A/N: Hey guyses. First of all, I like me some loooooooooong build-up, so you may think that the story is moving rather slowly. I swear that stuff will begin to happen faster later on, I just needed to settle where the hell we are and stuff.
This is my first published fic, not that it's an excuse for anything. I love feedback, and reviews would be awesome. Please, if you think there is something I could do better, tell me. I want to be better.
I want to thank my awesome beta, Andy. For making this thing readable. Yeah.. Also, my native language is not english, so if any phrases seem a little weird, again, tell me. I want to know and become better.
Also, tell me if I should finish this, because I honestly don't know yet o.o Meh. Loooooong A/N, will stop now. Thanks for reading my fic.
With a little help from my friends.
This was something Sam would never get used to.
The sudden splash of cold, the ice dripping down his underpants, the corn syrup burning his eyes - all symptoms of being hit by a slushie.
He took a shaky breath, and then felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.
"Come on," a countertenor voice came from behind him, and Sam was lead to the bathroom by his best friend, Kurt Hummel.
Kurt stopped Sam by the sink, telling him to stay where he was, and then let go of his shoulder. A few moments later, Sam heard the water running, and Kurt began washing the ice out of his hair. He poured some water over his eyes, wiping out the syrup from his eyes.
Sam slowly opened his eyes, now free of corn syrup, and looked at Kurt as he continued cleaning him up.
"I'll never get used to this," Sam said, as he took the towel Kurt was offering him, and dried his face. Kurt sighed. "We shouldn't have to," he said and handed Sam a clean t-shirt.
Sam shrugged, and removed the dirty one, now stained with red dye, and pulled the clean one over his head "That's how it is. Not much we can do about it."
Kurt frowned, but didn't say anything, just wore a look of desperation on his pale face.
Sam made sure that all the ice was washed out of his hair before he said, "Come on, we're going to be late for class."
Kurt sighed but nodded and followed Sam out of the bathroom.
They had to run down the hallway, realizing just how late they were, when the final bell rang.
Sam stopped, when he reached his math classroom, and Kurt continued running, quickly yelling "See you at lunch" at Sam, before he turned around the corner. Sam smiled at him, and then opened to door to his classroom.
"Mr. Evans. How nice of you to join us," Mr. Tanner said, and Sam blushed a little
"I'm sorry," he said, as he found his seat, between Tina and Artie, and Mr. Tanner continued his lesson.
Sam had barely gotten his books out of his bag, before Tina slid a note towards him. What happened? it read.
Sam sighed and wrote slushie right underneath her question.
Both Tina and Artie nodded, and then all three of them turned to listen to Mr. Tanner.
"Did you see who did it?" Mercedes asked at lunch, as she speared a piece of chicken with her fork. Kurt had apparently told her about the slushie incident from earlier, not that Sam got the big deal. They got slushied all the time.
"Nope," he replied, and took a sip off his soda "Does it really matter?" he asked, and Mercedes shrugged "I guess not," she said.
"I'm pretty sure that it was Puck," Kurt interjected, and Sam found that maybe it mattered a little after all.
He was ashamed to admit it, but, maybe, Sam had a little crush on Noah - Puck - Puckerman, which was extremely stupid for more than one reason.
One, Puck was a jock. He was on the football team, and he was one of the most feared jocks on all of WMHS.
Two, he bullied just about everybody who wasn't a jock or a cheerleader.
Three, he was straight. Like, really straight. As straight as they get.
"Sounds like something he would do," Mercedes nodded, and Sam shrugged "Don't all the jocks slushie us every now and then?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, but Puck is, like, worse than all for them. He throws Kurt in dumpsters, and he locked me into a porta potty," Artie said from a few seats over. The rest of the table nodded.
Sam knew where this conversation was going, and he just didn't want to go there. He quickly changed the subject "Any luck with finding the last members?" Their table sighed in unison.
"No," Kurt responded, piercing his salad violently with his fork. "You would think more people would want to join us, now that we have the cheerleaders, but no. They treat us like we're toxic or something."
Mercedes nodded,"Yeah. It totally sucks. We need two more members, or else we can't compete."
Sam sighed and nodded, "We'll just have to keep looking, won't we?"
