Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. I do own Mouse, Sarah, and Candy though.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
...
Chapter Twenty-Eight
...
Mouse tossed and turned in her sleep, a nightmare pulling at her mind and drowning her. She was being suffocated, hands were grabbing at her, but she couldn't get away, she couldn't save herself. She was being pulled and pushed, and her head was pounding. She could taste blood, her hands curled into tight fists so that her nails pierced the skin. She screamed, but the noise was muffled and no one heard as she drowned in the blackness.
Waking up, her own terror propelling Mouse from her nightmare, she took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. She was trembling, covered in sweat, and despite the blanket she'd had earlier, she was freezing. Getting out of bed, she fixed her twisted sheets and fallen blanket, crawling back under the cover and wrapping it around her tightly.
Mouse knew the reason for her nightmare, but that didn't make it any better. When home group began later that morning, her nightmare could very well become a reality. Kent had been released from hospital, had gone through physiotherapy treatments, and was returning to school that day.
...
Six hours later, Mouse was standing as close to Puck as was possible. If not for the fact that she was squeezing his hand so tightly that their hands were completely white, their proximity might have been considered inappropriate.
"Say the word, and I'll deck him," Puck murmured in Mouse's ear. He caressed her shoulder gently, trying to reassure and soothe her, but she looked too wired and tense to relax for long.
Just as Mouse was going to reply, to tell him not to do something that could look bad for his academic or working career, Kent entered the room. Silence descended immediately, and Mouse wished that everyone had just kept talking, acting as if his return to the class wasn't as big a deal as it felt. Somehow, she fought back the desire to be sick and managed to move even closer to Puck. It was only then that she realised that Mercedes and Tina had given up their usual spots beside her so that the football team could sit around her, protecting her as her Glee members couldn't.
Kent ignored her, ignored everyone's silence, and took a seat near the door. Noise returned slowly, but Mouse couldn't bring herself to relax. Puck was murmuring something in her ear, but she couldn't focus on his words, her mind caught up at Kent's mere presence. Puck moved so that Mouse was sitting on his lap and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, glaring at the teacher and daring him to say anything about it. The moment the bell rang for the first lesson, Kent seemingly disappeared from the room.
"You 'kay to go to class?" Puck asked, his words starting to register in her mind.
Not trusting her voice, Mouse simply nodded. Puck gave a nod to the surrounding footballers, and they all stood up in unison to lead her to their Spanish class with Mr. Schuester. In the middle of the mass of bodies, Mouse let herself start to relax.
She told herself that it was stupid to feel this way, to let Kent make her feel this way. She was stronger than this, she was smarter than this, and it was just a result of her nightmare earlier that morning that was making her feel so vulnerable. Resolving to not become a basket case, Mouse took a deep breath and made herself stand up straighter.
Puck squeezed her hand gently, smiling to reassure her. No one would hurt her the way Kent had, he would make sure of it.
...
"I know that this day is a bit tense on everyone, but I thought that I might be able to ease some of the emotion with these," Rachel said at lunch, handing out slips of paper to each of them.
"You are invited to Rachel Berry's 17th birthday: a slumber party, to be held this Sunday from 4pm," Tina read aloud.
"A Sunday night?" Finn asked, surprised that her fathers had agreed to it.
"Yes. It's the only night that everyone's available. Santana and Brittany have Cheerios practise on Friday, and Artie has band practice on Saturday; I really wanted everyone to attend," Rachel said, looking uncharacteristically shy. "My fathers have agreed to drive everyone in for school the next day," she added quickly.
Mercedes frowned on seeing the note at the bottom. "BYOB and plate?"
"Bring your own blanket," Rachel answered quickly. "And I know that not everyone will enjoy the vegetarian things I like, so I thought if you all brought a plate of food, then you know you'd like something," she said with a brighter smile.
"Candy has to work on next week's gameplay with Coach Beiste this weekend, so I might not be able to come," Mouse said.
"Please try, I'd really like for you to be there," Rachel said, her eyes wide.
"All right, I'll try," Mouse said, not feeling overly optimistic about her chances.
Candy entered the cafeteria with Terrence beside him, the younger boy's arms tightly holding a large blue folder. Terrence grabbed two trays for them and carried them to the table.
