'I've Got To Go, It's Starting To Rain' Part Six
Part Six
'Bing bing bing!'
Still hadn’t changed that doorbell, he really must do that.
"I’ll get it," Finn yelled in the direction of the bed, pulling on a shirt and sweatpants. A sleepy agreement came from the Kurt sized lump of duvet. Finn couldn’t help tickling one of the feet that stuck out from what could only be described as a nest of blankets, earning himself an indignant squawk.
The bell started to ring again just as Finn got to the door.
"I’m coming!" He opened the door, then did a double take.
"Mom?"
"Finn."
"Why are you here? I mean, great to see you and everything, but…"
"You didn’t answer your phone when I called."
"I was asleep."
"You know where he is, don’t you?"
"Who?" But Finn knew who she meant and he knew exactly where 'he' was- in Finn’s bed.
"Finn?" Or not. He heard Kurt’s feet on the carpet behind him and braced himself for the inevitable explosion.
"Kurt?" Carole stared, mouth agape, and Finn wasn’t entirely sure who made the first move but suddenly there were hugging and squeals and Finn’s mom was hugging Finn’s boyfriend, which was a little weird when he thought about it.
"Kurt! How long have you been…I heard on the news…"
"Heard what on the news?" Finn demanded, seeing Kurt begin to freeze up, a sure sign of an impending freak out. Gently he extracted Kurt from Carole’s motherly grip. "Mom? What was on the news?" he asked again urgently.
"Someone spotted you," Carole said to Kurt, "said she saw you with a man near here and I knew it was you," she said, looking sternly at Finn. "What were you thinking not telling the police, or at least coming to see me?"
Finn noticed that Kurt was shrinking into the oversized shirt of Finn’s he was wearing.
"Mom, stop. Can we just go inside?" he wrapped an arm around Kurt’s shoulders and steered him back into the apartment. "You going to be okay?" he asked as he sat Kurt down on the sofa.
Kurt nodded, staring down at his lap in a way that said to Finn ‘probably not’.
"No police, not now anyway. I promise," he said and pressed a quick kiss to Kurt’s lips.
"Finn?" He had almost forgotten that Carole was standing there and he blushed deeply. That was not the way he had imagined coming out to his mom. To be honest, he hadn’t thought about that at all.
"I, uh, we are…" he waved his hands noncommittally, but Carole just smiled.
"I can’t say I’m surprised. I always thought before that you two could end up as…well, more than friends."
Finn didn’t really know what to say to that, so he looked back to Kurt who was smiling, if a little shakily.
"Better?"
"Yeah." Finn took a deep breath and switched on the TV.
"…is the possible sighting of Kurt Hummel, the teenager who vanished from his father’s garage over six years ago. Kurt was presumed dead until two days ago when a women shopping in her local grocery store apparently spotted him in the company of a ‘tall, shifty looking man.' Unfortunately, the woman, a resident of Lima, Ohio, wishes to remain anonymous…"
"Shifty?" Carole raised an eyebrow, looking sideways at Finn.
Kurt giggled, "We were probably in the organic section. It does usually make him feel uncomfortable being around all those raw vegetables."
Finn ignored them, "Doesn’t sound like they believe this mystery spy. I think we’re probably okay."
"Why don’t you want people to know you’ve been found?" Carole asked Kurt gently.
"I…I…can’t…" Kurt seemed to be stuck for words, "He might find me again and…"
The doorbell rang, and Finn saw the relief in his eyes.
"I’ll get that," the taller man said, "Mom, don’t be too hard on him, okay?"
'Please, no more questions,' Kurt thought as Finn crossed the room to the door. He turned to look at Carole, willing her not to insist on an answer.
Thud. The sound of a body hitting the floor, a gasp from Carole and then the cold metal of a gun pressed to the back of his head.
"They’ve been asking questions at the hospital where I work," the cool voice of The Man said from behind him. "The police, talking to me." The gun was slowly moved around, muzzle running along the line of his jaw, then across until it stopped, digging into the soft flesh of Kurt’s cheek. The Man leaned closer and hissed his next words close to Kurt’s ear, "Does that have something to do with you? Did you tell them? Anything?"
"N-no, nothing, I swear," Kurt tried to turn his head but the threatening pressure of the gun stopped him. "Finn. What have you done to him?" he demanded, trying to hide the quiver in his voice.
"He’s just unconscious. It’s what I’m going to do to you that you should be worried about. Get up."
Kurt and Carole rose slowly to their feet.
"To the door," The Man instructed. "Walk. Slowly." When they reached the door he turned the gun to point at Carole, "Kurt, you bring your boyfriend."
"You can’t expect him to do that! Finn’s heavy," Carole finally exploded.
"He will do it," The Man said calmly, "or I shoot."
Kurt carefully bent down to Finn’s prone form, sliding his hands under the tall man’s shoulders. He pulled and Finn moved a couple of millimetres at best. Finn’s head lolled in a way that made Kurt feel as though he was about to throw up.
