A/N: Thank you for all the nice reviews, and for those who put this story on alert. It really does make my day to know that someone out there is actually reading this! Most chapters will be from Kurt's POV, but Finn will get a few of his own. We all know who has more opinions of the two of them!
Nothing good ever came from those words. Never once had my father said 'we need to talk' and then followed it up with 'I'm increasing your clothing allowance' or 'I got us sixth row seats to Riverdance this time'. "Okay." The word came out a little more nervous then I would like it to.
"This Finn, the one who got hurt, he's the boy who sings with you, right? The really, really tall one?"
Finn's height was the first thing that everyone picked up on. Of course, at 6'3", which was a good four inches taller than any other member of the Glee club, it was a little hard to miss. "Yes, the one with dark hair." And the dreamy, dreamy, brown eyes, but I somehow didn't think that was something my father would notice. I wasn't quite sure where we were going with this, so I didn't say anything else.
"Is he…I mean, does he…." He smacked the wheel in irritation. "Shit, Kurt, I'm not any good at this. What I mean to ask is…."
I took pity on him. "Are you asking me if Finn is gay?"
He adjusted his baseball cap. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Then the answer is no. Finn is 100% straight." Unfortunately.
"But, uh, you like him, right? Like you would want to be his boyfriend, or something?" Dad was getting more and more flustered as he talked.
Was I really that obvious? It seemed that everyone knew how attracted I was to Finn, except for Finn himself. But let's face it, he isn't seeing much other than Quinn these days. That's right, Kurt, keep Quinn in mind. Just because she's a bimbo and a bitch, doesn't mean she isn't carrying the Mini-Finn.
"Kurt? I asked you a question."
Yeah, I know. I'm just trying to figure out how to answer you with the least amount of humiliation to myself. "A little bit, I guess. He's just really sweet, and he sings so well and he spends time with me." Well, he spent time with me when we were in Glee, or at football practice. "He always stands up for me if the other guys on the team say stuff."
There was no need to elaborate on what sort of things the other guys were saying about me. Dad narrowed his eyes. "They still doing that?"
"Not so much anymore." I looked down so he wouldn't be able to read the lie in my face. "I've made a few friends." Those 'friends' consisted of Matt, Mike and Finn, but there was no reason to tell him that. "Finn's cool. He just…he accepts me just the way I am."
It was the truth. If I had been straight, that would have been fine with Finn. If I was gay, well, that was fine, too. When I wore the corset to school that one time, he gave me kind of a funny look, but he got over it a few seconds later. Truth be told, I probably had Finn to thank for the rest of the kids accepting me so easily. The all looked to him for guidance, whether he was taking over the club while Mr. Shuester was flirting with being an accountant, or setting off the storm out when Rachael decided to hire that midget with the bad facial hair and grating voice. What had his name been? Nevada? Since Finn didn't have a problem with it, neither did they.
He took one hand off the wheel and lightly touched my shoulder. "Sorry about that, Kurt. You'll…uh…well, you'll find someone eventually."
But I wanted Finn. "I know, Dad."
"I knew that boy had to be something special to you, but don't go and get your heart broken over him, alright? You can't make him into something he's not, and it's not fair to him to try."
Except I wasn't as sure that Finn was straight as I claimed to be. True, he only seemed to be interested in boobs, boobs and more boobs, but sometimes, I thought I saw something else. Like the way he would stare at the male lead during the movies Mr. Shue had us watch, far too closely to just be trying to figure out foot and body placement for the steps. Or even the way he looked at me on occasion. It wasn't an appraising look, or a flirting one. It was more of a confused expression, like he couldn't quite figure me out.
The bitchy part of me was trying to point out that Finn probably couldn't figure out the kid's word jumble without help, but I pushed it aside. There were a million ways to be intelligent, and being book smart was only one of them. Finn might not get the quadratic equation, but he understood people, and that was a skill that would get him everywhere in life, if he was willing to use it.
