Hold my Hand

2. Never Been Kissed

Okay, so Finn hadn't been the best brother lately.

The whole 'try-convince-Kurt-not-to-do-a-duet-with-Sam-for-the-sake-of-Glee-club-and-so-Kurt-doesn't-get-his-heart-broken-yet-again' plan backfired on him, and while Sam did join Glee, it was clear that Kurt was hurting. And he hadn't done much to remedy the situation, being rather concerned about having to be in nothing but his tighty whities in front of strangers - or worse, people he knew - , around people like Sam and Mr. Shue - who looked so much better - and everything.

He did want to be there for Kurt, though. Finn wasn't lying when he said that.

And he can tell that something is up with Kurt, seeing him leaning against a locker with that funny bowtie - is that a a working clock there? - just looking vulnrable, and clearly not okay. So the giant ignores the strangest sight he's ever seen - Puck was not pushing Artie's wheelchair and calling him "his boy", that's just weird - and goes to try to find out -and then fix - the situation.

Mr. Shue swept in before him, leading Kurt off in the opposite direction, to his office. Finn sighs, but begrudgingly leaves. Mr. Shue would help him, because that's what he did. He always helped Finn with his own problems at least.

Kurt was still a little down the next time they're in Glee together, but his expression completely changed when Mr. Shue announced the changes to the competition. Finn himself wasn't too keen on the idea, but seeing the countertenor take control and seem a bit more cheerful than he had in recent times is enough to make him happy. So Finn decided, hey, we've got this covered, let's just let this thing flow.

Then Artie, of all people, butts in, making a comment of how what they're all doing is kinda typical of Kurt and not surprising, at all, and he, Finn Hudson, the leader, wasn't paying enough attention to 'diffuse the situation' - huh, being around Kurt was doing something to his vocabulary - and stop one recently returned Noah Puckerman.

And having the football that Puck had just thrown into his hands took his attention away yet again, and stopped him from grabbing Kurt's hand - which would look sorta gay, but Kurt's his brother, kinda, and no one in Glee would tease him about it - just before he left.

Mike looked to the quarterback, expecting him to do something.

He wasn't quite sure what to do, himself.

They were doomed.

The girls had done awesome, and they still had nothing. And despite the guys' attitude, Finn knew that they knew that Kurt knew what to do to win. After the giant had wrapped his head around that sentence, he went in search for the boy in question. Who apparently, for once, could not be found.

Sighing, Finn treked around a little longer, before giving up. He's going over to the Hummel house with mom later anyway, he can talk to him then. At least, that was the plan until he kicked something.

"Sorry I wasn't-" Realising what he had hit wasn't a person, which was somewhat new, Finn bent down and picked up a phone. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't say who it belonged to, especially since he had no idea who 'Blaine' was, and why he would be texting 'courage'. At least, until he saw the background picture of a certain mechanic and his flamboyant son. Kurt's very attached to his iPhone; why would he just leave it here?

A cold sweat fell down Finn's back. This wasn't right. What happened?

Did he trip and have to get taken to the nurse's office? Did he get slushied in the eyes and go blind? Did he-

His musings were cut short as Dave Karofsky stormed out of the locker room, shoving Finn in his attempt to get out of there as quickly as possible. The quarterback snarled. What had Karofsky done this time that he believed he was going to get in trouble or something for? Whatever, Finn had more important things to do. Like finding Ku-oh shit.

Eyes growing wide in realisation, the giant teen dashed toward the locker room, part of him hoping to find Kurt, the other part praying that Karofsky was just freaking over nothing, and that Kurt had just dropped his phone and was going crazy looking for it.

When he entered the room, Finn really wished he hadn't.

He'd found Kurt, who was just, staring at empty space, pale, hand over his lips. He's just standing there, oblivious to Finn. He's not hurt; there are no bruises that the quarterback can see, and he's not been slushied or anything. Guiltily, the tall teen wished it were the case - not because he liked seeing Kurt in pain, that wasn't it at all! - because it was, sadly, familiar, and something he could help with. But something had happened, and Finn's pretty sure it's not something that can easily be fixed.

Taking small steps at a time, he towered over the boy. At this distance, the giant could clearly see Kurt's eyes, filled with both confusion and fear. Seeing it just made him feel sick, and the fact that the countertenor had yet to recognise his presence put Finn even further on the edge.

"Kurt?" he whispered, half afraid to speak because that'll make the whole situation real, and Finn doesn't know if he can take that. But it does get a reaction out of the dazed, yet terrified boy. If a violent one.

