Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
...
Chapter Thirty-Two
...
Katie looked very solemn as she surveyed her brother, walking around him slowly and brushing lint off his suit carefully.
"You done yet? I want to go to the prom before it ends, you know," Puck muttered.
"You didn't pick me up from school and I had to walk home on my own. I'm taking as long as I like," Katie said with a hard glare.
"I already said I was sorry about that!" Puck said, wincing.
"Uh-huh," she murmured, picking off another piece of imaginary lint. "There, you're done now," Katie said finally, stepping back. "Let me see the corsage again."
Puck sighed and held out the small clear box with the corsage in it.
"Good. Try not to stab Mouse when you pin it to her, okay?"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Don't you sass me," Katie said, glaring.
Puck burst out laughing at the look on his sister's face and pulled her in for a hug. "I hope you always stay this awesome, Katie."
"Of course I will," she said, grinning up at him. "You're not the worst big brother in the world."
"I'll take that as the highest compliment a little sister can give," he said with a chuckle. "Come on, I'll piggy back you downstairs."
"Yay!" Katie said excitedly, scrambling up his back and holding on tightly. "Giddy-up!"
"You're choking me, Katie," he groaned, tugging at her arm against his neck.
Puck gasped for breath when she moved her arm properly, then he made his way downstairs, his sister's laughter in his ear.
...
Puck was surprisingly nervous as he knocked on the door of the Franklin residence, his heart racing and his hands sweating. He was barely able to wipe his hands on his pants before the door was opened by a very excited Candy, who was wearing his own suit and tie.
"Well, don't you scrub up nicely?" Puck said, grinning at him.
"Sweet scrubbed twice," he said with a nod, pressing his hands to his cheeks.
"Can I come in?"
"Yes, but you have to stay in the lounge room with sweet. Mousie's not ready yet. Mummy's making her put makeup on," Candy said, giggling. He stopped giggling suddenly and a held up a disposable camera. "Look what Mousie bought for sweet!"
"Nice. Have you taken any photos yet?" Puck asked, glad that his heart was slowly calming down.
Candy shook his head. "Sweet isn't allowed upstairs while Mummy's putting makeup on Mousie," he admitted.
"Well, you can take a photo of me then, how about that?" Puck offered, posing to show off his guns in the best possible way while wearing a tux.
Candy grinned brightly and held the camera up to his face carefully, moving slightly to the left and right before deciding on the best angle and pressing the button. A bright flash left Puck wanting to stumble around for the next few minutes.
"Just give me a minute, Candy, that was bright," Puck muttered, pressing his hands to his eyes.
"Oh, Puuuuck," Sarah called sweetly, the sound actually making Puck shudder in revulsion.
Candy peeked out of the lounge room with wide eyes and turned back to Puck with an even wider smile. "Mousie's so pretty," he said in an awed whisper.
Noah followed Candy, his eyes no longer seeing spots thankfully, and looked up to the landing where Jane was standing. She was dressed in a blue dress, light reflecting off the skirt sequins, a tighter bodice, and one shoulder bared. Her hair had been tamed with product, a thin blue band parting her hair from her fringe, and silvery flecks of what looked to be glitter in her hair.
"Hey," Jane said, smiling and blushing slightly at the look on his face.
He couldn't seem to respond and simply nodded, grinning a little foolishly. Jane made her way down the stairs carefully, lifting her dress so she wouldn't step on it in her navy heels. Noah gulped slightly at the very idea that this gorgeous person had ever agreed to be with him, and pressed a kiss to her hand when she reached him. A bright flash brought them both out of their own thoughts and Candy smiled at them happily over the top of his camera.
"You look beautiful, Jane," Noah said.
She smiled at him. "You don't look half-bad yourself, Noah." Jane laughed suddenly, looking down at the dress. "It's probably one of the few times you'll see me in a dress, so we'd better get a good photo of it, huh?"
"Good idea. Candy, would you do the honours?" he asked, standing beside her, his arm around her waist.
"Ow, wait, what's that?" Jane asked, feeling a sharp sensation digging into her side.
"Oh, that's your corsage. I forgot it," Noah admitted, pulling the box out of his jacket.
