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Chapter 5
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Blaine called while Chandler was driving him home. The free clinic had made some more recommendations but he wasn't going to follow any of those, except maybe the go home and sleep it all off one. He felt like sleeping for a month at that point and he almost fell asleep in the passenger seat of Chandler's very noisy vehicle.
The only reason Kurt had the nearly new Escalade was because it had been totaled in an accident and he'd found it in the dump when he was out there looking for parts with his dad. It was going to be crushed that day and he got them to agree to sell it to him for a hundred dollars and he paid for the tow to Burt's shop and he and his dad had put it back together. Insurance was ridiculous, they wouldn't cover it like it was new and so if it did get totaled again, he would only get the money that he put into it, but that was ok. It actually hadn't been in that bad of shape. It needed to have new exterior rolled over it and a new paint job but the engine worked fine and the tires needed to be replaced and the brakes dealt with too and there were little things here and there that he dealt with as they came up but over all the SUV was in very good shape and he kept it that way with careful maintenance that he did himself.
"Phone again, hon, and this time I suggest you pick it up." Chandler's words didn't bother Kurt in the slightest, he let endearments roll off his tongue like they were nothing. He spoke that way to everyone.
Kurt dug in his pocket for his phone, not realizing his dad had text him 3 more times since the phone call. He groaned and sent his dad a text back quickly about how he'd been out with a friend and that he'd see him tomorrow. Then he looked at who was calling, this time it was Blaine. "Hi bae." Kurt's voice was soft and sleepy as he laid his head back against the cool window, it felt nice.
"Glad you answered." Blaine's voice was tight. "I got a call from your dad, saying you haven't been answering your phone. What's going on?"
"Oh. Just..." He didn't want to bring Chandler's name into this, A. Chandler was separate from the rest of them and if he did then he wouldn't be so separate any more and B. he and Blaine had argued about the other boy before, Blaine was very jealous of the attention Chandler had gotten from Kurt and the 'flirty' messages from the other boy, which of course had included terms like hon, babe, sweetie, honey; all things Chandler's mouth dropped on anyone he was talking to, female or male regardless of age and didn't even notice it. Kurt hadn't responded in kind, and they weren't true endearments. "I was out with a friend and my phone was on silent." He lied and cringed to himself, he hated lying and hated lying to Blaine and his dad the most. To be fair, the only lie in that sentence was his phone being on silent, he had been out and about with a friend.
"Don't do that." Blaine was now relieved that he had heard Kurt's voice and was settling down, believing Kurt because it hadn't really been a lie, not really. Not like the information he was keeping away from Blaine but still hadn't sorted out. "Was it a good outing?"
"Not really." Kurt answered honestly, he wouldn't lie about this part, it would be obvious on his face tomorrow when Blaine came to visit. "I got into a fight with a boy from school. I'm fine but you may not find me so pretty anymore."
Blaine said a few not so nice words which was totally against his image of a prep school boy but he had grown up in the public school circuit first. "Why didn't you call me?"
"You're so far away, it's ok, I'm fine." Kurt tried to believe the words himself. "I'll still see you tomorrow so you can look at the damage yourself and decide."
"Not funny Kurt." Blaine growled. "You know damn well I'm going to be looking at all of the injuries and making my own mind up about how bad they are." He paused a second as if remembering what Kurt had said and thinking about it. "You know that I'll always find you gorgeous no matter what happens, right? You could have a face transplant and I'd still think you were the sexiest thing on the planet."
"I didn't know that, but thank you." Kurt was reminded of a Korean movie they had watched that was remade in America around the same time or a little later, he wasn't sure, but it was about a person who changed every time they slept, could change color, gender, age, height, weight and would never know who's face they'd have when they woke up and how the person they fell in love with had to deal with those changes and society's view on them and how they dealt with it. "I appreciate it."
"So who did you call?" Blaine was thinking about anyone who could have been in the vicinity that Kurt would have called over him and he snarled. "Chandler?"
