten home from hanging out with whatever friend he had been out with. Kurt had been vague about his impromptu plans when he had called, which led Burt to think that it was Finn he was going to be around as usually his son was forthright with him about his activities. Then when Carol had called and asked him if he wanted to grab dinner seeing as their kids were hanging out tonight, his suspicions had been confirmed. Burt wasn't at all sure how he felt about that idea but he hadn't pressed the issue. Kurt was old enough and mature enough to make his own decisions. After all, he had been allowing Kurt to stay home by himself after school for the last three years. A year before that Kurt had started cooking weekday dinners. Hell, most mornings the only reason they both got up was because of Kurt.
"He's definitely had to grow up way too fast," Burt muttered to himself as he made his way up the front walk.
Letting himself into the house, Burt heard strains of piano music filling the air. He took a few steps into the house, pushing the door shut behind him, and just listened to the music for a moment. Ever since he was little, not even able to yet reach the pedals as his mother sat beside him on the piano bench, Burt had always been able to tell what kind of mood Kurt was in by the songs he chose to play. It was just another way that Kurt was like his mother. Though he wouldn't describe the song his son was currently playing as happy, it was at least more upbeat than the music that had filled the house the evening before. Burt had thought he was at a funeral at one point and though he had long ago promised Kathleen to never ask Kurt to stop practicing his music for any reason, last night he had been sorely tempted to do just that.
Reaching the doorway of the living room, Burt leaned against the door jam and watched his son at the piano. He had spent many hours in this exact position watching Kathleen at the piano. As soon as Kurt was able to sit by himself, he was up on the bench beside her, his eyes watching her fingers dance over the keys in childish fascination. He had even taken a picture of the two of them in that position at one point - a picture that was currently tucked safely in the top drawer of his bureau. It hadn't taken him long to learn that Kathleen and Kurt were going to have a bond that he could never understand. As he got older, Burt had tried to get Kurt interested in sports so that he could have a bond with their son too. It had never really taken as Kurt would rather be inside at the piano then outside playing sports. Though there had been times when he had resented that, these days he cherished it as he got to see a piece of his first true love in their son.
Burt didn't realize the music had stopped until Kurt spoke up.
"Did you want to watch television, Dad?" Kurt asked, looking over his shoulder at him.
"Not if you want to keep playing," Burt replied, pushing himself off the door jam and walking further into the room. He settled into his favorite easy chair, conveniently placed in a spot that he could see both the tv and the piano without difficultly.
Kurt smiled at that answer. "Got any requests?"
"No. You go ahead and pick something."
His son nodded and turned back to face the instrument, long fingers poised over the ivory keys. Kurt tilted his head slightly to the side as he thought of a song to play. Smiling to himself, he started playing one that he knew his father would appreciate.
Burt recognized Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" before three measures of the song was played. Though they had taken a lot of razzing from friends claiming that it wasn't at all romantic, he and Kathleen had picked that as their song. Perhaps it was because the two of them could identify with the spirit of the lyrics given their rocky start at the beginning. Like an idiot he had messed things up two months into their relationship and almost lost her to another guy. In the end though, he had won her back, though to this day he still wondered what she saw in him back then. They had even decided to dance the first dance at their wedding to that song. He could still remember the first day he had heard Kurt practicing the song.
Coming into the house after changing the oil in his truck, Burt wasn't surprised to hear piano music floating through the air. Nor was he surprised at the hesitancy and roughness of the music as his son struggled through the notes of some song that Kathleen was teaching him.
Kurt was nowhere near tall enough to reach the pedals, his feet would have dangled from the bench if not for the footstool his mother had placed beneath his feet so that he could learn correct posture right from the beginning; the boy had already learned the notes. He ran through the scales from memory already and could play quite a few songs quite well already. It was obvious to Burt that today Kathleen was teaching him a new song. As he walked toward the living room, it didn't take Burt long to recognize the familiar song being butchered by Kurt - "Every Rose Has It's Thorn."
At the sound of his footsteps on the living room's hardwood floor, Kathleen looked up from the piano as Kurt determinedly plugged away at the song.
"Isn't that song a little too advanced for him?" Burt questioned, although he really had no clue about anything when it came to music. He was probably the only kid to actually have ever failed a music class.