As they slowly moved across the hall, The Man began to get anxious and twitchy.
"Faster," he demanded, "Faster or he’s dead. I don’t have time to waste."
With a deep breath that sounded closer to a sob, Kurt lifted Finn’s shoulders higher, stumbling as he increased the painfully slow pace. The Man took them to a door a little way down the hall, unlocking it with one hand, the other still clutching the gun that moved between pointing at Carole, to Kurt, to Finn and back to Carole again. When they were all inside he locked the door behind them.
"In here," he ordered Kurt to an empty room where he was told to leave Finn.
"Stand against the wall, both of you. Opposite sides." They did so, and The Man began to search through Carole’s pockets, his back to Kurt. 'This is the only chance I'm going to get,' Kurt realised, 'before my pockets are also searched.' Silently, he slid his new phone from his pocket, fumbling with the keys. He could hear his heart beating as if it was right up in his head. He selected Anna’s number and opened a blank text message. As he typed he tried to muffle the clicking of the keys with his scarf.
'Kidnaper found us, taken me, Finn, Carole 2 apartment opposite finns. call police please hurry.'
He had just clicked send when there came an angry shout and something collided with the side of his head. Kurt sank to his knees as his phone fell from his hand. It skittered across the floor and he reached for it but a boot-clad foot descended on it, crushing the flimsy device in a single hard stamp. The same foot lashed out again, catching Kurt’s wrist with a sharp crack. Kurt howled in pain, tucking his arm to his chest as his hand throbbed. Large, clumsy hands checked his pockets as he lay there, then the heavy footsteps moved toward the door.
"Don’t try and escape," The Man said softly, "or it will be more that your wrist that gets broken."
The second the door was closed and the keys turned in the lock, Carole was at his side. Kurt cringed away from her, curling his body into a tight bundle, resisting the need to cry out in agony as he moved his arm. A hand touched his hair, stroking it, regular and comforting.
"Finn, where’s Finn?" Kurt felt his heart race faster in fear. If Finn was dead… he stifled a sob.
"Shh, shh. Okay, Sweetie, shh,’ the soothing gesture calmed him and despite the pain he felt his body relax a little. "That’s it, Sweetie, okay, it’ll be okay."
"Promise?" Kurt asked, his voice rough and maybe Carole realised that he was testing her, because the hand on his head stilled and she shook her head.
"You know I can’t promise you that, Kurt."
He nodded, then rested his head back down on the carpet, "I know."
There was silence for a few minutes, only broken by Kurt’s ragged breathing.
"You’ve grown so much, since you…left," Carole said eventually.
"I’m still short. Probably a side effect of being kept in the dark," Kurt replied.
"I’m sorry I gave up on you. Finn never did, you know."
"I know. And apology accepted." Kurt took a deep, shuddering breath, "I’m an adult now," he said, shocked when his eyes began to blur with tears. It had never struck him before, "I’m twenty two."
"Congratulations, Kurt."
"But I still feel sixteen," he said quietly. "I feel like he took half my life from me, but like all that time I was in some sort of stasis, a gap of non-existence, like I’m still sixteen. But I can’t get back."
"That’s okay," Carole said, smoothing his hair back from his forehead. "Finn and I are here, we’ve got you. Every step of the way."
"I kind of," he sniffed, "kind of want my dad right now, you know?"
She didn’t seem to know what to say to that. Painfully, Kurt sat upright, cradling his arm to his chest.
"We need to check on Finn."
He was still lying there on his side, just as Kurt had left him, his breathing even and deep, a raised lump on the side of his head. Carole checked his pulse with shaking fingers.
"Fine, absolutely fine," she said, her relieved laugh quivering.
And the quiet of the room was broken as the wail of sirens came from outside.
"The police," Carole said hopefully. She jumped to her feet, hurrying over to the boarded up window. She tried to pry the wood and plastic away to see out, but it was nailed down tight.
"Anna must’ve got my message," Kurt felt a flicker of hope in his chest.
But that was before the door was flung open, The Man striding inside. Kurt cowered instinctively.
"You! This is your fault! The police are outside, surrounding us because of you!" he snarled at Kurt, towering over the crouched figure.
"Sorry sorry sorry…"
"Not enough," he had the gun out again, black metal glinting in the low light. "Now you’ve got to choose." First he pointed it at Finn, then slowly moved to Carole.
"No, no I can’t choose…you can’t make me."
"Choose!"
"N-no, please," Kurt felt like he was going to choke on his tongue, his mouth was dry, his heart pounding. The Man’s words echoed round and round, scratching at him with viciously sharp claws. And he couldn’t make that choice, never, never, never…
"Then I get to, it’s that simple. And I choose…" The gun swung slowly back to point at Finn. The Man took a couple of steps closer to the still body, finger stroking the trigger. He bent over Finn, resting the gun against his forehead. Finn didn’t stir, just lying there as if he were sleeping.
"No!" Kurt screamed, vaguely aware that Carole was on her feet with a scream of her own, the protective mother defending her child.
