The glee club was going through normal procedures when Finn decided to speak up: "Mr. Schue? I have something to say. Something happened to me and I can't really get into it but its shaken me to my core."
Puck decided to cut in: "Oh my God, he's coming out."
"Well, yes, there is a man who's sort of recently come into my life and that man is Jesus Christ." Finn carried on and everyone sported different reactions. Dylan's was just neutral whilst some people looked horrified.
"That's way worse." Puck said, shocked.
"And I know there's others in here who dig him too. So I thought maybe this week we could pay tribute to him in music. You know, pay tribute to Jesus." Finn said and Dylan nodded slightly, a small smile upon his face.
"Sorry, but if I wanted to sing about Jesus I'd go to church. And the reason I don't go to church is because most churches don't think very much of gay people. Or women. Or science." Kurt said and Mercedes decided to counter argue.
"I don't see anything wrong with getting a little church up in here."
"I agree. I've had a really hard year and I turned to God a lot for help. I for one wouldn't mind saying thanks." Quinn added on.
"Thanks for what? That it didn't come out a lizard baby?" Santana bit back and Quinn and Dylan rolled her eyes.
"Whenever I pray I fall asleep." Brittany said and Dylan bit back a smile while Mr. Schuester began to speak.
"Well, guys maybe our song selections don't have to be about Jesus we could do songs about spirituality."
Puck rolled his eyes and Finn saw, his ditzy euphoric expression falling to a dark expression.
"You got a problem with Jesus?" he asked.
"No, I got no problem with the guy. I'm a total Jew for Jesus. He's my number one Heeb. What I don't like seeing is people using J-money to cramp everybody else's style. Cause it seems to me that true spirituality or whatever you wanna call it is about enjoying the life that you've been given. I mean I see God every time I make out with a new chick." Puck countered and Dylan smirked at Puck's comment.
"Okay, that doesn't make any sense. In fact it's stupid." Rachel said.
"Are you calling Mr. Billy Joel stupid?" Puck asked and Rachel kept quiet. Puck then stood up and walked over to his guitar.
"This time I'd like to continue my streak of doing only songs by Jewish artists. Hit it." He said before 'Only The Good Die Young'. Dylan wasn't necessarily a big Billy Joel fan but he did like that song and with the others, he could only dance along.
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Dylan was in English class, writing about Othello when Mr. Schuester had walked into the classroom. He had muttered something to Mr. Dryden before looking around the class when his eyes fell on Dylan.
"Dylan. We need to talk to you. You'll need your stuff." Mr. Schuester said and Dylan gathered up his stuff, put it in his bag and threw it over his shoulder before leaving the classroom. When he stepped out, he saw a crying Kurt being comforted by Miss Pillsbury. Dylan dropped his bag and ran over to Kurt, pulling him into a tight embrace.
"What's the matter?" he asked, before breaking the embrace. Kurt opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Mr. Schuester came up behind him and handed the blonde boy his bag.
"Dylan…Kurt's dad has had a heart attack. He's in the hospital now and we thought it was best if Kurt had a friend and he said to get you." Will said and Dylan's heart dropped before pulling Kurt into another embrace, this time softer. He had met Burt once before when he drove his dad's car to the Hummel's garage. But Dylan didn't know the name. He was just given an address and he drove there.
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Dylan stepped out of the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss as he parked it inside the garage. A man in his mid 40s, wearing a Jets cap, worn tartan shirt, faded jeans and old sneakers stepped out and nodded to Dylan. He then looked to the car.
"Wow. You got a nice looking car for a kid you're age. I mean what are you? 16?" the man asked and Dylan nodded.
"Yeah. But it's my dad's car. He just let's me take it for a spin sometimes but I'd rather walk to school. Keeps me in shape. Although I do like driving it." Dylan said and Burt laughed.
"Well your dad has good taste in cars. So what do you need?" Burt asked.
"A new suspension, battery and a tire change." Dylan said and Burt nodded.
"Alright. It should be done in about 2 days." Burt said and Dylan nodded.
"Dad!" a voice called out and Dylan's ears picked it up immediately.
"Dad, is it okay if I go downtown and pick up Sound Of Music on DVD." It said before a figure appeared and looked to Dylan
"Dylan?" he asked.
"Kurt?" Dylan asked and they both smiled to each other before Kurt looked to his dad.
"Dad. This is Dylan Armstrong. He's goes to McKinley. He's captain of the soccer team and he's the newest member in glee club." Kurt said and Burt turned to Dylan.
"Have you been harassing my son?" Burt asked with an angry tone to his voice. Dylan looked quite scared so Kurt stepped in.
"No, Dad. He's nice." Kurt said and Burt's expression softened but only a little.
