"Why'd you do it?"
"Hm?"
He looks up to find Kurt staring at him with a steady, serious look on his face.
"I know there's no way you would destroy your stupid jock reputation just for a relationship with Rachel, the girl who quote unquote makes you want to set yourself on fire. So why did you choose Glee?"
"Why did you?"
"That's not much of a question." He crosses his red plaid legs (funny, Puck had never imagined that picky prissy Kurt would wear plaid) and smoothes the fabric with his fingers. "Football is my way to talk to my father. Now that I know what's going on, we can just watch the games together. I don't have to put up with poorly-masked gay jokes and those disgusting locker rooms. Besides, Glee is where I belong. It's the only social niche I really have. Football was yours long before Glee became an option."
Puck shrugs. "I dunno, dude, I just didn't feel like going to practice that day I guess."
"That's a bullshit excuse," Kurt says casually, examining his fingernails.
"All right," Puck sighs, leaning back in his chair. "It was because it was Coach who made us choose. If Mr. Schue had scheduled rehearsal on the same day of practice, I would probably have taken football. Happy?"
Kurt is quiet for a moment, then he turns and looks Puck straight in the eye. Puck looks away just as quickly.
"Let me guess," he says shrewdly. "Your father abandoned you at least a year before you hit puberty."
Puck's first reaction is, predictably, anger. His head snaps back, and his voice is a growl.
"Where the hell do you get off?"
Kurt shrugs.
"I was just curious. Your rebellious behavior clearly stems from a lack of a proper male role model. Finn replaced his dad with that lawn man he kept talking about when he joined Glee, you decided not to find a replacement and instead spend your life trying to deny the fact that you need one."
Puck stares at him, and feels like punching his lights out. Instead…
"He shows up every couple of years," he blurts.
"Oh?"
"It pisses me off. He comes in drunk to impregnate my mom or punch her in the stomach, and breaks a window on his way out the next morning. I'm fucking sick of it."
Kurt's shock is evident, and Puck can't believe he just said that. He grabs his bag, mumbles something about chores, and moves to flee the room.
"Noah!"
He looks back. Kurt has stood, and looks like he's about to reach out to him. Puck swallows, and turns to face Kurt. He doesn't know why he's admitting this. He hasn't been this candid with anyone, even Finn, but Kurt has an open kind of face. Even when he's acting superior, he looks like he's really listening.
"My… parents divorced when I was five. When my dad came back the next year, I thought it meant that they were back together. My mom tried to throw him out, but I was so happy to see him that she let him stay. They-- well, I don't really know what happened, but my mom got pregnant. He left in the morning, and showed up six months later. I was supposed to have a baby brother."
He swallows thickly. He hasn't thought about little Joseph Henry Puckerman in awhile, and he's shocked to find tears in his eyes.
"My sister--she's six. My mom was drunk that night. It was right after my aunt's wedding. After that, she changed the locks on the door. And he still fucking came back." Each word is clipped and angry. He doesn't see Kurt anymore, he just sees a man with five o'clock shadow and wet, beady eyes. "I was thirteen, and I was fucking sick of it. So I punched him. I told him that it wasn't his family anymore, it was mine, and he should get the hell out."
"What happened?" Kurt asks softly. Puck almost jumps. He didn't notice Kurt moving until he was standing right next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He laughs derisively.
"He hit me back. I got a black eye, but my mom… she woke up, I guess. I haven't seen him since, and I hope I don't." He flexes his forearms. "I've got a much better right hook now."
The silence is more than complete in the room. It sucks in any noise, until Kurt says something very gently, almost whispering.
"I love my dad very much. It's-- it's not fair. Everyone should have a father who cares for them."
Kurt puts a hand on Puck's cheek, wiping away a few tears that have actually fallen. Puck's going to hit him for that, but there is something more important he needs to ask first. His thoughts are on his baby.
"Everyone? Even if… I mean… say the father's-- not so good. Like, he tries--not like my dad, like really tries--but maybe he's just not good enough? Like not really smart or whatever, or maybe he's not nice to some people, as long as he… do you get what I'm saying?"
Kurt has very open eyes too, and they're boring into Puck's in a way that is almost uncomfortable. Like he knows.
"I understand," he says. "Yes. Even a poor father who cares is better than one who doesn't."
Puck nods. They're standing in the empty room, and Kurt's hand is still on Puck's cheek. For a moment, Puck thinks that Kurt is going to kiss him, and he's not entirely opposed to the idea. But the moment lengthens, and passes. He clears his throat and backs away.
"I have to go."
"Okay."
He's almost out the door when Kurt calls "Noah" again
"What?"
Kurt hesitates.
"You did the right thing."
He's not sure what Kurt is talking about--choosing Glee, or getting his ass kicked by his father when he was thirteen. Either way, he doesn't need the affirmation. He kind of likes having it, but, when he leaves this room, he will be Puck the bad boy and Kurt will be Kurt the glee freak. So he just shrugs.
"Whatever."
He can feel Kurt watching him as he leaves.