Chapter 2 - With a Little Help From a Friend
What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me ?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key.
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Kurt fixed his cap and straightened his jacket. It was Monday and he was getting ready to go to school and face Mercedes. The black girl had texted and called him all Friday, but the boy hadn't wanted to talk to anyone so he had simply texted her back saying "Everything is okay. See you at school on Monday" and then had turned off his phone.
He had spent the week-end between his room and the sofa in the living room; Burt had been so worried that he had kept on asking Kurt if everything was fine, if something had happened or if he had a fight with Mercedes, to which the boy had simply replied that he didn't have to worry which had only worried Burt more.
Picking up his bag, car keys and phone, he quickly got upstairs waving his father goodbye and walking over to the door.
"Kurt?" Burt's voice stilled his son.
"Yeah, dad?" Kurt asked, turning around.
"Aren't you going to eat something before leaving?" The worry was still clear in his voice.
"I'm not really hungry."
The older Hummel sighed. "Are you okay?" His son nodded quickly but Burt wasn't ready to let it go. "Kurt, I don't know what to do when you shut me out. We're supposed to talk if something is wrong and no," he held up his hand to stop Kurt when the boy opened his mouth to talk. "I don't believe for a moment that you're okay. I get that you're sixteen and I'm your father, not your friend, but if you have a problem, I need to know it."
Kurt lowered his eyes in shame. "Dad, I..." he gulped and raised his gaze to meet his father's. "I'm not ready to talk about it."
Burt sighed. "Are you talking at least with Mercedes about it?"
"No. I'm trying to figure out what's going on."
"Ok," the man nodded and took his son in his arms hugging him tightly. He felt Kurt close his arms around him after a few moments, right before the boy hid his face in his shoulder. "When you know, come to me, ok? You should let me take care of you like I let you take care of me." Burt felt his son nod against his shoulder. He pulled back and when he looked down into Kurt's blue eyes, he found unshed tears. "I love you, son, no matter what, ok?"
"Love you too, dad."
"Good," Burt gave the boy a small smile. "Go to school now. You're late." Kurt chuckled before giving his father a kiss on the cheek before leaving his house.
* GLEE *
The talk with his father had left Kurt feeling raw and exposed and the boy was glad to be late to school; the jocks were already inside and he wouldn't have to face Puck for the first time after Friday night in that horrible way.
He parked the SUV and ran inside just as the bell to the first period rang. He hurried to the French class and took a seat in the back.
French was one of the few classes he didn't have with anyone from glee and was happy to know that until third period, he wouldn't have to face anyone that cared enough about him to notice that something was off.
As luck would have it, while he was walking to his second period class, he ran into Rachel.
"Hey, Kurt!" The girl said nervously. He got why; they weren't really friends, they barely tolerated each other on a good day, but in that bathroom on Friday, something had changed; they weren't best friends now, but they were close to something that could become a good friendship.
"Good morning, Rachel."
"Listen, I wanted to ask you if you were okay and if you were able to see your doctor."
"I have an appointment this afternoon," he ignored the question about his well being because he didn't even know what to answer to that anymore. "I will have to skip glee again."
"Oh," Rachel looked at him with a smile. "Do you need someone with you?"
"I..."
"Oh, I guess you want to ask Mercedes. You had to see her the other day when I knew where..."
"Rachel!" Kurt grabbed her shoulders to catch her attention. "I was just going to ask you if you were really thinking to skip glee for me."
The girl's features softened. "As the captain..."
"Seriously?"
"Ok, I'm worried. You're my only competition and I need you on top-form or I won't feel motivated anymore."
Kurt smiled a little. "Thanks for your honesty."
"So, do you want me to come?"
"I can't ask Mercedes because I'd have too many questions to answer and I can't right now. My dad already knows that something is wrong and I need someone less demanding right now."
"Ok," Rachel nodded her head vigorously. "Be there for you without getting nosy. I can do that."
"Are you sure?" Kurt asked with his eyebrow arched.
"Yes."
"Ok," the boy said with a nod. "We have to leave right after last period."
"Alright, I just need to find Mr. Shue and tell him that I have to go home earlier today."
"Great. I have to go now or I'll be late."
"See you later, Kurt." Rachel waved before disappearing through the sea of students.
Kurt headed towards the math class wondering how was he going to make it up to Mercedes if she found out about him going to the doctor with Rachel instead of asking for his best friend's company.
*GLEE*
Kurt's third period was chemistry and he shared that class with Sam; the blond wasn't too bright in most of the subjects, but English and chemistry were his strengths, which was why Kurt sat with him through both classes.
