As Finn scooped his small stepbrother into his arms, he couldn't help but note how light the boy is. Ever since his father's health nose-dived once again, Kurt had basically lost the drive to live. He stopped eating, stopped sleeping, stopped talking – it seemed he had a one-track mind, at it was set on his sick father.
It was late, but Carole was still at the hospital. Finn had managed to force a little bit of toast into Kurt, and he nearly cried with happiness when the slender boy nodded off against his shoulder halfway through an episode of Intervention.
As Finn ascended the stairs slowly, Kurt curled in on himself, his childlike pink lips trembling slightly. He smelled faintly of rosemary and mint and moisturizer and was so very warm for someone so little. Finn could feel the boy's spine clearly through his shirt as he held him, and his bony elbows were digging into Finn's arms.
As the two boys reached the landing, Kurt stirred, burying his face into Finn's collarbone. Finn felt his heart melt as the corners of his brother's mouth turned up.
He walked down the starlit hallway to Kurt's room, wondering if he was going to have to drive to the hospital and force his mother to come home. Brushing those worries aside, Finn set his stepbrother onto his bed and pulled the covers around his slightly shivering frame.
"Mmmgrh…Finn?" Kurt's eyes were half-open, and in the moonlight coming through the window his cheeks looked gaunt and his eyes sunken. Finn bit his lip.
"Yeah, buddy?"
"Thank you." His voice was hoarse and quiet, and the weak sound of it broke Finn's heart.
"It's what brothers do, man." Finn moved to sit next to Kurt on the bed, rubbing his stepbrother's shoulder. Kurt sighed, eyes fluttering with fatigue. "Go back to sleep, Kurt. I'll be here when you wake up."
Kurt nodded, forming to Finn's body as the taller boy laid his body down on the bed. Finn wrapped both arms around Kurt, letting his brother's soft, fine hair tickle his cheek. Finn's own scent of Old Spice and sweat and laundry detergent mingled with Kurt's rosemary-and-mint air eclectically, and their fingers tangled as they both drifted towards unconsciousness.
They fit together comfortably, Finn found as his hazy brain slowly faded. Maybe they were born to be brothers.