Kurt sighed. "Yes."
"By himself?" Oh, he was still annoyed about that one time he'd been called in to help and wasn't allowed to go himself. He thought about lying and saying no, Santana had been there too but refrained, it was an easy check. Really though, he was blowing up the situation in his head. He could have called for Santana too, she wouldn't have said or done or known anything if he'd cleaned up some of the white spots first. He shouldn't have been so foolish as to call Chandler in by himself. Kurt lost in thoughts had given Blaine plenty of time to know that he was right. He was annoyed. "Why?"
"The danger had already passed, and he was nearby. It's fine, Blaine, I'm fine. Don't come early, stay at Dalton and I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'm already at your house." Blaine countered. "Having tea and cookies with your step-mom."
Kurt sat up with a gasp and looked over at Chandler. They were only a few blocks from home. "I won't be back for a while." He made a cutting gesture to Chandler who pulled off to the side and waited patiently for Kurt to finish up the phone call before continuing on the path. If Kurt squinted really hard, he could see his house from there. He didn't see Blaine's shiny red Prius out on driveway though.
"Fuck Kurt, your head is on backwards, I'm on my way to see you, no matter what you say. Since when would Carole put out tea and cookies? That's something my mom would do if she were home. Didn't you say Carole had a double shift today?"
"Well... shit." Kurt dropped his head forward to land in one of his upturned hands, the other was holding the phone. "You suck for tricking me."
"It was an honest response, if you were as fine as you keep saying you are, then you wouldn't have been tricked." Blaine was proud of himself for that one.
"Please Blaine, just let it be for tonight, please?" Kurt hated that he was begging for his boyfriend not to come and see him, but he couldn't handle it just then. Blaine would push and he wasn't sure what he was going to say or what Blaine would do and he wasn't ready to deal with any of it. He needed to sleep and think and not be on the defense for a little bit of time.
There was a heavy breath on the other end of the phone, he sounded as if it was a shuddering breath at that. "Ok Kurt, if you're that adamant about this, I won't press. At least not tonight. It's unlike you to swear."
"It's unlike you too." Kurt countered softly.
"I'm just worried about you." Blaine's voice was soft too, all anger had fizzled out of him, knowing that he was ok for now and there was no current danger and that Kurt needed support right now, not a game plan or anger. He knew something much more had happened than what Kurt was saying. Had it been only a beating, he would have called Santana and Blaine and maybe Chandler too to help him if he was that hurt. If he was only mildly hurt, he wouldn't have called anyone, he never did for himself. "I don't like Chandler but if he's done good by you, then I'll let it go. I'll even thank him the next time I see him."
"Still a thousand times better than Sebastian." Kurt teased Blaine and Blaine laughed, if Kurt could joke right now, perhaps he was overreacting.
He didn't tell Kurt that he was packing a bag for the weekend while they spoke and wrote a note for his roommate or that he was writing an absence forgiveness note, something about a family emergency. He felt no guilt in saying that either, Kurt was his family, it may not be official yet, but he knew that Kurt would always be his family, Burt too. He was still trying to figure out the Hudsons and their place in the Hummels' lives and his own. Yes, Burt had married Carole and was adopting Finn but that didn't mean that Blaine and Kurt were tied tightly to them too. People like Blaine and Kurt often had to choose their own families rather than go along with the ones they were born into. Kurt had gotten lucky with Burt but Blaine hadn't gotten quite as lucky, he was tolerated whenever his family deemed it appropriate to be present, otherwise they were never home, even on vacation dates.
So far, Blaine didn't think they were all that lucky to have the Hudsons join their lives and weren't likely to be the chosen family for him and Kurt in the long run, just forced to cohabit a house with them for now, like roommates they couldn't get rid of until they moved out first. He definitely wasn't just channeling Kurt with those feelings, he hadn't felt very welcomed in that house since the Hudsons moved in. At least not by Finn, Carole was hardly around but when she was, she was polite and smiled at them kindly. It felt kind of fake or forced or distant, Blaine couldn't put his finger on it. Kurt hadn't spoken of her being any different when it was just the two of them on very rare occasions.
