Author's Note:
Heyyyyy! Sorry for the delay, but this took aages to put together. Plus this school year is really slowing me down, there's so many assignments/homework/coursework/allthatjazz to get through!
I hope you feel this chapter is worth it though, about the same word count as the last one (excluding the song)
See you on the other side!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Glee. But, seriously, season 4 right now...
There followed after Blaine, a more light-hearted compilation of songs that stretched throughout the week. Brittany's version of I'll Be There For You had everyone joining in, and a very delighted Kevin listening in from Santana's phone. Even Blaine had brightened, as Sam had taken the opportunity to bring out the country in him, singing his cheering rendition of Red Solo Cup in Glee. The couples had decided to leave their Valentine's dates until the weekend, and spent the weeknight with the rest of the New Directions at Breadstix, to which Brittany and Santana could not attend. In reality, they were spending the holiday with their own friend, over Skype and chatting while Friends played in the background.
Despite the cheerful mood, the trio still found time to discuss the more serious matters, as Valentine's Day drew to a close.
"It's coming up, K."
Kevin took a deep breath, and looking at Santana and Brittany's earnest faces.
"I know." He said. "Less than a month."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know." He said, quite truthfully. "It's been ten years. I can't not go."
Brittany's face lit up at the prospect, and Kevin felt guilty for getting her hopes up.
"I'm not coming back, Britt." He said softly. "I just need to see my mom. I'll be there and back, three days max."
"You can stay with-"
"No, Brittany."
Brittany cast her eyes downwards and leaned back into Santana's arms. Kevin watched as Santana froze, then inhaled deeply before circling her arms around Brittany and slowly rested her head on the other girl's. Kevin smirked slightly as Santana noticed his gaze and flushed scarlet. He continued to leer at her knowingly, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh shut up," she snapped, and buried her face in Brittany's hair as the sounds of Kevin's snickers filled the dimly lit room.
Kevin had less than a month to plan his brief return to Lima very carefully. Though he doubted he would get recognized, he would have to watch himself to make certain that nothing would give him away if faced by someone from his past. At the garage, he threw himself into his work, working extra hours, and ensuring that it would be alright to take a few days off when he needed to. The days were flitting past, and his nerves at returning were beginning to creep up on him, startling him and causing him to drop whatever was in his hands at the time. The resulting equipment that he ended up damaging deemed his extra hours worthless.
It felt like no time at all before the eve of his trip was upon him, and he awoke early by a well-timed phone call from Brittany. He had calculated it so that he arrived precisely in two days' time, meaning ten hours a day and enough for a break in between. Brittany and Santana had broken him - he had eventually agreed to stay at each of the girls' houses for a total of five days, during which they believed they could persuade him to stay. It had only been Brittany's insanely hopeful expression that had stopped him from laughing derisively.
Kevin rubbed his eyes wearily, climbing into his car, and driving lazily to the nearest gas station to fill up on fuel for the journey ahead of him. With the change in his pocket he bought a cup of – disgusting- coffee and climbed into his car, lowering the windows to allow the cold morning air to wake him up. As Kevin approached the town borders, listening to the radio (and still marvelling, even a year later, at the fact that this was his home), his phone rang. He slowed as he approached a nearby traffic light, and quickly answered the call, setting it to loudspeaker and throwing it back onto the passenger seat. He chatted idly to the girls on the other end, the loud voices coming from such a close proximity making him feel like he wasn't alone in the car. It was nice, really, with Brittany singing whenever there was a lull in conversation, and keeping up friendly yet snarky banter with Santana, and Kevin found himself, for the first time since he had left, excitedly anticipating returning to Lima.
It was nearing daybreak when Kevin lazily pulled out of the parking lot of The Sundust Inn, having rested there for a few hours before resuming his journey to Ohio. There was quite a while left; he had pulled over somewhere near Atlanta the previous night, and now had several hours of driving ahead of him. As he made the smooth transition between the main road and the high way, the sun peeked out from beyond the horizon, blinding him momentarily and casting everything in a bright orange glow. Kevin screwed up his eyes, squinting at the road and cursing the sunrise, but, before he knew it, the sun was high enough in the sky that it wouldn't obstruct his vision. He had discovered, for the second time in his eighteen years (though his ID boasted 21) that driving, although relaxing and with an abundance of breath-taking views and sights, was quite tiresome – he had a twitch in his right leg that he knew could be potentially dangerous, but he drove on relentlessly. The excitement from the previous afternoon had faded, and all that was left was a sick feeling in his stomach – he had a feeling that if he stopped now, he would turn back. And he had to do this. It was the most crucial of all his traditions, and this year -tomorrow – it would have been ten years to the day since the his mother had passed away. If he had to go alone, that was fine by him, all that mattered was that he be there, at her grave stone, because Kevin or Kurt, she had been his mother. His Mom. With that thought in mind, and with 520 miles (give or take) left till Lima, Kevin accelerated.
