The next few days in school are mostly dull and completely uneventful for Kurt, except for the fact that Puck now waits for him before school and always walks him to his locker.
It's kind of weird, but on the other hand it isn't.
They really had started to build up a friendship, which didn't go unnoticed.
Whenever they walked through the hallways of McKinley High together eyes followed them everywhere; not only students but teachers too.
Puck didn't seem to care though. He just walked around with that confident swagger like he always did, while Kurt was a little more subdued.
He was afraid this would all backfire on Puck one day and he really, really didn't want that to happen.
He knew what it was like to be ridiculed and pushed around. He really wanted to spare Puck from all that drama.
Kurt even gave him an out on many occasions, saying "I can easily walk on my own to class."
Still Puck waved him off, assuring Kurt he liked walking and talking with him, so who was Kurt to deny him that? Because really Kurt liked the little walks and talks too.
Maybe a little more than he should...
It just had to escalate one day... And that day came earlier than he expected.
-..-
"Congratulations, Kurt!" Kurt looked around the door of his locker, right into the beaming face of Rachel Berry, and frowned.
"Congratulations for what?"
"You mean you don't know?"
"No?" Kurt said confused, "What the hell are you babbling about?"
"Come on!" Rachel said tugging Kurt along with her, stopping in front of a large poster on one of the walls in the hallway. "Look!"
Kurt's eyes went comically wide and his jaw dropped. Knowing it wasn't a good look on him so he quickly tried to compose himself.
"Who the hell would nominate ME for Prom King?"
Ok, so the composing thing didn't really work.
Suddenly Rachel was pulled away from him and Kurt felt the hands of Santana and Brittany link through his arms.
"Congrats, Hummel." Santana said while Brittany just beamed at him.
"Thanks," Kurt mumbled, then snapped out of his daze, "Did you two sign me up?"
"Why would we do that?" Santana asked innocently, then rolled her eyes at Kurt's glare, "No, Hummel. We didn't."
"Then who did?"
Santana shrugged, "Who cares. You are so coming along with us on a shopping trip, then to the spa, and-" Kurt stopped walking, just now realizing that they were walking, making the other two girls stop as well.
"Why are you being so nice to me? First you bring me back my coat after that horrible "incident" at the party and now this?"
It's actually Brittany who answered that, "We're kind of sick of hanging around with Quinn."
"Yeah," Santana chimed in, "She and that stupid boyfriend of hers. They're just disgusting me."
"What do they do then?"
"They drink themselves stupid and they're constantly kissing and licking each other off. It's just gross."
"We'd like to hang out with you and Puck now," Brittany again.
"Hey, Kurt! Wait up!" The trio turned around to watch Puck jogging up to them.
"Hey Puck," Kurt greeted him, feeling both of the girls retract their arms. He sent them a questioning look.
"We have to get to class," Santana answered, "We'll see you boys later."
Both girls gave a little wave as they sauntered off to class, Puck giving them a nod, while Kurt gave them a small wave back.
"So," Puck said, looking nervous with his hands stuffed into his pockets and not quite meeting Kurt's eyes. "I guess you saw the poster."
Kurt nodded, "I did," then an awful feeling came up, "It wasn't you who signed me up, was it?"
"No!" Puck answered, almost too quickly, "No, Kurt, I didn't sign you up. I promise."
Kurt stared at Puck saw nothing but the truth in his eyes. "Alright. I believe you."
Puck let out a breath of relief and as they both started walking to their History class that they shared together, he relaxed visibly.
"You look pretty upset about it."
"About being nominated for Prom King?" Puck nodded at Kurt's question, "That's because it's just a joke; a pretty mean one to boot. I mean, there's no way I could ever win it."
"Why not?"
Kurt snorted, "Have you ever really looked at me? Ok, scratch that. Look... I'm not popular, like, at all. Whoever wrote me up probably just did it to give everyone a good laugh."
"You look pretty good to me," Kurt raised his eyebrow and Puck raised one hand to scratch at the back of his neck, "Ok, this is awkward. I guess I just want to say that you could actually win this if you try."