"Alright. And I recognize you. I've seen you play soccer a few times considering the school's football team sucks and I like watching a winning team. You play center forward right?" Burt asked and Dylan nodded.
"I remember that goal from 20 yards you got against the Knights last year in the play-offs." Burt said and Dylan smiled a little.
"Thanks, Mr. Hummel. And thanks for sorting out my dad's car." He said and the corners of Burt's lips rose slightly.
"No problem, kid." Burt replied.
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Now at the hospital, they were all sat down when a doctor walked in.
"Where is he? Is he dead?" Kurt asked and the doctor shook his head before explaining what he had happened. Dylan watched Kurt as his skin paled more with every word the doctor said and it wasn't long before Mr. Schuester asked if they could see Burt.
When they were at his room, they all slowly walked behind the curtain. He looked like he was asleep, just lying there but with tubes going through his nose and arms. Dylan's eyes closed at the sight before quickly reopening them at the images that flooded him. He then looked to Kurt, who was staring at his dad with a broken expression.
"I need a minute." Kurt said shakily. Dylan turned to Miss Pillsbury and Mr Schuester who looked worried.
"I don't think you should be alone, Kurt." Miss Pillsbury said.
"I'll stay with him." Dylan said and the two faculty members somberly nodded before leaving but not before Mr Schuester says to Kurt that they'll be right outside. Kurt stepped forward so he was at his father's bedside whilst Dylan stayed where he was, watching Kurt with a solemn look on his face.
"Dad?" Kurt asked the comatose version of Burt Hummel as if he was desperately searching for a visible sign of life. The only thing that the 2 boys heard was the even, repetitive beeping of the heart monitor. Kurt's right hand slowly joined his dad's.
"Can you hear me?" he asked just as their hands touched.
"If you can hear me, squeeze my hand. I'm holding yours right now." Kurt said before taking a deep breath and uttering the words: "Just squeeze back."
Dylan's heart broke at that sentence. He felt utterly helpless in what to do to help the poor boy. So he just stepped forward so he was beside Kurt and gently took his hand. Kurt squeezed Dylan's hand as he waited for a reply from his father. But none. Tears started to fall down Kurt's face and Dylan pulled the countertenor into another embrace.
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The next day, Kurt and Dylan were sat in the choir room when the others started coming in for glee club. Tina hugged Kurt before he received consoling shoulder squeezes from Mitchell, Quinn and Mike before Brittany and Santana came up to him. Santana even offered her condolences about what happened and Dylan smiled at this. He may not have been there long but Dylan knew that only something big can make Santana show feelings apart from lust and spite. Then Finn came barging in.
"What the hell happened?" he asked. Dylan stood up and stepped in front of Kurt like a human shield and a cold look on his face.
"Back off, Hudson. You may be as dumb as a post but even you must be able to see that he's not in the best of shape." Dylan snarled and received a look from Finn before Kurt placed a hand on Dylan's shoulder.
"It's okay." He said to Dylan before the blonde boy sat down.
"My dad's in the hospital." Kurt replied to Finn's question and they went on to argue a little before Kurt removed his satchel from the chair on the right of him and let him sit down. Then Mr. Schuester walked on.
"Hey, guys. Our thoughts are all with Kurt and, uh, I know it's sort of hard to really focus on anything else-" Mr. Schuester started before Mercedes spoke up.
"Mr. Schue?" she asked.
"Yeah?" the director replied.
"I've been struggling trying to figure out what I want to say to Kurt all day. And I realize I don't wanna say it, I wanna sing it." Mercedes said and Mr. Schuester motioned at Mercedes to come up.
"This song is about being in a very dark place and turning to God. It's a spiritual song, Mr Schue. Is that okay?" the chocolate thunder then asked.
"It's fine." He answered and Mercedes smiled before looking to the others.
"Tina? Quinn? Can you help me out please?" she asked and the two girls stood up and took their positions before Mercedes belted out Whitney's 'I Look To You'. Dylan thought it was pretty amazing and when she finished, Kurt seemed to agree.
"Thank you, Mercedes. Your voice is stunning. But I don't believe in God." He said and everyone except Dylan looked to him in surprise. Kurt told Dylan this when in Burt's waiting room as they were discussing the glee assignment.
"Wait, what?" Tina asked Kurt.
"You've all professed your beliefs, I'm just stating mine. I think God is kinda like Santa Claus for adults. Otherwise God's kind of a jerk, isn't he? I mean he makes me gay and his followers going around telling me it's something that I chose. As if someone would choose to be mocked every single day of their life. And right now I don't want a heavenly father. I want my real one back." Kurt said and Dylan looked around the room watching everyone's reactions.
"Look, Kurt, how do you know for sure? You can't prove that there's no God." Mercedes asked.
