"Noah seriously, knock it off!" Kurt exclaimed behind a laugh as he watched the other man.
They were at the shop and the older man was entertaining not only Kurt but the rest of the guys that worked there by doing an impression of Kurt drunk singing at the bar the other night.
"No guys, just imagine our little Kurtie drunk as hell walking around the most country bar you've ever seen singing Dolly Parton." Noah explained to the shop. "There he was sitting down, everything calm, and then next thing you know," Noah claps his hands together causing an echo to ring through the shop. "Workin' 9 to 5," He sang in a high pitch.
The guys in the shop were laughing as he told the story and at this point all Kurt could really do was fold his arms and slowly shake his head in disappointment. But there was no true malice behind it, the smile on his face made that clear.
"Hey, when Dolly comes on you can't disrespect." Kurt shrugged.
Joe, whom Kurt had known practically his whole life was doubled over in laughter. "God I would have killed to see the looks on some of those people's faces in that bar!"
Kurt turned his attention to Joe in mock offense. "Joe, you know I have a voice that melts all hearts! Hell it was so good some lady told Noah to make sure to bring his boyfriend back for karaoke." Kurt teased and tossed a look to his old glee-mate.
"Oh yeah?" Joe asked, his laughter finally calming down. "And what did your boyfriend have to say about that?"
Kurt opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the man in question. "He said that next time he plans to bring a video camera so he can show the entire shop for proof."
"Whatever." Kurt said and waved the man off. "Alright enough about my honkie tonk debut. I gotta go."
Joe said a quick goodbye and went back to working on the car he had lifted at the moment. Kurt walked to the office and started packing up his things. When his back was turned he heard footsteps enter followed by the door closing. He turned around quickly to find his the military veteran standing there wiping his hands on a rag.
"Come to laugh a little more about my Dolly moment?" Kurt teased with a smile before continuing to pack his things.
"No not right now." Noah chuckled. "I have that filed away in my memory for whenever I need a good laugh."
Kurt rolled his eyes even though the other man couldn't see. He turned back around and sat at the desk to save all of the files he had been working on and shut down the computer. Noah continued to stand there, mindlessly wiping his hands, and watching the brunette.
Feeling the other man's eyes on him Kurt looked away from the computer at him in confusion. "What is it?"
Noah ran his hand along his shaved head, a much appreciated step up from the mohawk he had sported for years. "I just uh," He started and took a step forward. "I wanted to say that I think you're pretty cool Hummel."
Kurt's brows scrunched in confusion. "Uhm thank you?" He replied as more of a question.
"Not that I didn't always think you were cool. Well, okay maybe after I actually got to know you I thought you were cool, but you know," He stuttered a little and scratched the back of his neck.
Kurt hadn't ever really seen the former jock this nervous before. Hell, he'd seen Noah at some of his craziest moments. The good, the bad, and the criminal—but he'd never once seen him at like a shy teenage boy, even when he was a teenage boy.
"I appreciate that Noah, but if this is your apology for not getting to know how cool I was sooner you're about five years too late." Kurt joked lightly.
Noah smirked and finally rested his hand against his side again. "No this isn't an apology Princess. This is a, you're home now and so am I and I think we should hang out proposal."
Kurt's eyes widened a little. He wasn't too sure if he could call his response shock but it felt a whole lot like it. Truthfully, he didn't really understand where any of this was coming from. In the three weeks he'd been home he'd talked to Noah more than he probably ever had, and certainly more than anyone else he was currently talking to. And the two had even gone out that night and shared a bed and secrets. If they weren't "hangin out" then, what would the other man be looking to do?
"I'm a little confused Noah, what do you mean we should hang out?" Kurt asked. "Isn't that what we did the other night at Mickey's?"
Noah finally stuffed his rag in the back of his coveralls and took a seat across from the paler man in front of him. "Yeah technically, but it was a super last minute thing and more than anything we just got drunk and spilled our secrets."
"Correction," Kurt held up a finger. "I got drunk, you pretended to get drunk and let me put on a show in front of a bunch of people."
Noah smiled again and a small chuckle escaped him. "Best night ever." He replied.
Kurt joined in on the laugh but it faded quick as the confusion once again sunk in. "Well if that wasn't us hanging out what is it you're looking for exactly?"
The mechanic was quiet for a second as he held Kurt's gaze. Kurt could help but try to read and analyze what it is that the man wanted. Looking into his hazel eyes all he could see a hint of fear buzzing through his golden orbs. But what was he afraid of?
The pair were friends as far as Kurt was concerned. They may not have been the best of friends but lately he was the only person that Kurt really wanted to talk to, and most days he was. Besides spending time with Carol at night, and taking calls from his dad, Kurt was really in seclusion and the former running back was the only person allowed to interact with him.
Noah finally opened his mouth to respond when the office door came flying open and slammed against the wall.
Both men jumped as they looked up at who had caused the commotion.
"Oh sweet Jesus," Kurt mumbled as he looked at the intruder.
There in the doorway, standing just at five feet tall, in a grey sweater and black pencil skirt, four inch stilettos adding to her height, and the most pointed glare they'd ever witness on the girl stood Rachel Berry.
