A/N: Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed/favorited/alerted this story. I really appreciate it. This may or may not be the last chapter. SPOILERS for Laryngitis. In Mercedes' POV. Enjoy :)
When I first saw Kurt on Tuesday before first period, I almost did a spit-take. He wasn't wearing his Cheerios uniform and instead was dressed like a lumberjack. And then I remembered...
Shit.
I was able to read his letter to me a week ago; I just wasn't able to write back because of the sheer shock of it all. I can't believe his father would say that to him. I mean, I've met his dad many times, I've even spent the night at their house a few times and I never got that kind of vibe from Mr. Hummel. Though I'm quite sure he didn't say it to purposely hurt Kurt, but it had to sting. And of course Kurt would take it the wrong way, he's already teetering on the edge and that might have sent him over. And judging by his choice of attire today, it did.
I may never understand fully what they're going through because I never had to go through the same thing with my parents, but I know that those two are trying so hard to reach each other, and seeing them fail so badly is kinda heartbreaking.
First thing I did when I saw him yesterday was give him a hug, no explanations behind it because we both knew why. Everything seemed fine, until after glee when we went our separate ways and Puck, clearly having lost his mind, started making the moves on me. I was going to bitch to Kurt all about it during Cheerios practice, but he wasn't there (which did not please Ms. Sylvester one bit).
So before he walked (swaggered?) over to his locker, I intercepted him with what must have been a WTF look on my face.
"Hey 'Cedes. How's it goin'"
Clearly someone has kidnapped Kurt and sent in a badly dressed look-alike. His voice was deeper, his posture was horrendous, and his eyes looked dead inside. Where's my Kurt?
"What's goin' on with you, Kurt? Why are you dressed like you raided your dad's closet?"
And then it hit me. What he said in his last letter... I'm just gonna have to try harder... Prepare to see a whole new Kurt.
Is that what this is about? Oh, Kurt, you poor, misguided idiot.
"I got your last letter, Kurt. I would've replied sooner if I had known you were gonna go bonkers."
Kurt just smiled at me and said it's fine and that we don't even have to continue with our bizarre conversation on paper, I got it covered, thanks honey. I'm not too sure about that. But since it's a matter that would not be discussed here, I just told him about me and Puck. He was appropriately bewildered and excited and wanted details immediately, now there's the Kurt I know and love.
After glee that day, we went our separate ways again, me listening to another one of Puck's Super Mario whatever rants and him... probably out to go shoot a deer or something. He texted me a best-friend appropriate swoon message about Puck's glee performance and I figured maybe he'll be over his little funk by tomorrow. Boy was I wrong.
We barely saw each other the whole day because I was too busy with Puck and he was... being weird, I admit. Even the rest of the glee club were wondering what got into him. When he actually decided to perform his song assignment, all of us were even more bewildered and some, including me, more than a little concerned. He's doing all of this to find common ground with his dad... so why exactly hasn't his dad stopped this nonsense yet?
Again, I would've written back but I got sidetracked by what happened with Santana and what happened with Puck afterwards. Kurt focused his attention on me, making sure I was alright, making me laugh, making a fuss and all those things that best friends do when their main girl gets into a catfight with a bitchy cheerleader and decides to dump someone. But even through all that, he seemed different, like he was empty or drained.
"I made out with Brittany. I think we're dating now."
What!
"Kurt, I know what you're doing, but don't you think you're taking it a little too far?"
"It wasn't terrible, her lips tasted nice. We had ice cream afterwards..." He added, completely ignoring my question.
I was about to ask him again, but then Brittany came and dragged him away. He gave me a half-hearted smile and a wave and I went over to the library and began writing again.
I was about to leave my letter in his locker when I passed by the auditorium and heard a voice that I could only describe as broken. I knew it was Kurt, so I snuck in and watched him. Holy crap, my boy is amazing! It was almost physically painful to watch him like that, he was so full of anger and pain. When he finished, I was just getting ready to run over to the stage and hug him senseless but then I heard someone clapping.
"That was some singing, kid."
Burt Hummel. Oh, I knew you'd come through for him. I probably should have left but something about that scene drew me in.
I watched them from the dark corner of the auditorium, not caring about how creepy that seems.
"...seeing you, with Finn, how easy it is... it breaks my heart."
Kurt's voice was cracking and so was my heart.
"Is that why you were pretending to date that daffy cheerleader? And dressing differently? And singing Mellencap?"
"I just want you to know that... I will work just as hard as you to make this okay."
Oh, Kurt. I realized I was crying already and wiped at my eyes, trying to stay silent, because I already felt like an intruder in this very personal moment. But I had to see if my boy was gonna be okay.
"You don't have to work at anything, Kurt. Your job is to be yourself, and my job is to love you, no matter what. That, and a majority ownership at a tire store, that's all we got. We stick to that, and we're gonna be great."
"I missed you dad..."
At that point, when they hugged, I decided to leave. I had no business being there in the first place. But I was glad that they were gonna be fine. These two are strong, and all they had was each other, they'll be okay. I glanced down at the letter in my hand and just shoved it to the bottom of my bag. It was all good, they got it covered.
