A/N: I know I said this chapter would be about 'Sexy' as well, but I just watched 'Original Song' (downside of not living in the US) and I just had to write this, so... yeah. But I will write at least one other chapter for 'Sexy'. Oh, and if you have any suggestions for other chats Finn and Kurt could have based on what goes down in certain episodes (probably starting from 2x11, though I suppose everything after Sectionals is fair game), don't hesitate to let me know, and I'll consider it :)

And here's where I ramble about the episode, so if you're not interested or haven't seen it yet, feel free to skip this part :P So... Kurt during Misery just made my day. He looked so bored and annoyed, I loved it :P And while I'm glad that Blaine finally got his act together (though I did not see that kiss coming :) )... is it me or is it a little... morbid to realise your feelings for someone while that person is singing a final ode to a dead pet bird? I have to admit, I first thought his epiphany was about how the lyrics applied to Kurt too, but that turned out not to be the case... Speaking of which, I thought Kurt was going to return to McKinley in this ep? Oh well. There's always next time. Even if that won't be until in four weeks :( And: I didn't really like how they made Kurt so hung up about losing Regionals. Now it's almost like he might be going back to McKinley because he wants to go to Nationals. But I liked how he reacted to just getting that solo :) The original songs that didn't get picked were, for the most part, hilarious (though I wonder how much longer Sam's going to stay with Santana...) and Quinn's part was very interesting, I think. Her reasoning seemed good, though I doubt she's really doing this for Rachel - come on, that doesn't really seem like her. But I did like that everyone seemed to appreciate Rachel just a little more now, and that she didn't turn her 'acceptance speech' into a story about how great and talented she is. I do wonder, though, how she used her experience with being in a relationship with a boy who turned out to be gay in the end :P As for Finn, I actually liked him this episode :) And Sue - oh deary me. She's evil. Though I did like the part where she was throwing tiny little sticks at Mercedes. Awesome, because at least she didn't throw big sticks or anything. And she attacked the woman who announced the winner - isn't there a saying in English, don't shoot the messenger?
Hm... there was probably a lot more that I wanted to mention, but this author's note is becoming much too long already. Sorry for my rant, I'll try not to do that again. So, if you've made it here - hopefully you'll enjoy the chapter! :D

Something was off when Finn returned home that afternoon. The house was completely silent – had he been alone, this wouldn't have been so odd. But Kurt's car was already in the driveway, which could only mean that Finn's stepbrother was home. And Kurt being home usually meant music drifting through the house, especially at this time of day.

So something had to be wrong for the house to be so quiet. It made Finn try to walk up the stairs as silently as possible, but he wasn't very well-practised in that. He was certain that Kurt could hear him coming from miles away.

"Uh, Kurt? What's wrong?" Finn poked his head around Kurt's bedroom door and looked around. His stepbrother was nowhere in sight (he was probably in the bathroom), but he wasn't the only one. From what Finn could see from where he was standing, the bird cage that Kurt had been trusted with ever since he joined the Warblers was empty. "Kurt? Where's Pav? Is he flying around? Oh – damn it, he didn't escape, did he?" He looked around frantically, but couldn't spot the yellow blob anywhere in the hallway.

"His wings were clipped," Kurt replied quietly, still out of Finn's view. "He couldn't fly."

"Oh, right." Now he remembered. He'd asked Kurt about that time and again and always got the same reply. But for some reason, something about the way Kurt said it now was different from how he usually reminded Finn of this. And his tone wasn't the only thing that was different from any other time. "Wait – what do you mean, he couldn't fly? Why the past tense?"

Finally, Kurt emerged from the bathroom, and even Finn noticed that he looked incredibly distraught. Kurt made a movement to sit down on the bed, but then seemed to rethink that – instead, he walked past Finn, out of his room. "I really need some warm milk right now," he said in a thick voice that Finn was sure he was trying to keep under control.

Wordlessly, Finn followed Kurt back to the kitchen, his mind reeling. "Are you okay?" he asked, even though he knew Kurt was far from okay – the little fact that he wanted warm milk in the middle of the day was enough of a giveaway. Furthermore, he was sniffling a little and Finn hadn't yet forgotten about the look on his face half a minute earlier.

"Do you want some?" Kurt asked, ignoring Finn's question, and the taller boy nodded. They didn't usually drink milk and have their little chats during the day, but that was alright. Kurt looked like he needed it now and Finn still had to make up for storming into Warbler practice a few days ago.

"So you – uh… want to talk about it?" Finn started as soon as Kurt handed him one of the mugs. Kurt just stared into his mug, and Finn felt a little uneasy. It was hard enough for him to talk about emotional stuff as it was, but if Kurt wasn't going to answer him too – that made it much, much harder.

