'I've Got To Go, It's Starting To Rain' Part One
Title: I've Got To Go, It's Starting To Rain
Author: mogamus_ii
Artist: kaitlynswann
Type: Slash. Future fic/ AU from end of Season One
Word Count: 15001
Rating: PG13/ light R
Characters/Pairings: Finn/Kurt, mentions Brittany/OC, Carole, Rachel, Sue.
Warnings Summary: Kidnap, mild violence, minor character death, vague sex, swearing.
A/N: written for gleebigbang challenge. The lovely art by kaitlynswann is here(will link when posted). Thank you very much to my beta, soblonde1202 .
'I've Got To Go, It's Starting To Rain' Part One
Someone, or several someones, had tied flowers to the tree outside the building that had once been Hummel’s Tyres and Lube. Finn thought that it was stupid because people did that where there had been a car crash and Kurt hadn’t died in a car crash. In fact, Finn refused to believe that Kurt was dead. His mom would get that sad look in her eyes whenever he referred to Kurt in the present tense instead of the past and Mercedes went all quiet and miserable if you even mentioned his name.
Finn rubbed at his eyes angrily and sat on the ground at the roots of the tree.
"Hey, Kurt." He looked up at the sky as he spoke. "It’s been one year since…"
"What’s going on?" Finn stormed into the house, pushing past a man in uniform to get to his mom. She’d been crying and she was shaking as she took his hand. "Mom? Why are the cops here? What happened? Are you hurt?"
"F-finn." Fresh tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to talk. "Kurt. It’s Kurt, he- he’s gone."
"…Since you went away. It feels like a lot more than that because so much has happened. We won regionals. Rachel had this idea that we dedicate our songs to you. I think you’d have laughed about that, if you’d been there. But if you were there then we wouldn’t need dedicate them, would we? Sorry, I’m rambling. What else was I going to say? Oh, yeah, your dad shut down the shop. He says that he can’t bear to go in there. I know you don’t want him to do that, but no one listens to me, except you. You listen to me and you actually seem interested. I miss you, Kurt."
Even though he thought it was stupid, he tied a rose to the tree with a length of twine.
* * * *
"You don’t know what you’re missing ‘til it’s gone. And yes, I am drunk." Finn said savagely.
Weather-faded photos smiled at him. Someone had placed fresh flowers between the roots and he knew without looking that the cards would say ‘Love from Mercedes’ and ‘I still miss you, Son.’
"This is crap." Finn growled. "Everything. Why don’t you come back?"
"Finn, you’ve got to stop doing this to yourself." Quinn’s voice made him jump.
"What are you doing here?" He asked rudely, glaring at her. "You are my nem-nemi-sis. Nemininsis. Nemesis."
"No I’m not." Quinn sighed, "You’re just drunk." Finn scowled.
"You are. My Nemesis. If you hadn’t…" For a moment he seemed to have trouble controlling the movement of his mouth, "…gotpregnant. I wouldn’t have had to sing to a sonogram and be his friend and be’nidiot anfallinove. ‘Syour fault." He slurred.
Quinn stared at him doubtfully. "You are aware that I couldn’t understand a word of that, right?" She sat down next to him. "To answer your previous question, I am here on Mercedes’ orders to stop you from falling into a black pit of despair."
"Too late." Finn sniffled.
"Finn, it’s been two years."
"And five hours. Two years, five hours."
"That is exactly what I mean! Do you really think that this is what Kurt would’ve wanted?"
"What he wants."
"Finn…"
"He’s still alive. I’m not giving up, even if everyone else has."
"Finn, even Burt has given up."
"He moved away." He looked so miserable that Quinn put an arm around him to give him a hug.
"He did what he needed to do to cope with the memories, which is what you should be doing."
"You think I should move?" Finn asked, nonplussed.
"No, not necessarily. I just think you should get on with your life and stop talking to a tree." Her frown softened when Finn flinched.
"Get your life back, Finn. Sing more than two words in Glee, talk to people, eat properly, work hard, go to college, and find a job that you want to do. I don’t want to have lost two friends."