On the morning of his first wife's anniversary of death, Burt awoke after a fitful night's sleep. His dream had not been that at all, but a distant memory, from Kurt's early childhood, one where he, Elizabeth and Kurt had had a summer picnic in the back yard of their old house. It had been so vivid, Elizabeth's chestnut hair falling onto one shoulder in a messy yet elegant braid, a smile gracing her beautiful face as she tickled a young Kurt, his childish giggles music to Burt's ears. Disappointment, and then guilt had washed over him once he had awoken, as he looked down at a sleeping Carole. He loved Carole, he did, with all his heart, but that was not to say that he didn't love Elizabeth, and didn't miss her. He still sometimes walked in on Carole talking to the urn of Christopher's ashes, though she stopped immediately when he entered the room, and a pretty blush would rise on her cheeks. Sighing, Burt leaned down and kissed Carole's temple before swinging his legs out of bed and getting dressed, intending to leave the house inconspicuously. This plan was foiled, however, when he reached the bottom of the stairs and was greeted with the sight of a fully-dressed Finn and Blaine standing there, seemingly waiting for him, with a cup of coffee each in their hands and one for him.
"You didn't think we'd let you go through this alone, did you?"
Burt spun around at the sound of Carole's voice, and found her in her dressing gown, descending the stairs behind him. Burt felt a lump rise up his throat and fought back tears of gratitude at his amazing family.
Less than ten minutes later, they had arrived at the West Lima cemetery, where Burt found the entirety of the New Directions and Will Schuester standing outside the gates. Burt turned to face Blaine, Finn and Carole, dumbfounded, to find all three with grins on their faces. For the second time that morning, Burt was hit with his gratitude for the support he had in his life. However, these thoughts were interrupted by a pang of realization on pain that, wherever he was, his son didn't have that. With a sad smile, Burt inclined his head to the gates, and followed through, leading the way to Elizabeth's gravestone.
Kevin was pissed. Like pissed. He was running late, and judging by the pace he was going he wouldn't reach the cemetery by the following week. Idiotically, they hadn't anticipated traffic, and now he was drumming the steering wheel in frustration as a never ending line of cars filled his vision. To add to this, his phone had died the previous night while talking to a sleepy Brittany, and so for the past few hours he had switched on the radio, only to find the most annoying songs possibly in existence playing. It hadn't been long until Kevin had switched it off and sat fuming in silence.
Kevin knew, deep down, that his phone and traffic were the least of his worries. There was a roundabout in a couple of hundred metres that would set him on a much less congested route. No, Kevin knew that his anger was a reflection of the nerves that had crept up on him unexpectedly the night before. They had manifested into pure, nauseating fear that was curling in the pit of his stomach and making him feel irritable. He was nearing Lima; in fact, hardly any time at all had passed until he had entered the small town, feeling a horrible lurching in his gut every time he drove past a familiar landmark. He had had to pull over and breathe for five minutes, resting his head on the steering wheel, when he had passed the great looming building of McKinley High School, but nevertheless, he started the ignition, and, hands shaking slightly, started driving slowly towards the cemetery.
It was nearing three o'clock when Kevin pulled over into the parking lot, having prolonged his arrival as much as possible, fearing what he might find. Now, he stepped out of the car, a Lima Bean coffee cup in his hand –mocha, non-fat- and pulled his leather jacket tighter over himself. If he had thought he had been nervous before, it was nothing to how he was feeling now. Once more, he checked his useless dead phone, though mostly out of habit, before slipping it in his pocket and walking through the open gate into the cemetery.
Santana caught sight of him first, as he strode quickly into the far end of the cemetery, head bowed and looking dejected. For a moment, her heart leapt at the sight of him, real, in front of her- and then sank at the realization that everybody whom Kevin had worked for a year –exactly a year - to avoid was standing behind her, mourning his disappearance. She made a small panicked noise in the back of her throat, and grabbed Brittany, pulling her behind the oak tree under which Elizabeth Hummel's gravestone lay, out of earshot of the rest of the mournful group.
"Look over there!"
Brittany stared in confusion at her panicked friend, and then her blue eyes grew wide as she spotted what Santana had. Her eyes flitted between Kevin and the group (Santana noticed she focussed a bit more on Blaine than anybody else), before looking back at Santana in horror. This horror, however, seemed to dissipate before Santana's eyes, as she watched, impressed, as Brittany thought of a plan. Santana had just been thinking that it was a marvel that Kevin hadn't looked up yet, when she felt a yank on her elbow, and stumbled, hurrying to keep up with a hastening Brittany, who had just called,
"We're gonna get some more coffee!"
Kevin looked up at this point, looked straight at the two girls running to get to him, and then past them, to the huddle still under the tree. His eyes widened in horror as Brittany's had done, and then he hastily turned on his heel and marched back towards the exit. Brittany and Santana, having just caught up with him, each wrapped an arm around each of his and aided him, waddling strangely with the force of six legs, back to the parking lot. They reached the gate, and once they had, they each sprinted to Kevin's car before anybody spotted them. It wouldn't bode well with anybody to see the girls driving off in a stranger's car.
They drove for ten minutes before anybody spoke again.
"Hey girls," Kevin said. "It's good to see you again."
KEVIN'S BACK IN LIMAAAAA! Progress at last ;)
What'd you guys think? Review please :)