"So you made your choice?" The Man said, smiled and pulled the trigger.
Carole dropped mid-stride as she made to attack him, hitting the floor with a heart lurching thud.
Kurt was frozen to the spot, chest tight with pain as he saw blood blossom on her blouse.
"Carole!" Finally he was able to move, pitching forward to kneel at her side. Carole’s eyes were glassy, her breath rattling in her chest.
"Carole stay awake, okay?" Kurt insisted, his voice thick with tears. He turned to The Man, "Please, let her out of here, get her down to an ambulance, or…or…you’re a doctor, just help her! Help her, please…" The Man turned to the door. "NO! Don’t leave, HELP, HELP HER! PLEASE…"
The door slammed. Wildly, Kurt tuned to Carole, pressing his hands against the wound in her chest, feeling the blood bubble under his fingers with each shallow (and shallower and shallower) breath she took. Blood soaked his hands and his shirt, so, so much blood.
"No, no nono, please hold on, Carole please."
Her eyes closed, breath barely audible.
Kurt kept his hands there long after she’d stopped altogether, body shuddering, wrist aching excruciatingly, soft keening noise rising from his throat. Eventually he fell away, rolling onto his back. He stared blankly at the ceiling, unblinking, numb. It was as if he was descending into some sort of trance. He couldn’t move, couldn’t think, just keep staring. Up and up, through the ceiling, up into the stars and the void of silent space.
If he hadn’t escaped, this would never have happened. Finn wouldn’t be unconscious, Carole wouldn’t be lying there with a fatal hole in her chest. In his mind, up in the soundless void, Kurt screamed and screamed and screamed.
It could have been minutes or seconds later when he heard Finn.
"Mom…K-, no, no, Mom. No. No!" Kurt heard him stumble backwards away from the body. That must have been when he noticed Kurt lying there.
"Kurt! Oh, god, not you, please, not Kurt…" Kurt lying there, glassy eyed, in a blood soaked shirt.
Finn’s fingers were pressing against his neck, searching frantically for a pulse, Kurt still couldn’t move.
Finn was feeling in the wrong place, his hands becoming even more desperate as he fumbled. He was crying, Kurt felt hot tears land on his skin.
Kurt parted his lips, trying to speak but no words came out. He tried again.
"Finn," he croaked. Finn’s reaction would have been comical in any other situation. A double take, blank face, then the urgent examination of Kurt, hand brushing over his face, undoing his shirt, sticky with blood.
"Where are you hurt?"
"Not my blood." At the thought, Kurt felt bile rise in his throat. Finn’s fingers brushed his swollen wrist, the wave of pain making him retch violently, black pinpricks dancing before his eyes.
"Going to faint," he wasn’t sure if he said it out loud. He could hear the slamming and crashing of doors from somewhere in the flat. Yells and gunshots. Someone was trying to break down the locked door.
"The police are here, Kurt." Finn’s voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere else too, "Kurt? Can you hear me? Kurt? It’s going to be okay. I promise."
Part VI
The cast was heavy on his wrist, creating an odd tugging feeling on his right arm, but Finn was doing his best to distract him from that mild discomfort, his lips against the back of Kurt’s neck, hot breath making him shiver, and his arms draped possessively around the smaller man’s waist as they lay together on the hospital bed. Kurt gave a little huff as Finn’s hand slid down past his navel.
"Not here, Finn."
"Sorry."
Kurt turned in his arms to meet his lips in a slow, lazy kiss. Finn played with the short hair at the nape of his neck.
Footsteps and the sound of the door opening made him flinch a little, pulling back from Finn. A quick glance was enough to calm any nerves, however.
"Good morning, Anna."
Her gaze flicked up to the clock on the wall. "Afternoon, don’t you mean?" she asked lightly, perching on the end of the bed as the two men sat up.
"No Brittany today?" Kurt asked.
Anna smiled, "That’s why I’m here. Brittany is on her way to the airport."
"Why?" Kurt frowned.
"Is that safe?" Finn added, then ducked away from Anna’s glare.
"Well, for a while I’ve been trying to track down a certain mechanic, formerly of Hummel’s Tyre and Lube," she explained, grinning at the expression of delight that took over Kurt’s face. "I had a break through last Monday and now he’s," her eyes flitted back to the clock for a second, "about to land in Lima for the first time in four years. And his first stop is Lima General Hospital, room four-oh-eight." She made a little bow.
"You’re amazing," Kurt beamed, then added, "So are you, Finn," when he saw the signs of an impending pout. He still couldn’t understand the air of competition between Anna and Finn, but he did find it mildly entertaining.
Anna, obviously pleased with herself, pranced out of the room to get a coffee.
"Finn?" Kurt said after a moment’s thought, "Do you think we could maybe take my dad to say goodbye to Carole?" He rested his head against Finn's shoulder as strong arms wrapped gently around his waist.
"Yeah," Finn said, "I think she’d like that."
.Fin.