Fic: Consequence
Nov. 18th, 2011 01:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
karatamTitle: Consequence
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Finn, Kurt, Burt (mentions of Santana)
Spoilers: up to 3x06
Word Length: 900
Summary: “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that Santana wasn’t out, which means she hadn’t come out of the closet herself. It wouldn’t have mattered if every single person in Lima knew, until Santana said it and gave you permission to, you shouldn’t have said a word.”
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Fox and Ryan Murphy. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this work of fiction.
A/N: Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dealan311 who betaed this for me.
/ /
When he gets to the closed door, he raps on it lightly before shoving his hands deep into his pockets. The door opens and Burt just looks at him with his lips thinned and his eyes narrowed.
“Finn.” The word is short and terse.
“Is it true? The entire state?”
Burt grimaces and nods, “The ad aired two hours ago on stations across Ohio.”
“Is there anything I can do to help? Because how can this even happen? Isn’t Santana, like, a minor or something? Aren’t there laws?” Words are coming out of his mouth faster than he can think them because all he can think is I screwed up, what can I do?
Burt stares at him hard until Finn blinks hard, and then sighs, long and weary. “I’ll see you at home, Finn. We have a lot to talk about, but I have more important things to do right now.
As the door closes in his face, Finn tries to figure out exactly what’s going on and all he can think is why won’t they let me help?
All of Ohio knows and it’s all his fault. He never meant for it to go that far; he had just been so angry, and everyone at school could see it anyways, so it wouldn’t have been a big deal –
“Do you not remember?”
Finn looks up to see Kurt standing nearby with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.
“Remember what?”
Kurt breathes in tightly through his nose and closes his eyes for a second, as if gathering strength. He walks over to Finn and stands there with his shoulder leaning against a locker. “Do you not remember what it was like for me?”
Finn’s brow furrows in confusion and Kurt nearly rolls his eyes.
“When I came out, do you not remember how hard it was for me? I was scared to walk down the hallways at school because I knew that, any second, someone could come up behind me and shove me into a locker. Or threaten my life. Or spread rumors about me and my family.”
Wincing, Finn turns away, remembering how scared Kurt had been all those weeks.
“It forced me to leave. My fear forced me to leave all my friends and go to school at Dalton. And I chose to come out. I chose it for myself because I was ready and I wanted to be out. And I was still scared and hurt by the way people reacted.”
When Kurt places his hand on Finn’s shoulder, Finn brings his head up. Kurt looks kind of angry, but also just really sad.
“You’ve come a long way from the boy who helped throw me into dumpsters, but what you did today,” Kurt pauses, swallows hard, “that was my nightmare for years, Finn.”
Finn opens his mouth to defend himself, but Kurt just holds up his hand.
“I know, Santana was being a bitch, even more of a bitch that usual, and what she did to Rory was awful. I don’t think anyone, especially me, will deny that. But outing her? In the middle of the hallway? What the hell was that, Finn?”
“I just, I don’t know, wanted to get back at her,” Finn mumbles, dropping his head to look at the floor. “Besides, everyone already knew. It’s not like her and Brittany were ever subtle about it. Everyone already knew.”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that Santana wasn’t out, which means she hadn’t come out of the closet herself. It wouldn’t have mattered if every single person in Lima knew, until Santana said it and gave you permission to, you shouldn’t have said a word.”
Finn winces as he starts to recognize the truth.
“I was lucky. Not everyone gets to continue living with people who love them.” Kurt’s voice catches slightly. “Santana and I don’t see eye to eye on just about anything, but if you ever imply again that she was a coward to being in the closet, Finn Hudson, I don’t think I’ll be able to look at you.” Finn nods silently in response. “Her parents didn’t know – her parents – and now the entire state will be.”
“I’m sorry.” Finn feels his throat close up as it really dawns on him what has happened.
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. Even though I’m mad at you and Rachel is livid and Dad is really disappointed, we’re not the ones who were hurt by this. She doesn’t want to talk to you, she might never want to talk to you again, but you have to do something.”
Kurt walks away, leaving Finn leaning against the lockers with his shoulders slumped in newfound guilt. He kind of gets it now, what it was that he did. He took away her choice, made that choice for her when he should have known better, just because he had been angry. Ten seconds of his anger had changed Santana’s life forever.
He drops his face into his hands and slides down until he was sitting on the hard tile. It’s his fault.
I screwed up, what can I do?