The soprano was one of the last students to enter the laboratory since he had to stop at the bathroom on the way over when a wave of nausea had hit him. As soon as he walked inside the lab, Sam greeted him with a smile before waving him over.
"Hey," He greeted the football player.
"Hey, Kurt. You weren't at glee on Friday," The quarterback casually said while getting his book out of his bag.
"Yeah, I had to go home."
"Right," The blond nodded smiling. "Is your dad ok?"
"Huh?" Kurt looked at Sam confused.
"Rachel said that your father asked you to go home and I thought that maybe he was sick or something."
"Oh, no, he's ok but thank you for asking;" He replied with a smile that the blond jock returned. Any further conversation between them was stopped when the teacher demanded silence.
They were half way through the class when Kurt turned to Sam and said, "Hey, Sam, can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure," the quarterback replied while measuring the alcohol they wound need for their experiment.
"I can't come to glee later so I was wondering if you could tell Mr. Shue that I had to get home."
Sam glanced at him before putting down the test-tube he was about to fill. Then, he turned to Kurt. "Are you ok? It's the second time that you skip."
"Yes," the soprano answered, exasperated that that was what everyone asked him lately. "I just have a lot to study to do, so I need to get home early."
"Oh, ok then, sure. We're just going to rehearse today. Which reminds me, did Mercedes or Rachel told you about this week assignment?" Kurt shook his head. "This time it's easy," Sam picked up the test-tube once again and started to fill it with what the other boy started passing him. "You need to think about what you're feeling right now and sing a song about it," he shrugged. "Mr. Shue said that we have to pay attention to the lyrics more than the words."
"Oh," was all Kurt was able to say. He was feeling so fragile these days that the last thing he needed was to have to sing about his emotional state. "Exactly what I need," he mumbled turning his attention back to his book.
Sam glanced at him from the corner of his eye; he had been studying Kurt for quite a while now and was able to pick on something being wrong right away and this looked like the perfect chance to have the guy opening up to him. However, Kurt looked so tired and sad that Sam didn't really want to take advantage of that to get to know the boy better. Sighing, he decided to keep on a steady chat to help the soprano to keep his mind away from whatever was bothering him.
"So, why did you ask me to talk with Mr. Shue? Is something wrong with Mercedes?"
Kurt shrugged but still wouldn't look up from the book. "She might not talk to me now."
"Oh, she was so angry on Friday because Rachel knew where you were and she didn't."
"Yes and then I turned my phone off for all the week-end and I was late at school today so I still have to talk to her."
"Good luck, then, man," Sam said chuckling and patting Kurt on his shoulder.
"Thanks," replied the other teen with a smile and an eye-roll.
*GLEE*
Kurt didn't run into Mercedes until lunch where he sat down with all the other glee members so she couldn't yell at him too much.
He took an apple and a bottle of water like he did on Friday (because apples were among the few things that didn't make him sick) and headed to the glee table were Rachel, Finn, Artie, Tina, Quinn and Puck were sitting.
Rachel was just finishing telling Finn that she wouldn't have been able to make it to glee that afternoon when Kurt sat down between Puck and Tina since it was the only empty sit at the table.
"Hey, Kurt," Tina greeted him with one of her big smiles.
"Hey, girl," He greeted her back. Puck, instead, ignored him as usual but Kurt could feel the football player's eyes on him. He turned around to face him, but Puck quickly looked away. Sighing, Kurt took a bite from his apple.
"That's all you're going to eat?" Quinn asked and the attention of everyone at the table was immediately on him; even Puck's.
"Yeah, I'm not really hungry."
"But you're already so skinny," Finn said.
Kurt shrugged feeling that if they didn't stop staring at him, he'd lose his appetite. He was about to ask what was so fascinating in watching him eating when someone slapped him behind the head.
"What..." he trailed off when he saw Mercedes glaring at him.
"What the hell happened to you? I've been calling you since Friday," she pushed Rachel a little to the side so she could sit down between her and Tina and faced Kurt. "Why have you been avoiding me?"
'So, I wasn't the only one,' Puck thought, arching an eyebrow. It was unusual and Kurt and Mercedes would fight.
"I kept the phone turned off," Kurt said shrugging and putting his apple down on the tray thinking that he should really force himself to eat something sooner or later before he collapsed.
"All week-end?" Mercedes asked impatiently. "All I had for worrying about you, was a text saying that everything was ok."
"Because everything is ok." Kurt looked straight into his best friend's eyes. "I just didn't want to talk to anyone."
"Boy I..."
"So, Kurt, do you have something exciting to share?" Rachel butted in with a big smile on her face trying to stir the conversation away from Kurt.
