Through the Dividing Glass

"Excuse me, I'm here to see detainee Noah Puckerman."

The woman at the juvenile detention center looked up to find a teenage boy (even though she expected a girl by the pitch of the voice) with porcelain skin and dark, brown hair. "…And you would be…?"

"Kurt Hummel, the boy's best friend," he explained.

"Right…well, we have to wait until visiting hours before you can talk to him."

"And that would be when?"

"Three o'clock."

Kurt turned to look at the clock behind him: twelve thirty. He turned back to the woman, "Okay, I guess I'll make myself comfortable."

As he started to leave to sit on one of the chairs across from her desk, the lady pointed out, "There are restaurants and stores around you can check out, you know. There's not much to do here, it's not like we even have magazines."

Kurt smiled, "Oh, I've been waiting months to speak to him; I can manage a few more hours."

—

"Puckerman!" Puck looked up at the guard in front of him blankly. The guard continued, "You have a visitor." That confused him; he knew his mom was working and Sara wouldn't have been able to get there. But he stood up and followed the guy out to the visiting area. Since he had only been in for a bit more than twelve hours, the guy explained, he could only talk through the visitors there, behind glass and through the phone device; he would have to wait for sometime over a month before he'd be allowed to talk to them in person. It definitely made for good dramatic material, but Puck found it ridiculous; some jackasses attacked him and pulled his nipple ring out last night yet he wasn't allowed to talk to people in person? Bullshit.

He sat down where the guard led him and felt his eyes widen in shock at who was sitting at the other end of the glass. "Kurt," he said softly. Kurt gestured to the phone and Puck quickly grabbed it and put it to his ear, not even caring about whatever their stupid fight was about; he just wanted and needed to hear a comforting voice.

Except the voice wasn't exactly "comforting".

"Noah, you should be happy I've had a few hours to calm down my temper since I'm sure if I yelled at you right now your reputation would be completely shattered, and we all know how important your reputation is to you," Kurt started. "But I digress. The reason I'm here is to tell you that I'm really tired of this war we have going on and I think it's time we became best friends again. Oh, and, before you say anything else, I saw you at the hospital, you just didn't see me." By the time he said the last statement his voice was soft, his eyes looking at Puck earnestly.

"Oh," Puck said quietly. Kurt had seen his emotional break down in front of Burt. And Kurt wasn't mad that he hadn't seen him.

"You actually missed Dad waking up by about five minutes," Kurt informed him quietly.

"Seriously?" Puck asked, a mix of annoyance and relief and joy. "Man, I have the worst timing, don't I?"

"Maybe you should've tried stealing a watch instead of an ATM, then," Kurt joked, though his eyes flashed with anger.

Puck looked down, "Yeah…"

Kurt sighed, "Wait, one thing at a time. Let's start with our fight." He cleared his throat and softly told Puck, "I'm sorry about what I said and did during that time. I wasn't being supportive and I hadn't been that supportive for a while. The baby thing made me uncomfortable, but I should've been there to try to make you feel better instead of ignoring the issue. I was being stupid and I'm sorry."

He looked back up at Puck, "But you really hurt me, Noah, you hurt me so much. You yelled at me instead of trying to work things out, you ignored me, and you never even tried talking to me."

Puck nodded, "I know, Kurt. I was stupid. It's just…" He sighed, "It just bugged me that every time I tried talking to you, it seemed like you had more important things to do. I was so used to it just being the two of us as friends that seeing you go off made me a bit jealous."

At Kurt's look of confusion, Noah explained, "We were supposed to do everything together, including getting new friends and growing up and being successful. Yeah, I was sort of friends with the football guys, but that's not the same. It's always been the two of us, y'know? Like how I faked being bad at math so I could hopefully be in your class in elementary school, but then I did worse on the placement test than you so I was at the bottom and you were in the class ahead of me. It's stupid, I just kept on making adjustments to stay friends with you and I was starting to feel like you weren't willing to do anything like that for me…"

Kurt stared at Noah for a bit, his face unreadable. "I always thought it was weird you were in the bottom math class when you're actually fantastic at it now," Kurt said. "I never told anyone this, but," he leaned in and admitted in a whisper, "I cheated on that test off of Quinn in hopes that I'd be in the same level as you. When she noticed me looking she gave me a dirty look and put a folder up as a divider so I couldn't get the rest of the answers."

