A/N: It was hard to do that to Jacob but I felt like it was necessary to fully capture the absolute evil that is Gavin, and push Puck to the brink that he'd been teetering toward for a while. The end is near and I know what you mean chrissy, I don't want it to end either. It was a helluva journey, this story. Thanks to all and please review.

"Kurt?"...

"Kurt?" Dr. Schuester tries again.

The other boy turns his head, blue eyes bright yet haunted looking. Dr. Schuester swallows, his own eyes betraying his years of therapeutic neutrality. He honestly can't help but feel absolutely sorry for the kid.

"You know that Puck - Noah, is going to be placed in the State Penitentiary."

"H-he's not even eighteen yet -"

"But he will be. His birthday is, well it's tomorrow actually."

Kurt ducks his head, his eyes burning. How could he have not even known?

Dr. Schuester clears his throat pointedly, and continues. "I want to do everything in my power to help him. I honestly do. But I need you to talk to me."

"What about?" Kurt croaks, wiping his wet eyes with the back of his hand. Dr. Schue reaches forward with a tissue which Kurt accepts with a sad smile.

"Thank you."

Dr. Schuester nods, returning a tired smile of his own. "Kurt. I think that Noah... Look, I don't know, or exactly understand the nature of your relationship with each other, but I do know one thing. And that's that your influence on Noah was nothing short of a miracle."

Kurt quietly wiped his face.

"In these past few months, since you've been around him, I've never seen him so open, so completely... Well, happy."

Kurt looks up, making direct eye contact with warm, gray toned eyes; his mouth slightly agape.

"And I know you'd want nothing more then to help him now. So what I need from you is for you to tell me everything. Tell me what happened with Gavin. What was Noah talking about?"

Kurt knew this was going to come up at some point. He knew that someone was going to ask and he was going to have to answer; to relive those disgusting words that caressed his ears in heated whispers, to feel the grotesque, unwanted touches against his groin...

But then he sees Noah. He sees that face...

Kurt is standing in the corner of the lobby area. Waiting... He's not sure why. He told Noah that he was going to walk away, leave this all behind him.

But he can't... He just... Can't...

Everything seems surreal, like he's watching it from some other time frame and the sound has been cut off like an old box stereo that shorted out.

He can't seem to hear anything as he sees them, at least three orderlies dragging him inside and slamming him on the carpeted floor, pinning his arms down. The group is joined now by two police officers who have been led in by another orderly.

That face... The jaw line strong, lightly dusted with a shadow of stubble, his brown eyes tinged with red from the tears, the thick eyebrows knitted together and disheveled mohawk laying limpy to the side... The split lip scabbing over with dried blood, a trail of redness sliding down from his scalp over the tan skin of his cheek...

Puck meets his eye. They immediately turn from dark brown to a warm chocolate hue, the ferocity in them dying away only to be replaced with an intense adoration. The fight goes out of him, and he seems to have regained some sort of inexplicable peace.

Kurt wants to go to him, even moves his feet forward to do so. But Puck shakes his head, lying perfectly still as they slap the cuffs on his wrists. Puck smiles then, a full on beaming grin that enraptures Kurt, forces him to return the gesture when he truly wants nothing more then to scream until his lungs burn as much as his eyes do.

He vaguely registers someone squeezing his shoulder comfortingly, possibly to keep him from running over there and getting arrested too. They squeeze tighter as Puck is lifted onto his feet and pulled forward toward the exit.

Puck looks over his shoulder, his eyes pleading, smile beaming... And then he was gone. Just like that.

Kurt collapses on the floor and the person who was holding him feels warm as they clutch him from behind. The voice... It's kind and as warm as the heat coming from them... Mercedes... She stays with him on the ground while he tries to hold onto the image of Puck's smile...

"-urt? Kurt?"

Kurt feels the words slide over his tongue. "Gavin... Noah told me that he had said something, did something to Jacob that made him give up. And I believe him. I think with everything that he'd already done, Noah just couldn't hold back anymore."

"Everything he'd done? Do you mean Gavin?"

Kurt nods stiffly.

