Thanks again for all of the reviews and visits and things :)
Tried to do a Kurt-centred chapter, but obviously it's still very Finn related.
Ch. 5 - I'll be there
Finn would have to face Kurt at the table for breakfast. He wasn't sure if he would get through it, but he knew he had to try. He'd always been the strong one, telling people to believe in themselves and blah blah blah, but now it was time to practice what he preached. He looked at himself in the mirror, studying his pale tired face.
"There may be trouble ahead..." He began to sing as he washed his face with the spot stuff Kurt had given him for his birthday, smiling weakly. He knew everything was hanging by a thread, his relationship with his brother, his friendships and his position in the glee club. He had to regain some trust and he decided the only way to do that was to take the abuse, absorb the insults, not react to the whispers and accept the countless slushies he was bound to receive to the face. He packed a spare t-shirt in his school bag for that eventuality, fixed his hair and went to join his family for breakfast.
"Good morning honey. Glad to see you're better!" His mum kissed him on the head as he sat down in his usual place and placed a bowl in front of him, so he could choose the cereal he wanted to eat. He didn't feel hungry. In fact his stomach was full of nerves and he couldn't even contemplate eating whatever he was going to pour into that bowl. He decided to bypass his usual Lucky Charms and just have some rice krispies. Maybe the bland flavour would be easier to digest. Kurt kept his eyes locked on the magazine he had spread out in front of him on the table, completely ignoring Finn's presence, and Finn was grateful for that.
"What classes do you guys have today?" Burt grunted slightly, trying to open a new jar of peanut butter.
"Dad you shouldn't be eating that." Kurt said, without even lifting his eyes from the pages of Vogue.
"I'm opening it for Carole." Burt replied sharply and shot carol a glance. She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head smiling.
It felt like a normal morning, Kurt was usually preoccupied with a magazine, or book or blog post on his cell phone, Finn was usually concentrating on eating and figuring out what to do with his day, and their parents were chatting away, trying to get the boys talking and involved. Finn let out a sigh of relief when he could excuse himself after Burt had done so. He grabbed his bag and headed for the door, hoping to get out in time to walk instead of getting his usual ride with Kurt.
"Finn?" His mum called as she caught him sneaking out of the door. "Aren't you going with Kurt today?" She looked puzzled.
"I was going to catch the bus…I have to be there early, I have a test in second period that I forgot to study for." He nodded a little too enthusiastically and slid out the door.
About 20 minutes later, Kurt ran up the stairs and into the hallway, picked up his car keys and slipped his bag strap over his shoulder.
"Finn!" He yelled up the stairs.
"He's already gone." Carole responded as she walked out of the kitchen and picked up her own car keys to leave for work.
"Did he say why?" Kurt asked, clearly puzzled by Finn's disappearance.
"He said he had a test to study for." Carole kissed Kurt on the cheek, pushed an apple into his hand and ushered him out of the door. She was already in her car and backing out of the driveway, waving at him before he could unlock his own car. He sighed, got in and drove the 10 minutes to McKinley.
Kurt wasn't sure why Finn hadn't wanted a ride today, they always went to school together now, but obviously he was still worried about the whole Blaine thing. Kurt hummed as he drove, thinking about how he would approach Finn. He knew he should actually probably be angry, but he didn't feel that way, he sort of understood where Finn was coming from, trying to stop Blaine telling. He, of course, had been nervous about coming out himself and ever since then he had been on the receiving end of countless slushies', snarky comments and even a death threat from Dave Karofsky. It had gotten so bad that he had considered transferring, but with the help of Coach Sue, his Dad and even unexpected help from Santana Lopez, Karofsky had mostly stopped. It didn't mean the snarky comments and bullying stopped totally, the rest of the football and hockey teams' idiocy still proved challenging, but at least he could walk through the halls of McKinley without fearing for his life. But, he knew for Finn it would be hard. He knew what Finn would face, and Finn would need him more than ever. Obviously Kurt was upset and he felt betrayed by his step-brother, but what he had said to Blaine was true, they hadn't been dating and everybody does silly things sometimes, especially when they're scared.
If only it hadn't come out the way it had, and the rest of the glee club didn't have such big mouths. Kurt sighed again as he got out of his car and Tina was waiting for him by the door. He grabbed his bag from the passenger seat and walked over to meet her.
"Good weekend?" she asked straight away. They both turned together and walked into the building.
"Uh huh." Kurt nodded and remembered the day he spent with Blaine at the mall. "It was." He walked with her to their lockers and met Mercedes on the way.
"Are you going to tell us what happened or do we have to ask?" Mercedes said bluntly, when the pleasantries were over.
"I would." He said. "But I need to find Finn before class." Kurt walked away, leaving them both desperate for answers. He decided to try to choir room first, and then the library and finally he found him in the boys' locker room, showering his hair. Kurt approached carefully and picked up a towel from the bench to hand to Finn.
"Slushy?" He asked, holding out a towel for his step brother to grab.
"Yeah." Finn murmured, switching the shower off and taking a few steps back. He took the towel from Kurt, his head and eyes still lowered so the water dripped down his face and onto the tiles floor.
"Thanks." Was about all he could muster. The blue dye stung his eyes, but he'd been on the receiving end of one of these a couple of times, so he wasn't angry, and he'd been expecting it anyway.
"Finn…" Kurt said. Kurt watched as Finn slipped his soaking shirt over his head, it thudded to the floor and the tall brown haired boy straightened his back and began to dry off his torso.
"Kurt. I'm not sure why you're here, but if it's to laugh at me, or shout at me then go ahead." Finn continued running the towel over his body and then up to his head.
