May

Finn chewed on his pencil and jiggled his leg as he waited for the minute hand on the clock to drag forward, finally signalling the end to the wasted hour that was US History class. "And a reminder that next week, you all have an essay due on an important figure in the Civil Rights movement..." Ms. Booth was drawling as each and every student in the class ignored her completely (Finn was actually pretty sure that his butt was numb at this point).

At long last, the bell rang in the corridor, and Finn quickly shoved all his books into his bag, shoving past a couple of kids on his way out the door and making a beeline for his locker. Kurt was leaning idly against the lockers next to Finn's, waiting for him.

"Dude, how'd you get ready so fast?"

"I had study hall," Kurt said with a shrug. "Hurry up, I have a big powerpoint to do for physics once we get home."

"But it's Friday..."

Kurt scoffed, but by this point Finn knew him well enough to know that the noise was meant to be affectionate rather than condescending. "Finn, just because you want to waste your weekend on Left4Dead and do all your homework at the last minute possible does not mean that the rest of us have to."

"I absorbed like ten percent of that." Finn slung his backpack over his shoulder as his stepbrother rolled his eyes, and the two of them headed for the parking lot.

When they got home, they found Carole in the kitchen, pulling a pan of fresh banana muffins out of the oven. "Oh, my god, those smell divine," Kurt said. "Finn, stop drooling."

Carole chuckled. "They'll be cool in a minute, and then you can each have one. And Finn, don't think I don't know about the extra five you had the last time I made these."

Finn looked down sheepishly as Kurt smirked and said, "I told you she'd notice."

Then, Carole said something that nearly made both boys' heads spin round on their shoulders.

"Have either of you heard from Puck yet?"

Kurt nearly dropped the Odwalla drink that he was pulling out of the fridge. "What?" he said. "Puck's in the hospital; why would we have heard from him?"

"No, Puck's back home now."

"Since when?" Finn asked, his jaw hanging open.

"I don't know. I just happened to see his little sister while she was shopping with her mom this afternoon, and she told me that her big brother was back. So, unless Puck's got another brother who's off at college and was never mentioned before..."

Finn yanked his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'm calling him," he announced, disappearing into the living room.

Kurt pulled himself up onto one of the stools next to the kitchen island. "So did Sarah or Ms. Puckerman say anything about how he's doing?"

Carole shook her head. "No, as soon as Ms. Puckerman heard was Sarah was talking about, she turned all stony and pulled Sarah away. But, I mean, if he's home, he has to be better, right?"

"God, I hope so," Kurt said, taking a gulp of his Odwalla. It had a hard time going down his throat.

Finn came back in, frowning deeply. "His cell's been disconnected," he said. "I called his house, but his mom told me not to call again and then hung up on me."

Carole eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs. "God, that woman-" she said, shaking her head. "Sometimes I just want to grab her and shake her until she realizes what she's doing to those kids."

"What should I do?"

"I don't know, sweetie," Carole sighed. "If his mom doesn't want anyone near him, then maybe it's for a good reason. He is sick, after all. Who knows what could happen?"

"If he's not in the hospital, then that means he's better," Finn insisted.

"Finn, mental illnesses are really difficult to get rid of," Carole said gently. "He might still be very sick."

"Well, there's no way we'll know for sure unless his stupid mom lets him out of his cage!" Finn snapped, glaring at his phone as if he thought that being furious with it would make it connect with Puck's cell.

"Finn, calm down," Kurt said. "I'll see what I can find out from Tina. She lives on his street; maybe she's seen him around."

Finn swallowed and nodded, then grabbed a banana muffin and angrily bit into it before storming back out of the room.

Once Kurt was in the privacy of his upstairs bedroom, he flopped down on his bed and dialed Tina's number.

"I don't care how many times you tell me that goth is dead, Kurt, I'm still not going shopping with you at Dolce and Gabbana."

"I'm not calling about fashion, Tina," Kurt said. "I'm in dire need of some information."

He could practically hear the gossip wheels whirring to life in her head as she said, "Continue."

"You haven't happened to see Puck around, have you?"

There was silence on the other end, and Kurt could easily imagine the eager grin melting off her face. "Wait...is he back?"

"I'll take that as a no."

"Oh my god, when was he discharged?"

"Carole saw his mom and sister in the store today and his sister said that he was back. That's all we know."

"Oh my god," Tina repeated. "I'm calling everyone else." There was a click, and she was gone.

Only a few minutes later, calls from the other Glee kids began to pour in, but Kurt was only able to repeat Carole's story for so long before he was fed up with it. Mike and Artie had also called Puck's house only to be abruptly shut down by his mother, and they'd already called Finn to plan an attack strategy in order to weasle past Ms. Puckerman and see if Puck was really back. Kurt quickly tried to stop them from moving forward with that plan, but the tone in both Artie and Mike's voices made Kurt sure that his advice and gone in their right ears and out their left. He nearly felt bad for Ms. Puckerman, and then he remembered the time that Puck told him that most of his little sister's parenting actually came from him.

Screw it, he thought. She can suffer the consequences of Finn's dancing, Mike's ninja skills, and Artie's upper body strength. I don't give a crap.

After three separate attempts to ring the Puckerman doorbell from various members of the group, Finn, Mike, and Artie crouched behind the bushes near Tina's house, watching the front of Puck's house like hyenas waiting to pounce. Tina had been keeping an eye on the Puckermans and had told them that his mother usually left the house at around four in the afternoon to go to her second job, taking Sarah with her in order to drop her off at a friend's house, and so the four of them had been hiding since three-forty-five, waiting for the house to be left unattended.

At long last, the front door opened and Ms. Puckerman, looking haggard and irritated, stepped out, pulling Sarah behind her. They drove off, and once they were sure that the car had turned the corner, Finn and Mike trotted towards the house, Artie rolling quickly behind. Mike sprinted up the front steps and pushed the doorbell, which clearly rang inside the house, but after a second push and then a third, nobody came to the door.

"Maybe he's still in the hospital," Artie said. "Maybe he was only here for the weekend."

"Well, I'm not gonna leave until I know whether or not he's here," Finn stated definitively.

"Which window is his?" Mike said, looking up at the second floor. "I say we scale the house."

Ten minutes later, they'd finally found a way up onto the overhang over the porch, and Artie was waiting on the ground as Mike and Finn crawled across the shingles. Finn peered through the glass. "Holy shit, he's here."

Mike frowned. "I don't see him."

"He's asleep, dude."

"Screw that, I can only be away from my house until four thirty or my mom's going to freak." With that, Mike rapped loudly on the window. Puck stirred slightly, and Mike knocked again until Puck lifted his head and glanced out the window. He dragged himself to his feet and pushed the window open.

"You guys do realize how creepy this is, right?" he said.

Finn ignored the question. "Why didn't you tell us you were back, dude?" he asked, semi-gently.

"Because the only reason I'm back is because there was a problem with my insurance."

Neither Finn nor Mike knew what to say to that, but Mike ventured forward with, "So...the voices...?"

"Are as loud as ever."