AN: Please review. Spoilers for The Hunger Games trilogy!
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Kurt Hummel stood outside of the Lima Bean with a crying Sebastian Smythe in his arms. If you had asked him about 2 hours ago if he thought he would ever be in this position, he would just laugh it off and tell you that you were wrong and that you would always be wrong. But it's funny how one small plan to go somewhere can change everything in your life as quickly as you can blink. So now Kurt held the 16-year-old in his arms as he waited for his father to show up to the small coffee shop just at the edge of Lima before you set off on the road to Westerville, another small town nearby that had the all-boys school, Dalton Academy, where Sebastian attended.
As he was waiting, though, Sebastian stopped crying for only a moment to whisper, "Kurt?" Kurt replied as he looked down at the boy, "Yes, Sebastian?" "Will... will you sing me something?" The slightly older boy was shocked, Sebastian had never taken particular interest in Kurt's singing in the entire time he had known him, why start now? But then he sighed, took a moment to see himself in Sebastian's position right now, and then decided to sing for the boy, not letting the past reflect on his decision any more then it already had.
"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said don't leave me here alone
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound
Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold onto this lullaby even when the music's gone, gone
Just close your eyes, the sun is going down
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound
Just close your eyes, you'll be alright
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."
When Kurt finished the song, he felt a soft tap on his shoulder and looked up to see Burt Hummel, his dad, waiting there. "That was some good singing. I see he's asleep." Kurt hadn't even noticed, either. Hmm. Sebastian looked so peaceful right now, so happy... he's probably happier than he has been in a long, long time, Kurt thought as the trio got in Burt's van, which he had bought for the shop.
But his thinking was disturbed when Sebastian shifted in his sleep, then woke up with a fright, and clung to Kurt for dear life while saying, "Please... I'm so sorry, please, please... no, no, NO!" He then burst into tears and screamed while crying his eyes out, yet again. Burt was there beside Kurt, rubbing Sebastian's back and whispering soothing words to him, like he did with Kurt when he had nightmares.
Kurt was horrified; what the hell had happened that gave Sebastian nightmares, or more importantly, nightmares like THAT?! He wasn't sure, but it was clearly something to do with what had happened to him. Sebastian practically screamed bloody murder when Burt touched a certain spot on his back, so Kurt pulled off his blazer and shirt, showed his dad the wounds, scars, and the video, asked what should be done, and waited for his response.
Burt said, "Sebastian, I need to ask you a question, okay?" Sebastian nodded only once before lifting his head so he could look around and remarking, "What is it?" "Well... what exactly happened? Did they disown you?" Sebastian sighed; he hadn't told the truth. "Yes. I came out to them as gay, they disowned me, kicked me out of the house, abused me, pulled me out of Dalton and ended up telling me never to come back."
There was silence right in that moment; so thick that you could probably cut it with a knife if it came down to it. Kurt had never seen his father with hatred in his eyes and he was sure that after this he never wanted to see it again. Burt considered his options; he had to take Sebastian to the hospital, obviously, but what about his abuse? He knew the boy couldn't go back, but he wasn't sure that he could legally adopt Sebastian, either. His parents certainly couldn't get him back after what they had done.
Kurt looked at Sebastian; the boy was wrapped in his Dalton uniform shirt and in Kurt's arms as they sat in the passenger side of the van. He wanted to suggest that they take Sebastian in so badly but didn't know what his father would say about it, so he just sighed and asked, "Dad?" "Yes?" Burt replied. "Are we taking him to the hospital?" "Yes. I was thinking about something, sorry." "It's fine." The person in Kurt's arms tapped him on the shoulder as he said this, and he only took a glance at Sebastian as the boy whispered and motioned to his blazer, "Kurt? Can you help me get this back on?"
Kurt nodded. He unbuttoned it as Sebastian slowly sat up and stretched his arms with grace, then put on the piece of clothing, not caring if it was done properly or not, and then asked, "Can I move to the backseat? I'm sure that would be easier on Kurt here." "Yes, you may, Sebastian. Thank you for asking, just be careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt. Call me Burt, by the way." "Thanks, Burt." The boy answered as he climbed back and the car started.
(Time-skip here of 1 hour)
It had been a mostly peaceful ride to Lima General Hospital. Sebastian fell asleep in 15 minutes, but then woke up with yet another nightmare about 20 minutes later. At that time they were more than halfway there, so Kurt just sang to him from the front until he fell asleep again, and then about a good 5 minutes later, Burt pulled in and took Sebastian in his arms bridal-style as Kurt walked beside him.
They had gotten him into triage within 10 minutes of them arriving in the waiting room, and since then the doctor had assigned him a room on the fourth floor, they had taken him up there and gotten him all set up, and now Kurt sat beside the bed, holding Sebastian's hand as he slept, just in case he woke up with a third nightmare and needed someone there with him. Kurt's father came back into the room; he had left a couple of minutes earlier to talk with the police and the nurse that had been sent up with them.
"What's the conclusion?" Kurt asked. "Well, they said they would start the case after I showed them the evidence, so we don't really need to worry now, they also said they would pay for Sebastian's hospital bills if we didn't have any insurance, so I want to check on that, but everything else dealing with the parents and the actual case is in the police's hands now, so again, we should be fine. All we have to worry about now is where he's going to stay."
Kurt remarked, "Well... how about he becomes a Hummel? Lives with us? He could help out in the shop, he could go to McKinley with me, maybe he could finish Dalton, I don't know. I was thinking about it though. Were you?" Burt nodded. "I know we have those couple of empty rooms upstairs, so yes, that's an idea. Wait a second... Kurt, do you know anyone in the Warblers from Dalton besides Sebastian?"
"Yes, I know Blaine, Nick, Jeff, Wes, David, Ethan, Evan, Trent, and I believe I know Thad too." "Well, are any of them friends with Sebastian?" Kurt replied, "Yeah, most if not all of them are. We hang out together on the weekends, especially Blaine, Nick, Jeff, Wes, and David. They'd usually be down at the Lima Bean today." Burt asked, "Could you possibly call one of them and see if they could come down and visit? I'm sure they'd like to."
Kurt smiled, picked up his phone, and dialed Blaine's number, knowing that today just happened to be a Friday, so he'd most likely be in his dorm room doing homework. And true to his word, Blaine picked up the phone and said, "Hey Kurt. What's up?" "Well, are you busy currently, I really need to talk to you." Blaine dropped his math on the bed, stood up, and replied, "Yeah, I'm here now that I'm not stuck doing calculus." This earned him a laugh and a sigh.
"Well... it's about Sebastian, so can you gather the other Warblers? They would most likely want to hear this news too." "Sure." Then he stepped out the door, with the phone in his hand so Kurt knew what he was doing, and knocked on Nick and Jeff's dorm door. Nick opened it and said, "Blaine! What a pleasant surprise! Where's Sebastian, we're playing Fallout 4 and I know he kicks ass at that game, so..."
Blaine sighed. "Kurt called. It's important. All the Warblers need to hear this, it's about Sebastian." Nick stepped back in the dorm and announced, "Fellow Warblers, Kurt Hummel has an important message for all of us, so we need to listen to it, alright?" The boys dropped their controllers and rushed up to the door as Blaine walked in.
"Settle down!" Wes said as he tapped his gavel against the nearest wooden desk in the room to get everyone's attention. "Listen to what Kurt has to say, please." David added. The room fell silent as Kurt began telling them what had happened, with little questions here and there from both sides. Eventually, when Kurt had finally finished, Wes asked the others, "Do we want to go see Sebastian? All those who want to go, please raise your hand silently."
The whole room raised their hands, including Blaine. "Then it's decided. Let's get ready to go." But just as he spoke that, Jeff raised his three middle fingers on his right hand and whistled a four note tune he had learned a long time ago, thanks to his brother. Others around the room shortly followed and soon enough, the whole room was doing it in unison.
