Chapter 21 – Moving

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

The celebration of their Regionals win was just beginning. Two rounds from Coach Sylvester confetti cannons had already gone off and everyone was dancing either on the stage or in the aisles and the noise was deafening.

"Did I hear you correctly?" Kurt looked at Blaine trying to pull him into the stage wings so he could hear what Blaine was saying.

"I said, you're not the only one who can transfer to McKinley," Blaine almost shouted into Kurt's ear.

Kurt pulled back in amazement, "Are you going to transfer to McKinley from Dalton? Why would you want to do that?

"To be with you, that's why. I didn't realize how much you meant to me until you were gone," Blaine yelled over all of the noise.

Kurt pulled Blaine out the stage door to the parking lot outside where he could hear him.

"I can't let you do that Blaine, with a transcript for Dalton Prep, you can get into any university of your choice. As much as I miss you too, I can't let you blow your chance at a really great future. Have you discussed this with your parents?" Kurt asked the taller boy.

"Kurt, I just miss you so much. This ninety miles apart and weekends only are killing me. I've ran the idea by my parents, but they're not for it either. They say that they took me out of the public school system to protect me from the haters."

"They're right you know," Kurt said. "Do you think I would be at McKinley if my parents had money to burn, and I hadn't been expelled from Dalton? I'd be there in a heartbeat."

"Don't you miss performing with New Directions? You're a very gifted performer, and you don't get the opportunity to do that at Dalton," Blaine asked.

"What I miss is you," Kurt confessed.

"Then it's settled," Blaine said. "I want to be with you, and you want to be with me."

"I can't let you make that decision so quickly," Kurt replied. "Where would you live? What about your parents? You're still a minor, you know,"

"I'm going to be eighteen in two months, I can transfer on my own then. As far as a place to live, do you think that I could stay with you?" Blaine wanted to know.

"Finn and I are sharing the basement now. We have plans to build a room and a bathroom out back for Finn, but Carole has to rent her house first. Tuition at Dalton has left my family short on cash. Since I was expelled, there were no refunds." Kurt offered.

"You sound like you don't want me to come," Blaine said sadly.

"Oh I want you to come, it just there's a lot to consider. You can't do anything on your own until you turn eighteen, so we've some time to work out the details. But right now you need to find your facility advisors and tell them that you're going back to Lima with me for the weekend. I'll drive you back to Dalton on Sunday afternoon."

The celebrating in the auditorium has settled down to a dull roar. The other teams and most of the audience had already left the building when Blaine and Kurt came back in.

"Do you want to run my idea by your parents?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"Let's let them enjoy tonight's win right now. We'll have a better chance of convincing them if we've some of the details worked out first," Kurt said pulling Blaine into the New Directions celebration.

Boarding the bus home, Kurt whispered to Finn, "Do you think Blaine can sleep in your room tonight? He's coming home with us, and I'm taking him back to Dalton tomorrow."

"Rachel's dads are home this weekend," Finn whispered back to Kurt. "I'll see if I can bunk at Artie's house. You might need to change my sheets."

Rachel had already boarded the bus and had saved the back seat for her and Finn. She had their luggage and costumes piled up on the adjoining seats so they would have a private two hour ride back to Lima. After some light making out, they were soon fast asleep in each other's arms.

Sunday morning, Carole was making pancakes at the Hummel/Hudson home when Finn came back from Artie's and Kurt and Blaine emerged from the basement.

"Finn, I'm go glad that you came back early," Carole said. "Ms. Corcoran needs some help moving into our old house. Burt and I are going to help out too since Kurt won't be available this afternoon."

"Man," Finn grumbled. "First I move us out of that house, and now I have to move somebody else into it?" Has no one ever heard of movers? I was hoping to get some down time with Rachel today."

"Ms Corcoran just needs some help getting a few things up those stairs and movers don't work on Sunday. The quicker she gets in there, the quicker we get a rent check, and the quicker we can get started on your bachelor pad out back," Carole said.

"It's not a bachelor pad," Burt corrected her. "It's a bedroom with a bathroom for a teenage boy."

"Bachelor Pad!" Finn, Kurt, and Blaine all said in unison as Burt rolled his eyes.

Burt looked at Kurt before he asked, "When Finn moves to his 'bachelor pad', what are you going to do with that wall that we built downstairs? You could leave your side as a bedroom and make Finn's side into a den or something."

"Dad, Carole, Blaine and I want to talk to you about that," Kurt said. "Blaine is thinking about transferring from Dalton to McKinley in a few months, but he needs a place to stay."

