Fourth Prompt Post
Welcome to the Glee Angst Meme again! You know how these things work. You can come here and prompt your most angsty prompts, and write stories filling those angsty prompts to let our characters suffer
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Things had been going pretty well for him lately. New Directions was going to Nationals, Quinn and he were public now, and she was putting out more than ever, and no one had thrown a slushie at him in a very long time. It had been a great year, really, starting back in August when his mom and Burt had gotten married.
Burt was super awesome. He was really nice to Finn’s mom, and he and Burt did things together all the time, too, like going to games, or watching sports on the big-screen, or working at the garage. Finn hadn’t known the first thing about cars before Burt and his mom started dating, but Burt had shown him how to do all sorts of things, and even trusted him to work on some of the cars by himself- or with not too much supervision, at least. Burt trusted him. Liked him. Treated him like a son, really…
Finn had known about Kurt from the start. Poor baby Kurt, kidnapped by his crazy criminal mom, lost forever, but Burt’s such a good dad, he’s never given up looking, oh no. It was supposed to be good news. A miracle. The P.I. company had called, excited, said they had found him living with her in Seattle, that he was fine, that they were calling the police in.
Burt had cried. His mom was happy.
Finn felt like maybe he was horrible, a bad person. Because all he could think was “No.” He had known about Kurt from the start, but it was never ‘Burt has a son out there, who will be joining us.’ It was ‘Burt lost his son, isn’t it sad?’ with the unspoken but he’s never given up, isn’t he a good dad? Wouldn’t you like him to be your dad? and the even less acknowledged, but still present You lost your father and he lost his son. You can take Kurt’s place, and he’ll be the father you never had. Finn had bought into it, tried to be the best substitute Kurt he could be, and in return, Burt smiled at him with fondness and called him “son.”
But it was all a lie, because Kurt wasn’t lying in a grave somewhere out there like Finn’s dad. He was living, and breathing, and in Seattle apparently, and now he was coming to Lima. And he had Burt’s DNA, and he was Burt’s son first, damnit, and Finn couldn’t compete. Going to a few ball games and living together for less than a year was nothing compared to the type of hope and love that had kept Burt searching for all this time. That was bringing Kurt home to his father.
Finn felt like a horrible person, but he couldn’t help it. Kurt might have been rescued from his crazy mom, but he was crashing right into the middle of Finn’s family. And now everything was going to change.
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He shared that observation with Mrs. Hu, the lady with the tight bun who hadn’t left his side since he’d left- since he’d practically been forcibly removed from- Franklin High. She hadn’t been amused, and she’d refused to give him his phone back. Refused to let him contact any of his friends, any of the adults he knew.
“The police have to finish investigating,” she had said. “We just want to keep you safe.”
“Safe from what?!” he had practically screeched, and she had just shaken her head and frowned.
They’d already told him what was going on, what his mother had supposedly done, and he had already told them that he didn’t believe any of it, and that they needed to take him to her now, because she was his mother, and you can’t keep a child from their mother. If she was in jail, he would just have to go to jail too.
That conversation hadn’t gone over well. None of them had, today.
Especially the ones regarding his father.
His mother had told him about his father. Not much, but… enough. His father was the last person he wanted to live with, he knew (he had remarked, at one point, that Sandy Ferguson’s parents would definitely put him up, and if he just got his phone back, then maybe…) but she kept saying things like “custody.” Things like “kidnapped,” and “fugitive,” and “embezzlement,” and really, was this his life, or a David E. Kelley show? He didn’t believe any of it, not really, but no one was interested in what he had to say.
“She’s still my mom,” he tried again. “She’s not some crazy lady off the street, who took me away. She’s my mom. She needs me. I need her. I don’t even know my dad.”
“That’s not his fault,” she told him, patiently.
“Maybe she couldn’t leave me there. Maybe he was horrible.”
Kurt was pretty sick of all the pitying looks he was getting today.
***
In the end, he got a few suitcases, and none of them contained his phone.
“Everything else has to be taken for processing,” Mrs. Hu told him, “but you can keep some of your clothes. I’m only supposed to let you have one suitcase, but… officer Jones okayed the extra ones. Apparently you have a very impressive closet.”
“I do,” he said. “Three suitcases isn’t going to work. It’s not even going to be enough for my coats.”
All he got in return for that was a “choose wisely.”
He stood in front of the house for a minute before going in. He hadn’t cried once, not since this whole thing started, but he hadn’t needed to, because none of this was real. But now he was in of his house, the house he might not ever see again, and they were going to make him leave behind his books, and his music, and his tiaras, and maybe even his lotions and conditioners, if they were going to be sticklers on this whole “clothes” thing. And he might not ever see it again, his house. His life.
He considered making a break for it, running down the street to Sandy’s house, telling her parents to call the media, because he had just been kidnapped by some crazy public officials.
He considered crying, just breaking down right here, and refusing to take another step, because if they were going to tear him away from his mother, he wasn’t going to make it easy on them.
He ended up going into the house, into his room, and triaging his belongings.
This was really going to happen. They were really going to do this, going to send him to Lima, Ohio. He wasn’t asleep, wasn’t living out some crazy TV dream, and he wasn’t going to wake up.
He was right, though. Three suitcases weren’t nearly enough. Mrs. Hu kindly ignored the tears streaming down his face, and let him pack four.