"I-i-i-t's just h-h-h-ard," Tina stuttered, and the rest of the club mumbled their agreements "But we can't give up" Artie added, sounding far more positive than any of them felt.
Kurt looked like he wanted to add something, but the bell rang before he got the chance to say anything. Everyone disapperead, then, hurrying off to their classes.
"You must have lost your damn mind," Sam stated, as he fell down on his bed, phone pressed to his ear. Kurt sighed from the other end of the line.
"What the hell do you expect me to do? I can't tell my dad that I'm not on the football team." Sam frowned and looked around at the comic posters in his room.
"Why not?" he asked. Kurt snorted.
"Isn't it obvious? I can't explain to my dad why I lied about being on the team, unless I tell him that I'm gay."
"And you can't tell him that you're gay because?" Sam could almost hear Kurt roll his eyes through the phone.
"Are we really going to have this conversation again?" he asked, his tone impatient. Sam smiled a little "Only if you insist."
Kurt sighed, "Samuel Evans, you are a pain in the ass." Sam chuckled "But I'm your pain in the ass."
Kurt sighed again. He did that a lot, especially when he talked with Sam "So what do you think?" he asked, and Sam was confused "About what?" Kurt sighed again.
"About asking Finn to help me get on the team," Kurt replied in a tone that clearly said 'Oh my God, aren't you listening at all?'
Sam frowned a little and then answered "I don't know. Do you really think he would help?"
Kurt was silent for a moment, and then sighed, "I don't know. I can always try, right?" Sam frowned at that.
Yeah, sure, Finn had never been the worst of the bullies, and his bullying had stopped entirely when he joined glee. He was, however, not happy to be seen with the Glee kids or be associated with Glee in general.
Sam sighed "I can't talk you out of it, can I?" he asked.
"Nope. Not really," Kurt answered, and Sam sighed again.
"Want me to go with you?"
"That was my plan," Kurt said, and Sam knew that he was grinning widely.
"Fine. When are you going to talk to him?" he asked, defeat in his voice.
Kurt sounded thrilled when he replied, "Tomorrow. After Glee."
"Put your helmet on," Finn said, and Kurt made a face "It will mess up my hair." Finn smiled, shaking his head, as he said, "Put your… Put your helmet on."
He placed the red helmet on the smaller teen's head.
Sam appeared just as Finn had secured the helmet on Kurt's head, and the blonde smiled, when he heard Kurt say, "Thanks for helping me with this Finn."
Finn shrugged, "Well, I figured the more cross-over between glee and football, the easier my life is gonna be."
Sam turned to look at the other football players, all dressed in the white uniform with red numbers on. He heard Kurt and Finn discuss something; Kurt needed music or something like that. Sam didn't really care. He kinda zoned out, but he returned to reality when he heard a new voice coming from where Kurt and Finn stood.
Sam turned, seeing that Kurt had went to get his music, and Puck was now standing next to Finn and talking to him "So are you two an item now or...?"
Finn looked confused, and Sam just looked at them, wondering what Puck would do.
"He doesn't belong here," Puck snapped "You joined the Acafellas. What's the difference?" Finn asked. Puck smiled at his naivety, "I'm a stud, dude. I could wear a dress to school, and people would think it's cool."
Finn looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off by Coach Tanaka's whistle.
Finn seemed somewhat relieved, but the look on Puck's face clearly told Sam that he was not done talking about this.
Coach Tanaka began yelling at some poor kid, and Sam couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was so busy looking at the football player and Coach Tanaka that he didn't notice Kurt making his way through the jocks.
That was before his clear, high-pitched voice declared, "Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel and I'll be auditioning for the role of kicker."
Several of the football players snickered, and Kurt made a face of disgust at them. Finn had a dopey smile plastered on his face, and Puck looked like he had to resist the urge to facepalm.
Coach Tanaka, however, did not seem to find it funny, and he asked Kurt to show him what he had.
Finn went to ready the ball, and Kurt placed a huge boom box on the ground. Finn was in the correct position, and Kurt started the music, getting into his own position, arms raised and his hip slightly cocked to the right.
Sam was wondering what the hell he was doing, but he got his answer when Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" blasted through the speakers of the music player.