After a short silence, both boys started laughing at the new information. "It's like some messed up Gift of the Magi," Kurt giggled.

"Gift of the Math-I," Puck corrected, causing Kurt to groan.

When they finally stopped laughing, Kurt told him, "Noah, just because I made new friends and branched out doesn't mean you weren't my top priority. Just because I go shopping with 'Cedes doesn't mean I don't want to watch a movie with you later. You're my best friend, present tense. There will always be time for you." He stretched an arm out to his side while his other arm held the phone. "To turn one of your quotes, there's enough Kurtasaurus for everyone," Kurt said, finishing with a cocky head nod a la Noah Puckerman.

Puck laughed, "Glad I'm a good influence on you." Then he sighed and softly added, "I'm sorry for what I said. And for…everything. The whole 'not talking to you about it' thing." Kurt prompted him to continue with an eyebrow raise, so he murmured, "After I realized that I should apologize to you, I figured I had messed up so many times already why would it matter? You deserve good friends, not me."

Kurt shook his head, "Noah…" pressing his hand against the glass separating them, he continued, "Noah, there's a musical called In the Heights—trust me, this applies to what we're talking about—and in the show, there's a song called 'Enough' where this mother is upset with her husband and daughter fighting after her daughter was hiding a secret. She sings, 'when you have a problem you come home, you don't go off and make matters worse on your own…as long as we're alive, you're never on your own.' That's our friendship, Noah, that's us; we're not alone as long as we're both alive. So we're both going to be mature about this and move past it and learn from it instead of dwelling on it. Do you understand?"

Slowly but surely Puck nodded in response, "Yeah, Kurt, I understand. Thank you." And, very softly, he added, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Kurt replied immediately. "Now onto the ATM that led you to wear this most unflattering shade of orange."

Puck rubbed the back of his neck, "After I talked to Burt, I just…I just needed to do something. Everything felt like it was falling apart, y'know. I didn't have you, Burt was dying, I felt responsible for his sickness because I never took what you said about his health seriously, just joking around with him, so I just felt like I had ruined everything and I don't know, before I even knew it, I was driving through a convenience store in an attempt to do…something."

"Get what? Attention? Infamy? Away from everything? Help?"

"I guess…all of the above," Puck answered.

"But you'll never do it again?"

"Of course not," Puck said, "I don't need you killing me; I'm already afraid of what you'll do to me when your hands are in choking distance."

Kurt laughed softly, "It will be a quick choking, don't worry, then I'll let you go. But, on that note, when are you getting out?"

Puck shrugged, "I don't know, depends what the lawyers or counselors or something say, I don't really know who's in charge of it."

"Can you get out early for good behavior?"

"Maybe. I'll do my best to get out early; I think if I do community service I can get out earlier."

"That's great!" Kurt exclaimed, "Just volunteer to pick up trash on the highway and you'll be out in a few days."

Puck made a face. "I'll figure something out." He moved his spare hand to scratch his chest and accidentally bumped his now torn up nipple, causing him to wince loudly.

"Noah? Noah, what's wrong?"

"It's…it's nothing, Kurt," Puck said. But one look at Kurt's face made him sigh and explain, "When they brought me in last night, some guys attacked me and before the guards could take them off…they pulled my nipple ring out."

Kurt blinked repeatedly in shock. Finally he said, "…You're kidding, right?" At Puck's blank face his eyes widened even more, "That really happened? Did those guys get in trouble at all?"

Puck shrugged, "Maybe, I don't know. I was more concerned with seeing the doctor and getting bandaged up. And, you know, concerned that I no longer have a nipple ring and that I'm, y'know, fucking deformed, but whatever."

"Noah…deep breaths," Kurt said softly. Puck rolled his eyes but did so, calming down as Kurt watched him with wide eyes full of concern. "I can't believe they did that to you…you need to get out of here, and quickly." Kurt bit his lip in thought, wishing he knew how to help get him out and free.

Puck recognized that look. "Look, Kurt, I know you want to help, but there's also not much you can do because of the legal system. Just come see me time to time, that'd be nice, help me stay sane and stuff. Just like once a week or something."