* * * *
"Hey, Kurt." Finn patted the tree trunk affectionately. "I wish you could’ve come to college; it’s awesome." Finn smiled, "You’d be so proud of Mercedes; she just got a record deal. I think you’d be kinda proud of me too. I’m learning to be a teacher and I’m going to teach kids to sing, like Mr Schue did, so I’m studying really hard. This girl, Michaela, she’s been helping me. I like her, and I think she might really like me, but…" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Is it weird that I don’t want to date anyone since that bastard took you away? It’s not even like I was dating you because I was being an idiot. A scared, weak idiot who missed his chance. I think, what if that happens again? She’ll find someone else, I know she will. She’s too lovely not to have someone. But I think about asking her and find that I don’t really want to." Finn wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "I’ve got to go. It’s starting to rain."
* * * *
Dear Kurt,
College is going great. Bumped into Puck the other day, he hasn’t changed a bit.
I’m dating again. I met this guy…I know. I think you would have killed me if you were here. Anyway, he’s really nice.
Miss you forever,
Finn xxx
* * * *
"Hey. I’m so sorry I missed coming here last year. Things got kind of hectic with graduating and finding my own place." Finn scuffed his feet. "I’m really sorry. I can’t believe you’ve been gone for six years. It doesn’t seem possible. Sometimes when I visit Mom I still expect to see you down in the basement doing one of your regimes in front of the mirror, or dancing to Gaga in the kitchen. I wonder what you’d…what you look like now?" Finn took a deep breath, not quite sure of what to say. "I, uh, broke up with Sam. It wasn’t working, I guess." He brightened up, "You’d hate my apartment. It’s tiny and you know that my housekeeping is terrible. I have learned to cook though, you’ll be pleased to know, and I’m actually pretty good." He bit his lip. "I didn’t get out of Lima. I’m working at McKinley, starting tomorrow. I went for a visit yesterday and you won’t believe this- I was slushied. I’m a teacher! Is that irony? Oh, and Sue’s still around. She hasn’t changed a bit, as you might have guessed. She bought a bigger megaphone." He gave a little sigh. "I’ve gotta get going now Kurt. Talk to you next year."
Part II: Return
It was weird, being back in high school, even as a member of the staff. The strangest thing was being allowed in the staff room without teachers staring and wondering if you’d got lost. Finn was wandering aimlessly through the corridors (something else you were allowed to do when you were a teacher) when he heard a weird noise, a sort of high pitched ‘Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnn!’ noise. Huh, weird. Then he was almost knocked over as someone leapt, wrapping their limbs around him. For a couple of moments, all Finn was aware of was blond hair.
"Brittany?" He broke free from the suffocating hug and the blonde woman smiled widely. "What are you doing here?"
"I’m a teacher." She smiled, twisting a lock of her hair around her finger in a way that was possibly meant to be seductive.
"Teaching what?" Finn asked, trying to work out who would employ Brittany in education.
"I can’t remember. Drama, maybe?" She replied happily, twirling.
"Uh, cool. I’ve got a class now, Brit, but we can catch up sometime?" It was nice to see a familiar face.
"Yeah!" She beamed and went up on tiptoes to kiss Finn’s cheek, which he wished she hadn’t done because if any students saw (and Finn was convinced that they were the ones who ran the security cameras) there would be rumours flying by the last bell.
"That’s funny." Brittany smiled serenely, "Your cheeks are as soft as Kurt’s hands." She danced away, leaving Finn feel shocked and cold, like ice piercing through his heart. He’d become so used to no one even mentioning Kurt’s name that the sound of it sent painful shivers up his spine, supressed grief making his stomach turn.
"Snap out of it!" He growled to himself, terrifying a passing student, and walked quickly toward his music class.
***
He never wanted to hear ‘It’s All Too Much’ ever again. Yeah, it was a great song, but he’d heard it endlessly over the last few days and even Ella, the red-headed reincarnation of Rachel Berry, was sick of it. He slumped face-down on the couch that seemed to take up the whole room. It wasn’t that it was a particularly big couch, in fact his feet stuck off the end when he lay down, it was just a tiny, tiny room. A tiny room that was bigger than his bedroom and the kitchen put together. Not to mention the bathroom. But he could afford it and still have money left over for general survival and video games. He had his priorities straight.
