A/N: I don't own Glee or the characters.

Chapter Ten:

Damage Control

Rachel Berry was anxious. She tried her best to distract herself all weekend from what she'd seen Friday night at Kurt's sleepover, but she couldn't purge the image of Kurt and Puck kissing from her mind. Try as she might, no matter how many musicals she watched, or how many SAT prep books she poured into her brain, no matter how loudly she blared Barbara Streisand's Greatest Hits, the image remained.

It wasn't that she was disgusted. On the contrary, having two gay dads ensured she was used to such displays of affection. In fact, until age four she had been convinced that all boys married boys and girls were just supposed to be their friends. It wasn't until she enrolled in Hebrew school the next year and got her first kiss from Jeremiah Goldman that she understood some boys married girls, too. So it wasn't revulsion that kept the image of Puck and Kurt burned into her retinas; it was the fact that it was Noah Puckerman, her ex-boyfriend and all around ladies' man, kissing Kurt Hummel that threw her for a loop. And more than that she knew it was a very secret thing she'd witnessed, and she'd have to keep it under wraps; which, if you knew anything about Rachel, was very difficult. She had this propensity to say things she didn't intend to, blurting out secrets and gossip as if she had Tourette's. The whole weekend her fingers reached for her cell phone, itching to tell someone else what she knew. Eventually she had to have her dads hide it, along with her computer, so that she wouldn't be tempted to divulge the secret eating her up inside.

On Monday she kept her head down, not looking anyone in the eye, afraid she'd accidentally let slip out that Puck and Kurt were together. She stayed quiet in class, biting her lips and sitting on her hands, her eyes tearing at the secret burning inside her. She couldn't concentrate, instead staring at the clock, eager for the day to be over. She was relieved when the bell finally rang, eager to get home and away from other people, when she realized it was only the end of her first class. The day had barely begun.

Rachel nearly cried in frustration when she realized she still had the majority of the day to go. Exiting her class, she hugged her binder close to her chest and stared at the ground as she rushed past throngs of students, hurrying to study hall. She wondered how she was going to get through this next period, knowing full well she'd promised Brittany she'd help her study for her History test. Just as she considered ditching Brittany just to be safe, the ditzy blonde tapped her on the shoulder.

Rachel had barely turned around when she blurted out, "Noah and Kurt kissed!" Instantly she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, as if her stomach wasn't wrapped in a vice and her mouth was free from steel wiring. But just as soon as the feeling of liberation flooded her body a great guilt crept up inside her, making her feel bad for telling someone what obviously was none of her business.

"I – you didn't hear that from me," Rachel said, her eyes wide with regret.

"Wait, then who just told me?" Brittany said, confused.

"No, I mean…you can't tell anyone what I just told you," Rachel whispered to Brittany conspiratorially, looking around the library to see if anyone was listening to their conversation.

"Why not? Is it a secret?" Brittany asked again.

"Well, yes," Rachel said, wondering why Brittany wasn't as shocked as she expected her to be.

"But I already knew about it," Brittany said off-handedly.

"You did?" Rachel gasped. "Who else knows?"

"I don't know," Brittany shrugged, "I only figured it out because I've watched Flipper and Brokeback Mountain together so many times I can see a dolphin from a mile away, and Puck looks just like one with his mohawk, so of course he'd get with Kurt. Dolphins are just gay sharks, you know."

Rachel squinted her eyes at Brittany, wondering how someone who was usually so clueless could be so sensitive to this. "Regardless of whether you knew or not, I think it's best we keep it to ourselves."

"I was keeping it to myself. You're the one who told me," Brittany reminded her. Rachel huffed in frustration.

"Okay! I shouldn't have told you," Rachel conceded. "Let's just get started prepping you for your History test."

Brittany opened her notebook and passed a sheet of notes to Rachel. "Lord Tubbington helped me with the Ancient History part. He really made it clear to me," Brittany announced confidently.

"Brittany, the Trojan War wasn't fought over condoms," Rachel said gently. Looking at the glassy-eyed blonde, she wondered how in the world Brittany figured out what was going on between Puck and Kurt before she did.

glee

Glee Club was supposed to serve as a distraction from their everyday problems, but that day Rachel couldn't help but steal glances at Puck and Kurt throughout the lesson as all three of them were sitting in the back row, although Rachel was a few seats away from them. Puck had his arm slung over the back of Kurt's chair, and Rachel could see that Puck would tickle the back of Kurt's ear whenever Mr. Schue had his back to the group, making the brunette giggle and swat Puck playfully on the arm. In turn, she spied Kurt rest his hand on Puck's thigh too often to be a friendly gesture, and once or twice Puck rested his hand on the same outstretched hand, turning it over and rubbing Kurt's palm with his thumb.