There was almost always another male present when Carole was around, not planned, just happenstance; whenever she wasn't working or off with Burt.
Kurt would be angry with him but he didn't care, he had to go and see his boyfriend for himself. He could only be placated so much by his voice, which was thready at the best, it wasn't incredibly stable and he was softer spoken than normal.
Kurt for his part told Chandler to keep going, now that he knew he wasn't going to have his day plastered all over him for Blaine to see without a chance of hiding it. They didn't have far to go and while Blaine spoke, Kurt threw his arms around Chandler still in the car and hugged him and thanked him for his help and that they'd chat soon. Then got out and went into the house all the while still talking to Blaine and waved goodbye to Chandler then slipped in, locked the door and stripped himself of all of his clothes and tossed them into the wash machine and threw in almost too much detergent and put it on a deep wash cycle before heading downstairs to the room he shared with Finn and took a scalding hot shower and scrubbed every inch of himself. At some point, he didn't remember when, but he'd parted ways with Blaine and hung up and threw his phone onto his bed. He didn't look at it again as he pulled on a clean pair of underwear, undershirt and pajamas and went upstairs to observe the damage done to his clothes.
Except the missing buttons, they looked perfectly clean, as if nothing had happened and he frowned, remembering that he'd picked up the buttons, he knew he did, it was the only thing he could think about as he was buttoning his shirt up and found missing spaces. He recalled they were in his pocket and dug in there but couldn't find them. He looked through the machine, he couldn't find them in any of the traps. He had lost them permanently. He sighed and would have to go searching for replacement ones because the shirt itself was in good condition still. He wouldn't wear that outfit together again but he would wear each piece again, it wasn't the clothing's fault what had happened to him and he hoped it wouldn't remind him of what happened every time he looked at those items, he did really like each piece individually and it had been amazing together.
He didn't put clothes in driers, they shrunk them and damaged them unless he absolutely had to, and he may still need to wash these and dry them in the drier if they dried hard where that sticky fibrous stuff landed, especially if it was a lot harder there than the rest of the garment. He took his now clean clothes downstairs and hung them up to dry, tomorrow would tell him all he needed to know.
Kurt slid into bed and fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow. Thankfully he was too exhausted to dream that night.
He missed all the texts lighting up his phone though and when Burt got home that evening, he was pissed at his son. He'd cut the game short when it was obvious who was going to win before the 3rd period even started. Finn was annoyed at his "brother" then too, having the game cut so short, he was having fun on their outing. Sure Kurt had been so good and trying so hard not to upset Burt but he was also a teenager and it was inevitable, especially with his non-actions. Burt knew there was a thread of contention in Kurt at the time he'd spent with Finn, there was comments that were barely concealed although he tried, he really did to not let his feelings slip. In this he still tried to hide and watch his mouth but he wasn't good at it. He'd always been honest at home and now he was forced to be otherwise and Burt didn't like it. He was trying hard to make Finn feel comfortable with this change and he was succeeding, he was beginning to realize he wasn't doing as good of a job at it with Kurt.
He'd have to discuss it with Carole, see if she had any ideas about how to bridge the gap that seemed to be widening between Kurt and the rest of them. She'd attempted to get the boys to get along better by encouraging Finn to join Kurt in one of his activities and he'd actually joined two for awhile when everyone else had too, but now there weren't any shared activities and wouldn't be for the rest of the year.
It had worked only for a short time and it hadn't been smooth sailing then either, Kurt seemed to have been even angrier with Finn when Finn joined Glee Club but without Finn doing so, they never would have made it passed invitationals. Now Finn was dating Kurt's first real friend at McKinley, or at least the first one who'd ever come over to Burt's house. Whether or not Kurt had considered them friends was still a mystery to Burt, they didn't seem to be as close as they once were now that she was dating Finn. Maybe she'd only come over to be close to Finn after awhile. Finn hadn't moved in until months after Rachel started showing up in his home. Then she was over more often.
When Burt pulled into the driveway he noted as the garage door opened that the Escalade wasn't anywhere in sight, only Finn's beat up old truck. Burt had offered to help him get a new one but Finn had turned him down, it was his father's truck and he wasn't interested in parting with it. Burt had then offered his services in helping maintain it and re-roll the metal so the rust would be gone and safer again and would paint it the exact same color. Finn had agreed with getting rid of the rust and trying methods to prevent it from getting worse but at this stage, he wasn't ready to change the look of the truck at all, even if it was to keep it for longer, the rough edges were what reminded him of his father, even though he hadn't even really known him.
"He did say that he'd see you tomorrow. Maybe he is spending the night with one of the girls." Finn offered when he realized Kurt wasn't home yet.
"Doubtful, he always let's me know where he is and when he'll be home." Burt was not feeling anger as much as fear now. Kurt hadn't responded to so many texts or calls. He'd called Blaine again on the way home, who reassured him he'd talked to Kurt and that Kurt said he was on his way home. Should be home by now, was Blaine's exact wording. He hadn't mentioned anything about Chandler, hadn't known that Chandler was driving Kurt home or that they were in the car together when he'd called. He hadn't heard the noisy engine through the phone or if he had, hadn't thought anything about it. "Blaine said he should be here too."
He pushed through the door between the garage and the house and Finn closed up after him and then followed slowly behind. He spotted Burt going down the stairs to the basement two at a time and he winced, wondering what Kurt would have to say at that exertion, but exercise was said to be good for Burt too.
Finn followed slowly behind and noted the clothes hanging up on the rack on the bathroom door which was shut and the small figure asleep in Kurt's bed. Burt had stopped and stared at Kurt as if he wasn't sure what to do and then he sank down onto his knees behind Kurt's back, he was facing the wall while he slept and Burt ran a shaky hand down Kurt's arm. Finn thought it was overkill, really, Kurt was fine and asleep, so what if he hadn't answered any calls or texts? He probably just wasn't feeling great today and went to bed early. Although it was already 10 pm, so maybe not even all that early..
Finn heard someone at the front door as it opened and closed and locked behind whoever it was, unlikely to be his mom and he turned his head to look up the stairs and saw Blaine descending them. He frowned, why was everyone so concerned over Kurt's well-being today? He doubted anyone would be freaking out about him if he'd done the same thing. Then again, he always forgot his phone at home or it died or was on silent. Kurt was fantastic about responding instantly or answering the phone, was always on it, always on the blogs and feeds and whatnot and so was always instantly responding to texts. He didn't know about his vigilante activity though, not that it was 'vigilante' activity, but a side project that helped so many people.
He'd kick himself and call himself all sorts of names when he found out about it, no wonder Kurt was always on his phone, he was always on the look out for someone being hurt because of who they were and wanted to send help whenever and wherever he could. He'd read an article a few times about different boys who had been hurt and had rallied groups to go visit them in the hospitals or drop by the school and talk to them, try and help them and support them and let them know that there were people out there who cared and were in the same situation. Finn had no idea how many people Kurt had helped.
There could be backlash to that kind of behavior though, the wrong someone might catch wind of it and go after the ring-leader though by now, it was so much bigger than Kurt as others had also taken up the mantle and added to his contacts and helped connect those disenfranchised youths with support groups in their areas. It was spreading now outside of Ohio too.
Someone might try to go after Kurt too because he had the master list of all the gay youths in the state, or now, tri-state area and they might try to get it and go after all of them individually or get them together as a group and hurt them all at once. Kurt told them all though when they joined that he would never, ever have them all gather in one spot, ever. They were all to come from different directions and get a feel of the situation before joining up, he was well aware that they could be ambushed and he didn't want them getting hurt.
