Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or The Pillows music

Chapter Two

Advice and More of That Swing

There was a time when if you'd tell Finn that Kurt was into rock, punk, metal, and whatnot, he would laugh and shake his head. Since the day he met him, Finn already knew that Kurt was the type who'd go crazy over the latest Broadway shows, pop songs, or classics from the world greats like Liza, Ella, Sinatra, all those types of entertainers. To Finn, Kurt was the definition of Broadway.

The same was held for Rachel.

But if you told Finn now that Kurt's latest interests were several genres of rock, he'd be unsure whether to laugh or take it into serious consideration. The reason for this was mainly because of the mind boggling jam session with his girlfriend and the short teen. What the hell was going on! Powerman 5000! What!

They never returned since that day, reverting back to their preferred styles, though Finn had watched Rachel play the guitar a few times in her room. She was getting better. Her fingers were much faster and there was a calming sense in the way she played. On acoustic at least.

What boggled him the most was that he never heard Kurt listen to or even sing a rock song before or after the Powerman 5000 session. He lived with the guy, he heard nothing!

Finn was beginning to think that the rock thing was a figment of his imagination. He really started believing it until one Saturday morning a loud raucous scared him into spilling his orange juice during breakfast.

Burt was working in the garage, and his mother had gone to visit a friend. Kurt was nowhere to be found so Finn figured he was either still asleep or out with Mercedes or something.

Suddenly a guitar riff rumbled from behind the basement door. Drums followed in beat with the rhythm, giving Finn the impression of a giant stomping towards him. A bass joined in and changed the rhythm to something slightly danceable but still intimidating.

Finn hurried to clean up the table before the juice spilled over the floor. The music kept thundering, enticing his curiosity. Once the table was wiped, he went to the basement.

As soon as he opened the door a wave of musical explosion burst past him like a gust of wind, blasting against his ears and echoing throughout the house. At the risk of going deaf, Finn went down the stairs.

"You easily get angry over trifles!"

That was a strange voice. It was taunting and slightly nasal. As the bedroom came into view, Finn spotted Kurt standing by the stairs but with his back him, he was clutching a mic stand and singing to a karaoke of some song Finn couldn't recognize.

The fuck?

The further down he got, the more he felt like he was stepping into another universe. He kneeled a little bit to get a scope of Kurt's room. There was no one but the short teen around, and nothing seemed out of place except for the singer uncharacteristically belting out a punk song.

"I want to see you again someday! Oooh!" Kurt clutched the mic stand, body pin straight against the pole, trembling with the beat of the music. "So leave me alone! Away with you! Oooh – Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" he practically screamed, head banging to the music.

Finn had no idea what he was singing; Kurt's voice was melding with the riffs of the guitars and the pounding of the drums. It felt very much like some punk band straight out of the past. It was nice but…so freaking weird.

Kurt and punk…rock…whatever this was. How did that even go in a sentence together!

"I don't dislike you, but I don't make friends!"

And apparently his singing was a lot broader than Finn originally thought. Won't growling like that ruin his voice?

He sat by the stairs, engulfed in watching his 'almost brother' play the strange song. Maybe it was an original. It definitely wasn't something he even distantly heard.

It was still an odd sight.

The song ended with a dry 'Thank you', Kurt relaxed and ran a hand through his neatly combed hair. Finn scrambled as quietly as he could to leave, knowing the other boy would freak out if he knew he was being watched.

Luckily Kurt didn't turn around; he picked up a remote from a nearby chair and pressed a button towards his stereo. A Beyonce song came up, but it wasn't a karaoke. Kurt put his mic aside and proceeded to do some stretch routines.

Finn re-entered the kitchen feeling a little numb.

Work wasn't for another two hours, but he left early anyway. Witnessing Kurt rocking out to a punk song for the second time in his life, this was definitely a dream. Or nightmare.

...

He wasn't sure what it was, but when he entered the classroom that held glee meetings Monday afternoon, he felt that something had changed.

Before, Kurt, Mercedes, and Quinn would sit together and talk amongst themselves on random things like gossip, fashion, or whatever came up. Mike and Tina would sit together far from Artie, whispering to each other. Santana and Brittany were attached at the hip wherever they went, so wherever one sat, the other was there. Artie would always be at the front at a corner with Rachel and Finn sometimes next to him. Sam would be by Quinn, and Puck would be either by Finn or whatever girl grabbed his interest.

Today was…different.

