a/n 1: Woot /#!/msleamichele/status/60430408432619520
a/n 2: Warning: Asshole jocks saying horrible things in this chapter
a/n 3: I hope I'm not overdoing with the texts, but the average for teens is like 4000 in a month, so yeah.
When Finn finally went downstairs, wearing the blue polo shirt, both Kurt and Mercedes were sitting on the couch talking. They didn't stop, which Finn thought was awesome because that meant they probably weren't talking about him. Kurt just gestured to the empty spot on the other side of Mercedes and kept ranting about what Finn could now hear was his attempt to talk Santana, Quinn, and Brittany into rejoining the Cheerios. When Kurt got up to put the DVD in the player Mercedes leaned over and asked quietly, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, no problem. Just didn't know we had company," Finn said. He figured the short explanation was the best. He could tell from the look on her face that she didn't believe for a minute that was the whole story but he was relieved when she just nodded and bumped his shoulder with hers.
"We decided on The Little Mermaid, we figured none of us was in the mood for something too serious," Kurt explained.
"And this way we can sing along!" Mercedes added, and Finn sighed. Singing wasn't something he really was in the mood for anymore. He'd never really sung before glee, and now with all his feelings so close to the surface anyway he'd been carefully avoiding it. It's not like he minded listening to Kurt and Mercedes sing along though, especially when Mercedes launched into a pretty awesome solo on Poor Unfortunate Souls. Wow, she really should have more solos, maybe he could talk to…oh, fuck. What the hell was wrong with him?
He knew in his brain that all of this crazy was pretty normal. Dr. McKenna and everyone who mattered had been telling him how strong he was, how good he was handling all this. That he could expect to feel this way. His gut wasn't so sure though. He wasn't used to being happy one minute and scared the next and then angry to finish it all off. He was pretty sure he had a few more days max before Puck's good intentions wore off and he started making cracks about PMS.
He was brought back to the movie by Mercedes trying and failing to contain a snicker next to him. When he gave her a questioning look she leaned against his side and motioned with her head towards Kurt and the TV screen. "Does Prince Eric remind you of anyone?"
He focused a bit on what was going on in the movie, and then noticed the look on Kurt's face, which even he could admit was rather adorable. "Holy shit!" He whispered to Mercedes, "It's mostly the eyebrows right?"
"Um hmm," she murmured, practically in his ear and Finn was a bit surprised that he was totally good with it. In fact, she smelled good. Like cotton candy or something really sweet.
"Do you think he realizes?" Finn asked, relaxing a bit into the armrest as she shakes her head. "I don't think so. Mr. H said that this was Kurt's favorite movie when he was little. Maybe that's just his type."
Despite how well the brother thing was going Finn would rather not think too much on Kurt's taste in guys. Instead he smiled at the girl who was leaning against his shoulder and asked "So, what's your type?"
"Watch the movie, Frankenteen, " was her only answer, but he could tell she was smiling so it was cool. He also noticed she stayed where she was for the rest of the movie. That was pretty cool too.
Mercedes had barely made it into the house before her phone blew up.
Message From: Kurt
Care to explain?
Apparently her best friend hadn't been completely distracted by the movie. Damn. This could get awkward. All that drama over her liking Kurt and Kurt liking Finn and she just had to be cliche enough to start connecting the other side of the triangle.
Message From: Mercedes
Explain what, boo?
Message From: Kurt
You know what.
Message From: Mercedes
I have no idea what you are talking about and even if I did there wouldn't be anything to tell.
Message From: Kurt
This is why you backed out of Plan W? I had to get Rachel. Rachel!
Message From: Mercedes
Good. Then Plan W will distract her too and not just the gossip whores.
Message From: Kurt
Which brings us back to why you want her distracted, darling.
Message From: Mercedes
We are not making this into anything.
She wasn't going to make this into some grand romance in her head, she was not. He was hurting right now and she was not going to twist that so she could end up heartbroken when he runs after some skinny Cheerio.
Message From: Kurt
Fine, but just so you know, this theoretical "this" that does not exist? He should be so lucky.
Message From: Mercedes
Thanks, baby. Night.
The Monday Kurt returned to McKinley Finn wished he could stay outside all day. It was one of those first warm days in late spring where you could just take off your jacket and finally stretch out on the grass somewhere and enjoy the sun. Finn, however, was riding shotgun as his stepbrother pulled into the parking lot for another week of school. Having Kurt back not only eased the guilt Finn was feeling about bailing on New Directions, but worrying about what could happen to his brother was weirdly enough a nice change from worrying about himself.
