Authors note: Many thanks to Ampria,lis, SnazzMaster842, BigDestiny and rahzwell for such kind reviews on the latest chapter! As always it is extremely appreciated.

Authors note 2: A lovely reviewer kindly proved to me that I should not be writing these chapters in a late night setting, cause I apparently I make stupid mistakes over and over. I meant GI-Joes last chapter and for some reason I was writing GIO's. *Face palm.* my extreme apologies.

Yet another Authors note: I meant to get this chapter up a lot earlier, but my computer shut down and deleted a bunch of the chapter that was already written. I admit I got frustrated after that. This chapter is longer than the others though so hopefully that makes up for it.

Kurt was six years old when he first scared me half to death.

It started off as a normal day. I was at the garage, Big Mac and Coke resting wonderfully in my stomach, and I was arguing with a customer- no, idiot- about Basketball. Excuse me if I'm not going to listen to anyone yammering about the Yankees.

I was this close to accidently throwing a screwdriver at this guy's head when the shop phone started ringing.

"Excuse me," I said to the man, raising my finger at him, and picking up the phone. "Yeah?" Linda always told me that I needed to watch my manners when answering the phone but I was never the best at that.

"Burt Hummel? Father of Kurt Hummel?"

Maybe it's a father instinct, but my stomach always seems to drop a little whenever my son's name is mentioned on the phone. Too many horror stories out there.

I turned around so my back was only visible to the customer, even though that would make no difference and he could hear every word anyways. "Who's askin'?"

"I'm the Vice-Principal at Kurt's school, and it seems we have a bit of a problem..."

"What kind of a problem?" I growled into the phone, Linda's advice long gone at that moment.

"Umm... well..." I was just about to lose my temper and tell her to spit it out when she finally said, "It seems Kurt got himself stuck in a tree..."

There was a long pause as I tried to absorb what she just told me. "He What?"

The Yankee's idiot decided to speak up and squeak out, "Should I just go or-"My waving hand must have given him the correct answer and he scurried off. He's lucky I didn't give him the finger.

"What do you mean my son is stuck in a tree? How does a school even let this happen?"

"I understand your frustration, Mr. Hummel. We normally deal with issues such as this on our own..." there was a sigh. "Kurt just absolutely refuses to come down."

I also gave an audible sigh. Stubborn kid that boy is. "Is he alright?"

"He seems ok actually- more scared if anything. I am sorry I can't give you many more details."

"Do you need one of us to come down?"

"That would be best."

"Alright..." Usually Linda was the one who deals with this kind of stuff but Linda had been quite sick lately and there was no way I was going to wake her to just give her a scare... "Alright..." I repeated, "I'll be there ASAP."

"Thank you, Mr. Hummel-"

I hung up before she finished. I really needed to work on my manners.

O-O-O-O

There is a strong plausibility I broke a few speed limits on the way to the school. I didn't even know how
Kurt got stuck in a tree. Kurt never climbed his trees. Kurt never liked to get dirty in any way and he never struck me as a kid who liked heights or adrenaline rushes.

Was it peer pressure? Was it a cry for attention? Did Kurt really like climbing trees and I didn't know him as well as I thought?

So many thoughts...

O-O-O-O

When I finally got to the school, I parked the car in a spot that most likely was not a parking zone, and I dashed to the playground.

It was pretty easy to see where the commotion was. There was a small crowd around one spot in the playground with kids and adults alike.

I finally got to the tree and sure enough, there was Kurt on one of the upper branches looking terrified.

I had to give him credit for finding one of the largest trees in the whole playground. Kurt was sitting on one of the thicker upper middle branches, his hand holding a branch just above him, his hair flat and wet on his for-head.
"Kurt!" I called up to him.

His young eyes wondered frantically for a moment, and then finally found my face. Thankfully some relief flooded his face that looked petrified before. "Daddy?" Kurt gasped out.

"I'm here." I tried to get a better look at the tree and how the hell Kurt climbed up that high. "How did you get up there?"