Kurt blinked, then he started laughing, loud and almost uncontrolled.
Puck looked around, seeing people start to stop and stare at them, he got even more uncomfortable than he already felt.
"Oh, Puck," Kurt wheezed through his laughter, "You're so funny."
"Not meant to be funny, but ok, if you'd like to talk yourself down like that." Puck answered irritated.
Kurt sighed and shook his head, "Have you forgotten about the infamous party at Sam's house?"
Puck winced a little, how could he ever forget that?
"No, of course I haven't, but Kurt that was just Quinn having one of her tantrums. You shouldn't believe everything she says. Believe me, I know."
"What has she ever said about you?"
Puck's jaw tightened, just like the muscles in his arms and shoulders. "She said I'm a Lima loser who'll never get out of this freaking cow town. She's right about me, though."
"Why?" Kurt asked, both boys forgetting about going to History class and entering an empty classroom instead.
"Because I have to stay here for my mom and little sister."
"Are they sick?"
"No," Puck laughed nervously, "No, they're not sick."
"Then why would you have to stay?"
Puck let out a sigh, slumping down on one of the desks.
"My dad left us when I was 7. Ever since then my mom has been threatening me to never leave her as well because she wouldn't be able to handle it. She doesn't want me to go far away for college while I'm dying to get as far away from here as I can, but... I don't want to be the cause of my mother's death."
"I'm sure it won't get that far..."
"You don't know my mom."
"No... But I think she's just so afraid of losing you that she's trying to scare you from not leaving town. You should try and talk to her. Sit her down and tell her you'll still be in touch with her even though you won't be living at home anymore."
Puck shrugged after listening to every word Kurt said. "Maybe. I could try..."
"You should," Kurt said, placing his hand on Puck's knee and squeezing gently. When Puck looked at him, he smiled,
"Let's get to class. We're already late."
"Since we're already late," Puck replied, grabbing Kurt's wrist, "Let's just stay here until second period."
Kurt wanted to say no. He had never, ever, skipped a class before. But then again, Puck really looked like he needed someone to distract him from the obviously hard subject they just talked about, and Kurt loved being that person.
"Ok," he said, smiling back when Puck shot him a little grin.
"Do you want to hang out after school?"
"I can't," Kurt thought he saw a look of disappointment cross Puck's face, but he figured he was just imagining it. "Santana asked, no, she demanded a shopping trip with she and Brittany."
"Can't you do that this weekend?"
"I could ask."
"Well, do that."
"Did you plan something?"
"No, but I thought we could go to your house and watch a movie or something."
Ah, so that was it... Puck just didn't feel like hanging out alone at his house. But why didn't he ask Finn or Sam or anyone else from one of the jocks to hang out? Why did he ask him?
Ok, they had formed a sort of friendship, but it was still a little strange for Kurt.
He felt like any day now it could explode. Puck would tell him their friendship was just a big joke.
Kurt meant absolutely nothing to him.
But that day still hadn't come and Kurt couldn't help but hope that it never would.
"Kurt?" Puck waved his hand in front of the smaller boy, "Hey, you're spacing off on me here."
"Sorry," Kurt said, shaking his head a little, "You were saying?"
"I asked if it was ok to go to your house or you would rather do something else?"
"Oh. No, watching a movie at my place is fine."
"Cool," Puck said with a soft smile, then silence fell. Both boys just sat down on a desk, right next to each other, the silence not bothering them at all.
It wasn't long until the bell for second period rang and they both walked out of the empty class, saying a quick goodbye before leaving to go to their next class, not about to skip that one too.
Kurt couldn't suppress the smile on his face when he saw the curious looks some students gave him as he and Puck exited the classroom.
Let them speculate; he knows there's nothing going on.
Even if he wishes there was...
-..-
"Kurt!"
Kurt looked up from his salad at his lunch table as Mercedes and Rachel stormed up to him.
They both started talking in unison as they were taking their seats at Kurt's table, so Kurt held up his hands.
"One at a time, ladies."
The girls looked at each other before Rachel gave a nod to Mercedes to go ahead and tell him.
"The Glee club is back this year!"
Kurt raised his eyebrow in surprise at the enthusiasm in his best friend's voice. "Yes...And?"
"And..." she drawled out the word, "I think we should sign up for it."
"Are you insane?" Kurt let out a laugh, "We've never signed up for it before, why would we do it now?"
"Because it's our last chance to do so. Come on, Kurt. It will be fun."
"Oh yes, getting laughed at even more than now will be a lot of fun."
"We won't be laughed at if we can get some guys of the football team to join the Glee club too." Kurt was suspicious the girls had a plan when his shocked look wasn t reflected in Mercedes' face.
"You're serious? Those jocks will never agree to join the Glee club."
"I've got Finn almost ready to sign up for it and Mercedes says Sam will do so too."
Both girls looked pleased with themselves and why shouldn't they? Getting Finn and Sam to sign up for Glee club would really be a big achievement.
Kurt couldn't help it when his mind drifted off to another certain jock with a great singing voice.
Well, he wasn t sure if Finn and Sam could sing, but he knew Noah could.
"You should ask Noah to join too." Ok, apparently Rachel was a mind reader.
"He's never going to lower himself to that. Glee club is the lowest of the low inside this school. That's why it has failed to exist for longer then two months during all our years here in High School. "
"But we can change that..."
"It's our last year here, Rachel. I just don't see the point in this."
Before Rachel could answer, they were disturbed by another boy's presence, Noah Puckerman.
"You wanted to talk to me, Rach?"
"Yes, Noah," Rachel smiled, gesturing to the unoccupied chair next to Kurt, "Have a seat."
Puck raised his eyebrow but did sit, looking expectantly at Rachel.
"Kurt would like to ask you something."
Kurt's eyes widened as Puck turned his questioning gaze towards him. "What's up?"
"I, um," Kurt looked down at his salad, idly playing with his fork, "What do you think about Glee club?"
Puck's eyes widened for a split second, "That doesn't exist anymore, does it?"
"They started it up again," Rachel's over excited voice chimed in.
"Really?" Puck asked surprised, "Who the hell would want to sign up for that?"
"I am," Mercedes spoke up firmly, "And so is Rachel. We're trying to get Finn, Sam and Kurt in as well."
Puck looked from Mercedes to Rachel to Kurt, who was still staring at and playing with his salad.
"Seriously," Puck asked, holding Kurt's wrist to stop him from playing with his fork, "You want to sign up for Glee club?"
Kurt sighed, "I haven't said yes to the girls yet, but, I don't know...It might be fun?"
Puck stared at Kurt for a minute before releasing his wrist and standing up from his seat, taking his plate with food up from the table.
"Where are you going?"
"I know you're gonna ask me to join too and I can't. I have a reputation to uphold."
Kurt looked over at the girls with a look that clearly said, 'I told you so'.
"But, Noah-"
"No, Rach. I'm sorry but I'm not doing this." Before Rachel had the chance to reply, Puck was already on his way to the jocks' table where everyone sat watching him curiously.
"You're such a jerk, Noah Puckerman!" Rachel shouted after him but he dismissed her with a backhanded wave.
Rachel looked so disappointed Mercedes squeezed her arm and even Kurt took pity on her.
"Did you really expect anything else from him, Rachel?"
Rachel looked up at him, shaking her head lightly.
"He's a different person then you all think he is. I'm just waiting for him to finally show it to anyone else but me."
Rachel stormed out of the school cafeteria, leaving her food completely forgotten.
Kurt and Mercedes shared a look then a collective sigh before they turned their attention to the food.
Neither of them noticed Puck glancing their way a few times with an unreadable expression on his face.
-..-
"Noah!"
Puck whirled around to face his best with a sigh then an annoyed look that faded as he saw how panicked Rachel looked.
"What's wrong, Rach?"
"Come with me," without further ado Rachel grabbed Puck's wrist and pulled him towards one of the girl's bathrooms.
"Rachel, I can't go in there."
Rachel didn't budge, instead she stopped in front of the door and looked straight into Puck's eyes.
"Something happened to Kurt."