Sam, Puck, and Brittany were waiting for them this morning and they walked into the school as casually as they could with Sam and Puck standing on either side of them looking like they would jump the first jock that looked at either one of them the wrong way.
Mercedes was waiting for Kurt at his locker with Artie and Mike and she pulled Kurt into a hug as soon as he got close enough.
"You look fabulous, honey! I'm so glad you're here," she said, "Are you ready for this?" Finn was hoping Kurt would answer, since he had ignored him when he asked the same question before leaving the house.
"This is where I need to be," Kurt said, before tugging the strap of his messenger bag onto his shoulder and nodding in the direction of his English class. "Time for English, let's go Sam."
Finn's Trig and English classes had gone by pretty easily, and when he caught sight of Kurt in the hall on his way to Biology he was still wearing the same clothes he'd left the house in. That was a good sign. He should have known it was too good to last. He made it to Biology well before the bell for once and grabbed a seat at a lab table with Sam and Mercedes with a smile. He didn't notice the three hockey players behind them until he heard them.
"My dad's buddy Tom is a cop and he told my dad that Schuester wasn't just a regular pervert, he's a fag too," the first one, who Finn remembered being named Walters or Wallace or something like that, said. Finn gripped the edge of the lab table, his knuckles white. He wanted to run, but he also wanted to find out how much they knew.
"No surprise there," said Saunders, "I hear he was perving on Rutherford last year, that's why he left."
Finn could feel the blood pounding through his veins. Mercedes slipped her hand over one of his clenched fists and said softly enough so the hockey players wouldn't hear, "Finn, breath. They are just making shit up right now. You know that. Don't turn around."
Sam leaned off his stool, "There are two of us and three of them. We need to ignore it for now."
Mason chimed in then, "Nah, I figured he was screwing Hummel, but he didn't need drugs for that little bitch. Must have been one of the other losers."
Mercedes took her hand off Finn's long enough to slip her earrings out of her ears and into her bag. "No, there are three of us, and they are gonna regret being born, " she hissed to the boys.
Finn watched her do it like he was a million miles away, he was trying to keep from freaking out but it really wasn't working. How could they laugh about that. How could they say those things like real people weren't hurt. People were going to know it was a guy now. They were going to start guessing. He saw Sam grab Mercede's shoulder so she would notice Finn's reaction and as soon as she did her focus changed completely from the hockey players to him.
"Sam, can you distract the puckheads? Finn and I are getting out of here," she said grabbing Finn's hand and dragging him behind her up to the teacher's desk. He tried to focus on the feeling of her hand and it helped him focus just a bit. He thought he could hear Sam asking Saunders if Puck had cleaned his mother's pool lately. Well, that would keep them busy for a while.
By the time they got to the front of the room Finn was still trying to catch his breath, but he noticed that Mercedes had started crying. It was kind of crazy how girls could do that whenever they wanted to. "Ms. Baker some of the guys were talking about Mr. Schue and I'm really upset. Can Finn take me to the nurse? I don't wanna go alone," she said, loud enough for the first couple rows to hear and spread word that she was the one that freaked. The teacher shot both of them a sympathetic look, "Go ahead, you can get the notes from Mr. Evans after class."
Finn let himself be pulled out of the biology classroom and down the hall, into the empty astronomy classroom. Mercedes guided him into a chair and pulled up one for her next to him. She started rubbing his back and counting just like he'd seen her do for Kurt that time. He'd been able to get a grip fairly early this time and it didn't take long for him to feel what he'd gotten used to as normal.
"Thanks for getting me out of there. That could have been really bad," he said. "You would have ripped those guys apart wouldn't you?"
She laughed, "I would have tried. My brother taught me a few things, but turning on the waterworks is usually more effective."
She pulled out her phone and started typing, "I better get Puck to meet Sam after that class; he might need back-up."
"His backup won't be as amazing as mine," he says and then is immediately embarrassed. He's not really trying to sweet talk her or anything, though he'd like another chance at the handholding when he's more able to appreciate it. He gets his wish when she just shakes her head and pulls him up, keeping hold of his hand once he's on his feet. "Come on, it looks like we have a free period and I could use one of those iced coffee drinks." It looked like Finn was going to get some time outside today after all.