Love at Second Sight

By: RavenHeart101

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or, you know, Plaine would be canon. Title's taken from the Fun. song "The Gambler".

Summary: "After almost a year Puck could still make Blaine blush. If that wasn't love he didn't know what was." A different take on season three starting after 4x08 because every other pairing seems to have one.

A: N – To bring us back… to episode one. Dun. Dun. Duuuun.

4x01

Blaine spun in his computer chair, twirling a pen in his hand and waiting for Puck to sign on. He didn't have any homework this early in the year, and, even if he did, he was sure he would have been able to do it easily and quickly because of McKinley's standards of education. Either way, he had no homework to worry about just yet, only that pesky problem of who would end up the "new Rachel" of New Directions.

He was sure he was the most qualified, and he knew that was what Artie was sure to base the choice on. Yet, against someone like Unique – or Wade, or whatever he-she was called – he was almost mediocre. Not that Blaine was questioning his talent or anything, and he would tell them to their face that Tina and Brittany were good but missed the star power needed, but Unique was the next Mercedes and Blaine really didn't want to become her Rachel. Wouldn't that just be a horrible thing?

He sighed again, letting out a long a deep breath and spinning his chair around in circles, staring up at the roof and hoping that it would make the time pass quicker.

He had his own status on Skype set to "do not disturb" hoping someone like Kurt good the message. Blaine didn't really want to talk to anyone besides the one person he had made the date to talk with.

Now if only Puck would hurry up and sign on.

Perhaps Blaine was being too clingy – one of his worst fears was that he would hold Puck back from achieving his dreams – or perhaps he was just being too impatient. They made a point to talk to each other at least once every day, mostly before Blaine headed to bed or before school. Sometimes there would be lunch break phone calls, or just random check ins. But they always made sure to at least fire off a text to let the other know that they weren't forgotten. No, never forgotten.

Had they mentioned those three little words to each other yet? No, but it was sort of something that was just there. Something that didn't need to be spoken.

That was a nice change from what Blaine had gotten used to being with someone like Kurt for the half a year they had been together. Not that Kurt was horrible or anything, he just never seemed willing to give the assurance that Blaine needed through anything other than words. They just hadn't worked out as boyfriends.

Which was another sore topic between them because it was Kurt that had broken things off after Blaine had transferred to McKinley for him. Along with the fact that Kurt didn't exactly know about Blaine's relationship with Puck….

He bit his lip and shook himself out of his thoughts. Was it really going to do him any good to think this over too much like he had many times before? Kurt had practically cut him out when they broke out, Blaine still didn't know half the things Kurt was doing in New York, he just knew he was happy and having a blast. And that was all Blaine felt as though he needed to know. Just like Kurt knew that Blaine was happy and McKinley was going okay even though Blaine was missing all of his old friends almost too much to even think about.

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair the best he could, pulling at the gelled locks until they were undone and hanging down in tiny curls on his forehead.

He needed to stop thinking about these sorts of things. This is what had gotten him in so much trouble back when Cooper had first moved out. The fact that he missed people so much that he tended to get stuck in the past and when things didn't measure up to his expectations it had struck him with intense disappointment.

The sound of the Skype bubble filled his room and Blaine jumped, twirling his chair around. He had to grab onto the desk so that he didn't go flying into a complete 360 yet again, his smile widening on his face at the small blue bubble that popped up onto his screen not moments later. "Call from The Puckerone", two buttons at the bottom, one that read answer and one that read ignore.

In Blaine's haste and excitement he almost pressed "ignore" by accident, but he somehow managed to hit the right button, Puck's smiling face showing up not moments later. Blaine felt his heart jump into his throat at the sparkle in Puck's brown eyes and the way his face seemed to just glow. Los Angeles was good for him in the same way it was good for Cooper. It added a little something to their character that they must have needed all along. "Hey stud." Blaine broke the silence with a teasing smile and a breathy voice.

He tried to ignore the way his cheeks started to burn when he had realized the way he must have sounded. "Hey babe." But Puck was sounding just as breathy and happy and that was basically perfect.

It was nice to see they were on the same page. At least in this category.

