Disclaimer-I do not own Glee or any songs
Thanks for reviewing everyone, it is greatly appreciated
You should all check out 'Laryngitis' by JohnnnnnyBoyyy, it's a great fic!
Songs included are:
'I just died in your arms tonight' by Cutting Crew
And 'Beautifully' by Jay Brannan
For 'Beautifully' Brittany singing
Noah singing
Kurt singing
All girls singing
Chapter 20-Should've Walked Away
On Monday morning, Kurt was dreading school. He hadn't spoken to Noah, or indeed any of his friends since he'd left Noah's truck after the other teen had driven him home.
The more rebellious side of him wanted to fake illness and stay home for the day, but another part of him, the part that seemed to enjoy his own torment, forced him to go to school. Maybe he secretly thrived on the drama and heartache. Either way, he was not looking forward to the day ahead.
As he parked his car in the lot, he wondered if he'd be taking a dive into the dumpster again. Just in case, he walked at a brisk pace and kept his head down.
After making it into the school building unscathed, he relaxed a little and kept his eyes peeled for a friendly face. He collected his things from his locker and then happened upon Mercedes who was sporting a brand new hat that only she could pull off with such style.
"Hey, white boy." She greeted and he smiled back at her before falling into an easy discussion about fashion.
As they walked arm-in-arm to first period, Kurt found it slightly odd that Mercedes was no longer able to tell he was upset just by looking at him. Back when they'd been best friends, she had always known his mood. Either Kurt's acting skills had improved considerably or he and Mercedes had drifted further apart than he'd realised.
Later on, as Kurt headed to second period, he passed a smirking Santana in the corridor. He looked at her quizzically but she didn't say anything, she merely kept on walking with her 'I'm-a-bitch-and-I'm-fucking-proud-of-it' attitude.
It wasn't until lunch that Kurt found out the reason behind Santana's smirk. As always, the Glee club shared a table. This of course included Noah. He avoided Kurt's eye and sat between Rachel and Matt, his face covered in some nasty looking bruises. It only took Kurt all of five seconds to work out that Santana had caused the damage. He supposed Noah must have opened up to her a little and Santana had beaten him on Kurt's behalf.
Although Kurt didn't like to see the boy he loved looking so wounded, he had to admit to himself that it was, in an odd way, sweet of Santana to do such a thing for him. Of course, Santana really did take pleasure in hurting others so perhaps she just used Kurt's case as an excuse.
"I'm sensing a lot of negative energy circulating around the table." Rachel stated all of a sudden and Kurt openly cringed. "This isn't good at all. We're teammates, it's highly important that we all get along."
"Leave it." Santana hissed at her warningly and Rachel opened and closed her mouth a few times before wisely choosing to remain silent.
The rest of the group looked amongst each other awkwardly, all easily guessing that the tension was being caused by Kurt and Noah.
Nobody questioned what had caused the obvious friction between the two friends, mostly because Santana kept a harsh glare upon them all, for which Kurt was extremely grateful. As much as he liked his fellow Gleeks, even Rachel, he didn't want any of them interfering. This was between himself and Noah. Of course, Santana and Brittany were also a small part of it as they both knew about Kurt's real feelings, but neither of those two were trying to meddle so Kurt could live with that.
Being seated at the same lunch table as Noah was difficult for Kurt. However, gym class proved to be a greater challenge. The class was always somewhat uncomfortable for Kurt. Even though most of the jocks had long since grown tired of bullying him, Kurt still found changing clothes amongst other teen males to be an awkward experience.
He just never knew where to look. He had no desire to ogle any of his peers. Well, not anyone other than Noah at least. But it wasn't easy keeping his head down and his eyes on the floor. If he sensed movement close by him, it was natural and instinctive for him to look up, but if he did accidentally look at another guy for more than a fleeting second, that guy would more than likely assume that Kurt had the hots for him.
It was ridiculous and homophobic, but there was nothing Kurt could do about it. Gym class itself was almost as bad as the locker room environment. Kurt hated the way the sloppy mud of the field gelled itself to his designer sneakers and he almost sobbed every time his top would be soaked with sweat stains.
Then on this particular day, there was the additional unease of having to shower in the stall right beside Noah's. If he wasn't so concerned with personal hygiene, Kurt might have rushed his shower just so he didn't have to deal with the discomfort. As it was, he stayed and took his time soaping his body clean and washing his hair.
Most of the other boys were quick with their showers, but not Noah. Like Kurt, he took his time under the spray of the water. Soon enough, they were the only two left.
Although there was no change to the water temperature whatsoever, Kurt suddenly felt too hot, as though his skin was aflame. He dearly wanted to crane his neck to the side and peer at Noah, not to perve over him, as tempting as that thought might be; he just felt the need to make some form of communication with the other teen. Yet he kept his eyes tightly shut, not wanting to provoke Noah's anger or freak him out in any way.
He briefly considered trying to strike up a conversation of some kind but he had no idea what he could possibly say. It didn't feel as though the two of them were on speaking terms.
"Hummel?" Noah asked suddenly, startling Kurt so much that his eyes flew open but he still kept staring ahead at the tiles of the shower stall.
"Y-yes?" Kurt asked in a shaky voice as he tried to ignore the stab of pain that accompanied the use of his last name.
He waited, but there was no reply, just the continued sound of the shower water splashing onto the tiled floor and running down the plughole.
Somewhat timidly, Kurt turned his head to look at the Jewish boy in the stall beside him. Noah had his forehead pressed against the coolness of the wall, the water hitting him between the shoulder blades then running down his back and tightly formed ass that Kurt couldn't help but admire. Luckily, Noah had his eyes closed and remained unaware of Kurt's brief lustful gaze.
The glorious sight of Noah's nude form went straight to Kurt's groin and he found himself aching to stroke his now leaking member and find release.
Forcing himself to take a breath and calm down, Kurt pulled his eyes away from his… could he still call Noah his friend?
"Noah?" Kurt asked cautiously, unsure how the other male might react.
"Nothing." Noah replied, his voice void of emotion.
Kurt wasn't a fool, he knew there was clearly something but it was apparent that Noah wasn't ready to share his thoughts. So Kurt accepted that he couldn't be getting any answers and resumed the task of rinsing the conditioner from his hair.
He heard the sound of Noah shutting his shower off before he listened to the taller boy's footsteps echo off the tiled walls before they faded as he walked away.
Left alone, Kurt suddenly felt dreadfully cold.
He thought shopping would cheer him up. It didn't. True, it didn't make him feel worse, but that wasn't the point. The fact was, Kurt was miserable and he didn't know how to rid himself of such a feeling.
Several times, he thought about confiding in Mercedes about everything that had happened between himself and Noah, but every time he opened his mouth to speak, he faltered and said something else. She just looked so happy as they journeyed through the mall in search of the latest fashionable clothing items, he didn't want to ruin that.
So Kurt stayed quiet and kept up the charade of eager clothes shopper and fashionista extraordinaire. He was confident that Mercedes knew something was wrong, everyone in Glee could tell that he and Noah had had a falling out of some kind. Hell, it seemed everyone at McKinley knew the two best friends were having some issues and there were probably a number of theories circulating, but nobody had the guts to say anything to Kurt's face because Santana was sending her threatening glares at anyone she came across.
It seemed Mercedes was also intimidated by the Latina girl and therefore wasn't asking Kurt anything about the situation. So the two continued to shop, talking about anything other than the one thing Kurt really needed to discuss.
They were rehearsing in Glee club. Figgins had requested that New Directions perform at the assembly on the upcoming Friday. For the song Mr. Schue had selected, Finn would be singing lead vocal as the others backed him up and danced around him.
Somehow, Kurt ended up dancing very close to Noah, and though he had no evidence, Kurt was fairly certain that Brittany was responsible.
The whole thing was very tense and Kurt found it damn near impossible to concentrate. At some points he could feel Noah's breath tickling the back of his neck and the tanned boy smelled sooo good.
As Finn continued to sing the song, Kurt tried with all his might to focus on the dance steps and ignore Noah's existence. Unfortunately, trying to ignore someone you were so hyper aware of just wasn't at all simple. If anything, it only heightened Kurt's senses to Noah's close proximity.
"It was a long hot night…" Finn sang as the girls danced close by him, the boys in the group dancing a little further away.
"And she made it easy, she made it feel right
But now it's over, the moment has gone
I followed my hands not my head, I know I was wrong…"
The final chorus came in, the rest of the club singing along with Finn aside from Kurt and Noah, both of whom seemed to have lost all vocal ability.
"Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight,
It must've been something you said,
I just died in your arms tonight…"
As the choreography demanded, Kurt dropped backwards into Noah's arms then being swopped into a bridal-style lift and spun round before he was placed back to his feet on the ground.
"I, I just died in your arms tonight…"
Noah pulled Kurt close, their bodies right against each other, chest to chest.
"It must've been some kind of kiss…"
Suddenly breathless, Kurt froze in position as Noah's eyes zoned in on his mouth. Their lips were so close together, almost touching. Kurt could even partly taste the grape flavoured Slushie that lingered in Noah's mouth.
"I should've walked away, I should've walked away."
The song finished, and Noah rapidly moved away from Kurt, leaving the paler boy feeling very unsatisfied with the disappointment of their almost-kiss.