Or maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see, and not what was actually there. After all, they said that 10% of the population was gay, so there was a 90% chance that Finn was straight. Then there was the small matter of Quinn, and the fact that Finn was attracted to women enough to get her pregnant.
Then something my father had said finally caught up with me. "Wait, what did you mean you knew Finn was something special?"
His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. "Kurt, you called me from the hospital, because you went there with him when he was hurt. You haven't voluntarily entered a hospital in 10 years."
In other words, since my mother had died. "Yes I have. Remember when I had the flu so bad a few years ago? You took me to the hospital then."
"Yes, and you kicked and screamed the entire way. Someone called the cops in the parking lot because they thought I was kidnapping you. There you were, with a 104 degree fever, incredibly dehydrated, and it still took me and three nurses to hold you down."
I didn't remember any of that. "No it didn't."
"Trust me, it did. You never get over seeing your child that sick." His eyes grew distant and sad.
Even if he had trouble with the words, I had never been more sure of my father's love for me than I was at that moment. Luckily, I didn't have the same problem. "I love you too, Dad."
He flushed in the dim light of the garage. "Yeah, well…do your homework and go on to bed. Unless you want to watch the ball game with me?" It was our nightly ritual. He would ask me to watch some sport, and I would tell him that I would rather wash my hair or iron my clothes or any other excuse I could think of.
But tonight I was reluctant to be alone. Plus, all of my homework was in my backpack, which was still at school. "I need to take a shower first, but then I'll come back up."
The smile that lit his face made me regret all the times I had turned him down. After all, not only was he the only father I would ever have, but he did go to Riverdance with me every year. He even let me choose his clothes for the evening.
I rushed through the shower as fast as I could, cutting my usual skin and hair care routine by almost half. Our new father son bonding wasn't going to prevent me from putting on the avocado face mask, though. I was nearly finished when a shrill beeping cut through the air. It took a few minutes of searching to locate the source of the noise, which turned out to be Finn's cell phone that I had carelessly shoved in the front pocket of my -Finn's- hoodie. The display showed the name RACHAEL in big letters.
Just my luck. With a heavy sigh, I flipped it open. "Hello?"
The silence that followed would have been delicious if the situation wasn't so desperate. "Kurt?"
"Yes?" It was mean, but I couldn't help but draw out her torture. I hadn't had anyone to pick on all night.
"I heard that Finn got hurt, and I wanted to know how he was. Where is he?"
In my bed, sleeping off what we just did together. Words could not describe how badly I wanted to say it out loud, but I forced myself to show a little restraint. After all, Rachael Berry showing an interest in someone who wasn't Rachael Berry was quite an improvement. "He's at the hospital. His arm is broken and he's going to have surgery."
She started to cry, though, with Rachael, it was always hard to tell which emotions were genuine and which weren't. This time, I was pretty sure that she was genuinely upset. I had seen the way she looked at him, like he was the most important person in the world. It was a look I recognized from my own face, and somehow it made me feel something more that constant irritation for her. "He's going to be fine. His mom said that they were going to let him go home tomorrow.
The sobs stopped, and a new hardness entered her voice. "So, why do you have his phone?"
There were a few things I could have said to that, but I was too tired to bother. "I used it to call his mother, and I guess I just put it in my pocket afterwards. My Dad is waiting for me to come back up, so call Finn's house tomorrow." Or don't, I don't really care.
"But-"
Without seeing what she wanted, I hung up the phone. Then I tossed it on the bed and went back upstairs. My father had a football game on, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. I might not give a shit about football, but at least I had a vague understanding of the rules.
It was only after I sat down that I saw the plate on the coffee table. There on one of our dinner plates, was as splat of hummus and a handful of Ritz crackers. Sure, they weren't arranged artfully like I would have done, and he had missed that you use the pita chips with hummus, not crackers, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was that he had put out the effort to make me happy.