"So… how's LA?" Blaine seemed to ask this same question at the beginning of every conversation, hoping to get rid of the boring topics as quick as he could. Plus, if it made Puck's eyes light up just that more to be able to enthuse about something like his new home than Blaine was happy to let him do so.

"It's great." Puck stressed, scooting back so that his back was against his headboard and his laptop was resting on his knees. Puck shared an apartment with Mercedes, the two of them actually somehow managing to be wonderful roommates and great friends. Who would have thought, right? Someone like Noah Puckerman and someone like Mercedes Jones working well enough together that they could coexist in the same place for long periods of time. And, to top it all off, Puck was getting himself ready to apply to some colleges in the area for the next year. Blaine couldn't have been prouder to call this boy his own. "I got a gig to clean the pool for some movie set."

"That sounds awesome." Blaine smiled in encouragement at Puck, simply happy to be able to hear Puck's voice crooning through his computer speakers. It wasn't as good as being in the same place together but it was certainly good enough.

"How's the 'New Rachel' thing going down?" Puck asked suddenly and Blaine perked up when he realized that he was actually being asked a question, having lost himself in the way Puck's voice had sounded. "You kicking everyone else's ass?"

"Of course." Blaine snorted in indignation before breaking out into a smile that was quick to turn into a frown. "I'm not worried about Tina or Britt, but Unique's really good."

"And so are you." Puck popped a chip in his mouth, raising an eyebrow at Blaine, but his eyes serious and encouraging in a soft manner. "You're the best thing that ever happened to New Directions, Blaine. That and you totally have the hots for the head spot. Artie so has a hard on for you."

"Noah!" Blaine couldn't help the way his eyes widened or his cheeks reddened. It seemed as though even if it had been almost a year Blaine still couldn't quite deal with Puck's forwardness. It was almost as bad as Sebastian's had been, except Puck hadn't pounced on him the first time they had ever met.

"Blaine!" Puck called back with a mocking look of shock. "Don't tell me you didn't know that the guy sports like a massive boner every time you sing. You're like his fucking straight boy dude crush."

"You're crazy."

"He's crazy if he doesn't pick you."

And there was the sweetness that Blaine had fallen for before he had even known that he had fallen. "Everyone else is just as talented as me. There is no way I stand out next to them." Blaine stressed quickly before looking down at his hands. He had just said that out loud hadn't he? That one insecurity that he would swear up and down that Cooper hadn't secured in him, even though almost everyone knew that his big brother, in fact, had. Indirectly, of course, but had been a part of it developing either way.

"Says the guy that lead a fucking a capella group with ease." Puck snorted before his face softened. "Seriously, Blaine, you blow everyone away and the only person that doesn't know that is you."

"Like you're one to talk." Blaine pointed out a bit cruelly, it was lucky he knew Puck wasn't going to take insult. "Look, I'm sorry." Blaine rubbed at his forehead. "It's just been a stressful week and I miss you."

Puck furrowed his brow, and it was obvious he didn't want to write off what Blaine had been telling him earlier but was going to let it slide for now. "I miss you too." Puck smiled at him and that was their way of saying 'I love you' wasn't it? They said it to each other enough that it had to be something close to that.

"And now that that's sappy moment is over…" Puck waggled his eyebrows. "What do you say we do a round of webcam sex?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him, shaking his head a bit. "My parents are downstairs or, you know." He shrugged easily, even though he more didn't want to do it because he wasn't exactly in the mood.

Puck nodded in understanding. "Yeah… I'm not really in the mood either." He perked up after a moment. "So I'll be visiting sometime next week or something."

"Really?" Blaine asked with a small laugh. "And why's that?"

"Well, I guess it's someone's birthday." Puck shrugged. "No one important or anything, but I promised them I'd be there."

"Ah." Blaine nodded slowly. "Does that mean I get to see you next week? Or does Chellie not want me there?"

"God she doesn't shut up about you." Puck snorted. "You'd think you were her favorite brother."

"Well I am." Blaine shrugged. "You're just a poor excuse of the guy she used to see every day. I am, however, the real thing."

"Yeah cuz you're just so Jewish."