Kurt and Mercedes were sitting together at the front of the bleachers, that much was normal, except Quinn wasn't with them; she was on the other side chatting with Rachel. An oddity in itself. Tina and Artie were sitting next to each other, having what was probably the most awkward conversation of their lives, and above Tina, Mike and Sam were exchanging jokes and stories. Santana, Brittany, and Puck hadn't arrived yet.

Trying not to make a fuss over the new seating arrangement, Finn went to sit down next to Rachel, which also made him sit next to Kurt. Finn usually chose to sit either a row above or below Kurt or with someone between them. It wasn't from the discomfort of his 'almost-brother's' sexuality, it was because he knew Kurt liked him. Even with a girl, if Finn didn't like them, he tended to put as much distance as possible from them in order to avoid any uncomfortable situations. Kurt was no different than those girls.

Also, he was still a little weirded out about the other day when he saw Kurt singing that bizarre song. Not that it was a bad thing; he simply had no idea what kind of person Kurt was anymore. Today it seemed the boy was the Kurt Finn had always known. Flamboyant, fashion conscious, and an intellectual chatter box.

Which enforced Finn's earlier discomfort at the idea of sitting next to the guy who obviously had a crush on him.

He knew that at some point in this now frightfully long glee meeting Kurt would secretly try to move closer to him enough to brush their arms or legs against each other.

Said boy gave him one glance as he approached him and sat down. Without losing beat of the conversation he was having with Mercedes he turned back to his friend as if nothing happened.

Finn knew that trick; Quinn had pulled it on him when they first met. That look of disinterest. Any minute now Kurt would try pulling him into whatever he was talking to Mercedes about.

He grabbed Rachel's hand and kissed her on the cheek, making it a point that no, he wouldn't be interested in talking about fashion and gossip with Kurt and Mercedes.

Mr. Schue entered the classroom with a stack of songs followed by the three stragglers who moved to the top bleachers. He planned on using a few oldies and give them a new style. Finn looked at the songs handed to him.

Wow. Mr. Schue was going way back. He kind of recognized Duke Ellington, but who the hell was Cab Calloway?

"I would like to take the Duke Ellington song," both Kurt and Rachel said in unison. Finn stiffened as they exchanged glares from either side of him. He really chose to sit in the wrong spot.

"I guess it's the usual duel," Mr. Schue said with a grin. He'd been expecting this. The two teens set their jaws, ready to take on the other.

This was a good distraction for Kurt. Now he wouldn't try to flirt with him what with the duel for the song on his mind.

Finn secretly sighed in relief.

...

He was in her room again, with all its girly décor, neatly made bed, and little trophies from past talent competitions from elementary and middle school. It was a bright room brimming with pride and self assurance, and he had the owner of such a room on her bed, kissing her with every bit of love she accepted and returned.

They had intended to help her practice for her battle against Kurt, but he couldn't help himself. After seeing her play the guitar she became ten times hotter in his eyes, and being with her alone in her room with the door shut… he was a teenager, he had needs!

Of course all his excitement fell apart when Rachel stopped his hand from travelling up her skirt.

"No," she said breathlessly, "my parents might come in. I want it be special."

He was so shattered he almost pouted. Instead he nodded and returned to kissing her. This was as much as they could do for now.

And for now, he'd have to continue thinking of the mailman to keeping from pouncing his girlfriend.

...

He arrived home late, and received a scolding from his mother. He honestly didn't mean to get back a half hour towards midnight, but between making out with Rachel and helping her practice for the song, he lost track of time.

And he was starving.

After his mother went upstairs once she grounded him for a week he trudged to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich. It would be the ultimate of all sandwiches. Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes, ham, turkey, cheddar, swiss cheese, he even had the appetite to add black olives, which he normally wasn't very fond of.

By the time he settled down to take the first bite of his delicious sandwich he heard it.

"Give that rhythm everything you've got!"

That was the Kurt he knew. The self titled future star of Broadway who constantly sang and listened to classics and pop songs as if it were a religion, and not the rocker who sang to Powerman 5000 and obscure punk bands. Finn bit into his sandwich, confident that his girlfriend would win the duel.

All of the sudden of furious flurry of scat singing pierced through his ears like a wake-up call. Some of the contents of his sandwich spilled on his plate from his loosened grip.

Rachel had kept to the traditional lyrics of the song, like she had with her previous solos. She was wonderful at it, but she'd forgotten that the fun of the song was the random scat singing Ella Fitzgerald's version was so famous for. Kurt had definitely not forgotten.

Finn slowly looked at the door to Kurt's room, completely stunned that a human being could push out such a breathless flood of melodic gibberish.

He hated to admit it. But Rachel was in trouble.

TBC