"Why would you want to leave your fancy prep school digs and transfer to a craptacular school like McKinley?" Finn asked shoving another fork full of pancakes into his mouth.

"Primarily, I really miss Kurt," Blaine asked.

"Well I miss Rachel, but I'm not sharing a basement with her. Believe me I would if I could, but I don't see Hiram and Leroy going for that. Hiram has a mean looking shotgun," Finn said with a month full of syrup and pancakes.

"What do your parents say about this?" Carole asked Blaine. "I can't see them letting you give up all of the opportunities that Dalton has to offer just like that."

"They're against it, but I'll be eighteen in two months and then what can they do about it?" Blaine asked.

"They can cut you off," Burt said. "Plus, I can't condone you and Kurt living down there on a permanent basis anymore that I could condone Finn and Rachel living down there.

"What's the difference?" Kurt asked. "Finn and I live down there now."

"You and Finn are step brothers. Finn and Rachel are romantically involved as are you and Blaine. Just because both of you two happen to be guys doesn't make any difference." Burt said firmly.

"But Blaine stays down there on the weekend now?" Kurt said.

"I know, I just can't take on three teenage boys full time right now, no offense intended," Burt offered.

"None taken," Blaine said. "This isn't a done deal anyway. We still have a lot to work out before we can see if it's feasible. It's just good to see what our options are anyway."

"I'm not saying that I'm against yours and Kurt's relationship. I'm just saying that I'm not ready for Kurt and his significant other to be living together under my roof, that's all. If you were a girl, I'd be saying the same thing," Burt said a little embarrassed."

Burt and Carole cleaned up after breakfast as Finn headed over to the old house to help Shelby Corcoran and Blaine and Kurt packed up Blaine to go back to Dalton.

"What do you think of the idea of Blaine moving into the basement with Kurt?" Burt asked Carole as they dried the last of the dishes.

"They're teenagers. That's why I wouldn't let Blaine move in downstairs with Kurt any more than I'd let Rachel move in down there with Finn. When Quinn stayed with us, she slept on the couch in the living room. Granted, Blaine and Kurt can't get each other pregnant, but they're still not adults either," Carole said patting Burt on the arm.

Finn made his way over to the house that he'd grown up in. It was empty and cold, but repainted and ready for its new family.

As Finn walked around his childhood home, a flood of memories came back to him. His first drum kit had sat by the window in the kitchen. Carole had bought it for him after she decided that she didn't have enough pots and spoons left to fix a meal.

Upstairs, Finn looked at the changes to his small cramped room. The cowboy wallpaper was gone and it was now painted a soft baby pink. Kurt and Blaine had even put up ruffled while eyelet curtains that they had found on sale. His twin bed remained. Shelby had asked that they leave it even though it took up a lot of space in the already cramped room.

As Finn was reminiscing, Shelby and Beth came in the bedroom door behind him.

"Hello," Shelby said brightly, "Your name is Finn isn't it?"

"Oh, Ms. Corcoran, I didn't hear you and Beth come in. My mom said that you wanted some help getting a few things up the steps."

"Yes, I'm going to store some things up here. Eventually this will be Beth's room, but for now I'm keeping her in the downstairs bedroom with me."

"Kurt and Blaine already have it painted for her. I hope that she's likes pink. If she's anything like Rachel, she'll love pink," Finn said realizing that he may have said too much.

"I'm sure that she'll love it," Shelby smiled.

"If you don't mind, could I ask you to do a favor for me?" Shelby asked, "Could you encourage Rachel to come over every now and then? I know that she and I didn't get off on the right foot, and that's my fault. But I'd like for her to be part of Beth's life if she'd like to be."

"I can do that," Finn answered. "Rachel wants to be part of Beth's life. She just doesn't want to get hurt again. I don't want her to get hurt again."

"I understand," Shelby said solemnly.

"Ms. Corcoran, there's something else that I think that I should tell you, that you don't know," Finn said apprehensively. "You know that Noah Puckerman is Beth's biological father, right?" Finn paused and swallowed hard before he continued. "For four months I thought that I was her father."

"What are you saying?" Shelby asked very confused.

"When Quinn found out that she was pregnant, she told me and everyone else that I was the father. It wasn't until four months later that the truth came out," Finn said trying to hide his embarrassment."

"I had no idea. Where you relieved to find out that you weren't going to be a teenage father?" Shelby asked.

"Yes and no, you see the thing is, I fell in love with that baby. I fell in love with Beth." Finn said. "I just wanted you to know that."

Shelby sat there in utter astonishment letting it all sink in before she said anything.

