A/N: I know Burt may seem OOC here, but there's a reason for it.
Part Nine
As soon as Kurt walked into Hummel Tires and Lube, he heard his dad and Finn laughing. He entered the first bay and saw them in the back by the coffee maker and microwave. Apparently, they were reliving some great moment in football history. The laughter stopped when Kurt approached. Burt looked surprised to see his son.
"Kurt, hey. How you feeling?"
"Me? I'm fine."
"You sure?" Burt reached over to feel Kurt's forehead. Kurt batted his hand away impatiently.
"Finn said you left Glee early. Said you were sick."
Kurt felt the weight of unspoken questions behind his dad's steady gaze. The main one being did he need to take a flamethrower to McKinley High yet. A quick smile flitted across Kurt's lips at the thought. "It's nothing. I probably should have just eaten more at lunch. Speaking of food-" Kurt cleared a space on the counter for the bento box he'd brought, "-I have your dinner." He started unpacking the food and arranging it on a decorative plate. "It's a new recipe." Kurt put a small dish of thick red sauce in the microwave and set it on low. "Pan seared tofu in a chilled lettuce wrap with ginger-pomegranate dipping sauce."
Burt Hummel shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "Thanks, but-Finn already picked up some burgers."
Finn, mouth full of cheeseburger, murmured affirmatively and offered Kurt a sandwich. Kurt read the cheeseburger wrapper and arched an eyebrow at Finn. "Death By Bacon?"
Finn shrugged. "S'good." He took another bite.
Kurt hmphed. "I think not." He put his burger and the burger and fries obviously meant for his dad into the fast food bag and shoved it back into Finn's hands.
"Don't be rude." Burt reached around Kurt for the burger and fries but Kurt sidestepped to block him.
"Dad-".
"I'm sick of your faggy vegan crap, Kurt!"
Finn choked on his sandwich, looking worriedly from Burt to Kurt and back again.
Burt Hummel grabbed the fast food bag from Finn. "I'm a guy, I want guy food. Real food." He held up the bag, making his point. "Meat!" Burt took the cheeseburger into his office and slammed the door.
The stricken look on Kurt's face reminded Finn of a kicked puppy. "I don't think he meant it like-"
"Relax, Finn. I didn't take it that way." Finn had heard almost those same words six months ago. Kurt was lying when he said them this time, too. The microwave beeped. Kurt removed the dipping sauce and set it on the plate with the lettuce wraps . Absently, he folded a napkin and set it next to the food. "Congratulations, Finn." Kurt's face settled into his carefully neutral smile that hid everything and fooled no one. Finn hated that smile. "Apparently you are a better son than I am."
"Kurt-" Finn reached out but Kurt smacked his hand away, hard.
"Don't!" Kurt backed away. "Just-don't." He stormed out, boots clicking sharply against the concrete floor.
Burt Hummel sat in his office staring blankly at the bacon cheeseburger and fries. One of the guys must have left them on his desk. They meant well but he'd have to remind them that this stuff was off limits since his heart attack. He glanced at the clock. Kurt said he would bring dinner over and Burt was getting hungry. He looked out into the bay area just in time to see Kurt leaving. Probably forgot something in his car.
Burt came out of his office and looked at Finn, puzzled. "You and Kurt come together?"
Finn frowned, confused by the question. Burt Hummel had seen them arrive separately. "No."
He watched as Burt walked over and picked up the plate of tofu lettuce wraps. "Kurt bring this for me?" Finn nodded, watching Burt warily. He acted like the last few minutes hadn't even happened. Burt took a bite and made a sound of approval. He nodded toward the exit. "He forget something?"
"Kurt left." Finn said slowly.
Burt's face fell. "Left? Without saying a word to me?" He wiped his fingers on the napkin. "I mean, yeah, I've been busy trying to catch up on the backlog but-." He looked toward the exit again, hurt and disappointed. "But I always made time for him. He knows that."
Burt picked up another lettuce wrap , dipped it and took a bite, licking the sauce from his fingers as it dribbled down.
"Man, this is good. I'll have to tell Kurt this one's a keeper."
Finn's jaw tightened. He knew how much it would have meant to Kurt to hear his dad's approval.
"Even though it's faggy vegan crap?"
Burt set the plate down roughly. "Hey! What'd I tell you about using that word?"
Finn stood to confront Burt Hummel. "Kurt left because you said you were sick of his faggy vegan crap."
Burt's face reddened. "I would never call my son-!"
"You just did!" Finn snapped back.
Burt shook his head and sat down. "No." He took off his baseball cap, smoothed a palm across his head and pulled the cap back on firmly. "Maybe it's the meds." He met Finn's eyes, troubled by what he had apparently said to Kurt. "I don't remember saying it."
Finn took in Burt's confused expression, the pained look in his eyes and believed him. He really didn't know what he had done. "Doesn't matter. Kurt's gonna remember you said it."
"Dammit…"
As Finn drove Burt home, they discussed what he could do to make things right with Kurt. Finally, as they pulled up in front of the house, Finn sighed and looked over at Burt.
"We both know what Kurt wants. He's been going on about it for a month."