That was enough for Puck to open the door and storm into the girls' room.
Once inside, he saw Kurt and Mercedes standing at one of the sinks, a make-up bag lying open on the sink.
At the sound of the door opening, both Kurt and Mercedes looked into the reflection of the mirror to see who it was.
Puck let out a gasp when he saw Kurt's face.
"What the hell happened?" Puck demanded, unable to keep his legs and feet from walking over to the girl and boy.
A bruise was forming under Kurt's right eye and Puck had to hold himself back to stop from reaching out his hand to touch it.
"Somebody's fist flew in my face."
"That's bull."
"Fine," Kurt snapped, "Someone punched me in the face because I talked back to him, ok? Happy now?"
"Who?" Puck asked, feeling his hands clenching at his sides. "Who hit you, Kurt?"
"Does it matter?" Kurt asked, getting back to pay attention to his eye, smiling at Mercedes when she gave him some concealer.
"Yes, it does."
Kurt sighed, his eyes still meeting Puck's through the mirror. "It was one of the jocks," holding his stare, he continued, "Remember those guys? Your teammates? The ones you're scared of?"
"I'm not scared of them." Puck almost growled, "I'm not scared of anyone."
"Really?" Rachel chimed in, "Seems to me that you are scared of something, otherwise you wouldn't let them control you. You let them take something away from you that you love doing. You love to sing, Noah. I know you do and you're great at it, both Kurt and Mercedes will agree with me," she waited until Kurt and Mercedes both nodded, "I dragged you here to let you see what your so called friends are capable of doing. It's your choice to do something about it or not, but, I for one think they've gone too far."
Puck's gaze shifted from Rachel to Kurt and Mercedes, who were now fully concentrating on Kurt's eye.
Puck didn't say anything, just turned his back to all three of them and left the girls' room.
He needed time to think.
-..-
"You should've seen the queer's face."
Puck strained to hear as he stood at his locker across some jocks in the hallway.
The conversation was obviously about Kurt and he really wanted, no, needed to hear this.
"I bet he never saw my fist coming."
Langenthal, Puck definitely recognized that voice.
"Bitch had it coming too," Langenthal continued, "Talking back to me like that."
"Did you hear that he's gonna join the new Glee club and he and his two fag hags are trying to involve Finn and Sam? Maybe even Puck." Rosenberg said this time.
"Hah!" Langenthal snorted and the other jocks chuckled too, "As if they would ever do that. Ok, Hudson and Evans, but Puckerman? I bet he would want to punch the little fairy too. Just to peg him down a few notches."
"I don't know, dude," Rosenberg again, "Puck seems to be quite friendly with the fairy lately."
Langenthal laughed, the other jocks giving him a confused and curious look.
"Don't you guys get it? Puck is just playing a game with the fairy. At the end of the day, he'll just laugh at him along with us. Mark my words, Puck is gonna dump that little fairy's as and his supposed to be friendship in no time."
With that, Puck had heard enough. Sure, this had all started out as a bet, but if he was honest to himself Puck s friendship with Kurt felt real.
He wanted it to be real.
The bet didn't matter for him anymore. In fact, it never had.
Slamming his locker shut harder then he normally would, Puck turned around to face his "friends" who startled and turned to him at the slamming sound.
He stalked up to them, taking in their frightened faces. Well, Langenthal didn't look frightened, but he was the only one.
In one swift movement, Puck had grabbed the obnoxious jock by his collar and pushed him against the lockers, the others stood by watching him in shock.
"You don't know shit about me, Langenthal." Puck growled into his victim's face, "You better leave Kurt and the others who want to join Glee club alone, or-"
"Or else what?" Langenthal smirked, "Are you going soft on us, Puckerman? Hanging out with the fairy and the losers now."
"I'll show you going soft," Puck grumbled letting go of Langenthal who saw this as his victory.
He was straightening out the wrinkles in his collar and just about ready to brag to his fellow jocks, he raised his head and...
A fist punched against his cheek, making him fall back against the lockers.
Cradling his cheek with one hand and the other holding the back of his head, Langenthal looked up and glared at Puck who was still standing in front of him and had not turned away like Langenthal thought he had.
