Odds And Ends

Disclaimer: Nope, Glee's not mine.

A/N: Whoa, guys, 510 reviews? You're really trying to kill me! Thank you SO MUCH and don't stop:)

A/N2: On another note, 'Rumours' was to me somewhat of a filler episode between the epic BTW and today's equally epic Prom eppy (Kurt in a kilt! Need I say anything more?) but it had its moments and the highlight was for me the development with Sam – it was unexpected as well as moving, plus I loved his twin siblings…so I decided to go with that. Enjoy:)

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Charliefox2012, who's been through some tough time lately – I hope this makes you smile:)

The Pacifiers

"Once again, why did we agree to do this?"

"Because Sam asked us and we're nice and helpful like that?"

"The next time I feel the urge to be nice and helpful, please kick me," Kurt groaned.

"You've got it," Finn assured him.

"Knew I could count on you," the other boy said wryly.

"Always," Finn replied and stretched his arms. Well, tried to.

"Will you stop fidgeting?" Kurt asked in irritation. "You're only making it worse!"

"I've got to move! I can't feel my hands anymore!" the taller boy exclaimed reproachfully and tried to loosen the knot binding his wrists behind his back but it was no use. Just like the ten other times that he had tried it in the last twenty minutes.

"Well, you can't move because this knot only gets tighter when you do," Kurt said through gritted teeth, feeling his irritation get the best of him. He was bound like Finn, with his back pressed against the other boy's – his arms were killing him, his bangs was getting in his eyes and being pressed against his antsy giant of a brother on the floor wasn't exactly improving his mood, either. "That knot's not going to give."

"Yeah, because you taught them how to tie it! Did you really have to show them some super-strong, self-tightening knot?" Finn exclaimed reproachfully. "What were you thinking?"

"In case you didn't notice, they were about to make us play Duck Duck Goose for the fiftieth time. It was that or my mental breakdown."

"You just didn't like sitting in the stink pot all the time," Finn sniggered.

Kurt sniffed haughtily. "It's a stupid game and I can't run fast in these jeans."

"I'm surprised you can move at all in them, dude. I mean, isn't your-"

"No, it isn't!" Kurt interrupted him quickly. "And we are not having this conversation. Let's talk about the weather. Or the roads. Or trigonometry."

Finn sighed but decided to let it go. "The knots, Kurt? Why?"

"Well, I had to think up something to distract them since you couldn't be bothered to stop eating pizza and help me."

"Well, it worked," Finn deadpanned. "And I was hungry!" he said defensively.

Inwardly he thought that this being bound thing had its pros – at least Kurt couldn't look at him and Finn was pretty sure he was glaring right now.

"But how do you even know this knotty stuff, dude? Are you a pirate or something? And don't you eye-roll me, Kurt," he added quickly and the countertenor stopped himself from doing just that with a surprised gasp. "I really wanna know. Are you a sea person?"

Kurt blinked. "If this is your way of asking me if I'm a mermaid-"

"No, I'm pretty sure only girls can be mermaids so that's out of the question."

"Boys can be mermaids, I mean mermen, too!" Kurt protested. "Haven't you ever seen 'The Little Mermaid'?" he asked shocked.

"Um, no?" Finn said cautiously because Kurt's tone was like the other boy was going to have a heart attack or something. "But I've seen 'Waterworld' with Kevin Costner," he offered hopefully. "It had lots of people in water in it, too."

"For once I'm glad I'm bound because I feel a desperate urge to bang my head against something right now."

"Don't worry, you'll get plenty of occasions to do that yet," the taller boy consoled him wryly.

"Really, Finn," Kurt said with a huff. "'The Little Mermaid' is an absolute Disney classic. It's funny, it's sweet and it's wise. I think you'd like it. Especially considering your favorite movie is 'Happy Feet'," he added teasingly.

"I- You- It's-" Finn sputtered and gave up. "You're mean."

The countertenor chuckled, deciding he'd teased Finn enough for the stink pot.

"I know." He shrugged and they both hissed in protest as the knots tightened a bit more. "Sorry," he muttered apologetically. "Your terrible taste in movies aside, the sailing knots? I learned them for fun. My dad got me a book on them once, I think it was when he still believed if he got me interested in something like this, I'd give up my tiara collection and knee-long sweaters. You can imagine how that turned out," Kurt sniggered lightly. "Still, I thought the knots were sort of pretty and I taught myself how to tie them one summer."

Finn chuckled lightly. "Pretty?" he said wryly and shook his head. "They're knots, Kurt. Only you, buddy. Only you."

The smaller boy huffed. "Anything can have aesthetic values if you look at it the right way."

"Whatever, man, but did you really have to teach them how to disable us both with one innocent piece of string?"

"I didn't think they'd catch how to do it so fast!" Kurt said defensively. "It took me a couple of hours to get it right!"