"What's that, Candy?" Mouse asked as he sat down.
"It's Coach's folder. Sweet's protecting it," Candy said proudly, sliding onto a seat without letting go of the folder.
"Are you going to let go of it?" she asked, receiving a very firm shake of the head in return. "Then how will you eat your lunch?"
Candy looked at his folder, then to the lunch tray that was in front of him with a frown. "Mousie will feed sweet," he declared, smiling brightly at his solution.
"Will I? I think you're missing a few words there, Candy kid," Mouse pointed out.
"Will Mousie please feed sweet, please?" Candy asked quickly.
"All right. Terremce, swap places with me, would you?"
There was a bit of noise and shuffling (Mouse might have physically climbed over Puck, but it happened so quickly that he wasn't really sure), and in a matter of minutes, Mouse was sitting next to Candy, feeding him carefully. The blue folder never left his arms for the duration of lunch.
...
"Now, before you do any cleaning, you need to measure the pH level of the water. That determines how much salt and chemicals you have to put in for the water to be clean enough to swim in safely," Phil instructed him.
Puck nodded, trying to keep his mind focused on what Phil was telling him rather than on his tight shirt. 'Lima Liquid Labourers' was emblazoned on the back of it, but the baby blue shirt felt like it was a size too small and the buttons were restricting around his neck.
"I'll show you how to do that, then you can give it a go."
Unbuttoning his shirt's top button with a quick swipe, Puck felt a little easier, and was able to watch Phil without feeling like a boa constrictor was strangling him.
The instructions continued for the next three houses, totalling almost five hours of work. When Puck had just been cleaning himself, all three houses would have taken less than an hour, but he was kind of proud that he was doing it right this time around.
Phil had looked a little ecstatic on seeing Puck's extensive clientele list, and had promptly added the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the numerous women in his database. Puck had called each of them personally to inform them that he would now be working at Lima Liquid Labourers, and all of the women were more than happy for him to keep servicing their pools. The LLL boys had a reputation for being pretty, and the cougars had been happy with their service before Puck and his extra service had come along.
"Now, I've still got another two houses to do, but I know you've got exams coming up, so you're getting the rest of the night off... Go home and study. Trust me, Noah, you don't want to fail your exams as spectacularly as I did. It was pure dumb luck that I got this business up and running, and I had to go back to school twice before it became as successful as all this," Phil said as they returned to the LLL building and employee carpark.
"Thanks for the advice," Puck said.
"It wasn't advice, it was a warning," he said seriously.
Suddenly, the bright and glistening future that Puck had built around this job and career didn't seem so certain.
"Right. Thanks for the warning then. I'll study and pass my exams, don't worry about that," he said with a quick and confident grin.
"Good luck, Noah," Phil called.
Puck got in his car and waited until Phil had left the carpark before driving home. He had some serious studying to do.
...
Mouse was surprised when Puck suggested that they should study together, and even more surprised when he actually seemed to mean it. Something had kicked him and made him get his butt into gear, that was certain.
After arranging a study date for that Saturday at her house, Mouse asked Puck how his afternoon went with Phil.
"It was good. Learnt a lot, but I swear I'll be dreaming of pH levels tonight," he replied with a good-natured groan.
"I'm sure there's worse to dream about," she said, and Puck just knew that she had a wicked smile on, even through the phone.
"Mmhmm... So, what are you wearing?" he asked, leaning back on his chair.
"Pyjamas. Y'know, all of that sexy flannel with the check pattern on it," Mouse said, rolling her eyes.
Puck laughed. "God, I love you."
"I know... Oh, that reminds me. After exams have finished, want to do a Star Wars marathon?"
For a moment, Puck didn't know how to respond. Sure, he knew that Mouse knew about Star Wars, especially from her quoting Yoda and that joke about Han Solo, but Puck hadn't really connected it with having a girlfriend who actually knew, liked, and would willingly watch Star Wars with him.
"Sure. Need me to bring them over?"
At this, Mouse laughed heartily. "Oh, that's hilarious. You think I don't own my own copies? Please, I've got a light-up lightsaber and a Star Wars hat hidden in the back of my closet."
"Why'd you hide it?"