I also knew that drawing any attention to that fact would just embarrass us both. See, I did know at least a little bit of the guy code. So I sat down next to him and popped the top on the bottle of water that was sitting next to his beer.
The game passed in a contented silence, which I was grateful for. I had been afraid that he would ask my opinion on what was happening, and I would be forced to admit that I had no idea which team we were supposed to be cheering for. I personally liked the guys with the green and yellow uniforms, but I was pretty sure that I wasn't supposed to pick our guys based on their fashion sense.
Even more importantly, Dad didn't bring up Finn, or my humiliating crush on him. For once, we were just two guys, watching the game together. We didn't actually touch each other, but we were close enough that we could have.
By carefully watching my father and his reactions, I was able to discern that our team was the blue and white one, and that we seemed to have a really good quarterback. Not as nice looking as Finn, but not bad. Despite my best efforts to remain aloof, I found myself studying the kicker. He was small and graceful, looking more like he was dancing then playing sports. When he stepped forward for his third kick of the game, I actually found myself leaning forward in anticipation. When the ball went through the posts, I nearly cheered.
"I've never seen you so interested in sports." Dad set down his beer and wrinkled his nose. "You aren't checking out the players are you? Because, Kurt, that wasn't really what I wanted you to watch for."
Since things were going so well between us, I decided to try joking with him again. It hadn't gone over to well when I had done it a few weeks ago, but I needed to try again. I knew that he accepted me, and that he had known for longer than I had, but knowing it was different then hearing it out loud. There was a distance between us that hadn't been there before and I hated it. All I had was my father, and I was scared of losing him. "Well, do you look at the cheerleaders?"
This time, he was able to smile back. "Point taken. How about I don't discuss their breasts and legs with you, and you don't talk about the player's asses with me?"
"Ok." My throat closed a little, this time with relief. The first few months after coming out would be the hardest, they had to be. Once he had some time to get used to the idea, things would be like they used to be. Hopefully.
Our team won and, for once, I found myself disappointed that the game was over. I had actually felt like the two of us were bonding, and that didn't happen very often. I loved him, and he loved me, but, for as much as we had in common, I might as well have been dropped on the doorstep as a baby. Most of the time I was alright with that, but sometimes, like tonight, it really hurt.
Still, I didn't want to ruin what had just happened by hanging around too long, so I said goodnight and prepared to start my bedtime beauty rituals. Dad gathered up the plates and bottles, then stopped in the doorway. "So, you like being this boy's friend? It doesn't bug you that he doesn't feel the same way about you that you do about him?"
Of course it did. But I liked Finn as a person as much as I liked his body, so I was able to answer him honestly. "A little. But I'm ok with just being his friend. Why?"
All my life, I've been told that I have my father's mannerisms. That every expression I make is a direct copy of one of his. I've never really believed it, until I saw the sneaky gleam come into his eyes. Believe me; I recognize that expression from the mirror. "When are they releasing him from the hospital, or do they know?"
"Tomorrow afternoon." I still couldn't see where this was going.
"Well, it might be nice if you called his mother, and told her that you and I would be willing to make dinner for the pair of them. You know, so she won't have to cook."
My father was actually a pretty good cook, though he didn't get much chance to do it. Usually I started dinner when I got home from school, and we ate whenever he got home from work. "That would be good." I could hear the doubt in my voice, not because I disliked the plan, but because I wasn't sure why he was suggesting it. What did he get out of it?
Galinda snorted heavily. What do you think he gets out of it? You get to moon over your crush, and he gets a better look at his.
No way. He hadn't even spent 10 minutes talking to Carol, there was no way he could have developed feelings for her that quickly.
It didn't even take you 10 seconds to develop feelings for her son. The Hudsons are apparently quite charming.
But I was 16. I was supposed to have overwhelming crushes that flared up quickly and died out just as fast. Not that my crush on Finn was showing any signs of that, but still. Things like that happened to teenagers, not middle aged widowers with teenage sons! Plus, my father had a wife. Granted, it had been years since my mother died, but he was still a married man.