"I will be here whenever I can," Kurt said firmly, "Every few days at the least. I'll keep you updated on everything going on in everyone's lives, I'll do my best to get you caught up in schoolwork, and I'll definitely do all I can to help you get out of here sooner. Is there anything else I need to help you do?"

Noah thought over it and then smiled. "I just think you should say hi to Ma and Sara; I think they'll be glad to know that we're not fighting anymore."

Kurt smiled, "I'll gladly do that right before I go home."

Noah's smile turned into a frown. "Wait, home? You aren't staying at the Hudson's or something?"

"No," Kurt said, slightly confused as to why Puck was acting all worried all of a sudden. "I've been going to school, going to the hospital, and going home. I wouldn't want to stress other people out just for me."

Puck stared at him for a long time, utterly lost as to what to say. Finally he said, "Okay, the second thing you're going to do for me is stay with Ma and Sara."

"Wait, what? Noah, you're not even there, you can't be sure they'll let me—"

"Kurt, Ma would take any opportunity to take care of you and fatten you up, you know she'll think you've gotten too thin," Noah sighed.

"…I've just lost my baby fat; I think I look good," Kurt sniffed softly, pulling at his shirt.

Noah rolled his eyes, "Of course you look good, Kurt, but we're not arguing that. We're arguing that you're not staying alone in your house anymore, not until Burt is back." Kurt still looked like he wouldn't so Puck added, "I know you're probably up in Burt's room every night with the drawers to Mama Kate's dresser open so you can smell her perfume. I wouldn't be surprised if you wore one of Burt's flannel outfits in order to feel surrounded by him, too, and that's not going to help you."

The other boy paled and whispered, "How did you know that?"

With a shrug, Puck said, "You just get to know your best friend, funny enough, even when you haven't talked for months."

Kurt snorted softly and soon nodded. "Fine. Fine, I'll stay at your house as long as Mama Mae approves it."

"Good," Noah said with a smile. "And you know I'll ask her next time she visits if you asked to stay or not."

Kurt glared at his best friend, "Crafty." Then his face turned to a smile, "So, you totally missed it this summer…" And with that, the two boys started sharing stories over what the other had missed in their lives, conversation flowing as naturally as if they never had a fight.

—

Mae Puckerman whipped her head to the front door as the ring played its familiar two-tone pattern. "Who could that be?" she mumbled, not wanting to answer it. It was only six, yes, but she still had yet to someone who would let Sara stay with them for the night while she worked the graveyard shift and she still had to make dinner for Sara—Sara, who wasn't rushing to answer the door like usual since last time she answered the door a policeman was there to tell her that her brother was locked away. Mae herself was tempted not to answer for that very same reason, but she still pulled herself away from the list of phone numbers a friend had given her and slowly opened the door.

"…Mama Mae?" Kurt asked softly, afraid that she would reject him.

But the woman merely stared at him for a moment before bursting into a smile and calling back inside, "Sara, come down here!"

"Why?" she yelled back from her room.

Mae rolled her eyes and muttered to Kurt, "She's turned into such a teenager already and she's not even a real teenager." She turned back towards the stairs and yelled, "I have a surprise for you!" As the two started hearing movements upstairs, Mae brought Kurt inside, smiling widely yet again.

When Sara reached the bottom step she rolled her eyes and asked, "What is it, Ma?" She turned to her mother and then her jaw dropped and her eyes widened for a split second before her face shifted into the widest grin. "Kurt!" she called out, running over to him and attacking him with a hug, nearly knocking him off his feet. "I missed you so much!" Then she pulled away and whispered, "Does No know you're here?"

Kurt nodded, unable to stop himself from smiling around the Puckerman ladies, "Yes, he does. I went and talked to him today and everything's A-OK." He booped Sara on the nose, "Don't you worry, I knocked some sense into him."

"Good," Sara nodded, "Because he's been so stupid lately."

"Well, I wasn't the smartest over these past few months, either—"

"Of course you haven't been, you obviously haven't even been eating," Mae started dramatically, grabbing at his cheek, "Look how little there is here, look!" She let go of his cheek as he winced, shaking her head. "You are way too thin, bubbellah. I know you've been stressed out from your father but—"

"Wait, you know about his heart attack?"

