Title: Beating The Odds Author: saar_fantasy Pairings:Puck/Kurt Rating: PG-13 Word Count: ~ Genre: Established relationship, Drama, Angst, Romance Warnings: Cancer and all the drama that comes with it (don't worry...It's a happy ending)
Disclaimer: As much as I wished I did, I don't own any of them.
Summary: Puck has been keeping a secret from his boyfriend. From everyone of his friends actually. It takes a fight between the couple for Kurt to realise what's wrong.

They're fighting again over some stupid thing.

They're Puck and Kurt, of course they fight a lot, but this time, Kurt isn't prepared for what happens next.

-..-

Kurt isn't even looking at his boyfriend as he's pacing through his basement as he's throwing insults at said boy.

Puck had obviously forgotten something important again, but it wasn't his fault.

It really wasn't.

The searing pain shoots through his head somewhere between Kurt calling him 'Puck' again, which really stings, and something else that he isn't able to hear anymore.

One hand is clutching at his forehead, while the other is trembling, searching for Kurt's desk to lean on.

He smashes down a glass in the progress , which scatters into pieces onto the floor.

That's when Kurt turns to look at him, ready to tell him how stupid he is for breaking that glass, when he sees the look of pain on Noah's face and he rushes towards him, his arms going around his waist immediately.

Puck's whole body is trembling and Kurt helps him sit down on his bed, still not letting go.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asks quietly when Puck seems to have his trembling under control.

Puck just looks at him, searching for the right words and how to say them. He really has some trouble with that lately and it's not because he's dumb, because he really isn't.

He's even better at math than Kurt is.

"Could you- um...Could you get my meds out of my bag?"

Kurt frowns a little, because he didn't even know that Noah had to take some medication, but still he nods and looks inside his boyfriend's bag.

He finds a box with some pills in that he has never seen before, hands them to his boy, then quickly goes upstairs to get him a glass of water.

Puck doesn't wait for a second when Kurt gives him the glass, he takes two pills into his mouth and chases them down with the water.

Kurt waits until Noah has swallowed the pills and put down the glass before he takes his still shaking hands in his own.

"Noah," Kurt says softly, his eyes pleading, "Tell me what's going on. Please."

Puck looks away from his lover and swallows, moving his tongue around in his mouth to see if he can still use it properly, then he explains, his voice barely hearable.

"I'm sick, Kurt..." when Kurt squeezes his hands, he finally turns his head to look at him. "I have a brain tumor."

Then it hits Kurt, painfully hard.

He now knows why his boyfriend got distracted so easily lately. Why he forgot those important things.

Tears well up in his eyes as he whispers, "How long?"

Puck tries to smile as he answers, "They found out last week. I have to be in surgery in two days."

"And you tell me that now?" Kurt asks angrily, "Damn it, Noah! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Puck looks away again and mutters, "It's not like you could do anything about it."

"Look at me," Kurt whispers, his angry tone gone again, "Please?"

Puck does look back at him and they stare into each other's eyes for a few minutes before Puck speaks up again.

"I was scared, ok? Still am. The doctor said they caught the tumor fast enough so it's not spread around yet, but they have to be fast to get it out, before it can spread."

Kurt nods, tears still in his eyes, "Is there something, anything I can do for you?"

"Come to the last doctor's appointment with me tomorrow?"

Kurt nods again, "Of course. That goes beyond question."

Puck smiles, a little easier and more natural this time, then shifts on the bed and lies down, tugging Kurt down with him.

"Now hold me." He whispers and Kurt does.

Both boys' tears mingle together as they lay together, holding onto each other like it was the last time they would be able to do that.

Both hoping that wouldn't be the case...

-..-

When Burt comes home from work, he finds Puck sleeping on the couch, and his son crying at the kitchen table.

Without skipping a beat, Burt moves to sit next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Kurt?" he asks quietly, "What's going on? Another fight with that punk? Maybe I should teach him-"

He stops talking when his son looks up at him, shaking his head furiously.

There's silence before Burt says his son's name again.

"Noah has cancer, dad."

That's the moment when Burt feels like the sky comes crashing down on him.

Kurt bursts into tears again and the only thing Burt can do is hold him and whisper that everything is going to be alright.

Although he has no idea that it would...