Kurt smiled as he heard the whistling; he knew where that came from. Then Blaine said, "See you soon. What floor is he on?" "4th, the room's 417. It will say Sebastian Hummel on the dry-erase board by the door." "Okay. Goodbye!" "Goodbye." He replied, hung up the phone, and turned to Sebastian.
"You hear that, sleepyhead? Your friends are coming to see you. The Warblers. Blaine, Niff, Wes and David, Ethan and Evan, Trent, Thad. They all cared about you so much that they decided that they are going to come all the way to Lima, 2 hours away, just to see you." Sebastian slowly woke up, this time without a nightmare, and held out his arms. Kurt held him in his arms again, just as he had in the car, and said, "You heard all that, didn't you?"
Sebastian said, "Well... yes, I heard that the Warblers are coming to see me. Hopefully Niff won't bring the Nerf guns." Kurt laughed. "Who's Niff? And why the Nerf guns?" Burt asked. "Oh, Niff is just Nick Duval and Jeff Sterling, the most romantic couple in all of Dalton Academy, I swear. They enjoy waking random people up at 3AM just to have a Nerf gun battle with them, it's actually quite common."
He laughed for a moment. "Can you open the curtains, please, Kurt? I want to see the sunset." Kurt chuckled, but opened the curtains and then went to sit beside him. Burt said, "Well, they can do Nerf guns, just not in here. And Sebastian?" "Yes?" "How would you feel about becoming a Hummel?" Sebastian looked at him for a moment as if Burt was crazy, and then replied, "Well... would you be okay with it, I mean, I don't want to intrude..." "You won't be intruding." Kurt assured him. "In fact, you would be more than welcome to become a part of our family. So... what do you say?"
The boy thought about it for a minute, then went back over the idea, and decided. "Yes. My family has disowned me and really didn't give a shit about me in the first place, so yes. I want to feel safe and loved, not insecure and unwanted, and unlike that other place that I really now can't believe I actually called home, here with you, I know I'm accepted. I know I'm loved just the way I am and that no one is ever going to take that away from me."
Kurt had tears in his eyes as Sebastian finished speaking and then said, "Welcome then, Sebastian." The family was complete at last, and there was a moment of silence before Kurt started singing.
Kurt (with Warblers):
"Yeah, I'll tell you something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
Sebastian (with Warblers):
Oh please, say to me
You'll let me be your man
And please, say to me
You'll let me hold your hand
Now let me hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
Kurt (with Warblers):
And when I touch you I feel happy
Inside
It's such a feeling that my love
I can't hide
I can't hide
I can't hide
Both (with Warblers):
Yeah, you got that something
I think you'll understand
When I feel that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand."
The room filled with applause, then settled down again slowly as Blaine came forward and introduced himself to Burt. "Blaine Anderson." "Burt Hummel. How are you?" "Good. We wanted to come see Sebastian since Kurt gave us the call. Thank you by the way, Kurt." "You're welcome."
"Now. Let's all go forward, one at a time, maybe two, and spend about 10 minutes each with Sebastian, Kurt, and Mr. Hummel, okay?" Wes tried to get everyone in order. "Okay." They responded in unison, and each took their turn, as they had promised. Thad brought Sebastian an bouquet of flowers, ("I love them, they are absolutely colorful. Goes well with the walls.") Trent brought a book, ("Oh my goodness, the new Chris Colfer book! Thank you so much, Trent!")
Ethan brought a CD of Sebastian's favorite songs, ("How did you know Hot Chelle Rae was my favorite band?")
while Evan brought 3 tickets to the next HCR concert, ("That... wow, I don't think I can thank you enough for that, Evan, that really means a lot to me, thank you.") David brought the entire Hunger Games trilogy, books and movies, ("I haven't read the books, but I have watched the movies. Thank you David, maybe you can be my reading partner for these when I return to Dalton.")
Wes brought not only a note from the headmaster that said that he could return anytime he wanted, with free tuition for next year, but he also brought Sebastian's favorite comforter from his room, ("Wait, free tuition? No way! That... thank you. Thank you for bringing my comforter, by the way.") Jeff brought another uniform from his room, ("How did you know I needed that?")
