Home Sweet Home:

Chapter 6: Choices and Decisions

"You got to make up your mind

Life, Choices and Decisions…

To follow or to lead

Or do you just pretend?

To pause or to proceed

The choice is yours my friend…"

It must have been hours that he sat there in the bathroom, but in retrospect, it was only around fifteen minutes. Fortunately, no one had entered or else they would've thought he was a major creep. His thought process had been going a mile a minute.

What was he supposed to do? He wanted to help Kurt; no, he needed to help Kurt. Not only because he's his friend and almost-brother, but if anything bad happened to him, Burt will blow Finn's brains out with his 55 caliber. But then again, the guys on the team would throw his ass in the dumpster every day. He'll get so much more shit than he usually does. Fuck, why does he always get stuck in these impossible situations? Finn paced the room, frustrated, then brainstormed a bit.

It suddenly occurred to him that he had to start with the source. But what was the source? After a few more moments of thought he realized he needed to figure out the real reason he wanted to protect Kurt. Besides, deep down inside, he felt like those previously mentioned reasons to help Kurt weren't good enough. Or, rather, they just weren't accurate. Something else was motivating these odd bouts of heroics, but he couldn't figure it out. Was it pity, like Kurt said? Kurt had also mentioned he didn't want Finn's pity, though. So, what could it be? Kurt was familiar to him; they were friends. And before the whole parent trap, even before the Quinn baby debacle, they had gotten closer, become more in sync. It might have just been Kurt's obvious infatuation that pulled Finn in so much. Although, why would he himself be drawn in by the boy's affection? Wasn't that kind of…gay? Finn shook his head to himself. X Where was he? Oh yeah, the football team and hockey players would beat him to a bloody pulp, literally, if he kept up this "protection". What would happen if he left it alone though? Kurt would potentially become very hurt and mad at Fin, and he'd have to deal with dumpster tosses, slushy facials, punches, shoves, and who knows what else? Could he really tell himself to just stand there and watch?

Finn looked into the mirror and found a confused and frightened teenage boy there. He was thinking too many things at once (one thing was usually more than enough to think, for Finn). It could be decided later; he just needed some time. Finn walked to the choir room as steadily as he could, glancing off-handedly at a clock, only to realize he was a full half hour late. was going to throw a fit. Shit. Peeking through the window, he noticed Schue retrieving something from his office. What a lucky break! Finn slipped in and closed the door quietly behind him. Everyone turned their heads at the perceived intrusion. Brad, the piano guy, rolled his eyes and turned away. He hated the Glee Club too much to care about a lateness. In fact, the less time in their company, the better. Silently, Finn put a finger over his lips, signaling to his classmates. Everyone shook their heads, rolled their eyes, or turned away knowingly. The only one who seemed to care was Rachel, who was furiously glaring at him. Rachel's opinion really didn't matter right now, so he ignored it.

Finn ducked down passed the windows of the office and scrambled into a seat. The only one available, ironically, was the one between Kurt and Rachel.

"Nice of you to join us, Finn," Mr. Schue called out from behind him.

Finn jumped and turned around in a startled manner, "Mr. Schue... Hey."

He didn't look very happy. "Take a seat, please. We were just discussing what songs we might want to sing for Regionals."

Finn nodded and fell awkwardly into his seat. He felt both Kurt and Rachel eyeing him and shrugged it off, trying to pay attention. The repeated mentions of Regionals struck a familiar chord in him. The rest of the period was spent listening to endless ideas and suggestions of music, offset by complaints and disagreements, most of them from the boys (excepting Kurt).

At the end of practice, Finn scrambled out of his chair and tried to leave before Mr. Schue-

"Finn, can you come talk to me for a sec?" he called out, "You too, Kurt."

Finn and Kurt both stopped and glanced towards one another unsteadily, not sure as to what was going on between them yet. They both followed Mr. Schue into his office. He rounded on them both.

"Will you guys care to tell me why you were both late to practice? You were fifteen minutes late, Kurt. Finn, you were a full half hour late. Usually, I'd let it slide, but Regionals are coming up fast, guys. We need all the time we can get."

Kurt listened, an appropriately chastised expression plastered on his face. Finn, however, stared shamelessly at the floor. Being reprimanded didn't sit well in his stomach. He interjected Mr. Schuester's tirade with, "Sorry, Mr. Schue, Kurt and I ran into a bit of trouble."

Kurt cut him off. "A slushy facial war, actually, during passing. Finn took the hit for me, and I offered to help him clean up."

Mr. Schue slipped into concerned teacher mode. "You guys should have came and got me if you were being harassed."

Kurt scoffed, "Mr. Schue, if I may be so bold, there is really nothing you can do. You just have to accept that being in Glee club is like being on the bottom of the food chain. We're the prey, and getting an adult to help will just make us bigger targets, which most adults don't seem to understand for some bizarre reason."

The teacher looked visibly deflated. Kurt made his leave while Mr. Schuester bit his lip and ran his fingers through his hair. Again. Finn stayed behind.

"Sorry, Mr. Schue. Kurt's not in a very good mood today," he lied, "but I'm really sorry that we were late too. Slushies aren't easy to clean off. Even though they're made mostly of water. You'd think they'd be easy to clean off but-"

Mr. Schue leaned back against his desk, interrupting before Finn could get lost on his tangent. "No, it's fine, Finn. Thanks for being honest." Finn took that as his cue to leave. "Wait," Finn turned around, "You and Kurt are living together now, right?"

He nodded unsure as to where this was going.

"Just…Watch out for him okay? We all know act Kurt puts up in front of everyone, but we also all know he needs help sometimes…"

Finn smiled his little half-smile that was sometimes also kind of a half-frown. This was one of those times. "I know," he said, and left the room.

The lunchroom was jam-packed full of students. Looking around, Finn had limited choices of where to sit. In all honesty, sitting with his fellow Glee clubbers didn't sound very appealing today, considering he didn't quite enjoy being under the watchful glare of Kurt. He noticed Puck, Brittany, and Santana sitting a few tables over, though. Finn grimaced at the less than satisfactory choice of seats, but shuffled over towards Puck and the two cheerleaders.. Puck tensely stared when he sat down, Brittany grinned dopily, and Santana's lips curled into a characteristic scowl. She still looked pretty hot, even while wearing such an ugly expression.

"Hey, guys…" Finn mumbled.

Brittany was the only to answer, "Hi, Mr. Finnegan."

Finn rolled his eyes and smiled at her. You just had to love her, despite the less than brilliant things she said.

"What's up, man?" Puck finally spoke up, although timidly. Good. Puck better be scared of him. They

still weren't on very good terms. Although in this case, beggars can't be choosers.

He chewed his sandwich thoughtfully then spoke around his food, "Nothing… Same old…"

Puck nodded and half-smiled, "Why aren't you sitting with the losers today? Isn't your bro over there?"

Finn glanced at the other table, all of the occupants laughing at something Mercedes said while she smirked. Kurt's face was bright as a cherry. Cute. Finn nearly jumped at his own Brittany-like choice of words and turned around guiltily, imagining Puck could hear his thoughts.

"Ah… No reason, I'm just not in the mood today, you know? I love them, I really do, and Kurt, well I guess he's my "brother" and all, but we've just been fighting over stupid shit. All the time. We need some space, I guess."

"Aw," Brittney cooed, "Baby hands is being a meanie?"

Finn stared at her blankly for a second. He shrugged, "No, more like we're trying to figure stuff out and it led to a fight."

"Wait, you're being mean to baby hands then?" Brittany blinked. Finn had no idea why she was calling Kurt "baby hands", but thankfully Santana put a hand on her shoulder to divert any more questions.

"So, what's really up? Hummel having his queer time of the month?" Puck asked while staring at the cheerleader's table.

Finn glared at the distracted teen. "No," he bit out, "It's something else…" When he trailed off in such a confused voice everyone's attention was back on him immediately sensing how distressed he was. Even Santana looked curious. "Well, me and Kurt have been discussing his being bullied and stuff…and I told him I would help him out." Finn proceeded to tell them everything that happened this morning and how he was confused as of what to do.

Puck guffawed in response, "Dude, you have a status to keep up. Why the hell are you takin' the heat for Hummel? You just got to tell him that this whole defending shit ain't workin' out. It's as simple as that… Now, if you'd excuse me, the Puckosaurus sees a hot piece of ass." He left practically drooling behind a petite brunette cheerleader. He remembered her name was Kendall.

Brittney looked sad. "Poor Kurtis! You should really teach him martial arts, Finn, and make him wear an umbrella hat to school. I heard it keeps water and ducks out of your hair." She left too without another road.

Santana disbelievingly stared at the clueless girl. The lunchroom was emptying out slowly. She looked at Finn, who stared at his half-eaten lunch dejected.

"Listen, Hudson," she said, pulling her seat closer to his, "If you tell anyone I said this, I'll make you wish you never had cajones for me to kick in the first place, they'll hurt so bad. But when it comes to my opinion, I think you should help Kurt out. The poor kid gets shit all the time even though he's a Cheerio now. I look out for my teammates. And Coach Sylvester looks out for her Cheerios. I might seem like a heartless bitch half of the time…" Finn gave her a look. "Alright, all the time, but that's a front. My reputation as a bitch is as important as Puck's reputation as a badass. If Kurt is really your friend, and he means a lot to you, then you should be willing to do anything to help him. Not to mention he probably won't talk to you again if you listen Puck's asshole idea. You should talk to him when you get home later." Santana almost looked as though she was about to hug him just before she left, but Finn guessed that she'd already put her reputation in jeopardy by sharing her opinion, and didn't want to risk it any more.