Mr. Schue commented on their run-through of the performance before informing them all that Brittany had prepared a solo piece she wanted to sing.
Respectfully, they all took a seat, Santana managing to force Noah into the chair beside Kurt.
"Ok, Brittany, show us those pipes." Mr. Schue said encouragingly.
"I don't… I don't have any pipes." Brittany replied in confusion.
"Britt, sing the song." Santana told her.
Brittany smiled dopily in response before clearing her throat.
"Ok, so first of all, I want you to know that I'm singing this song for a special friend of mine." Brittany explained. "But Santana told me not to say who it was for or why. So, Kurt…" Santana palmed herself in the face, Noah shifted in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest and Kurt's back stiffened as everyone else turned to stare at him. "This song totally isn't about you being in love with…"
"Sing, Brittany!" Santana interrupted but judging by the gasps that sounded from Rachel, Mercedes, Tina and Quinn, the damage had been done.
The girls had put two and two together and realised that Kurt was in love with Noah which had affected their friendship, of course they didn't know the details or anything, but they still knew more than Kurt would like. Mike, Matt and Artie also seemed to have worked it out, whereas Finn looked around in confusion obviously not having figured it out yet.
As Brad began playing the piano, Kurt tried desperately hard to stay calm and collect as everyone other than Noah and Santana stared at him as Brittany sang the song.
"Every time he goes, he dies
Every time she comes…"
Kurt winced as memories of Leanne flitted through his mind.
"He cries…" Brittany continued looking at Kurt sorrowfully.
"He was his long, bright future
In the middle of a wrong, dark road
He loved him, but he wasn't too sure
If he could return the love he showed
When he said, my love extends
Beyond the realm of being friends
He kissed his head
And quietly he said…"
Before Brittany could start the chorus, Noah interjected, so the blonde girl fell silent and the group's focus became divided. Some continued to stare at Kurt, others turned to look at Noah as he sang, keeping his eyes on the floor.
"It's not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me…"
Brittany resumed singing.
"He said, how beautiful do I have to be?
When I look in the mirror, you're the only thing I see
And I have loved you beautifully.
Well, ten thousand tears past by
But he never let him see him cry
And he called up down one night
He said let's get in the car and just drive…"
Finn's mouth had fallen open slightly and his eyes were near bulging out of his head. He'd clearly just realised what the others had already guessed. Feeling uncomfortable, he scratched the back of his neck and took to staring up at the ceiling. Mike, Matt and Artie also appeared to have suddenly found some form of fascination in the choir room walls, window and floor.
The girls however continued to look between Kurt and Noah as they all sang along with Brittany.
"He talked a lot about loneliness
But why, he didn't know
And some song about Memphis
Was playing on the radio
He said; let's stop the car and slow dance
Won't you just give me a chance?"
Kurt finally turned to face Noah, his eyes begging the other teen to at least try and feel something for him, or maybe for Noah to allow himself to feel for him.
Still not looking at Kurt, Noah gently took hold of one of the smaller boy's hands.
"He took his hand
And hoped he'd understand…"
"It's not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me…" Noah sang.
"He said, how beautiful do I have to be?" Brittany sang.
"When I look in the mirror, you're the only thing I see
And I have loved you beautifully." Kurt sang as he clutched tightly to Noah's hand as though it were a life line.
"Well, he'll burn that bridge
And build a house
And swallow the smoke in his mouth
He'll feel the burn
And then make the choice
To put the fire in his voice." The girls sang together.
"It's not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me…" Noah sang, finally looking at Kurt.
"He said, how beautiful do I have to be?" Brittany sang.
"When I look in the mirror, you're the only thing I see
And I have loved you beautifully." Kurt sang to Noah, his voice cracking slightly as Noah let go of his hand.
Standing to his feet, Noah dragged a hand over his face before swinging his bag onto his shoulder then exiting the choir room.
The rest of the group, Mr. Schue included, were now doing their best to avoid Kurt's eye.
Sighing, Kurt moved to his feet as well and picked up his satchel before leaving without a word or a single glance back at the others.
Making his way onto the parking lot, Kurt's eyes instantly snatched sight of Noah sitting at the wheel of his truck, the vehicle still stationary. Keeping his head held high, he strode determinedly towards his navigator only to jump about a foot in the air when Noah honked his horn at him.
He turned in the direction of Noah's truck and looked at him questionably.
"Get in, Hummel." Noah ordered as he poked his head out the window.
Once again feeling a sharp sting from being addressed by his surname, Kurt followed his feet over to Noah's truck and climbed in to the all too familiar passenger seat.
Without another word, Noah turned on the ignition and drove them far away from McKinley High.
To Be Continued
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Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx