Title: The Leader Of The Pack

Author: lil-miss-chocolate

Rating: PG13

Characters: Kurt/Puck, Burt, Mercedes, Rachel

Genre: Kinda cracky angst.

Spoilers: Up to Journey, briefly mentioned.

Disclaimer: If anyone actually connected with the show wrote this storyline, I would be appalled.

Summary: Kurt has been seeing the leader of the pack.

Word Count: 1,600ish

Author Notes: This is what happens when I listen to cheesy 60's girl groups' classics. Cracky slash angst heading your way. You have been warned!

This is a songfic for The Shangri-Las' Leader of the Pack. If you don't know the song, it's probably best if you listen to it after you've read the fic, or else it'll kind of ruin the ending.

Kurt walked into McKinley High School, pale as a sheet. He walked unseeing through the crowds of pupils, most of whom did a double take as he passed by. Jacob Ben Israel had posted a new entry on his blog the night before, announcing that McKinley's resident badass, Noah Puckerman, had been seeing the school's resident male diva. He stumbled almost blindly to his locker, where he was immediately ambushed by Mercedes and Rachel, who had been gossiping madly about this new update.

"Is he really going out with him?" Rachel had asked of Mercedes as soon as she'd arrived.

"I don't know any more than you. I can't believe my boy didn't tell me about this..."

Then Rachel had spotted Kurt's white face through the crowd. "Well, there he is. Let's ask him."

"Kurt! What's all this about you and Puck?" Mercedes challenged him.

"I-" Kurt had barely uttered a syllable before Rachel interrupted him.

"That ring! When I asked you why you had a ring on that chain round your neck in dance rehearsal yesterday you said it was some Lord of the Rings souvenir, and he gave you a really strange look! Is that Noah's ring you're wearing?"

Kurt nodded, his lips pressed tightly together as he murmured the affirmative, "Mm-hm."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mercedes exclaimed.

Rachel spoke again before Kurt had a chance to answer, "And he has that amazing motorcycle! That Harley Davidson that he won't let anyone touch. Does he take you out on it?

Kurt nodded again, his eyes beginning to look a little moist.

Mercedes look of surprise at this turn of events was still evident as she asked, "Did he bring you to school today?"

Kurt shook his head, tears filling his eyes. The girls took one look at him and dragged him to the nearest bathroom, shooing out a few giggling freshmen and placing Kurt on the wooden chair.

"So, how did it start?" Rachel asked.

Kurt took a deep breath, swallowed twice and spoke. "I met him at the candy store. He was there with his little sister, buying her a Hershey bar, when he spotted me at the ice cream stand. He turned around and smiled at me, and offered to buy me an ice cream. He was so sweet... that's when I fell for him." He raised his eyebrows and half smiled, his sadness still clear as he did so. "The leader of the pack..."

Rachel and Mercedes exchanged excited looks then turned back to Kurt.

"So what's he done to you? 'Cos I ain't never seen you this quiet before."

After another deep breath, Kurt continued, "My dad was always putting him down. He said he was a bad influence after the whole Quinn baby thing, and that no good ever came of dating a biker, a bad boy. That he should know, because he'd been one. He put up with us dating for a while, but in the end he put his foot down."

As Kurt recalled the events of last night, tears began to spill down his cheeks.

"Kurt, ever since you've been going out with him, you've been staying out late, riding around on that bike of his. You come back with bruises that you refuse to show me, you're dropping behind on your school work, and you've been ignoring all your friends."

"Dad, I-"

"What's happened to you, Kurt? You've always been a good kid, but now you spend every night out on that bike of his, doing God knows what, God knows where. I'm worried about you, son.

"I know I can't force you to do anything, but I really think it would be better if you broke it off with him. You told me yourself that it wasn't serious. I hate seeing you like this Kurt, you're not you anymore."

And, God help him, Kurt had done as his father had asked. He had met Noah at the end of his driveway when the leather-clad biker had come by to pick him up.

"Why are you doing this, Kurt?"

Silent tears were running down Kurt's face as he had contemplated his answer. He couldn't tell him that it was because of his dad. To tell Noah that his father's opinion was more important to him than he was - he just couldn't.

