Title: Those Silly Games We Play Author: saar_fantasy Pairings:Puck/Kurt Rating: PG-13 Word Count: ~ Genre: Friendship (could turn into more...)
Warnings: none necessary Disclaimer: As much as I wished I did, I don't own any of them.
Summary: Game night with the boys makes Kurt realize he has more friends then he intentionally thought he had. He's especially surprised at Noah Puckerman's sudden ease with him.
A/N: This could possibly get a sequel...If you guys are interested in it at least :)
"Come on, Kurt," Finn says, looking up from his place on the ground, game controller still in his hands, "Play with us."
Kurt rolls his eyes as he looks up from his fashion magazine he was reading on his bed and glares at his step-brother.
"You know very well that I can't play those stupid games, Finn." He stands up from his bed, after laying his magazine down on it, "I'll just play the good host and bring some snacks and drinks."
Finn gives him his dopey grin and turns back to the television screen to see that Artie has just killed him, or at least his character in the game.
"Dude, that's so unfair!" Finn exclaims while Artie receives high fives from Puck, Sam and Mike.
Kurt sighs to himself as he leaves the room.
Those boys could be so annoying sometimes.
At least he can consider them the closest things to friends now, since they were all in Glee club together and made a truce.
Even though they all still didn't touch Kurt, not even placing a hand on his shoulder or something. The closest they got to touching him was when they bumped fists with him or gave him a high five.
Not even Finn seems comfortable to touch him, even though they're brothers now, not more than one awkward, very uncomfortable hug had taken place between the two bys.
Kurt was used to it and tried not to feel too hurt when he was the only one left out when the boys jumped at each other, chest against chest, when they were happy about something.
Artie was left out in that too of course, but that was because he was in a wheelchair and the boys had to duck instead of jump if they wanted to push their chests together.
Kurt just took a few bags of chips and cookies out of the cupboard, together with some cans of soda and a beer for Puck because he was the only one allowed to drink it, and he knew the boy would appreciate it.
Once Kurt got back into the basement, Finn jumped up and took all the food out of Kurt's hands before plopping back down on the floor and staring back at the sceen, ripping open one of the bags of chips without even looking which taste it was.
Kurt scowled at his brother as he had nearly fell down on his ass with Finn's enthusiasm, then sighed again and passed out the drinks to the boys, leaving the beer for the last as he finally handed it over to Puck.
Puck looked at the can and smirked at Kurt, giving him a little wink in thanks as he opened the lid and took a long sip of the alcoholic liquor.
Kurt gave a half smile back in return and sat back down on his bed, taking back his magazine in his lap and starting reading it again.
His eyes glanced up at the boys sometimes as he heard them scream in joy or groan in frustration, rolling his eyes at them but all in good spirit.
He tried to push the feeling of jealousy down as hard as he could when he saw his brother jump on Puck after he had killed him in the game.
Why were they comfortable touching and fooling around with each other and not with him?
Were they afraid that he was gonna molest them or something?
With a sad look in his eyes he turned back to his magazine and tried to turn out all of the noises the other boys made.
He didn't notice one boy looking at him from time to time, trying to get his attention.
Right now, Kurt just wanted to be alone so he stood back up and went upstairs, not even one of the boys paying attention to him.
Or at least that's what he thought...
-..-
Kurt was sitting alone in the living room, trying to block out the sounds from downstairs by putting the television on his maximum sound.
He startled when he suddenly felt the seat of the couch dip beside him and turned his head, looking even more surprised when he saw Puck sitting next to him.
"Hey," Puck said, "Could you turn that down for a minute?"
Kurt scowled but did turn the sound down on the television before turning back to look at Puck.
"What?" he snapped, a little too defensively for no particular reason, "Couldn't you Neanderthals hear yourself roar anymore?"
Puck snorted at that before holding out his empty beer can.
"I just wanted to ask if you have another beer."
Kurt looked down at the empty can, then back at Puck's face.
"I don't think that's a good idea..."
"Come on, Hummel," Puck laughed, "I'm not getting drunk from two beers."
Kurt inspected the boys' face for a minute before nodding his head towards the kitchen.
"I take it you can get it yourself? They're in the fridge."