No, he isn't. He had a wife, past tense. Just because he hasn't dated anyone since she died, doesn't mean he shouldn't have the chance. Grow up, Kurt. He loved your mother, and he will always love her, but what do you want him to do? Become a monk in a tomb, praying to her instead of the Virgin Mary? To completely end his life because hers was ended?
No, I didn't want that. Actually, some terrible part of me really did want that. Not because I didn't want my father to be happy, of course I wanted that. I was just that…well; I didn't want him to replace my mother. I wanted to be able to see him single and be able to think 'see, he loved her that much. So much that he never even dated after she died because no other woman would even cross his thoughts.'
Unfair? Absolutely. My father deserved to have love in his life, the sort of love that I couldn't provide. After all, I would be leaving this shit hole town in two years anyway, and what would happen then? Dad couldn't just uproot the garage, and, plus, I didn't want him tagging along after me. It wasn't right of me to expect him to be alone forever, just so I could play out my fantasy of the perfect love.
"Kurt? Would you like to call Mrs. Hudson?" My father's voice yanked me out of my inner musings.
My inner bitch roared to the surface. "She said that I can call her Carol." I don't even know why I said it, except to let him know that she liked me more than she liked him.
To his credit, he didn't rise to the bait. "Great, let me know what she says."
I stalked down to the basement, tossing my hair as best as I could. Not that it moved much, since I had sprayed it into place at least 6 times today, two since I had gotten home from the hospital. Even if my hair had moved, my father wouldn't have seen it, but it did make me feel better.
Once I was down there, I pulled out Finn's phone and just looked at it. Despite my earlier bravado, I had a little trouble actually doing it. Then I forced myself to man up. I was Kurt Fucking Hummel, and I wasn't going to cower away from Finn Hudson and his poorly dressed mother. Maybe I could convince her that the denim look was over and she needed a makeover. No, that was getting ahead of myself. First, I needed to make the call.
The phone rang only twice, and a tired voice answered the phone. "Hello?"
My courage faltered. "Uh, hi. This is Kurt, from the hospital?"
"Of course, Kurt, what's going on?" She wasn't exactly friendly, but I couldn't really blame her for that. I wouldn't be in the best mood either.
"How's Finn?" It wasn't what I had wanted to start with, but suddenly it was all I could think about.
"Asleep. They just brought him up from the OR a few minutes ago, but he's still pretty sedated. They fixed his arm, though, and they think he'll have full use of it back in a few months."
"Are they still going to let him go tomorrow?"
"As long as there are no complications, they should release him about 3. Is there any way you can pick up his homework for him? I hate to put you out, but he's going to be out for the next few days, and I don't want him to fall behind."
Somehow, Finn had managed to hide the fact that he was already behind from her. Still, it offered me an opening. "Sure, I can do that. Uh, my father wanted to know if you wanted he and I to make dinner for you tomorrow. That way you could focus on Finn, and not have to worry about anything."
She was quiet for a minute, and I felt compelled to say more. "He's actually a good cook, and I could help Finn out with his homework at the same time. If he's feeling up to company, of course. If he's still feeling bad, I can come over another time. Oh, I also still have his cell phone, so I can bring it over."
"That would be really kind of you both. How about you call tomorrow after school and I'll let you know?" There was a noise in the background, and she spoke softly so someone. "I have to go, the nurse is here. I'll call you, ok?"
"Ok. Tell Finn I hope he's feeling better."
It was only after I hung up that I realized what had just happened. I had a dinner date with Finn for tomorrow. Well, I had a dinner date if he was released from the hospital and he could manage to stay awake that long. Somehow, when I put it that way, it didn't sound nearly as good.
I didn't want to get too excited, considering that this might not even happen, but I couldn't help it. Though Finn seemed to enjoy spending time with me, I had never been to his house and I was curious.
