Welcome to the first bonus chapter! After writing so much downer stuff about some of our beloved characters (Finn in particular) I wanted to write something a bit more heart-warming. It's basically a continuation of the universe set up here and since Finn was always a bit of a knight, even if he didn't really have his bearings until after the worst had passed for Kurt, I thought it'd be really good to have some brother bonding. Also I love them as brothers. So there's that too.
Bonus: Autumn 2010 - The day Finn Hudson apologized for everything he'd done to his brother
The uniform was pressed perfectly and stretched out on Kurt's bed. At least it was rather fashionable. There was no room for customization though. That was troublesome. Kurt ran his fingers over the silken tie. Maybe he had some small pins around his room somewhere that he could attach to the end of it. They'd be his little secret.
"Hey bro," Finn said as he knocked once on the doorframe.
"Hey." Kurt pulled the clothes up and put them somewhere safe so he could sleep. "Seems like an awful lot of money to make sure everyone looks exactly the same. I think my entire wardrobe put together costs half as much as this uniform."
"It's not just the uniform. Its. Its your life. That's worth it." Finn sunk onto his bed. Kurt tried to keep himself busy.
"You know, I'm actually more scared to leave."
"Really? Because you can stay. We'll protect you. Keep by you at all times." The offer hung in the air for a few moments.
"It's a different kind of scared. New place, new people. I mean I've already made friends with Blaine but he's one guy. In a school full of guys. Apparently all straight too." Except Blaine. Kurt wouldn't mind something happening there but he was trying very hard not to get his hopes up. He'd resigned himself months ago to being alone until college or later. Marriage by thirty though, that was his goal. "I don't exactly have a good track record with hanging out with straight guys and just fitting in with them. I'm still going to be a freak."
"You're not a freak." Finn caught the narrow-eyed glances he was receiving through the mirror. "Ok, maybe you're a bit weird. What? Don't give me that look!" Kurt's eyes softened. "You're going to do fine. I bet you even get a solo at competition now too. They're going to need someone like you if they're even going to be able to pretend that they can beat the New Directions."
"I don't want to betray you guys."
"Don't worry about us." Kurt fell to the other corner of his bed. "A no-tolerance bullying policy. That's great. Kind of really wish we had that here sometimes."
"They'd have to get rid of the slushie machine."
"And all the dumpsters." An awkward chuckle escaped both boys. "It's really sad that we had a routine."
"I prefer the routine. It kept all my best clothes from getting ruined by whatever mysterious nasty substances were in there that day."
"Kurt." Finn moved over to sit directly beside him and look right into his eyes."I am so sorry. For everything. I know it doesn't mean anything now but I just, I didn't get it back then. I knew they were hurting you but I didn't think it was that bad. They weren't leaving marks so I thought 'hey he can brush it off its not a big deal.' You never seemed all that bothered. Aside from the clothes. That's what I told myself - you were fine so everything was fine. But I knew it wasn't like that. I mean, I wasn't scared of them beating me up. I was just scared of them making fun of me. Of not, I mean…"
"Of not being popular anymore? I wouldn't know what that's like. I've never been popular."
"Sure you have. The glee kids, they love you. You're the me of glee." Kurt turned his head to look Finn over. Apparently his brother was serious about this.
"That's why no one noticed."
"Everyone was just caught up in their own drama. That's how it works on the team too. If people paid attention to anyone but themselves we'd have all known Quinn was pregnant within a week. You do it too." The silence hung over them again.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For protecting my clothes I guess."
"Seriously?"
"Well, yeah. I mean that guy, remember him, the senior you hung out with freshman year? He was worse than Karofsky. But he couldn't really do anything about it. I remember you were the one that stopped him from escalating things. You stopped him from shutting the lid, from throwing me in the porta-potty after he'd used it, all of that."
"But I didn't stop him completely."
"You probably couldn't have. He would have just shifted you out of his group and then where would I be? I didn't know I had options back then. I was so scared. I thought I might not live to see my sixteenth birthday sometimes. But you were there. Looking back on it I can honestly say you have done the most of anyone to help me."
"Is that why you had a crush on me?"
"Part of it. There was also...Ok, don't think this is creepy because I'm completely over that, but you are extremely attractive Finn."
"That is a bit creepy. Considering everything."
"I'm over it. Completely. Honest. I was just really desperate for someone."
"And I was, what, available? Because I'm pretty sure I was dating Quinn. Or Rachel. Or Santana and Brittany, sort of. Or pining over Rachel."
"You were the one nice guy I knew who also happened to be attractive to me."
"Oooh, so Artie was totally never going to make your cut?"
"Hey hey! That is not what I said...He's nice looking, sure, but we don't really have enough in common and I just, I don't know. I like taller guys." Blaine wasn't a taller guy. But those eyes went on for miles. No. Kurt wasn't going to allow himself to feel like that. Especially not over some kid he'd just met.
"Right. I'm going to go back to talking about how much I suck now, alright?" Kurt pressed a hand to his mouth but the snorts still rolled out of his body. "You know what I mean!"
"Go on, keep talking, please!" Finn gave him a push. Kurt almost fell off the bed but his brother caught him. The look in his eyes stifled Kurt's laughter enough for the conversation to continue. This was serious. He needed to not be laughing at an accidental gay sex joke. The only reason it had gone that direction at all was because he was here anyway.
"Kurt, I don't know if I could have done more in the past, but I definitely can now. We're some of the older students, aside from the seniors people have to look up to us. Maybe Karofsky won't ever listen but the other kids might. I'm going to do everything I can, I promise, to make McKinley a safe enough place for you. No one is going to hurt my little brother."
"I'm older than you."
"You're still smaller than me. That counts for something right?"
"No."
"Well it means something to me. I want to help you Kurt. We're family now."
"That means something to me too...I always wanted a brother. A baby brother of course."
"I think I can live with that." Finn pulled him over for a hug. Kurt latched onto Finn and held tight. He tried to fight off the tears in his eyes.
"I don't want to go but I don't want to die."
"I'll make it right. I'll make it right I swear it. Until then, you take care of yourself. And do what you do, do it well, and if we lose to the Warblers hey, at least it'll be a fair fight right? They'll have you and we'll have Rachel and it will be a showdown for all of time. No one will forget it."
"Sounds exciting." Finn gave Kurt's back a firm pat before standing and smoothing out his pajamas. He was still dealing with the gay thing himself. But they were brothers now, through and through.