Puck nods and stands up from the couch to walk to the kitchen.
Kurt is just about to turn the sound back up, as he hears another roar coming from the basement, when Puck is suddenly back.
Standing in the doorway, leaning against it, one hand holding the beer while the other one is stuffed into his pocket.
"Aren't you coming back downstairs?"
Kurt just shakes his head, refusing to meet the jock's eyes.
"It's not like I'm having much fun there anyway."
There was a silence and Puck took a sip from his beer before answering, "I could teach you how to play."
Kurt snapped his head towards Puck and stared incredulously at him.
"What?"
"I said, I could teach you how to play."
"What makes you think I would even want to play a stupid game?"
"Come on, Hummel. I've seen you looking at us. You totally want to join us."
Kurt looked away again, "It's not like you guys want me to join."
"That's not true," Puck replied, totally honest, "Finn asked you to play, didn't he?"
"He just asked that to be polite. And because he's my brother."
"Well, I'm asking you now and I'm not your brother and I'm not doing this to be polite." He waited until Kurt finally looked back at him, "Do you want me to teach you how to play, so you can play with the rest of the guys as well."
Kurt was quiet for a moment, looking away from Puck to turn the TV to sleeping mode and then turned back to Puck.
"I would like that."
Puck smiled; not a smirk, but a real smile; and nodded, turning back to go downstairs, knowing that Kurt would follow him.
Kurt was a little nervous, not really knowing how Puck was gonna teach him to play, and nervous about how the other boys would react.
He wasn't scared for Artie's reaction, but he was a little scared for those of Sam and Mike, and even that from Finn.
But still he followed Puck downstairs because his curiousness won over his nervousness.
Hoping he didn't make a mistake...
-..-
As soon as he came down behind Puck, Finn looked up at him with a hopeful glint in his eyes that immediately disappeared when he saw Kurt's empty hands.
"Dude, you could have brought us some more snacks down with you, you know."
"Don't call me dude," Kurt snapped irritatedly, "And if you wanted more snacks, you should have asked."
"I didn't see you leave."
Kurt looked away from his brother as he mumbled quietly, "Nobody did." He tried to make his way back to his bed when Puck stopped him with a hand on his arm.
Kurt stared at the hand and was surprised that instead of letting go immediately, Puck just kept holding it as he talked.
"Kurt is gonna play games with us."
All four boys looked at them in surprise. Of course Finn had something to say about it.
"He doesn't even know how to hold his controller. How is he gonna play with us?"
Kurt flinched and looked away, trying to get his arm out of Puck's strong hold, but not succeeding because Puck just held on tighter.
"You were the one who asked him to play in the first place."
Finn looked at his best friend as if he was stupid, "Dude, that's because I know we would kick his butt."
Another wince from Kurt and Puck was starting to lose his patience with Finn.
"I'll teach him how to play," Puck sated simply, ignoring all the confused looks he got and dragging Kurt over to his place he had been sitting on before. "Come on, Hummel. Let's show these morons you can kick their asses too."
Puck waited until Kurt sat down, then he sat down behind him, his legs open so Kurt was sitting in between them, while he moved closr to the boy so he could help Kurt with the controller.
Kurt was more than a little surprised by Puck's sudden, very bold, actions and sitting so close to him.
His legs pressed against his and if he leaned back, he could melt into Puck's chest for sure.
He felt the other boys staring at them and tried to avoid their gaze. Only Artie caught his eyes with a soft smile on his face, making Kurt think that Artie really was a good friend to not have a judging look on his face like the other three boys had.
Sam and Mike were quiet, but Finn had to voice his opinion of course.
"Dude," he looked at Puck with his usual confused look on his face, "What are you doing?"
"Helping Kurt," Puck replied simply, before looking at the other boys, "So, who will be up against me and Himmel first?"
"I will," Artie answered, wheeling himself closer to the TV and getting Mike's controller from him.
"Ok, Hummel," Puck said, helping Kurt place his hands right on the controller, "Lets kick Wheels' butt."
Kurt gave a little yelp as Puck started directing his fingers on the buttons and gave him instructions but after a while he got the hang of it.
He and Puck won from Artie, Sam and Mike, so now it was up to Finn to see what he could do.