The real moment Finn made up his mind followed a long period of staring at Kurt's head in Spanish. He was just about to go over to Kurt's locker and tell him when he realized there was no Kurt there. It was weird because he could have sworn he saw Kurt leave the classroom. Finn walked down the hallway, scanning the crowd but not catching a single glimpse of the boy. Maybe he already went to his next class? Kurt always went to his locker after Spanish though. He was still contemplating when a wave of pain crashed over his stomach, realizing his bladder was full to bursting right now. He ran off to find a bathroom.

3:15

There wasn't much to be said during the car ride home, the silence was left unbroken by noise or music. It was not broken till the second they walked in the door and simultaneously said, "Well, I'll be downstairs."

Finn repressed an urge to laugh and examined Kurt's owlish expression, finally deciding to lead the way to their room. He crashed right on his bed, stretching across the designer comforter. Kurt aptly set up his school books in front of the couch, probably planning a study night for their "important" Spanish test tomorrow. A shiver ran through his body. That was a test he'd surely fail. Spanish… Why did he feel like there was something he'd forgotten...? Wait!

"Hey, Kurt, where'd you go after Spanish today?"

Kurt seemed surprised turning around and eyeing him suspiciously. "I went to class," he said as more of a question, "Why?"

He shrugged, "Nothing, I was…uh, just looking for you afterward because usually you go to your locker."

"Hmm," Kurt nodded and went back to setting up his arrangements, "And why would you be looking for me?"

His heart picked up pace suddenly and his head felt light and airy. For some reason he was nervous. "I just wanted you to know that I made up my mind," he finalized. He walked over to Kurt and pushed him down onto the couch by his shoulders. Kurt was taken aback and slightly bothered, but not in a bad way. Whenever Finn took charge, Kurt felt a surge of emotion run through his veins. Finn, however, was clueless as to what Kurt was thinking. He sat on the end table in front of him, rubbing his hands over his thighs out of habit. Kurt thought it was adorable, but he was still angry from this morning. No, Finn's loveable tendencies wouldn't even change that. Finn continued, "So, Kurt, you're my friend. And you know I would do anything for my friends, even if it would ruin my rep. Seriously, dude, I honestly love you…" Kurt's heart skipped a beat at the distant words. "You're one of my best friends these days, so I'm sorry if I can be a little bit too protective, but if anything happened to you, I couldn't live with myself. You're…you're my brother, okay? So, if it means I have to get my ass thrown in the dumpster or my face slushied or whatever else they throw at me, I'll do it…because I want to do this for you. For us."

Kurt was speechless, awed and staring at Finn's honest expression. In a burst of enthusiasm, he threw his arms around Finn and embraced him tightly. For once there was no sexual desire or tension, just the pure need for a brother's affection. He needed this reassurance. They needed this relationship.

Finn wrapped his arms around Kurt, holding him close, and breathing in the still fresh scent of strawberries. They basked in the warmth and love surrounding them.

Kurt was the one to pull back first. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to be a burden or ruin your…"

Finn put a finger over his lips, "I am surer than ever, Kurt, I really want to do this." He smiled in encouragement.

Kurt nodded back with a small grin himself. "Thanks, Finn. It means a lot to me."

Finn thumped his shoulder lightly and got up. "So, what are you setting up for?" he questioned while heading over to his bed again, sitting on the edge and fingering his alarm clock.

Kurt moved around some cushions. "Oh, Mercedes is coming over in a little to watch a Streisand marathon and study…" He looked up at Finn, "Are you okay with that?"

He nodded, masking his surprise. Since when did people ask his permission? "Yeah, of course, I was planning on watching a game upstairs anyways."

Kurt grimaced. For some reason, whenever Finn wanted to watch a game, he got kind of grossed out. Even during their old football practices, he looked like he was ready to high tail and run off the field. Kurt was so adorable in his uniform. He looked like he was drowning in all the pads and gear he was forced to wear. Finn laughed at the recollection. Then, he got a weird stare from Kurt and he coughed awkwardly; mumbling something about getting a snack, he went upstairs.

I know I've kept you guys waiting, and I have no excuse but to just say that I've been very sick this summer. Sick as in, bed-ridden, most of the time. Please, if you feel the need to reprimand me go ahead, but just keep in mind that I am taking responsibility for this. The chapter is short, but it's what I got done. If you liked it, tell me. If you didn't, well...say what you want, say what you need. I don't mind. I feel horrible leaving you guys hanging like that, so I am sincerely sorry.

I want to thank my lovely and patient beta, who has worked so hard on perfecting this chapter after I royally screwed it up. Thank you again!

(The lack of funny lines may be because I've been in a morbid mood this summer, sorry)

Please review!