"Because it's one from Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I was too young to understand that it was an awful film, but I still can't bring myself to throw it away... The lightsaber's hidden because if I see it, I'll want to play with it, and apparently I give Mother a headache when I make all of the sound effects. Which reminds me, I should do that on Saturday morning when she's hungover. Want to come in early? We can re-enact the fight scene between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader."
"Only if I can be Obi-Wan," Puck said, grinning broadly.
"You really think I'd let you be Darth Vader? I get to wear the cool helmet, you get the ugly robe... Damn, why isn't there a lightsaber fight scene with Han Solo? He gets the tight pants," Mouse said, somewhere between a pout and laughter.
Don't think of slave Leia, don't think of slave Leia... Ah, screw it.
"Tell me you've got a slave Leia outfit hidden somewhere too," he asked, his voice cracking.
There was a long moment of silence, and Puck was almost certain that she was doing this on purpose just to hear him squirm.
"Not yet," Mouse said with a grin, and those two words had never held more promise.
"Torture. Absolute torture," Puck groaned.
"What's torture?" an inquisitive voice asked behind him.
"Katie! Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me! Knock next time!"
"I did, but you didn't answer. I just wanted to say good night," Katie said, her eyes widening and filling with tears.
"Good night," Puck said briefly, shooing her to go away.
"Not to you. I wanted to say good night to Mouse before you went all mushy and gross."
"What? I don't go mushy. Besides, why would you want to say good night to my girlfriend for?" Puck asked, looking at her suspiciously.
Her cheeks reddening, Katie refused to answer. Instead, she held out her hand, and when he handed the phone over (after telling Mouse that Katie wanted to say good night), Katie bolted from the room as fast as she could. Puck yelled after her, telling her to come back, and to bring the phone back, damn it.
"Stop your swearing! Don't make me come up there, damn it!" his mother called from downstairs. "And stop yelling!" she added as an afterthought.
Muttering to himself, Puck went to Katie's room, banging on the door loudly. "Give my phone back, you little brat."
"No! And I'm not a brat!"
Hearing his mobile phone ringtone, Puck hurried back to his room to check the new message.
Leave us alone for a minute. I'll call you to say good night later. Jane.
His mother called out good night to both of them about half an hour later, but the phone still hadn't been returned. Another half hour passed before there was a timid knock on the door. By the time he opened it, Katie was gone, but the phone was sitting in front of his door innocently. Picking it up, Puck was surprised to hear that Mouse was still on the line.
"What the hell was that all about?" Puck demanded, closing the door behind him firmly.
"Calm down, Puck," Mouse said wearily. "Ever since her birthday party where she stood up for Candy, Katie's been teased at school by that little brat, Banana or whatever her name was. She's not handling it the best, and she wanted to talk to someone who wasn't you or your mother, because Katie knew that you'd both overreact."
Puck, who had been thinking of all of the diastrous things he could do to that stuck up little princess, realised that he was thinking all of this about a girl who probably wasn't even 12 years old yet, and suddenly felt like nothing more than a bully.
"I wouldn't overreact," he protested lamely.
Mouse snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, let's just skip over that lame comeback and both agree that you definitely would have overreacted if Katie had told you this herself. You'd probably be demanding to find the kid and stick her in a dumpster or something."
Puck was quiet, and his silence was damning enough.
"Anyway, just cut Katie a bit of slack, would you? She's gone from being popular, or at least popular by association, to having no friends at all, and she's taking it hard. Also, try to stop calling her a brat. It makes her feel even worse."
Remembering that he'd called her a brat only an hour before, Puck winced and felt even worse than a bully. He wasn't sure who was worse than a bully exactly, but feeling like it left his stomach twisting.
"I'm a bit exhausted after playing counsellor, so I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Sleep well, Noah," Mouse said, her words ending with a yawn.
"You too. See you then," he replied distractedly.
After hanging up, Puck simply looked at the phone for a moment, wondering just how bad his sister thought he was that she couldn't talk to him about something like this. Throwing the phone on his bed, he left his bedroom and crossed the hallway to Katie's door. His hand raised to knock, Puck stopped for a moment as he heard sobbing. Knocking on the door gently, he waited a few moments before opening it and slipping inside.
"Go - hic - go away," Katie said, hugging a pillow tightly and hiccuping between her words and sobs.