Kurt began doing a little dance, similar to the one in the video that Sam knew he had practised with Tina and Brittany, and Sam couldn't help the smile that surfaced on his lips.
The smile faded, however, when he heard the football players chuckling, and Sam couldn't help but feel sorry for Kurt, who didn't seem to mind at all.
Sam understood why, when Kurt kicked to ball, and it flew over goal, with plenty of space to spare. Sam grinned from ear to ear, especially when he saw the football players' reactions. They all just stood there, completely dumbfounded. One of them even dropped his helmet.
Kurt looked at the goal, and Finn was grinning wider than anybody "That was good, right?" he asked, and Finn, even though Sam thought it was impossible, grinned even wider "Yeah," he nodded.
Coach Tanaka stomped over to Kurt and turned the pale teen to face him, saying something that Sam didn't quite catch, but it, for some reason, involved a tutu.
"Gentlemen!" the Coach yelled "We've found ourselves a kicker!" Kurt smiled and waved regally.
Sam spotted Puck shaking his head, disbelief clear in his face, before he landed himself an armful Kurt.
"I did it!" he announced loudly, his usually high-pitched voice even higher because of his excitement. Sam grinned and wrapped his arms around the smaller teen.
"I knew you could do it," he stated, releasing his friend. Kurt began to drag him away from the field, blabbering about how he did much better than expected.
Sam spared a glance over his shoulder and saw Puck staring at them, the look in his eyes completely unreadable.
"What's your problem?" Puck questioned, as he and Finn left the choir room.
Coach Tanaka had gotten the brilliant idea that the football team should dance because the gay kid had danced at his try out, and he was the only one who could score. And apparently they were desperate enought to actually try it out.
"Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind," Finn answered. Puck frowned slightly, picking up his pace to walk beside the taller teen.
"Seriously, dude, what's going on?" he said, looking at Finn "I'm you best friend," he said and stopped Finn by placing his hand on his shoulder. "Talk."
"It's personal," Finn muttered. Puck smirked "I knew it. You're in love with Kurt." "Quinn's pregnant. She's keeping the baby," he blurted out and then walked away.
Puck was frozen in his place. Eyes wide with panic.
Well, fuck.
"Sup, MILF?"
"Leave me alone."
Quinn brushed past Puck, who had stepped out in front of her in the hallway, and continued to make her way to her locker.
"Who's the daddy?" he asked, as he followed her, furious that she hadn't told him anything, that Finn had been the one to tell him, not her. "I just think it would be kinda weird if it's Finn, seeing as you told me you were a virgin when we did it. And I know for a fact that you didn't do it with him."
Quinn looked at him with her patented ice-bitch-glare "How can you be so sure?" she said, and Puck snorted "Finn's my boy. He would have told me," he stated.
"Do you make a habit of sleeping with your boys' girlfriends?" she snapped, and then turned down another hallway.
Puck stood in the hallway for a second, before he threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, "Well, call the Vatican, we got ourselves another immaculate conception!" Quinn grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him away from the crowded hallway and into a more deserted one.
"I take care of it now. And you. My dad's a deadbeat, but I'm not!" he insisted "Weren't you fired for peeing in a fast food fry-o-lator?" she asked, her tone degrading.
"I've got my pool-cleaning business," he said, looking serious, the anger still boiling in him.
"But you live in Ohio," she said, which made him fall silent. "I had sex with you because you got me drunk on wine-coolers, and I felt fat that day." The words hit harder than they should have, but he didn't let it show. Puck didn't do weak. He never had and never would.
"But it was a mistake," she continued. "You're a Lima-loser, and you'll always be a Lima-loser."
And with that she was gone.
Puck watched after her as she scurried down the hallway. He didn't know what the hell to do. What did you do in a situation like this? He sighed. He'd never felt more worthless than he did in that moment. Puck curled his hand into a fist and smashed it into one of the lockers. It hurt, but he didn't care. He could deal with physical pain, that was easy. Easier than the emotional turmoil that was threatening to tear him up from the inside.
He made a sound, which sounded like a growl, and then he ran out of the school, the opposite way of which Quinn just had run.
"Are you sure you can't be there?" Kurt asked, disappointment clear in his voice. Sam sighed, "I'm sorry Kurt. I have to babysit Stevie and Stacy. You know I would love to be at your first game."
