(Author's note: no warnings, but quoting from episode 1x22. -amy)


Burt would never have told Puck, or any of the other kids, that he was unhappy about moving out of his office to make room for Puck and the baby. But it was obvious to Carole that he was pretty grumpy about his desk being in his bedroom. She smiled to herself, listening to him bang his elbow on the edge of the desk as he fit himself into the tiny space allotted.

"We can still turn it around so you're facing the wall," she said, not looking up from her knitting.

"I don't want to face the wall," he insisted irritably. "This is fine."

"Suit yourself." The house phone rang, and Burt had to stand up to reach it. There was another banging noise, and a muffled swear. "Burt Hummel." His voice abruptly changed. "Tess! What a surprise."

Carole continued to knit with one ear to Burt's conversation, but he simply sat there, listening, for a good long while.

"I - I don't even know what to say." He was smiling. "That's a really generous offer."

Now he had Carole's full attention. She set her knitting down and walked downstairs to pick up the second receiver, bringing it back upstairs as she switched it on. She heard Tess's calm alto voice clearly.

"... I've spent a great deal of time thinking it over, Burt."

"I just know how busy you are. It's not something I would feel comfortable asking you to do."

"Hi, Tess," Carole interjected. "I hope you don't mind me joining your conversation."

"No, this is better, to speak with both adults. I've spent quite a long time considering young master Noah, and his situation, and I've discussed it with James and Stephen, as well as my father. I'd like to offer my assistance, both professional and personal." Tess' voice sounded unusually gruff. "I'd be happy to come down to help out, when the baby's born. "

"Oh!" Carole made eye contact with Burt across the room, and saw him nod at her.

"Now, what I was about to tell your protesting partner is that Stephen and I have been training a young man who is on loan to us from another club, and he needs to be able to solo for oa few weeks, you see. It's quite necessary for me to be absent at this point, usually I'd just go out to visit my Father in California, but..."

"You'd be very welcome to visit any time, Tess," Carole said, watching Burt relax in his chair. "But, I'm sorry, we wouldn't be able to offer you accommodations. It's already pretty crowded around here."

"I'm certain I can find something comfortable," she said wryly. "Carl has some lovely guest rooms. We can finalize details as we get closer to the due date. Just consider the offer to be on the table."

They exchanged pleasantries until it became clear that Tess needed to go. Burt set the phone back in its cradle, letting out a bemused sigh.

"That takes care of one big concern."

"You mean what's going to happen to the baby while Puck is finishing his school year?" Carole stood and came over to stand beside the desk, reaching over to take his hand. "You think he'll tolerate somebody else caring for her during the day?"

"I think he'll do anything Tess says," Burt said, with a quick smile. "She's not the baby anymore, you know. Don't you think we should start calling her Beth?"

"I think when Puck does, I will." She leaned over and kissed him. "You didn't mention anything to Tess about the house."

"Let's finalize that before we start making it public knowledge, all right? We still have a few hurdles to jump before it's a sure thing." Burt's face went thoughtful. "Pretty soon, we'll have enough rooms for everybody - and guests."

"I think that's the point," she agreed. "One of them, anyway. But that was really wonderful of Tess, wasn't it? I'm not sure how we lucked into ending up with her as a fairy godmother to these boys."

"We're going to end up inviting her to Christmas this year. Well… who knows what'll be happening by the time December rolls around." He shrugged. "Beth will be crawling by then."

She grinned at him. "Are you going to have her call you grandpa?"

"I'll stick with Tatenui," he said firmly. "She'll have an aunt and three uncles under eighteen. I think I'm not quite ready for Grandpa yet. But you be my guest, if you want to be Nana Carole."

"Oh, I like that!" She clasped her hands excitedly. "Nana Carole. That's perfect."

He shook his head, kissing her. "I knew you were a little crazy."


Emma steeled herself before taking the last few steps to carry her into Ken's office. She stood there for more than ten seconds before he looked up from sorting the pile of football equipment and met her gaze. She was sure she must look… well, something, because he flinched away immediately.

"Come to gloat?" he said gruffly.

"Not at all," she said. She folded her hands and kept her distance. "I wanted to say goodbye, and… and that I wish you all the best."

He snorted a humorless laugh. "You never were a good liar, Emma."

"I'm not lying," she protested. "I don't have any hard feelings. And you know why?"

He eyed her suspiciously, his eyes red-rimmed and defeated. "Because you won?"

"Because you helped me see that I can have things for myself." She was not going to let Ken derail her speech. He deserved to hear it. "That I deserve to know what I need, and to ask for it. I'm only sorry I hurt you in the process."

"Em, you didn't hurt me. Not really." Ken looked over at her. "We were both avoiding what we really wanted. It was never going to be enough for either of us. I'm lucky you were willing to say something."

