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Sue Sylvester wasn't usually nice. She was larger than life, and Kurt was fairly certain that she was insane. But when she fell into depression right before Nationals, Kurt had to cheer her up. He had learned during the school's Madonna phase that Coach Sylvester wasn't completely demonic. She was actually fun to be around sometimes. The woman was a force of nature, so Kurt had no problem showing up at her house with Evita on Blu-Ray and fat-free cookie dough. Despite what Rachel thought, he wasn't buttering her up just to get solos. He genuinely enjoyed Cheerios, and he was slowly learning that Sue Sylvester was human after all.
*****
When Burt Hummel had his heart attack, Kurt virtually shut down. His friends were sympathetic, but teenagers are notoriously shallow, and they were all worried about their own drama. So Kurt's grades started to slip, and he wasn't getting enough sleep, but somebody had to run the garage, and look after his dad. When he added on his schoolwork, he barely had time to think. So when the maid service and the catering service started showing up at his house, Kurt wasn't willing to turn them away. When he asked Coach Sue about it, she told him she didn't want him to waste into a walking skeleton on the off-chance she might need him for Cheerios at some date in the future.
*****
Kurt loved weddings. He had to admit, when Principal Sue declared she was marrying herself, Kurt was a little weirded out. But when she asked him to design a dress for her he jumped at the chance. He, Brittany and Becky worked hard on the blue wedding dress. While the girls helped him, Kurt was reassured. This is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life: fashion. He loved singing and performing, but fashion was his bliss.
*****
When Principal Sue told Kurt she was resigning her position in protest of his treatment, Kurt felt his stomach clench. He had always believed that adults in general didn't care about him at all. That it was the point of view of all grown-ups that he deserved what he got, because he was gay. How had he found an ally in the meanest teacher in school?
*****
Kurt really liked Jean Sylvester. She was such a sweetheart. She always managed to cheer Kurt up, no matter what kind of mood he was in. So after the Warblers tied with New Directions at Sectionals, and everyone went to Regionals, Kurt was both pleased and surprised that Sue brought Jean to watch him perform his solo. His slow cover of the Michael Andrews and Gary Jules arrangement of Mad World moved Jean Sylvester to tears, and she gave him a tight hug after their performance. Sue simply clapped him on the back and told him, “You did good, Porcelain.” And even though New Directions won, Kurt was proud. Because he sang his heart out. And he tried to convince himself that he didn't care that Mr. Schuester didn't tell him he'd done a good job, because that didn't matter. Win or lose, Sue Sylvester thought he'd done good.
*****
Kurt wasn't a Cheerio anymore. Hell, he didn't even go to McKinley anymore. But the Cheerios were on their way to Nationals again, and Kurt found himself dragged along by Brittany and Becky. Because when the rival team deployed smear tactics against the Cheerios, dragging Quinn's teen pregnancy onto the front page of Cheerleading magazine, and leaking incriminating pictures of Santana and Brittany to ESPN, who else was going to keep the Cheerios together? Kurt held Santana back when people outside the convention center called her a dyke, and didn't even flinch when Santana whispered in his ear that she was sorry about the gay jokes. He reminded Quinn how beautiful, strong and fabulous she was, and he gave Brittany a kiss on the cheek for luck.
“Thanks, Porcelain. You kept my girls together.” Sue said, clapping him on the back.
“No problem Sue,” Kurt said, smiling up at her.
*****
The first time Kurt and Blaine broke up, Kurt felt like dying. New Directions was out of town, in NY for glee Nationals. Kurt drove back to Lima and finds that nobody is there. His parents had gone to watch Finn compete, and all his friends were gone. Even Becky had tagged along to cheer on Brittany and Santana. So Kurt didn't exactly know what he was doing when he showed up on Sue's doorstep.
“Porcelain, what are you doing here?” Sue asked.
“Blaine and I broke up.”
“Come on in. I'm making fat-free, sugar-free, gluten-free, chocolate free brownies, and then I'm going to watch A League of Their Own.”
Kurt smiled and stepped into Sue's house.
*****
Kurt loved college. New York was everything he had hoped for, and Blaine was there with him, in the same city though not at the same school. But Kurt knew how his family operated. Despite the fact that he was bogged down, getting ready for finals he had to go back to Lima for Thanksgiving. So, even though he had six outfits he had to finish before Monday, he was back in Ohio. Kurt loved his family, but as soon as Thanksgiving dinner was finished, all he could think about was all the sewing he had to do. He didn't really know what lead him to Sue Sylvester's house on Black Friday, but there he was.
“Porcelain? What are you doing here?”
“I came home fore the holidays so my dad and Carole wouldn't think I was blowing them off but I have six outfits to finish before Monday morning for design school and even though I have five sewing machines I only have two hands and I'm not going to get it finished and I'm going to fail out and I'll never be a famous fashion designer which I totally need to be because you know how awesome I am I made that blue dress for you—“
“Hummel! Breathe!” Sue commanded, and Kurt froze mid-rant. She pulled out her cell phone and called her new Cheerios captain. “T? I need you to get the girls together to meet at my house in half an hour. I don't care if it's Black Friday.”
So Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning Kurt had a dozen cheerleaders acting as slave labor to help him get his projects done. When he got on the train on Sunday afternoon, everything was finished and hanging in garment bags. Sue dropped him off at the train station and Kurt couldn't help but hug her.
“You're a lifesaver,” Kurt said. “Thank you.”
“I know, I'm awesome,” Sue smiled, then turned away.
*****
Kurt was 28 when Santana called him to tell him that Jean Sylvester had died. She'd been fighting breast cancer for almost three years, so they had all known it was coming. Kurt wasn't surprised that it was Santana who called. Santana had been the coach of the Cheerios for two years now, but Sue was still involved, even though she was extremely busy as the head of the Lima school Board. Blaine took off work to go back to Ohio with him.
“Are you okay?” Blaine asked while they waited for their plane to land.
“I knew she was going to die soon,” Kurt said. “But Sue is going to be devastated. Jean was her reason for living for a long time. And one of the sweetest people in the world.”
“I remember,” Blaine said. He'd met Jean two or three times over the past twelve years that he and Kurt had been together. Well, mostly together. In fact, it was Jean's prompting that had caused Kurt to come back to Blaine the last time.
Becky picked them up at the airport, and drove them to the Hudson-Hummel's place so they could drop off their bags and get changed before going to the wake. His stepbrother and sister-in-law were at the house when they get there, visiting Burt and Carol, and seemed surprised to see Kurt and Blaine there.
“Kurt? What are you doing here?” Finn asked, confused.
“Jean Sylvester died. I'm here for the wake and funeral. Didn't you know?” Kurt asked, surprised.
“Oh yeah, I think I remember Santana mentioning that,” Finn said. After Finn and Laura got married, they moved back to Lima and Finn started teaching at McKinley. He was the football coach, detention monitor and co-glee director. He worked on the music and Brittany did the dancing. She and Santana lived together and coached the Cheerios together.
“Anyway, I came to give Sue my support. This has to be a rough time for her, losing her sister,” Kurt said.
“Yeah, I can't imagine that,” Finn said, looking Kurt over. Their eyes locked as they both acknowledged silently how much it would suck if the other died.
Kurt showered and changed, and waited for Becky to come back and pick them up to take them to the wake, at the funeral parlor. Kurt stopped by the coffin to pay his respects, and his breath caught in his throat as he sees Jean laid out.
“I had them put her in the dress you made her,” Sue said, stepping behind Kurt. “She said it was the prettiest thing she'd ever seen.”
Next to him, Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand, and Kurt squeezed back before dropping his partner's hand to give Sue Sylvester a hug.
“Sue, you're coming to New York for Thanksgiving this year,” Kurt says. “No ifs, ands, or buts. Blaine makes an amazing turkey dinner, and we want you with us, for our first Thanksgiving in our new apartment.”
“Okay,” Sue said. The word was hollow, and for the first time in the fifteen years he's known her, Sue looked small. He hugged her again, and took her hand in his own.
“Maybe you should spend Christmas with us too,” he suggested, squeezing her hand gently. “We'd love to have you.”
“Mmm,” Sue said noncommittally. She continued to hold Kurt's hand.
*****
When the announcement was made that gay marriage was seen as equal to heterosexual marriage under the eyes of the law, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and spun him around before kissing him.
“Let's get married,” he said.
“Okay,” Kurt agreed. Because after thirteen years of on-again-off-again, mostly on-again passion and drama, Kurt has no need for a fancy proposal. This is better, this is both of them agreeing. It only took about twenty minutes of discussion to agree on who would officiate the wedding
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered together to unite Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel in legal, binding matrimony,” Sue Sylvester said, beaming at the two men. It had been a long road, but these two had made it. She was proud of them. She was happy for them. She hadn't thought anyone would be good enough for Porcelain, but Dapper Man made him happy, most of the time at least, and in a world that was dying and falling apart, love was definitely better than being waterboarded.
*****
When Kurt and Blaine brought Jenny home from Kazakhstan they'd thrown her a small party of their closest friends and family to get to know their new daughter. Halfway through the evening, Kurt pulled Sue aside.
“Sue, Blaine and I have talked it over, and we'd like you to be Jenny's godmother,” Kurt said.
“What?” the older woman said surprised. “Me? You know how I feel about religion, Porcelain. I don't believe in God.”
“I don't either,” Kurt said, “But I believe in you, and if something were to happen to me and Blaine we would want Jenny to be with somebody who can raise her well, teach her how to be strong, how to stand up for herself. And Jenny needs a strong woman in her life who can help her grow up to respect herself. Will you be involved in my daughter's life, Sue?” Kurt asked.
“Yes, Porcelain, I'd love to be Jenny's godmother,” Sue said, genuinely honored. “Now where's that protein shake you promised me?”
Kurt grinned, and lead his friend into the kitchen.
*end*