"I thought you liked me, Kurt. You know I like you. We're good together, babe. When I'm with you, I'm a better person. I don't go round trashing stuff like I used to."

All Kurt could do was to shake his head. His tears were mingling with the rain and falling off the end of his nose. He didn't want to hurt his father any more than he already had; he had to do this. But seeing Noah's face all hurt and bewildered like that made it a hundred times harder.

"I gave you my ring, Kurt. I've never done that for anyone before."

"I'm sorry, Noah. I'm sorry I hurt you," he had whispered.

Noah had sort of smiled, and leaned down towards him. Kurt had remained frozen as Noah's lips had gently brushed his own. He'd thought he could see tears forming in Noah's eyes, though it could just have been the rain. As Noah had pulled on his helmet and turned to his motorcycle, Kurt called out, "Don't go fast, Noah! Not tonight. Not with this rain."

Noah's eyes had had a deadened look to them as they had met his through the visor of the helmet.

"Please, Noah. Go slow."

Kurt's final words had been drowned out by the sound of the engine revving, and the bike had pulled away into the night. Kurt had watched as the bike had headed towards the corner of his street, and a wave of terror had washed over him. He knew that corner - he'd ridden it pillion so many times. And he knew that Puck was going fast. Way too fast. He'd started to run down the street, knowing it was futile but running all the same.

"Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!" he had yelled as he ran down the sidewalk.

To no avail. The bike, as he had known it would, had skidded on the corner, spun on the damp ground and crushed its rider straight into the sturdy metal base of the lamp-post. The sickening crash had echoed down the street as Kurt pelted towards the bike.

Kurt had stopped in horror a few yards from the wreckage, his hands clasped over his mouth. The bike was a twisted carcass, and Puck... the blood spread rapidly over the road, flowing freely from the bloody figure entangled in the metal shards.

There was no way someone could be that mangled and survive. That's what the paramedics had told him as they'd covered what was left of Noah with a sheet.

Kurt wept as he recounted his story to Rachel and Mercedes, their faces stricken as the events unfolded. "I felt so helpless; what could I do? If I hadn't done it, he'd still be here today."

Both of the girls had immediately wrapped him in a bear hug, promising that it wasn't his fault, that whatever Puck had done, Kurt was not to blame.

Just before the end of first period, by which time they had worked together to make Kurt vaguely presentable, Mercedes and Rachel led the still dazed Kurt to Miss Pillsbury's office. She at once agreed that Kurt should go home, and called Burt Hummel to pick him up.

It was several days before Kurt appeared at school again. He spent most of the week lying on his bed, tears falling freely down his face as he remembered all the times he and Noah had spent together. Messing around in the park, practicing wrestling in Noah's bedroom, practicing dancing in Kurt's, and most of all, riding around on the motorbike. That beautiful piece of machinery that had brought them so much happiness, but then it had betrayed them, ensuring that Kurt would never again be able to see a Harley without an overwhelming rush of grief.

When he finally returned to McKinley High, members of the Glee club stayed with him all day. None of them blamed him for what had happened, and they stood by his side as the rest of the school gawped and stared at the boy who had been Noah Puckerman's undoing.

Still, every time Kurt heard of the roar of a motorbike in the distance, tears filled his eyes. He couldn't stop them, so he didn't even try. He didn't care whether people saw him cry any more.

The Glee Club stood, gathered around Puck's grave after the short funeral. One by one, each member placed a stone on the edge of the turfless patch of soil and departed. Finally only Kurt was left at the graveside, kneeling in the dirt, Mercedes and Burt both hovering somewhere behind him.

"I'll never forget you, Noah," Kurt whispered to the silent graveyard. "And I'll never let anyone else forget you either. You were the McKinley's Danny Zuko; you were the leader of the pack."

Mercedes caught Kurt's whispered words as they flew past on the breeze, and she spoke softly to Burt, "He was really was the leader of the pack."

Burt nodded mutely.

"But now he's gone." Her voice cracked on the last word.

Burt nodded again as he replied, grief and guilt etched into every word, "And part of my Kurt's gone with him."

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