The corsage was slightly squished, but Jane didn't seem to care. "Thank you, Noah. Oh, good it's one with a band. Apparently, I can't wear my watch, so that can go on my wrist instead," she said with a grin.
Glad that he wouldn't risk pinning her or ruining her dress, Noah nodded and slipped it on her wrist gently, his fingertips caressing her skin. Another photo was taken as they grinned at each other.
"All right, photos and then we can get going," Sarah said, smiling brightly as she came down the stairs with her clutch in hand.
"Uh... What?" Puck muttered.
"Mum's offered to be a chaperone so Candy can come," Mouse replied.
"I didn't know that," he said.
"Until this morning, I didn't either. Don't worry, I doubt she'll be there long," she muttered, glancing over at her mother as she fussed over Candy's hair.
"I don't know if that's a good thing or not," he replied, knowing the reason why Sarah would disappear from the prom.
"That makes two of us."
"All right you two lovebirds, smile!" Sarah called, both she and Candy holding up cameras.
Both Mouse and Puck scowled at the word lovebirds, two bright flashes going off before they could smile. They took photo after photo for a good fifteen minutes, Sarah not letting them go until she was sure she had the perfect shot.
"Hey, Candy, you should get a photo with us. It's your prom night too," Puck said, motioning him to join them.
Candy looked up at his mother who gave a nod, and he hurried forward, hugging both Puck and Mouse tightly. They all smiled at the camera, Puck's arm around Mouse's waist as Candy stood in front of them, smiling brighter than the flash itself.
...
Mouse was glad that Sarah had left with Candy a few minutes before them to scope out the other chaperones. She hoped that Mr. Schuester wouldn't be too traumatised, or could avoid her mother at least.
"Are you all right?" Puck asked, glancing at her as they headed to the school.
"Glad we've finally got some time alone," she admitted, playing with her corsage.
"So am I," he said with a smile, pressing another kiss to her hand, his thumb stroking the back of her hand.
"Hands on the wheel, Puckerman. I don't want to end up as a road death statistic on prom night," Mouse said, her lips twitching. "Or any other night for that matter."
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Puck said, chuckling as he put his hands back at ten and two on the wheel.
Mouse turned the radio on, both of them humming along and singing dramatically at random intervals, laughter filling the car and keeping any serious talks at bay for the moment.
"So, I've got to ask: what's with the glitter in your hair?" Puck asked, grinning slightly as he parked the car in the school parking lot.
"It was Candy's idea. He said it looked like stars and matched my dress. We went a little bit overboard, so Sarah took over the makeup duties. She spent a lot of time cleaning the glitter from my hair and muttering about how I looked like a sparkling hair vampire or something. I tried to tune her out by then."
"Do I want to know what a sparkling hair vampire is?"
"No, and I don't want to either," Mouse said, laughing.
They both grinned at each other, and then looked to the school building that was lit up by a multitude of fairy lights and had a red carpet entrance.
"Ready for this, Noah?" Jane asked, looking at him.
"As ready as I'll ever be. We can't stay in here and deprive the masses of your beauty," he added, grinning at her. "Stay right there," Puck said seriously, getting out of the car and moving to the passenger side quickly.
He opened the door and offered his hand with a wink. She laughed and let him help her out of the car, straightening her dress before closing the door.
"Thanks, I would've had to roll myself out the car if I didn't get help," Mouse admitted with a grin.
He laughed and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. "Come on, the masses await," Puck said, offering his arm to her solemnly.
She was overcome with a need to blush, but with the amount of makeup Sarah had put on her face, only a light dusting of red could be seen. Mouse took his arm, carefully holding her dress up with her free hand.
"We're on the wrong side," she commented as they came to the footpath, seeing that she was on the side that was closest to the road.
"Huh? There's only one footpath," he replied in confusion.
"No, no. Back when women had men escorting them around, men always walked on the right-hand side of the footpath - the side closest to the road - so that the woman wouldn't get wet, dirty shoes, or kidnapped or hurt in some way or another by passing traffic. The woman walked on the inside of the footpath to get away easier if something did happen, since the guy would be fighting anyone off to give her time to get help... Never mind, just random trivia that I think of at the worst possible moments," Mouse said, shaking her head at her own thoughts.
"I never thought of that before. It's not something they really teach you at school, is it?"
"No, not really. I noticed it happening in a lot of old movies and read up on it. There's a whole lot about etiquette that no one seems to follow anymore. It's a shame... Of course, I'm partial to guys in suits, so I could just be bias," Mouse said with a grin, taking a long glance at Puck in his tux.
"You were just checking me out, weren't you?"
"Of course I was. Have I mentioned how ruggedly handsome you look?"
"Not like that, you haven't," Puck said, smirking.
They both fell silent as they reached the school entrance, a parent volunteer ticking them off the list and telling them to make sure they were ticked off the list when they left too. Mouse and Puck both nodded and headed inside, her hand slipping into his.
Before they reached the gym where prom was being held, Mouse turned to Puck and kissed him eagerly. He was surprised, but wrapped his arms around her waist carefully and kissed her back. They pulled away a few moments later on hearing some soft laughter, looking over to see Quinn with Josh, and Mercedes, Terrence, Kurt and Blaine behind them.
"Hello to you too," Quinn said, grinning at them.
"Oh, don't give me that look, Quinn. You've probably been dying to do the same to Josh since you saw him," Mouse said, blushing again.
"You're right. But that's what the dark corners of the gym are going to be used for," she replied.
"All right, let's go inside already. The rest of the school population are probably dying to see this absolutely gorgeous outfit that I've made," Kurt said primly. "Oh, and the rest of you look lovely as well," he added with a smile, turning to adjust Blaine's tie briefly.
"I'm pretty sure it was still straight from the last time you adjusted it, Kurt," Blaine said, but was grinning nonetheless.
"Well, I just like touching you then. Come on, I want to dance," Kurt said, taking Blaine's hand and heading down the hallway.
The others followed, talking to each other about photos and how long their parents had cried. (Puck's mother won with a record of five minutes.)
"Uh, Jane? Did you know that your mother's here?" Mercedes asked, seeing Sarah across the brightly-lit gym.
She was already flirting with a hapless man - Emma had ensured that Sarah wouldn't get close to Mr. Schuester soon after she'd arrived with Candy - and he looked a little stunned by the revealing dress she was wearing and intensity of her laughter at his jokes.
"Yes, I did. Candy's here too, somewhere," Mouse said, looking around for her brother. She relaxed on seeing him with Mr. Schue and the band.
"Leaving already? Is that a new personal best, Sarah?" Ms. Sylvester called loudly through her megaphone as Sarah and the man started to leave. Sue easily ignored Figgins' attempts to get the amplifying device away from her.
Sarah ushered the man out, glaring back at Sue before leaving after him.
"Great, now Candy's here on his own. I'll see if Mr. Schue will take him home," Mouse said, heading over to where Candy was strumming on the guitar gently.
"Hey, wait. Why not let him stay? I'm driving you home tonight anyway, so I don't mind taking Candy back too," Puck offered.
"I don't know. What if someone spikes the punch and he drinks it? Besides, I didn't plan on going home before 9 tonight - I want to dance these heels into the ground - and that's past Candy's bedtime," she said, worrying at her lip.
"I'm sure Candy wouldn't mind staying up late. Come on, it's a Friday night," Puck said with a grin, seeing him sitting at the piano with Brad and pressing the keys carefully.
Mouse sighed, seeing how happy her brother looked, and gave a nod. "All right, but if anything bad happens in the next three hours, we're taking him straight out of here, agreed?"
"Agreed," he said, nodding firmly. "For the record, what exactly constitutes as bad?"
"Huh?"
"What level of bad are we talking? I mean, if Kurt's outfit gets ruined, do we have to leave?"
"Geez, don't say that so loud. Kurt might just hurt you and then we'd definitely have to leave," Mouse muttered, looking around to ensure that Kurt hadn't overheard them. "And for the record, I'm talking bad like someone pukes all over my dress, the stage catches on fire, a fight breaks out - I'm not ruining my dress to fight, Puck - or something extreme like that happens."
"All right then. You know, most of the girls in here have heels that look sharp enough to be used as weapons if a fight does break out."
"I was thinking of Ms. Sylvester and Principal Figgins, actually," Mouse said with a laugh, seeing the glare that Sue was shooting at Figgins for managing to take her megaphone away.
"Okay, but if those two get in a fight, then I want to watch. My bet would be on Ms. Sylvester," Puck said, grinning.
"I don't know. Figgins has a high self-preservation rate. I think he might keep up with her for a while... But ultimately, yeah, she would totally kick his butt," she agreed.
"Who's kicking who's butt?" Mercedes asked curiously.
"Ms. Sylvester would kick Principal Figgins' butt," Puck replied. "Mouse reckons he'd last for a while against her, but I think he'd be begging for mercy in under two minutes."
"Oh, no way. Principal Figgins would be running away in under a minute," Mercedes said in reply.
Somehow, their conversation turned into a half-hour epic that ended up involving most of their classmates talking about which teacher would win in a fight. Eventually, they all agreed that the final round would be a tie between Ms. Sylvester and either Mr. Jefferson or Ms. Lemay.
There was a screech of sound as the microphone was turned on, and the students all seemed to realise that they were at their prom night.
"It's great to see you all talking like this!" Schue said, grinning at them. "And for tonight's entertainment, the Dalton Academy Warbler's. Give them a round of applause."
The Glee club clapped loudest, Mercedes calling out and Finn cheering for Kurt. Rachel was standing beside him in a white dress with golden stars littering the skirt, looking happy despite her inability to sing at the moment.
"I came here to make you dance tonight,
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you.
And I don't even know what kind of fool you're taking me for,
So you've got some brand new clothes you never could afford before.
"Oh brother, spare us all,
We don't care anymore,
We just want to get down on the floor.
You sell yourself to make it,
You can dish it, but can you really take it?"
Mouse tugged Puck out onto the dance floor, grinning as the others immediately followed. They were better as singers, not dancers, and with the way their arms were flailing about, no one would dispute that fact.
"Oh ah, ah,
You're never gonna get him with nothing,
'Cause nothing's what you got in your head,
So stop pretending!
"I came here to make you dance tonight,
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you.
Shut up, 'cause we won't stop,
We're getting down 'til the sun's coming up!"
Candy's laughter broke through the music, and Mouse grinned on seeing Lee dancing goofily with her brother. Terrence was dancing nearby with Mercedes.
"I came here to make you dance tonight,
I don't care if I'm a guilty pleasure for you.
Shut up, 'cause we won't stop!
We're getting down 'til the sun's coming up!"
...
Songs came and went by, and about an hour in, Mouse grinned at Puck a little wickedly and spun out of his embrace with a laugh. She let go of his hand, fingertips brushing against his as she headed to the stage. Blaine met her with a hug and kiss on the cheek, then handed the microphone to her with a flourish. Candy, who was up on Terrence's shoulders, gave an excited squeal and clambered down from Terrence to join Mouse on stage. He hugged Kurt tightly and took the offered sparkly microphone with an even brighter smile.
"Hey, everyone. I'm Mouse, and this is my brother Candy. We've organised something for you on behalf of the New Directions, and the Cheerios. Our thanks go to Mr. Schuester and Coach Sylvester," Mouse said, nodding to where the two teachers were standing (Will looked surprised, and after a moment of surprise, Sue returned to glowering at everyone approaching the punch bowl).
"Quinn, Brittany, Santana, sweet needs you, please," Candy said carefully, aware of everyone watching him.
The three Cheerios came forward in their vintage-inspired dresses. Quinn was wearing a red tea dress; Brittany was wearing a navy blue swing dress; and Santana was wearing a deep green victory-style dress. They looked like pinups from 1940s era, and more than one person stared at the transformation of the three girls who rarely seen out of their cheerleader outfits.
"Ready, sweetie?" Mouse asked, grinning down at her brother.
Candy nodded firmly, holding the microphone a little tighter. She gave a nod to Brad and the rest of the band and started singing.
"When I saw you there, sitting all alone in the dark,
Acting like you didn't have a care,
I knew right then, that you'd be mine,
And we'd be damning the whole darn night, right," Mouse sang, grinning.
"So come on, spin me around,
Now I don't wanna go home,
'Cause when you hold me like this,
You know my heart skips, skips a beat," Candy sang.
Quinn, Brittany and Santana were doing a dance routine that looked like a mix between a swing and jive, despite the fact they didn't have dancing partners. A square had formed around them to give them enough room to dance properly. Kurt laughed as Blaine pulled him into the dance, the two of them providing backup dancers for the main three at the front.
"Oh, baby, I just want you to dance with me tonight,
So come on, oh baby,
I just want you to dance with me tonight.
I just wanna, oh baby,
I just want you to dance with me tonight."
"So come on, spin me around,
Now I don't wanna go home,
'Cause when you hold me like this,
You know my heart skips, skips a beat.
I know I should, but I can't leave it alone,
And when you hold me like this,
That's when my heart skips, skips a beat."
Mouse couldn't stop grinning, even though she knew her chorus was up next. Blaine and Kurt had been joined by the rest of the Warblers, who were performing the jive/swing combination in time with the three Cheerios perfectly.
"Everybody, everybody, come on now,
Girl, just close your eyes,
We can dance all through the night,
I just want you to dance with me tonight,
And everybody sing..."
"I just want you to dance with me tonight," they finished in unison.
They finished to a round of applause, Puck even whistling loudly and calling out for an encore. Candy bowed solemnly, but when he straightened up again, he was smiling so broadly Mouse thought his mouth might break. She did her own little curtsy thing, finding it too awkward to bow or curtsy properly in her dress, and she was probably smiling just as broadly as Candy. They left the stage, and as Mouse returned the microphones to their appropriate owners, Candy hugged the three Cheerios happily, thanking them for their dancing.
"Oh, you're welcome, sweetie. We're just sorry we didn't get to sing up there with you and Mouse," Brittany said, smiling at him fondly.
"Will you all dance with sweet tonight?" Candy asked.
"Of course we will," Quinn said with a nod.
Santana didn't even hesitate to agree, and Brittany took Candy's hand with a smile. Candy laughed happily and pulled all three back out onto the dance floor to dance with him. Puck found Mouse talking with Blaine about the next song choices and pulled her away with a quick apology over his shoulder.
"Hey, what's going on?" Mouse asked, grinning as he led her to the dance floor.
"We're going to dance, and I'm going to kiss you until you can't think straight, you okay with that?" Puck asked with a grin, already knowing her answer.
"Definitely," she said, pulling him close to kiss him first.
Puck's lips curved into a grin against Mouse's lips and he tightened his hold on her, deepening the kiss with his wonderful singer.
...
By the time prom ended, the cloudless day they'd entered in had turned to night and a storm was beginning, heavy black clouds threatening to break open above them. Sarah was nowhere to be seen, but Mouse was somewhat glad that her car was still in the parking lot. Hopefully, that would mean that Sarah and her lover for the night wouldn't be at their home. Thunder rolled overhead and the clouds broke. Screams echoed as people ran from the school entrance to their cars. Mouse sighed and stayed where she was, taking her heels off carefully. Her feet were killing her, and the cool wet ground would ease their aching.
"All right, Mouse?" Terrence asked, coming over with Candy by his side.
Behind him, Mercedes was talking with Kurt animatedly about the surprise of who had been crowned Prom Queen and King: Tina and Artie. They hadn't even been nominated, but Santana had apparently organised it, and every single vote had come in with their names (a few of the ballot papers might have even had tear stains, but that's neither here nor there). Tina had spent the rest of the night on cloud nine, laughing as she sat in Artie's lap as he spun them around the the dance floor for their dance as Prom King and Queen.
"Yeah, fine. My feet are killing me, that's all," she said with a small laugh.
"I can absolutely sympathise; I danced with Finn, the boy's got feet the size of a Sasquatch," Kurt muttered with a wince.
"Who's got Big Foot's feet?" Blaine asked, placing a paper crown on Kurt's head carefully.
"The only one in this school tall enough to be Big Foot," Kurt replied, adjusting his crown and looking up at it with a raised eyebrow. "When did you make me a crown? And more importantly, what is it made out of? I'm not wearing toilet paper on my head, am I?"
Blaine laughed, shook his head, and kissed Kurt. "Paper towels from the washroom. You can throw it out if you want, I just wanted to prove that your head's made for a crown."
Kurt softened slightly and smiled at Blaine. "Well, in that case, how do I look?" he asked, doing a pose and turning for them.
"Very regal," Mouse said, grinning.
The storm was getting worse and there was a strike of lightning followed very closely by a loud roll of thunder. Candy let out a cry of fear and clung to Mouse tightly, burying his face against her body. She stroked his head gently, trying to soothe him.
"It's okay, Candy. You'll be all right. I've got some new songs on the playlist for you; we'll set that up and get you to bed when we get home, okay?"
He nodded wordlessly, not moving from where he was tucked against her body.
"What do you mean by that?" Mercedes asked curiously.
"Candy's always been terrified of storms, so I've created a playlist on his own mp3 player that he can listen to when it's storming like this. It helps you settle down, doesn't it, sweetie?" she asked, stroking his head again.
A car pulled up abruptly, almost splashing water over them from a puddle. Kurt hurried to step back before his suit was ruined. The window rolled down and Puck looked out.
"Hey, quick!" he called out, waving Mouse and Candy over.
"We'll see you later, okay? Have a great night," Mouse said, hugging them before leading Candy over to Puck's waiting car.
She got in the back seat with Candy, knowing her brother wouldn't like being on his own in this storm, even for the short trip back to the house.
"Hey, Cinderella, don't forget your shoes," Terrence called, taking her forgotten heels to the car. "Night, Puck. See you later."
"Thanks, Terrence," Mouse called, waving to them as Puck drove away. "Cinderella, that's a new one," she said with a laugh.
"Is it midnight yet?" Puck asked, grinning.
There was another flash of lightning and crash of thunder, and Candy whimpered beside her, clinging her hand tightly.
"Hey, it's okay, sweetie. We're almost home, I promise," Mouse said, kissing the top of his head gently.
They pulled up into their driveway a few minutes and thunderclaps later, Candy trembling as he let Mouse lead him up to the house. Puck opened the door for her, taking the key from Mouse's purse when Candy refused to let go of her.
In a matter of minutes, Mouse had Candy dressed in his pyjamas and tucked into his bed with his Lion King headphones on his head. Candy was exhausted from the night and his fear, but he perked up on hearing the new song Mouse had put into his storm playlist. He held her hand as he listened to the song intently twice, then took his headphones off, turned the music up, and asked her to sing along with him.
"All right, Candy. Then you've got to get to sleep, it's past your bedtime," she murmured.
He nodded and restarted the song again.
"I can beat the night,
I'm not afraid of thunder,
I am full of light,
I am full of wonder.
"Whoa -oh,
I ain't falling under.
Whoa -oh,
I am full of wonder.
"Though our feet might ache,
The world's upon our shoulders,
No way we gon' break,
'Cause we are full of wonder.
"Whoa -oh,
We ain't falling under.
Whoa -oh,
We are full of wonder.
"This light is contagious,
Go, go tell your neighbours,
Just reach out and pass it on."
Candy's exhaustion returned in full force, and he yawned loudly, even though he was in the middle of the song. Mouse tucked him in properly, turning the music volume down slowly so as not to wake him abruptly. She set the headphones close to him, but not so close that he'd get tangled in the wires, and left the music playing to drown out the storm.
"If your heart turns blue,
I want you to remember,
This song is for you,
And you are full of wonder," she finished singing quietly, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
...
Puck was waiting for her when she finally came downstairs, and he hugged her when she was close enough. Sighing softly, Mouse stayed in his embrace, and closed her eyes contentedly.
"All right, Mouse?" he asked, his fingers lightly brushing against her arms.
"Perfect. Thank you for tonight, Noah," she murmured, standing on her toes to kiss him.
"You're welcome, Jane," he said when they pulled away.
She saw that it was still fairly early - barely 10:30pm - and grinned at him. "Know what would make this night even better?"
"What?" Puck asked, a bit wary of the glint in her eye.
"Beating my highest score on Halo," Mouse said.
"You mean, me finally beating you at Halo?" Puck corrected her, taking his jacket off and loosening his tie gratefully.
She laughed and went upstairs to unplug the console from her TV. Within minutes of her setting up the console in the lounge room, they were sitting on the couch in their formal prom wear, controllers resting in their laps as they waited for the game to load.
"You ready?" Puck asked.
"Always," Mouse replied, pressing the start button.
...
End of the thirty-second chapter.
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!