"Away! Stay away!" Kurt's shoving Finn away from him, near hysterical, completely beyond reasoning. Shocked, the giant stumbles backwards awkwardly, hands raised in defense. The older boy responds it badly to that, probably expecting a harsh shove and attempts to scurry off, screaming for Finn to get away. And Finn can't have that, can't stand to see Kurt run off and most likely hurt himself in his attempt to get away from something, so he just goes for it, trying to get Kurt to calm down before he really does hurt himself.

He grabs Kurt's hand roughly.

Of course, Kurt resisted, trying to pull away. But Finn just relaxed his grip slightly, but remained firm. "Kurt," he tried again, urging the boy to look at him, to realise that he's not going to hurt him. The countertenor looks up, eyes wide, but no longer thrashing about. "Kurt, it's me. Finn," he says, visibly slouching in relief - when did he become so panicked and scared himself? - when Kurt seems to finally recognise him.

He was not expecting Kurt to burst into tears and to run into his chest, holding onto his hand and shirt as if he would die should he let go. The quarterback doesn't know what to do, and his mind switches to autopilot. As gently as possible, Finn wrapped his free arm around shaking shoulders, letting him cry it out, squeezing Kurt's hand in reassurance.

"Let's go to your car, okay? We can forget about the rest of school, and just go to your house, and watch musicals for the rest of the day, the two of us," Finn mumbled, and gives a sigh of relief as Kurt, still trembling but no longer full out sobbing, nods into his shirt. Stumbling along the way, Finn briefly recalls that he used his own ride to get here, but shakes his head; he can leave it here for one night.

It was, however, a bit more difficult to convince Kurt to let him drive, seeing as how the little dude was majorly upset. The boy tried to argue, but when Finn was dead set on something - as rare as that can be - there was no convincing him otherwise.

The drive to Kurt's house takes about 30 minutes, but Finn can't bring himself to wait that long to discuss what the hell just happened.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"...No. Not right now."

"I know Karofsky did something. He's been getting worse." Kurt doesn't respond. "Do you want me to 'knock' some sense into him?"

"Don't you dare. That will... it will make this so much worse," Kurt bitterly replied, rubbing furiously at his eyes, willing his tears to stop. "Just... don't do anything. If the situation escalates, then I'll take action. But right now, Finn, I don't want to talk about it." Finn nods, reaching out and rubbing Kurt's hand, trying to hide his smile as Kurt leans into the touch a little.

More silence. Finn can't have that.

"I found your phone," he started, briefly glancing over to the shorter one. Kurt looks shocked, and instantly attempts to find it on his person. "I had been looking for you, and I accidently kicked it. And saw a message." Kurt instantly stops, and looks flustered for a second. "Was it because of this, 'Blaine' guy's 'courage' that this mess with Karofsky's happened?"

Silence. Kurt remains still, lips sealed. Finn just rubs his hand comfortingly.

"...Yes. I met him at Dalton-when I went to spy, remember? I was really obvious, apparently, but the Warblers, they were nice about it. And Blaine... he knows firsthand how bad the bullying can get, so I-"

"How can he know?" Finn grumbles. He doesn't like this Blaine dude at all, and he hasn't even met him. When the bully is as big and powerful as Karofsky, and the victim is as small as Kurt - with, admittedly, a fantastic kick - why the hell would you challenge him on your own? There's strength in numbers, dammit.

"Because, Finn, he's also gay." His dislike for Blaine? Just got 10 times worse. Not only did he give what Finn believes was crap advice, he might have the hots for Kurt, and might break his brother's heart, and there's no way some rich Dalton boy is-"And he knows what's it like, to be bullied because of you're sexuality" Oops, he got sidetracked. "Blaine... he seemed to really regret running away. I didn't want to be like that, either. So I confronted Karofsky and then this... happened," Kurt mumbled the last part, holding Finn's hand tightly. The football player nods, sympathetically, before realising they're at the house and begins to park the car.

They step out of the car, Finn by Kurt's side in seconds, rejoining their hands. Kurt just glares, but doesn't let go.

"You don't have to tell me what happened, Kurt, and I'll do everything I can to back off from Karofsky if you really think it'll just make things better," Finn said, swinging their arms. "But I swear, Kurt, if whatever's wrong does get worse, you're going to tell me what happened today, okay?" Kurt nods, before unlocking the door, shutting it tight and getting out his copy of The Sound of Music and putting it in the DVD player for them to watch.

Finn doesn't let go of his hand until it's time for dinner.

AN: Thus, the second chapter. Hopefully Kurt isn't OOC T_T; Next up: Furt.