"Why didn't you tell me, Katie?"
"Like - hic - you - hic, hic - even care," she said, sobbing more.
"Of course I care. You're my little sister. I'm meant to care and take care of you. Especially against little bitches who probably have tiaras stuck up their butts."
Katie giggled slightly, wiping at her tears. She slowly sat up, and Noah held back a wince when he saw just how awful she looked. Thirteen years old and she was crying herself to sleep. Well, fuck, if that didn't just put his life into perspective.
"That'd probably make her walk funnier than she already does," Katie said, giggling again.
"What was her name? Banana or something?"
Katie burst out laughing. "Ba... Banana! Nooo, her name is Bianca."
"Oh, okay. So her name's Banana? Please tell me that her favourite colour's yellow."
Peals of laughter were bursting from Katie and she couldn't stop laughing. Puck hugged her gently as her laughter turned to hysterical sobs once more.
"It's all right, Katie. You'll be fine, y'know. You're stronger than this, than them, and you should know that. You're a Puckerman, and you're my sister. That means that if anyone bothers you, then you tell me and I'll help you sort them out. I won't even hit them," he added, squeezing her gently.
Katie nodded against his chest, his shirt wet with her tears. She eventually stopped crying, and simply hugged her brother as he stroked her hair back off her forehead gently.
"Thank you, Noah. Love you," Katie murmured sleepily, her eyes closing as she was pulled into sleep.
"Love you too, Katie," Noah whispered, tucking her in gently, kissing her forehead and leaving as quietly as possible.
"Everything all right?"
"Geez, Mum! Are you trying to kill me?" he hissed, his hand on his chest.
"Don't be silly. I heard you two laughing, talking, and Katie crying. Is everything all right?"
Puck nodded briefly. "I think so, yeah."
"All right then. Just... Let me know if something's wrong, okay? You might not want me to interfere in things, but you're both still my children, and I want to know what's wrong. Or what's right, even. Too many parents are going about thinking that there's nothing wrong with their kids, that they love playing the piano, and then the kid snaps, breaks the piano in half and goes off throwing keys at people."
"What the hell sort of daytime TV are you watching, Mum?" Puck asked in concern.
"Oh, don't give me that... I mean it, Noah. I don't want to be left in the dark again, okay? It was heart breaking enough that you didn't think you could tell me about Quinn and the baby."
Seeing the betrayed and hurt expression on his mother's face, Puck sighed softly. For the second time that night, he willingly hugged a family member.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Mum. I'll try to be a bit more open about things, all right? But I'm going to keep secrets if I have to, 'kay?"
Not entirely appeased, but supposing it was better than nothing, she nodded. "All right. You go to bed now, you've got school in the morning."
"All right. 'Night Mum," he said, kissing her cheek.
"Good night, Noah. I love you."
"You too, Mum," Puck said over his shoulder with a broad grin.
His bedroom door closed quietly, and with a sigh, his mother headed back to her own room too.
...
"Why, how now, Hecate? You look angerly.
"Have I not reason, bedlams as you are,
Saucy and overbold?
How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?"
Mouse stopped quoting Macbeth to glare at Puck, who was drawing patterns in his notebook instead of paying attention. She sighed heavily, putting a bookmark in the book and looking at him properly.
"I thought you were going to take this studying seriously?" Mouse asked, frowning at Puck.
"I am... All right, fine, I'm not. Where's your light saber?" he asked, grinning broadly.
"I'll throw it in the bin if you don't concentrate on this."
"No, you wouldn't," Puck replied knowingly. But then he figured she might, just to spite him. "All right, I'm studying. Seriously, this time," he added.
"Thank you. Now, in Macbeth, what events do the witches inspire?"
"Well, they inspire nearly all of it, because they tell Macbeth that he's going to become a Lord or whatever, and then like, five minutes later, he finds out he's been promoted to Lord, so then he thinks that everything else the witches said about him would be true too. It's his crazy-ass wife that suggested that he kill the King so they could get to the crown quicker, but without the witches giving him the idea of becoming King, I don't think Macbeth would have ever killed the King for the crown. He said that he loved the man and was devoted and loyal, and whatever else, but then he goes and sticks a knife in him the moment he can because his wife seriously wants to be Queen. Sound about right?"