It didn't hurt to hear him say it, either. In fact, it was a relief. She gave him a small smile. "I'm not judging you, Ken, I hope you know that. But I hope you can find a way to fix this. For yourself… and for Matt." She shook her head, withdrawing from the room, but not before she saw his face crumple.

Matt certainly didn't deserve this. If they'd still been friends, in any capacity, Emma might have yelled at him about just how illegal it was to get involved with one of his students, but she guessed losing his job and his license would be punishment enough. It was Matt she was more worried about. When she'd met with him, in her role as guidance counselor, he'd still been holding onto hope that he and Ken could work things out. What things, she didn't exactly know, but considering the Rutherford family was moving to another state and would certainly be blocking all contact between the two of them, she doubted that was possible — at least until he turned eighteen.

It was in this sad, contemplative frame of mind that she found herself when Will knocked on her office door.

"Will," she said in surprise. He looked at her imploringly, closing the door behind himself.

"Did you hear the news? Sue is one of the judges for regionals this year. She's going to do everything she can to destroy us." He began to pace back and forth across her office, his face a picture of consternation. "I can't believe this. I tried to throw them a party last night to select our setlist, but everyone was so sad, they couldn't do anything but talk about all the things they love about Glee club. It took everything I had not to cry. It's like they've all walked a thousand miles just to get punched in the stomach."

"What exactly are you looking for from me here?"

He sighed. "Some guidance?"

She cocked her head to one side, regarding him. "Do you remember when you were going to quit teaching and become an accountant, and I showed you that video of yourself singing at Nationals, and you said that that was the happiest moment of your life? Do you remember why?

Will nodded. "Because I loved what I was doing."

"And isn't that what you've been drilling into their heads all year? That that feeling is way more important than winning or losing?"

He looked closely at her, then laughed ruefully. "I miss you."

I miss you too, she wanted to say, but it would have been irresponsible, in the midst of giving him guidance. Instead, she said, "I'm seeing someone."

That definitely threw him. "What?"

"His name's Carl. Carl Howell." Considering she hadn't realized she was even ready to tell Will that much, she had no idea how she was going to explain how they'd met. She scrambled for a reasonable story. "He's my dentist. He's always been very impressed with my oral hygiene, and the last time I was there, he was showing me the machines that they use to sterilize their tools, and he asked me out. We've been going out every night since then."

"Wow." Will smiled at her, obviously surprised, but not displeased. "You two haven't…?" Immediately he retracted the question, holding up his hands. "No, no, that's — never mind. Not my business."

"It's fine. That's fine." She didn't think Will would handle the reply, He's working me up to that, using the single-tail whip, but as of yesterday we've only made it to second base. "I'm grateful for your friendship, Will."

He nodded soberly, rising from his chair. "Thanks for the help."

She watched him walk to the door with mild consternation. Just as he was about to duck out, she added, "Um, no, by the way. We haven't."

His response, just a quick smile and another nod, brought her back to where they were and what they were doing. Of course Will wanted to keep it professional at work. That didn't mean he didn't want to listen. There were all kinds of things she could tell Will about Carl, about what they were doing as boyfriend and girlfriend, when they were off the clock. He really wants a baby would be the least of them, but certainly one Will could relate to. He's reserving the right to see other people might be less explicable. Certainly she was not going to say anything about Finn or his presence in Carl's life.

He wants to train me to be a slave, and I think I'm going to say yes, was beyond what she could imagine saying to Will. In many ways, he was more innocent than most of the men she'd ever dated. It made him a wonderful, gentle friend, but she wasn't sure Will wanted to hear about the ways in which she was exploring her… needs. And Carl was giving her so much more than she'd ever had before, without any pressure to go further than she felt comfortable going. Maybe it was a little strange to think that he was taking care of Finn at the same time, but that was their agreement. It was up to her to live up to it.

There was another knock on the door. She beckoned Puck inside, straightening her blouse. "Noah. How can I help you? As long as it's not another pass out of math."

"No, no, I'm not asking for a pass. This is about my daughter." He eased into the chair facing her desk. "She's gonna be born in a couple weeks."

"So it seems?" She gave him a smile. "Are you feeling unprepared for fatherhood?"

"Hell, yes," he grinned back. "But this isn't about that. Once she's born, I'm not coming back to school."

Emma paused, reaching for Puck's file. "You mean… you want to reschedule your finals?"

"I mean I'm quitting," Puck said. "I'm not totally giving up, though, because seriously, Finn and Kurt would kill me. Carole — Mrs. Hudson told me about the GED."

"Well, that's one option," she said.

"Yeah, I want to do that. As long as I can do it from home."

She was going to need to go beyond pamphlets here. "There are several programs in Ohio that provide very low- or no-cost day care to teenage, uh, parents…"

"No — no day care. I'm gonna be home with my kid." He shook his head decisively. "I'm not good at much, but I'm sure as shit going to be a good papa."

