Sorry. That's all I'm gonna say.

Oh my god, sooooo much has happened since my last update; finished school, finished exams, graduated, got my results (OMG SO HAPPY!), am now (kind of, maybe, I'm not really sure?) going out with this guy from work, and it's 2013!

To the point, sorry for keeping you waiting, thanks so so so much for sticking with this story, and here's the chapter! :)

...

ONE MONTH, TWO WEEKS AND SIX DAYS LATER...

"Finn, I swear to God if you don't turn that down I'm going to strangle you!" Kurt screamed at the wall that divided his own room from his step-brother's.

As step-brothers who didn't become step-brothers until they were already in their teens, they'd never really gone through the 'hating each other' phase that was expected between most siblings. In fact, if Kurt was being honest with himself, they didn't really feel much like siblings at all. Even though they lived together, it kind of just felt like Finn was a friend who was staying with them for a while; except instead of just a little while, it was forever. But generally they acted no differently with each other than they would if they were hanging out with Sam or Puck or Mercedes. Except at times like this.

Everyone always spoke about how hard and how stressful senior year was, and Kurt had always found that hard to believe, thought they were just exaggerating to scare the juniors a little. However it was only his second week in and Kurt had been dumped with so much homework that he was starting to think that maybe they hadn't been speaking so far from the truth after all.

So when Finn finds the need to play his Playstation games at full volume while Kurt is trying to finish his essay for English Literature, Kurt forgets about the fact that they don't normally behave like normal brothers.

"Finn!"

"What?!"

"Turn. It. Down!"

Kurt closes his eyes and counts to ten slowly, listening carefully for any sound that Finn has actually listened to him. Once reaching ten, even after resorting to "nine, nine and a half, nine and three quarters", Kurt slams his book shut and bangs a fist on the wall twice.

"If you don't turn that down in the next fifteen seconds I will tell Dad and Carole about how you let Rachel sta-"

It seemed that Kurt's tactics had worked well however, as he didn't even need to finish his threats before Finn was throwing open his door.

"You wouldn't dare!" Finn said, appearing torn between being angry or terrified.

"Wouldn't I?" he smirked.

"C'mon dude, you promised you wouldn't!"

"I did, but that was before you refused to turn down the bloody volume on your game while I'm trying to study! Do you realise how hard it is to study with the constant sound of shooting in the background? Oh, of course you wouldn't, because you never study!"

"Seriously? I never told Mum and Burt about you sneaking out to go make out with that Blaine-guy at the caravan park!"

"Wha- but you were asleep?" Kurt whispered at the same time as the voice of his dad from outside his bedroom door said, "you what?!"

If Kurt had thought that he hated his step-brother thirty seconds ago, it was nothing compared to what he felt in that moment. Anyone who knew Kurt knew how terrifying he could be when he was mad; Finn included. Which explained why the moment he caught sight of Kurt's glare his demeanour changed almost instantly, attempting to shrink out the door while Burt was focused on the situation at hand...

"Stop right there, Finn," Burt said as he noticed Finn's try at escaping. "What were you talking about? Who's this Blaine kid?"

"Uh, oh that? That was nothing, just me 'n Kurt mucking around, like brothers do," Finn stuttered, wiping his palms on the legs on his shorts nervously.

"Nothing, hey?" Burt raised his eyebrow, then moved his gaze to Kurt, who sat on the edge of his bed staring intently at his socked feet. "You wanna tell me what he's talking about?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly sneaking out, because it wasn't planned and I didn't purposely not tell you it was just that it was late at night and you and Carole were sleeping. And I was not making out with him," Kurt said with a glare aimed at Finn, "we just talked, okay?"

"Woah woah woah, hold up a second. Who's he?"

"Uh, he is Blaine. A guy I made friends with at the caravan park while we were away. Can you two leave now? I'm kind of trying to study here..."

Burt nodded his head at Finn, who practically skidded out into the hall and then back into his room with a slam of his door. However, instead of turning to follow him as Kurt had expected, Burt shut the door and stood facing Kurt with crosses arms.

"So this Blaine kid...is he who was getting you so upset since we got back? And don't bother lyin'."

"Well, yes, but it wasn't his fault. It was just a bit of a misunderstanding. But everything's fine now, so there's nothing for you to worry about. Okay?"

"Okay," he said unsurely. "But you still snuck out, and I don't care whether you planned it or not. So for that, you're grounded. For two weeks."

"Dad! Two weeks? Can't I just help out at the shop or something instead?"

"Fine. Two nights a week, for a month. Deal?"

"Yes, deal."

…

"For a month?" Mercedes gasped.

"Mhmm," Kurt hummed, moving the phone from his left ear to his right. "At first he was just going to outright ground me, though, so I'm not too upset with this alternative."

"True. So, no news from Blaine?"

It had taken him a few weeks before he'd opened up to Mercedes about Blaine, but eventually he had to tell her – he'd never been good at keeping secrets from her.

"Nope. But like I said, he probably hates me because he thinks I stood him up. Which is probably why he didn't leave me with his number or an address or anything. I mean, surely he would've known that if he left something there – a note or a book, maybe – that I would've found it. I guess I can understand why he wouldn't though. If he'd stood me up I wouldn't want anything to do with him."

"That's not true and you know it, Kurt Hummel. You are so smitten with this boy that he could run you down with his car and you'd still crawl back to him with your heart-eyes," Mercedes laughed.

"Gosh, getting a little graphic there, Mercedes!"

"I'm sorry, but you know what I mean."

Kurt sighed, "unfortunately I do." After a few moments of silence, Kurt spoke again, "anyway, duty calls. I have to go help Dad – day 1 of my punishment. I'll chat to you later."

"Sure thing. Don't work yourself too hard. You've got to keep yourself in good form for your's and Loverboy's reunion."

"Haha, okay. Bye."

…

TA-DA! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this and I promise (hopefully) that the next update won't come with such a wait. Please review and let me know what you thought!

EM xoxo