Mouse was staring at Puck, looking incredulous. "You actually know about Macbeth?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, we had to watch the movie in class like ten times, and I thought it made some sense, so I read the book a few times too. You know, they miss out on some of the things in the movie, and some of it's really important," he groused. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Puck asked, frowning.
"You've actually read and understood Shakespeare; you have no idea how turned on I am right now!" she said, her tone somewhere between laughter and disbelief.
Puck grinned broadly. "Really?"
"Really-really," Mouse said, fanning herself with her book. "Damn it, if you start quoting Shakespeare, I might just melt into a puddle."
"Well, in that case...
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward me hand?
Come, let me clutch thee:
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."
Grinning broadly, Mouse flicked through the pages of Macbeth to find where Puck was quoting from.
"Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation.
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw."
His quoting was cut off by Mouse kissing him. Puck grinned, his hands resting against her hips, and her arms winding around his neck as they deepened the kiss eagerly.
"I'm going to read King Lear next," Puck informed her when they pulled away.
"Oh, don't tease me," Mouse said, pouting at him briefly.
"I don't tease about Shakespeare," he replied seriously, though he was grinning.
"After exams, we can read that one together if you'd like? King Lear's one of my favourites," Mouse admitted, grinning brightly.
"All right. After exams," Puck said with a nod.
Unable to resist, Mouse kissed him once more before returning back to Macbeth.
...
"Hi, welcome. Thank you for coming," Rachel said, opening the door to let Mouse in. "Is Candy coming?" she asked when she stepped inside alone.
"No, Candy's staying with Burt and Carole tonight; he was too exhausted after working on the game plays with Coach Beiste today," Mouse replied. "I brought a birthday present for you," she said, holding out the small wrapped present with a smile.
"Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you, Mouse," Rachel said, surprised that she'd brought one.
She hadn't specified that birthday presents were necessary, as she was just glad that she actually had some real friends to celebrate her birthday with this year.
"I've got mattresses set up for the girls in my room, and the boys are in the lounge room," Rachel said, leading Mouse to her bedroom so she could put her bag and sleeping bag away.
"Thanks," Mouse said, throwing her things on the spare mattress.
"That's all right. I've got a lot of things planned for tonight. I hope everyone will enjoy themselves," Rachel murmured.
"I'm sure we all will," Mouse reassured her with a smile
The doorbell rang loudly and Rachel jumped in surprise. "Oh, that must be Finn, Mike, and Matt. They're the last three we're waiting on. I think everyone's in the lounge room if you'd like to go there?" Rachel offered.
Nodding, Mouse watched as Rachel all but ran out of her room to answer the door. Shaking her head slightly, she headed down to the lounge room to where the others were waiting.
"Hey," Puck said when she came in, moving over so she could sit next to him.
"Hey... Oh, wow. Rachel's really got this set up, doesn't she?" Mouse muttered, seeing the various game consoles and numerous microphone controllers that were sitting on the coffee table.
"Yeah, she let us have a look at her games. They're all Singstar and karaoke games. Every single one," Puck said with a low groan. "I don't mind singing, and I'll even have a turn at this, but that's a hell of a lot of singing games," he muttered.
"It won't be so bad. We can have a Halo marathon next weekend to make up for it," she promised, patting his leg.
Puck chuckled, taking her hand in his own. "Sure. But first things first... Do you have any requests?"
Mouse grinned and started looking at the game cases to find a song.
"Hey, girl, what're you doing?" Mercedes asked, coming to sit across from her at the coffee table.
"Looking for a song to make Puck sing," she replied with a grin.
"Oh, let me help? I'm sure I saw one for the Spice Girls in here," Mercedes said with a wild cackle, sorting through the games.
Puck groaned and leaned back on the lounge, just wondering what he'd gotten himself into.
"What's all your groaning about?" Finn asked, grinning down at him.
"They're going to make me sing Spice Girls."
"Oh, too bad man," Mike said with a laugh, patting him on the head condescendingly.
"Don't be so quick to laugh, Michael Chang. I'm choosing your song," Santana said with a smirk.
He groaned and smacked his head against Matt's shoulder.
"Oh, I can choose yours too, Matt," Brittany said cheerfully.
Matt clutched Mike, whimpering.
"We're going to be stuck singing some awfully cheesy song from the 80s, aren't we?" Artie asked with a shudder.
"Probably. Might as well give in now," Tina said cheerfully.
"Fine, I'm choosing your song then," Artie replied, rolling over to the table carefully.
"Excellent idea," Finn said with a broad grin.
"Sorry, babe, but if I have to sing something awful, then so do you," Mike said to Santana, pulling Matt over to the games.
Puck hurried over, and there was silence for a few minutes as they sorted through the games. Laughter crept in as half-remembered songs were sung in a high pitch.
Rachel came into the lounge room to see them all gathered around the coffee table, laughing and swapping games as others whispered and conspired. Setting down the tray of finger food she and her fathers had prepared earlier, Rachel moved to join in, glad that they seemed to be having fun. She was arguing over Barbara Streisand's classic and lasting songs with Mercedes when the bell rang. Frowning, Rachel left them setting up the console and TV so she could answer the door. She was just glad that her fathers were upstairs and at the other end of the house. They were having a Sex and the City marathon, and probably wouldn't hear a thing downstairs, no matter how loud she and her friends sang.
"Kurt? You made it!" Rachel said, grinning at him broadly and hugging him. "I thought you weren't coming?"
"I managed to change some things around... I invited Blaine, I hope you don't mind?" Kurt asked, blushing delicately.
It was then that she noticed Blaine standing a few paces behind Kurt, his hands behind his back as he waited with a smile and puppy-like eyes.
"Not at all. Come in; we're getting the karaoke set up," Rachel said, ushering them inside.
"I brought you a present," Kurt said.
"And I brought beer," Blaine said, grinning.
"Beer?" Rachel echoed, surprised.
"Yeah, that's what the BYOB meant, didn't it?" Blaine asked, faltering.
"It meant bag or blanket. I'm sorry, I thought I'd written that on the invitation," Rachel lamented, wringing her hands.
"Oh, man, you brought booze? Nice," Matt said, grinning as he swiped the two six-packs from Blaine.
The others crowded around, some reacquainting themselves with Blaine, but most curious about the alcohol. Bottles were being opened, experimental sips taken, and then entire bottles handed out with grins.
A little outside of the group, Mouse clenched her hands tightly, her eyes screwed up shut as the smell of the alcohol reminded her far too forcibly of her mother. Her stomach turned at the overwhelming and sickly scent, her muscles tightening as she waited for the accompanying onslaught of verbal or physical abuse.
"Hey, you okay, Mouse?" Puck asked, seeing her statue-like frame.
Mouse tried to answer, to say that she didn't feel well, to say that she felt like this wasn't going to end well at all, but she was too frozen to answer.
"Jane? Come on, come over here," Puck murmured, leading her to the corner of the room gently. "Are you all right?"
She shook her head, her nails digging into her palms sharply. The pain seemed to help her focus, and Mouse realised that she couldn't smell any alcohol on Puck's breath.
"I'm not happy about the alcohol being here. It reminds me of Sarah, and I feel sick. I'm just glad Candy's not here to see this. He wouldn't understand, and he'd be petrified. He associates alcohol with being hurt and to see everyone drinking like this... It would kill him," Mouse explained, not bothering to mention that her first response had been associated with pain as well. "We're underage, no one knows that we're drinking, and I don't care how prudish I sound, this is totally irresponsible. What if something happens, or someone drinks too much and has to go to hospital? No one here's going to be sober enough to drive, and that means we'll have to involve our parents. Rachel's fathers weren't happy about this party being on a Sunday, can you imagine what they'd say if they knew we were drinking behind their backs?"
"Don't worry, I'll be staying sober. I'm not really into drinking as much anymore," Puck said, looking to the Coke bottle in his hand. "And if you're uncomfortable, we can leave. Rachel won't mind," he offered.
Mouse almost said yes, that she wanted to leave right then, to get as far away from this as humanly possible.
"I'm the only one with a First Aid certificate, and after Sarah, I know how to deal with someone when they're drunk. I'll stay, if only to keep them from hurting themselves or each other," she said finally. "Just... Can you help me move the coffee table to the side? I don't think it's going to be safe there."
