Disclaimer: I own none of the characters you recognize. All Glee characters belong to Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan and the FOX network. Nor do I own the song 'Baby Mine' from the Disney animated film Dumbo.
Author Note: First time venturing into writing Kurt. I'm sorry if he's out of character. This is write for one of the prompt at the glee_fluff_meme on live journal. Don't have a beta so any mistake is my own.
Insomnia's Cruel Game.
Kurt tore his attention away his book, raising a brow as Finn loudly stumbled down the stairs. To say the freakishly tall and awkward teen looked exhausted was an understatement. It seemed Finn could just barely keep his eyes open as he finished his decent.
"Coach Tanaka is trying to kill us," the tall brunette whine, dropping his gym bag at the bottom of the stairs as he kicked off his sneakers.
Kurt simply shook his head, turning his attention back to his novel, "You are going to pick that up correct?"
Finn made a sound which Kurt took to be affirmative. A soft 'thud' followed, once more drawing the smaller boys' attention. Kurt chuckled softly at the sight of a still fully clothed Finn collapsed on his bed, his long legs dangled off the end of the bed as his arms hung over the edges. The young boy shook his head. His future step-brother never ceased to amuse me.
- X -
It wasn't the loud rustling from the bed that was separated by a night side dresser that woke Kurt at two in the morning. Though Finn's rustling was the reason Kurt finally gave up on trying to sleep in simply open his eyes. He listened as Finn shuffled around his side of the room, no doubt looking for his pajamas. There was a brief pause before the much taller teen made his way up the stairs for his regular bathroom break. Or at least Kurt assumed so considering this was the second night he was awake to hear Finn get up and go upstairs.
He didn't know why he couldn't seem to fall asleep but it was beginning to frustrate him. He needed his beauty sleep, especially if he was going to be ready to bring Rachel Berry down a notch or two. Kurt groaned as he smacked and kicked at his bed in hopes of releasing some of his frustration.
"Oh," Finn's voiced filled the quiet room, "you're up late again Kurt?"
"Of course not! I required my daily twelve hours of sleep. My body seemed to decide to wake me up at two in the morning."
The smaller boy could just make out the outline of Finn's head bobbing up and down, "Oh okay, I was worried that I had woken you up or something."
"Just got back to sleep Finn," Kurt brushed him off, turning on his side and away from the other boy.
- X -
The insomnia was beginning to get to him. It was a week later and Kurt had yet to get a proper night sleep. He'd toss and turn all night, looking for that right position but couldn't seem to find it. The nightly noises that usually lulled him to sleep (including Finn's rather loud snoring) sounded as through someone had put the volume in his head on maximum. It was really taking a toll on him.
His fellow Glee clubbers were beginning to worry for the safety of their fashionable friend. Something serious had to be occurring if the small boy was coming to school in a mismatched outfit, which was a far cry from his usually well polished self. Quinn was the first to notice the appearance of the dark circles that appeared on his pale skin.
"Oh Gucci," Kurt whimpered as he stared at his reflection in the mirror, Quinn and Mercedes standing behind him, "I look simply haggard."
Mercedes quickly came to the rescue as she produced Kurt's foundation from his bag. Kurt quickly took it from her and applied the product.
"Kurt, are you feeling alright?" the dark haired diva asked, worried eyes trained on her best friend.
Kurt gave her a tired smile, "Of course sweetie. I've never felt better," he lied, putting the finishing touches beneath his eye.
Quinn crossed her arms, "Have you been sleeping okay?"
He nodded, quickly replacing the foundation into his bag, "Girls, I promise I am perfectly fine." He offered them his best smile, giving both girls a hug and kiss on the cheek before he quickly exited the bath room.
He wasn't fine. The next day Kurt fell asleep in class for the first time ever, also earning him his first detention. During Glee, he failed to critique Rachel's horrible sense of fashion despite the teasing from Santana and the others. When Tina yelped as Kurt miscalculated his movement and stepped on the poor gothic teen's foot, Quinn and Mercedes went to the only possible person who might know what was wrong.
Finn shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the concerned faces of the two girls, "I don't know what's wrong with Kurt. He keeps brushing him off whenever I try to ask or makes up some excuse to get away from me."
"Have you noticed anything weird about his sleeping habits?" Quinn asked, leaning towards her boyfriend.
The tall teen paused as he thought over her question, "No really, well beside the fact that whenever I get up to go to the bathroom Kurt's always up too."
The two girls' looked at another and nodded. "Okay, white boy you listen to me," Mercedes stated, extending a finger towards the boy, "I'm really worried about my boy Kurt. I want you seriously look out for him. I don't think he's getting enough sleep and it's throwing his game off. And if his game is off, our game is off. We can't have that, can we?" Finn quickly shook his head and Mercedes smiled, "Good boy."
- X -
Two weeks. It's been two weeks since Kurt Hummel was first plagued with insomnia and the damn curse wasn't leaving him. The teen sighed as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Like clock work, rustling sounded of the other bed in the room. Finn left his bed and hurried up the stairs, the light from the living room entered through the basement door with an eerie glow. Ten minutes later he heard the flush from above just a few moments before Finn tried (and failed) to quietly make his way down the stairs. Kurt counted the seconds before he'd hear the sound of Finn's bed creak under his weight when the teen crawled back into it but it never came.
Instead he felt his comforter being lifted up and an additional weight was added beside him. He quickly tuned his head in shock, misjudging the closeness of his future step-brother. They were only a breath apart and neither made a move to correct it.
"Finn what are you doing?" he whispered harshly.
Finn shifted to get more comfortable, "I know you've been having trouble sleeping," Kurt huffed in protest, preparing to do just that before Finn covered his mouth with his massive hand, "don't try and lie. I might not be the quickest person to notice things like this but I still do. Beside Quinn and Mercedes are really worried about you. They asked me to look out for you and what kind of brother would I be if I didn't." The teen scratched his head, "I remember something my mom used to do whenever I couldn't fall asleep or if I had a nightmare. Just don't laugh okay. I just hope it helps."
Kurt took in Finn's words and nodded. He could feel the boy beaming beside him. Without warning, Finn had moved Kurt unto his side and Finn's arm wrapped around the smaller boy's waist to draw him close against his chest. Kurt couldn't help the sigh of contentment that slipped from his lips. Again he could feel Finn practically beaming behind him as he took a deep breath.
"Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine."
Kurt couldn't help the snort that came as Finn sang the lullaby from Dumbo. It was kind of cute.
"Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine."
Kurt felt his eyes slowly droop with each word as Finn sang. Though it was an awkward thing for Finn to be singing and was soothing.
"If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The chance to hold you."
Finn smiled softly as Kurt relaxed in his arms. The smaller boy's breathing slowed and Finn had never felt prouder. He had accomplished his goal. His arm still around the boy's small frame, Finn relaxed as well. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to softly finish the song before he too drifted to sleep.
"From your head to your toes
you're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine."
The next morning, Kurt jolted awake from his first peaceful sleep in two weeks as his father knocked on the basement door. "Boys are you coming up for breakfast or just I just eat it myself?" he smiled as he heard Carol scold him for disturbing them.
The boy tried to stand only to be weighed down by an arm around his waist. He blinked in confusion, staring at the arm before slowly following it to the body it was attached to. He was more than a little surprised to see Finn had stayed in his bed the previous night instead of returning to his own.
"Stop staring Kurt," Finn mumbled sleepily, burying his face farther into Kurt's goose down pillows.
The teen blinked once more, "Why are you still in my bed Finn?"
"Didn't want to move," the tall teen grumbled, squeezing Kurt's waist, "can we go back to sleep now?"
Kurt smiled, kissing his other boy's forehead. He was more than a little surprised when Finn didn't fight him off. "Okay, just for a little bit more."
Finn made a cute noise of confirmation, settling back into a deep sleep. Kurt lied beside him, toying with his long fingers before he allowed himself to be pulled back into a much appreciated slumber.
End.