"Never underestimate the evilness of kids," Finn said darkly. "You totally messed up, dude. And we promised Sam everything will be ok."

"Hey, if we're searching for the guilty here, you should be looking into a mirror, Finn Hudson."

"Um…do I have something on my face?"

"And once again a figure of speech whizzed past you and disappeared over the horizon," Kurt said wryly. "Let me simplify – it's your fault, too. Whose idea was it to play Cowboys and Indians in the first place?"

"It was better than Duck Duck Goose! And who agreed that we'd be Indians?" Finn countered. "You never agree to be Indians because you always end up tied up! The first wild west rule, dude!"

Even though Finn couldn't see Kurt's face, he could almost feel the eyeroll.

"Well, I'm sorry for not knowing how it's done in the wild west," Kurt sniffed. "It might have something to do with the fact that I'm a teenager living in Ohio in the twenty first century."

"So am I, dude!" Finn protested. "But didn't you like, play Cowboys and Indians yourself as a kid?"

Kurt wished he could cross his hands on his chest to prove his point. In their current predicament, all he could do was raise his chin and pout.

"As a matter of fact, I didn't," he said aloofly. "I was busy throwing tea parties and organizing weddings for my Power Rangers. Do you know how much time these things take to plan? And don't even start me on the divorces."

"Um, ok," Finn mumbled. "Did those divorces and tea parties maybe teach you how to get out of a cowboy trap?"

"They taught me patience," Kurt replied pointedly. "Which is what you could use."

"I don't need patience! I need to pee!" Finn whined.

Kurt groaned in pure exasperation. "I agreed to babysit two six-year-olds not three," he said. "So please, do step out of the character for a while and try to be mature…well, maturer. You think you can do it?"

"I can try," Finn said. "But I can't promise anything," he smiled lopsidedly. "And if my hands fall off because of this, I'm totally blaming you."

Kurt sighed. "Why do I even bother," he muttered under his breath.

"Um, so, you think Sam's going to be pissed?" Finn asked sheepishly after a while.

"No, I think he's going to be euphoric about finding us tied in the bathroom with his brother and sister, whom we should be taking care of, thrashing the last remains of their worldly possessions," Kurt said with a scoff.

Finn furrowed his eyebrows. It was difficult for him to know if Kurt was being ironic or not on a normal basis but not being able to see his face made the task even harder. Also, the fact that he wasn't sure what youforic meant, wasn't helping, either.

"So…he's going to be really pissed?"

~~ Three hours earlier...

"You sure you'll be fine?" Sam asked.

"Totally, man," Finn replied enthusiastically. "We've got pizza, cookies, cool games and a TV. We're all set," he plopped down happily onto the master bed in between Stacy and Stevie. The twins squealed happily as they bounced in the air when Finn landed on the mattress. "You can leave them with uncle Finn, no worries."

"Um," Sam was seriously starting to get worried.

At this point Kurt emerged from the kitchenette, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel.

"Don't worry, Sam," he said with a reassuring smile. "We'll have lots of fun and by the time you're back, they'll be in their jammies in bed," he promised.

"Thanks, Kurt," Sam sighed, visibly relieved.

"Don't worry, Sammy," Stacy came to tug at her brother's jeans. "We'll take care of uncle Finn and Kurt."

Sam chuckled and hugged her. "In that case, I'm not worried anymore," he said and reached for the door. "I should be back by eight," he said in Kurt's direction. "If something's wrong, you've got my phone number. If I'm not picking up, my mom's phone number's-"

"-on the fridge. I know," Kurt said with an eye roll. "Go already or I'll have Finn throw you out, mother hen," he put his hands on his hips, a wry smile on his lips.

"Yeah, man, don't you trust us?"

Sam eyed Finn for a moment before sighing. "I do. Otherwise I wouldn't leave my beloved little brother and sister and everything we own alone with you," he said meaningfully. "But no pressure."

Finn smiled weakly and Kurt just shook his head.

"And you two-" he turned to the twins. "-behave and listen to uncle Kurt and Finn, ok? But mostly Kurt," he added wryly and Kurt chuckled.

"Ok," the twins replied in unison and turned back to the TV.

"Bye."

"Bye," Kurt said closing the door behind him and turning to Finn and the kids. "You. Uncle Finn. Get up and make yourself useful."

Finn pouted. "I am useful! I'm watching TV with Stacy and Stevie. Isn't that what baby-sitting's about?"

"We're not babies!" Stevie protested. "We're six!"

"Of course you're not, sweetie," Kurt said. "But that's what it's called."

"Well, it's a stupid name," Stevie decided and turned back to the TV.

"You know, he kinda has a point," Finn grinned.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Semantics aside, stop changing the topic and come help me with the supper."