Kurt sighed from the other end of the phone, and Sam frowned. It sucked, really. But his parents were busy, and he had promised to take care of his siblings a long time ago.
"You okay?" Sam asked, hating to let Kurt down. The other boy sighed again, "Yeah. I guess so. I just wish you could be there." Sam smiled ruefully.
"Believe me. It's not because I want to stay home and hang out with my annoying siblings," he assured him. Kurt chuckled, "You adore them, and I know it."
Sam grinned. He knew that Kurt was right. He did adore his two younger siblings, Stevie, who was eight, and Stacy, who was six. They looked up to their older brother, and he just couldn't help but love them.
"You're right, but I would still rather be at your game," he said and sat on the edge of his bed. He could almost hear Kurt smile through the phone.
"Don't stress about it" the boy assured him. Then, he added, in a bitter tone, "There'll be other games."
"You know the easy way out of this, don't you?" Sam asked, and Kurt snorted "That is not an option."
Sam shook his head, "Kurt Hummel, you're impossible."
Kurt snorted, "Am not!"
"Are so."
Kurt snorted again but let it fall "You still up for movie-night on Saturday?" he asked, and Sam grinned.
"I've been looking forward to it all week," he stated. Kurt chuckled "Same. That is, if I survive the game one Friday," he said, his tone still bitter.
"You'll do just fine," Sam assured his friend, and Kurt sighed "I hope so."
Sam was about to say something, when a loud clatter sounded from downstairs, and his brother Stevie yelled "SAMMY! STACY IS DOING IT AGAIN!"
Sam sighed, "I gotta go. Stevie and Stacy are about to tear the house apart."
"Tell them I said hi" Kurt said quickly, and Sam rolled his eyes "Yeah. Sure. See ya tomorrow."
"See ya."
"Well, I think we really came together this week, as a team," Finn announced. They were getting ready for their game, and Finn was supposed to give them a pep-talk.
"Yeah, a gay-team," Puck muttered, standing next to Finn. "A big gay-team of dancing gays."
Finn looked like he was about to roll his eyes, but Puck didn't really care. The whole dancing thing was ridiculous. How would dancing help them win the game?
Apparently, Puck wasn't the only one with that thought, seeing as a guy named Anthony said, "Seriously Finn. It was fun in practice and all." Puck resisted the urge to snort. "But we can't do it out here in front of everybody. It will make us even more of a joke."
Puck nodded, but he noticed the intense look Kurt sent Finn. Finn seemed to be lost for words (which seemed to happen a lot), and just put on his helmet, as he moved onto the field. The rest of the team followed him.
Finn told them their positions, and the team got ready.
The other team was also preparing for the ref to start the game, and they began to throw insults towards the McKinley Titans. Many of the players seemed a little shaken, and the game started off badly.
Puck had almost accepted the defeat, when there were 14 seconds left in the game. The opposing team had 6 points, and they had 0.
Finn called them into positions, and Puck got ready to embrace the defeat, once again, when Finn suddenly called time-out. Puck frowned and looked at the timer, there was one fucking second left. What did he want to do?
Finn slapped him in the stomach, more to get his attention than to hurt him, and then drew him a little away from the group.
"Dude, we gotta do it," he stated, and Puck couldn't believe his own ears "We will be jokes for the rest of our high school lives," he said, his tone sharp.
"We're already jokes," Finn retorted. "I don't wanna be a Lima-loser for the rest of my life."
That word. Lima-loser. It hit him hard. That's what Quinn had called him.
That's what he was right? Or could he be something else? Could he maybe show Quinn that he wasn't a Lima-loser? That he could do something right?
He was dragged out of his thoughts when one of the players from the opposing team yelled some insult he didn't hear.
Puck turned towards him and said, "Hey, ankle-grabber. I had sex with you mother." The player was dumbstruck for a moment, but Puck kept talking.
"No, seriously. I cleaned your pool, and then I had sex with her in your bed. Nice Star Wars sheets."
The player didn't know what to say, and Puck turned towards Finn again.
"Let's do it, Cap."
Finn smiled at him, and then called the players over.