"Puck, being a parent is a hard thing to do on your own," she protested.

"Well, she's only going to be with me part time," he explained. "The rest of the time, she'll be with Shelby. Corcoran. But she's got the same problem, teaching all day…"

It took a few minutes of careful questioning to get all the whos and wheres and whats out of him. By the end, Emma was sweating inside her yellow short-sleeved sweater set.

"Well, Noah, I'm going to need a little time to pull together some resources for you," she said at last. "I'm going to ask you not to give up on school just yet. Your best option might still be to stay in high school and get your diploma early."

He shook his head, smiling. "You really think I'm gonna graduate? With grades like mine?"

"Not giving up yet," she insisted. "Come back this afternoon. At the very least we can defer your grades until summer when you can take your exams. Like you said, this might not be important to you, but it's important to people who love you. Including, I'm imagining, Mr. Hummel."

"Yeah, maybe," Puck agreed grudgingly. "And Kurt. Pretty much everybody, actually. You got a pamphlet for when your boyfriends care more about your grades than you do?"

"I'll — work on that, too," she managed.


Kurt cut Finn off in the hallway on his way toward the locker room for fourth period P.E. He looked troubled. "Finn… Matt's on his way here."

"So?"

"So Coach Tanaka's not here." He gave him a meaningful look. "He walked out after lunch, carrying a big box of things. Didn't you notice, Matt looked like he was going to lose it in algebra? I think he could use a friend, or at least a cover story. Noah's in the office with Ms. Pillsbury, setting up alternate dates for his finals, so he can't be here. Will you talk to Matt?"

"Me and Matt, we're not really friends," Finn said slowly. Then he shook his head. "Yeah, of course. Come on."

Kurt followed Finn into the locker room, hanging back while Finn searched for Matt. It didn't take long. He was standing in the doorway to Coach Tanaka's empty office, staring at the barren desk. Kurt was right; Matt seldom got upset, but today he seemed to be close to falling apart.

"Hey, man," Finn said. He touched Matt's shoulder. "You okay?"

"I guess?" Matt's voice was soft and choked. "Trying, anyway."

"Did… did you know today was his last day?"

He nodded, wiping his eyes and sniffing. "I knew, but I wasn't ready, you know? I don't even know where he's going."

"We might be able to help—" Finn began, but Kurt nudged him, shaking his head, and Finn stopped talking. Matt gave him a wan smile.

"It's okay. My parents would seriously flip out if they found that I'd been in contact with him. I think this is better, at least for now."

His whole body drooped. Finn shot a glance behind them to where the rest of the guys were coming in to get changed for class. Thankfully, no one seemed to be paying attention to them standing there in the empty office.

"I'm really sorry, dude," Finn said quietly.

Matt nodded. "Monday's my last day of school. I'm coming to Regionals on Saturday, and then I get one more day, and then we're heading to Philadelphia."

Finn blinked. "Jeez."

"Does Dave know?" Kurt asked suddenly. Matt nodded, looking at the floor.

"I told him and Mike this weekend. Mike's been kind of… I don't really want to freak him out, you know? He's always been a good friend, but I don't know what he would think about this. About me."

Finn didn't exactly know what to think about Matt's situation, either, but he just nodded. Kurt was edging toward the door, which Finn took as a cue. "Uh, so… I won't tell anybody that you're leaving, if you wanna tell them yourself."

"I just want to wait until after Regionals." He cast them both a pleading glance. "I don't want to bring anybody down."

"Don't worry," Kurt told him. "We'll keep it to ourselves."

The hallway was empty when they walked together out of the locker room.

"You should stay," Kurt said to Finn. "You don't need another tardy."

"It's fine," Finn assured him. "Like you said, Coach Tanaka's not there anyway. The substitutes never take attendance."

They paused outside Mrs. Rasmussen's classroom, watching through the window, but far enough around the corner that she couldn't see. Now Kurt looked positively distressed.

"What is it?" Finn asked.

"He's not there." Kurt edged around to the other side of the door and craned his neck to see the back of the room.

"Who?"

"David."

Finn sighed. "Dude, why do you care? Let him take care of his own freak out. He's not your friend."

Kurt's glare was vicious enough to drive Finn back a few steps. He grabbed Finn's arm and towed him around the corner, forcing him against the wall and thrusting a finger in his face.

"I don't need him to like me. I need him to know he's not alone. And right now? He really is. I mean, really. You don't know how that feels, Finn. You've never been the only one. Even when you were coming out, you had me to turn to. But Dave has nobody." Kurt's lips tightened. "It's a dangerous place for somebody to be. And I am not going to abandon him there, no matter how crappy he's been to everyone. Now are you going to class, or are you going to help me find him?"

"I'll help you," Finn said quickly. He reached out and took Kurt's hand, holding it tight. "I'm with you."

