Family quarrels have a total bitterness unmatched by others. Yet it sometimes happens that they also have a kind of tang, a pleasantness beneath the unpleasantness, based on the tacit understanding that this is not for keeps; that any limb you climb out on will still be there later for you to climb back. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Finn and I's punishment started out with Carole banishing us to the basement while she figured out what to do. No, scratch that. First she relieved us of any laptops, iPods, televisions, and beauty products. We had nothing to do but sit on our beds and stare at each other. I flopped back against the pillow. "This is completely unfair."

"She's only getting started, Dude." Finn climbed up next to me and laid down, yawning tiredly. "You probably aren't going to be seeing that laptop for a long time."

He was right. By the time the punishment was over, she informed us that she was keeping the confiscated items, and we were both banned from the television, family computer, and, much to Finn's horror, the snack cabinet. Two days, starting right now.

My jaw dropped. She wasn't allowed to punish me, was she? Maybe she could get away with punishing Finn, but the only one who could punish me was Dad, and he wasn't here. Then I made the error of voicing that thought.

Carole smiled at me, but it wasn't her usual 'you're such a good boy and I'm proud of you' smile. This was more of a 'Oh, mister, you just made a huge mistake' smile. "That's where you're wrong, Kurt. I've already spoken to your father, and he thinks that this is a perfectly appropriate punishment. But since you want to argue and fight with me, you can consider yourself grounded for the next two days as well."

This wasn't how things were supposed to work! Dad threatened, and Dad laid down punishments, but he also forgot about them 10 minutes later. In the event that he did remember, I could usually talk him into greatly reducing my punishment, if not outright canceling it. If I had to, I could even use the trick where my eyes welled up, just slightly, which never failed to melt him. "But…I'm supposed to go shopping with Mercedes tomorrow. We already had plans."

She was completely unmoved. "Cancel them. But we can always add on additional days if you want to fight about it."

"No, ma'am" Fine, if that was the ways she wanted it. I would just appeal to the Supreme Court of Dad when he came home. Surely he wasn't going to back her up on this. "I'll call and cancel."

"Thank you." She lightly touched my shoulder, and I felt briefly bad for going behind her back. But it wasn't like I had done anything that bad. A little eavesdropping wasn't like I had killed someone. Carole was just too strict.

Finn didn't seem too concerned with her strictness but, then, he had lived with it for 17 years now. He just had no idea what a normal family looked like.

Do you? You eavesdropped, and you were punished. Then you talked back and got an additional punishment. I don't quite see where she did anything wrong or abnormal. But complain to your father, I'm sure it will help.

That voice could just shut up! Of course it was going to help. Dad and I were a team, just the two of us. Finn and Carole couldn't change that, could they?

"You wanna do something?" Finn tugged lightly on my shirt.

I made myself smile at him, not that that was a particularly difficult task. "Like what? In case you haven't noticed, she took everything."

He squinted, like I was suddenly dumber then he was. "We could make out."

The fact that he said it like that, that he actually desired it, instead of knowing that it was something he should do to make me happy, made my heart thump. "Why Finn Hudson, what a wonderful idea."

"I know, right?" Now he was giving me his patented huge grin, and I had to laugh at his enthusiasm. "Sometimes I'm super smart."

"Sometimes you are." I held out an arm and let him come to me. My entire being thrilled when he didn't hesitate at all before climbing happily into my arms.

Unfortunately, my lips hadn't even met his before Carole was calling back down the stairs. "Kurt! Your father is on the phone!"

Finn gave a frustrated groan, flopping backwards on the bed. "Good job, Mom. Total cock block."

The words surprised me, though Finn didn't seem to be aware of them. Whether he realized it or not, he was thinking about sex, and had a desire to have it one day.

Or he doesn't think about where phrases come from.

Or that. "Hold your horses, Cowboy. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Ok." He rolled onto his back and pulled out a sports magazine from under the pillow. "Hurry."

