Chapter 1: Quiet before the Storm
Kurt lay on his bed, pawing through a new magazine from his shopping trip with Mercedes, where they had stocked up on reading material before the storm that was supposed to be coming. Kurt liked watching storms, especially thunder and lightning, listening to rain beat down on the roof as he rested peacefully in the warm house. But this was no ordinary storm. It was supposedly a Category 1 hurricane. Hurricane Hurley, it was named, and Kurt smirked at the name. They were always really boring names, he thought, except for Hurricane Isabelle, which didn't actually hit Ohio.
The first little strings of 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin played on his phone, notifying him that Mercedes was calling.
"Hey Baby Boy," she said. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm perfectly fine," Kurt replied. "I—"
The doorbell rung downstairs and Kurt frowned. No idiot in their right mind would come around his house on a sunny day, let alone in a rainstorm.
"Hold on, 'Cedes. I'll call you back."
Kurt pressed the 'End' button and ran downstairs. Finn was staying at Rachel's (barf) and Carole and Burt were taking a nap. Heaven knows those two were the deepest sleepers.
He opened the door to find a completely drenched, unhappy looking Noah Puckerman.
"Noah? Ugh! Get in. You're getting water on my new boots. They aren't meant for rain," Kurt said, herding the taller boy out of the rain and onto the mat the Hudmel's had placed at the entryway.
"Thanks," Noah mumbled, wiping his feet and toeing his boots off, as well as his soaked socks. He shrugged off his dark green sweatshirt, with was now black with rain, and tugged off his shirt. "You don't mind if I grab a couple of Finn's things, do you? I'm soaked to the bone."
"No, go ahead," Kurt said, leading them upstairs to his room. "I'd suggest my stuff, but I doubt you'd fit, and Finn won't even notice his stuff is gone. Unless you take his boxers that say 'Finchel'."
Kurt saw the look Noah was giving him and he shook his head. "She came over one night, and I was, unfortunately, there when she gave him them as an anniversary present."
Noah chuckled and tugged his jeans off.
"Jesus, don't strip in front of me!" Kurt protested.
"Why? Will it give you a boner?" Noah smirked.
"Wha- NO!" Kurt exclaimed. "I'll have you know I have a—"
"A boyfriend. A boyfriend who would rather be dry-humping our little Sammy Evans," Noah stated.
"Ew, that's- wait. What?" Kurt's bitch-face immediately switched to the kicked puppy look Noah hated to see on the boy. It just made him look so vulnerable, but adorable.
Noah sighed and ran a hand through the coarse hairs of his Mohawk. "Well, I kinda caught them in the act a couple hours ago. They were in the choir room and…well, dry-humping."
Kurt's beautiful blue-grey-green eyes watered and he hugged Noah close, surprising the Jewish boy. "Why would he do that? Am I ugly? Do I not deserve a handsome, smart, funny, good person as my boyfriend? I don't understand!"
Noah clutched the sobbing, angry boy and kissed the top of his head. "You deserve so much more than Blaine. He's a douche who can't decide who he likes. Kinda like Finn, but I can use better nicknames and insults for him."
His words seemed to have made the smaller boy smile and Kurt peeked at Noah through dark, flitting lashes. "Thank you, Noah. You're not as bad as other people make you seem."
Noah snorted. "Don't get ahead of yourself Princess."
They both heard the door downstairs open, creaking as the handle squeaked, wet and rusty from the rain.
"Finn must be home," Kurt frowned, detaching himself from Noah as much as he could before Noah pulled him into his warm, bare chest.
"You'll be better off without him. You learned from this, and as shit-tastic as it seems, you live and you learn from this kind of situation."
Kurt smiled again, hugging Noah closer. "Thank you." He frowned and pulled away, though still in Noah's arms. "By the way, why did you come here in the first place?"
"I was gonna tell you about what I saw. I didn't want you to feel bad, but I thought you'd kill me if you found out I knew, and I didn't wanna ruin our—slightly off-kilter—friendship," Noah said sincerely.
Kurt closed his eyes and Noah wished he hadn't. His eyes were so beautiful. Kurt looked up at him, opening the eyes Noah adored so much.
"You really think my eyes are beautiful?" he asked quietly and Noah wondered if he had said it out loud. Kurt grinned. "Yeah, you did."
"Hey! Kurt, what's Puck doing in your room, and why is he half naked?" Finn inquired, bursting into the room.
"What are you even doing here, Finn?" Kurt asked, rather surprised at Finn's entrance.
"Oh, Rachel got sick and didn't want me to get sick, so she got her dads to drive me here and, yeah."
Noah chuckled. "I got stuck in the storm and I came here. First place I could think of. I got totally soaked, so I was gonna borrow your clothes. Do you mind?"
"No," Finn mumbled. "But why didn't you get them earlier?"
"Oh, well I kinda got caught up in a conversation with Kurt. Your brother is really cool you know. You're lucky. Sarah's a big brat," Noah smirked. "Plus, he finds my body extremely sexy."
Kurt rolled his eyes, but a small blush was on his already naturally flushed cheeks. Noah's mind immediately thought of Kurt writhing underneath him, his cheeks pink like they were now… wait! No, bad, Noah! No thinking those thoughts, he mentally chided himself.
"Well, if you want clothes I got 'em. And if you wanna stay the night, you can. It's only six, but I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind cooking for another," Finn offered, his sweeter side showing. "And I know my brother is the coolest. You don't have to tell me."
Kurt smiled at his brother and hugged his waist quickly. Finn smirked and almost strangled him in a bear hug.
Noah was insanely jealous, but he didn't dare say so.
"Alright, well I'll go get some clothes and wake up Mom and Burt," Finn said, finally breaking the hug.
"Okay, cool. And thanks for letting me stay. I don't think I could drive without crashing. It's bad out there," Noah told his best friend.