Kathleen flashed him one of her thousand watt smiles that lit up her eyes. "I think it's important that he learn a song that is special to us and how it symbolizes our love for each other. Besides, a little bit of a challenge never hurt anyone," she replied, though even she cringed at the sour note that came from the piano at exactly that moment. Returning her attention to the little boy beside her, she gently gave him instruction.
Burt just smiled as he continued through the living room to their bedroom to shower and change. He would be happy when the piano wasn't quite so challenging for his little boy.
Ten years later even a musical dunce like Burt could recognize the progress that had been made. Kurt's rendition of the song now, from memory, was flawless. The teen was even singing along to the music. As he thought about Kathleen, Burt was thankful that she had taught their son how to play 'their song'.
He thought about Carole, with whom he had just shared a nice dinner with at the Italian restaurant downtown, and wondered if the two of them would ever have a song and what it might be. Despite the rocky patch they had hit, Burt still wanted things to work out and he had faith that they would. He had a history with rough starts to relationships but as his marriage to Kathleen had proven, even rough waters at the beginning could lead to smooth sailing later.
As the last strains of the song drifted into silence, Kurt reached up and slowly closed the lid, protecting the keys from dust. "I've got homework to do," Kurt said, as he turned around on the bench to face his dad, his eyes bright with unshed tears.
"Okay," Burt replied easily. Though he noticed the tears in his son's eyes threatening to fall, he didn't make any mention of them, still awkward with sharing emotions with his son after all these years. Just one of the many reasons he wished Kathleen was still here and knew that Kurt would benefit from having Carole in his life. "How was dinner?" Burt asked, hesitant to mention that he knew Kurt had been with Finn. He wasn't sure why Kurt was being secretive about the whole thing and given his son's mood the last couple of days Burt really didn't want to take the chance of stirring up more trouble.
"Fine," Kurt replied as he got to his feet. "Did you enjoy your dinner with Carole?" Kurt asked, having listened to the phone message his father had left him before driving home.
"Yes. It was an enjoyable evening. You should know that Carole and I have decided to continue seeing each other despite recent events," Burt told him, watching Kurt closely as he tried to gauge his son's reaction to the announcement. It was a relief to him when he saw Kurt's posture relax some.
"I'm glad. You deserve someone nice in your life, Dad," Kurt replied, his sincerity coming out in his words. "I really should go do my homework."
Burt nodded, watching as his son made a retreat from the room. ~I really do suck at all this emotional crap, ~ he thought as he reached for the remote to turn the evening news on.
It was just passing eleven o'clock when Finn finally climbed on his bicycle for the long ride down to Burt's tire shop in downtown Lima. Finn had never been a morning person, and so even though he had set his alarm clock to get up early that morning, a rarity for a Saturday unless he had something sport related to go to, he was getting a late start. His mother had already headed to the hospital for a twelve-hour shift, so Finn stuck some frozen waffles in the toaster. He had eaten hurriedly, wanting to leave to talk to Burt before he had a chance to talk himself out of attempting an apology.
As he came down the street toward the garage, Finn saw two cop cars, lights flashing, parked out front of the garage. Pedaling faster, he was soon coming to a stop next to one of them. From the looks of things, the police were just finishing up and getting ready to leave. There was only one other mechanic other than Burt in sight, Mac Larson, who Finn had quickly learned was Burt's second hand man. Besides the lack of mechanics, the other thing that caught Finn's attention was the large red letters on the bay door to the garage that was still closed. The message, 'burn in hell fag', made it clear to the teen why the cops were on site. Finn stood staring at the words, feeling like the waffles he'd had for breakfast were going to come back up. The sound of Burt Hummel's voice brought his attention away from the spray painted words.
"I don't really care what excuse you use Lana, but I need you to distract him for the afternoon. I don't want Kurt seeing this," Burt said into the cell phone he was holding to his ear. The stress in his voice was evident, even if the hand massaging the back of his neck hadn't given it away to begin with. The garage owner was currently standing in front of Kurt's black Navigator instead of his own dark blue pick-up.
Finn wasn't sure who Burt was talking to, not recognizing the first name, but he assumed it was probably either Mercedes' or Tina's mom as they were the two people that Kurt seemed to spend the most time with outside of school. He wasn't sure what the person on the other end of the phone was saying but they must have agreed because Burt was thanking them and saying good-bye.
Ending the call, Burt let the hand holding the phone, fall to his side. Glancing around, he noticed Finn's arrival for the first time.