Thoughts and plans swirled around in my head as I carefully laid out an outfit for school tomorrow, then went through my usual nighttime rituals, including the face mask. Maybe no one else in this hick town cared, but I was not about to end up with a face full of wrinkles before I was 30.
I usually slept in Finn's hoodie, but tonight it absolutely reeked of the hospital, a smell that was rapidly turning my stomach. So I tossed it in the washer and pulled on a long sleeved shirt of my own. It fit better, but somehow lacked the same comfort. I snuggled down under the covers, hoping that I wouldn't be too excited to fall asleep. Luckily, my iPod had only played a few songs before I crashed, still dreaming of my date tomorrow.
Going to school the next morning was agonizing. News travels fast, and everyone knew about what had happened to Finn. Or at least they thought they knew. By the time I made it to first period, I had already heard that Finn had broken his back and was paralyzed, that he had a massive concussion and was in a coma, and that he had ruptured his spleen. I, myself, had become somewhat of a minor celebrity, since I had not only seen what happened, but had accompanied him to the hospital.
A part of me enjoyed getting some attention that didn't come complete with homophobic slurs or being tossed in a dumpster. For once, I knew something that no one else did. Well, something that didn't involve fashion or skin care. Sometimes I felt like I was the only person in Lima who knew anything about either of those.
"Kurt!" A hand seized my shoulder and spun me around. "You and I need to have a serious talk."
It was Mercedes. I wanted to protest, but her arm tightened around me as she forced me into an empty room. "I leave you for one, count it one, night, and you are chasing after Finn Hudson like a bitch in heat. I thought we agreed that you were going to get over him and find yourself a nice boy who's actually gay."
Boy, she was really going to be pissed when she heard about my plans for tonight. "I was hardly chasing after him like a bitch in heat. His arm was broken, Mercedes, what did you want me to do?"
"Let Coach Tanaka take him to the hospital! Let his mother come get him! Anything but stay with him and coddle him and end up hurting yourself even worse!" She must have realized how that sounded, and sighed. "Listen, I like Finn, too. White Boy is very sweet, if more than a little clueless. It's nice of you to stick with him, but you could have sent Mike, or Matt, or even Puck with him. You didn't need to be the one to go."
"He didn't want one of them to go. He specifically said that he wanted me to go with him, not one of them. He didn't even want Quinn to go." I wanted Mercedes to understand how important this was to me, because I needed someone to tell me what I should do next. I obviously didn't understand Finn, maybe someone with two X chromosomes would.
Her eyes narrowed. "He actually said that? He looked at you and said 'Kurt, I want you to go. I don't want Quinn or Puck, I want you.' Because sometimes, Kurt, you think you see things that aren't there."
I thought back, carefully going over everything that had been said last night. "Not exactly."
She sighed and sat down on one of the desks. "Ok, tell me exactly what he said."
"He said that he didn't want Quinn to go because she was pregnant and he thought she didn't want her to be exposed to sick people. Then he didn't want Puck to go because he wanted Puck to go back out and beat the other team."
"Uh-huh." One eyebrow was up, and her tone left no doubt that she didn't think this was as significant as I did. "That's all he said?"
"Yeah. But he asked me to go with him before they even came in. He did want me around."
"Of course he wanted you around, Kurt. You're a great friend, but that's all he sees. A great friend."
"I know." There were a million ways to interpret the strange, searching looks Finn gave me sometimes, and even I had to admit that it was long shot that he had feelings for any man, much less me. You know, the short one who talked like a girl. "But I'm alright with just being his friend."
Mercedes gave me a smile, something that I had always told her was her best feature. At least it was when she didn't look so sad. "No, you aren't. But I can't tell you what to do. All I can do is be there to pick up the pieces when he crushes your heart with that oversized body of his."