"I've got a better idea," he said and turned to the twins. "Hey, I brought my Xbox with me. Wanna play some Mario Kart, guys?"

"Finn, I really don't think-"

"Yeah!" Stevie exclaimed.

"We always play with Sammy!" Stacy joined in enthusiastically. "Well, we used to until the bank didn't take his Play Station away."

"Well, you're going to play tonight," Finn said, looking at Kurt triumphantly. "You've been outvoted, dude."

The smaller boy just rolled his eyes and plopped onto the armchair. "Fine. Just try to keep it down, Finn. This is a motel and these walls are from cardboard at best," he reminded him opening he book he brought with him.

"Play with us, uncle Kurt!" Stevie asked.

"Thanks but I don't- What the-!" he exclaimed as something landed on his head, went through his hair, mussing it, and closed around his eyes.

"Guess who!" Stacy giggled and Kurt reached behind, prying her hands off his face before she inflicted even more damage. "Your hair is so shiny and soft," she said giving him an admiring look.

Kurt gulped. "Well, I try," he muttered and ducked as the girl reached out again. "Ok, I think I will play after all," he said getting up and moving at a safe distance from Stacy. "But no one touches the hair!" he warned sitting on the bed.

Finn sniggered.

the blonde girl sat right next to Kurt and kept eyeing him. "You're pretty," she decided after a while.

"Um, thank you." Kurt shifted uncomfortably in his place on the bed, feeling color rise up in his cheeks.

He heard a half-choking, half-chuckling noise coming from where Finn was setting up the Xbox and felt an urge to throw something at him.

"I'd like to be pretty like you one day," she continued with an adoring look in her eyes and threw her arms around him.

Kurt choked, stiffening. Finn was openly laughing at this point.

"I think you've got yourself an admirer, Kurt," he teased.

Kurt glared. "You'd better zip it. And set up that Xbox! Fast!"

"I never thought I'd see you so eager to play video games. Kids are good for you," Finn deadpanned but then turned to the console because if looks could kill, he'd be dead right now.

Kurt sighed in relief when everything was ready and the magic of Xbox worked its wonders. Stacy let go of him immediately and started kicking all their butts at Mario instead.

"I'm hungry!" Stevie announced half an hour later.

"Me too!" Stacy joined in.

"My stomach's making noises," Finn added.

Kurt shook his head and got up. "I'll warm up some pizza. Finn, set the table."

The taller boy groaned but complied. Kurt put the pizza in the microwave and turned to Finn, leaning against the counter.

"The napkins on the right," he instructed. He watched his stepbrother in silence for a while before speaking again. "Not that I don't appreciate the help, but Sam asked me to help with the twins. You didn't have to come." Finn said nothing, pretending he was busy with the napkins. "Especially since I happen to know you gave up a video game night with Puck and Artie for this," Kurt pushed.

"It's no big deal, we have these nights like every week," the taller boy said avoiding eye contact.

Kurt crossed his arms. "You really think I'll believe that? You considered not going to your mom's birthday party last week because you'd miss a game night, Finn. What's going on?"

Finn sighed. He knew by now that resistance really was futile where Kurt was concerned. And at the end of the day, he knew his stepbrother was the one person he could talk about this anyway. Even though Kurt was looking at him with that snarky look in his eyes, Finn knew by now that he didn't ask out of curiosity or spite so that he could have something to poke fun at Finn later. Kurt asked because he really cared for him and would never judge him or tell anyone.

"I feel really bad about this week and I wanted to make it up to Sam," he admitted placing another napkin in its place on the table. "I gave him a really hard time, I accused him of things he didn't do and I spied on him to prove it. The rumors started because of me. He needed friends and all I gave him was even more drama. And I was selfish. Me and Quinn, me and Rachel…I was so focused on me and my stupid girl problems that I didn't even notice my friend was in trouble."

"Finn, Sam didn't want any of us to notice anything," Kurt said softly. "That's why you didn't notice."

"But I should have anyways! He's my friend!" he exclaimed shoving his hands in his pockets. "So if you want to tell me off or something, go ahead. I deserve it."

Kurt sighed coming closer to him. "Well, the stalking was too much. And the fact that your first thought was that I was cheating on Blaine with Sam? And then that Quinn was? It was bad and you're totally cleaning up the bathroom this week for that," he added in a lighter tone but Finn refused to look at him, his head dropped. "But I also know that you've been hurt and cheated on way too many times in the last year so I get it why you did it, Finn. So I'm not going to tell you off. Not this time, Frankenteen," he nudged him in the side.

Finn was still stubbornly looking at his shoes but if he looked up, he'd see the soft smile on Kurt's lips and a look of admiration in his eyes. The countertenor was once again moved and astounded by his stepbrother's loyalty to the people he cared about and his big, loving heart. Finn wanted to be everyone's hero and it was frustrating at times but he did it for all the right reasons. He did it because he was a genuinely good person and felt a need of the heart to do it, not to show off or get credit for it.