"Shalom."

Puck outright laughed, his dimples showing in that adorable way they did when he was truly happy. Blaine laughed too, his eyes squinting in the way his did, sitting back in his seat and looking almost wistfully at his bed. "Someone else there?" Puck asked when he caught Blaine's look.

"Naw." Blaine shook his head in the negative. "I'm just trying to decide whether to move to my bed or not."

"You know you wanna go there." Puck winked at him, the other boy trying his hardest to be sexy. Usually, he managed to succeed, but this time there was just something about his expression that made it not work.

"Not like that." Blaine silenced with a teasing look of his own, standing up to grab his computer, leaning down and holding a finger to the screen. "Don't get any ideas."

Because him leaning down to unplug his computer ended with him leaving his crotch in clear view of the camera. The actual image was covered by his pants but he knew Puck and he knew that his pants were tight and he knew what Puck would be outlining with his eyes. Even though Blaine told him not to.

There was only so much you could do with a boyfriend that seemed to be able to get hard over the simplest things.

Puck made a vague noise of enjoyment and Blaine blushed a bit, rolling his eyes and pushing the cord down onto his desk, picking up his laptop and carrying it over to his bed. He settled on his side, turning the computer sideways so that he could still see eye-to-eye with Puck, trying to ignore the slow way Puck was licking his lips and the way his eyes had darkened just a little bit more.

"So I am I your date to Chellie's party?" Blaine tried to switch the conversation back to the way it had been before, light and teasing and with an undertone of lust but nothing that could turn into anything more. His parents were still in the house, and they would still be in the house for the next half an hour. There was no way Blaine was going to embarrass himself by having them walk in to him jerking himself off while a guy on webcam did the same or something.

"I think she'd rather have you as her date."

"Oh come on." Blaine rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. "You know you have no chance against her."

"Of course I do." Puck nodded. "She's the cute one."

"You're just…" Except now Blaine couldn't think of anything to say without stepping over invisible boundaries. Boundaries such as Puck's own self confidence issues. Boundaries that Blaine wasn't willing to cross when there was nothing that he could directly do about it.

Puck raised an eyebrow at him, moving so that he was lying down too, the screen tilting for a moment before righting itself again. "I'm just…?"

Perfect. "A guy where she's a girl." I love you. Blaine smiled shakily, thanking God for all those times he had acted in a show so that he knew how to pull off a decent lie.

"You okay?" Puck asked in concern.

Or at least he should know how to pull off a decent lie. "Yeah." Blaine shook his head to get himself to purely focus on what was happening again, smiling easily. "I'm just tired."

"And stressed." Puck noted with obvious worry. "Don't work yourself too hard, babe. I'd like there to be someone to move in with me and 'Cedes next year."

"Unless Cooper grabs me before you two." Blaine said through his shock, carefully hidden and trying to act as though he accepted his fate to move out to California just like he acted with Kurt that it was his fate to move out to New York. Truth was, Blaine didn't know where he wanted to live or where he wanted to go to college. He knew that New York was a wonderful place, but he also knew that California had so much potential for what Blaine actually wanted to do. But New York had been his dream for so long… and California had been Cooper's dream and Blaine didn't want to be Cooper. He wanted to be himself.

Oh gosh, if this wasn't confusing Blaine didn't know what was.

"Won't happen." Puck smirked a bit, even though his eyes were dimmed, a bit of their enthusiasm missing. "You're mine and no one can take you from me."

"Of course." Blaine smiled back, trying to ignore the voice in the back of his head that was thanking God for allowing them to get back to a safe topic that didn't mean potential heartbreak for either of them. Blaine would have to talk this over with someone soon, especially since he knew that whatever decision he ended up coming up with would hurt someone.

And both held potential to hurt himself.

"I miss you." Puck said after a moment of silence, his meaning clear through his eyes.

"I miss you too." Blaine melted against the pillows and allowed himself to be talked into doing something crazy that he was sure to love the moment he heard the door downstairs slam closed and his parents pull out of the parking lot.

Sometimes things just got to be too much.

A: N – So… yeah… anyone reading this fic?