Nick brought two movies, ("Wait a second, Struck By Lightning and The Outsiders? These two are some of the best movies of all time, thank you Nick.") Blaine brought another note, a stack of homework, and a watch, ("To Sebastian, from all the Warblers, with love. Wait, you guys completed all this? On your own? How the hell did I get so lucky to have friends like you? Thank you for the watch as well, now I can be on time.")
Kurt brought a surprise gift, which happened to be a small cake with candles, ("Today's my... how could I forget this... why did I forget this, I'm not supposed to forget my own birthday! Oh well. Thank you Kurt.") and last but not at all least, Burt brought a brand-new house key. ("Wow, this... this is for me? Thank you, Dad.") And everyone smiled at that.
Now they all sat down beside each other, telling stories. Burt told a story about a car that had nothing wrong with it, yet was just left in the shop, Kurt told a story about the New Directions and their little adventures, Blaine told a story about when the Warblers first began, Nick and Jeff told the story of how they got together, Wes and David got together right there in front of them instead of telling a story,
Ethan and Evan shared a story of their childhood growing up together, and last Trent and Thad told the story of Wes's gavel and how that came into existence. By the time everyone was finished, there was laughter and a couple of happy tears from Wevid, and all were content. But now it was time to say goodbye and head back to Dalton before curfew started. They all quickly exchanged numbers and left after eating a bit of cake and singing to Sebastian one last time.
Kurt laughed happily. "That was so much fun. I want to do it again sometime with them, just... maybe not in a hospital. Maybe Dalton would kind of be better for that." Sebastian agreed. "Right. You want to watch a movie or two with me, Kurt?" "Sure." He climbed up on the bed beside the taller boy and the two decided to do The Outsiders first, they both shed a few tears during the ending.
The two then went on to Struck By Lightning, which was again, a few tears during the ending and that was all. They then took a bathroom break and then settled down to see The Hunger Games. The two were shocked by the interviews, then the way the games went, and they both broke down when the death of Rue came around.
They were inspired by Katniss and Peeta's bravery during the last minutes of the games, and declared it totally unfair when Seneca Crane died the way he did. Both were anxious to see what happened next, so they went on to Catching Fire. They sighed at Finnick's attempts to hit on Katniss. Shocked was nowhere near the expression that happened when the interviews happened this time.
Laughter ensued when the elevator scene happened. When Cinna was killed, they declared it absolutely disgraceful, and announced that President Snow should be killed instead. When the heart-stopping scene happened, they cheered when Peeta's heart restarted just in time. They hated it when Peeta and a couple of the other tributes were captured at the end.
Then it turned into Mockingjay part 1. Kurt fell asleep halfway through, but Sebastian decided to watch Mockingjay part 2 and then show Kurt the rest later. Finally when the trilogy ended, Sebastian fell asleep.
(Timeskip to a couple of days later)
"Well, Mr. Hummel, it looks as though Sebastian is ready to leave the hospital. Rub this cream on his back every night for a week and that should help the burns finish healing. Other than that, you're free to go." The nurse told them. "Thank you so much." Kurt said. "You're welcome." She replied.
"Let's go home." Sebastian said. So they packed up the van, and started to drive home. Once they got there, Kurt opened the door, and everything was dark. "Surprise!" The Warblers shouted. Sebastian gasped, this was not what he had been expecting. They all walked up the stairs to Sebastian's new room and... it was painted with a gentle forest green, and it already had a bookshelf, a bunk bed, a dresser, and a desk with a lamp on it.
"The rest is yours to decorate as you want." Kurt said. "Welcome home." "Thank you Kurt. Thank you everyone who helped Kurt with this, it is amazing. I don't think I've ever felt more at home in any other place I've ever lived before, so this is definitely good. Thank you." Sebastian said.
"You're welcome." Kurt said, and started singing.
Kurt (with Warblers):
"Hold on to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave, wave is stringing us along
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home
Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble - it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home
Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble - it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home
Come on."
"I love you Kurt." Sebastian said. "I love you too Sebastian." Kurt replied.