And what if I can’t make it right?
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Finn, Kurt, Burt (mentions of Santana)
Spoilers: up to 3x06
Word Length: 900
Summary: “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that Santana wasn’t out, which means she hadn’t come out of the closet herself. It wouldn’t have mattered if every single person in Lima knew, until Santana said it and gave you permission to, you shouldn’t have said a word.”
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Fox and Ryan Murphy. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this work of fiction.
A/N: Thanks to
dealan311 who betaed this for me./ /
When he gets to the closed door, he raps on it lightly before shoving his hands deep into his pockets. The door opens and Burt just looks at him with his lips thinned and his eyes narrowed.
“Finn.” The word is short and terse.
“Is it true? The entire state?”
Burt grimaces and nods, “The ad aired two hours ago on stations across Ohio.”
“Is there anything I can do to help? Because how can this even happen? Isn’t Santana, like, a minor or something? Aren’t there laws?” Words are coming out of his mouth faster than he can think them because all he can think is I screwed up, what can I do?
Burt stares at him hard until Finn blinks hard, and then sighs, long and weary. “I’ll see you at home, Finn. We have a lot to talk about, but I have more important things to do right now.
As the door closes in his face, Finn tries to figure out exactly what’s going on and all he can think is why won’t they let me help?
All of Ohio knows and it’s all his fault. He never meant for it to go that far; he had just been so angry, and everyone at school could see it anyways, so it wouldn’t have been a big deal –
“Do you not remember?”
Finn looks up to see Kurt standing nearby with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.
“Remember what?”
Kurt breathes in tightly through his nose and closes his eyes for a second, as if gathering strength. He walks over to Finn and stands there with his shoulder leaning against a locker. “Do you not remember what it was like for me?”
Finn’s brow furrows in confusion and Kurt nearly rolls his eyes.
“When I came out, do you not remember how hard it was for me? I was scared to walk down the hallways at school because I knew that, any second, someone could come up behind me and shove me into a locker. Or threaten my life. Or spread rumors about me and my family.”
Wincing, Finn turns away, remembering how scared Kurt had been all those weeks.
“It forced me to leave. My fear forced me to leave all my friends and go to school at Dalton. And I chose to come out. I chose it for myself because I was ready and I wanted to be out. And I was still scared and hurt by the way people reacted.”
When Kurt places his hand on Finn’s shoulder, Finn brings his head up. Kurt looks kind of angry, but also just really sad.
“You’ve come a long way from the boy who helped throw me into dumpsters, but what you did today,” Kurt pauses, swallows hard, “that was my nightmare for years, Finn.”
Finn opens his mouth to defend himself, but Kurt just holds up his hand.
“I know, Santana was being a bitch, even more of a bitch that usual, and what she did to Rory was awful. I don’t think anyone, especially me, will deny that. But outing her? In the middle of the hallway? What the hell was that, Finn?”
“I just, I don’t know, wanted to get back at her,” Finn mumbles, dropping his head to look at the floor. “Besides, everyone already knew. It’s not like her and Brittany were ever subtle about it. Everyone already knew.”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that Santana wasn’t out, which means she hadn’t come out of the closet herself. It wouldn’t have mattered if every single person in Lima knew, until Santana said it and gave you permission to, you shouldn’t have said a word.”
Finn winces as he starts to recognize the truth.
“I was lucky. Not everyone gets to continue living with people who love them.” Kurt’s voice catches slightly. “Santana and I don’t see eye to eye on just about anything, but if you ever imply again that she was a coward to being in the closet, Finn Hudson, I don’t think I’ll be able to look at you.” Finn nods silently in response. “Her parents didn’t know – her parents – and now the entire state will be.”
“I’m sorry.” Finn feels his throat close up as it really dawns on him what has happened.
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. Even though I’m mad at you and Rachel is livid and Dad is really disappointed, we’re not the ones who were hurt by this. She doesn’t want to talk to you, she might never want to talk to you again, but you have to do something.”
Kurt walks away, leaving Finn leaning against the lockers with his shoulders slumped in newfound guilt. He kind of gets it now, what it was that he did. He took away her choice, made that choice for her when he should have known better, just because he had been angry. Ten seconds of his anger had changed Santana’s life forever.
He drops his face into his hands and slides down until he was sitting on the hard tile. It’s his fault.
I screwed up, what can I do?
And what if I can’t make it right?
