New Guy
Kurt was extremely unready to wake up the next morning. Although he was sure he'd slept fine, he was too physically exhausted to get ip and participate in another day.
He got up thought, after Finn threw a towel at him to signify that he was done in the shower.
"You okay man?" Finn wondered when he noticed Kurt didn't get up. "You're usually up thirty minutes before me."
"For what reason should I do that?" Kurt wondered.
"I don't know." Finn answered honestly. "But you usually like to do all your..." he ran his hands throughout the air around his head as if he were some sort of witch doctor. "Stuff."
"I'm not in the mood anymore." And why did it matter, Kurt wondered. How could self care be any form of a helpful activity if he didn't care about himself. No one did, save for maybe his father and maybe Carol.
"Are you sick?" Finn wondered sounding a little concerned. It was a trick, Kurt reminded himself. Finn liked to be friendly and had a natural inclination to get involved in other people's business. He didn't actually care, Kurt reminded himself, and he didn't understand how his actions impacted him.
"Not today." Kurt decided, groaning and rolling out of bed.
"Cool." Finn said a little hesitantly with his hands in his pockets. He looked down at Kurt as Kurt slowly pulled himself off the ground and tried to motivate himself to wear something that wasn't sweat pants. He would hate himself more if he did that, he knew. Besides, he still had Saturday's outfit in the laundry basket that he could recycle. "Listen, man... my car has been making weird noises so Burt took it into the shop with him. Since you're not ready yet, do you want to drive together?"
"You're asking me to drive you to school?" Kurt thought he could almost hear a bit of sarcasm in his voice. Maybe he wasn't dead yet after all. "Are you sure you want to risk catching my gay?"
"Come on man, don't be like that." Finn rolled his eyes. "I was just being honest."
"Mhm." Kurt nodded as he walked into his closet. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."
Twenty minutes later they were on their way to school. After Kurt had started playing with his hair he decided he had an extra minute for a short skincare regimen. After which he felt rejuvenated enough to find a fresh new outfit, featuring his signature hippo barouche. He almost wanted to shower and prepare himself properly but Finn started calling on him to hurry and he decided he should.
The drive was as awkward as it always was. Kurt thought it was ridiculous that Finn needed to act like he thought someone would judge him for talking to Kurt even when they were alone and no one could see them. They spoke very little and mostly about the weather, radio, and how they planned on getting home.
"Text me if you need a ride home." Kurt suggested after Finn said he might get a ride with a friend.
To which Finn responded as if it were an unpleasant curtesy he'd be offering Kurt, "Yeah, alright, if I have to."
Kurt had had enough though and snapped, "I'm just trying to be nice!" He yelled as they pulled into the school parking lot. "I'm not trying to seduce you, or convert you, or anything, I'm trying to be nice! If that is too much for you, fine. Don't text me. Walk home if you can't get a ride!"
He slammed on the break as he pulled into a spot, reached into the back seat to grab Finn's backpack and threw it onto his lap.
"Chill man." Finn suggested as he started getting out of the car.
"No, you chill, Finn." Kurt snapped. "And the words are Thank you for driving you to school when really I should have stayed in bed."
"Are you feeling okay?" Finn asked as if he still thought Kurt might be sick.
"Just go somewhere else." Kurt brushed him off as he turned off his SUV and got out.
Kurt slammed the door of his baby and locked the car as he marched into the school in a separate direction. He didn't want to talk to Finn anymore or see his face. He entered the school by one of the glass side doors which was an extra minute out of his way, but at least Finn and his friends would be elsewhere.
He hadn't been late enough to school to be in trouble, but he'd missed the first bell and when he walked into class his teacher was standing at the front with one of the other students. Kurt didn't care to see which one, and didn't make eye contact with the startled teacher as he walked down the isle to his desk.
Once he was seated his teacher continued but Kurt couldn't hear anything other than Finn's words from last night. Why was Finn so afraid of him? He hadn't been when their parents first met. He hadn't been as excited as Kurt to have a brother but he also hadn't been so careless and ignorant.
Kurt thought it was almost paranoid to assume he knew the answer, but a large part of him feared it was the influence of Karofsky and Azimio. Maybe other guys on the team also.
The student at the front of the class made his way back and took a seat in the spare desk in front of Kurt, next to a red haired girl Kurt had never actually talked to. It wasn't interesting enough to him to pay attention to the student, though he did start wondering how out of it he'd been the past couple months. He could have sworn no one else sat directly in front of him.
Meanwhile, the boy in front of him had sat down and was pulling notebooks out of his bag. Every effort needed to be made for him not to look back at the sand-haired boy behind him. He'd missed this class yesterday because he'd been out all night and hadn't gotten home in time to make it to his first class. Teachers forgave him assuming he must have gotten lost, despite his less than sparkling record.
And due to this, this teacher decided to stand him in front of the class and introduce him so that someone might be willing to show him around. He thought maybe they weren't really dumb enough to actually believe he'd gotten lost. Maybe this was his punishment. Very clever. But then the boy walked in as class began and walked towards the back of the class with not a single care in the world, dressed as if he really didn't care at all. This was the same sort of impression he wished he'd made when he walked in.
"I'm Harper." The girl beside him whispered.
He glanced up at her as he pulled a piece of gum out of his bag and put it in his mouth. He grinned, then and replied, "Blaine."
Kurt noticed the boy very suddenly as he glanced back smiling after saying something to the girl. It was as if everything else had been faded and numb but this boy with perfect hair and features pulled him right out of that numbness instantly.
