August – Going Back
The last days of the hottest month of the year comes with the unexpected request of, "come meet my mother?"
Kurt stops in the doorway trying to balance his shoulder bag, the coffee and the muffin he's holding in his hands. He looks at Noah with both eyebrows raised. "What?"
"I know I don't mention my mother or sister a lot, but your father is coming to visit soon and I will meet him but my mom hates New York, so I thought you could come with me tomorrow and meet her and my sister."
Kurt walks back inside Noah's apartment and closes the door with his foot. "Why are you asking me now?" Kurt frowns when he suddenly understands. He puts his things on the little table by the door and looks at his boyfriend. "You think that since you're not giving me a lot of notice and I have to hurry to work, I will just say yes but if you gave me time to think about it, then I'll say no."
Noah nods, looking away. "Because they're in Lima and you don't want to go back there."
Kurt just looks at his boyfriend for a few seconds. It doesn't really takes long to come to a decision because even though he'd rather live under a bridge than go back to Lima, he's an adult now and even though he might not always take the best decisions, he still knows the right thing to do most of the times.
"Alright," he says, sighing a little before smiling. Noah looks at Kurt with a raised eyebrow and Kurt chuckles. "While it's true that I swore to myself to never go back, I get that this is important for you. You never said that you wouldn't meet my dad and I'd be selfish if I didn't agree to meet your mother and sister. Besides," he pauses and gets closer to his boyfriend, sliding his arms around his neck, "if we go to Lima, it means that you will meet my father in a place you can run away from."
Noah snorts, resting his hands on Kurt's hips. They shouldn't be doing this now because Kurt is already late to work, but he can't stop himself from leaning closer, his lips a breath away from his boyfriend's. "I won't have to run away," he says, sure of himself. "Your father is going to love me," he whispers, before taking Kurt's lips into a hungry kiss.
When Noah walks inside his childhood home, he's feeling happy. In this moment life it's great. His CD is selling well, he has Brittany, Santana and Charlie as friends and Kurt is right there with him. He feels magnificent.
"Mom?" he calls, squeezing Kurt's hand reassuringly.
A few moments later Mrs. Puckerman comes down the stairs, a big smile on her face.
"Noah, you're home!" she says, pulling her son into a tight embrace.
Kurt looks at the scene feeling uncomfortable and if it wasn't for the fact that Noah was still holding his hand (he really knows Kurt that well), he would have already left. It's not that he has problems with Noah's mother, it's just that he's not used to be around parents in general except for his own father, of course. The fact that he feels like he's intruding, doesn't help either.
"Mom, this is Kurt," Noah says, pulling away from his mother and pushing Kurt forward.
Kurt had pictured this moment in his head, every possible scenario except for the one that actually happens. He gets grabbed and hugged tightly and an honest, "It's good to finally meet you," is said right in his ear.
Noah laughs, letting go of Kurt's hand.
"Noah has been talking about you for months. I'm so happy you decided to come," Mrs. Puckerman says releasing her hold on Kurt.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Puckerman."
"Call me Adele," she tells him cheerfully. "Are you boys hungry? Sarah won't be home for a few hours." She disappears in the kitchen before the boys can answer.
Noah kisses Kurt on the cheek, telling him, "See? Everything's okay."
Now they just have to face Burt the next day.
The dinner goes smoothly. Sarah, Noah's sister, is friendly enough to be able to put Kurt at ease. She asks about celebrities he has met at fashion events and by the time Noah and Kurt leave the house to go back to their hotel, Kurt feels like he's already part of the family. He is surprised because no one in Lima has ever accepted him that quickly and he can't help but feel extremely happy about it.
"That wasn't too bad now, was it?" Noah asks as soon as they are standing in their hotel room.
Kurt shakes his head smiling. He walks over to the bed and flops down, kicking his shoes away and relaxing against the mattress. Between the flight, the meeting with Puck's family and the nervousness of being back in Lima, Kurt feels exhausted. He feels the mattress dipping and he turns his head to the side opening his eyes.
Noah looks down at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes and his hand reaches out, sneaking under Kurt's white shirt and caressing his stomach. He doesn't look away from Kurt's sparkling blue eyes while he slides his hand lower and lower until his fingers reach Kurt's jeans. He licks his lips slowly and he feels proud of himself when Kurt puts his own hand over Noah's urging him to go lower.
"I was thinking of thanking you for dropping everything at work, sacrifice one week of your Christmas holidays just so you could come with me even though I didn't trust you and only asked you to come at the last moment."
Kurt grabs hold of Noah's t-shirt, clenching the soft cotton material in his hand and using it to get Noah closer. "I think I need a little reward after all," he says flirtatiously. Being with Noah always makes him feel more confident, makes him act bolder. He takes Noah's plump lower lip between his teeth, nipping at it gently while he feels his boyfriend's hand cupping him through his jeans.