"Finn, I'm glad that you told me," Shelby finally said. "I want you to be part of Beth's life as well. She needs an Uncle Finn, but could we just leave it that Noah is her birth father? I don't want her to get more confused than she's going to be."

"I was hoping that you'd say that," Finn said with a lop sided smile. "I'm not going to be over here everyday or anything like that. I'd just like to see her grow up, and I'm glad that she's going to be in my old room. It's really awesome up here when it rains on the roof. I miss the rain in the Hummel/Hudson basement. I could always sleep like a baby when it rained."

"If I ever need you and Rachel to baby-sit, you can sleep up here again. I'll leave your old bed here and put some sheets on it for you," Shelby said with a smile.

"That would be nice," Ms. Corcoran. "Rachel and I don't have a lot of baby experience, but we're fast learners."

"Please call me Shelby, I feel like I know you so well already," Shelby offered.

"Thanks Shelby," Finn said. "I really didn't want to give up this old house, but I'm glad that you and Beth will be living here. Mom and I have made some good memories here, and you and Beth will too. Oh and by the way, if you can avoid storing anything in the attic I would. It gets so cold up there in the winter and hot in the summer."

"I'll keep that in mind" Shelby said as she showed him the furniture that she wanted stored in Finn's old room.

Later that Sunday afternoon Kurt drove Blaine back to Dalton. "I'm sorry that New Directions beat the Warblers this time," Kurt said to Blaine.

"It's okay," Blaine said. "Your team would've beaten us at Sectionals if they could've used their secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?" asked Kurt.

"You silly, the Warblers just didn't have the good sense to let you do what you do best - perform," Blaine said.

"Blaine, it means a lot to me that you want to give up Dalton for me, but I want you to be sure first. I don't want you to go against your parents wishes even if you will soon be eighteen. I also don't you to miss out on any Ivy League opportunities either. We can continue to see each other like this on weekends and go to college together like we planned," Kurt offered.

"Thanks Kurt. I know what I want and what I want is you. You see if you can find a place for me to live in Lima, and I'll work on things here and with my parents," Blaine said before he kissed Kurt goodbye in the dorm parking lot.

Finn had finished helping Shelby and then made his way over to Rachel's. He rang the doorbell and was immediately greeted with a small brunette jumping into his arms for a soft kiss.

"Hi Rachel, I'm glad to see you too," Finn said between kisses.

"Hello Finn, I just want to see what a Regionals champion tasted like," she smiled at him.

"You're a Regionals champion too, and you taste wonderful," Finn said placing her back down on the floor. "Where're your dads?"

"Why do you always want to know where my dads are?" Rachel asked with a coy smile.

"I think that you know why," he whispered back to her.

"They're upstairs packing for another trip. They have to leave for Cincinnati in the morning," Rachel smiled. "Where did you end of sleeping last night since Blaine bumped you for your room?"

"I spent the night at Artie's, but I've got a lot of other stuff to tell you. Blaine wants to transfer from Dalton to McKinley. With him New Directions would be unbeatable," Finn said.

"Really, he wants to give up all the perks at Dalton? Where would he live? Isn't Dalton a boarding school?" Rachel asked.

"He and Kurt have already asked if he can live in the basement at Chez Hummel/Hudson after my new room is finished, but Burt put the brakes on that one."

"I bet he did. Was Carole in favor of it?" Rachel asked.

"Nope, step brothers are one thing, but significant others are not allowed," Finn said. "I guess that you're out of luck too, Finn said giving her a small hug. "They've got a lot of details to work out too. Number one being Blaine's parents are against him leaving Dalton for a public high school."

"I would have to agree with them. But things have been much better since Karofsky and Azimio are no longer with us," Rachel commented.

"I've got something else to tell you," Finn said excitedly. "I went over to our old house to help Shelby and Beth move some stuff in. She wants me to encourage you to come over and be a part of Beth's life."

"I'd like that," Rachel said softly.

"Rachel, I told her about my connection to Beth. I told her how I believed that I was her father for the first five months of Beth's life," Finn confided.

"What did she say?" Rachel asked.

"Shelby was surprised. She still wants Beth to know Puck as her birth father, and I'll be Uncle Finn. She doesn't want to confuse Beth anymore than she's going to be," Finn said.

"I think that's the best idea. I'm glad that you told her. Shelby needs to know why that little girl is so special to you," Rachel said.

"Rachel, if you and I were to get married one day, I really would be part of Beth's family," Finn said with a smile.

"You already are silly, you're her Uncle Finn."

-/-

I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to get this chapter out. The idea for my short story "I Knew You When" popped in my head, and I need to get it written before the idea started to fade. Thank you for the kind reviews. Whistler Nights.