"You can't prove that there isn't a magic teapot floating around on the dark side of the moon with a dwarf inside of it that reads romance novels and shoots lightning out of its boobs, but it seems pretty unlikely doesn't it?" Kurt asked. Although that was quite a weird theory, Dylan agreed with Kurt.
"Is God an evil dwarf?" Brittany then asked and Dylan kept back a smile before Quinn jumped in.
"We shouldn't be talking like this. It's not right." Quinn said, mainly addressing Kurt who stood up and faced the others.
"I'm sorry, Quinn, but you all can believe whatever you want to. But I can't believe something I don't. I appreciate your thoughts. But I don't want your prayers." Kurt said before leaving the choir room. Mr. Schuester then dismissed the club as people didn't have any songs to show.
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Dylan was walking to the library and turned the corner when he spotted Quinn at her locker. They both locked eyes and smiled before Dylan walked over.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" Dylan asked the Cheerio.
"I've been better. I'm really upset about Kurt's dad. And I was a little angry about how he doesn't believe in God but then I realised that it's not my decision and my beliefs shouldn't influence his." Quinn said and Dylan nodded just as the girl shut her locker door and they started walking.
"So, what about you?" Quinn then asked. Dylan looked down to the girl.
"What about me?" the boy asked.
"Do you believe in God?" Quinn verified. Dylan sighed.
"If it's a touchy subject, you don't have to-" Quinn started but Dylan cut her off.
"No, it's fine. I've just never really talked about it before." Dylan said and Quinn nodded before letting Dylan speak.
"I was born a Christian. And I would pray everyday for my family to be safe and healthy. And that everyone would lead good lives. And then my mom was pregnant with her fourth child. I was 12 at the time. We were all excited. And we were even more excited when we found out it was a girl. Especially me and my mom. She was happy she was getting a little girl…and I was happy that I was getting a baby sister." Dylan said just as they headed outside into the basketball court and onto the bleachers.
"I prayed everyday for my mom and my baby sister to be okay. And 5 months into the pregnancy…she…had a miscarriage." Dylan said and Quinn's eyes widened.
"I kept on thinking it was my fault that I was praying too much. And then I thought it wasn't that, it was just that no one was hearing my prayers. So I stopped praying and until Burt Hummel had the heart attack, I never prayed once. So yeah, I do believe in God I just don't pray. Sort of like Jack and how he's a Deist." Dylan said and Quinn looked down for a few seconds before looking back to Dylan.
"I'm sorry." She said and Dylan smiled to the blonde.
"Don't be. It wasn't your fault." Dylan replied and Quinn showed a small smile before gently taking Dylan's hand and squeezing it.
"Me, Mercedes, Rachel and Finn are going to Burt's bedside to pray for him on Friday. Would you like to come with me?" Quinn asked and Dylan nodded, smiling.
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Dylan wasn't there when Mr. Schuester announced that spiritual songs were banned as he was in Minnesota for his grandfather's 81st birthday. But he got back on the Friday and was by Burt's bedside with sat next to Quinn and also with Mercedes, Rachel, Finn and Finn's mom Carole. Rachel was singing 'Papa Can You Hear Me?' whilst everyone watched her sing. When she sang this, she sounded beautiful and her shadow Jack would be proud.
"Who's next?" Rachel asked and Dylan stood up.
"I am." He said when he saw Kurt walk in.
"What's going on in here?" he asked in an angry tone.
"We were just praying for your dad." Rachel replied.
"Rachel, Quinn, Dylan and I are taking turns. We're from different denominations and religions so we figured that one of us is bound to be right." Mercedes said and Dylan nodded.
"I didn't ask you to do this." Kurt then said.
"Honey I know you're upset about what's happening I get it. But friends help out even when you don't ask." Carole said and Dylan turned back to Kurt.
"Yeah, Kurt. We only wanna help." He said before he saw a nurse come in.
"Mr. Kurt Hummel?" she asked.
"Dude, why didn't you just tell us you wanted to pray in Muslim?" Finn asked.
"I'm not Muslim, I'm a Sikh." The nurse replied and Dylan would have given Finn a look but he didn't want to seem disrespectful in front of Finn's mom so he just ignored him.
"She's gonna see if acupuncture will improve the circulation for my dad's brain. Amazingly, needles pierce the skin better than psalms. Can you all please leave now?" he asked and Dylan followed Quinn out whilst hearing Rachel say: "We just wanted to do something."
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"This is for my dad." Kurt said before he started to sing 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'. Dylan was stood beside him, his acoustic guitar in hand as he plucked and strummed the chords. After apologizing about the whole waiting room scene and discomforting the fashion-mad Hummel, Kurt accepted and asked if he could back him up to which Dylan agreed to with no question.