Kurt held the upper branch tighter for a better grip. "I climbed."

Well, no shit.

I closed my eyes to ease my frustration. "Ok, why did you climb up there?"

Before Kurt could open his mouth and answer, another squeaky voice answered beside me. "It was not our fault! He chose to go up there! We didn't make him!" This boy had dark hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a necklace that had a little skull on it. He struck me as a kid who desperately wanted to act tough, but really wasn't. But if there was one thing I learned from school, it was that when a kid says "it's not our fault" when not asked, they usually have something to do with it.

"That's not true!" Kurt squeaked from up the tree.

A woman who also had dark hair took the hand of the young boy. "Let's just go, Noah." And the boy left without daring to look at me.

"Daddy?" Kurt called again.

I rubbed my hand on my for-head. "Yes, Kurt?"

Tears started to form in Kurt's eyes. "I am scared." His voice was so soft when he said that.

God-admit. If that couldn't break anyone's heart then I don't know what could. "I know, buddy." I judged the tree and its branches. "Is there any way you can come down on your own?"

"I tried!" Kurt wailed.

"Ok... ok, ok ok." Clearly I had to climb up part of the tree myself, but truth be told I was not in the best shape and I hadn't climbed much of anything since I actually had head full of hair. "Kurt, I am going to climb part of the tree and meet you, okay?"

"We tried that, "said a teacher beside me. "He just got more nervous and stayed put."
Again, damn stubborn kid.

"Ok, Kurt?" Kurt looked at me looking terrified again. 'I am going to come up, and you have to try, okay? It's just me. Nobody else." Kurt tightened his hand on that branch once more, and then nodded.

Okay... I didn't know how the hell I was going to do this. I went up to the tree, put one hand on one branch, my foot on another, and just when I put a bit of weight on it, the branch holding my foot broke. I swore, and sure enough there was a giggle coming from above. Seriously? I am climbing up a tree and he's laughing at me? But my son was stuck in a damn tree, so I sucked up my frustration and put my foot on a thicker branch. Thankfully this one supported my weight so I was able to climb just a little bit. Finally, after some endless climbing and sweat falling down my face, I stood on a very thick bench with my knees bent. I was just a few branches below Kurt.

"Kurt?" for the first time Kurt stood a little on his bench. "That's good, buddy. "I need you to try climbing down, okay? It's not far it's- AHH!" Suddenly a form of limps jumped from above and I nearly fell trying to catch it. With a neat body effect I would never be able to do again in my lifetime, I caught an upper branch to support our weight, while also securing my other hand around Kurt's back and bum. I don't think my heart ever beat that fast as it was then.

"KURT!" I yelled, with his body now tight around mine. "What the hell was that?" father instincts kicking in hard, I held him even tighter. "I could have dropped you!"

"But you didn't." Kurt's voice was muffled for his head was pressed against my shoulder.

"No thanks to you." But there was a joking tone in my voice. "Ready to get down this tree?"

I felt Kurt nod, so I carefully made my way down the tree, keeping my balance on tree while Kurt was keeping a hold on me. When we finally reached the ground, I wanted to collapse; I am not sure if it was from exhaustion or relief. There was some small clapping from the small group of people, but neither me nor Kurt seemed quite interested for I was busy leaning on the tree and wiping my sweat and Kurt was retrieving something from behind the tree.

"Well! I must say that was quite dramatic! And this is coming from me!"

I looked to my left and there was a small girl around Kurt's age who had her long brown hair in braids and had her arms locked in disapproval.

Kurt came from around the tree and muttered, "Go away, Rachel," and stood beside me. I noticed he was holding his Barbie in his hands.

"Be nice, Kurt," I reminded him, and then I said to the crowed, "Well! That's all the drama for today! Goodnight." There were a few chuckles and they were ignored as I put my hand on Kurt's back and led him back towards the car.

O-O-O-O

The drive in the car was fairly silent. I was watching the road and not saying much, while Kurt was also silent and seemed busy getting the dirt out of his Barbie's hair.