'Bing bing bing!' Okay, seriously annoying doorbell, he’d have to see if he could replace it. 'Bing bing bing!' He really didn’t want to get up. High schoolers were exhausting; he didn’t know how Mr. Schue had coped. 'Bing bing-' He got to his feet with a groan and shuffled all three steps to the door, wrenching it open. He needed to replace the latch t…
It took a minute for Finn to recognise the young man (barely) standing on his doorstep. His hair, which was slightly longer than he remembered and looking as though it had been cut by a child with safety scissors, was plastered to his head from the rain, his thin shirt ripped and sticking to his skin. He looked haunted.
"K-Kurt?" Finn asked uncertainly. Kurt didn’t respond, but he didn’t need to because he was so obviously Kurt Hummel that Finn was crying. He reached out a hand and touched Kurt’s shoulder, just to make sure he wasn’t a hallucination brought on by Brittany’s weird comment earlier and that cheese Ella had given him at lunch, and Kurt started, pulling away and looking at Finn’s hand warily.
"Hey, it’s okay. Do you want to come in?" Kurt stared at him for a long moment before nodding and wobbling forward until Finn could close the door behind them. "Do you want to sit down?" Finn asked. Kurt just stared up at him in a daze, following every slight movement Finn made. Slowly he raised his hand and Finn froze, barely daring to breathe as Kurt reached out tentatively, cold fingers touching Finn’s cheek.
"Finn?" His voice sounded rough, unused.
"Yeah, it’s me." Finn said softly and slowly drew Kurt into a hug, giving him every chance to pull away, but to his surprise Kurt suddenly wrapped his arms around him tightly, burying his nose in Finn’s sweater and shivering gently. Finn pulled him to the couch and sat down, Kurt folding into his lap. He dragged the blanket over them with one hand, reluctant to let Kurt go even for a moment.
"You’re actually here." He murmured, almost disbelieving that it could possibly be true. "What happened to you?"
Kurt tensed in his arms. "I-I can’t…" He took in a shuddering breath, eyes filling with tears, "Not, not now…I can’t…"
"Shh, shh it’s okay." Finn soothed, running a hand up and down Kurt’s back. The young man’s eyelids fluttered, and he sighed deeply as he seemed to melt against Finn’s chest.
"I can’t believe you’re really here." Finn marvelled. "I knew you were alive but I was starting to- no. I actually believed that I would never see you again. I’m sorry."
When Kurt didn’t reply he looked down to see that Kurt’s eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and slow. Finn lifted the sleeping man in his arms and climbed across the messy floor to his bedroom. Kurt felt so light and delicate that Finn worried that he might snap as he laid him down on the bed. His hand was still curled tightly in Finn’s sweater and he had to carefully coax the fingers open so that he could get a spare T-shirt from the clean pile in the corner (He had yet to buy something to keep his clothes in, and wasn’t sure where he’d put it if he did.). Finn noticed, for the first time, the state of the clothes that Kurt was wearing. They were several sizes too big, stained and, in the shirt’s case, ripped up one side. When he removed the shirt Finn was relieved to find no noticeable injuries, the only mark on his skin was the white line of a scar running from the top of his hip to partway up his side. The thing that did alarm him, however, was the fact that he could clearly see each of Kurt’s ribs sticking out; his arms and legs, too, were thinner than he remembered. Finn’s fists clenched and he hoped that they would be able to catch the guy that caused this and lock him up for a long, long time.
* * * *
"Hey, Mom. I guess you’re out. I’ll call you back later, it’s important. Love you, bye." Finn put the phone down and sank back into the couch. The situation was finally catching up with him. Kurt had shown up, out of the blue, after six years during which almost everyone had given him up for dead. What had happened to him in that time? He wouldn’t be the same as the sixteen-year-old boy he had been… What if Finn couldn’t help him?
"No! Let me out!" Finn was on his feet and rushing to his bedroom the moment Kurt screamed, flicking on the light and almost falling over in his haste to reach the bed, where Kurt was tangled in the sheets, fighting and whimpering in his sleep.
"Please let me go home, please. I want to go home."
"Kurt. Kurt, wake up." Finn knelt beside him on the bed, shaking his shoulder gently.
Kurt’s eyes flicked open, staring blankly at him as his chest heaved with panicked breaths.
"Hey, it’s okay, you’re awake." Finn carefully placed his hand against Kurt’s chest, hoping his solid presence would help drive away the nightmare.
