A/N: Okay, so here's the last part. Hope you enjoy and have a great Valentine's day, everybody!

Leroy sighed as he walked the mile-and-a-half distance to Hummel Tire and Lube. He could see the building ahead, and checked his watch. 3 o'clock. Rachel would be getting out of school and headed with one of the carpool moms to ballet right about now.

And here he was going to have a civilized conversation with, and possibly get an apology from, a former bully. Burt was not the worst, and never violent (unless you counted dumpster tosses which, if he caught on the metal edges, often broke the skin), but words hurt, too, and he had said plenty of those.

He was definitely homophobic at the time of his graduation, but it had been a bit over a decade now, he could have changed. If he had the right motivation.

But even Liz's sweet influence and constant naggings about his bullying and closed-mindedness during high school not changed him, and he had seemed to genuinely love her – at least as much as any high schooler could. What could be important enough or a big enough influence that he would change now? So much so that he wanted to reach out and apologize for years of bullying and homophobia?

Of course, this was all if he was being sincere. Leroy would like to believe he was, as he didn't see anything Burt would gain from faking an apology, but seeing is believing, and Leroy Hummel had grown rather skeptical and hesitant to trust after the overwhelming homophobia he'd faced since childhood from almost everyone in this town. He'd have to see with his own eyes before he let himself truly believe that Burt Hummel had changed.

Leroy told the man at the front desk (if you could call the rickety table that) that he was here to pick up a car and also was supposed to speak with Burt Hummel. After some information with names and insurance cards, he was led to two legs sticking out from under a Suburban.

He cleared his throat and spoke up. "Uh, Burt Hummel?"

The man rolled out and squinted up. Apparently recognizing Leroy, he jumped up. "Leroy Berry?" he confirmed, grabbing a baseball hat (his go-to accessory in high school, too; some things never change, apparently) from the roof of the car. He smiled, a bit self-consciously and apologetically. "I'm glad you came. I sorta figured you'd blow me off. And I wouldn't blame you."

"Well, how can I say no to a chance at meeting someone who might give me faith in mankind's ability to grow and become more accepting and getting a discount on car services?"

Burt chuckled nervously as he wiped his oily hands on a stained grease rag. "Well, thanks anyway. I just… I wanna say that I was such a douche in high school, not that you don't already know that, I guess. And I really regret it. I had no right to treat you that way, and I hope that the others who bullied you with me get that at some point. And I just… I just think it really sucks that people like you are treated like crap just for who you like. And… and I'm sorry. Crap, I'm not good with words. Sorry."

After a moment, Leroy nodded slowly. "You seem sincere, if not extensively elegant. And while I'm still angry with you – those wounds take a long time to heal, you know – you were never the worst, and the only one who has ever actually sought me out to apologize. I have to know, though. What changed your mind?"

Burt seemed to grow angry, but not at Leroy. "I just… I think it's just such bullshit, all the crap you guys have to go through! It's not like it's a choice, or some disease you can catch. Love is love and it's not anybody's goddamn business anyway. So all those idiots out there shouldn't make it their problem. And I guess I just… took a while to realize that. And I'm just so sorry that you had to suffer 'cause of my stupidity. Someone finally got me to wizen up."

"Any particular person?" he pressed. "Because, if I remember correctly, your girlfriend Liz was the sweetest person to ever walk the planet, and you still didn't change your ways when she tried to tell you how wrong it was."

Burt ducked his head shamefully. "I –"

He was cut off as a shrill voice yelled out, "Daddy! Daddy!"

Leroy watched as Burt's face went from guilty to soft and caring and just slightly sad the second he spotted the brown and blue blur racing across the shop towards them. The burly man suddenly had an armful of little kid, and he hefted the small boy up to sit on his hip. "Hey, kiddo," he greeted, and kissed the boy on his pale, dimpled cheek.

The boy giggled and squirmed. "Daddy, that tickles! Your face is all prickly!"

Leroy recognized the boy now, and it all made sense – Burt's sudden attitude change, his guilt, his anger over the unfairness the LGBT community faced.

This little boy, with his pale skin, light brown hair, high voice, and unique outfit (this time no bowtie, but he was wearing a baby blue pageboy cap that was clearly bought in the girl's section, considering the bow with a crystal in the center the hat had sewn on it), was the boy that came over to their house as Rachel's playmate for a while. The boy who'd loved playing dress-up and hosting tea parties (he'd taught the Berry's quite a lot about proper tea time etiquette) and singing and dancing and playing the piano, but definitely not doing anything that might get his clothes dirty or mess up his hair.

The boy who had bragged that his dad bought him pretty, sparkly pink princess shoes, played tea party with him, and took him to see musicals at the theater in Columbus once every other month. The boy who had spoken of his dad with such reverence you would've thought the man made personally made the sun rise and set in this boy's world. His and Rachel's friendship hadn't continued over the summer, but Leroy still recognized him.

This boy was Kurt, Rachel's feminine, most-likely-gay-even-if-he-wasn't-old-enough-to-know-it-himself-yet friend.

This boy was also Burt Hummel's son.

Leroy remembered thinking that Kurt was fortunate to not have Burt as a father, because a guy like Burt could never accept a boy like Kurt, but obviously, he was wrong on both accounts.

Burt spun Kurt around and the boy giggled happily, before he set him back down on his feet, and then kneeled down to the child's level. Leroy noticed that Kurt was tiny – like, tinier than Rachel, who was the shortest girl in her second-grade class. He didn't seem to have grown at all from his kindergarten days. Fashionable, tiny, a delicate, feminine look – oh God, he would be easy picking; he might as well have a target painted on his back. And Burt knew it all too well, it seemed. Burt felt guilty because, in his eyes, it was him hurting his child. People like him.