"Gavin he - He tried to h-hurt me... Make me and Noah do things..."

And Kurt quietly but directly recounted the things that had happened: Gavin's constant advances and threats, him pulling Kurt away and feeling him up, purposely telling Noah about his Mother's overdose in a jeering manner, the way he had ordered Kurt to suck off Noah after beating him with that club... And now instigating Jacob's suicide...

Kurt knew that the accusations would be met with an alarm that Dr. Schuester couldn't mask behind his normal air of professionalism. Judging by the wide eyes and fingers raking through his neatly piled curls, that's exactly what was going on.

Dr. Schue breathes out, and settles himself further into his chair once Kurt has concluded his story.

"I-I'm so sorry Kurt. I... There'll be an immediate investigation. Gavin's in the hospital now but I've gotten word that he'll make a full recovery. Until then he'll be on suspension while we sort through all this. But I have to tell you Kurt... There may be - This won't end here. It's most likely going to go to court. And if you really want to help Noah, you'll have to re-state the things you just told me... Testify against Gavin."

Kurt knew that it was going to come to this. He was admittedly scared. Terrified actually. But his fear... It came in an easy second to his absolute love for the most irritating, chauvinistic, pig-headed, wonderful, deeply sweet, and hard loving man he had ever known.

Yeah. It was no contest.

The trial was set to begin in three weeks time.

Kurt exhaled as he read over the words printed on the envelope.

It was from... "Noah," he breathes.

"I thought you'd want to read it while you had some privacy," Mercedes explained as she took a seat at the edge of his bed. Kurt smiles up at her; his first genuine smile in days she notes.

"Thank you," he whispers, his blue eyes shining with tears.

Mercedes pats him on the leg in a consoling manner, then stands. "Guess I'll just leave you to it then." She then exits, pulling the door closed behind her.

It was the first letter he had received in response to the letter he had sent just shy over a week before. He had started to get nervous that Puck had maybe forgotten, or came to some stark realization that the 'little fag' had inadvertantly ruined his life. With shaking fingers, Kurt pries the envelope open and unfolds the letter covered in tiny, messy scrawl.

Babe,

Stop thinking it. I know you, and I already know that you're thinking this is your fault. Or that I hate you or some other retarded bull shit like that.

Kurt laughs at Noah's very correct presumption, then continues.

I'm writing you simply to say that more then ever I think about you. More then ever I love you without a doubt in my mind. I can't take back what I did, but I can't bring myself to regret it either. Until I think about the time I could be spending with you. Then that fucking squirmy feeling starts happening in my stomach and shit, and I feel bad. I know I shouldn't say this with the trial getting ready to start and all, but I would do it again. If it meant protecting you, and making him feel for just a fraction of a second the pain that he's caused... And Jacob. I'm still having trouble sleeping at night. I have nightmares about it all the time.

Kurt bites his lip, feeling helpless and rather lonely at the thought of Noah suffering and constantly blaming himself for what happened.

I know you've probably already heard about me being moved to gen pop (that's general population) just in case you were thinking it was some kind of dance troupe or boy band or something.

Kurt feels the worry rising, constricting his chest, making it hard to take a steadying breath.

I don't want you to worry though. Ok, babe? It'll be alright. I'll keep my head down and do what I have to so I can get back to you. And don't be sad about missing my birthday. I didn't tell you about it honestly because it was never a big deal to me. Just another day the way I grew up. Hell if it wasn't for that shit, I'd be in the juvie center instead of this shitty place so I say fuck my birthday right in the ass with a spiked rubber glove.

Kurt laughs aloud at this, several tears falling cleanly over his pale cheeks.

Alright well, it's almost lights out so I have to go. Just know that I love you. And I wish that I could hold you. At least for a bit. I know that being with you would help me get some sleep.

Yours,

Noah Anthony Puckerman

Kurt re-reads the letter three more times before folding it up and putting it back in the broken envelope with a lingering smile on his lips. He's supposed to be going to group session soon but thinks it better to make a pit stop for some writing supplies. The words in his head are pounding too loudly to be ignored and not written down immediately.