Mae gave him a bitch please look, "Honey, this is Lima. What do you expect?" She shrugged, "I wanted to take Sara soon since I heard he woke up from the coma, but lack of time, no babysitter…"

Kurt gave a small smile; it warmed his heart to know that they still cared about him after all of these months, that their Father's Day gift wasn't just them going through the motions. "That's no problem, I can take Sara tonight if you want. I'm sure Dad would love you see you," he added to the girl who squealed in excitement.

"I'm sure that would be great, but I still need to find someone who'll stay with her for the night," Mae said apologetically, "I don't want to leave her alone here while I work and I can't change out of the graveyard shift until next week at the earliest—"

"I can stay with her," Kurt said a bit louder than intended. "Sorry," he mumbled after Mae raised an eyebrow at him, "It's actually something I told Noah I'd do."

"Watch after Sara?"

"…Stay here until my dad gets out," Kurt corrected softly. "I've been staying alone and he said I needed to ask if I could stay with you guys until they let my dad out, it should only be a week at the most. I even brought my stuff with me—I stopped by my house after I saw Noah."

Mae just looked at him and shook her head, "You schmeggegie!" Kurt winced as she lightly hit the back of his head, not from the hit, but knowing that she only used Yiddish in that tone when she was insulting someone and didn't want them to know. "You were staying alone this whole time? We have a guest bedroom! I don't care if you and Noah were trained to kill each other at sight, you can always come here, no matter what problem, this is a home for you!"

"Ma!" Sara whined as Kurt whined, "Mama Mae", feeling like he was about as old as Sara was.

She simply rolled her eyes, "Do you really think I'd say no to you? Of course you can stay! I can clean up the guest room while you take Sara to the hospital." She smiled and started walking to the stairs.

He tried to hold back from saying it but he couldn't stop himself from saying, "I'd rather sleep in Noah's room…if that's okay." With a shrug in an attempt to be nonchalant he explained, "I've only slept in his room before; it's kind of my home away from home, you know? And don't worry, I can deal with whatever mess is up there. You can just focus on getting ready for work and I'll get Sara dinner and everything; it's the least I can do."

Mae smiled sweetly and went over to Kurt, hugging him tightly. "You don't need to do anything, sweetie." She squeezed him even tighter and closed her eyes, "Thank you, Kurt; I'm just so glad you're back."

—

Taking Sara to the hospital went better than Kurt anticipated. He had warned her to be careful since he might have a lot of wires attached to him still, but she just gave him a nod and a smile, her eyes saying that she knew all of that, that she wasn't a baby anymore. Kurt had no idea seeing Sara get older would hurt so much.

Burt was thankfully awake when they got into his room. He grinned at both of them, the shock of seeing Sara not even showing in his face as she hugged him with a yell of, "Papa Burt!"

"How's my little girl, huh?" he asked her, leading her to launch into a rant about school and her friends. As she chattered on, Burt raised an eyebrow at Kurt as if to ask, all is mended? Kurt nodded and Burt smiled and clapped him on the shoulder before turning back to Sara.

"But then Noah ran Ma's car into the 7/11 so we have a rental car while it's getting repaired and he's in jail," Sara ended triumphantly after such a long explanation of what she had been up to.

For a moment Kurt was afraid that Burt would have yet another heart attack from the shock, but Kurt just said, "Breathe, Dad, we don't need you in here any longer," just a fraction of pain clear in the tone of his voice, and Burt immediately calmed down.

"Fine," he mumbled, "But I'm kicking his ass when I see him next."

"If I don't beat you to it," Kurt shot back.

The rest of the visit was pretty tame: Kurt finding out more information about when his dad could come home, setting up some doctor's appointments that Kurt kept track of in his iPhone's calendar system, and all three of them talking about various subjects. Finally Sara's stomach was growling for food and Kurt couldn't really stop his from begging for food, either. With a hug and a kiss on a forehead each from Burt, the two left the hospital.

After a long, emotional day, Kurt was too exhausted to fathom going to a sit down restaurant, not even Breadstix. So he drove them to the nearest Sonic, craving some chili cheese tator tots like none other, diet be damned. The carhop brought out their meals and the two dug in, barely saying anything in between bites of delicious, greasy food. Kurt even got them each a chocolate shake with a promise from Sara that she wouldn't tell Mama Mae about how badly they ate.