If they ever got an invitation to have all of them get together or a mass text with more than 3 names on it, they were to ignore it and never go and start back-channel communication to be on the look out; to find a way to protect themselves.
The same wasn't true though for the ND and Warblers, those texts usually included all of them and they did get together as a big group quite often, only a handful of them were gay anyway.
That knowledge would come later, a lot later for Finn. He would wish that Kurt had trusted him enough to include him a lot earlier, perhaps then... no, that was later and earlier and nothing could be done about earlier or later anyway.
They had a right to be concerned about Kurt tonight and a right to be weary of that list and the connections, no matter how much good it did, there was always a chance that it could be bad, especially for Kurt, no matter how brave and strong he liked to pretend he was. Even the strongest person had a limit, especially if they tried to go it alone. As Kurt had told Blaine and as he told everyone who protested having so many people show up – there was strength in numbers and that strength in numbers could be used for good or bad. Rachel had had the right idea when she clung onto Kurt when she was no longer alone under the rest of the school's heel.
"What are you doing here?" Finn asked Blaine when the shorter boy came to a stop by his side, letting Burt reassure himself first. Kurt was warm and breathing and alive and that was enough for Burt that night, he would deal with the forgotten calls and texts later, in the morning. He would let Kurt sleep tonight.
"Do you really think I wouldn't come when my boyfriend did a disappearing act?" Blaine shook his head at the complete lack of understanding Finn had for their world. "Even when I talked to him I was on my way so when Burt called again, I was already half way here. I knew Kurt would be here alive and safe but I don't know what happened before I talked to him or why he wouldn't answer after. It worried me. Looks like he was busy though, washing clothes, showering, sleeping." Blaine's eyes were soft as they rested on his boyfriend's back and father who knew exactly the kinds of dangers Kurt could get into, what Finn was so blind to. He'd heard Blaine's tales too over the summer, before the Hudsons became more intertwined in their lives.
Knew that Blaine had known too, that he wasn't coddled and safe and secure with no idea the dangerous the two of them being seen together would befall over Kurt, and maybe Blaine too if they were caught at the right moment. As long as Blaine was aware of what could happen if they were seen together in Lima or anywhere actually, then he wouldn't protest when they wanted to go out together, they both knew the risks and were willing to face them, even if he wasn't too keen on it himself. He couldn't stop them though and didn't really want to either.
He didn't stop Kurt from forwarding or championing his cause either.
Burt knew how important it was to his son and knew that without people pushing and being the voice behind the cause, nothing would change and they'd all live in fear the rest of their lives for each future generation. They were only allowed as much freedom as they had now due to those who had gone before them and the future generations would have them to rely on in the future too to look to as the reason they were allowed to be who they were, do what they wanted with whom they wanted to do it with. All within legality and consequences if consent wasn't there, of course. They weren't championing non-consent, just consent by all parties involved.
His son was alive and safe at home, that would have to do for now and he placed his hand on Kurt's back one more time, having tangible proof that the boy was here and he stood and walked back toward Finn and Blaine. "Blaine." He greeted and hugged the curly haired boy tightly to him and Blaine hugged him back.
"Why are you both acting like Kurt's been hurt?" Finn had no clue and looked between the two of them and Burt sighed and shook his head. Finn wasn't a father, he'd had a brief scare that he would be, but even then he had no idea, and had quickly forgotten what those feelings were like.
"Kurt doesn't not answer his phone." Burt explained as he passed by the boys. "Something has happened, now we just need to wait until he tells us what."
"He was just out with a friend and forgot to look at it." Finn protested, not knowing why they both assumed the worst, Kurt had even said so.
Blaine snorted. "You believe anything, don't you? Kurt never has his eyes away from his phone for more than a few minutes, unless I'm distracting him or he's taking a test. There's no way he was unaware of his phone for that long unless he did it on purpose or something big went down."
