iv.

"Slutty Barbie needs all the help she can get," Kurt whispers to Mercedes like Rachel's not right there, as he swirls his straw around in his Sex on the Beach, and she giggles obnoxiously. "She looks so washed out. And that nose! Please, do something about those pores!"

Ever since Mercedes moved to New York and started crashing on Kurt's couch when she couldn't make it in L.A., it feels like high school and that nose job bullshit every time they meet.

Puck glares at the two from across the booth. He didn't even want to go out tonight, much less with Paris and Nicole. But of course Rachel thought it would be fun "catching up". The thing is, they saw each other last week. What else would be new with them? Kurt's still hanging around NYADA's school theatre to grab the attention of anyone who's scouting. Mercedes is still on Kurt's pull-out couch and she's taken to giving out her demos here. Of course, they have their part-time jobs, working shifts at the Starbucks close to their apartment. (Puck's happy as fuck that they're the losers for a change.)

He's got a gig at a small label company, and his girl? Well, it's not at all surprising that she's working as an understudy on an Off Broadway show, already on her way to the top. He's just saying, he and Rachel are doing way better than them, so they're stupid if they're not kneeling down and bowing to her. They're just lucky she's still so nice to them, for whatever fucked up reason.

"Don't be a bitch, Mr. Fagulous." He'd totally kick them under the table if Mercedes isn't a girl and Kurt isn't half a girl. He ignores the horrid gasps from the two and looks over at Rachel who's frowning down at her drink and playing with the napkin under it. "Baby, don't listen to them. You're gorgeous."

When she self-consciously reaches up to touch her nose, he drops the arm that was resting behind her on the booth and tugs her out with him.

"We're leaving."

After they graduated from high school and she moved outta that hellhole she grew more confident about herself, and she's totally okay in her skin. When some douche casting director second year mentioned her nose, she ripped him a new one before he got scared that she'd sue him or something and casted her the lead role, then totally fell in love with her (he was gay so he was cool with it). But in the presence of these two, she manages to always revert back to her fifteen year old self.

He's just closed the door of their apartment when she ducks her head, and he furrows his eyebrows when he sees that she's seriously considering their words. "I think... I've been working a lot lately and I'm starting to get bags under my eyes. Maybe I should wear a little bit more make-up." He starts shaking his head before she's halfway done with the sentence.

He grabs her hand and tugs her along into their bedroom. He lays her down before rolling on top of her and skims kisses across her face. "It's gross kissing you with all that gunk on your face," he whispers, and nudges her nose with his. "Why would you want to use all that crap to impress people who aren't even important?" He frames her head with his arms and intertwines his fingers at the top of her head as he waits until she's looking up at him. "This chick I know - she's so smart - she told me once that true beauty is in the way you carry yourself and somethin' about being ugly inside makes you ugly outside."

"I told you that."

He hates that she says it in a small voice. He realises for the first time how much the bullying during high school really affected her, and he so wants to punch himself in the face for being a part of it all. "Yes you did. And you were right; Kurt and Mercedes are such assholes, they're the ugly ones. I can't wait until we're forty and Kurt's all bald and wrinkly and fat, and Mercedes is shrivelled with grey hair, and of course both are still bitter. We can visit them and laugh in their sour faces while we flaunt our hot selves."

She cracks a smile and he feels better about himself.

He has no idea why she insists on still hanging out with them when they're such bitches to her. When he asks her later, after he wipes the tear stains from her cheeks and shows her how much he thinks she's beautiful, she tells him it's because she thinks it's such a waste that they've known each other for so long but aren't friends.

"Sometimes it's better to cut ties and actually spend time with people who we like and who likes us back. What's worse is the waste of time we spend with Bitch and Bitchier."

"When did you get so insightful?" she teases as she rubs his right earlobe with the pad of her thumb (fuck, that feels good).

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises," he smirks as he flips them so he's hovering over her again. His smirk grows when he gets an idea, and he sits up and pats her naked thigh before throwing clothes in her direction and pulling on his own. "C'mon."

"Where are we going?" He looks over and pauses. Her hands are holding the sheets to her chest, her hair's a mess, and most importantly, the confident gleam in her eyes twinkles as the warm hue from the bedside lamp flickers. She's gorgeous.

"To get new friends. There's a karaoke bar down on 44th Street."

"You hate those places," she says as she finally gets moving.

"But you don't." He's on the bed tugging on his Converse when she steps between his legs in just her underwear and pulls his head back to kiss him.

"Thank you," she murmurs against his lips, her fingers lightly massaging the sides of his scalp.

"For what."

:whispers: please review