"Hey kiddo," he cooed. "How was school?"

Kurt pouted. "We were coloring after lunch and the teacher wouldn't let me color the picture with all the Disney princesses."

Burt frowned deeply. "Why not?"

"She said that princesses were for girls and kept trying to give me an ugly robot picture. And Daddy, I can't color a robot pink! They're all gray and ugly and boring and they don't have pretty hair or fancy dresses!" Kurt stomped his foot once. "Princesses aren't only for girls, right Daddy?"

"That's right son," Burt assured the boy. "You can like whatever and whoever you want to like." Kurt nodded once in perturbed agreement. "I'll call your teacher and talk to her after we get back from the hospital, okay?"

Kurt's eyes went wide. "Mama's back in the hos'ital? But she was home when I left for school!"

"I know, bud. But mama had another complication and so she has to stay at the hospital for a few nights."

Kurt looked upset, and also confused and slightly hopeful. "So will you tuck me in tonight?"

"I'll even sing the beddy-bye song," Burt promised, nodding solemnly.

Kurt giggled. "Okay, but you're voice isn't as pretty as mama's. Or mine."

Burt laughed, though it sounded a bit pained. "I know, kiddo. Say, why don't you go play with Danny right now?" he suggested. "Go slip on your coveralls and help him out for a while – he said he'd let you be his special little helper today. You get to handle the tool box." Kurt's face lit up in excitement at this prospect. "I just need to do a quick T and O and check the break pads on this Suburban here, and then we'll go visit mommy, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy! Bye Mister Quiet Man!" He kissed his dad quickly on the cheek and waved goodbye to Leroy before skipping merrily off in another direction. Burt watched him go with sad eyes, and stood up slowly.

"That, right there," he said to Leroy, still looking after Kurt, "is the reason I changed."

"Don't beat yourself up too bad," Leroy advised softly, amazed that he was actually feeling pity for his former tormentor – mostly for his son, but still. "A lot of guys wouldn't accept their sons like you do."

"That's what makes me so upset."

"But you're not one of them. You're making an obvious effort to change for your son; it couldn't have been easy for you."

"It wasn't, at first," Burt admitted. "Sometimes it still isn't, but now it's less about my reservations and more about wishing he wasn't gay so he wouldn't have to face jerks like me."

"That's just how the world works. Plus, you can't be sure he's gay," he tried.

"How many boys do you know that ask for a sensible pair of heels on his third birthday? Or host tea parties with their Barbie dolls? Or play dress-up as the female Disney characters and pretend that his prince charming is saving him? Or would rather wear a tiara than a baseball cap? Or have all the boys in the Sound of Music, and all the Disney princes, listed from cutest to least cute?" Leroy was quiet. "I know he's gay, that he's gonna end up with a guy someday. I've known since he was three, and I don't mind anymore. And maybe it's a good thing that he's rather… what's a nicer way of saying flaming?"

"Flamboyant," Leroy supplied, knowing Burt wasn't trying to be offensive.

"Yeah, maybe it's a good thing he's flamboyant and I've had a lot of time to get used to the idea before even he knows, but it's also really, really bad because then everyone else is going to pick up on it, too. And Kurt's not exactly built for fighting." Burt sighed. "Look, I wouldn't ask him to… tone it down, or whatever, because that's just who Kurt is, and I don't want him to change for anyone. But do I sometimes with he was one of the less-obvious gays? Yeah, I do."

"It's okay, I understand." Leroy hesitated, before asking, "So what's wrong with Liz?"

Burt looked surprised and sad at the same time. "How did you know his mom was Liz?"

"Well, for one he looks just like her, and two, he used to come over and play with my daughter, Rachel, so I saw her then. So why is she in the hospital?"

Burt sighed deeply, and took off his hat to rub at his head. "She has ovarian cancer," he said.

"And is she…?" Leroy was afraid to finish the question.

"She's probably not going to make it," Burt said in a choked-up voice.

"I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay – it's not like there's anything we can do 'bout it. Liz an' I have been talking, recently, and it just sort of hit me that I'm gonna be all Kurt has left soon. It might be easier if Kurt were a typical boy, but Kurt's… like a daughter, in a lot of ways. And he needs someone like his mom in his life. But I'm going to try my best to be there for him, to be what he needs. And Liz said that to do that, I needed to get educated. That's where I was hoping you and your husband could come in. If you want to. I understand that I owe you, not the other way around."

Leroy took a while to ponder this. "It's true," he finally agreed. "I owe you nothing. But I'm not going to be doing this just for you. I'll educate you, for Kurt's sake. He's going to have a harder life than you did, I know it, and he needs everyone he can get in his corner. He especially needs a lot of support at home, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let a little boy as sweet as him down."

Burt looked even more relieved than Leroy had even thought he would, like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let him down, either. Kurt… Kurt is my world now."

And looking into the mechanic's eyes, Leroy could see it; that overpowering love for his son, that determination that told Leroy that Burt would go to the ends of the earth for his son, kill for his son – and even more importantly, change himself for his son. It was almost overwhelming, and incredibly inspiring, that such a small boy could make such a huge change in this man's life and in this man's heart.

And sure, Burt had admitted that he wasn't completely comfortable, or even competent in dealing with a son he never imagine he'd have – he didn't have all the answers, he was unprepared and in over his head. But that didn't change the fact that he'd do anything for Kurt. Because that's what you did, as a parent – you loved your kid no matter what, and prayed to whatever god might be listening that you didn't screw up and everything would turn out all right.

END

A/N 2: And that's the end, y'all. What'd ya think? Good? Bad? Terrible? Tell me!