"You think you can do this alone?" Puck asked, very close to Kurt's ear so Kurt had to hold back a shiver.
"Yeah," Kurt replied with a little shrug, "I can try."
Puck smiled at him and moved away from behind Kurt. Kurt suddenly feeling cold and a little sad about the lost of the body behind him.
Puck plopped back down next to him though, their thighs touching and Kurt couldn't help but smile a little.
Puck guided Kurt a little from beside him, but it was Kurt who made the character move. It was Kurt who killed Finn's character and won the game.
There was silence at first. All the boys staring at the screen, then at Kurt, while Kurt himself just kept staring at the screen, blinking a few times.
It was Puck who broke the silence first by launching himself at Kurt and giving him a sideways hug while screaming into his ear, "You won!".
"I did?" Kurt asked, still a little in a daze, then looking at Finn who just seemed to be in a state of shock, then at the TV and saw his character still alive, while Finn's was bleeding out on the floor. "I did!"
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Artie, who had wheeled his chair over to him, smiling proudly at him.
"Good job, Kurt."
Then he felt a slap on his shoulder from Sam and then from Mike, both boys congratulating him in their own ways.
When Kurt looked at Finn, his brother was still staring forlorny to the television screen.
Puck gave Finn a kick with his foot and Finn snapped out of his trance, turning his head to look at Puck.
"What?"
"Don't you have anything to say to Kurt?" Puck asked, raising his eyebrow.
It wasn't lost on Kurt that Puck used his first name for the first time, but he was even more surprised when Finn reached out to him and put his hand on his leg.
"Good job, bro." Finn said with his usual dopey smile. "I never thought you had it in you."
Kurt blushed and ducked his head a little.
"Well, I had some great help from Noah."
He didn't know how Puck would react to him using his first name, but apparently he didn't mind 'cause he just winked at Kurt and took his controller ready to get back into the game.
Kurt stood up to take his magazine and the sat himself back down next to Puck, not missing the smile that appeared on the mohawked boy's face as he did so.
Puck kicked the other boys' asses for the rest of the night, sharing his joy with Kurt everytime, who tried to act annoyed, but couldn't help but smile at the boy's childish enthusiasm and the way he let Kurt participate with them was something Kurt would never forget.
Maybe there was more to Noah Puckerman than anyone knew...
-..-
When Burt and Carole came home that night, Burt went into the basement and told the boys very casually what time it was, so they knew it was time to go.
Neither one of the boys wanted to argue with Burt Hummel, so they all packed up and helped Artie upstairs in his wheelchair.
They all bumped fists with Finn, Sam and Mike giving him a one-armed hug, waving at Kurt who was leaning against the wall a little awkwardly.
They all still seemed afraid to actually touch him.
All of them, except one.
Puck had seen the look on Kurt's face when Sam and Mike had done nothing but wave at him, so he strode over to him and before Kurt could say or do anyting, he had enveloped the smaller boy into a big two-armed hug.
When he pulled away, he looked into Kurt's surprised, but sparkling eyes and smiled.
"See you at school, Hummel."
So it was back to Hummel, but Kurt didn't care.
"See you, Puck."
Puck gave him another wink, the third one of the night, then walked outside to help Artie's dad, whom Artie had called just a few minutes ago, get the wheelchair into the car while Artie was already seated in the passenger's seat of the car, waving at Kurt and Finn in goodbye.
Kurt, who had moved over to the living room to look out of the window so he could see the driveway, watched as Puck climbed into his old beat-up truck and started the engine.
The boy had surely surprised Kurt, and probably the other boys as well, and Kurt couldn't wait to find out more about this side of Noah Puckerman.
Maybe he should hang out more with them when Finn invited his best friend over, because Kurt figured that Puck would want to keep his bad-ass reputation in school and that wouldn't work if he hung out with the resident queer.
Yes, hanging out with Finn and Puck in his house would definitely be the solution.
He liked this Puck...This 'Noah'. And he wanted to see him more than the one at school.
This was his friend. His real friend who wasn't afraid of touching him like everyone else was.
This was the Noah Puckerman he always dreamed about, secretly.
And even though they could, and would, never be more than friends, Kurt would take anything he could get.
Even if it teared up his heart just a little bit.
