Dance The Night Away

By: RavenHeart101

Disclaimer: If I owned Glee... this episode would have been so much better.

Summary: Or the one in which Rachel Berry has problems, Kurt needs a boyfriend, Blaine lets his hair out of its helmet, Puck has to deal with staying back, and they all try, and fail, to skip prom.

A: N – Yeah. Let's just say I have no idea what the hell even happened in this episode. Was everyone out of character to you? It was unnatural.

Blaine wasn't going to prom for obvious reasons. Kurt wasn't going to prom because he's Kurt and for some reason avoiding the dance at all costs was just something he did (but that was understandable due to last years debacle). Rachel wasn't going since she screwed up her NYADA audition and that meant her dreams went down the crap chute. And Puck wasn't going to prom because there was no way he was going to go to three proms and, okay, maybe he was still a ton bummed that he failed that test.

Puck sighed and leaned back in the seat, staring looking passed Rachel and passed Kurt and passed Becky and trying not to openly stare at Blaine in his tux and his gelled hair and that self-conscious frown on his face. They were both screwed in this situation, weren't they? Sure Rachel was screwed but wasn't that kind of her fault for not applying to more than one college? Sure Kurt didn't want to go to prom by himself but that was a stupid reason not to go, yeah? And sure Becky didn't get the nomination for Prom Queen by why would she let that get in her way? Puck wasn't graduating. He was staying back. He was as much of a screw up as his father. He was worse than his father.

And Blaine had an incredible dislike for his hair even though it was gorgeous because he was convinced it made him look like crap. Every time Blaine said something horrible about his hair – or about any part of himself, to be honest – Puck wanted nothing more than to either hit him over the head or prove to him that he was perfect. And that was horrendously hard to do when Blaine was trying to convince him of the same thing.

Blaine perched himself in the farthest corner of the room, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes avoiding everyone else's, his forehead creased in thought. Puck wondered what he was thinking about – because wondering what Blaine was thinking about was so much easier than thinking about his own shit. Rachel and Kurt talked on and on about some Broadway shit and Puck wanted to hit both of them because none of it mattered. None of this shit mattered. Graduating didn't matter. Leaving this fucking town didn't matter.

All that mattered was the fact that they both had people in their lives that would never leave.

Not that Puck doubted Blaine's love for him or anything, it was just that... well Puck knew Blaine was too big for Ohio. He knew Blaine was taking all AP courses this year – all the AP courses McKinley had to offer – and he knew that Blaine had enough credits to graduate this year if he wanted to. He knew that Blaine was going to go to New York or Boston or LA or somewhere like that and make it big – make it huge.

Puck also knew that he would be stuck in Lima, Ohio for the rest of his life. He knew that he wouldn't be making it anywhere. He knew that he was going to be spending the rest of his life wishing that he hadn't let the best parts of his life pass him by.

He knew – but he didn't feel – that Blaine was too good for him.

That sick, curling feeling in the pit of his stomach started up again when Rachel stood up from the bed and made her way to the bathroom to change into her prom dress because, somehow, Kurt had convinced her that they all cared what she looked like. Becky spoke to the operator on the phone, telling them her outrageous room service order. Blaine looked up at him, an almost scared look in his eyes before concern took over and he was walking towards Puck as Kurt turned on the television to watch some fashion show or something.

Blaine almost looked as though he was going to sit in Puck's lap (which he'd be totally cool with) or kneel in front of him (which really may have lead to inappropriate things so it was probably good that he didn't) but, instead, he settled his hip against the table and blinked down at Puck, his arms crossed over his chest in that self-conscious way that they did and his eyes bright. "You okay?" He asked lowly, and Puck almost hated himself for thinking the things he was. Almost. Because they were all true. There was no point in deluding himself.

Puck shrugged and looked away from Blaine – beautiful, sexy as hell, Blaine – and over at Becky and Kurt, both of whom weren't paying attention. He jumped when Blaine's hand grabbed his own, tugging him so that he was paying attention to his boyfriend again. A tiny smile pitched at the corner of Puck's mouth when he realized that Blaine was still concerned and, maybe, a tad annoyed. "I'm making it."