There was no reason for me to do so. Finn's enthusiasm for kissing or touching tended to wane quickly, and this was going to be another day of me getting nothing. Besides, I had to tell Dad that Carole was treating me unfairly, so I could call Mercedes and tell her that our trip was back on.

Dad didn't sound very happy when I greeted him. "What's the problem here, Kurt? Because I have things to do other then call home and argue with everyone."

This wasn't getting off to a good start. "Carole grounded me."

"Why?" There was something in his voice that suggested he wanted to laugh, but knew how offended I would be.

"Because she's mean. She took all of my electronics away, and Finn's too, for two entire days. Then she grounded me on top of it, but not Finn. We did the exact same thing, but I was punished more. She's favoring him."

He shuffled some papers. "Really? If I ask to speak to Carole, is she going to tell me the exact same thing?"

Of course not. "She might have a slightly different version of events. I was just trying to explain to her that maybe punishments were something that we should discuss as a family, just like we talked about in therapy. She got crabby."

Dad sighed. "So, unless I miss my mark here, you basically told Carole that she wasn't the boss of you, and she would find that out when your Daddy came home. And that was when she grounded you for two days?"

When he put it like that, it really did sound like my fault. "Well…."

"To be clear, you're being grounded for talking back to her, not for eavesdropping or whatever foolish thing you and Finn got into trouble for in the first place. Finn isn't being punished because he knew when to keep his mouth shut. I don't exactly see the favoring."

Hot tears burned in the backs of my eyes. Suddenly me and Dad had become Dad and Carole. I wasn't needed any more. "I…" I couldn't' get anything else out. This wasn't fair, but the words to tell him that just wouldn't come.

"When Carole and I are both home, the two of us will decide on punishments together. When just one of us is there, the adult present will make the decision themselves, without any input from you or Finn. The pair of you are the children; she and I are the grown-ups. Carole and I discussed this earlier, and, for the record, I am 100% in agreement with her decision to ground you. Now, is there anything else you need?"

"No. I'll let you go, because you and Carole decided I could no longer use the phone." I hung up with a slam. Why did this suck so much!

Carole was in the living room, but she wisely didn't say anything as I stormed past her. What was left for her to say? She had already ruined my night, and tomorrow, and my next two days. Bitch.

Takes one to know one.

Much to my surprise, Finn was still sprawled out on the bed, looking perfectly happy and somewhat seductive. "So, are we going to make out?"

I didn't particularly feel like making out, not even with Finn, but I wasn't foolish enough to lose this opportunity. "Of course we are."

He threw the magazine to the side and opened his arms. "Well?"

My tension eased as he wrapped his arms around me, kissing my lips and down my neck. Say what you will about Finn and his flaws, but the man knows how to kiss. His fingers tightened and released on my shoulders, tangling in the back of my shirt. Suddenly I was very interested in making out.

Even now, though, in the heat of the moment, there was a part of me that had to remain aware. To be careful of where my body was, and his, and not let the lower halves touch. I was already hard, and Finn was….well, I guessed I didn't know what Finn was. Would it be worse if he was hard, or if he wasn't?

Judging by his other responses, he was certainly interested. Finn was whining into my mouth, licking gently at my lips. He always asked like this, even though I would never turn him down. I opened my mouth slightly and let him do whatever he wanted to me.

Oh, what a hardship. Poor, poor Kurt has to make out with the boy of his dreams. The world should pity you.

While I was distracted by my thoughts, Finn slid his around the back of my neck, pulling me down on top of him. In that one second, we were both able to feel absolutely everything. Finn jumped and pulled back slightly, his eyes wide. I rolled off of him and thrust a pillow over my crotch. This was bad; this was very, very bad.

At least you got your question answered about whether or not he was hard. My interpretation would be very.

Her interpretation didn't mean a whole lot. An erection in a 17 year old boy didn't mean much except he wasn't dead. Even Joseph had been able to get him hard. My voice was a creaky whisper. "Finn, I…."