"So..." I looked at Kurt, hinting him to continue from where I started, but he just stared back and was silent. I tried a different approach. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Kurt then just shrugged and asked, "Are we going home now?"

"Not yet," I decided just then, "Ice cream."

Kurt's mouth opened a little and his eyes widened in surprise. "I'm not in trouble?"

"Well, I would rather you told me what happened first. I also figured you would be hot after being in that tree for so long." I turned the car to the exit of the nearest ice-cream parlour. "Would you rather go home and sit in your room?"

Kurt shook his head and began to move his legs backwards and forwards which was usually a sign when he was comfortable.

O-O-O

Kurt was in a much better mood when we got to the ice cream parlour. He already knew exactly what he wanted, "Strawberry Sundae! Strawberry Sundae!" While I went for a more chunky mix ice cream with caramel and chocolate. Like the car, we were both fairly silent, but it was a more comfortable silence as we ate our ice cream.

"Are you going to explain to me why you went all George of the jungle on me, Kurt?" Kurt just looked at me confused, so I said "Ok, clearly that is next on our rental list." I changed my wording. "Would you like to explain why you were in that tree today?"

"It's a long story..." Kurt began to drag his spoon across his sundae.

"Well, let's get started before the ice cream melts."

Kurt gave a little smile, but it disappeared just as quickly. "Kids at school were making fun of my Barbie and calling me a girl." A bit of pink coloured Kurt's cheeks.

Damn. I had been afraid of that. I gave a lick of my ice cream before I said, "That's definitely not nice and me and your mommy may need to speak to some parents, but that does not explain how you got stuck in a tree."

"They took my Barbie... and wouldn't give it back... so I said I could climb that tree to show them I'm a girl."

I raised my eyebrows. "You climbed a tree to show the boys you are not a girl?"

"Yeah..."

I chuckled a little. "And then you got stuck."

Kurt's cheeks turned from pink to red, but a smile also re-appeared. "Yeah... I got a little too high."

"I could see that." I threw the left over's of my ice cream into the garbage can. "Alright, Kurt, I think it's good that you stood up for yourself. It shows you have guts like your daddy." I gave him a little wink and he rudely rolled his eyes. "Hey! None of that!" A small chuckle was heard. "But the point is... you could have really hurt yourself. Hell, you nearly did with that jumping stunt you pulled."

Kurt looked down and I could see his eyes were getting a little red again. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry. But, kids can be mean and I am sorry you have to face that." I kept quiet about my hidden fears that it might just get worse in the future.

If I was a coward, I would use this opportunity to get Kurt to change. I would tell him to stop playing with the Barbie doll and kids would be nicer. I would tell him to blend in with the others and he would find himself with so many new friends. He would not get teased, and I would not stay up at night trying to keep away from nightmares that showed my son being attacked for whom he is or who he just might be.
Instead I said, "But those mean kids? They are not worth you getting hurt. They are also not worth you having to prove yourself to them. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone, Kurt." The conversation had gotten a little serious, so I said, "Your ice cream melted."

Kurt smiled and just picked up his cherry; he put the cherry in his hand and held it towards me. "Do you want it?"

"I'm good." I held out my hand. "Are you ready to go home?"

Kurt quickly took my hand and put the cherry in his mouth.

"Kurt?"

"Mmm?"

"You do know a lot of girls climb trees, right?"

Kurt took the cherry out of his mouth, "Really?"

"Yup."

"Huh."

"And, Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

I gave his hand a little squeeze. "No more tree climbing for you."

Blah! Finally finished this! I tried to make this a happy chapter, but a little sadness found its way through. Hopefully not too much, though. Warning right now: The next two chapters will be sad. Though, you can blame what happens in canon Glee and not me. That should be a clue right there.

What did you guys think of Prom Queen? I am torn about it. Feel free to leave your thoughts in review or message. I hope to get the next chapter out quickly!