The soprano turned to look at her bewildered. "Hmm..."
"You know, have you met anyone during the summer?"
Quinn laughed. "Rachel, it's November, you should have asked him right after we came back to school."
The cheerleader and the singer started arguing and Finn had to calm them down, but all that seemed to distract Mercedes long enough for her to start eating her lunch. Kurt got up grabbing his tray with his half touched apple and started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Artie asked. Everyone stopped talking but all Kurt did was shrug saying that he had to go to the bathroom and then left feeling Puck's eyes on his back.
The soprano sighed and almost turned around to ask the running back why he kept looking at him when it was clear that he didn't care about him. Frustrated and actually feeling a little nauseous, Kurt threw away the half eaten apple, slid the bottle of water in his bag and put away his tray before walking out of the cafeteria heading towards the bathroom.
Puck watched him go, he couldn't help it even though he knew that if anyone at the table picked up on it, there would have been way too many question for his liking.
"I'm worried about him," Tina said, catching his attention and making him turn around. Noah saw everyone nodding at the table.
"He just doesn't look like himself anymore," Quinn said sadly.
"And he's getting skinnier," Finn added.
"Maybe he just needs some time for himself," Rachel said, trying her best to stir the conversation away from her friend. "I'm sure it's nothing serious. Why don't we discuss sectionals?" She smiled brightly.
Mercedes rolled her eyes and Quinn got up from the table. "I'll go find Brittany and Santana" she said, before leaving.
Soon everyone started talking about their own stuff, Kurt away from their thoughts, everyone except for Puck who glanced once again towards the door through where his lover had left. Without saying anything, he got up and went in search of his boy.
Sometimes, Noah would think about what would happen if anyone knew about them, and sometimes he didn't care at all, usually the not-caring-about-it times were when he was buried inside Kurt or had his arms around him, or was simply kissing the boy, and this was why he felt split into; the guy that was a caring boyfriend and the jerk that put the guy he cared about into a dumpster everyday; he felt like a coward for not being able to just don't care about what others might do or say.
When he finally reached the door to the bathroom, he hesitated for a moment before pushing the door and walking inside. He found Kurt in front of the sinks watching himself in the mirror.
"Hey," The pale boy greeted him shyly.
"You keep acting strange," Noah said back, walking until he was standing behind Kurt. He hesitated only a moment before sliding his arms around the slim waist of his lover pulling him up against his chest. He leaned his chin on the boy's shoulder and watched them in the mirror.
"You keep acting as if you have multiple personality disorder," Kurt retorted back. Puck chuckled before leaving a soft kiss on his neck. "Aren't you afraid that someone is in the stalls and might see you?"
"If there was someone you would have told me," Puck simply stated.
"What if someone walks inside, huh? Are you going to hit me and pretend that I hit on you?" Kurt's voice was ice cold and stopped the smile that was forming on his lover's lips.
Noah thought that the soprano was joking so he started to smile only to stop when he heard the tone in his voice. "Jesus, what's wrong with you lately? Are you having PMS?"
Kurt glared at him, or well, at his reflection. "Can you not be an asshole for a minute?"
Puck pulled away and walked over to the door locking it. Then, he turned around leaning against it and faced his lover. "Why didn't you call me back all week-end?"
"God, you sound like Mercedes," Kurt replied, turning around and crossing his arms in front of his chest. His eyes locked with Noah's. "Why did you leave before I woke up the other night?"
"Your dad might have walked in and..."
"You know that I lock the door."
"I... you know that I never stay to sleep."
"You came in the middle of the night, you could have stayed for six hours," Kurt hissed. God, I hate how I can't keep my damn emotions in check, he thought.
"You're not eating enough," Puck said and Kurt really wanted to punch him in that moment thinking, Of course he would go and change the subject.
"I had a big breakfast this morning, happy?" He walked closer to the jock and glared up at him.
"Would you mind letting me out, now?"
"You're being a bitch and I don't even know why."
"Do you even care?" Kurt asked. "You always say that it's only about sex, so why do you ask?"
Puck narrowed his eyes. "I don't get it, Hummel. I don't get you. One moment we're fucking and everything is perfect and the next one, you're acting like a crazy bitch."
Everything is perfect for you, Noah, not for me, Kurt thought, lowering his gaze. It's all my fault really, I shouldn't put up with all this. It's just that... "I have to go now," He said quietly. He felt Noah take a step away from the door and wished for a second that the boy would hug him. Then the moment was gone and Puck was stepping aside unlocking the door and gesturing for Kurt to go.
"What's happening?" Puck tried one last time. Then, before Kurt could try to say anything, the door opened and one of the football players walked inside. He looked between Noah and Kurt and snickered.
"The fairy hitting on you?"
Puck glanced at Kurt before smirking at his teammate. "You know it, I'm Puckzilla. I'm irresistible." The other jock walked inside one of the stall shaking his head still chuckling and Noah locked eyes with his lover that simply shook his head in defeat and walked out of the bathroom without another word.
There were times when they both feel like one was pulling and the other was pushing.
*GLEE*
Luckily, Kurt had a free period after lunch so he spent it in on the bleachers of the football field where he knew that he could be alone. He was feeling weird; his emotions were all over the place, he felt nauseous and tired most of the time and he had headaches more frequently than he could ever remember having. He mentally told himself to be sure to say everything to doctor Anderson later.
Deciding to spend the free time relaxing, he took his iPod out of his bag and started going through his songs looking for one he could choose for glee. However, he was feeling so many things at the same time that he couldn't focus on just one feeling that he could sing about. In the end, he put the iPod away and took out the last issue of Vogue French and spent the rest of the hour reading through it.
When it was finally time to get back inside, he was happy to only have two more hours before being finally free.
On his way to history, he ran into Mercedes; they looked at each other but in the end, the girl shook her head and left.
Kurt, feeling ready to punch something, walked over to his class and then spent history and art sulking without really paying attention to what was happening. When the last bell finally rang, he packed his belonging and went to wait in his car for Rachel; he had to wait for fifteen minutes before the girl finally climbed in the passenger side of his Navigator.
"I'm sorry but Finn saw me leaving and wanted to talk to me."
"Talk, huh?" Kurt asked sarcastically while he started to drive away from the school. He turned on the radio so they wouldn't have to talk and they were both fine with simply singing along with the radio from time to time.
When they finally reached the clinic, Rachel glanced at Kurt just as he was turning the radio off.
"Are you worried?"
Kurt looked out of the window and simply nodded before getting out of the car.
"It's going to be okay," The girl told him, while they walked inside the clinic.
"We don't even know what's wrong and we won't know for at least a couple of days."
"Yes, but no matter what the outcome will be, you're going to be okay." The steadiness in her voice gave Kurt courage and somehow made that awkwardness between them lessen a little.
They had to wait half an hour before the receptionist came over to tell Kurt that he could go inside.
"You coming?" He asked to Rachel. The girl nodded before following him inside.
"Hello, Kurt," The old man sat behind the desk in the little studio said as soon as the two teens stepped inside.
"Doctor Anderson," he greeted back, closing the door. "This is my friend Rachel Berry," he added, waving towards Rachel. The girl and the doctor shook hands and then they all sat down.
"So, you told me that you feel dizzy, nauseous, tired and moody." The tone the doctor used unnerved Kurt; it sounded like the man had already figured out what was wrong with him while Kurt, that was feeling everything firsthand, didn't know anything.
"Yes."
"Anything else?"
"He looks paler," said Rachel.
"Yes and you have lost too much weight since I last saw you." He looked at Kurt from behind the rim of his glasses, resembling a parent scowling his child.
"It's because of the nausea," The boy said quickly before lowering his gaze. "Is it what Mom had? Am I going to die?"
The doctor actual chuckled at that, waving his hands up in the air dismissively. "Nonsense. I think to know what's wrong with you and if I'm right, you will have to find a specialist."
"Oh God!" Kurt and Rachel said at the same time.
"Quit worrying. Now, I have to ask you something before telling you what I think it might be going on."
"Ok."
"Are you having sexual intercourse with anyone at the moment or have you recently at least?"
Rachel widened her eyes and looked between the doctor and Kurt. The boy blushed and cleared his throat nervously, suddenly thinking that perhaps, he should have let the girl wait outside. "Y... yes."
"Hmm, just what I thought."
Kurt looked at him in shock. "Do I give some vibe that made you think I wasn't a virgin anymore?"
"Oh, it's because of the symptoms." Now, he looked disappointed. "But I thought that we talked about safe sex."
"Indeed we have. I always made sure that he wore a condom."
"Kurt, one of the times you were with the boy, the condom must have broken."
"Wh..."
"He's pregnant?" Rachel asked in shock and Kurt was happy that he didn't have to voice the question.
"I believe so, yes."
Kurt almost wished to be an enough drama queen to be able to faint because right now, he didn't want to hear anything else.
"However, medicine is a science not a guess, so we will run some tests and by tomorrow, you'll know for sure."
"Oh, God!" Kurt took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. "Dad doesn't even know that I'm seeing someone."
"Do I know him?" Rachel asked in a whisper.
Doctor Anderson looked between the two teens somewhat amused.
"I..." Kurt looked at the girl. "No," he said quickly before diverting his gaze away. He's going to kill me if I tell anyone... oh God; he thought silently panicking.
"Kurt?" the doctor calling his name shook the soprano out of his thoughts. "Are you ready? I might be wrong anyway."
"Yeah, of course." He got up and pulled off his jacket while thinking back about all the times he had slept with Puck; he had always made sure that they boy wore a condom and the only time they had been too drunk to care, had been four months ago and if that had been when they had conceived the baby, he would be showing now. 'No, it can't be that time', he thought. 'The condom must have broke during some other time.' Kurt tried to remind himself not to panic while the doctor started to take samples of his blood.
After Dr. Anderson finished visiting him, he told Kurt that he'd call him the next day with the results and then he and Rachel left. The drive over to the Berry's was awkward: Kurt was simply staring ahead, his hands clenching and unclenching around the steering wheel; Rachel kept on glancing at him worriedly.
When they finally arrived to their destination, they sat in the car in silence. Finally, Rachel turned to face Kurt. "If you're pregnant, are you planning on keeping the baby?"
"I'd never kill anyone or give away my own flesh and blood," he answered right away, because really, it was the baby he had created with the man he loved and he'd never give that up.
Rachel nodded. "It's the right choice." She kept quit for a few moments before asking something else. "Do you know how your boyfriend will react?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Kurt said with a sigh. He leaned his forehead against the head rest. "We just fuck." He glanced sideways at the girl. "And I can't believe you're the first one I've ever told about him." He narrowed his eyes a little. "Maybe it makes sense."
Rachel chose to ignore the last part of the boy's speech focusing only on the nature of his relationship with this mysterious boy. "Are you going to tell him?"
"He wouldn't want to know." Kurt laughed humorlessly. "He goes out of his way to avoid me when we're not alone and fucks everyone that will look at him twice and now I'm stuck with his kid for the rest of my life." He closed his eyes before adding. "If I'm pregnant anyway." 'I'm overreacting,' he told himself frowning.
"So you're not going to tell him?"
"No."
"Is it right?" Rachel started to fidget with the hem of her skirt and lowered her gaze. "I mean, maybe if he knew about the baby he'd change his mind about your relationship."
"I don't really think so, Rachel."
They let the silence fill the car. Kurt was thinking about Puck, a little kid that would look a little like them... and Rachel was thinking about a way to help her friend.
'Well, there's something I can do,' she mused. "Listen, your doctor said that if you're pregnant then you will need to see a specialist and one of my dads is an andrologist."
Kurt turned around to face her. "Is he Jewish?" he cursed himself as soon as the words had left his mouth. 'Now she'll get what's going on.'
"Of course, why are you..." she trailed off for a moment before laughing. "I forgot for a moment that you said I didn't know the baby's daddy and I thought it was Puck."
The boy was so happy that she didn't understand. He was getting so fed up with all the lies he had to say because of Noah.
"So, the baby daddy is Jew?"
"Yes."
Rachel frowned. "Does he go to another school?"
Lies, lies, lies... i'so fucking tired'./i "It's Puck," He blurted out before he could stop himself. "If I'm pregnant, the baby is Puck's." Kurt's voice was nothing more than a whisper but Rachel heard him nonetheless and her eyes widened in shock. The soprano chuckled. "Yes, Puckzilla knocked up the resident fairy."
"Oh, Kurt..." In the girl's voice there was that kindness that he had seen in her eyes after the makeover that he had sabotaged. Kurt felt so stupid in that moment sharing everything with Rachel thinking that he had hooked up with Puck because he was the closest he could ever get to actually be with Finn and all he had got out of it, was a broken heart and possibly an unborn child. He briefly wondered what had been Noah's excuse to fuck him that first night.
"Don't tell anyone, ok?" Kurt asked quietly after a while.
"Sure. I can keep a secret you know. But I really think you should tell Puck."
"I'll think about it," He relented because he was feeling tired again and didn't want to keep having to talk about it.
Rachel opened the passenger door and looked back at Kurt. "Let me know if you'll need to see my father."
"Ok, and thank you, Rachel, for everything."
The girl simply nodded with a smile before running inside her house. She wondered what would happen to her relationship with Finn when the boy would eventually find out the truth and that they had both kept it hidden from him. But she had promised and she was going to keep her mouth shut for Kurt.
A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I've already sent the next chapter to my beta but I don't know when I'll be able to update since I'm moving away so I'll be without internet for an unknown amount of time! Since I'm currently using my neighbor's Internet connection, I can't reply to all the amazing reviews but just know that I'm very very grateful for all of them!