What number shot is this? Kurt asked himself as he tossed back yet another whiskey shot. Somehow he and Noah had taken more than just one additional shot and had relocated from the bar to a table off to the side of the bar. And bartender Josh had not stopped the shots from flowing over to their new section. It was like every time one shot was finished and a sentence was spoken another shot somehow reappeared.

And at this point it was safe to say Kurt was hammered. He was enjoying Noah's company which in and of itself was a sign that something was different about his state of mind. Normally, he got along with the Jewish man across from him, especially in recent years. But the thing about that friendly interaction was it only happened rarely. When Kurt had been home last year he saw Noah for Christmas, but only because Rachel and Finn were also home for the holidays and insisted that he come and join the Hummel-Hudson Christmas dinner. They had spoken and were polite but it wasn't anything special.

Tonight was very different.

For starters Finn was no where in sight. And there was about half a bottle of Jameson in their systems. And up until this moment the conversation had been light and fun which had made Kurt feel a little uneasy, because he wasn't used to seeing Noah in this manner. Sure he'd seen the other man drunk before but he'd never seen him drunk and actually tried to have a decent conversation with him about anything. That was something new, and if he was being honest he kind of liked it.

"Alright Princess, you're drunk as a skunk, out with the secrets already!" Noah said in a teasing manner. He seemed a lot less drunk than Kurt but it was probably just from experience. "Why're you back?"

Kurt rested his elbow on the table and leaned forward, his head in his hand with narrowed eyes and a dopey smile. "Why're you back Noah Puckerman?" He questioned in return.

Noah laughed and pointed at Kurt. "Okay fair enough. But I'm only telling after you do."

Kurt held out his pinky to the other man. "Pinky promise?" He asked and his level of intoxication was starting to show.

A tanned pinky connected with his and locked on tight. "Pinky promise."

That seemed to be good enough for Kurt. I mean, who would break a pinky promise? He tried reasoning with himself.

"Well," He blew out an exaggerated sigh. "I guess the short story is that my dickhead of a boyfriend decided he'd rather have his cock gargled by our stupid, ugly, fashionless friend Paul than to keep his loyalty with me." Kurt fake smiled and shrugged.

He leaned back against his chair and watched the other man process his words. The lightheartedness that had been floating between them was suddenly non-existent and Kurt so desperate wished he hadn't even said anything. It's not like he and Noah were super close and it mattered what he thought or anything but, if he was being honest with himself (which in this drunken state he didn't have an option to not be) he didn't want to be looked at the way he knew was coming. Any second now, Noah's eyes were going to go soft on him and he would look at Kurt like the fragile little boy that had gotten bullied so much he had to transfer schools. He knew that any second Noah would start feeling sorry for him and pitying him for his sudden state and start victimizing him. That had been part of the reason he hadn't even reached out to tell any of his friends about what had happened. In fact he still hadn't really made any attempt to explain things to people. The only reason Finn and Rachel knew was because Carol told Finn after his brother had called him multiple times with no response. He hadn't even talked to either of them yet himself because if the twelve "are you okay?" texts Rachel had sent him were any indication of how the conversation would go, he didn't want to hear it.

So sitting here now, having finally spoken the words aloud he knew he was about to get the sympathy and he hated it.

"Wow what a fucking asshole!" Noah exclaimed. That had definitely not been the response he was expecting.

Kurt nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know."

"Dude, please tell me you like punched him in the nose or something equally as mutilating?" Noah leaned forward with his eyebrows raised.

"Unfortunately not Noah," Kurt said and took a sip of the beer that had landed in front of him some time ago. "I couldn't bring myself to do or say much of anything. I just grabbed my stuff and left."

The other man slammed his fist on the table which made Kurt jump in surprise. He looked at the man with wide eyes.

"Let's get on a plane right now and I'll go rearrange his face for you Princess!" He stood up suddenly. "I'll even let you decide where to put everything. Like Mr. Potatohead."

Kurt could help the laughter from flowing. He reach across the table and grabbed the mechanic's arm and pulled him back down to sit. "As much as I appreciate that Noah, it's not worth it. Besides you're a ex Air Force something or another, you could get in trouble for that. Right?"

"Eh," Noah shrugged. "All I'd have to say is I was defending a Princess' honor and they'll give me a friggin' purple heart!"

"You are so exhausting." Kurt said and rubbed his eyes for dramatic effect.

"Is that you sly way of saying you want to take a nap with me?" Noah asked with a smirk.

"Anyways," Kurt interjected hoping to change the direction of the conversation back to the other man. He opened his mouth to speak but his voice paused when he heard the song that was beginning to play over the speakers.

Noah looked at him confused. "What's wrong?" He asked, the concern in his voice very authentic.