"Okay, Ring on it...on three," he yelled, and the team exchanged looks with each other "Yeah. Alright?" Finn said, and the team just kept looking puzzled.
"On three. One...two...three...break!" he said, and then they clapped their hands, shaking their head in disbelief.
They got into position, and, on Finn's signal, the AV-nerds turned on the speakers, which came to life with a loud screech, soon followed by Beyoncé's "Single Ladies".
The other team was completely dumbfounded. They had no idea what the hell was happening, and then the Titans began to dance, which did nothing to help their puzzlement.
Honestly, Puck couldn't blame them for being puzzled. Hell, he would probably have been pretty confused himself, if he had been on the other team.
The music ended, and the Titans had the ball. The opposing team was still too dumbstruck to even move.
Puck found himself running with every last fiber of his body. He ran, and he ran. And soon he received the ball, thrown by Finn, and then crossed the line.
It had worked.
Beyoncé had just helped them score their only goal in this game.
The bleachers almost exploded with applause, and the team was ecstatic. They had a chance.
Kurt just had to kick as well, as he had done in practice, and then they would win.
They watched as Kurt made his way towards Finn, who was ready with the ball.
Puck watched the smaller teen.
He was visibly nervous, his breathing heavy, and he was even paler than usual. He waved at someone Puck couldn't see, and then the music began again.
Kurt did his little dance, the opposing team began to push forward, and the team held them back, like they were supposed to.
They heard to recognizable sound of a foot hitting the ball, and saw as the ball flew through the air. Puck couldn't help but notice that it flew high.
The Titans held their breath, and then screamed in victory as the ball landed on the other side of the field goal.
The ref whistled, signaling that the game was over. The bleachers exploded in applause once more.
They had won.
For the first time, in God knows how long. The McKinley Titans won a game.
Puck watched as his team-mates heaved Kurt up on their shoulders, to the surprise of the smaller teen, who wore a wide grin on his face. Puck grinned widely, and he couldn't help but think of the irony of the situation.
He turned to look at Finn, only to be met by the sight of Quinn in his arms, kissing him fiercely on the mouth.
The smile on Puck's face froze, and then he turned, walking toward the locker room with his shoulders hunched in defeat.
He couldn't believe it. Even though they had won the game, he had still lost.
Maybe he was a Lima-loser after all.
"WE WON!" Kurt squealed through the phone, and Sam had to hold the device away from his ear if he wanted to keep his hearing intact.
"I can't believe it! We actually won! I kicked the final goal, Sam! I am a hero!"
Sam smiled, as he tried to help Stacy color her drawing, while talking with Kurt. It was turning out to be quite difficult "Did you dance?" Sam asked, a smirk on his face.
"Why would they dance when they play football?" Stevie asked from the couch, and Sam smiled "Never mind Stevie," he shook his head, and Stevie nodded, continuing to watch cartoons.
"Yes, they did. It was amazing," Kurt responded, and Sam chuckled.
"You're kidding me, right? Are you telling me that they got Puckerman to dance on the field?"
Sam couldn't imagine that Puck would he thrilled by the idea. Kurt chuckled from the other end of the line.
"It looked like it was his idea, actually. I mean, it was, of course, Finn that brought it up, but he seemed to discuss it with Puck before he told the team to do it."
Sam was surprised "Really? Wow. 'Guess we were all wrong about Puckerman," Sam mused, unable to keep the hope out of his voice. Kurt sighed, and Sam knew he was shrugging.
"Maybe. I don't know. He seemed a little defeated after the game. I don't know why. Everybody else was ecstatic."
Sam frowned.
"Sounds weird" he muttered, and then grabbed the green crayon from the table. He began to color the grass.
"Yeah. It was."
Sam heard some noises on the other line, which sounded like footsteps, and Kurt said, "My dad is on his way down! Better talk with him. See ya tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'll bring some movies with me," Sam nodded to no one.
"No superheroes!" Kurt said, and Sam snorted.
"Got'cha. Bye, Kurt."
"Bye, Samuel."
Then, he hung up.
"Wait...so your dad is cool with it?" Sam asked.
It was Saturday, the day after the game, and he was huddled up on Kurt's couch, the trailers to their movie running in the background.