"S'ok." He was as flustered as I was. "I mean…..Like, I knew it was there, Dude, it's just that….Uh…."

I took pity on him. "It's one thing to know it and another thing to touch it?"

"Yeah. Sorry." I noticed that he wasn't pushing me away, and actually seemed to be relaxing.

I reached for him, lightly stroking the fine hairs at the back of his neck. "Don't be. If you're uncomfortable, you need to tell me right away."

"I don't want you to be mad at me. And, anyway, I wasn't. Well, maybe a little, but I was more surprised." Then he gave me that lopsided grin. "I'm not scared now, either."

That was something I fully intended to take advantage of, but I wanted to address something else he had said first. I knew that Joseph had refused to let Finn say 'no' and I had to make him understand that it would be different with me. "I won't ever be mad at you for saying you want to go slower or even stop, do you understand me Finnegan?"

His full name snapped him to attention, just like I had suspected it would. "I know. I know you wouldn't hurt me. You're good."

Despite everything, Finn's faith in people was still strong. I would be trusted, because he thought I was good. Period. I wouldn't turn on him, I wouldn't hurt him, I wouldn't be anything but good to him, because I told him I would be. I rubbed his jawline. "Thank you, Finn."

"Whatever." He gave a lazy stretch and moved his body closer to mine. "Can we do it again?"

Well, it would be rude to deny him. "I suppose I could be convinced to-Finn!." As soon as I confirmed wanting to make out, Finn tackled me back to the bed, rolling me on to my side. "You are such a Neanderthal!"

"I can live with that." He tickled me, making sure to aim for my ribs. "Now let's get back to the making out."

Simple minded creature. I noticed that he wasn't trying to get me on top of him any more, but we were still taking steps forward. So this day wasn't total loss after all.

Finn wasn't quite as enthusiastic as he had been before, but he wasn't as jittery as I had expected he would be either. He was gentle and sweet, kissing not only my lips but down my jaw and neck. He even nuzzled at my collarbone and who could have possibly thought that it could feel so good?

Does it not disturb you that Finn Hudson knows your body and how to please it better then you do, and it's only been a few weeks since you got together? You need to get to know yourself, and I do mean that in the biblical sense.

With the way Finn was nibbling on my earlobe, I was going to need to sneak off and get to know myself in the bathroom soon, or risk something inappropriate happening in my dry clean only pants. "Finn." My voice was a half whisper-half moan, which he only took as encouragement to run his tongue down my neck. My heart was pounding in my ears, and everything was starting to look a little bright.

Salvation came again in the form off Finn's mother, which served to cool both of our jets significantly. Fortunately, she didn't come downstairs, which might have resulted in neither one of us ever being able to look her in the face again. "Boys? I need one of you to come up here and help me fold some laundry, please."

Finn pulled away from me, his eyes black and his lips swollen. "Coming, Mom! Let me pee first!"

With the way he was adjusting himself, I didn't think peeing was what he needed the bathroom for. He leaned over and gave me one final kiss, much more gentle then he had been before. "I'll be back." It was a lousy Terminator imitation, but it did make me smile. That was Finn, my goofy, unsure, messy, Terminator-quoting, boyfriend.

Finn finally came back downstairs, two baskets of laundry balanced in his arms. Since he's not capable of neatly putting his own things away, I took them both while he wandered over to play with Leo and Mikey. He was still determined that he was going to teach his rat to play fetch with him, despite his lack of success so far. Still, I had to admire his determination.

I also had to admire the way he took care of them. I had figured that his interest in the rats, or at least in taking care of them, would last a week, tops, and then I would be the one feeding and watering and ensuring that our basement didn't reek of rat crap.

But, so far at least, Finn was holding to his promise of being the one to care for both rats. They always had food and water, and he cleaned the cage religiously. Plus, it was kind of cute to see them rolling round the basement in their little ball. I listened to him with half an ear. "Leo! Come here, boy, come here." He whistled a few times for good measure. "Come on. Kurt? Why isn't he coming?"