Rachel rocked back on forth in her chair while sitting on her hands, resisting the temptation to raise them and inadvertently "out" Puck and Kurt as a couple. She saw the confused looks from Artie and Mercedes as they turned their heads to see why she was being so quiet, and Tina and Brittany asked if she was okay more than once throughout the lesson. Meanwhile Quinn eyed Rachel suspiciously, wondering if the usually mouthy girl's silence was apart of a bigger scheme to win Finn back. The rest of the club was just happy to speak without being interrupted for once.

In the middle of Mr. Schuester prattling on about Regionals, Rachel jumped up and announced she had to use the bathroom. Everyone looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. She babbled away about how girls had to use the bathroom in groups before dragging Kurt down the riser and away into the nearest girl's restroom.

Kurt ripped his arm away from her surprisingly strong grip, rubbing his wrist while Rachel opened each stall to make sure they were alone. Moving the trash can in front of the door so it was blocked she finally turned to Kurt.

"I know," she announced cryptically.

"That you dress like Anne Frank if she grew up to be a librarian during the Kennedy administration? Thank God. I was afraid we'd have to have you committed," Kurt said, eyebrow raised in distaste of her outfit.

"No – wait, is there something wrong with my outfit?" she asked, looking down at her poodle skirt and beige cardigan in puzzlement. Ignoring that for now, she added, "I mean, I know about you and Noah."

"What about me and Noah?" Kurt asked, feigning confusion but really trying to master his voice so it didn't crack from lying.

"I saw you two kissing at your sleepover," she said quietly, hoping it wasn't too much of a shock that someone knew.

"You didn't…it wasn't what it looked - ," he began to defend himself.

"Kurt," Rachel replied gently, "I saw it with my own eyes. You can't deny it."

Kurt furrowed his brows together in worry. He knew Rachel was a gossiper; he only hoped she hadn't told that many people so he could at least get a hold of the situation and rein it in before it spun out of control. Because if too many people heard about it, or their was even a rumor going around suggesting Puck and Kurt were an item…well, Kurt remembered all too vividly what happened in the bathroom after Karofsky and Azimio slushied them both in the cafeteria. Their relationship was still new; if Puck had any reason to think someone else knew about it, he'd end it in order to save his reputation. And Kurt couldn't lose him. Not so soon.

"Who else knows?" Kurt asked, biting his bottom lip in worry.

"Brittany," Rachel said cautiously, gauging Kurt's reaction. "But I didn't tell her; she figured it out on her own."

"No one besides you two?" Kurt asked. "Not Jacob, not Finn? No one in Glee?"

"No," Rachel denied. "I didn't want to say anything before I got the whole story. Wait, does that mean that you and Noah are - ."

" – What Noah and I are is none of your business," Kurt hissed, his voice lowered should anyone hear them in the echoing bathroom. "Look, you didn't see anything that night, understand? You didn't see anything, and you didn't tell anyone, and…just forget that night ever happened."

"Alright," Rachel said meekly. Kurt turned to leave, shoving the trashcan out of his way. Before he opened the door, Rachel called out to him.

"What?" Kurt asked, his arms crossed in a mixture of anger and worry.

"I think you and Noah make a lovely couple," she said, hoping it calmed the boy's fears. If anything it stirred them up even more. They weren't a couple. They weren't anything. They could break-up tomorrow and no one would even know because no one except four people in the entire world knew they were together.

Kurt stormed out of the bathroom without another word, angry at Rachel for finding out, angry at Puck for making him feel guilty that someone else even knew about them, and angry at himself for being so reckless as to kiss in public like that. When he got back to the choir room, he sat in the front row, as far away from Puck as possible, his arms crossed and his foot tapping against the floor anxiously.

A/N: Do you all hate me? Probably. This chapter took months to write. I just had major writer's block with this story. Not so much with what happens next, because I have that planned out, but every time I would come back to write this story I would stare blankly at the screen before giving up and working on something else. It sucked.

I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing!