The First Law

Newton's first law of motion states that a particle will remain at rest or continue in motion in a straight line until it is acted upon by an unbalanced force.

It applies to people too.

Sometimes I think about what would have happened if my unbalanced force hadn't hit me when it did. I probably would have just continued in a straight line, going through the different dances and routines of life.

But I didn't.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Love hits you like a car crash"?

I just wish it wasn't taken quite so literally.

If Kurt had to narrow it down, he'd say everything had probably started with his neighbour's dog.

Now, Kurt likes animals. He can appreciate their adorable fluffiness, wide-eyed innocence and undeniable cuteness, and can even put up with the freakishly high squeals that girls seem to love to make whenever they see one, but, so help him, he was going to throttle that bloody mongrel.

Yeah, it all started with the bloody dog.

If the godforsaken mutt hadn't been barking so loudly at three o'clock in the morning, then maybe Kurt wouldn't have been so tired that morning. And, maybe, if he hadn't been so tired, he would have put the right type of fuel in his car. And maybe, if he had put the right type of fuel in his Navigator, then he wouldn't be stood on the pavement, freezing his ass off as he waited for a bus to come and pick him up.

Granted, Finn had offered to give him a lift after football practice, but if Kurt was frank he didn't want to have to spend one more second that necessary in the hellhole that was known as McKinley High. So he'd grinned at Finn, said no, and headed off to the bus stop after school.

Stupid decision.

Kurt wrapped his arms around his middle, pulling his coat once more tighter around himself. It was only September; he had at least another month before the sub-zero temperatures were supposed to kick in, right?

He flicked his wrist, checking the time.

16: 46: 37

The bus was officially over fifteen minutes late.

And that, Kurt would later relate, was when he saw him.

"What the hell are you doing here, faggot?"

No. No. No. Not possible. He wasn't meant to be here. He was supposed to be at practice. No. No. No.

But there he was, letterman jacket announcing his presence like a large neon sign. Kurt just couldn't catch a bloody break, could he?

Kurt bit his lip to prevent him from snapping back. Just ignore them Get through it. Keep your head down.

"You suddenly deaf and gay? I asked what you thought you were doing here, gay-boy."

"You suddenly blind and stupid, Azimio?" Kurt bit out. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He made an exaggerated gesture towards the bus stop.

Azimio snarled. "Shut it, Hummel."

The shove wasn't exactly a surprise. It didn't really send Kurt off balance much at all.

What was a surprise, was that Kurt found himself shoving back.

"Well make up your goddamned mind, then, because I can't answer your fucking questions and 'shut it' at the same time. So, why don't you just back the hell off, OK?"

OK, that was pretty beyond his usual level of vulgarity. But he was tired, cold and just so fucking sick of acting as a stress ball for the brainless hulks that made up the football team.

And after that, things got bad pretty quickly.

In retrospect, maybe it was unfair to put all the blame of this onto his neighbour's dog. Because, looking back, none of the events to come would have happened if Azimio hadn't pushed Kurt into the road.

But he did.

And Kurt stumbled, his feet catching on each other, before he turned just in time to be greeted by blaring headlights and an expensive paint job.

Kurt didn't remember much about the actual impact of the crash. But the build-up, that split-second wait – that stayed with Kurt forever.

There were no flashes of his life, no heartfelt montages of his mother and father, of Carol and Finn, of Glee and Mr Schue, no moments of clarity.

Just a spike of adrenaline and one thought.

I'm going to die.

And then the car hit him.

Blaine Anderson didn't remember much about the crash either. He did, however, remember the aftermath. The burst of panic, the ohshitohshitohshit his brain was chanting as he practically punched the seatbelt button and slammed open the car door.

He remembered his fingers fumbling on the touch-screen of his phone, cursing that he couldn't dial faster. He remembered how he practically screamed down the phone at the person who answered. He remembered the blood, the glass and the dent on his car. He remembered staring at the crumpled body of the teenager and feeling so useless, as he babbled incoherently, trying not to let those eyes flutter shut.

He didn't really remember the bystander.

Or the cry of, "Holy shit, Blaine Anderson?"

Or the tell-tale snap of a camera taking a photo.

Or even what he said to the teenager to make him stay awake.

He did remember the aftermath though.

T.V. SENSATION MOWS DOWN OHIO TEENAGER!

THIS MAN IS NOT FOR TURNING: BLAINE ANDERSON HOSPITALISES TEEN IN CAR CRASH.

BLANDERSON SMASHES MORE THAN RECORDS IN ROAD ACCIDENT!

DON'T STOP (ME) NOW: FAMOUS ACTOR FORGETS TO HIT THE BRAKES!

"No, no, no! You can't fall asleep! Stay awake!"

"…"

"Oh gods no, please no, don't fall asleep!"

"…"

"Don't close your eyes! You need to stay awake!"

"... Loud."

"What?"

"… You're… Really… Loud…"

When he woke up, Kurt would later be pretty horrified to discover that his first words to the sensational Blaine Anderson were a complaint. He would also be too drugged up to care.

"No, no, no, no, don't close your eyes. You can't sleep! You have to stay awake."

"…"

"No, stay awake!"

"…"

"Goddamnit, stay awake!"

But this wasn't really Blaine's fault.

OK, maybe just a little bit.

But like hell would Kurt ever admit it.

In fact, assigning the blame wasn't really the best path.

Because what happened next was many, many things. A colossal Charlie-Foxtrot, sure. Painful as hell, definitely. A PR nightmare, naturally.

But worth it? Fantastic? Wonderful?

Completely.

It says something about Kurt's life that getting hit by a car was the best thing to ever happen to him.

Uh, this story just hit me as I completed a five hour slog of mechanics homework. Yeah, further maths AS? Not a great idea.

Ha, it's been a while, ne?

A lot of stuff has gone down in my life recently and it's kind of turned my entire perspective upside down. It's kind of hard to write, but I've been getting back into it. This story of mine was originally posted on S&C, but I've put it up here for, well, I don't know why.

-Kaputt