Sometimes I wished I was straight, just so I could comfortably date Mercedes. Or possibly I just wished that she came complete with a penis. I wanted her sense of humor, and her way of telling it exactly like it was, and her way of knowing when to bust my ass and when to just give me a hug. "Thank you, Mercedes. Now, I'm going over to his house tonight, what should I wear?"
That earned me one of her patented 'oh honey, I don't know whether to smack you or chain you up in the basement until you come to your senses' looks. "Why are you going over to his house? Is he even there?"
Luckily, I could blame someone else for that one. "My father thinks it would be good if he and I offered to make the Hudson's dinner tomorrow. I swear, it was his idea, not mine." My nose wrinkled on its own accord. "I think he might be attracted to Finn's mom."
She burst into hysterical laughter. "Kurt, that is all sorts of wrong! Runs in the family, huh?"
Her laughter broke some of the tension in the room and I found myself laughing back. "It's not funny! My father can not be looking in the same family that I am! It's practically incest."
She laughed even harder. "No, it will be practically incest if they get married and Finn is your stepbrother! But just think, it'll be a lot easier for the two of you to go on dates. All you'll have to do is walk down the hallway."
"That is just sick. Anyway, you know that Finn won't notice what I'm wearing, except if I show up naked, and possibly not even then. Plus, he's going to be so doped up that he'll probably sleep through the whole thing anyway. But I do want to impress his Mom."
She looked me up and down. "Do you really want my advice, or do you just want to bounce all of this off of me. Because, Kurt, you've never needed my advice before."
The bell rang, startling us both. "I guess I just wanted to bounce. Thanks, Mercedes." I leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "You're a good friend."
"Only the best." She stood up and dusted herself off. "Call me after this goes down, not matter how late it is. Dress nice, but not too crazy. Your full fashion sense shouldn't make an appearance until the third date at least."
In other words, leave the corset at home. "Point taken."
I was as familiar with Finn's schedule as I was with my own so it was easy to approach each teacher during the day and ask for his work. It didn't hurt that he and I shared three classes, either.
As soon as the last bell rang I pulled out my cell and called the Hudson house. Carol picked up on the second ring. "Hello, darling, how are you?"
In less than 24 hours, I had gone from being a stranger to being 'darling'. It was the sort of thing that only a mother could pull off. Her easy familiarity made me feel shy, and I lowered my head. "I'm good. More importantly, how's Finn?"
"He's alright. He's in some pain, but they let him go. He's resting now. Does the offer for you and your father to cook some dinner still stand?"
"Of course. What time should we be there?" Inwardly I was dancing a jig. Hah, it was a date!
"Whenever is good for you. We don't have a set dinnertime, and Finn's not too interested in food right now anyway. I have some steaks and chicken in the freezer, if you want something else let me know and I can pick it up."
"No, either one of those is fine. You need to be with Finn. I'll talk to my dad and give you a call back, ok?"
"Ok. Make sure you tell your father how much I appreciate this."
"Don't worry about it." Now, I had to get home and choose an outfit. Vogue just didn't have sections on how to choose an outfit for this particular occasion. Of course, 'What to Wear to an Almost Date to Have Dinner with the Straight Guy you have a Gay Crush On and His Mother' wouldn't quite fit as a headline.
Clearly, this was going to require quite a bit of thought, so I decided to skip Glee and go straight home. I felt kind of bad about it, but I had yet to miss a practice, and, anyway, I thought that Mr. Shuester would understand. He loved Finn, no matter what.
Sure enough, he nodded quickly when I explained the situation. "That's fine, Kurt. We're going to be choosing partners for ballads today, but I'll just go ahead and pair you up with Finn. That way you won't miss anything." He looked at my face and raised an eyebrow. "Is that alright with you? You don't mind being paired with him, do you?"
Of course I didn't mind. I was just shocked that, for once, something was actually working out in my favor that I was momentarily speechless. Not only did I have an almost-date with Finn, but I was actually going to get to sing a ballad with him? Had I died and gone to heaven? No, because the outfits here were still too atrocious. "That's fine, as long as you don't think Finn will be upset."