He stared at the dark haired boy, suddenly unsure how he'd ever missed him. No, Kurt decided, this must have been the new guy Sam and Finn had been talking about. Or a new student in the class. Kurt wasn't sure which and a part of him didn't care. He stared at the boy in wide-eyed shock as he tried to reign in his excitement over finally meeting someone he could genuinely want to know.
The boy's smile faded though, and he turned back to the front of the class in a movement that made Kurt want to throw a fit. Surely this boy wouldn't be into him, and he was losing the chance to have him as even a friend. He was dressed in baggy jeans and a leather jacket. He definitely didn't look gay. And although Kurt couldn't hear the quiet conversation between him and the girl, they both grinned and eventually the girl slid her phone over and he entered what was likely his phone number.
Kurt sighed deeply and sat back, wishing he could convince himself to ignore the boy who would inevitably be a heartbreak waiting to happen. If he fantasized too deeply, he might convince himself this boy was gay.. gay and into him.
It was hard for Kurt to focus, though. And a few times he thought he noticed the boy almost glance back at him, but he'd shake his head and remind himself that he was imagining things.
When the bell rang Kurt grabbed his stuff as fast as he could and escaped out of class. As he sat down in physics next to Sam he started, "Hey. I'm really sorry about last night."
"What are you talking about?" Sam wondered looking up from his returned assignment to look at Kurt.
The teacher walked around and returned Kurt's assignment. His grade was a B. Not terrible but not the best. He hadn't put much effort in so he didn't mind. Sam glanced at his grade and made a face before looking back at his own.
"Last night. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable in anyway."
"You didn't." Sam replied sounding a little confused. "No, I left early because I had to babysit my brother and sister."
Kurt paused for a second then asked, "So you're... not uncomfortable spending the night?"
"No, of course not." He answered. "Why would I be?"
Kurt felt his spirits lift for a moment and some light return to the dark shadow that was his life. Then he decided to add, with care, "Because I'm gay."
"Psh." Sam laughed once, "That doesn't bother me Kurt. And it shouldn't bother you, either."
"It doesn't." Kurt breathed as the reminder that Finn had blamed him came crashing over him.
Kurt refused to answer any of Finn's texts or messages. Then he hid at his dad's tire shop knowing that even if Finn showed up, he wouldn't say anything too bad without Burt getting mad.
It seemed cowardly, Kurt thought, but he was tired and needed a break. If Sam really didn't mind being in the same room as Kurt, then Finn lied just to make him feel guilty about being gay. Why would he do that? Who would do that?
Kurt was a little upset when it was time to go home, but he managed to convince his dad to take them to breadsticks. At least there they'd have more public and less chance of an awkward encounter.
"How was school?" Carol wondered.
"Good." Finn answered.
"Fine." Kurt answered at the same time. But Finn and Kurt said very little other than that until after they got home.
In the privacy of their bedroom, Finn finally asked, "Why have you been ignoring me?"
"I'm not ignoring you." Kurt answered coolly as he began his nightly skincare routine.
"You are." Finn argued. "Why?"
"It makes Sam uncomfortable when we talk." Kurt answered then.
"What are you talking about?" Finn wondered.
"I talked to Sam." Kurt snapped. "He said he doesn't mind that I'm gay and he doesn't mind spending the night. You lied."
"I didn't lie..." Finn started but surrendered when he noticed Kurt's glare, "Okay, he never explicitly said he was uncomfortable, but I can tell."
"You can tell." Kurt repeated in disbelief. "Just like you can tell I want to molest you in your sleep"
"Kurt, please." Finn begged, "I wasn't trying to be rude, I was trying to-"
"To make me feel guilty?" He accused. "About being gay? About being me? How am I not supposed to take that personally?"
Finn hesitated and was glad he did because suddenly Burt was walking down the stairs, "What's going on here, guys?"
"Nothing." Finn answered instantly.
"Nothing." Kurt mumbled behind him looking down as he did.
Burt looked at Kurt and didn't seem convinced. "Kurt?"
"I'm fine, dad." He snapped in a small voice. "We're just arguing about decorations." Finn nodded quickly.
Burt glanced between the two and decided it wasn't worth pushing. He and Carol had fixed the issue anyways.
"It was supposed to be a surprise, boys. We thought it would be funnier to do it while you were at school." He explained while appearing slightly amused by himself, "But since you've been having a little more trouble getting along thee past couple days, I thought maybe we should tell you."
"What?" Finn wondered
"We're moving." He answered and the eyes of both Kurt and Finn widened, "You will be getting your own rooms, so don't worry about decorating. maybe you can separate your stuff without fighting, though."
Finn let out a laugh, "Oh that should be easy-" But he stopped himself before saying anything that would get him yelled at.
"Yeah." Kurt mumbled, picking up instantly on the path Finn had been taking. His stuff wasn't Finn's style. "My stuff is quality."
"Hey." Burt snapped. "Be nice."
"When do we move?" Finn questioned.
"Thursday." Burt answered.
"That's in a day." Kurt noted in shock.
"Yeah, well as I said we wanted to surprise you." Burt defended. "And do it while you were at school... so pack your things. And stop fighting about it."
Burt then turned and returned up the stairs.
Despite the surprise, Kurt knew he was excited. Though he couldn't feel much but the numbness, mentally he knew that having a private room again would be extremely beneficial. He'd finally have a space where he could be himself and where he could be alone if he wanted to me. And he really couldn't wait.