Blaine made a noise in the back of his throat and clutched Puck's hand tighter, raising it to his lips for a small peck before sighing and letting it fall to his side. Puck caught it on Blaine's side, running his hand up and down where he knew he was ticklish and getting his hand swatted down with a tiny glare. "Stop it." A small smile pulled at Blaine's lips and Puck felt accomplished for getting him to smile once during the night.

"Stop what?"

"You know what." Blaine pretended to glare at him again, jumping away from Puck when his hand squeezed his side once more, hitting his hand and wandering over to the bed to sit next to Kurt. They traded looks, Kurt rolling his eyes at the two of them, a knock pulling them all out of their own thoughts.

And after that it was pretty much history. Finn somehow convinced Kurt, Rachel, and Blaine to go to prom. Blaine had sent him a sort of sad, concerned, and yet loving look before hugging him tightly, his arms locking around Puck's waist. Their hug was comfortable – their hugs were always comfortable – and when they pulled away Puck had to fight back the urge to beg Blaine to stay with him (because Blaine would have stayed with him, of course he would have), instead kissing his cheek lightly and pushing him towards the door where their friends waited for their last member.

That left him and Becky and a rather fun game of strip poker and somehow Puck was in his Star Wars boxers and a sock before it struck him exactly why he didn't feel right the whole night.

It wasn't because he was staying back (because that was an issue in and of itself). It wasn't because his boyfriend was at prom with someone else (Kurt's date by default and it wasn't like Kurt was going to do anything). It wasn't because he was in a hotel room with Becky playing strip poker and losing.

It was because Puck had given up.

On everything.

On school, on friendships, on music, on himself. And, worst of all, he had given up on Blaine. He had given up on them.

That was probably the most illogical thing he had ever done.

Even if Blaine did leave him sometime in the future, Puck was so stupid for thinking that it would happen now. He was so stupid for mourning like he had and neglecting everything that was good about the situation he had been thrust into. Another chance. That was all he had ever wanted, right?

And Becky needed some encouragement but Puck wasn't an older brother for nothing and she really did deserve something that night so he made them both really dorky crowns out of the beer cases and escorted her to prom. She knew she wasn't his date, not his real date anyway, but she was perfectly happy to be walking into the school with him on her arm and helping him spike the punch (because that was his thing). He even danced with her a few times as he tried to find where Blaine had wandered off to.

He heard a series of gasps, a few "oh my god"'s, and a few laughs before he realized that something interesting was going on. He turned around, dropping Becky's hands once it registered just who he was looking at. He looked around three years younger, his hands were shifting in a way that clued Puck into just how nervous he was, and his hair... It stuck up in every direction, curly to the core and he was probably the most attractive human being Puck had ever seen in his life.

He ignored the way Becky huffed at being left by herself before yelling after him that he owed her one more dance, before pushing his way through the crowd, towards where Brittany was talking to Kurt and Blaine and Santana was trying to get her attention to dance.

Brittany turned away and Kurt just stared and Puck was absolutely sure he was thinking the same thing that he was at that moment but Kurt wouldn't do anything because he wasn't with Blaine anymore, Puck was. Blaine turned around, muttering something about putting the gel back in and Puck caught his arm.

"Dance with me." It wasn't a question – Puck usually didn't ask things. The way they had gone on their first date was because Puck told Blaine that they were going on a date. - and he lead Blaine onto the dance floor, ignoring the looks sent their way and the fact that he was wearing a leather jacket and jeans and was still wearing that ridiculous crown.

"My hair..." Blaine tried to pull away, and Puck knew that there was more than just the fact that he couldn't wear hair gel that was bothering him but he wouldn't bring it up right now. Puck pulled him closer, thanking the lord for a slow song and wrapping his arm around Blaine's waist to hold him tight. "Please, Noh."

The nickname usually did it but not tonight. Puck wouldn't let it happen tonight. He laughed a little, pushing his hand over Blaine's curls before pulling Blaine's hand into his own so they could actually dance. He remembered learning how to dance like this with Lauren last year. He remembered last year when Kurt had been voted Prom Queen and that night had really been hell, hadn't it?