Kurt squealed and clapped his hand when he realized the introduction melody to the song was indeed the song he'd thought it was. "I love this song!" He exclaimed.

The once jock looked around and tried to recognize the tune and was stumped. "Uh, what song?"

Kurt's look of pure horror could slice someone in half if possible. He was giving Medusa a run for her money. "What song?" Kurt asked. "What song?" He said again but louder.

"Only the most iconic country song to ever grace this land we can Earth! A song that used typewriter key strokes as an instrument! By the one and only country goddess herself!" Kurt explained and when he saw that none of this was making a difference for the man sitting across from him he shook his head and began to sing along.

"Tumble out of bed, And stumble to the kitchen, Pour myself a cup of ambition, And yawn and stretch and try to come to life," He sung to the music. "Jump in the shower, And the blood starts pumpin'. Out on the streets, the traffic starts jumpin', For folks like me on the job from 9 to 5,"

Had Kurt been more sober (he wouldn't have started to bust out into song for starters) but he would have noticed some of the people around him starting to watch him. He also would have noticed the smiles being thrown his way as he sung. As the chorus started he stood up boldly and pointed to the man across from him.

"Workin' 9 to 5, What a way to make a livin', Barely gettin' by, It's all takin' and no givin'" Noah smiled at him while he continued to sing. "They just use your mind, And they never give you credit, It's enough to drive you, Crazy if you let it

"9 to 5, For service and devotion, You would think that I, Would deserve a fat promotion,Want to move ahead, But the boss won't seem to let me," Kurt walked around the table until he was face to face with Noah and continued to sing, "I swear sometimes that man is, Out to get me, hmmm"

Noah was certainly enjoying the small performance as were some of the people around them. Kurt finally looked to the left of him and saw a small group of people smile his way and clapping along to the beat. He should have started feeling embarrassed but instead he just smiled even more and kept singing. This time to both Noah and the people around him.

"They let you dream, Just a watch 'em shatter, You're just a step on the boss man's ladder, But you got dreams he'll never take away, In the same boat with a lot of your friends, Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in, And the tide's gonna turn, And it's all gonna roll you away,"

Kurt was dancing around at this point, flocking from one table to the next singing along to the music. Everyone he neared would smile and cheer him on and it started to remind him of his days in glee, when he would sing his heart out and not have any worried about what was bothering him in the outside world. The whiskey might be helping him too.

"Workin' 9 to 5, What a way to make livin', Barely gettin' by, It's all takin' and no givin', They just use your mind, And you never get the credit," Kurt made his way back to his high school alum and once again got close to his face with a smile and sang, "It's enough to drive you, Crazy if you let it,"

Noah grabbed Kurt but the arms and held him still so the other man didn't start another trip around the bar. "You are one crazy kid Kurt Hummel." He said with a smile.

"C'mon Noah, you can't sit down and disrespect Dolly!" He exclaimed attempting to break out of the man's hold.

Noah held him tight though, but Kurt also wasn't fighting too hard. "As much as I agree with you there, I think it's time I get you home Princess. You're clearly a lot drunker than we thought."

"And you clearly aren't the Puck we thought either, you should be passing me more drinks and letting me dance and sing 'til I'm puking." Kurt challenged.

Noah shook his head and stood up. One arm thrown around the small man's waist to hold him close to him while he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "And as much as I would love to prove that, your dad will have my ass if I let you get that drunk at a honkie tonk bar in Lima."

"Boo!" Kurt whined but made no real attempt to fight it.

Noah put down some money to cover their tab and a tip and then grabbed both his jacket and Kurt's and started leading them out.

"Your boyfriend has a great voice!" A woman sitting by the door said with a smile. "Y'all need to come on a karaoke night so he can really shine." She said looking directly at Noah.

Kurt was about to correct the lady, in a very sassy manner, that Noah wasn't his boyfriend but before he could the other man started talking.

"Definitely! We'll be back I'm sure." Noah said and then led them outside.

Normally Kurt would have freaked out and started making a fuss about things. But this wasn't a normal situation, and also the whiskey was really starting to kick into full gear and he was feeling both nauseous and very very drunk. So instead he just shifted a little bit closer to the man holding him up and allowed himself to be walked to a car, who's he didn't know.

"You never told me your secret." He mumbled as he slid into the car.

Noah chuckled as he reached across and fastened his seatbelt for him. "Another time Princess. Don't worry, I won't break my promise."

Kurt nodded and allowed Noah to close the door for him as he walked around the car and got in himself. He started the car and started driving.


so i wasn't originally going include any music or anything but then i realized...ITS FKN GLEE! i can't not have some singing throughout this! so this song seemed fun to have kurt sing because i don't think we ever really saw something like this from him or really on the show that much either so i hope you like it. we got a little cute pukurt moment right? let me know what you think xx