"Maybe because he's a rat and not a dog, Cowboy." I hid my grin by keeping my body turned to the closet. Usually Finn doesn't mind a good natured joke, but sometimes he gets sensitive.

"But the internet said that you can train them." Disappointment dripped off of every syllable.

"Didn't the internet also tell you that it was ok to eat expired food, as long as it didn't smell bad? Do you remember how that turned out?" Because none of the rest of us could forget it. Carole had nearly had to hospitalize him due to him being so dehydrated, and he hadn't been able to perform properly in Glee for almost three weeks after.

He gave a slow, thoughtful, nod. "Oh, yeah. He comes sometimes, though. You know, when I have a banana chip."

I had a few suspicions that Finn liked those banana chips at least as well as the rats did, but I hadn't been able to catch him actually eating one. "Then you're making progress."

He gave me a quick grin and went back to working patiently. It wasn't as much fun as making out had been, but it was….comfortable. Finn kept glancing over, as if to make sure I hadn't disappeared on him, but he didn't speak to me further. There was a level of trust in me that I don't think he ever had with Rachel or Quinn.

Or maybe I was just deluding myself, but I had never seen Finn as relaxed in their presence as he was now in mine. We remained in a companionable quiet for almost three hours, until Dad's truck pulled up and Carole was calling us to dinner. Finn had long since given up on trying to get the rat to come to him, and was now just laying on the floor, petting it and talking too softly for me to hear.

Usually, when dinner was mentioned, Finn bolted for the stairs with all possible speed, if he even waited long enough for Carole to call. Most of the time he was hanging around and getting in her way as soon as the food was no longer completely raw. How that boy has not completely destroyed his digestive system by now is a mystery that may never be solved.

Today, though, he was kind of slow. He put Leo back in his cage and wandered into our bathroom to wash his hands. It was worrisome, and it made me wonder if the stress of today had taken more out of him then I had thought.

I wanted to ask him if he was alright, but something held me back. Instead I waited for him to come out of the bathroom, giving him the critical once-over. His eyes looked circled and over bright, and his head drooped. My heart dropped. .If Finn couldn't handle a trip to an empty school, how was he going to handle coming to Glee with us, much less performing at our Sectionals?

He'll handle it one step at a time, just like everything else. I want you to back up just 2 ½ months, and remember what it was like when Finn first came back. He couldn't talk, he was barely responsive to you, and he made himself physically ill when he was drug out of the house. In just 10 weeks, he's talking, he's being social when people come over, and he's even willing to go shopping with you. Furthermore, he's willing to try a relationship with you. What more do you want?

If you looked at it like that, I guessed that Finn was doing pretty well. Still, I worried.

Dinner was a subdued affair. I was still upset with both Carole and Dad over my punishment, and I wasn't afraid to sulk and let them know it. In her unending quest to piss me off, she had made pork chops for dinner, when she knew full well that I didn't eat pork products. Naturally, Dad and Finn were in ecstasy. The fact that Carole had made sure I had plenty of side dishes and salad, as well as a sweet potato, since I didn't like the starchiness of the regular type didn't do much to improve my mood.

The worst part was, Finn was barely eating the disgusting, fatty, concoction. Usually he could be trusted to gulp down two or three of them, as well as enormous helpings of the side dishes, but today he just picked at a single chop. His salad was untouched, which wasn't terribly unusual, but he hadn't eaten his potatoes either. Carole noticed that he wasn't eating. "Finn? Is something wrong with your food?" At his disaffected shrug, she tried again. "Do you feel alright?"

"Yeah." Now that we were all looking at him, he forced down a few bites. "I'm just not very hungry."

In other words, the apocalypse was here. Carole's eyes narrowed, but she backed off. "Alright, then. I'll put some aside for later."

"Thanks." He sounded completely unenthusiastic about it, but he offered her a game smile. It didn't fool me, and I could tell that she wasn't fooled either.

Dad tried to step in. "So, Finn, have you given any more thought to coming down to the garage and learning the ropes? I could use another man out on the floor."

