Usually, being stared at by someone so hot would cause Kurt to feel fluttery all over, as if he had swallowed butterflies and they were in a panic to find a way out, but being stared at by Noah Puckerman could mean nothing but trouble.
Sure, ever since the jock had joined Glee club he had stopped participating in the dumpster tossings and Slushee facials but their relationship was still far from civil. The larger boy scared him more than Karofsky did. Brainless oafs were easily handled but Kurt wasn't blind enough not to see where the brains behind their bigger, more complicated plans came from. Like nailing Kurt's lawn furniture to his roof. Like pee balloons. Like beatings that had left Kurt with bruises almost everywhere apart from his face.
Apart from the obvious homophobia Kurt had no idea where Puck's hate stemmed from. It was visible in the jock's eyes whenever he looked at Kurt that what he had was not just a hatred for the boy's sexuality or fabulous fashion sense but something deeper. At times it was more like loathing.
The stylish boy dreaded the day when he would be left alone with his enemy with nowhere to run and hide. He knew the boy probably wouldn't try anything too physically damaging to him (he usually saved that for when he was with his "friends") but Kurt had no doubts that the lead Neanderthal would bring his carefully constructed mental walls crashing down around him in any way possible.
Kurt could feel this moment creeping closer every second he was near the muscled teen. Eventually even his friends noticed. Tina and Mercedes were constantly on his back trying to weasel information out of him. Even Finn had offered to sing a duet with him in hopes of cheering him up.
In contrast to Kurt's not-so-internal angst Puck seemed to be getting happier and happier. He complimented Rachel Berry, for Gucci's sake! If he didn't love his hair so much he'd be pulling it out in frustration. Even singing his emotions wasn't doing anything to soothe his frayed nerves.
It felt like the universe was telling him to run but where would he run to? WMHS was the only high school in Lima.
Kurt looked at his reflection for what felt like the hundred time that day. He looked like shit. Bruises circled his lower eyelids, his hair was messy and his outfit was possibly the plainest thing he'd ever worn. How much longer was it going to be like this? This waiting for something horrible to happen.
Puck had taken great joy in Kurt's deteriorating appearance, going so far as to tease Kurt in front of the other Glee kids. Kurt didn't even bother paying attention to the other boy, and there was no use replying.
Kurt was thrown out of his thoughts when he was shoved violently into his open locker, slamming his head against the edge of the doorway. Dizziness overpowered his ability to stand vertically and Kurt couldn't stop himself from collapsing to the floor. He couldn't even look up to see who had pushed him. He just sat there, defeated and nauseous.
He didn't even look up when Mercedes found him and helped him to stand. Was he some sort of horrible person? What did he do to warrant this kind of abuse?
He wanted to tell someone of his fears but even if they did believe him, what could they do? Unless he had physical proof no one was going to believe him, anyway. They would brush off his fears with a comment about how he was just being paranoid.
Kurt didn't even notice his forehead was bleeding until he arrived home and almost gave his father a second heart attack.