Noah smiles, sliding the fingers of his free hand through Kurt's hair while he uses his other hand to work his boyfriend's jeans open. He's already painfully hard but he wants this to be about Kurt, so he lets go of his boyfriend and stands up before kneeling at the edge of the bed between Kurt's legs.
When Kurt gets up on his elbows so he can look down, Puck only takes a moment to smirk at his glazed expression before he starts working on Kurt's reward.
Meeting Burt Hummel is an interesting experience for Noah. He was never good with relationships so he never met parents except for when they'd catch him sneaking out of their daughters' windows which would then consist of insults shouted at him while he ran away.
But when he walks inside his boyfriend's home, Kurt's hand holding his tightly, it's not really what he had been expecting.
The first thing he notices is that his once-upon-a-time-best friend is standing in the middle of the living room and his mom, Carole, is looking at him surprised. Burt is nowhere to be seen and Noah can feel how nervous Kurt is from the way he's squeezing his hand almost painfully.
"Your father didn't tell us that you were coming," Carole says, and she looks as much out of place as Kurt.
"It was a last moment thing," Kurt says, his eyes darting between the woman and Finn. "Who are you?"
"I'm Carole and this is Finn," she says, waving a hand towards her son and silently telling him to come closer. "We... This is so embarrassing," she laughs nervously. "Your father wanted to surprise you so he was going to take us with him when he came to visit you next month and explain everything."
Kurt furrows his brow, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he settles on just looking at the strangers in his childhood home with a cold stare. "Are you living here?"
"We moved in a couple of months ago because your father wants to marry my mom," Finn cuts in, looking uncomfortably between Kurt and Noah. "Puck, since when are you gay?" he asks.
"That's really none of your business, Hudson." Noah knows that perhaps he should be more friendly because it looks like this is Kurt's father's new family, but they are making Kurt look sad and detached and he hates it. He tags on Kurt's hand making his boyfriend look at him. "Maybe we should come back later, when your father is home."
Kurt shakes his head and looks at Carole and Finn one last time before turning around. "No, no let's just go over to the shop and we will talk there so then we can leave."
"Kurt..."
"It was nice to meet you," he says, cutting off his boyfriend and sounding insincere. He turns around and walks out the door dragging Noah behind him before Carole can actually say anything.
They drive in their rented car in silence, Kurt staring out the window and Noah glancing away from the road from time to time to look at him. Kurt only speaks to give directions and when they reach the "Hummel's Tyre and Lube," Kurt just sits there staring at the garage as if seeing it for the first time.
"When I left," he says after long minutes without glancing at Noah. "I told my father I was never coming back. He didn't believe me of course, but then the first Christmas came and went and I didn't come back and he finally understood that I was serious so he started coming to New York whenever he could." He sighs heavily and finally looks at his boyfriend. "I didn't want him to be alone, but he didn't tell me and they were there in my mom's house and..."
"It's okay," Noah says, reaching out to place his hand on Kurt's shoulder to squeeze it tightly in reassurance. "Whatever you're feeling right now, it's okay. Whether you are feeling pissed or just sad, it's okay."
Kurt smiles at him tentatively, before looking back towards the entrance of his father's garage. "I never really thought he'd find someone else or that he would live with a brand new family without telling me." He lowers his gaze down to his lap. "Finn is a sport guy, right?"
"Yeah," Noah answers, unsure of what this has to do with anything.
"It's like, my father's dream son."
"Kurt, don't say that. Let's go inside and talk to your father, okay? It will be okay."
Kurt nods but Noah can see that he's not really sure so he gets out of the car, walks to the other side, opens the door and practically drags Kurt out and towards the garage. When they walk inside a man big and scary comes towards them and when he's close enough Noah can read "Burt" on his coverall's tag.
"I'm your son's boyfriend," he says and Burt arcs an eyebrow at him.
"Carole just called," Burt says, looking between his son and Noah. "Did you just drag him inside?"
"He needs to talk to you, Sir. I'll be waiting in the car." He lets go of Kurt's hand and kisses him briefly before walking out before Kurt can try and stop him.
He's not sure what happens then because Kurt comes out two hours later, his eyes red and swollen like he's been crying. He's about to ask what went wrong when Kurt looks at him after he has closed the car door behind him and says, "I talked to him and I told him we're leaving tomorrow and that I didn't want to have dinner with him and Carole and Finn just yet. He said to tell you thank you and that he really appreciated the fact that you risked to fight with me to make sure I talked to him." He smiles then and leans forward so he can kiss his boyfriend on the cheek. "You're pretty amazing."
Noah doesn't stop smiling until after they have reached the hotel and Kurt is kissing him hungrily.