"What are you doing here?" Burt demanded, not looking at all pleased at seeing the unexpected visitor.
Finn gulped, everything he had rehearsed saying to Burt Hummel while laying in bed the night before forgotten. This was definitely not how he envisioned things going. "Well, um, sir, I was sort of hoping I could talk to you. Um, apologize really."
Burt's expression softened slightly at the teen's apparent nervousness. "I don't think this is a good time, Finn," he replied, his gaze involuntarily going to the words written in red on his garage door. The fact that some punk kids decided to redecorate his garage pissed him off all on its own. The fact that their choice in redecoration was a direct threat against his son only angered him further. If he knew who was responsible for this he wouldn't have bothered to involve the police.
Burt looked back in Finn's direction. The teen took a step back from the intensity of the older man's glare.
"You know anything about this?" Burt asked, pointing toward the words. He didn't really think Finn would have participated in the act of vandalism, there was a possibility he had overheard others talking about it as Burt knew some of the football players had been involved in harassing Kurt at school before.
"No, sir," Finn said quickly. Part of him wanted to flee but his feet stayed firmly rooted to where he was standing. He almost felt as if he would need Burt's permission to leave at this point.
Finn watched in silence as Burt turned his back on him. As much as he wanted to leave, Finn knew that if he did at this point he would never be able to look the older man in the eyes again. This was the time to show Burt that he could be that 'new generation of dude' that the older man had made reference to the other night. So, instead of running, Finn took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and spoke up.
"Could you use some help cleaning up or repainting or something?" Finn asked, hoping that he didn't sound as hesitant as he felt.
Burt turned back to look at Finn. As angry as he was, at both the current situation and Finn's choice of words a few days ago, Burt had to admit the fact that Finn was still hanging around earned the kid points. Offering to help somebody who had just kicked you out of their home a few days ago earned him a few more. That action alone showed him that Finn wanted to try to make things right more than any verbal apology the teen could have come up with.
"Yeah. I could use some help," Burt replied. He looked over at the words again. "I'm going to have to try painting over it," he said, knowing that trying to clean the spray paint off the door at this point was going to be a lost cause.
"Hey, Boss," Mac said, walking up to the pair as the cop cars finally drove off. "Do you want me to go to the hardware store and get paint?"
Burt turned to his employee and shook his head. "No. I'll take care of it. Why don't you see what you can get done with the cars that should have been worked on today," he told the mechanic. Burt had sent the other guys that should have been on today home as he hadn't seen the point of them hanging around with nothing to do while the police took his statement and processed the scene when they could be home with families on a Saturday instead. Mac had refused to go.
"You got it, Boss," Mac replied, turning and heading into the garage, leaving Finn and Burt standing outside.
Finn stood quietly not sure what to say or if he should say anything else. He felt like he was on very shaky ground right now. It was Burt that broke the silence.
"You coming to the hardware store with me?"
"Ah, yes sir," Finn replied.
Burt gave a cursory nod in acknowledgment. "Get in then," he said, waving a hand toward Kurt's Navigator.
As he climbed in behind the wheel, his cell phone rang. As Finn fastened the seatbelt of the passenger seat, Burt glanced down at the screen of the phone he still held. He saw his son's name on the screen.
"Hey, Kurt. What's up kiddo?" Burt asked.
In the passenger seat, Finn listened to Burt's side of the conversation. From what Burt was saying, Finn deduced that Kurt was asking for permission to do something with Mercedes despite being expected at the garage.
"No, go ahead and go, Kurt," Burt said, trying to sound nonchalant about it. "I know you wanted to see that musical and if Mercedes has an extra ticket you might as well keep her company."
There was a slight pause as Burt listened to what Kurt was saying.
"Don't worry about it. I've got the car at the garage with me today so I'll just go ahead and change the oil and rotate the tires like we planned to do this afternoon. If I need help, I'm sure I can get Mac to give me a hand. You have fun, Kurt."
Burt paused again.
"I love you, too," Burt said, before ending the call.
Placing the phone in one of the cup holders between the two seats, Burt closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief. When he opened his eyes, he looked over at Finn. "Not a word of what happened here this morning to, Kurt. He doesn't need to know about this. I may not be able to protect him from everything but I will shield him from anything I possibly can."