"Please, you know she'll just be overjoyed since she wants to fatten you up," Sara said, popping her dessert's cherry in her mouth.

"Mama Mae's right; you are a teenager," he said with a slight shake of his head. She just grinned in response, some whipped cream on her lips.

The two went home and Sara put herself to bed; meanwhile, Kurt had another "Sunrise, Sunset" moment because, seriously, what happened to the little girl who wanted stories read to her? Now she was reading by herself for thirty minutes before bed. Did Puck's Juvie time do this or was she just getting to that age of pseudo-teenagerdom?

"I'm way too tired to think about this," Kurt mumbled, rubbing at his eyes as he finished up his moisturizing routine, too damn tired to even think about homework, either. After checking the locks and turning off the lights just like he knew Puck did, he crawled into Puck's bed. Despite not having Noah there to snuggle into, Kurt fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

—

"So we're doing this duets project," Kurt eagerly explained to Noah. "And whoever wins gets to eat at Breadstix for free." He made a face, "Okay, not the best prize, but still, winning!"

"I'm sure you and Mercedes will have a great time at Breadstix," Puck laughed into the phone. "Let me guess: you guys are doing the Brandy and Whitney Houston version of 'Impossible' from Cinderella."

Kurt looked down slightly, "Actually, we're not doing it together."

"Wait, why not?"

"I asked the new guy," Kurt said with a shrug, "And Santana is already recruiting her for it. Apparently she loves Breadstix enough to work with her despite apparently hating her."

Puck scrunched up his eyebrows, "It's like 'The Boy Is Mine' all over again, but now it's about Breadstix." Then the other information Kurt said finally hit him, "Who's the new guy? And by new guy do you just mean new guy or new guy?"

"Undetermined," Kurt said, "But his name is Sam. I personally can't believe anyone with hair bottle-blonde hair can be straight, but he also doesn't know Singin' in the Rain, so…"

"What? Dude, even I know Singin' in the Rain and I'm only, like, half-gay."

"Kudos on being able to admit it, I'm very proud of you, but that doesn't count because you grew up with me."

"…Touché," Puck said with a nod.

"So the jury's still out on that one," Kurt sighed, putting his chin on his hand, "But he's kind of dorky, but sweet and a jock. 'My name's Sam, Sam I Am, and I do not like green eggs and ham,' was his introduction he gave us." He closed his eyes and softly admitted, "I really hope Sam Evans is gay."

The quiet, broken tone distracted Puck long enough to not realize what Kurt had said—he sounded so lonely, so hurt. But then the name Sam Evans clicked and he jolted, "Wait, like the former quarterback? The guy who got injured? That Sam Evans?"

Kurt opened his eyes and pulled back from his hand, looking at Noah strangely, "Yes, that Sam Evans. I know it's a common name but I don't know of any other Sam Evanses."

Puck stared at Kurt blankly for a while through the dividing glass. While he didn't make a big deal about the balls comment Puck had made, most teenage guys did when confronted like that. Did that mean he was or wasn't gay? He definitely wasn't like Kurt, but he could still be gay, couldn't he? "I guess he could be," Puck agreed, not sure how he completely agreed.

—

"I couldn't have asked for a better duet partner."

Kurt kept hearing those words in his head, a taunt of what could have been, a sting worse than a slushie to the face. Sam was willing to do the song with him, he was confused as to why Kurt backed out—hell, he didn't even mind Kurt seeing him naked. But Kurt did it, and the slushie he received after he left the locker room that day was all the proof he needed that he did the right thing. He couldn't bring himself to bring someone into the line of fire with him just because he thought he was cute. Sam didn't deserve it, especially not when he was already the new kid and in Glee club.

He was sure Sam didn't mean to hurt him when he said that. Kurt also knew that Sam loved and enjoyed "Le Jazz Hot"—as anyone in his or her right mind would—and Kurt really had nothing against Sam. But the words still stung.

The song choice didn't even make sense. Sam and Quinn barely knew each other—unless they really were long-lost twins and didn't just look like it—so why were they singing a song about not only being in love but being in love with their best friend? At least Quinn shot some weird looks at Kurt that he assumed was an apology for what was happening (and she also seemed a bit uncomfortable with the song choice).

