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It had been an odd day.
After Blaine and the others left, Finn and Puck had gone out for the afternoon. When Finn called and asked if he could have dinner at Santana's that night, though, Burt and Carole said no.
Kurt cooked. It was mostly leftovers. There was sliced turkey. Kurt turned the asparagus into a soup for a starter and made a colcannon from the mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts that were left. There was still a choice of pies for dessert.
When Finn got home, he went straight down to the bedroom and stayed there until he was called to the table. Everyone ate their soup, and when Carole and Kurt brought out the main course, Finn said, "Looks good."
"Yeah. Between your Mom and Kurt, we're spoiled." Burt looked at his wife, who gave him a small nod.
"We wanted to talk to you, Finn, and you, Kurt," Carole began, "About, well, some of the things from breakfast. And last night."
Kurt glanced at Finn before he said, "You heard most of it, Dad. I was thrown in a dumpster a lot, got slushied enough that I own more raincoats than winter coats, and then had the problems with Karofsky."
Carole said, "What we didn't get an answer to was how much bullying Finn went through." She sighed. "Or perpetrated."
Finn's eyes went wide. "Well, once I joined the glee club, and then with Quinn, we just weren't as popular, so, yeah, I got slushied. I think I'm too big to dumpster -- and like Puck said, you just don't do that to girls, so Quinn never got it either. Or Rachel."
There was a long silence before Kurt said, "Would you like more of the colcannon, Finn? There's one more piece."
"Yeah. Who knew brussel sprouts would taste good if you put them in mashed potatoes."
Kurt smiled. "Thank you. I'll remember you like it."
Burt looked between them. "You're not telling us something. So I'll repeat what Carole just asked. Finn, were you ever one of the bullies?"
"Dad, I told you this morning. Finn was kinder than the other jocks."
"I noticed that. You know, in second grade you used to make jokes about grammar, 'just because I said it was better, doesn't mean I said it was good.' So, yeah, I noticed exactly what you said." Burt's eyes locked with Kurt's until finally Kurt gave a tight nod.
He said, "I knew I got my good memory from you."
Carole said, "Finn, did you ever throw anyone in a dumpster?"
Finn nodded and looked up at his step-brother quickly before looking down at his food again.
Carole turned to Kurt. "He did it to you?"
Kurt sighed and said, "I was serious when I said he was nicer. Yes, he helped sometimes, usually when I'd made a fool of one of the jocks in a class. I can't help it if a senior is taking freshman classes and still failing. And one of my unkindnesses is that I have a smart mouth. Finn likes popularity. He needs to fit in. I… never had the option. But Finn also did things like let me take off a jacket that was really precious to me, or make sure they didn't throw me in head first -- especially on the days when it was empty. Unlike Puck, he never threw pee balloons at me. He wasn't even one of the guys who nailed our lawn furniture to the roof," he said to his father. He turned back toward Carole. "Finn wanted to do the right thing. He just sometimes couldn't if it meant being unpopular."
"Things are easier for the popular kids. I mean, we may have a lousy football team, but it means something to be the quarterback. More than it does to be lead singer in the glee club." Finn shrugged.
Kurt huffed a laugh. "Speak for yourself. I'd have given anything for a solo."
"You weren't a bad football player, either." Finn glanced between his Mom and Burt. "The argument -- all right it wasn't an argument, it was me yelling -- but what I'm trying to say is that… yeah, I'm ashamed of it because I lost my temper and I should never have used that word. But, there's one at school that I'm really ashamed of because it was after I joined the glee club and…"
"Remember what I said to Noah about not digging any further when you're in a hole?"
Finn nodded.
Kurt continued, "Put down the shovel."
"No, I really want to hear this," Burt said.
Finn tried to keep eye contact with Burt, and then turned to his Mom instead. "After I found out Quinn was pregnant, we just weren't popular any more. We tried things, 'cause, I'm sorry, Kurt, but it is important to be part of the top group. More important when you had it, but lost it, you know? So, a bunch of the guys said I had to slushie someone or get another slushie myself. It's just cold water and food coloring, but it's really nasty."
"If I recall correctly, they told you they'd 'kick the crap out of you,'" Kurt said.
"Yeah."
"So you slushied some poor kid and felt bad about it?" Burt kept looking between the two boys.
"No, he didn't." Kurt was adamant.
Carole seemed confused. "Then what did you have to be ashamed of?"
"Kurt took it out of my hand and threw it on himself rather than let me get beat up."
Burt faced his son. "That true?"
"I was wearing a raincoat."
"Not on your face, Dude."
Even Carole smiled a little at that. She said, "I thought I raised you better."
"You did, Mom."
Kurt flicked his eyes to his Dad and picked up some plates. They carried them to the kitchen while Carole and Finn sat at the table talking quietly about responsibility and choices.
Burt ran water over the plates as Kurt got out the dessert plates and forks and began cutting wedges of pie.
"You slushied yourself?"
"Just once. It's not like I made a habit of it."
"So this crush you had on Finn, it was because he was nice to you?"
Kurt nodded and put a large slice of pumpkin pie on one plate.
"You've gotta talk to me sometime," Burt said.
"Would you like a little of the pecan pie?"
Burt laughed. "Yeah. I know it will just be a little, too. Kurt…"
He turned to face his father. "I had a crush on Finn. It ended pretty horribly, and I contributed a lot to it. Blame it on hormones and just liking that someone saw me for me. It happens."
"It does." He put his arms around Kurt and hugged him fiercely. "I like Finn. Love him because he's part of Carole and I think he is trying. But I'll tell you two things that you keep to yourself."
Kurt nodded.
"The first is even if Finn had been able to be a boyfriend to you, it wouldn't have lasted."
"I know. I can see Blaine and me a year or more from now because I can talk to him."
Burt sighed with relief. "Good. Because that's exactly the reason I was going to give." He smiled at his son. "The second thing is even more important. You've made mistakes --and God knows you'll keep making them because that's what life is -- but you're already a man in ways that Finn isn't. That's not saying anything against Finn, it's just…"
"I know, Dad. And thank you." Kurt kissed his father on the cheek. "Now then, I know Carole likes the keylime pie, but do you think she wants some of the pecan too?"