Kurt took a breath and let it out. "All right. Now… where would he be? He wasn't in the locker room." He gazed down the hall, thinking. "He told me he heard us, the three of us. Doing… stuff. Not in the attic — before that. When we were in the janitor's closet."

"Fuck," Finn muttered. He let go Kurt's hand and ran it over his hair. "He heard us?"

Kurt walked down the hall and around the corner, stopping beside his locker. He opened it, rummaging in the back, and peeled away a strip of tape bearing his master key from the back wall. Then he continued down the hall toward the janitor's closet. It was just luck that they didn't meet anyone along the way. While Finn kept nervous watch, Kurt hunched over the keyhole of the closet, jiggling the key until it slid inside and turned.

It was dark in the closet, but the metal folding chair splattered with paint was still there. Seeing it gave Finn a kind of anxious thrill. He remembered sitting on that chair with Puck on his lap, holding him. Who are you, he had asked, and Puck had said, I'm Noah. I'm yours. They hadn't had any idea what they were doing, but it had all been true.

Kurt looked around the closet, at the ceiling vents, and called out, "Dave." He was quiet at first, then said it again, louder: "David Karofsky."

It was silent for a moment, and then Kurt heard, faintly, "What the hell?"

"Are you alone?"

"Yeah," said Dave. He heard a knocking. "Kurt? Where are you?"

"Looking for you."

There was a longer silence. Dave sounded abashed. "I'm — I'm in the physics lab."

Kurt and Finn followed the hallway all the way around to the other side of the building, to the door of the physics lab. Finn could see how the air vent along the south wall probably led directly into the janitor's closet. Dave was the only person in the room, hunched on a lab stool, looking absurdly large, like a little kid sitting on a toy chair. He glanced up, saw Finn, and turned away, scowling. "Oh. You're here to fuck with me, then?"

"Nobody's fucking with anybody," Kurt said. Dave laughed mirthlessly.

"That's not what I heard."

"Jesus, can you give it a rest?" Finn protested, but Kurt shushed him with a wave of his hand.

"Dave." Kurt's voice was firm. "Come on. You don't want to be here. Not today."

"You got that right," he muttered.

Kurt took a couple steps toward him. "We have a better place. Upstairs."

"Kurt!" Finn was aghast. "You can't tell him about that."

"Dave's not going to tell anybody." Kurt was close enough to touch Dave now, but he simply waited beside him. Dave looked over at Finn again, his eyes hardening.

"You obviously don't trust me."

"No, but Kurt does," said Finn. "I'm not exactly sure why, but… I guess that's good enough for me."

"Dave," Kurt said again, softer this time. "I talked to Matt. I know this is his last week."

Finn watched Dave's face waver momentarily, then flatten out again into an indifferent mask. He took a measured breath. If he hadn't been looking, he never would have believed it. "So? He doesn't care about me anyway."

"That's not true," said Kurt. "He cares very much. Let me show you."

Dave's hands clenched. He rested them on the lab counter. Finn tensed, waiting for Dave to yell, but Dave stood up and grabbed his backpack instead. He picked up a pad of paper from the teacher's desk and began scribbling a note on it.

"Why are you hiding out in here?" Finn asked.

"I'm always here," Dave snapped. He tossed the note pad on the desk. "It's my independent study." Finn looked over at Kurt, his eyebrows raised, but Kurt wasn't paying attention.

"Up the back stairs to the third floor," Kurt told Dave, beckoning for him to follow. Dave and Finn did, Dave looking more and more dubious as they ascended.

"Everything's locked up there."

Kurt held up his key. "How do you think I got into the janitor's closet?"

Dave shook his head with a begrudging smile. "You're a lot sneakier than you let on."

"I guess you've got to be," Finn said, "when assholes like me throw you into dumpsters."

Dave's eyes narrowed, his smile disappearing, but he didn't say anything else as they reached the third floor. Kurt paused beside the attic door and unlocked it, ushering them in.

As soon as Dave saw the mattress, he stopped, his eyes wide. His gaze darted from the dormer window, to the pitted wooden table in the corner, to the wall of shelves holding boxes of music, and back to the mattress. Finn waited by the door while Kurt went to the window, looking out. After a long moment, Dave joined him.

"Wow," he said. His tone was even, but Finn knew better. He watched Kurt's hand hovering over his back, resting there for just a moment before dropping to his side again.

"It's a nice view," Kurt said. "Some days, when I could barely handle being at school, being here in this room and looking out this window was the only thing that kept me sane."

Finn was pretty sure he'd never bothered to actually look out that window. As he moved closer, he realized he could see all the way to the football field. In between lay the ecology greenhouses and the student parking lot.

"How'd you score this place?" Dave asked. He put a hand on the windowsill, brushing fingertips across the peeling paint.

"I probably shouldn't say. He might get in trouble. But we didn't have to break any rules to get it, and we're helping move all the choir music files upstairs, a little at a time. In return, everybody leaves us alone." Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Everybody. And we get a place where we can just be… ourselves."