"I'm not here for either of those things Finn." Kurt shook his head, and clutched the strap of his bag. "I came to tell you that I understand. I understand that sexuality is a confusing thing for people our age. For the longest time I tried to deny my gay, but eventually I had to acknowledge it and then defend it." Finn paused his hair drying and looked confused at Kurt
"I'm not saying you're gay, I'm just saying, by doing what you did you hurt me and I'm upset, but I understand, and I want to be there for you." Finn felt dumbstruck. Was Kurt even for real? Or was this a trick?
"I think you made a mistake by trying to lie and make Blaine lie, but now it's all out and we can move on." Kurt carefully sat down on the bench and folded one leg over the other, then continued.
"I saw Blaine on the weekend and we're giving it another go and I think it would be unfair for me to forgive him and not you, especially when you're going to need me, as a brother, just like I needed you."
Kurt finished his explanation, pleased with how it sounded and waited for a response from the so-far silent Finn. He waited and watched Finn pull a fresh shirt from his bag and put it on quickly. Finn shoved the wet shirt into a locker and turned to look at Kurt. He didn't know how to respond, so he just moved forward and placed his arms around him, pulling him up from the seat into a hug.
"Thank you." He whispered into his ear, his voice shuddering a little. As much as Finn felt for Blaine, he never wanted to ruin his friendship with Kurt and he felt ecstatic that Kurt would support him. As they were hugging the bell rang.
"Ready?" Kurt asked the tall boy in front of him.
"Yep." Finn nodded convincingly and they left the locker room for their first classes of the day.
It was a difficult day for Finn. Kurt knew it. No matter how he smiled and tried to cover it up, being pushed around was painful, but being called names cut deeper. By lunchtime, Finn was silent and withdrawn. His friends avoided him a little, in case they were to become the targets of bullies too, they smiled at him, but they didn't look at him or talk to him like they had before, and Mercedes and Tina would not stop side-eyeing him and scowling. Kurt could see it, he saw Finn hurting, but apart from comforting words and telling people to go away or stop looking, he didn't know what to do. He knew Finn needed more friends right now. Kurt knew first hand that there is only do much you can deal with alone.
"Can I sit here?" Quinn asked, pulling out the seat opposite kurt and Finn.
Kurt was surprised; she was the first one who had been willing to sit with them at lunch.
"Um... Sure." He said, happily.
"I know what it's like." She paused after taking her seat. "To be looked at, and quite frankly I miss it." She smiled slyly and began to eat.
"How can you miss it?" Finn asked quietly after a few moments. "It's pretty annoying." He looked at her in the eye, something he hadn't done for a while.
"I guess I had a lot to be stared at for." She shrugged "… it starts to feel normal."
Kurt smiled as the conversation began to flow more freely. Soon Finn was talking and even smiling properly as they all spoke, but lunch ended.
"I'll meet you at my car after school." He said to Finn as he left him. Was he babying him? Kurt didn't really care. His last classes went without much to write home about and soon he was unlocking his car and climbing inside to wait for Finn. After around 15 minutes he began to worry and started to dial his number and call him, when he came storming across the parking lot.
"Oh my God..." Kurt breathed as Finn got in. He looked at him carefully. His right hand was clutching some tissue to his nose and his eye looked like it was swelling, and tinted a grey-purple colour.
"What the heck, Finn?" He asked his eyebrows furrowed at his stepbrother.
Finn looked out of breath and tilted his head back to try and stop the blood from falling from his nose any more.
"Don't worry. Let's go." Finn said his voice dark and angry.
"Who did this?" Kurt asked, moving his hand towards his step-brothers' face. "Did you retaliate?"
"It was one of the hockey guys. And no, I took it and walked away. I couldn't do anything because then I'd get in trouble and I'd get asked questions."
"Finn… You can't just ignore it." Kurt said, concern in his voice. "You have to tell someone."
"Kurt, drop it." Finn turned to look at him. "I don't want to do anything." Finn continued to hold his nose and gestured for Kurt to start the car and drive.
Kurt sighed and shook his head, twisted the keys in the ignition and began to drive them home. It was one of those times where he wished Finn wasn't so stubborn. The drive home was awkward and silent. When they got there Finn went straight to his room and Kurt made an excuse for him later at dinner. "He doesn't feel well again. Same as the weekend I guess." Kurt shrugged at his dad and Carole when they asked. Carole frowned a little and nodded. Kurt could see that she knew something was up, but tried to act as normal as possible, asking them about their day's and telling them about his.
Later that evening, Kurt called Blaine. He wasn't sure if he felt comfortable talking to him about Finn, considering their past, but he wasn't sure what else to do. He was worried for his brother, but maybe talking to Blaine about him wasn't the best idea. He decided to avoid talking about him, and they had a perfectly normal if not bland conversation, and then said their goodbyes. Kurt decided to go and see Finn, to make sure he was okay.
He knocked on his bedroom door slightly awkwardly and waited for a muffled "come in." He opened the door gently and went into the room. Finn was sitting on a beanbag playing his xbox. He paused it when he saw Kurt and looked at him expectantly.
"I bought you some food and something to make your face better." He handed him a bag of frozen peas, a grilled cheese sandwich and then pulled a tube of cream from his pocket.
"It's a tinted moisturiser." He said waving his hand. "It'll take the edge off of that eye." He said and smiled, looking down on Finn.
"Thanks dude." Finn took it and placed it on the floor next to him.
Finn felt uncomfortable with how nice Kurt was being. He would have felt better if Kurt had shouted at him, or even been the one to punch him in the face, but he knew Kurt wasn't like that. They spoke for a few minutes, and then Kurt retreated to his room, to do a little homework and then begin his bed-time routine.