"What the fuck, Puckerman?" Langenthal exclaimed, "Have you gone mad?"
"I'm not letting a loser like you judge me," Puck answered, as calm as ever. "From now on I'll do whatever I want to do - which is to join the Glee club."
All the stares he got from the jocks were completely worth his sudden decision. He just smirked at them before walking away, leaving them all to stare after him in shock and utter confusion.
While he walked away he debated on telling Rachel about his decision, but in the end decided not to.
He wanted it to be a surprise for her as well. And a happy surprise it would be, for sure.
-..-
Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes and the others who auditioned for the Glee club were all still sitting in the auditorium, watching the last performance waiting for Mr. Schuester to make a decision.
The results wouldn't be revealed until the next day, so they all had to wait in anticipation.
The last person to audition, an Asian girl who, Kurt remembered, was called Tina. She was good, but her song choice was a little...weird.
They all clapped politely and Mr. Schuester was just about to say that they had done a good job and could all leave the auditorium when the doors slammed open.
Everyone's heads turned towards the source of the sound, Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes' mouths dropping when they saw who entered the room.
It was Puck in all his jock glory, looking around the auditorium with his hands stuffed into his pockets.
Mr. Schuester broke the silence when all the others could do nothing but stare.
"Can I help you?" he asked, "You're Noah Puckerman, right? I remember you from my Spanish class."
Puck looked at the teacher, then nodded, "Yeah, that's me," he answered. "You can call me Puck, though."
The teacher just nodded, "What can I help you with, Puck?"
Puck looked around at all the other students, his eyes halting on where Kurt, Rachel and Mercedes were seated, then back to the teacher.
"This is the place where you have to audition for the Glee club, right?" he tried not to smile when he heard Rachel's squeal.
"Yes, it is. I didn't see your name on the list though."
"I was too late to write my name on the paper. I was kind of debating on it you know, and when I finally decided, the sign up paper was already off of the board."
"I see," Mr. Schuester said thoughtfully, "Well, I guess I can make an exception this time. You have a song prepared I hope?"
Puck ran his hand over his mohawk. "No, not really. But I ll come up with something."
Upon seeing the piano on stage, Puck felt more relieved. He always felt more confident singing when he had an instrument to hide behind.
He waited until the teacher gave him the good to go sign and walked up the stage, giving Sam and Finn a tight smile when he caught their eye.
He sat on the piano stool, still not really sure about what to sing, but when he let his fingers ghost over the piano keys they suddenly began to play a familiar tune.
He concentrated on nothing but the piano as he started to sing.
Everyone, including Mr. Schuester were absolutely stunned by Puck's voice.
Not even Rachel had ever heard her best friend sing like that before.
It was almost haunting... Making Kurt completely mesmerized by him.
When Puck sang the last line and the notes on the piano died out the auditorium was greeted with deadly silence.
Puck didn't look up. He just kept staring at the piano keys as he raised one hand to wipe over his face to get rid of the tears that had fallen.
He hated this song.
Alright, he loved it, but he hated all the emotions it brought up within him.
The silence was shattered when Rachel suddenly stood and started clapping with everyone joining in and giving Puck a well deserved standing ovation. Mr. Schuester clapped enthusiastically as he stepped back up on the stage.
"Great job, Puck."
Puck didn't even look up as he stood up from the piano stool. He just muttered a quiet thanks before going to sit alone on one of the chairs.
He didn't here a word Mr. Schuester said afterwards and he didn't notice everyone leaving when he finally heard someone clear their throat next to him.
He looked up to see Kurt standing there, his face unreadable.
Puck let out a sigh.
"What is it, Kurt?"
Kurt took a seat beside Puck without being invited to, but Puck didn't expect anything less from Kurt.
"That was...Different."
Puck snorted, "That's one way to put it."
"Even Rachel looked surprised. Your voice sounds actually kind of beautiful when you're straining your vocal chords to get to those higher notes. It sounded very emotional too."
Puck sighed again and looked away, "It was the song my dad used to sing to my mom. I basically grew up listening to it."