"And you more than made it up to Sam," Kurt continued putting a hand on Finn's shoulder. "It was your idea to get his guitar out of hawk, remember?" he smiled as the taller boy finally looked up and met his gaze.

"I don't think a guitar's going to cut it," Finn frowned.

"I think Sam thinks differently," Kurt said. "Losing that guitar was really hard for him. He learned to play the guitar on it and he's had it since he was seven."

"How do you know that, dude?"

Kurt shrugged. "I had a class with him the day he was bringing it to the pawn shop. He was in bad shape and I asked him about it."

Finn scratched his head. "Well, he did cry when we brought it back with Rach. I knew he liked to play but I didn't know it meant so much to him."

"Like I said, you did a really big thing for him, Finn. He's not angry at you."

Finn sighed. "Thanks, man. I don't know why I always mess up and get angry at the people I care about," he said thinking about the way he shoved Sam the other day at Glee and the many times he got mad at Kurt and Rach and Quinn.

"Maybe it's because you know they're going to love you no matter what," Kurt said and threw a napkin at him. It flew straight into the other boy's face, landing on his nose. Finn picked it up and smiled at Kurt.

"You're a real sap, you know that?"

"It's all your fault."

They looked at each other for a while, and Finn reached out enveloping Kurt in a fierce hug.

"I'm not a stuffed animal, Finn!" the smaller boy protested good-naturedly but returned the hug with equal fierceness.

"Nope, you talk way too much," Finn replied wryly.

Nothing good lasts long, however, and soon there were footsteps behind them.

"We want to play Duck Duck Goose!"

The two boys turned to Stacy and Stevie.

"What about the pizza? Aren't you hungry any more?" Kurt asked.

"Duck Duck Goose!" came the reply.

The boys looked at each other. Finn shrugged.

"Sure, why not?"

~~ The present…

"Do I still have my hands on? Cause I can't feel a thing."

Kurt sighed. "Neither can I," he muttered reaching out his leg.

Finn hissed. "What are you doing, dude?"

"I'm getting us out of this. It's going to hurt but I think I've found a way," he informed Finn looking around the bathroom as much as he could. "There are scissors near the sink. If we get to them, I think I'll be able to reach for them. But we've got to get up."

"Um, how?"

"Prop your legs against the wall and then try to lift yourself up, pressing against my back. I'll do the same and maybe we'll do it."

"Ok. But this sounds painful."

"It's better than sitting here," Kurt said levelly. "So, one…two…Finn!" he hissed as the taller boy started pushing too soon and they both toppled to the side. "It's supposed to be after three!" he panted.

"Oh, I thought it was on three."

Kurt groaned. "Just…don't think."

"Ok. Can we get up now?"

After some exhausting and very much embarrassing scrambling and stumbling they somehow made it to their legs and to the scissors. After some even more excruciating wiggling, Kurt sighed as he felt the string loosen and fall off to the floor. He rubbed his wrists and looked up, meeting Finn's gaze.

"Revenge?"

Kurt smiled evilly.

XxXxXxX

Sam Evans didn't have many things to smile about these days but the sight that met his eyes as he stepped into the motel room that evening was definitely one of those things. It reminded him why he loved Glee and his club friends. He realized it really wasn't such a bad thing at all that they knew. Especially if it gave him such sights to come home to.

The room was squeaky clean and the TV was on with the opening menu for 'The Little Mermaid' on repeat. Stacy and Stevie were cuddled together on the bed in their jammies, asleep. As he took a better look, he saw that Finn and Kurt were there with them. Finn was splayed on his back, snoring away, and Sam wondered how on Earth the other three managed to sleep at all. He had one arm around Kurt, who was sleeping cuddled into Finn's side.

Sam tiptoed to the bed and shook Kurt gently. "Um, Kurt? I think 'The Little Mermaid' ended."

Kurt stirred, blinking at the blonde boy. "Oh, hi. Did it? And we didn't get to the wedding," he groaned sitting up and looking at Finn, who let out an especially loud snore.

"Finn," he said poking him in the side. "Finn. Wake up!"

The taller boy jumped up, tumbling off the bed. "You didn't have to shout!" he said reproachfully rubbing his elbow.

Kurt and Sam looked at each other in amusement as Finn blinked at them groggily.

"So, I see all went well," Sam said. Finn and Kurt shared a sideways look.

"Sure."

"Of course."

Sam smiled. "Thanks, guys. I owe you one," he said stepping into the bathroom.

There was silence for a while.

"Um, guys? Why is there string and scissors on the floor?"

So, that's it, guys! Sorry for the delay but Finn and Kurt didn't want to cooperate on this one;) I hope you liked this and please review!