Beautiful Boy

Chapter 10

…

Summary: Boys will be boys and Puck does something that he will live to regret. This story is AU in that Kurt never left the Cheerios, Karofsky never kissed him, and Kurt never attended Dalton Academy.

A/N 1: Sorry for the long wait, folks, but I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: There is no way any sane person would think I have anything to do with the show. All rights are reserved by Messrs. Murphy et al and no infringement is intended.

…

Kurt stared around the beautiful campus of Dalton Academy in Westerville, Ohio. It was only about an hour's drive from Lima so now that he'd had his eye patch removed and given a clean bill of health by his doctor, Burt couldn't find a reason not to let him go on his scouting mission.

He had only told his dad that he had heard about a school that had a strict zero tolerance, no-bullying policy and he wanted to check it out. When Puck had told him about it the week before, Kurt had had no idea what to feel.

His mind had been an embarrassing soup of mixed emotions. On the one hand, he wondered if Puck had simply wanted to wash his hands of the 'problem' of Kurt. Admittedly, things would probably be a lot less tense in the school if the mouthy, out, gay kid wasn't around. Yet, he knew that Puck was attracted to him. He didn't think the other teen had been faking his reactions to Kurt all that time they'd been 'together'.

On the other hand, though, Kurt was a little touched that Puck had taken the time to research places where Kurt could feel safe. He had no idea what kind of environment he would find at Dalton but he was willing to go and check it out and see if it was somewhere where he would be happy.

Certainly, Kurt was impressed with the looks of the campus. It had those old, ivy-covered walls and extensive well-kept grounds that spoke of money – and lots of it. He smiled as he looked up at the façade for a little before taking a deep breath and heading inside.

Whoa! The gleaming tile floors, the gleaming wooden paneling and gleaming chandeliers – all that gleaming – Kurt felt almost as if he needed to put his Marc Jacobs shades back on!

A huge smile spread across his face as he looked around at the lovely old furnishings and the massive oil paintings on the walls. He twitched as a bell sounded somewhere, clearly indicating the change of classes, and then found himself almost pressed against the gleaming wood paneling nearest him.

A veritable surge of blazer-clad humanity erupted from open doorways and down the winding staircase and Kurt's mouth dropped open slightly. Oh, right, Dalton was an all-boys' academy; how could he have forgotten that important tidbit. A dazed smile spread across his face and he clutched his satchel to himself. Wow!

Suddenly, coming from down one hallway where some of the boys were headed, the sound of many voices raised tunefully attracted Kurt's attention. He joined the flow of schoolboys and there, in a large, lovely room, was a choir the likes of which Kurt had never seen. His eyes and smile widened and he stood, rooted to the spot as the lead singer turned towards him.

They were singing a capella but that was not the most amazing thing. The thing that stunned Kurt and made him stare as if he were in Wonderland was the fact that the other students were all cheering and harmonizing with the singers. Kurt was new to such an experience. McKinley students barely tolerated the efforts of the New Direction kids and here you had a whole school full of apparently American youth, all bopping along to one of the latest songs from the inimitable Miss Katy Perry.

Kurt focused on the lead singer, a short kid with dark, slick hair, huge golden eyes and a stunning velvety voice. The boy was amazing, singing and dancing around and totally being the most wonderful thing Kurt had ever seen.

When the song ended, Kurt was still in a daze but not so much so that he didn't register the gorgeous lead singer talking to him. Kurt knew he must have answered at least intelligibly and soon his hand was being grabbed by the wonderful boy and they were running through the hallways on a whirlwind tour of the school.

Kurt could never say when or how he got home, he was so amazed and delighted and blown away after his experience. It was truly transcendental and when his car turned into his driveway, he sat for a few minutes with the engine off.

That was when reality reasserted itself and slowly the glow from his Dalton experience faded. Kurt, however, was a practical person, almost too mature for a teenager, and now he wondered how his dad would ever be able to afford his tuition at Dalton. So, he collected his things and hopped out of the vehicle, no trace of self-pity on his countenance.

Locking the car absent-mindedly, he let himself into the house, calling out to his dad and Carole before heading down to his room. He flung off his bag and jacket, not even caring that the garment landed haphazardly on his couch, and then eased his boots off before lying back on his bed.

As he laid there, however, a slow smile curved his pink lips and, closing his eyes, he brought up back the memory of his Dalton visit. His chest rose as he breathed deeply and before he knew it, he had dozed off, his lips still smiling.

…

Kurt sat in Coach Sylvester's office and looked her straight in the eye. He was wearing his Cheerio uniform and his body was in that erect stance that Coach liked to see, but his legs were crossed at the knees in his signature pose. He waited for her to respond to his proposition and carefully didn't show any hint of nerves. It didn't do to let her see any sign of weakness.

Sue narrowed her pale blue eyes at him and almost snarled. "So, let me get this straight, Porcelain: you want McKinley High School to institute a zero tolerance, no-bullying policy?"

Kurt held her eyes and nodded once, firmly. "Yes, I don't think that Dalton Academy in Westerville has anything that we don't have." Kurt crossed his fingers out of Coach's sight, knowing what he was going to say next was a bit of a gamble. "The members of Dalton's school board might have more money but they don't care more for their students than our Board does, I believe."

He tilted his chin up, his lips firm, almost as if he were challenging Sue to refute that statement. She was forced, really, to agree; to demur would give Kurt ammunition to go to the Board and repeat their conversation. A grudging look of respect came over her face briefly but Kurt didn't fool himself into believing this was anywhere near the end.

Sue stared at the boy before her. She could still see faint traces of the bruising around his left eye and her stomach clenched that one of hers should have suffered such an appalling attack – especially during her watch. She was Vice Principal of this benighted school and if she had to pull in every favor and pull every nasty stunt in her book, she would do it so such a thing never happened again in any school where she had authority.

"You know, Porcelain, I'm always pleased when the intelligentsia, such as it is in this place, fall into line with my own thinking." She smirked as Kurt's blue eyes widened at that. "I have been thinking of bracing the Board myself on just such an important topic. That you should come up with it as well shows there is hope for this generation after all."

The silence that stretched between them didn't make Kurt nervous at all. In fact, he was amused so deep down, no sign of it showed, but he did allow a hint of gratitude to come to the fore. He knew that was what she was looking for; she wanted him to 'kiss her ring', as it were, ever grateful simply to bask in the magnificence of her Machiavellian mind.

So, he smiled with a little bit of awe in it and let his eyes widen as he looked back at her. "That's great, Coach. I knew you were the right person, the one person who would get it!"

Sue nodded graciously, thinking quite sincerely that she had made Porcelain's day. She kept it pretty much a secret but the boy was a favorite of hers and what had happened the other day had truly sickened her. She had come pretty close to putting her hands on a student in violence after she had promised herself never to go there… again. She was a Vice Principal now, she had her position to think of and also she had to show she was forward-thinking enough to find a solution to a revolting situation.

Kurt smiled wider and, getting up, he turned back to add one thing. "I have to admit, Coach, I wasn't the one who came up with the idea."

She twitched one eyebrow at him in curiosity. "Oh, there's someone else with half a brain in this school?"

Kurt suppressed a snort but nodded. "Yes. Actually it was Noah Puckerman who gave me the idea."

He watched as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She caught herself quickly though and nodded, trying to look as if she hadn't been surprised. "Oh, yes, I had a feeling there was more to that hormone-ridden muscle-bound spawn of a vapid Miss America contestant and an MMA reject. Hmmm, I must keep an eye on him."

Kurt gulped because, truly, he didn't know if that was a good thing or not. So, he did the smart thing and skedaddled after flinging a quick "Bye, Coach!" at the scary woman behind him.

Outside her office he slowed his dash to his typical dignified strut and made it to the choir room where Mercedes was guarding his things. When he entered the room, his and Puck's eyes met and held. He slid his glance from the jock, however, and sat in the seat 'Cedes was holding for him. At her soft query he simply nodded, saying, "Everything's fine; I'll tell you later."

…

Puck watched Kurt during the whole Glee session, unhappily distracted by the way Kurt's eyes kept meeting his and then sliding away. He didn't know if he should just come right out and ask Kurt what was up or give the smaller teen his space. Knowing Kurt, he would probably confront him sooner than later anyway, he consoled himself.

Still, the way that Cheerio uniform hugged the boy's body just reminded Puck of what he'd almost had and then let slip away – because of his stupidity. He bit his full bottom lip as he watched the way those sweet hips moved with Kurt's unconscious swaying walk and only when Finn bumped him kind of hard on the shoulder did he snap out of his daze.

"Dude! What the_?" Puck glared at the over-tall teen, causing the back line of dancers to stumble to a halt. He didn't know what Finn was on about but that really hurt!

Finn, his usually open face twisted in his own glare, whispered harshly: "Stop eye-fucking my brother, dude! Not cool!"

