Unconditional

Summary: Inspired by a prompt on the Glee Fluff Meme. Finn always wanted a dog to sleep with at night and Kurt's totally willing to give him that happy pleasure to save his sheets from dog hair. Too bad that it turns out that Finn can't sleep that way and Kurt needs the company more than he does. Then what was originally going to be Finn's Dog turns into Kurt's Dog and you know what? He's kind of okay with that because he wanted a dog and he got one, and now he gets to see his brother smile like that at the same time, and it's awesome.

Tl;dr: Kurt, Finn, and a dog.

Disclaimer: Yeah, no. I own nothing.

AN: By the way, in case the timeline's unclear, this starts just after Furt, so Burt and Carole just got married, and Kurt's just started at Dalton. Also, unlike most of my stories, this one has Kurt commuting to school instead of boarding.

Growing up, Finn always wanted a dog. Like, always. He always watched those movies as a kid, where the main character was lonely and had it so rough but he had his dog who always loved him, so he managed somehow. Finn wasn't always lonely but it could get hard with a single mother, and the dog thing never really happened even though the desire for one never really waned.

Kurt had never thought too much about pets because he was too pragmatic for his own good. He liked animals well enough but he knew that there was no way that his father would have said yes, especially with his mother being allergic to any and all kinds of pet dander. Later, Kurt knew better than to bring an animal into the house that he would get attached to and not be able to keep and that he'd inevitably end up crying over, and whenever he thought about how he wanted a pet, he'd think about how much he liked having his closet free of fur and let it pass.

Until, of course, it happened.

"Not a chance," Burt said firmly, staring his son and stepson in the eyes. He was in his chair and Kurt was on the sofa with Carole but Finn was on the floor, petting a blissfully oblivious dog with a curly tail and dark markings over the white coat that had to be about the size of a small pony. "We can't keep it."

"But Burt, it was on the doorstep. It chose us," Finn protested, "And look at this face!" He ruffled the dog's cheeks, receiving a yawn in response.

Burt was not impressed.

Carole on the other hand was looking slightly torn, glancing shiftily from the dog to Finn to Burt, and then finally to the boy next to her, who was ignoring his father in favor of watching the dog with a strange expression on his face that looked uncomfortably close to longing.

"Finn, that thing is massive. We don't know where it came from, we don't know how old it is. We don't know anything."

"It's an Akita," Kurt finally spoke up, eyes still fixed, "It's maybe still growing, but probably about finished." His voice was low and it was clear that he was trying to appear disinterested but just couldn't pull the act out all the way. Finn was making his eyes as big as possible.

"Kurt…" Burt began, trailing off when Carole took his arm.

"Burt, is there a specific reason you don't want a dog?" she asked delicately. Kurt was watching her now and if Finn was more canine, his ears would be perked up. "Finn's always wanted one, but I never thought it was fair with just the two of us and being so busy."

The bald man scowled.

"Never had a dog before and never really wanted one," he finally muttered, "Elizabeth was allergic."

"So you don't actually dislike them?" she asked insistently.

"Guess not. Kurt never asked."

"Okay," Carole continued, taking the discussion into her own hands. "So Finn's all for keeping it, I don't particularly object. Burt is clearly on the fence. Kurt? What about you? You deserve to be heard on this too."

Leaning forward, Kurt extended a hand and made a soft clucking noise with his tongue against his teeth. Brown eyes opened and he repeated the sound. The dog lumbered to its feet and shook vigorously, before padding over to Kurt to be petted. Pale hands ran over perked, pointed ears and scratched experimentally at the dark muzzle, only to be licked for his efforts. An unconscious, gentle smile found its way to his face.

"Hey there, puppy, how're you doing? You're pretty cute. You want to live here?"

And if that wasn't as clear an answer as anything, none of them knew what was.

Finn hooted with triumph and glory, crawling over to pat the dog's head.

"Now, Finn, since you are really the one who wants this dog, it's going to be your job to take care of it. Feeding, washing, walking, all that stuff. We'll pay for vet bills and all that, but it's your job to care for it," Burt said finally, resigned. "We clear?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Finn crowed, "Clear as a swimming pool."

It turned out that the pony-sized family member was a he and probably just over a year old, according to the vet. Also according to the vet, there were no medical problems aside from being underfed and needing intense brushing. They were also told that they may or may not be just a little bit crazy for choosing an Akita for their first dog. Finn had tried to name him Drizzle but Kurt put his foot down because 1) no, 2) how dare he try to name a male dog after his ex-girlfriend's baby that hadn't even been his, and 3) no.

("But Kurt, Quinn ended up naming her Beth!"

"I don't care, you are not naming that poor creature Drizzle. No. Not happening!")

Eventually, names had been put into a hat and picked at random (Drizzle had not been allowed into the running and neither had Carole's Chewbacca or Kurt's personal favorite, Arpeggio, because Finn said that it would give him a complex). By the end of the night, Carole was bragging up the fact that her name had won and the next day, Briar had his name and their address engraved into a tag attached to his new collar.

Briar was quiet and surprisingly unobtrusive for being relatively huge and Finn adored him instantly, even when the dog dragged open his dresser drawers and rearranged his socks all over his and Kurt's shared bedroom. For a breed that was supposed to be dignified and assured, Briar spent a lot of his time flopped onto his back, begging for tummy rubs that were granted more often than not.

He was wonderful.

Wonderful until, of course, Finn tried to get him to do something. Walking him was hell' Briar pulled and tried to chase off about anything that moved (leaves) and things that didn't (rocks). He didn't like other dogs and the first time he'd met Puck, he'd sat on the other side of the couch and glared, taking up as much space as possible and refusing to move over.

Kurt said he was protecting his family and that it was a natural instinct.

Finn couldn't help but think this just wasn't fair because he let Kurt's girlfriends coo all over him without protest.

He also very clearly knew the meaning of the words 'sit' and 'come' and 'down' but didn't seem to find them worth his time as he only obeyed about the half the time. Finn felt kind of lame because Briar was kind of his dog and he was supposed to train him and it just wasn't going well, but he hadn't damaged anything irreparably so at least there was that.

Briar might not have been perfect, but he was friendly and liked to play even if he was about as picky about keeping himself clean as Kurt was, and Finn adored him.

There was just one other major problem.

Finn had always wanted a dog, and he'd always wanted his dog to sleep on his bed with him.

Briar didn't have any objections to this (even he knew that a mattress beat the floor or a dog bed any day) but it turned out that Finn just couldn't sleep with him there. There wasn't enough room and Briar hogged the good spots and kicked and if he decided that he wanted to lay on Finn (and he always did), there was no way that the boy would be getting to sleep.

So after a while, the dog was banished to the floor or to the main level of the house at night because seriously, he had claws and Finn didn't and that just wasn't fair.

Finn was awake when he shouldn't have, but this time it wasn't because of Briar taking up too much space. From the other side of the room, he could hear Kurt tossing and turning restlessly. He could hear the rustling blankets and the occasional whimper and Finn somehow knew that he wasn't having one of those dreams, where you'd wake up breathing hard with inexplicably wet sheets. As awkward as it might be, he'd have preferred something like that to what he knew was a nightmare because no one made noises like that because of something pleasant.

Giving up for the moment, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, already adjusted to the darkness.

He looked to Kurt's bed, then to door at the end of the stairs.

The proverbial light bulb went off.

Finn padded up to the top of the stairs and leaned down, fumbling along the floor until he found Briar sprawled out in front of the door as he always did.

"Hey, boy," Finn whispered, and the dog shook out his coat as he got to his feet.

It didn't take much to get him down the stairs, and Finn led him over to Kurt's bed. He patted the comforter with a hand.

There'd be plenty of room for him up there at the very least and even if Kurt bitched about dog hair on the sheets, it'd be worth it if he helped him sleep better.

As if he'd been waiting all his life for that cue for the longest time, Briar hopped up onto Kurt's bed, making himself comfortable by flopping over Kurt's hip and immediately going to sleep like he belonged there. Finn scratched him on the head.

"Good boy," he said lowly, "You keep the dreams away, you hear? That's your new job. And don't kick him, that's just rude."

Finn expected to hear the irritated comments about fur and how dare Finn let the beast up onto his bed immediately upon waking, but there was nothing. Instead, he woke up the next morning to silence. For the first time in probably ever, Finn had awoken first, and the first thing he did was look over to the other side of the room.

Briar was still on the bed but had shifted sometime during the night to snuggle up to Kurt's chest, the boy curling around him to accommodate his size, an arm thrown over him and unconsciously stroking the thick fur. Before he knew it, Finn was smiling.

Okay, so maybe he'd always wanted to have a dog to sleep with, but it seemed like maybe his stepbrother might have needed it more than he did.

Something changed after that and Finn thought that it might have been for the better, because Kurt was finally starting to smile a little bit and didn't say a word about his sheets or fur or claws in the night.