"He'll get over it. After all, it will give the two of you something to talk about."
Sometimes I think Mr. Shue knows about my crush on Finn, and it felt like he went out of his way to put the two of us together. He wouldn't do that if I had no chance with Finn, right?
It was all too confusing, so I just smiled at him. "Thanks, Mr. Shue."
"No problem. Tell him that the entire Glee club is pulling for him, and that we hope he feels better soon."
"I will." I was squirming now, eager to get back home and get ready for my pseudo-date. Dad had agreed to close the garage early so that we could get over to the Hudson's at a decent hour. I hoped that that translated to fairly early, because I might explode if I had to wait for too long.
My baby was waiting for me in the parking lot, gleaming in the bright sun. The jocks of the school might think that me and my clothes were fair game, but not even the moronic hockey players were willing to deface my car. She was my princess, my darling girl, and she had never once let me down.
Once I was home, I laid out an outfit for my father, then took a hot shower to try and sooth my nerves. Honestly, you would think that this was an actual date, rather than a pity mission. I went through the closet once, then twice, not seeing anything appropriate. On the third try, I found a shirt that was slightly frilled, but still worked for a family dinner. If I paired it with some nice slacks and that hat that Finn liked so much. All and all, it was a pretty boring outfit, but it would have to do.
By the time I was dressed and ready, it was close to 4:30, and my father was waiting at the door. He looked me up and down, a muscle near his jaw working. "You sure this boy isn't queer?"
I wasn't, so I shrugged instead. "He's dating the head cheerleader." That was true, but didn't answer what he had asked.
"The tiny blond thing?" There was something unreadable in my father's eyes. "Could've fooled me."
I had too much pride to ask him to clarify what he meant, but, luckily, I didn't have to. He continued on. "Because, I could have sworn I saw her kissing that other player a few games ago. You know, the one with the Mohawk."
The world crashed down around me, and all I could hear was the echo of Finn's words from yesterday. I think Quinn's cheating on me with Puck. I think Quinn's cheating on me with Puck. Think Quinn's cheating on me with Puck. Quinn's cheating on me with Puck. Cheating on me, cheating on me, cheating on me….
"What!" Now I knew I had died and gone to heaven. Then I felt terrible for having such a thought. This was going to destroy Finn. As much as I hated her, I knew that he loved her. Then an even worse thought hit me. Drizzle. Was she Finn's, the way we had all thought? Or was the Mini-Finn a Mini-Puck?
It was the sort of thing that soap operas were made of. Did I tell Finn? On the one hand, Finn trusted me, and if he found out I was keeping this from him it would be as painful as Quinn's betrayal. On the other hand, they used the term 'shoot the messenger' for a reason. I needed Mercedes. Or better yet, Artie. He always seemed to know what to do, and would die before he revealed something told to him in confidence. I wouldn't say anything to Finn tonight, then figure this out in the morning.
Belatedly, I realized my father was still talking. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"That girl, she's not the one you have over to practice your…whatever it is you do down in that basement. She's smaller, real pretty. She's the one I saw kissing that boy."
In other words, he wasn't talking about Brittany. I had never really considered that it might be, since I was pretty sure that Brittany and I were sitting on the same side of the sexuality divide, but it was still good to get that out of the way. It would be awkward to make an accusation, only to find out that Puck was hooking up with Brittany instead of Quinn.
"Don't even think about it." Damn, my father knew me too well. I gave him a look that hopefully didn't seem too guilty. He wasn't fooled for a second. "Kurt, I mean it."
Since when was my father in cahoots with Galinda? "I won't." Whether Finn should be told at all was still up for debate, but that was a matter for another day, when we were both stronger. "I promise I won't."
He adjusted his tie, fussing with it nervously. "Ok, are you ready for this?"
Oh, yeah. I was ready.