As he played on, Kurt's singing ran through his head. The emotion he put behind it was enough to make Dylan tear up but because it was for his dad, made the tears run freely. And he saw that Rachel and Quinn were crying freely too as well as himself and Kurt so he just let them run without hesitation. When Kurt had finished, the 2 boys embraced with no gay jokes from Puck or Santana and after wiping away his tears and composing himself, Dylan turned to Mr. Schuester.
"Can I sing my song, Mr. Schue?" he asked and the teacher nodded before Dylan put the guitar down and made his way to the piano. He then began to play and after an introduction, began to sing.
Come and hold my hand
I wanna contact the living
Not sure I understand
This role I've been given
I sit and talk to God
And he just laughs at my plans
My head speaks a language
I don't understand
I just wanna feel
Real love feel the home that I live in
Cos I got too much life
Running through my veins
Going to waste
I don't wanna die
But I ain't keen on living either
Before I fall in love
I'm preparing to leave her
Scare myself to death
That's why I keep on running
Before I've arrived
I can see myself coming
I just wanna feel
Real love feel the home that I live in
Cos I got too much life
Running through my veins
Going to waste
And I need to feel
Real love and the love ever after
I can not get enough
Dylan played a little piano solo before resuming the vocals.
I just wanna feel
Real love feel the home that I live in
I got too much love
Running through my veins
To go to waste
I just wanna feel
Real love and the love ever after
There's a hole in my soul
You can see it in my face
It's a real big place
Come and hold my hand
I wanna contact the living
Not sure I understand
This role I've been given
Not sure I understand
Not sure I understand
Not sure I understand
Not sure I understand
Dylan stopped playing and everyone applauded before Mr. Schuester spoke up.
"That was a really nice song, Dylan. But why did you choose it?" he asked.
"It may not sound like a religious song but I used it as one. The way I interpreted it was that I am a Christian and I do believe in God but the way I see the song right now is expressing my anger at some of the sayings in the Bible that go against race, gender and sexuality and that song is about finding true love, regardless of what anyone is. And also one of the lines was about a very personal situation to me." He said and Quinn gave a small nod. Mr. Schuester then nodded.
"Although we're not allowed, because it's personal to you then I'll let it slide." Mr. Schuester said and Jack performed 'The Great Beyond' which was also very good even though his ego was still Grand Canyon-esque.
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Dylan had to stay back at home as he had to go to the dentist for a check-up but he had heard about Finn's performance of 'Losing My Religion'. He wasn't surprised. He was always changing mind, whether it was religion or girls but he was still indecisive about everything.
Dylan had said to Kurt he was going to drop by at the hospital before he went to swim club and when he got there, he saw Kurt crying. He rushed in and knelt beside him, fearing the worst but the usually distracting sound of the heart monitor told him otherwise.
"Kurt. I have something to tell you." Dylan said and Kurt looked to him, wiping his tears away and calming down. Dylan then proceeded to tell Kurt about his faith and what happened with his mom before looking right into Kurt's eyes.
"Only I was praying for my little sister. You have over 100 people praying for your father and I can tell you now that I believe with all my heart that all of those voices will be heard." Dylan said.
"I have prepared a little number for you. It's not a spiritual song, it's just a song that says that whatever happens Kurt I'll be here for you and so will every one of your friends." Dylan then said before clearing his voice and beginning to sing.
I've been alone
Surrounded by darkness
I've seen how heartless
The world can be
I've seen you crying
You felt like it's hopeless
I'll always do my best
To make you see
Baby, you're not alone
Cause you're here with me
And nothing's ever gonna bring us down
Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you
And you know it's true
It don't matter what'll come to be
Our love is all we need to make it through
Dylan then looked down from Kurt's tearful yet smiling face to see Burt's fingers slowly but surely close around Kurt's own hand. Kurt looked down and gasped.
"Dad?" he asked and the fingers continued to close.
"Nurse Nancy!" Kurt called and Dylan rushed out of the door to retrieve the nurse.
"I'm right here, dad." Kurt said and when he came back with the nurse, Dylan smiled at the boy reassuringly.
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If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets
Kurt and Quinn's harmonizing voices rang through the auditorium, each stood on either side of Dylan and the 3 were looking to each other and smiling before Dylan started to sing.
And yeah yeah god is great
Yeah yeah god is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Dylan took the girl's and the boy's hands before belting out the chorus with the others. Dylan knew that Kurt knows that his friends will always be here for them and the boys shared a look as the song drew to a close.
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The songs used are 'Feel' by Robbie Williams, 'Not Alone' by Darren Criss and 'One Of Us' by Joan Osborne.
See what I did there? See what I did? Talk about sneak peek with using 'Not Alone' XD.
'Duets' is also quite a big episode for Dylan so watch out :)
"I'm like any other fanfiction writer, reader. I need reviews to live!"…or carry on the story…either way, reviews make me happy :)