"I never ever thought I'd say this before you did, but holy hell so much hair," Finn commented emphatically at breakfast one more, picking a few strands off of his eggs. From the other side of the table, Kurt merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ever thought of brushing him, Finn Hudson? I know I bought a brush for him, I threw it at you and you didn't dodge."

"Yeah, thanks for that," Finn grumbled in response to both the remark and to the military salute Kurt sent him, "He doesn't like it when I brush him, though. He always squirms and tries to escape—what are you doing?"

Kurt sent him stink-eye, rummaging round in the drawer for the brush.

"Briar never squirms, he loves to be brushed."

Finn began to protest to the contrary but didn't because Kurt was sitting on the kitchen floor now and Briar was almost instantly in his lap, tightly-curled white tail waving happily with bliss as the brush ran through his coat, taking off all the loose fur. Kurt petted him with his other hand, taking out what the brush didn't quite get, fingers running easily through the white coat and the fawn and black patches. Snowshoe paws tucked up under a dark chin and liquid brown eyes all but begged for the treatment to never stop.

Kurt was sending him That Look, and Finn rolled his eyes.

"Fluke."

"Bull," was the shot-sharp reply.

"You want brushing duty, then? Since he actually holds still for you," Finn commented, fully expecting a quick no or another snappy comment. Instead, Kurt looked considering, glancing from Finn to Briar in a span of seconds.

"…okay," he answered after a moment, "But only because the fur's been driving me nuts too and you are unhelpful. You still do everything else, though. He's still your dog." Kurt suddenly looked just a little uncomfortable, as if expecting Finn to be angry or annoyed for some reason.

Finn didn't think about it too hard, only nodded with a smile.

He was happy, Briar was happy, his eggs were going to be fur-free, and if Finn played his cards right, Kurt might end up happy too.

It might have looked that way, but Finn wasn't passing off his dog duties out of laziness. Briar might have been difficult to handle but Finn had never complained about it, deciding instead that he was going to just keep trying.

However, after letting Briar sleep with Kurt that first night (and every night since, and they'd never once spoken of it), it seemed like he'd been sleeping better. After Kurt took to brushing him twice a day, he seemed more relaxed and calm, and smiled more because who couldn't smile with something so happy in your lap?

Naturally, it came to Finn that if Kurt liked sleeping with Briar and brushing Briar that he might like walking him too.

Ha.

So he offered and Kurt accepted, only to come storming back into the house an hour later, cheeks pink with exertion and mad as fire. Briar looked exceedingly pleased with himself but Kurt was furious, shoving the leash back at Finn and demanding to know how in God's name he walked him twice a day with those manners.

("Oh, come on, Kurt. He's not that bad!"

"Not that bad, you say. Lies! Finn, your dog decided that he was going to try and climb a tree."

"Well, maybe you should train him, then."

"Maybe I will.")

Finn hadn't taken him seriously until he came home after a date with Rachel to find Kurt on the floor with a clicker in his hand and a broken piece of an all-natural organic dog cookie (when had they gotten those?) in the other, with Briar sitting alert in front of him, tail waving and ears perked.

It wasn't long before he sat without the food bribe and came when he was called (most of the time) and laid down or even offered up a massive paw to shake.

Someone else might have felt resentful or felt that he was being stolen from, but Finn didn't feel any of those things. He still played with him all the time, cuddled with him, watched TV with him, and snuck him scraps under the table. The only difference now was that Briar was more well-mannered and Finn didn't have to fight with him on the leash because Kurt had always liked to go jogging in the mornings anyway, so he apparently didn't mind bringing a dog along or adding a walk in the evening.

Finn got to keep his sleep and Saturday morning cartoons and, well he wasn't quite sure what Kurt got out of it, but it had to be something because he didn't complain about it and he would have otherwise.

The academics at Dalton were insane, Finn knew that without question, but didn't really sink in until just before Christmas break how insane. Or maybe it wasn't just midterms, perhaps it was the combination of driving four hours a day and having crazy schoolwork and Warblers practice and apparently a friendship that was filled with mixed messages that was getting to Kurt.

Either way, it had gotten to the point that Finn literally hadn't seen Kurt for more than an hour at a time for the last week, and it was kind of freaking him out. Hours upon hours were being spent in the library, and last Finn checked, his stepbrother had been muttering something about what singing a duet about date rape meant for the prospects for a relationship.