Finn nodded slowly. "Yeah, that would be good. Do I get paid?" The grin on his face might have passed muster for someone else, but after his earlier listlessness, it just looked forced to me.

Dad chuckled, and I knew that Finn had managed to fool him. "Of course. It will be nice to have someone for a few hours during the day."

"Yeah." Finn wasn't even making the effort to sound enthusiastic now. "Maybe on Thursday."

For as long as I had known him, Finn had been convinced that Thursdays were lucky. He was capable of presenting a rather compelling case, citing everything from the day he made quarterback to the Glee club winning Sectionals. Not to mention a plethora of unrelated items, which included things like the day he got his X-box, or the two for one deal you could get at the local burrito place. His crowning point was that the Wrights had dropped him off on a Thursday, and how much more proof did I need that that was the luckiest day of the week?

I hadn't thought about it at the time, but it was also on a Thursday that Finn kissed me for the first time, out on our back steps. Maybe there was something to his little theory after all.

"Sure, sure, whenever you like." Dad was clearly thrilled at their moment of bonding.

Finn really likes making people happy, and his smile lost some of its tense edge, softening into something more gentle. "Thursday's good. May I be excused?"

Carole nodded. "No television, and no computer. You're still being punished."

"Ok." He took his plate over to the sink and went back downstairs, his tread sounding ominously heavy to those of us still upstairs.

Carole said nothing to me, but Dad felt compelled to add his two cents in. "You too, Kurt."

"I know. I still claim that my punishment was unjustified and uneccacarilly harsh, but, seeing as the two of you are the adults in this farce of a relationship, I'll abide by your law. Am I allowed to go downstairs as well, or should I stay up here and serve the pair of you?"

Dad shot me a look, the kind that had me quickly trying to back down. He didn't give me that look often, but he meant business when he did. Before I could stammer out an apology, he pointed at the basement door. "Your punishment just jumped to four days instead of two and, unless you want it to be a week, you better make yourself scarce."

This was one of those situations where I was best off just obeying him. "Yes, sir."

I stormed down the basement stairs, angry and humiliated for the second time that day. Finn was on his bed, staring quietly at the ceiling. He didn't even look up at me as I marched by him.

By now, most of the household was used to my tantrums.

Under normal circumstances, I would have called Mercedes, or at least gotten revenge by going online and doing some serious damage to Dad's credit card. But neither one of those options were open to me now, which did nothing to improve my mood.

With a heavy sigh, I picked up one of my fashion magazines and climbed up next to Finn. He wrapped his arm around me, but still didn't say anything. So I did what I do best: I talked for both of us. "I hate our parents."

He nodded. "Sometimes I hate them, too. But they aren't really our parents. I mean, there's my Mom and your Dad. There's nothing that's both of ours, always mine or yours." His voice was soft and raspy.

"That's not true. This bedroom is both of ours." I wondered where this was coming from. Finn's brain is a strange and murky place, and I could try for years without understanding it.

"No, it's not. It's your bedroom. It was yours before I moved in and it'll be yours again after your Dad builds the addition. You're just being nice by letting me stay here."

When Finn was in one of these types of moods, it was better not to argue with him or try to jolly him out of it. For someone who used to be so easily fooled, Finn's developed the ability to spot bullshit from a thousand yards away. "Well, as the owner of the room, then, I'm willing to let you stay here as long as you like. If you don't want to sleep in the addition, there's nothing wrong with that. I love your company, and I love being able to come over and lay next to you like this."

"I like being with you, too." It didn't escape my notice that he didn't use the word 'love' but that wasn't something to become overly upset about either. After all, I had had feelings for Finn for well over a year, which was plenty of time for like to become love. I still wasn't exactly sure when his feelings for me had developed, but it had certainly been after he came back. "I want to stay here."

"Then you can." I moved to kiss him on the lips, but he turned away at the last second. "What's wrong?" My voice was calm and gentle, not as hurt as I secretly felt. Of course Finn didn't have to kiss me if he didn't want to, we had just discussed that, but I wanted to know what was going on.