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Everything was happening too fast. His mom ducked her head put of the kitchen, and looked wide-eyed at Burt. “Fuck,” Burt said. “Is that- I didn’t even hear anyone pull up.” Burt put down his glass of wine. Frank, the P.I., had brought it when he came over to witness the reunion, and get his last check. They were splitting it now, and even Finn got offered a glass. “Sorry Finn, Carole,” he said. “Didn’t mean to swear, just... excited. I should get that.”
Finn’s mom came in the room, and Frank stood up expectantly, as Burt crossed the room, and opened the door. There was an older Asian lady there, and then- that had to be Burt’s son, didn’t it? He was wearing (‘I wonder what kinds of sports he plays,’ Burt had wondered aloud) a pink and white T-shirt, and pants that made his legs look skinny. And… was that *glitter* on them?
“Mr. Hummel?” the older lady asked.
“Kurt?” Burt whispered.
Fin made eye contact with the boy, whose eyes appeared to be looking for something that was not his father to focus on. He had a small frown on his face, but other than that… Finn would almost say he looked bored, if he didn’t know the other boy was in the middle of seeing his father for the first time in sixteen years.
“This is Kurt,” the lady at the door confirmed. “Let’s come in, Kurt. Mr. Hummel, is there anyone who can help bring in Kurt’s bags? He has three more in the backseat.”
“I’ll get them,” Finn volunteered quickly.
“Me too,” said Frank. “You guys should have a minute alone anyway.”
As they passed Kurt to head out the door, Kurt (who was now looking at Finn’s mom with that same uninterested look) tightened his grip on the one bag he was holding, and Fin noticed that he was wearing (‘He’s just a little younger than you, I’m sure you’ll get along great!’) purple nail polish, which seemed to be glittery, just like his pants.
“Well, he don’t seem too much like your father, does he?” asked Frank, when they were outside. There were three big bags in the backseat, and Finn grabbed one.
“I guess not,” he replied. Frank grabbed the other two, and they walked slowly back towards the house.
“Mr. Hummel, can I talk to you alone for a minute?” the lady was asking Burt when they got back in. Everyone seemed frozen in the same places they had been when they had left, which was weird. They hadn’t seen each other since Kurt was a baby, you’d think they’d want to hug, or something.
“Of course,” Burt said, voice sounding funny. “Finn, Frank, why don’t you take those bags down to the basement, and show Kurt where he’s going to be staying?”
It hit Finn like a punch to the throat. He and Kurt were going to be sharing a room.
He had already known that, of course. He and his mom and Burt had all sat down and discussed it. They would look into adding an addition to the house as soon as possible, but until then, he didn’t mind sharing his room, did he? They had brought the old cot out of storage for Kurt to use, but quickly changed their minds, and his mom had quickly gone out to buy a new bed for Kurt, which had been delivered that morning. She had made it with new green sheets, and made Finn pick up all the clothes that he’s accidently forgotten to put in the hamper, then smiled and proclaimed it perfect.
Finn had been unhappy enough about it this morning- none of his friends had to share their rooms, after all, but now...
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Finn didn’t have a problem with gay people- he always got along with Rachel’s dads okay- but he’d never met any kids his own age who were like that. Like this. And okay, that rainbow zipper tag on Kurt’s bigger suitcase? He was pretty sure he’d seen that same design before, as a magnet on Rachel’s fridge.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was-
“I’m sleeping here?” Kurt asked, and Finn couldn’t stop himself from wincing, because yeah, Kurt’s voice was high-pitched, and almost sounded like a girl’s. Almost.
“Yeah,” Finn said. “That twin bed over there.”
Kurt looked at the bed, then around at the rest of the room- X-Box hooked up to the small TV, sports posters on the wall, hamper overflowing in the corner. “Lovely,” he said, like he didn’t really mean it.
“We’re sharing a bathroom too,” he said, pointing at the door as he thought of it. He cringed to himself. Sharing a bathroom? How would that even work? He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want any of this.
Frank shifted back and forth uncomfortably, and Kurt peered in the bathroom. “How’s the water pressure?” he asked, and Finn shrugged. Kurt sighed kind of dramatically. “Where’s the closet? How much room do I have for my stuff?”
“Er,” Finn said. “We really didn’t have time to clean it out- it’s kinda filled with a lot of my sports equipment.” Kurt sniffed, and Finn was starting to get pissed off. “It was really short notice, you know.
“I know,” Kurt confirmed in a hard voice, but Finn kept talking over him.
“But they bought you that bed brand new, and they’re talking about building another room onto the house, just for you.”
“Lucky me,” Kurt said, and he sounded outright snotty now.
Frank coughed, looking really uncomfortable. “I’m going to go finish my business with your dad right now,” he said, and started up the stairs. “This is, ah, time for family now, anyway.”
Finn wondered if he could go upstairs too, but decided to wait for someone to call them- they were probably having some really uncomfortable conversations up there, too. Kurt unzipped one of his smaller bags, and pulled out a couple of bottles with differently colored lotions in them, and put them on the table nearest his bed. Once Frank was gone, and the door was closed, Kurt turned to him, and Finn was surprised to see the kinda bitchy look he had been sporting be replaced by one that was distressed and pleading.
“Please,” Kurt begged. “Do you have a cell phone? I need to use it.”
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That is such a good point. It's tense all around, isn't it?
I have plaaaaans for McKinley... I kind of can't wait to get to them, but I'm also not going to shortchange any of the awkward, awkward first few days of the new four person Hudmel home.
I think I just need to write faster.
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