A/N: Hey! I know I have several different fics in progress right now, but this scenario was buzzing around in my brain for two days straight, so I finally gave in! I hope you enjoy it! Thanks to my loves on tumblr, they know who they are!

Rachel huffed as she fell backwards onto Kurt's bed, raising an eyebrow at the open suitcase on his bed. He shrugged, not needing her to say a word as he pulled a couple of sweaters out of his wardrobe, folding them neatly before placing them on a stack of folded boxers. She turned over on her side, propping her head up in her hand as he moved about his room, reaching for the plane vouchers laying on his pillow. Just what she thought- Ohio. Things had been weird the last couple of months, considering how great things had been before. She loved Kurt like her very own brother (and pointedly tried to ignore who really was his) and it hurt that he seemed to be withdrawing more and more into himself. For weeks she could sense something was wrong, very, but every time she tried to ask about it he would shrug it off, blaming it the stress of finally being at NYADA. If Rachel were being honest, she had pictured this semester starting out very differently. She and Kurt were already so close, shouldn't have gotten even better once they were at their dream school together.

"Are you really going back to Ohio?" She asked finally, sitting up and pulling off her black boots. If she were being honest, she kind of missed her penny loafers. As sexy as she thought people found her in her New York clothes, they were killer on her feet, "You just took the train there two weeks ago. Seriously, Kurt. If you're going to keep up at NYADA you're going to need to practice on the weekends, not visit Blaine." Kurt rolled his eyes as he packed up his toiletries, zipping the travel bag angrily.

"I'm not going to visit Blaine, Rachel," he said haughtily, picking her boots up and brushing them off before setting them on the other side of the partition cutting his room off from the living room, "I mean, yes, I'm sure I'll see him, but that's not the point of going home."

"That's not home anymore, remember?" She sighed, a little hurt at the distance she felt between herself and her best friend.

"It is to me," Kurt replied shortly, crossing his arms, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were spending the day with that boyfriend of yours."

"Brody had a callback," she shrugged, wondering if she should be more proud than she sounded, "Which is really great. Good for him."

"Uh oh, are you jealous?" Kurt said lightly, poking at her leg with the toe of his own black boot, causing Rachel to giggle. She knew he was trying to lift the mood a little bit, so she decided to play along.

"Oh very," she laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder and loosening the belt that cinched the waist of her black dress, "If he's successful and I'm not, I'm breaking up with him."

"Shame on you," Kurt teased, turning around to dig through his drawers again, "You're supposed to support him no matter what. Will I need a scarf?"

"It's January in Ohio, Kurt, what do you think?" Rachel sighed, standing up and opening his wardrobe, "Even though we have the Schuester-Pilsbury wedding to go to in just a few short weeks. Why can't your trip wait? I miss you."

"I miss you, too," Kurt replied, wrapping his arms around Rachel's shoulder and pulling her in for a hug, "But… I just really have to go home. I wish I could tell you why. Just something I feel I guess."

"I understand, Kurt, I do. I miss my Dads too. It would be easier if we could just move our parents up here, right?" She blushed at Kurt's expression when she purposefully avoided the word 'family,' knowing what that would imply.

"I miss my family," he corrected, sidestepping her and grabbing his carry-on from underneath his bed, "Not just my Dad, but Carole and my brother, too." Rachel tried to hide her wince when he mentioned Finn.

"How….How are they?" she asked softly, dropping her eyes as she played with the belt around her waist.

"They're fine," Kurt sighed, "Fantastic."

"I don't want you to be mad at me, Kurt," Rachel said suddenly, reaching for his wrist, "Everything was fine before, and you were so supportive of me after my break-up with-with Finn."

"I'm still supportive Rachel," her friend argue, stuffing a couple of difficult looking books in his bag, "I just want you to be happy. And you weren't getting that with Finn. I just think maybe I handled supporting you the wrong way."

"How? You were amazing and-"

"You don't think I kind of neglected my brother?" He asked, interrupting her. Rachel's mouth snapped shut as she remembered those days in the fall. She and Kurt had leaned on each other after the demise of their respective relationships, so much so that she guessed their other relationships did sort of fall by the wayside. She hadn't given it much thought then, but she could tell by the look in Kurt's eyes that it still haunted him.

"Kurt, I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

"Well, that's what he says. Which makes me just feel so much worse. He was hurting too, you know. But I practically treated him like a stranger back then. Remember when we went to see Grease? I was so wrapped up in my own stuff with Blaine, and focusing on you that I barely spoke two words to my brother. You'll never understand how much I regret that now."

"What changed?" She asked, confused. Kurt paused, glancing over his shoulder at her like he wanted desperately to tell her something, but turned away last minute, deciding against it.

"So are you going to tell me how things are going with Brody?" He changed the subject as he went through his DVDs, selecting Braveheart, which Rachel instinctively knew had to have been a gift from Finn. It was odd that Kurt had chosen that one to watch on his trip, but she moved past it.

"Moving kind of fast, but like I told you, that's what happens in New York," she smiled, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling that had been plaguing her since the night before, "Adult love doesn't wait like high school love."

"Wait, love?" Kurt asked, turning away from his bookshelf, clutching the DVD to his chest. Rachel rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"No, not yet," she said honestly, not wanting to tell Kurt that she didn't know if she could ever really see herself loving Brody, "I just mean, if that's where this is going."

"Right," he nodded, looking relieved as he tucked the DVD and his portable player into his carry-on, "You had me worried there for a minute. So have you two…?"

"No."

"Okay…"

"Almost. Last night. But we couldn't. I-I'm not ready." She glanced away, not wanting to see the sympathy in her best friend's eyes. "Listen, let me help you pack."

"No, that's okay, I'm almost done." He kept protesting when Rachel stood up and started digging through his carry-on, tsking as she tried to fix the jumble.

"Honestly, Kurt, the state of your carry-on is atrocious. You really need to learn how to be organized again, especially since-" she paused, reading the titles of the difficult looking books she had noticed earlier. She glanced up at Kurt who was staring down at his feet, his hands in his pocket.

"What are these?"

"Just some books, Rachel, I-"

"Cancer: 50 Essential Things to Do? Beating Cancer with Nutrition? It's not Over: Fighting Cancer? KURT. What the hell are these?"

"I've been going home for a reason," he shrugged, no longer bothering to fight the tears, letting them course down his cheeks for the first time in months, for the first time since Carole had called him after Thanksgiving and told him the news.

"Do you-"

"No, not me." He watched, pained, as her mind raced.

"Your Dad?" she asked, and he couldn't even be angry that the question was almost hopeful, like she was desperate not to hear the words that she knew were coming. Kurt shook his head silently, finally looking up at her when he heard the books drop back to the bed.

"No." She said firmly, shaking her head, "No. Don't say it, Kurt. Don't you dare say it."

"Rachel."

"No." She said again, her own deep brown eyes filling with tears.

"He asked us not to tell you, but he was diagnosed early in December."

"No."

"Rachel. Finn has cancer."

A/N: Reviews are love!