"I don't think it's a good idea to kiss on the mouth right now." His arm across my body didn't move, which I took as a good sign.

"Why?" I was starting to get a suspicion, but I wanted him to confirm it.

He shrugged. "I don't feel very good tonight."

Suspicion confirmed. I reached over and pressed my palm to his forehead. He wasn't burning up, but he was way warmer then usual. "Why didn't you tell your mother you didn't feel well when she asked?"

Another shrug, this time accompanied by him looking down and away. In silent Finn-speak (which was differentiated from regular Finn-speak by a lack of grunting. It was also generally more clear then when he was actually talking) he was telling me that he wasn't sure about what he was telling me, but he wanted me to push until he told me the truth.

"Finn?" I tickled his side and he smiled a little bit.

"Then your Dad would hear it." The words came out in a rush. Then he was looking expectantly at me, like he had just explained everything.

"And that would be bad because…" I drew the words out, trying to figure out what he wanted to tell me.

"I don't want him to know. If he knows there's something wrong with me, he might be mad at me."

Dad would never be angry with Finn for having something wrong with him, even if whatever happened had been Finn's own fault. "Why would he be mad?"

"I don't know. I never really thought about it."

Finn could avoid a lot of problems by slowing down and thinking about things, but now didn't seem to be the time to bring it up. "Would you like me to get her now? I think it would be better if she looked at you first."

"Ok."

Kurt, you do know what this means, right?

It meant that Finn wasn't feeling well. It also meant that he still didn't trust Dad. And maybe that I wasn't the one with the biggest problems in the house.

Nope. But you'll find out what it means soon enough.

I pondered that mystery while I came back upstairs. The television was on in the den, so I headed there. Both Dad and Carole were on the couch and- Oh God! Please God, if you exist even the tiniest bit, erase what I just saw! No man needed to see his father necking on some woman like a teenager.

My breath sucked in so quickly it whistled as my hands flew to my mouth. Screw this; I could get Finn an aspirin all by myself. He wasn't that sick.

That indrawn breath, as small as it had been, was enough to alert Dad and make his head snap up. "Kurt! I thought you were downstairs. Carole and I were…uh…"

I held up a hand. "Let's just never speak of it again. Ever. Carole, Finn's not feeling well. I think he has a fever."

She was off of Dad (Thank you, Prada, for all the gifts you have bestowed upon me) in a heartbeat. "Thank you, Kurt, I'll take care of it."

Dad started to say something to me, but then changed his mind. I nodded. "I'm going to get some water."

I dallied in the kitchen, putting ice and lemon in my water, washing a few dishes, anything so as to not have to either face Dad or go back downstairs. In the end, though, there was nothing for me to do but return to the den, making mental notes to avoid sitting on that couch until it could be steam cleaned. Or burned. Finn would probably enjoy the idea of lighting the couch on fire.

Luckily, Carole came back upstairs before Dad and I had to attempt any sort of awkward conversation. Dad looked over at her. "Do we need to take him to the hospital? I can pull the car around."

She laughed. "Burt, he has a sore throat and a fever of 101. He's not dying, and he'll be just fine waiting until tomorrow to see his regular doctor. There's a nasty strep epidemic going around, and he's probably breaking with that. He just needs to rest tonight."

Since I apparently wasn't needed, and I certainly didn't want to be around when they started violating our coach again, I turned back to the basement. Carole glanced over. "Kurt? You should be fine to sleep down there with Finn tonight, even if he's not feeling well, but I wouldn't eat or drink anything after him. We don't want you to get sick, too."

"Ok." We each had our own cup downstairs, and it wasn't like Finn had an appetite anyway. "Goodnight to both of you."

I was downstairs again before I realized what that voice had been trying to tell me. I didn't have to worry about eating or drinking after Finn, because I had already shared all of our germs by kissing him. Crap.

Told ya so.