Dave averted his eyes from the mattress, covered with Kurt's mother's old quilt. "And what makes you think I won't rat you out?"

"Because you won't." Kurt sounded very certain. It didn't sound like he was blackmailing Dave or anything. It was as though the question were absurd. Dave shook his head slowly.

"I don't know why you think I'm that guy."

"What guy?" Finn asked.

Dave didn't answer. Kurt went to Finn and touched his chest with one hand. Dave was very obviously not watching them, but since Kurt didn't seem to care, Finn tried not to worry about it.

"I'm going to try to apologize for missing half of English," he said. "Would you stay here with Dave until he's ready to go?"

Finn tried not to let his face look like hell no. "How am I going to know if he's ready to go?" he whispered.

"He won't be so pissed off," Kurt replied, smiling faintly.

"I think I'll be waiting an awfully long time," Finn whispered back.

Kurt laughed, then leaned in and kissed him. Finn heard Dave catch his breath. Kurt patted him on the chest and smiled, looking completely at ease, before heading for the door.

"You're leaving me here with Hudson?" Dave grumbled.

"I'll see you in Glee, Finn," said Kurt. He nodded at Dave. "You get to be that guy if you want to be, David."

The room was very quiet after Kurt shut the door behind him. Finn shuffled awkwardly over to the mattress and sat down on it, then wondered if he shouldn't have. He didn't want to imply anything to Dave about what a mattress might mean. But Dave came over and sat down at the table, running his hand over the warped surface.

"This could use some sanding," he said. Finn smiled in surprise.

"We've been kind of ignoring this place. I haven't been up here in weeks."

It was Dave's turn to look surprised. "Really? Man, if I had a place like this, I'd be up here all the time."

"Well, you do now," said Finn. "We've all got keys, so I guess if you want to get in, just ask me or Kurt or Puck to let you in."

Dave paused his hand in its path along the table's surface, then nodded stiffly. "Yeah, I don't think I'll be doing that."

"But you just said you —"

"I wouldn't want to interrupt anything," Dave broke in. He sounded… Finn could hear anger, and bitterness, and something like panic in his voice.

"Well, we kind of live together, so that doesn't matter much now." He heard the words coming out of his mouth, and couldn't believe he was saying them to Dave Karofsky, but Dave already knew about the room, so how could it get any weirder? Dave was looking at him with perplexed eyes.

"You guys live together."

"It's more complicated than that." Finn picked at a stray thread in the quilt, pulling it loose, but he only succeeded in unraveling a patch of fabric. He tried to find the end of the thread, which was now quite long. "Puck, his mom died last year, and he came to live with Kurt's dad. Him and Puck's sister."

"Sarah," Dave said softly. "I forgot he had a sister. And — a brother? Doesn't he have one of those?"

"Timothy." Finn watched Dave's uncomprehending face, and corrected himself. "Meemee."

"Oh yeah." Dave grinned, nodding. "Meemee. Jesus, I remember him. Wasn't his brother kind of awesome at chess?"

Finn wasn't sure he liked the way the conversation was going, revisiting Finn and Davey's past with Noah Puckerman. It was making him a little angry. When Finn didn't respond, Dave let the smile fall away and returned his eyes to the table. Finn felt kind of bad for him, but even realizing that made him angry. Kurt could be as sympathetic to Dave as he wanted, but that didn't mean Finn was about to forgive Dave.

On the other hand, if he wasn't going to at least try to be nice, Dave was really going to take a long time before he would be ready to go.

"You talk to him a lot?" asked Dave.

"Who?" Finn asked.

Dave scraped at the table with his fingernail. "Blaine," he said. His voice was gruff.

Blaine. Hearing his name, spoken at McKinley, made Finn feel a little short of breath. "I usually see him on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We play in a band together with — another guy. I have to drive out to Columbus; I guess he's not old enough to drive yet."

Dave nodded. "His birthday's coming up pretty soon, though."

"Oh." That caught him off guard. Finn wondered what he should do for Blaine's birthday. He couldn't exactly ask Puck to make him a cake. That would definitely be weird. "Uh, do you know when?"

"June thirteenth," said Dave. "It's a week after mine."

"You want me to tell him you said hi?"

Dave's eyes shot up to connect with Finn's. "No," he said immediately. "Don't say anything."

"Why not?"

He stood, restlessly crossing to look out the window again. "Because the last time I saw him, I was a total asshole to him, and he told me he didn't — that we couldn't —"

"Oh." Finn looked at Dave's back, the way he stood at the window. Kurt was right. Dave was alone, and it really did suck. "Um. Kurt's birthday is May twenty-seventh. Only he's a year older, because of his mom, so he'll be seventeen."

"His mom?" Dave wasn't looking, but he was listening. Finn went on.