There was a choking sound from behind Puck but he didn't look to see who it was as an automatic denial sprang to his lips. "What? No! I wasn't_!"

"Oh, yes you were, Puckerman!"

Mercedes' voice blasted at him and he cringed before he caught himself and turned around. Half the group was watching them and the other half had eyes only for Kurt who was standing as far away as the room allowed, with his arms wrapped around himself.

"Admit it, Noah," Rachel Berry's light voice chimed in. "You have feelings for Kurt but your recent behavior has probably made any chance of your succeeding with him as remote as you appearing on the cover of Rolling Stones Magazine in the far future."

Puck felt the heat flee from him as his eyes locked with Kurt's but then, in a move that surprised everyone there, Puck more than the others probably, Kurt spoke.

"As much as I appreciate this sudden desire you all have of leaping to my defense, it is getting a little old. Thank you, Rachel, for that entirely unnecessary and patently ridiculous assessment of Noah's future, but I can take care of myself."

His lips tightened as he glared down anything she was about to say in her defense and then his gaze swept the room, landing first on Santana and then on Finn.

"Guys, I know this is a seriously screwed up situation but I'd really appreciate a little space, okay?" His shoulders slumped slightly and this, more than his words, seemed to finally get through to the others. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and looked up, surprised, to see Mr. Schue beside him.

"Yes, people; I think we can afford to give Kurt a little space now. The situation has changed in the school and it's a little safer – as it should have been all along – but we have to try to return to normal as soon as possible."

When the kids nodded – or shrugged in Santana's case – he clapped his hands together and with his usual forcefully cheery grin, announced that they could leave early. A faint, slightly mocking cheer came from the Latina who simply grabbed her backpack and her girlfriend's hand and stalked out of the choir room.

The other kids wandered off to grab their things as well, leaving behind a tense tableau consisting of Puck, Finn, Mercedes and Kurt.

When the door closed behind Mr. Schue who reminded them not to stay too long, Kurt sighed and looked up at Puck.

"I spoke with Coach Sylvester today." His lips curved at the faintly puzzled silence surrounding the others and then he continued. "I told her about the school you recommended."

Puck felt his stomach drop as he stared at Kurt, his dark eyes wide. "Wha- you_?"

"Kurt? What school is that?" Mercedes grasped Kurt's arm, forcing him to look down at her. "What's going on?"

Finn nodded like a huge bobble-head figure. "Yeah, bro, what school?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at Puck. "You didn't tell him? ... No?" He turned to Finn. "Noah decided that I'd probably be safe from the homophobic hordes at this school if I attended Dalton Academy, over in Westerville."

Puck ducked his head at the incredulous silence that followed. He shoved his hands into his pockets and waited for the explosion… and waited. Finally looking up, he took in the faintly smug expression on Kurt's face. "What?"

Kurt shrugged and walked over to him, ignoring the way Mercedes and Finn were stood gaping at them.

"I did go over and check it out – met the most gorgeous person in the form of the lead singer for their show choir, the Warblers – but I ultimately decided that place wasn't for me."

Puck finally felt as if he could breathe and he stared wonderingly at the humor in Kurt's beautiful eyes. "So, what about Sylvester? What does she have to do with this?"

Kurt chuckled and then looked over at his other friends. "Well, let's say that I left her feeling that McKinley High's new zero tolerance anti-bullying policy is all her idea."

He waited for it to sink in and then laughed aloud when Finn whooped and Mercedes launched herself at him. He staggered against the force of her enthusiastic hugs and smiled as he looked over at Noah.

The tanned jock had such a look of relief on his face, Kurt was seriously puzzled. He watched him haul his mask of studied indifference on his handsome face but Kurt had seen the relief. Puck couldn't fool him again. It was obvious to Kurt that the jock hadn't wanted him to actually leave McKinley.

Kurt smiled to himself as he buried his face in Mercedes' hair. As gestures of repentance went, Puck's suggestion to check out a safer option for Kurt went a far way to Kurt's forgiving him.

Finally, Kurt let go of Mercedes who still kept an arm around his waist and he grinned at Puck. "Sorry, Noah, you aren't getting rid of me that easily."

Mercedes' soft gasp and Finn's wide eyes had Puck looking at Kurt with narrowed eyes. He couldn't hold back a faint smirk though when he nodded at Kurt.

"I think you know by now, that was never the reason…" and he watched faint color flow into the pale, smooth cheeks. "So... we good?"

Kurt knew Mercedes and Finn were watching him closely but he had eyes only for Noah. The jock was looking at him with this slightly guarded expression beneath the veneer of amusement and Kurt knew exactly what was going on. He cleared his throat, looked at his brother and best friend and then asked them to give him a moment.

Mercedes was inclined to balk but Finn simply nodded after throwing a warning look to Puck and took Mercedes' arm to lead her outside the choir room. It was clear they weren't going far, though, and Kurt watched them with an annoyed glint before going to close the door.

He turned around and watched Puck fidget now with one of the guitars that the band guys had left behind.

"So," he said, wrapping his arms around his waist as he watched Puck watching him from the corner of his eye. "Do you think this makes up for what you… almost did?"

Puck's eyes flew to the slender teen and he took a step closer before stopping. He dropped his head, rubbing one hand at the back of his neck and then looked up again at Kurt.

Kurt waited patiently, knowing that all this was hard on the barely-evolved boy before him. Why he had to be attracted to jocks, he didn't know. He could have been happy, falling for someone like that well-gelled boy from Dalton. No, here he was, waiting for the boy that had hurt him the most, to say something… anything!

Suddenly Puck was in his space, large, warm hands going to Kurt's hips and holding him in place. Kurt stared up, wide-eyed, into Puck's face and gasped at the tormented look in the jock's eyes.

"Kurt," Puck started, swallowing hard before he could continue. "Do you think I set out to hurt you with that stupid bet? I'm so sorry, more sorry than you can imagine. I'm not famous for thinking things through and … after the time we hung out … it was the last thing I'd want to do."

Kurt stared at him, barely taking in the words but feeling the sincerity behind them hammering at his senses. Well, not all his senses; some were busy cataloguing and enjoying the feeling of Noah's big, muscular body against his. Noah's scent had come to mean a lot of conflicting things and, even now, it had the power to make Kurt think only about what he wanted to do… and it didn't involve talking.

Without a hint of a warning, Kurt leaned in and pressed his lips to Noah's, smirking in his mind at the quickly indrawn breath. He leaned back just as Noah was tilting his head forward for more and smiled softly when the jock opened his eyes. At the sight of the pout already forming, Kurt had to chuckle.

Puck's hands slid from Kurt's hips and he stood there, unsure, as Kurt turned and headed for the door, grabbing his messenger bag as he went. Kurt called over his shoulder, "See you tomorrow, Noah!" and left the other boy staring after him.

Puck blinked several times before realizing he was stood in the middle of the empty choir room, staring at the door through which Kurt had left. He scrubbed a hand down the back of his head as he tried to figure Kurt out.

Shaking his head, he grabbed his things and left the room, wondering if Finn had left without him. As he headed towards the parking lot, his mind on that swift kiss, he realized a lone figure was leaning against the balustrade of the front steps.

"Hey," he said quietly, pulling up beside the other boy. "'Sup?"

Dave looked at him and then gazed out at the empty parking lot. His big shoulders shrugged and then he looked at Puck again, his hazel eyes dim.

"Saw Kurt just now… and he looked happy."

Puck nodded as he looked at the other boy, puzzled as to why he should look so serious about Kurt's upbeat mood.

"Yeah, so?"

Dave huffed a sigh and then asked straight out, "So he's really going to go to that preppy school you told him about?"

Puck's eyes widened as he caught on. He grinned widely and slapped the bigger kid on his meaty shoulder.

"No, dude! Kurt was all pleased with himself because he's not going!"

Dave looked so confused that Puck couldn't drag it out any longer and he explained. "It seemed he pulled a mind whammy on Sylvester and made her believe that the Dalton zero tolerance policy about bullying would work here, dude... and that it was her idea!"

There was a pause and then both boys laughed out loud, Dave shaking his head in admiration of Kurt's ninja-like skills. He murmured something as their laughter died down and Puck looked at him.

"What's that?"

Dave sighed, his eyes gleaming as he got up off of the concrete balustrade, and he looked back at Puck with a smile.

"I said, 'Beautiful and smart'." He shrugged the strap of his backpack onto one shoulder and nodded his leave at Puck, sauntering down the steps.

Puck gazed after him, unhappily aware that the other boy was crushing on his boy, too.

With a last shake of his head, Puck turned towards his truck, his mind on Dave's words.

TBC

A/N 2: To Drarry4eva: I had not thought of making this a threesome but now that you've brought it up, I wonder how many readers would be interested in that.

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