"Oh." Kurt replied after a short pause, "I know how it is to live with just one parent instead of two."
Puck's head turned towards Kurt in confusion. Now that he thought about it, Puck had never seen Kurt s mom.
She was never there during his numerous visits to Kurt s house. He had never asked Kurt about it, on instinct he had known not to broach the subject. Now seemed the perfect time.
"What happened to your mom?"
A silence fell and Puck studied the boy beside him as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth.
Kurt seemed so tense and Puck almost regetted that he asked the question, but then again, Kurt had probably felt the question coming before it had left his lips.
The answer wasn't what Puck expected. He had expected it to be something in the lines of: "my mom has to work a lot" or "my parents are divorced and my dad got full custody over me". But not, "My mom died. I was still a kid when the doctors said she had cancer and they couldn't do anything about it because it had already spread too much."
"I'm sorry." The words were out before Puck knew it, but he meant them.
Kurt gave him a sad smile, "It's ok. My dad is great. I couldn't wish for a better parent actually. It hasn't always been easy, but we worked things out and now everything's going great."
"I'm glad," Puck replied with a sincere smile on his face, which Kurt couldn't help but return. My mom and I get along too. Well, most of the time. The only thing we disagree on is me getting out of this stupid cow town. She wants to keep me here."
"Because your dad left her?"
"Yeah, it's basically that. But I'm trying to get her to see that I'm not gonna abandon her, or Sarah. I'm not anything like my dad at all. She just needs to realize that."
Kurt smiled and Puck raised his eyebrow at him. "You're pretty smart when you want to be."
Puck snorted, "Geez, thanks?"
Kurt kept on smiling and bumped his shoulder against Puck's playfully.
"Your mom will come around. Don't worry about it."
Puck shrugged and stared ahead, silence settling between the two boys once more.
"So, um " Puck hesitantly broke the silence, "Do you have a date for Prom?"
Kurt tried to hide his surprise at the question, "No...I don't even know if I'll go."
"Why not?"
"First of all, I don't have a date. And secondly, I..." Kurt looked down, fidgeting with his hands at his sleeves a little, "I don't think people would want me there."
Puck suddenly felt a burst of anger run through him by Kurt s last statement.
"That's bull, Hummel. You shouldn't care about what people think. If you want to go the party, then just go."
"But I don't have anyone to go with."
"You have me," Puck replied, but when he saw Kurt's surprised, almost shocked, expression he backpedalled a little bit. "Or...You could always ask Mercedes."
"That was the plan first, to go with Mercedes," Kurt said quietly, "But then she told me she had a date. I don't even know who it is."
"Well, we could always go together."
"I don't think you know what you're saying."
"I know very well what I'm saying. I'm asking you to go to the Prom with me."
"But-"
"No but's, Kurt. I know what you're thinking, I really do." Kurt just raised his eyebrow, so Puck went on, "I know you're thinking about what people will think about us, about me, but unlike you, I don't give a damn what people think. Not about this kind of thing anyway. We're bro s right? And I like to help a bro out. Besides, that way I'll have a date too."
Leaving a pause to take in every word Puck said, Kurt snorted.
"Like there aren't already hundreds of girls around, waiting for you to ask them to Prom."
Puck smirked and shrugged, "I don't really care. I'd rather go with someone I can talk to, someone I can actually have a great time with then with some girl who's just interested in showing me off to her girlfriends and then ditch me alltogether."
Kurt stared intensely at him, but Puck wasn't one to be intimidated so easily.
He just stared back at Kurt.
"You sure about this?"
"Of course," Puck answered, his voice dripping with confidence,"It will help us both out, you know. It's gonna be fun."
Puck smiled, trying to assure Kurt he was being sincere. He really wanted to go to Prom with him.
"Besides," he added, with a little wink at the end, "You are nominated for Prom King. You'll have to show up to recieve your crown."
Kurt laughed and Puck couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.
"Yes, I can't miss that opportunity, can I?"
"So, you're in?"
Puck held out his fist, which Kurt eyed rather skeptically for a second before bumping it.
"I'm in."