Kurt just shouldn't have been so shocked that he didn't win.

—

"So I guess our love interests have instead gone off with each other," Kurt finished.

Puck furrowed his brow, "Can we call that a Gift of the Magi moment, too?"

"I don't think so," Kurt frowned. "So are you not upset?"

"…No, not really," Puck said after thinking on it. "She should do what makes her happy; she had a hard year last year, and if Sam makes her happy…And I always have Santana if I wanna boost my rep or get some," he shrugged. "Are you upset?"

Kurt sighed, "I'll get over it; at least it didn't get to Finn-size proportion."

Puck gave Kurt a half-smile, wishing he could at least clap his shoulder. Stupid dividing glass or whatever its proper name was. He hated the security system. But he would have to find other ways to cheer him up, "How did your duet with Rachel go?"

"Great," Kurt admitted, "I hate saying it, but she can definitely sing, and her as Barbra and me and Judy was definitely a good choice. Our outfits even reflected their performance of it."

A small trace of a smile started forming on Kurt's face, and Puck just wanted to push it further so it would grow fully. "I'm assuming you helped in that department."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, "We weren't fighting long enough for you to forget things like that about me, Noah Puckerman." Then he smiled for real, Puck smiling back immediately.

—

Karofsky had to be legitimately insane. That was it; there was no other explanation.

Of course Kurt should've expected for the bullying to come back once word got out that his dad was out of the hospital. And he was prepared for slushies and name calling and all the things he had gotten used to at the beginning of the year, he didn't care about that. What he cared about was that Dave Karofsky was a fucking maniac and Kurt did not use either of those words lightly.

He seemed to go out of his way to get to Kurt now, more locker checks, banging the lockers next to him so hard his ears hurt, harassing him, seeking him out in a crowd to call him names…it seemed no different from how the others treated him, but not only did he do it more often—as if he was seeking Kurt out instead of just doing it when he passed him in the halls like Azimio and the other jocks—something about the intensity behind it scared Kurt out of his mind.

One day he was walking to Glee club in an empty hallway, a bit more stressed than normal because his dad was returning to work. So he was staring at his phone as if he expected it to ring, not even seeing Karofsky swoop in and shove him against the lockers. The blow against his back was hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He had never been more frightened in his life; not only was he pinned against the lockers by his top tormentor, but he was having trouble getting air back into his lungs which caused him to panic and loose even less oxygen as anxiety raked through his body.

"Geez, Hummel, lighten up," Karofsky sneered, "I'm only here to say hi."

Kurt still couldn't breathe. Normally he knew that when the wind was knocked out of you it took a few moments for breathing to return to normal, but now he was only certain he was about to die in the middle of a hallway, no one but Dave Karofsky there to witness it.

Dave smirked at Kurt and pulled his fist back and started sending it forward. Kurt turned his head and closed his eyes tightly, feeling tears spring into his eyes, preparing himself for the punch. Instead of coming in contact with his flesh, however, the punch landed on the locker next to him, the resulting clang throbbing in his eardrums painfully. But finally Dave muttered faggot freak and went on his way, the sound of his shoes making the only sound in the hallway.

After a little while Kurt could finally breathe again, shame prickling at the back of his neck for panicking so much. He slowly moved his fingers as if he was afraid he had lost all control over his body, before slowly opening his eyes. "Snap out of it, Hummel," he muttered to himself, wiping at his eyes. This sort of thing happened all the time now, why did he still freak out? He frowned at himself and started walking briskly to Glee club.

Mr. Schue started the lesson by announcing they were doing a musical and not just any musical but Rocky Horror. Kurt found himself doubting Mr. Schue's teaching ideas yet again, but soon they were deciding parts, the lead being offered to none other than him.

Now Kurt should've been ecstatic; after a year of pleading for solos he finally got a lead. But why this lead? His voice wasn't a Frank-n-Furter voice, he couldn't sing those low notes. And Mr. Schue was just offering him the part of the lead freak because he obviously saw Kurt as the main freak in the Glee club, the Token Homosexual, and that wasn't fair. He wasn't a predatory gay man, why did everyone think that? Finn could've told him to stop and he stopped with Sam, he wasn't a bad person, he was just like them, he wanted love and someone to hold, he just wanted that person to be a guy. He wasn't a faggot freak, he was just a person with needs and wants and a big heart and now to top it off he was asked to play the most predatory bisexual in the history of theatre and cinema and draw more attention to himself and make people feel more awkward around him.

"No," Kurt said automatically. His teacher seemed shocked by his refusal of the lead, so he had to tell him something. He made up an excuse about not being comfortable in lingerie and heels, that would work.

"Why, because that look's totally last season?" Santana remarked.

Kurt grit his teeth to stop himself from saying anything, sitting up straight and tall in his chair. Santana was just a bitch and he had to remember that. It didn't mean everyone felt that way…right?

—

"Just hold off on cutting your hair when you get out of here because I want to touch it. I haven't seen it this long all the way across for years!" Kurt remarked with a laugh. It was funny how even with glass dividing them Kurt felt happier and more comfortable here than he did anywhere else at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see; I'm definitely going back to the 'Hawk."

Kurt made a disgusted face, "Ugh, why?"

"Chicks dig it," Puck said simply.

"They really don't," Kurt said.

"Dude, the amount of wrongness you just said is ridiculous, so let's move onto something else; how's Rocky going?" Puck asked.

"Good, I guess," Kurt shrugged. "I can't believe we're really allowed to do it, but we're doing it. Santana and Quinn are both rocking Magenta and Mercedes is a fabulous, sassy Frank. It's going well," Kurt reiterated, not bringing up how seeing Sam in gold shorts was quite nice, too.

"I still think you would've be an excellent Frank," Puck said with a shake of his head.

"There's no way I could hit those notes!"

Puck raised his eyebrows, "Do you not remember 'Give Up the Funk'? You know Frank's part doesn't even go that low. Remember? We saw the movie together after all."

"Don't remind me," Kurt said, shivering at the memory of the showing they went to the Halloween of the year before. Kurt had thought it would be fun, but with all the sexual innuendo people yelled at the screen and the acts the "Virgins" such as him and Puck had to do, Puck ended up having a great time and Kurt was bright red by the end of it. "I'll never be able to eat a banana again because of what they made me do."

"Isn't it nice to know you don't have a gag reflex, though?" Puck asked cheekily.

Kurt glared, "I hate you so much."

"No, you don't," Puck sing-songed back.

"…I definitely hate that you're right about that," Kurt mumbled. "I still think you would've made a great Frank, though, or at least an Eddie. It's weird having Mrs. Pillsbury's boyfriend there. Really…creepy." He shivered again.

"If I was anything I'd be the lips and you'd be Frank."

"Nah, the girl who plays Magenta sings 'Science Fiction Double Feature' and its reprise in the stage show under the name of Trixie the Usherette, so Santana and Quinn have that job," Kurt said. "Plus I like using my British accent and being creepy and singing 'Time Warp', the best song in the whole show, obviously."

Puck could tell by the way that Kurt wasn't looking him in the eyes that something else was going on with him. But before he could question him any further, Kurt looked down at his phone and groaned, "Sorry, I have to go; we have practice tonight." He stood up, the connecting phone in his hand while his other touched the glass. "Love you."

Noah lined his hand up with Kurt's on his side of the glass, "Love you, too."

As Kurt left, Noah watched with curious eyes. Something was going on with Kurt and Kurt was being too proud to tell him what. The only thing that was clear was that he had to get out of Juvie to help him and now, and that meant finding a service project, and preferably one that didn't involve picking up trash on the highway.

Maybe hanging out with Artie could count as community service…

—

A/N: I'm so sorry for how late this is. With the funeral and then my birthday and these past few weeks of classes I've been swamped and this chapter just wouldn't write, ugh. I hope the mistakes are few because it's 7:20 AM here and I've been up all night writing this since I just need it to be done (I'm insane, I know). Thankfully I only have two weeks and then finals week left, and finals week is no problem, so hopefully I can post another chapter before summer and then I can finish over the summer. I'm so sorry for how long this fic is taking to get done, but I promise I have a plan for it (I even have an outline!) and while it's long, I really hope you guys have some sort of enjoyment over it, even if you're just making fun of me :).

Let's hope I can write NBK's relatively quickly. And, as always, reviews would be lovely.

Love,
xLessxThanx3x