"Ever think that maybe he's been cheating on you?" Finn questioned, he'd gone through that himself when he found out Quinn had cheated on him with Puck. It wasn't a stretch for him to think anyone else was capable of it too. Especially, he hated to admit it to anyone, but gay guys were rumored to be incredibly horny and didn't find monogamy all that important. He couldn't honestly think that these two were seeing more than just each other, perhaps together but he wouldn't be surprised if they were involved with more guys.
Blaine stared at him with his jaw unhinged and blinked a few times, then fury rolled over him. "You honestly, honestly think that Kurt would be capable of that? Have you never even spent a moment talking to him? Or listening to him? How can you spend 6 months living in the same house with him and honestly ask me that?"
Finn held up his hands in surrender, Blaine was right, he hadn't spent much time listening to Kurt, not at home, not at school. The only time they'd connected on anything was when they were talking about parental death and it had only been a brief moment. Otherwise he had no idea what Kurt did with his day or what he was talking about or was interested in. Even when he attended those PFLAG meetings, he was more interested in looking down Quinn's shirt, pregnant they were even bigger than before. Then there was Rachel distracting him the rest of the time, challenging him, offering him things that Quinn had steadfastly refused but then did with Puck.
"People find a way to surprise you, no matter how well you think you know them." It was with a sinking heart though as he said it, that he realized he hadn't actually really even known Quinn, despite what he thought or the time they spent together. He'd only scratched the surface. He definitely had underestimated Puck's need to put his dick in every girl and spent a lot of time getting them all to spread their legs for him. Not even feeling guilty when it was Finn's girl or one that spread their legs for almost every male. After he slept with Santana, he'd realized just how much he hadn't wanted that for himself, he just wanted Rachel, who hadn't slept with anyone else and who had only really wanted Finn back, even when she had the option of sleeping with Jesse.
"Before you dare to say anything like that to me again, get to know him first. Then try to say those words again, and mean it, I dare you." Sure Blaine had been jealous of Chandler, had been less than supportive of Kurt's friendship with that boy; but that was because he didn't trust Chandler, he'd heard about West Lima's reputation. Chandler was from West Lima. He'd heard that Chandler was a fighter and strong and stood up to other West Lima boys though he was scarcely taller than Kurt, he was an unknown variable to Blaine. He was rough and tough and tried to woo Kurt with things that Kurt was interested in, had actually known about them. He didn't trust Chandler. He thought the other boy would try something with Kurt and push him and take advantage of his friendship. He trusted Kurt but knew Kurt was unlikely to be able to escape if Chandler tried something and didn't listen to the word 'no'.
He knew Kurt wasn't interested in Chandler that way, hadn't flirted back, claimed that Chandler wasn't even flirting to begin with, that it was just he way he talked. Blaine hadn't cared, and Kurt had sighed and agreed only to reach out to Chandler if it was something network related. Obviously he'd held up his side of things and had called Chandler with a network related problem, the fact that it was for Kurt, wasn't pleasing at all. It upset Blaine a great deal to know that not only had Kurt reached out to someone unaffiliated with those close to him, but that he had to at all. Something bad had gone down and Blaine would find out what. Even if he had to reach out to Chandler himself and hear about it from this stranger that Blaine didn't like.
Finn shrugged, Blaine doubted that Finn would take his advice to heart. Finn had so many opportunities to get to know Kurt and had wasted all of them so far. Why would he start now? He just didn't understand the very real danger Kurt was in just for existing, much less for being who he was and pushing for equality and rights and mental change. People didn't like change and were resistant to it, especially when they were scared of it, no matter how much Kurt tried to teach them, educate them, get them to realize it was nothing to fear. In this, they'd resist as much as they could. Nothing in Ohio's history would suggest that the people were receptive and open to change; but Kurt had to try anyway and Blaine wouldn't ever tell him to stop, he knew he had to and supported him in this. It was who he was. He had a cause and he wouldn't stop trying to forward it. He just prayed the effects wouldn't be catastrophic.