"It's just two six-packs; how wild do you think they're going to get?" Puck asked with a slight grin, but helped her move the coffee table anyway.
Mouse didn't say anything, but his answer came when Blaine, Mike, Finn, and Matt left a few minutes later, returning with a carton of beer each. The karaoke was finally on, and it seemed as though the first beer had loosened everyone up so that they were singing loudly and cheerfully, laughing when they got the words wrong or when they couldn't hit the right note. They were happy, and as cups were brought in, the beer continued to flow.
Seeing how uncomfortable Mouse was, Puck grabbed the microphone that was sitting on the coffee table. A few minutes later, his game was set up and ready, and with a grin, he began to sing.
"Girl you've never known no one like me,
Up there in your high society.
They might tell you I'm no good,
Girl they need to understand,
Just who I am.
I may be a real bad boy,
But baby I'm a real good man," Puck sang, giving Mouse a wink.
She laughed when the girls called out to him, encouraging him to keep singing.
"I may drink too much and play too loud,
Hang out with a rough and rowdy crowd.
That don't mean I don't respect,
My Mama or my Uncle Sam,
Yes sir, yes ma'am.
I may be a real bad boy,
But baby I'm a real good man."
Laughing, Rachel crept up behind Puck, putting a cowboy hat on him. He grinned and tipped his hat at her, turning his attention back to Mouse.
"I might have a reckless streak,
At least a country-mile wide.
If you're gonna run with me,
It's gonna be a wild ride.
When it comes to loving you,
I've got velvet hands. (Here, Mouse blushed and bit her lip. Damn, he'd have to tell her how that drove him crazy.)
I'll show you how a real bad boy,
Can be a real good man," Puck finished singing.
A score came up on the screen, one he could care less about, and the microphone was taken away as Mike and Artie set up their own game.
"Feeling a bit better?" Puck asked Mouse quietly.
"A little. Thanks for that," she said, kissing his cheek.
He grinned, took his hat off and put it on her head. She smiled up at him, her fingers lacing through his.
"Just shoot for the stars,
If it feels right.
Then aim for my heart,
If you feel like it.
Take me away,
I'll make it okay,
I swear I'll behave," Artie sang, grinning.
"You wanted control,
So we waited.
I put on a show,
Now I make it.
You say I'm a kid,
My ego is big,
I don't give a shit," Mike said, his eyes wide as he put his hand over his mouth mockingly.
"And it goes like this..."
"Take me by the tongue,
And I'll know you.
Kiss me 'til you're drunk,
And I'll show you.
All the moves like Jagger.
I've got the,
Moves like Jagger.
I've got the,
Moves like Jagger."
Artie continued to sing, Mike dancing along with the character on the screen as everyone else clapped along to the song's beat.
As the night progressed, the mood started to change. It was subtle at first, with Mercedes and Tina laughing to each other, although no one knew what was funny. Then it continued with Santana bursting into tears when one of the guys jeered at her for singing something wrong; Quinn started arguing with Finn over the song he'd picked for her; Brittany sat on Matt's lap, undoing her shirt as she hummed a striptease; and Rachel started to demand attention, clinging onto whoever looked at her long enough.
Though her stomach had settled, and she'd finally stopped feeling sick at the smell of the alcohol, Mouse couldn't bring herself to have any (hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite, the mantra played in her head, louder than any karaoke song), and she just watched her friends spiral down into their own private hells.
Mouse made sure that they all had a glass of water before going to sleep (some only accepted it when she said it was vodka); calmed Quinn down when she got angry, deflecting sharp words and loud noises; she left Santana with some chocolates and tissues; made sure that Brittany didn't expose herself further; and drew Rachel's attention away from whoever she'd gained it from last. Mercedes and Tina had fallen asleep against each other, and she'd coaxed them away from the lounge onto the mattresses on the floor.
When everyone was settled on the mattresses, blankets and pillows finally in the correct places, Mouse moved to where Puck was dozing, slipping onto the mattress beside him. He opened an eye to make sure it wasn't Rachel, grinning slightly when he saw Mouse's short hair. Pressing a kiss to her neck, Puck held her a bit closer and settled down to sleep.
...
End of chapter twenty-eight.
Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it!