"Yeah, his mom died when he was eight. Cancer, I can't remember what kind. He missed a bunch of school while she was sick, so he repeated third grade."

"That's awful." Dave actually looked really upset by this. "Jesus. Puck's mom, and Kurt's mom. And your dad?"

"Kind of," Finn said. "He died when I was a baby, so I never met him. My mom's still here, though." He laughed. "That's why we're living together. She's moving in with Kurt's dad."

"No way," Dave breathed, looking up at last. "For real?"

"For real," Finn agreed.

Dave laughed too, coming over to sit on the mattress across from Finn. "Like, boyfriend-girlfriend?"

"Seriously. It was so weird at first, but… I really like Kurt's dad. So it's okay."

"You think they're gonna get married?" Dave was grinning. "Wouldn't that make you guys stepbrothers? Awkward."

"Yeah, plus Puck's getting adopted and everything, so I'd kind of have two stepbrothers. Uh, incestuous stepbrothers." He winced. "That's not really public knowledge, though. We're keeping it a secret, the thing about me and Kurt, and me and Puck."

Dave was quiet for a moment. "You mean… you're just the stepbrother and Puck's the boyfriend?"

Now Dave was directing that upset expression on him, and it made him feel weird again. He shrugged. "Whatever. I mean, it's mostly for Sarah. I don't want to get in the way of the adoption. She would be totally freaked out if she had to live somewhere else away from Puck."

He watched Dave think about this for a while, leaning back against the wall under the eaves. His face looked so much more relaxed when he wasn't trying so hard.

That's how he's supposed to be, Finn thought. That's how Kurt wants him to be.

"You really are that guy," he said.

Dave kind of flinched, but he didn't completely abandon his relaxed expression.

"I'm really not," Dave said. "I think I used to be, but I haven't… I haven't done it in a while."

"You could." Finn thought for a moment. "Puck did."

"Yeah, if you haven't noticed, Puck's got his own set of rules." He twisted his mouth like he was trying not to smile. "And maybe he's got a little help."

"Kind of a lot of help," Finn admitted. The smile snuck through onto Dave's face.

"I don't know why I was surprised to hear about Puckerman," he said. "But I sure as hell was surprised to hear about you. I mean, you and Rachel Berry have a thing, right? That's the rumor, anyway."

"Yeah, well, rumors are convenient, but she's not my girlfriend." What about you and Matt, he wanted to ask, but he figured that would just be cruel.

Dave looked at him, curiosity lurking in his eyes. "And Kurt doesn't care about you and Puck?"

"We all see other people," he said. "It's complicated, but it's worth it. I think it's the only way I can do it." He watched Dave's thoughtful face warily. "Yeah, you think it's fucked up."

"I'm not sure I'm one to judge, man."

That was all Dave was apparently going to say. Finn felt his own judgments shifting inside, and the process was making him a little uneasy, like he wasn't sure if he was going to puke or not. In any case, Dave didn't appear to be angry anymore, so he decided that was progress.

"This was kind of weird," Finn said, climbing off the mattress. Dave stood up too, watching as he moved to the door. "But I guess it was all right."

Dave nodded. "It's been a long time since we were, you know. Friends."

Finn decided a response like not in a million years wasn't going to help Dave feel more calm. And, anyway, it wasn't how he felt. Not anymore. He shrugged. "Maybe it's time to try again."

He let Dave go first, locking the door behind them with his own key. Then he took the back stairs to the second floor, pausing when he saw Rachel ahead of him. He felt a rush of safe and familiar, both of which might have been bullshit, but at the moment he was willing to take bullshit.

But then she looked up and saw him, turning around to move against the tide of students toward him. "Hey," she called. "We need to talk."

He paused on the step above her, staring down, until she changed places with him, nudging him back a step so they were nearly even in height. "What about?"

"Glee." She looked even more determined than usual. "I'm sorry I gave up at Mr. Schuester's party. We have a chance of keeping it together if nobody else decides to bail, but we need you. You're a leader, Finn. The way you're on everyone all the time is a little weird, but it's also what keeps people motivated."

Finn wasn't even sure what to say about that. The fact that Rachel had noticed, at all, told him she was more perceptive than he'd given her credit for being. She reached out and grasped his hand, clutching it in both of hers.

"You and I are going to fix this," she said. "We're going to Regionals, and we're going to win this thing."

And then she leaned in and kissed him, right on his lips. It was so surprising that Finn just stood there, looking at her, wondering what he should do now. He took a deep breath and decided to just say was in his heart.

"Everybody wants this to go on," he said. "I do too. I don't want it to end. I think, no matter what happens at Regionals, we should keep having Glee. Even if we have to do it at each other's houses. Nobody can stop us from doing what we want after school, right?"

"Right," she said excitedly. "It doesn't have to be about a club, at least not right now. It can just be about… being together."

"Being home," said Finn. She threw her arms around him.

"Being home," she whispered. Her eyes were bright. "Come on. Let's go tell Mr. Schuester."


"So you're doing a Journey medley for Regionals?" Carl sounded inordinately pleased. He eased the Corvette out of the driveway. "Do you know what you'll sing?"

"Well, we have Don't Stop Believing already choreographed. Rachel wants to sing Faithfully with me as a duet." Finn wasn't sure what to think about that message, but unless she said something to him, he'd go on assuming it was just a song. "So that leaves one big number for us to put together. I'm not sure what it should be. We only have three days to practice."

"Journey," Carl mused. "I'm not sure if that's going to help you win, but it sounds like that's not likely to happen, anyway."

"No," Finn sighed. "Coach Sylvester's going to make sure of that. And besides, knowing how much time Toby and Shelby have been putting into practicing their songs, I don't really think we're going to be much in the way of competition. So we're not counting on winning, but that's not the most important thing anyway."

"That's very sportsmanlike of you," he said, with an approving nod. "And I think Rachel was right. You have the capacity to keep the group together, club or no club."

"If that's what everybody wants, that's what we're going to do." He eyed Carl. "I'm not surprised you agree with Rachel."

Carl shifted into fourth, accelerating onto the onramp. "From what you tell me about her, I don't always think she makes good decisions, but I'm glad she came to you."

"I think you know more about her than I tell you," Finn said quietly.

He saw Carl's hand hesitate before gripping the steering wheel. "I'm not sure how I would?"

"Same way Shelby knew about Jesse. She watches him." He reached out and touched Carl's hand. It had been long enough now that that gesture no longer startled either of them, but Carl still flinched. "She watches her son, like you watch your daughter."

Carl was silent for a long moment. "How long have you known?"

"Not very long. Less than a week. Puck helped me figure it out. He talked to Shelby about you, before she agreed about Beth."

"I wanted to tell you," Carl began, but Finn put up a hand, stopping him.

"I don't get to know everything. You told me that from day one. As much as I might want to be, I'm never going to be your boyfriend. I know it's not like that. You get to… to set the rules, and I get to follow them." He swallowed the hurt. "Sir."

"Oh, Finn," Carl said softly. He sighed. "All right."

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Of course. You'll need to save time for Spanish flashcards."

Finn tried to focus. "When you, um. Gave me your collar. You said I should… that I might want to get one for Blaine. And keep it, for when he's ready. So his birthday's coming up, and I don't know… I was wondering if you could tell me where you got that one. The one you got me. Because it's so awesome."

He could tell Carl was giving him space to stumble through the request. He was smiling, but not in a mean way. "It really is. And you look amazing in it."

"Thanks," he said faintly. "Sir. So…"

"It was made by one of the frequent munch attendees in Columbus. Her public name is Six. She might be there today, if you'd like to meet her. Her work's not inexpensive, but I imagine she could set up a payment plan for you, if you had your heart set on one of hers." Carl thought for a moment. "You might want to have a backup gift in place, in case you decide he's not ready for the collar by the time his birthday happens. Something a little less… rife with meaning. How about, I don't know, tickets to a concert?"

"That would be awesome," Finn said, grinning. "The ticket places all need credit cards, though. My mom would have to help me."

"I can take care of that for you, my boy. We can look online tonight to see what shows are coming up soon, when we get home — back to Lima."

The correction was quick, but Finn shook his head. "It's okay." He settled back in the seat as the speedometer crept almost imperceptibly up to eighty. "Your house feels like home, as much as any place is right now."

Carl seemed pleased by that, but it put Finn in mind of another guy who didn't have much of a home at the moment.

"One more thing," he said. "Kurt asked if I would ask you… you haven't been training any new slaves, not since I met you, right? Just Angela."

"Angela's training was finished long ago. She's been with me out of loyalty and convenience more than anything."

"Well, there's somebody who really needs an Angela."

"Everybody needs an Angela," Carl said, "but there's only one of her." He looked over at Finn. "Who were you thinking needed her assistance?"

"Adam," said Finn. "You should have seen him. He totally fell apart, right in front of me and Puck, and then he turned around five minutes later and said he was fine."

"Hmmm. Sounds like what he really needs is —" Carl smirked.

"Yeah, I don't think he's about to ask for that. The thing is, I think he actually keeps things together pretty well, when Jacob is there helping him and giving him someone to talk to? Kurt thinks so too. But during the tour, he won't have him. If there's something we can do to keep him from losing it like he did… I think it'd be important. For Puck and Kurt, if nothing else."

"I know he's not your boyfriend, but you care about him in your own way. I do, too." Carl took one hand off the steering wheel and held Finn's. "You're not wrong that Angela needs another assignment. As sad as I would be to see her go, I know it would be good for her. And Adam…" He nodded slowly. "They could have a trial run during his tour. This is all assuming he wants someone with him, of course."

"I think," Finn said, "if he didn't feel like we were… you know, checking up on him. If this was something for him, it would be okay."

"So perceptive." Carl flashed him a smile that did funny things to his insides, but that was nothing new, either. He controlled his reaction, breathing evenly as he felt his muscles contract around plug number seven. Carl nodded. "All right. I'll speak with her this week. Will you tell Kurt he's going to need to have a conversation with Adam about this before we make any move to offer her services?"

"Yeah, I can do that." He reached into his backpack and took out the flash cards with a sigh. If anything would kill an erection, it would be Spanish vocabulary drill. "Estoy listo para practicar Espanol."


Frances had felt a little uncertain asking her father if Sarah could come over for dinner. Her mother was cooking, so it would have made more sense to ask her, but she knew her father would absolutely say yes. Her mother was unpredictable about Sarah. Sometimes she seemed to disapprove of their friendship, but other times she said things that made Frances wonder. Her father, however, quite openly adored her.

"Would you be completely embarrassed if we talked about the house?" her father asked, smiling hopefully. Frances had to smile back, considering it was just about the only thing Sarah talked about anymore.

"As long as she wants to, Daddy."

Sarah, naturally, brought the most recent version of the floor plans over for the two of them to peruse. Not that Sarah hadn't been over every inch of them with Frances before, but this was the first time since it was decided that it was for real going to happen.

"Our goal is to break ground by June. Which means we're gonna have to get all the permits finalized, which means no problems with the plans when they go before the township." Sarah crawled across Frances' bed to point at the space above the front garage. "This is totally going to be for Carole's crafts. I was originally thinking for Noah, but he needs first floor access."

"For the baby," Frances said. Sarah snorted.

"For other stuff I can't talk about. The baby'd be better off on the second floor, probably."

Frances smoothed out one corner that had been accidentally folded. "I think babies would be fine most places?"

"I have no idea about babies, but I know Noah, so that's what I'm planning for." She reached out for the book sitting on the bedside table and looked it over. "Charlotte's Web? Didn't we read that in, like, second grade?"

"I've read it a bunch of times," Frances said, retrieving the book. She knew she sounded defensive, but she felt like she should explain. "My babysitter, he read it to me, back before I could read. Don't you remember him? He used to babysit for you, too."

Sarah made a face. "I never had a babysitter."

She turned the book over, feeling the worn, soft edges of the pages under her thumb. "Anyway, he read it. He'd read it whenever things got confusing, or hard. Because something about the story made me feel… well, Charlotte, the spider. She was the kind of person — animal — whatever, you know what I mean — the kind of person I wanted to be."

Sarah looked at her curiously. "What kind of person was that?"

"Well, she kind of… used her words, her influence, to help Wilbur become more than he could on his own. She wasn't in the spotlight, and she didn't want to be. She put Wilbur there. And because she said he was terrific, and radiant, and humble, he was. But it wasn't Wilbur doing those things, it was Charlotte, helping him become that."

"She was his resin."

"More than that." Frances shook her head. "She was the whole tree. Strong and resourceful and dependable."

Sarah sat up straight on the bed, looking at the book. "I think — I think you do that really well."

Frances felt her face flush. "Thanks."

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "There's no way I'd handle skipping seventh grade without your help."

Sarah wasn't quite smiling, but when Frances sat up and grabbed her hands, she began to laugh. "Sarah!"

"I don't know," she said, still laughing.

"Yes you do," Frances insisted, giving her hands a shake. "You do know, and you just told me. You want to do that?"

"Not especially," she admitted. "I don't really want to. But you make me feel like I can. And I figure if I can do a thing, I kind of owe it to Tatenui to do it. And you."

"Sarah, this would be all you. You're the one who gets perfect grades without trying." She felt like she wanted to hug Sarah again and again and never let go, but she settled with beaming at her.

"You're not pissed at me?" Sarah said. The way she sounded, so tentative, wasn't anything like Sarah.

"For what?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, for… abandoning you in seventh grade hell?"

"We'll still have lunch together," Frances said stoutly. "And before and after school. And electives — seventh and eighth graders take the same electives." She climbed off the bed and came around to stand in front of Sarah, still holding the worn copy of Charlotte's Web. "You know I thought you should do it."

"I know," Sarah agreed. "That's why I told you first, before Noah or Tatenui or Kurt or anybody. I always want you to be first, for everything."

Frances laughed. It came out a little high and nervous. "You were my first kiss."

"See, there you go." She didn't look bothered by the reminder of the moment, late after New Year's Eve had passed. "You're gonna stick with me. But I don't think eighth grade will be any harder than seventh would have been."

"Probably not," Frances said. "But you'll be an aunt. And you'll have all those brothers around, making things more complicated."

"I like things complicated," said Sarah. "It's way more interesting."