"Finn?" Kurt reached out, touching his face again and Finn felt a sudden pang of fear.
"Kurt? Can you…can you see me?"
"No…I just…I can only see blurs and patches of light," Kurt replied and again Finn noticed how rough his voice was.
"Why?"
"Can I tell you tomorrow?" Kurt said sleepily, head sinking back into the pillow.
"Okay," Finn whispered and moved to get up, but Kurt stuck his hand out, grabbing for his arm.
"No!" he gasped. "Sorry, I just… can you stay? Just for a while?"
"Of course I can. Move over."
Kurt shuffled across the bed and Finn lay down beside him.
"Be warned: I might doze off, I’ve had a long day. D’you want the light off?"
"N-no, I’d rather it was on. Please." He rested his head against Finn’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
" ’night Finn." Finn couldn’t hold back a smile, despite all the problems he was sure would come knocking on his door in the foreseeable future. Kurt was half-blind, half-starved, haunted and afraid. But most importantly, Kurt was back.
Part III: Six Years Earlier.
Kurt was beyond annoyed. He slammed the door of Finn’s car and stalked into his dad’s garage.
"Idiot." He hissed as Finn pulled away. Honestly, didn’t Finn know what he was doing? He had to know that he was flirting, really, surely. Finn kept on flirting with him and Kurt was having trouble stopping himself from flirting back. He knew that if he did so, Finn would freak and while he wouldn’t explode at him like he did in the redecorating fiasco, he would still hurt Kurt. He wouldn’t be able to help it. He hurt Kurt just by being straight.
"You’re in a mood," his dad observed as he stalked into the garage office.
Kurt just grunted in reply, something he wouldn’t normally even dream of doing, but this was a special exception.
"Whoa, okay, think I’d better get going. Lucky there’s only one appointment for you today," Burt said, raising an eyebrow amusedly. "Mr. Olivers will be here in half an hour, okay? Try not to murder him in a fit of teenage rage, yeah?"
Kurt gave a longsuffering sigh.
"I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. Now, you get home and have a nice long evening with Carole."
He ducked away as Burt tried to ruffle his hair with an oily hand. "Daaad, not the hair," he whined and Burt laughed until he was out of earshot.
Kurt puttered around in the garage for a while, sorting scattered tools into boxes and making sure the books were in order, until he heard the ring of the bell that meant a customer had arrived.
"I’m in the back!" He shouted, dumping a sheaf of papers on a stool. "Sorry, you’re early. I was just- Oh, hello, I thought you were someone else." Kurt didn’t recall seeing this man before in the shop.
"How can I help you? I have an appointment in fifteen minutes and then I’m closing up, but if it’s something quick I might be able to do something."
"Could you have a look at my car? I think there’s something up with my breaks and I really need to get home." The man said.
Kurt smiled and nodded. "Sure."
The man was quite attractive, in a weird older-guy-way. He was in his early thirties or late twenties, with short hair and broad shoulders, like Finn. Oh, Finn.
"Erm, you coming?" the guy asked, obviously in a hurry. Kurt blushed, feeling guilty for day dreaming about Finn when he was supposed to be working. The guy (he really should ask his name) grinned. "Lead the way."
Looking back, Kurt thought he should have sensed something wrong then: surely he didn’t need leading to where he had just parked his car? As Kurt walked past him, a hand grabbed his arm, another clapping down over his mouth. Kurt instantly started struggling, instinct from years of being bullied taking over. The man’s strong grip lifted him off the floor and he swung his foot, kicking his captor’s shin on the first blow and his knee on the second. The man let go in surprise and Kurt fell forward, only just catching himself before he hit the floor. He barrelled towards the door, but big hands caught him around the waist and pulled him roughly backwards. His heel caught on something, tripping him and he fell into the man. Pain lanced through his side and he screamed, legs buckling beneath him. His attacker let him down onto the floor almost gently and Kurt’s eyes rolled, seeing the handle of a blade in his side.
"You clumsy idiot!" Fingers scrabbled at his side and Kurt thought that he might throw up. "This wasn’t supposed to happen!" Kurt really couldn’t care less what was supposed to have happened. He wished that he’d accepted Finn’s offer of a DVD night and a lift home. Then his vision was swamped with white, then red, and finally black.
Next Part here