Kurt nodded, as he flopped down on the couch beside Sam, a huge bowl of popcorn in his hands.
"He said that he wasn't in love with the idea, but he'll accept me for who I am and love me just the same."
He placed the bowl in Sam's lap and leaned against Sam's chest. Sam wrapped his arm around Kurt, and Kurt pressed play on the remote.
"Told ya" Sam stated, a huge grin on his face. Kurt grimaced, "Yeah. I know. I was just scared."
Sam nodded; he knew how Kurt had felt. It was only a year since he had come out to his parents as bisexual. They hadn't been thrilled, and his relationship to his dad was somewhat strained. They hadn't kicked him out or disowned him, though, and that was the important part, right?
The movie began, then, and Sam sighed already, from which he received a slap on his chest from Kurt.
It was a romantic comedy - Kurt's favorite genre - and Sam wasn't such a huge fan of them. Sam preferred fantasy and science fictions, and that's the reason why their movie nights never ended well.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Sam whined, and Kurt rolled his eyes.
"Because I sat through Avatar, for the sixth time, last time."
Sam sighed, but tucked Kurt in a little closer.
"It's unfair," he muttered, and Kurt just chuckled "Nope. It's the opposite of unfair. Now, shut up, and let me watch my movie."
Sam sighed one more time and then fell silent, letting Kurt watch the film in peace.
The glee club was assembled in the choir room. They were silent, except for a few murmurs here and there, all slowly coming to terms with the fact that they weren't going to Sectionals because they wouldn't be able to get the last two members they needed.
Mr. Schuester entered the room, a huge smile on his face as he said, "Hi guys. Let's give a big Glee welcome to our three new members, fresh off their big win on Friday night. Noah Puckerman, Matt Rutherford and Mike Chang."
The club was dumbstruck, as the three football-players, with Finn trailing behind them, entered the choir room "Regionals, here we come!" Mr. Schue declared, but the occupants of the room were still too dumbstruck to react.
Mr. Schue shook them from their individual reveries, and they began to form a line.
"Let's start today with 'Tonight' from Westside Story," he offered, and looked at the glee kids. Nobody missed the look of expectation on Rachel's face, not even Mr. Schue. Still, he said, "Tina. Show us what you got!"
Tina smiled, and Rachel's face fell.
Had the circumstances been different, Sam would probably had felt sorry for her. However, he knew that Tina had a nice voice, and Rachel had been showcased a lot since they started the club. It was somebody else's time to shine.
Rachel stormed out of the choir room. Matt and Mike looked a little taken aback by that, but the rest of the club was so used to Rachel storming out of rehearsals every other day, that they barely noticed her go and Puck just didn't seem to care.
Tina began to sing the song. She was a little sharp, but that was probably just the nerves, seeing as she got better after an encouraging smile and nod from Artie.
Schue filled Mike, Matt and Puck in on the choreography, and soon the club was dancing around behind Tina, who got better and better. Sam, however, could not stop looking at Puck.
There was something about him that Sam had never noticed before. He seemed almost, defeated. Just like Kurt had said he had been after the game Friday.
He didn't look like someone who had just helped his team win their first game in ages last Friday. He looked more like someone who didn't know what to do. You'd have to really look, though, if you wanted to notice, and Sam wasn't sure that he hadn't misinterpreted his body language.
Maybe, he was just exhausted after the game, both physically and mentally.
Sam was about to shrug the thought off when he noticed something. Puck kept sneaking glances at Quinn when he thought that nobody noticed.
Sometimes, when he was looking at Quinn, Quinn would be looking at Finn, affection clear in her eyes, and Puck would look even more defeated.
Sam frowned but didn't stop moving with the group.
It didn't make sense.
Why would Puck be looking at Quinn that way? Did he have a crush on her? Did she know? Worse yet, did Finn know?
Sam decided that he would think about it later this new information later. It wasn't his business any way.
Even though, the thought of Puck having a crush on Quinn hurt, far more than it should.
Sam had no right to be hurt by it. He wasn't with Puck. He had barely even spoken to him in the past.
Then, why was he aching when he saw the way the boy looked at Quinn?
Sam cursed inwardly.
Stupid crush.
It wouldn't lead anything good.
Nothing at all.