"He's dead," Kurt all but whispered. "Pav. He died this morning." He sniffled again, but he wasn't crying, for which Finn was thankful. He'd probably cried enough already, though.

"Pav… died?" This came as a surprise to Finn. "Wasn't he hopping around and chirping with all his might last night?"

Kurt nodded. "I think it was a stroke," he responded, his voice strained. "He was… chirping one second, and the next… he was just… lying there."

He hastily gulped down some of the milk, probably in an attempt to stop himself from sobbing. "God, Kurt, that's – that's… awful." True, when they'd first all moved in together, Finn didn't really appreciate the fact that Pavarotti always started chirping as soon as Kurt got up, two hours before Finn. Over the past few months, though, the whole family, Finn included, had grown quite attached to the little yellow bird. "Did you tell Burt? Or mum?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not yet," he muttered. "I did – tell the Warblers, though. I mean, they had the right to know, right? Pav was like our mascot. And now he's – gone."

"How did they react?" Finn asked with a frown. If the stories Kurt had told him about the Warblers, and what their meetings were like – he didn't know if it would be good.

"They took it fairly well," Kurt replied, seeming less emotional now. "They didn't throw me out. Considering the circumstances – Regionals are this weekend – well, I didn't know what to expect, but it wouldn't have surprised me if they'd kicked me out."

"Well, that's… good, right?" Kurt shrugged in response. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to bury him," Kurt answered. "Well – Blaine said he'd come so I guess we'll bury him together. We just need to find a nice spot, you know?"

Finn chewed on his lip for a second before remembering that his milk must be starting to go cold. Hastily picking up his mug, he almost gulped all of it down in one go. "You can't just bury him in the backyard?" he asked, wondering if that was a very stupid suggestion.

Kurt shook his head resolutely, so he figured it was. "No, that's not going to happen," he replied almost forcefully. "Who knows what's going to happen to it – we still haven't made up our minds about what we're going to do with the backyard. I don't want to risk burying Pav there now and then dig him up again in a few months."

"The park," Finn suggested. "There are some spots there where no one ever comes, with trees and stuff…"

Kurt was silent for a minute. "That sounds nice," he said quietly. "We'll consider it." He sipped his milk and smiled a bit. "Thanks, Finn. You must be… swamped with all kinds of stuff right now and I'm making you listen to my problems."

Finn shrugged. "It's okay. I think we're all going to miss having Pav around. Besides, we're family now, right? In a way, at least…"

"Yes, we are," Kurt said with a small smile. He sighed. "Could you… do me a favour, Finn? Just – don't tell anyone yet. Keep this between us at least until after Regionals. It's not that I don't care about Mercedes or Rachel or anyone else, but… Pav was sort of our mascot. And now he's gone with Regionals coming up, and we're on opposing teams… I don't want this to be a bad omen for the competition."

"That's alright," Finn replied swiftly. He could keep this a secret for another couple of days. "I get it. Still, you'd better bring it at Regionals, because we're going to blow your mind." Maybe the sudden topic shift was a little insensitive, but Kurt had sort of been the one to bring it up.

Kurt pulled a funny face before turning serious again. "I don't doubt that."

"Aren't you going to tell me how you are going to beat us?" Finn asked, a little surprised. "Come on, man, I'm trying to get your mind off of things here."

"It's not really working," Kurt informed him. "He was still so young," he sighed, sounding very defeated. Turning back to Finn, he added, "And no, I'm not. If we're going to win, we'll win. If you are, you will."

"Blaine's going to sing lead again while all the others sway in the background?" Finn guessed, and Kurt looked about as shocked as he himself felt. He almost never had such brilliant moment while in class, sadly.

"I believe that's the plan," Kurt grumbled. "It's so predictable even you know it."

"Hey!" Finn cried out. "Take that back!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine. It's so predictable that maybe even Britt could figure it out."

Finn nodded in approval. "That sounds more like it."

"And let me guess, you haven't started practising yet?" Kurt asked, and Finn grinned goofily.

"You bet we aren't. Though we actually have a good reason for that. I think. But that's all I'm telling you."

Kurt stood up and grabbed both their mugs. "That's alright," he told Finn. "Anyway, thanks for listening."

"That's what brothers do, right?" Finn asked with another grin, and Kurt smiled back – not just a little bit, but a true smile.

"Right," he agreed.

A/N: So, what do you think about this? It's as if every chapter gets a (slightly?) corny ending if I continue like this :S Let me know if you have any comments/thoughts/questions, please review!