"Not a word. Got it," Finn replied quickly, not about to cross Burt on the subject. The lecture in the basement was bad enough the first time. Finn had no intentions of repeating that experience any time soon. There was one flaw in the plan that the teen could see. "What if Kurt sees something about it in the paper. I mean the police were here, at the very least the call is going to appear in the police blotter."
"The only time I've seen Kurt pick up a newspaper is when he's looking for an article for some school project," Burt replied, digging the key for his son's vehicle out of his pocket. Sliding the key into the ignition, he turned it, bringing the engine to life. "And if he should happen to find out through the paper then I will cross that bridge when I come to it."
"Okay," Finn replied, not sure what else to say but feeling the need to make some type of acknowledgment. He hadn't been sure what to expect when he had left home this morning but this scenario had definitely never crossed his mind.
As he finished putting the first coat of paint on the garage door, Finn took a step back. A second coat would definitely need to be applied, but between the coat of primer and the first coat of paint, the red letters were at least no longer visible. The teen glanced over at the man he had worked beside silently all day, both with the painting project and work in the garage. They had even changed the oil in Kurt's Navigator while waiting for the second coat of primer to dry. Though Burt was calmer than he had been that morning, Finn could tell that the older man was still upset. Still, the Titan quarterback felt like it might be a good time to attempt to make the apology he had come here to make in the first place.
"It'll do for now," Burt said, stating his own opinion of the state of their project. "I can put a second coat of paint on either tomorrow or Monday. At least those words aren't visible anymore." He glanced over at Finn as they both began to clean up the area. "Thanks for your help, Finn."
"You're welcome," Finn replied. "About the other day, sir, I really am sorry. You were right. I shouldn't have used the word that I did. It's no different from the other examples you pointed out."
"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to," Burt replied sounding a bit annoyed. He refused to look in the teen's direction.
"Well, not the only one I need to apologize to," Finn ventured, "but I do owe you an apology. I mean after all you invited my mom and me into your home and I wasn't exactly grateful for that. I never meant any disrespect to you or Kurt. I just wasn't thinking."
"Yeah, well these punks were thinking," Burt said fiercely, pointing toward the freshly pointed garage door. "They deliberately wrote that threat on the garage door, and I've got to assume that it isn't just some sick joke, because if it isn't and something happened then I wouldn't be able to live with myself. You know every parent worries about their kid every time they leave home - whether it be for school or to hang out with friends. That's just part of being a parent, but most parents don't have to worry about their kid being beaten to death because of who they are. Because of who they fall in love with. The only time I don't have to worry about that is when he's at home with me. The older he gets, that time gets less and less and I won't let anything disturb what precious time we do have."
"I totally get that," Finn, said. It was taking all of his strength of will not to break the current eye contact with Burt Hummel but he felt that his words wouldn't mean anything if he looked away. "I didn't a few days ago, but after today, I do. Seeing those words on the garage this morning made me sick to my stomach and I can only imagine how you would feel about them. Believe me sir, I never meant any harm."
"Maybe not Finn, but you did. Kurt wouldn't talk about it, but I could see that what you said hurt him."
"I know," Finn replied. "Look sir, I'm ashamed of what I said the other day." Finn paused, debating on whether or not to expand that. Did he really want Burt Hummel to know there were other incidents between him and Kurt if he didn't already know about them? Deciding that complete honesty was the best route he decided to at least allude to them. "And I'm ashamed of some other things that I've done in the past. I can't change what I've said and done though. All I can do is change what I say and do from now on, and I promise you that I'm going to try to be a better teammate and friend to Kurt from now on."
There was no immediate response to Finn's words. Instead Finn and Burt just stood looking at one another for a few moments, the sounds of Mac and another mechanic who had come in a couple hours ago to help out working in the garage, were the only sounds. Finally, Burt nodded and broke the silence.
"I accept your apology. Like I said, I'm not too proud of my actions when I was your age either. Guess it isn't right for me to expect you not to make a few yourself. This is the only free pass you get on this subject though."
"Got it," Finn replied quickly, feeling as if a huge weight was being lifted off his shoulders.
Burt looked toward the garage, where Kurt's black Navigator was still up on he lift from the earlier oil change that had been complete.
"Got time to help me rotate the tires?" Burt asked, nodding toward the vehicle.
Finn let a small smile come to his face as he replied, "I'd be happy to, sir."