"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel!" She exclaimed. "Have you fallen and bumped that pretty head of yours? Did you lose consciousness and wake up and suddenly forget how a cell phone works? Maybe you were abducted by aliens and probed to the point that you lost the power of communication. Any of these excuses will be valid reason for why you have been avoiding my phone calls and texts for the last three weeks!" She rambled.
Kurt leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes, and began to message his temples, taking a deep breath as he did. "Hello to you too Rachel."
"Don't give me that attitude as if I'm intruding!" She said stepping into the room and placing her bag down on the seat next to the one being occupied by Noah. Who was starting wide eyed back and forth between the two. "Do you have any idea how freaking worried I have been about you? If it weren't for Carol giving Finn updates weekly I wouldn't know if you were cooped up in bed in a suicidal depression or out getting hammered every night trying to ease your sorrows! Hi Noah," She said acknowledging the man quickly before turning back to the subject of her wrath.
"You literally disappeared off of the map Kurt! You can't just relocate and shut everyone out when you're going through a rough time that isn't how adults behave." She continued.
Kurt raised his finger to interject but was cut off by the ongoing rant the singer was spewing.
"All it would have taken is one phone call to let me know that you were okay and that you weren't off doing something stupid to ease broken heart and I would've accepted that. Anything would have been better than just icing out your best friend. But instead I had to drag Finn on a plane back to Lima just to track you down and make sure you weren't Marilyn Monroe-ing!" She punctuated the ongoing monologue by leaning onto the desk and slamming her hand for dramatic effect. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Finally seeing his opportunity to speak, Kurt exhaled and met the frantic girl's eye. "How was your flight?"
At the simple response Rachel huffed and Noah bit back the laughter that was threatening to escape. He stood up at that and nodded to Kurt. "You clearly have some," He paused looking at the Jewish girl that looked about ready to explode. "Stuff to handle so I'm gonna go. I'm sure Finn is out there somewhere hiding from all of this." He motioned to the angry woman.
"Can we finish what we were trying to talk about later?" Kurt asked, the curiosity seeping into his voice.
Noah smiled and nodded. "Yeah for sure. Good luck with crazy pants here."
"Shut it Puckerman." Rachel bit at him. Noah just laughed as he walked out, closing the door behind him.
Kurt watched him walk away and he so desperately wished that Rachel could have interrupted five minutes later than she had. At least then he would've had some kind of clue as to what the man that'd just left was trying to get at. With a sigh Kurt looked at his former roommate and motioned to the now unoccupied chair.
"I'm sure the soliloquy you must have spent your plane ride working on has tired you out so why don't you take a seat and we can talk like two adults." Kurt started.
Rachel gave him one last pointed look before the ice she'd tried to maintain melted and she fell into the seat with a sad look.
"Kurt I just don't understand why you felt like you had to run away and hide from everyone. Especially me." She replied and the hurt was very apparent now.
Kurt sighed and looked down at his folded hands in his lap. "Rachel I didn't do it because of you. I did it because I didn't have anywhere to go. I needed to get out of San Francisco and away from Elliot immediately and here was the only option."
"That's not true. You could have called me and come and stayed with me and Finn." Rachel argued.
"Yeah and have Finn flip out, kick a chair, and threaten to fly into SFO to pummel Elliot? No thank you."
Rachel opened her mouth but closed it instantly. She looked away for a second as if pondering the likelihood of this and settled on agreeing with a subtle shrug. "Fair enough but why couldn't you just call and keep us up to date? You went from talking to me at least once a day to nothing for three weeks."
It was Kurt's turn to shrug. "I needed some time to myself. It was hard enough thinking about keeping my job, and working from here while also helping my dad and trying not to feel so shitty about myself. Staying in touch with anyone, not only you, felt like it would break me."
Rachel simply nodded. She sat across from Kurt and he could tell she was beginning to understand why he'd done things the way he had. It truly hadn't been a jab at their friendship. Kurt could honestly say that Rachel was his best friend. They'd gone through a lot together in high school, but after graduation they went through a lot more. Break ups, school drama, Broadway, broken engagements, and so much more. How could he not consider the girl to be his best friend? And one day he knew he'd be able to relabel her as his sister in law. No matter how much he loved her though, he needed the time to heal and get back together after the cheating incident and she wouldn't have helped.
"I will say that I am sorry for freezing you out though." Kurt said sincerely. "I missed you."
Rachel's eyes softened and she stood up, beginning to walk around the desk. Kurt followed her lead and they met each other in a tight embrace. Kurt squeezed the girl tight and held her close.
"Don't you ever do something like that again you hear me?" Rachel said into his chest.
"Noted." Kurt chuckled.
The door squeaked opened and revealed the other pair of best friends and former teammates smiling at the scene before them.
"Told you they'd be hugging by now." Finn said matter of factly to his old teammate.
"Damn." Noah grunted. "I was hoping someone would be getting bitch slapped at this point."
firstly, i am soooo sorry i missed posting on thursday! my semester started again about three weeks ago and i have chapters prepared in advance so i wouldn't get behind on posting but yesterday i was so tired after class i forgot to post. oops! but here it is! i hope you enjoy and that you'll still loving the story. i will see you all tuesday, promise xx