He didn't think too hard about it because he had his own problems right now and freaking Rachel, but he knew that it couldn't continue.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kurt protested indignantly when Finn approached him and swiftly made a grab for his chemistry book, holding it above his head. "You behemoth, give that back! I need it!"

"Dude, you've been studying forever. You'll be fine, but not if you like, die before the exam. So go and chill out or something. Go play with the dog, he misses you."

Kurt may or may not have muttered I'll give you chill under his breath that may or may not have reminded Finn way too much of Coach Sylvester in response, but nevertheless left the room, threatening to kick Finn in the shin as he did so.

Finn also may or may not have poked his head into the living room a little bit later and caught sight of his stepbrother idly flipping Briar's tail back and forth while the dog napped next to him, and he wished that he could say that it wasn't super adorable. It totally was.

He snapped a photo with his cell phone before declaring,

"I regret nothing!" and making a run for it to post it to Facebook, Kurt on his heels.

"Dude, what are you gonna do with him?" Finn asked, gesturing to an exceedingly wobbly Blaine being supported on Kurt's shoulder. The shorter boy rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"What choice do I have? He can't drive home, and I am not up to carting him back to Dalton at this hour. He can crash in my room and I'll sleep on floor." Kurt was quite a few shades of Not Happy right now and Finn couldn't really blame him because he wasn't too thrilled himself.

"Hey, dude, scale of one to ten. How pissed off are you right now?"

Blue eyes scrutinized him before closing with a sigh.

"Probably about a seven," Kurt finally admitted, "Watching my longtime crush make out with someone I thought was a good friend is not the way I wanted to spend my evening. What about you, scale of one to ten?" He wrestled the door open as quietly as he could and began to haul Blaine off to his room to sleep off the drunkenness.

"Honestly?" Finn asked.

"Absolutely. Cold, hard truth."

"…Eight." Finn didn't mention the reasoning behind his answer and Kurt didn't ask, and they split off for the night, but not be Finn stopped him. "Hey, you gonna keep Briar with you tonight?"

"I guess not, the floor sucks enough on its own and I don't know how he'll treat Blaine in my bed."

"Can I take him?"

Blue eyes shuttered.

"Finn, he's your dog. If you want him to stay with you, you don't have to ask me for him."

Finn smiled sheepishly and rested a hand to scratch at Briar's ears. The dog had been bouncing since they'd gotten home and it was all they could do to keep him quiet.

"Yeah, but…" he trailed off, not bothering to finish his sentence. He wasn't sure whether what would come out would be But you love him or But you need him, "I'll keep him with me tonight, then."

"Okay. Good night, Finn." Kurt almost turned away, but stopped suddenly. "Oh, and…I'm sorry. For blackmailing you into letting us come. Maybe if we hadn't, things wouldn't have gone so badly and you might have had more fun."

And he was gone before Finn could reply, and his bedroom door clicked shut with finality. Briar looked confused and approached the closed door, scratching it with a paw. Finn shook his head as if things would look different if he did, and was disappointed to find that nothing had changed.

"Come on, buddy, it's you and me this time."

Despite the fact that there would never be enough room for both him and that dog and he couldn't sleep at all because Briar still kicked him, Finn wouldn't have traded it because otherwise, he would have felt more alone.

Somehow, Finn's Dog had turned into Kurt's Dog, and it took Finn until about mid-March to realize it.

When he did, it hit him not with the force of a bulldozer but with the impact of a butterfly, as if it wasn't something he'd had to realize but something he'd always known. It wasn't hard to tell.

It wasn't a matter of who loved him more or who wanted him more, or even a matter of who needed him more. Finn didn't know if it was love or want or need or compatibility or even simple destiny, but he knew.

The fact was that Finn knew, as everyone probably knew, that Briar had chosen Kurt that first night, and Finn had led him there.

And to be totally honest?

He kind of didn't care that much about it.

He knew, as they all knew, that when it came time to go off to college, who the dog was going with. Even if Kurt tried to protest, Finn knew that he'd probably insist on it, because Briar was his and he knew that Kurt wouldn't be totally happy without him. Subconsciously, Kurt probably knew this too, as he'd gone out of his way to make sure that Blaine and Briar got along, and the first thing he'd asked the other boy when they met was if he was allergic to dogs.

Finn had his epiphany in the middle of glee club, and he was almost tempted to sing about it or something because that was just what they did. He didn't, however.

Instead, Finn tilted his head to covertly watch his brother out of the corner of his eye and wondered when he was going to realize it too.