"Yeah, but-." Burt hesitated only for a second. "Yeah, sure, I'm in. But if I'm gonna let Kurt drag me around trying on clothes for the next two hours, you're getting a makeover , too."
Finn grinned, feeling better about his relationship with Burt and Kurt than he had in a long time. If getting fitted for a couple of pairs of jeans and boots could coax a smile to Kurt's face-a real one-he was all for it. Besides, he felt bad about what he had said in Glee and figured he owed some bonding time to his almost brother.
Burt got out and headed for the garage while Finn walked up the sidewalk to the house.
"You grab Kurt-and don't take no for an answer. I'm gonna grab my Mellencamp cd from the garage."
Finn nodded. He entered the house and, after a quick glance to make sure Kurt wasn't upstairs, headed for the basement. He knocked briefly on the door before heading down.
"Kurt, come on, we're taking you to-what the hell-?"
Finn Hudson stood on the landing to Kurt's room, shocked by the destruction he faced. Curtains had been ripped from the ceiling. That weird privacy thing lay in pieces against the wall. A chair looked like it had been thrown across the room. And the vanity table. The mirror was shattered, broken glass lay scattered across floor. Most of Kurt's skin care bottles looked like they had been smashed against the wall.
He came down the rest of the stairs and into Kurt's room, turning slowly to take in the damage. The closet doors were open. Finn didn't remember Kurt having that much empty space for his clothes. He found Kurt's coat in the middle of the floor and automatically picked it up to keep it from wrinkling. A wadded piece of paper fell out. Finn finished hanging the coat up before going back to the paper and opening it up.
It was an ad for Hummel Tires and Lube. The word "lube" had been highlighted and exclamation marks added. Burt Hummel's face had been covered over with a cartoon of Kurt masturbating. Under the price list, someone had written in "pube lube $25". Finally, at the bottom of the ad was a sample tube of KY jelly and a condom. Little cartoon arrows pointed to the fact that the condom was "extra ribbed for your pleasure!". Finn's cheeks burned with embarrassment. He could only imagine how Kurt must have felt when he saw it.
He grabbed an overturned wastebasket, uprighted it and crumpled the ad up before he threw it in. As he set the wastebasket under Kurt's vanity, something else caught his eye. Finn stepped carefully around the broken glass for a closer look. Finn frowned. It was a swatch of the cowboy wallpaper from his room. He realized it was attached to a larger piece of poster board. He tugged it free, shook off the loose glass and set it on the vanity table for a better look.
"Oh, wow…"
Finn recognized it as one of Kurt's project boards he always seemed to be making. For rooms. For costumes. For healthy meals. This one was for the basement area. Next to the cowboy swatch were swatches of paint and fabric. Finn could tell that Kurt had used the wallpaper to pick out the browns and blues for what would be his room. The fabrics-corduroy, denim, faux suede-felt nice. And the furniture in the photos looked like it would be comfortable.
He ran his fingers across the carefully sketched and detailed layout below the swatches. The folding partition thing was gone, replaced with a solid wall of thick glass blocks that separated the two areas, providing light and privacy. And there were two bathrooms now. Each, Finn noted, with its own entrance. Everything he had wanted, Kurt had included.
He heard Kurt's phone ring and fished it out from the bedding on the floor. A text message. From someone named "kermielover". Finn frowned. There were no words, just a picture of a musical note. A b natural Finn thought. Probably from Brittany. It seemed like the sort of weird thing she would send. A second message soon followed. A bass clef. Finn shrugged it off and scrolled through the phone wondering if there was any clue as to where Kurt might be or what he was thinking. Nothing but missed calls from Mercedes and Rachel.
Burt Hummel wasn't surprised to see the lights on in the garage. Finn said Kurt had had a rough few days at school. If Kurt was that upset, he'd want to find comfort in his mom's memory. Burt eased his way around Kurt's car until he could see his wife's dresser stored in the back. He had finally moved it out of the house when Carole and Finn decided to move in. Someone had taken the tarp off and opened all the drawers.
Bingo. Burt could see Kurt curled up in a leather club chair next to the dresser. His feet dangled over one end, his head rested against the overstuffed back, eyes closed.
"Kurt?"
When Burt finally got around the rest of the car, he saw that Kurt had his headphones in. The iPod had slipped to his thigh and Kurt's right hand rested on it lightly. His left hand curled against his chest. Burt smiled fondly. Even as a baby, Kurt had that habit of curling his left hand just so.
"Hey." Burt crouched next to him and shook his knee. "C'mon. We're going to the mall for the makeovers you've been nagging us about. I'll even try on those ridiculous boots."
When Kurt didn't answer, Burt shook him again, harder. Kurt's arm dropped from his chest; an empty pill bottle fell from his hand and rolled to Burt's feet. He picked it up in disbelief. Nitroglycerin. One of his heart meds. The pills that should have been with him at work not here in the house where Kurt could-. A cold realization seized him. Where Kurt did, he corrected himself angrily. Where Kurt had overdosed on them. He shoved the bottle into his pocket.
"...kurt..."
He yanked the headphones out, threw the iPod to one side, and pulled his son into his arms. Kurt slumped against his chest, lifeless.