He sighed when Blaine tried to practically bury his head in Puck's jacket out of what was self-conscious embarrassment, his cheeks red and his eyes trying to not shine in tears. Puck frowned, resting his cheek against the feather soft hair, closing his eyes for a moment and willing Blaine to relax. No one would try anything with him there. Hopefully. And if they did Puck was stuck there for another year so it wouldn't matter if he punched the daylight out of them. "What are you wearing?" Blaine mumbled, turning his face so that he could see the crown on Puck's head, his curiosity peaked and Puck tried to ignore the small red shine to his eyes letting him know that a few tears had actually came out of Blaine's eyes.

Blaine's hand brushed against Puck's cardboard crown before falling back onto his shoulder. Puck let a small blush coat his cheeks for a moment before shyly looking down at Blaine's face, a smile on his face, his dimples coming out slowly. "I'm the king of Not-Prom." He continued at Blaine's confused look. "Becky's the Queen." He shrugged as though it were an everyday thing.

Blaine's eyes softened and he had that god-I-love-you-so-much look on his face, a smile of his own crossing over his face. "You are an amazing person, Noah Puckerman."

And, yeah, maybe Puck didn't believe him all the time but he felt that small feeling of hope and pride and accomplishment build in his chest, his hand running up and down Blaine's back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "You look great, by the way." He tried to say it as nonchalantly as he could, because, really, Blaine was worse at taking compliments than he was.

Blaine blushed, groaned, and hid his face against Puck's chest again. "No. God I look horrible."

"You look wonderful." Puck reassured.

"I look like an actual caveman, Noah."

Puck rolled his eyes, swaying casually to the music. "You look sexy as hell, babe." He could practically feel and hear Blaine's blush of almost mortification at his words, a small noise passing from the back of Blaine's throat. "No, but you seriously look amazing."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do but it's not going to work."

Puck pulled away from the dance, pushing Blaine away from him at arms length and staring him directly in his eyes. He knew that Blaine's gel was some sort of metaphor for him protecting himself. He knew that Blaine had started using more than he had at Dalton because McKinley was somewhere he didn't feel comfortable to even let the slightest curl free. He knew that Blaine had only let him see his hair like that because they had plenty of "sleep overs". He knew that the whole gel thing started after the Sadie Hawkins dance his freshman year and had just increased from then on. So Puck knew what he was feeling, just like Blaine knew what he was feeling and had comforted him in countless ways, countless times, over the passed week.

"You are the best looking person here, Blaine Anderson." Blaine's breath hitched and Puck knew that this was in front of the entirety of the school but, really, he couldn't see himself spending another year in the same school as Blaine and not spending every moment with him. "I am so proud to call you my date."

And then Puck leaned forward and kissing his lips gently, not pulling away until he felt Blaine's eyes shut against his cheek and his breath rush out of him in a sort of contented sigh, his arm curling around his waist once more and pulling him closer. They didn't make out on the dance floor because that was Finn and Rachel's thing, but they did pull away to continue dancing, a small blush still on Blaine's cheeks (though Puck had a feeling that was more because of the kiss than the hair problem).

"I'm proud to be yours, you know that right?" Blaine spoke as the song ended, Puck pulling away from the warm comfort of his arms to lead him over to the punch table. Puck glanced behind him, ignoring the way his eyes prickled with emotion that he didn't think he could afford to show. Blaine tugged him to a stop, his hands grabbing both of Puck's in his own and linking their fingers together. "You're smart, and you're amazing. You try act all tough but you're just a big teddy bear and I cannot even begin to describe to you how you make me feel just by looking at you. Someone says your name and my heart stops working and..." Blaine took a deep breath. "You're perfect, Noah Puckerman. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Including yourself."

Puck discretely wiped at his eyes, letting his cheek fall forward onto Blaine's shoulder to rest there for a moment and just breathe. "I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine hugged him tightly, their lips merely breaths away as Rachel was announced as Prom Queen and her and Finn went onto the dance floor to take their dance as king and queen, Puck's cardboard crown falling onto the ground. "Next year is going to be wonderful."

Puck leaned closer, letting their lips find one another again, his tears disappearing.

For once he found himself believing just that.

A: N – So, uh... better than the episode? I hope so.

I just realized that Rachel and Kurt aren't actually really in this... oh well. I like the summary. -shrug-

That was so fluffy I think my teeth are getting cavities.