Lavender: Kurt & Sam
There was kind of an unsung hero in the whole losing Finn thing.
Kurt had watched his friends mourn. He had watched Rachel mourn. He had watched his parents mourn. He had watched his old teachers and the people he knew at school and his dad's employees mourn. He had watched himself mourn. The thing he missed during all that watching is that someone was watching him mourn.
Blaine had been pretty great during that rough period, making extra phone calls and coming to New York when he could. However, Blaine didn't understand what it felt like to lose Finn; he couldn't really. The two of them had never been especially close despite their connection to Kurt, and even when they had gotten along, there had always been a competitive edge to their friendship that kept it from being anything more.
On the other hand, Puck probably understood what it was like to lose Finn better than anyone. That grief meant, however, that the two of them were competing for who missed him most. Kurt knew it was stupid to look at it that way, but if that argument over the coat taught him anything, they weren't capable of really being there for each other at that point in time. He wanted to be supportive of Puck because he knew it was what Finn would want. He just couldn't pull it off with any real authenticity when he was still trying to figure out how he felt himself.
That only left one person. Sam was there after they had cleaned out Finn's bedroom to carry the boxes down to the donation van. Sam was there to have coffee with Carole in the wee hours of the morning when she was missing her son so much that she couldn't breathe. Sam was there to silently watch football with Burt when they both knew that it should have been Finn slumped over in the old brown recliner. Sam was there to send Kurt random texts like Finn used to and to listen to his New York stories and do all the brotherly things that no one else could do. Sam was there when Kurt came back to Lima and found himself sitting at the counter with a mug of warm milk on a night where sleep just wouldn't come.
"Couldn't sleep?" the blonde asked as he padded into the kitchen, swiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Hmm, no," Kurt murmured as he hugged the porcelain mug between his palms. It was Finn's favorite, an old chipped monstrosity that Puck had painted for Carole for Mother's Day in 2003. "I can't get over how quiet the house is still. I keep thinking I'll get used to it, but I never do. Rather than stare at my ceiling, I thought I'd come down here for a warm cup of milk."
Sam knew from Blaine's stories that warm milk had been a Finn thing. "My mom always sprayed my sheets with this lavender stuff when I couldn't sleep when I was a kid," he rambled. "Do you think you could make me a cup? I'd do it myself but I always end up scalding it. I don't want to ruin anything."
Kurt busied himself with a pan while Sam chattered mindlessly about an upcoming basketball game. He paid enough attention to make the appropriate sounds in all the right places, but both boys knew he wasn't really paying attention. He never really listened to Finn either. It was more about the hum of the conversation, the comfort of just having someone there. Kurt had never stopped to think about how hard it must be for Sam to be there after Finn died and he went back to New York.
"Sam, I know that it's probably been difficult these past few months," Kurt said as he sat the mug down in front of his friend. "I just want you to know how much I appreciate you being there for my parents. I know that I should have done better; I will do better. Still, you being around to help them and listen to them and spend time with them – I know it's made the difference."
"I love Burt and Carole," Sam replied dismissively. "Just like I loved Finn. I know he wasn't my brother like he was yours or my best friend like he was to Puck, but Finn and I were close in our own way. I feel like I'm doing something he'd like by being there for your parents. I just hope you know that I'm there for you too."
"I do," Kurt smiled.
The next night, just as Kurt was about to go to sleep, he found a small notecard and a travel bottle of lavender-scented linen spray on his pillow. Inside, Sam had written, "Thanks for the milk, bro. Get some sleep."
Kurt slept for twelve hours straight.