A/N: Okay... Whoa... I'm a little taken back by the upset that Puck's death caused. I figured some people would be a little upset but apparently it rattled some people to the point of them discontinuing the story. I'm sad to hear that but I don't take back my choice. I was given advice by a reviewer that I didn't give enough warning about the potentially triggering occurences in the last chap or some others. My intent on not putting up specific warnings was to avoid spoiling the story but I do apologize to anyone who was in any way offended or felt particularly triggered, sickened, disgusted, etc, etc, by the content. From now on, warnings will be strategically placed if and when needed. My hope is that for those of you who stick around, you'll indeed find some happiness with the story despite the loss of Puck.

Perhaps if I explain myself a bit further it may sting a bit less, least I hope so:

My heart is sad for Puck of course but I wanted to explore the idea of what the loss of Puck (since he got his chance to become a better/changed person) would do for Kurt in terms of character development and a potential positive transformation. Like I said, Puck got his 'transformation' before he died and that's why I was cool with letting him go which felt like the best thing for the story overall. More meaningful then a simple 'everything works out and is tied up in a neat little bow' kind of story. Don't get me wrong, I love those types of endings too, just didn't feel right this time around. The end is near. I really sincerely hope you guys will finish this journey with me. It's been a blast and I love all you guys for giving me your thoughts and support, even if you disagree with some of my choices which is completely ok to do. Reviews, questions, comments are still and always will be welcome. To psykogleek, this chap will reveal more of why Quinn chose to not say anything... And damn this is a long ass author's note, lol.

Warnings: Mentions of sexual abuse, physical assault, and suicide. Be warned my friends... not deterred. :)

"Here kid."

Jerry hands him a styrofoam cup filled with something, then sits next to him on the bench.

"Thanks."

"You okay?"

Kurt exhales, then takes a careful sip. Water, he notes to himself. "I dunno."

"You did good in there."

"I guess I was lucky they didn't arrest me."

"Maybe. But either way, I know how hard that was for you to do. But you did it."

"Yeah but it wasn't good enough. That lawyer was right. To them I'm some crazy nut job with a vendetta. They won't convict him."

"It ain't over till the fat lady sings they say, Kurt. Sure there were a couple in the audience but I ain't heard not one of them utter even a note yet."

Kurt smiles, then swallows a large gulp of the water.

"Did they already call you up to the stand?"

"Yes they did."

"And you had to tell them all about how perfect that dickhead was. Right?"

Jerry chuckles. "Dickhead. That's a new one for you. An old one for Puck though."

Kurt catches Jerry's eye, feeling his own sparkling with warmth waiting to spill over. Jerry claps him on the back.

"They asked me about my relationship with him and I told them."

Kurt snorts disbelievingly.

"I told them how I'd had my suspiscions about Gavin's conduct with the kids in that place for a long time. If anything I think I may have just jeapordized my job."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean that I felt it. I knew in my gut, something wasn't right. That day I saw you two in the hallway with him. That was just one of several occasions I've questioned over the years. But I never did anything. I should've investigated, complained, something. I never did anything Kurt."

"Well, you didn't know."

"The hell I didn't. I suspected. And that should've been enough."

"Yeah - But why would you lose your job over that? You're the one person in the whole place besides Dr. Schuester that actually helps us... That actually gives a damn" -

"Look kid. I hope that what I did today made up for what I didn't do before. Even just a little bit. That Mr. Collier was right though. I should've done something."

Kurt smiles up at Jerry, hoping to bring even an ounce of the encouragement and support that Jerry had always displaced onto him.

"Should'a, could'a would'a as one Miss Mercedes Jones would say. What's done is done. You can't live in the past right?"

Jerry grins and pats Kurt on the shoulder again. Kurt pulls him into a hug.

"Thank you," He breathes as the tears finally escape from his blue orbs.

Now it made sense why they were there.

When Rory had gotten on the stand, what he had to say made Kurt's throat catch. He had seen what had happened... Had witnessed the whole thing that day when Gavin had pushed Kurt against the wall and felt him up.

Noah had said he thought he glimpsed something move in the background, but that maybe it had just been a trick of the light.

Turns out that it was the little Irishman all along.

When Quinn was called up, it did more then surprise Kurt. It stirred various emotions within him to the point of making him feel faint.

It seemed that Gavin hadn't just taken an interest in Kurt.

She described several incidents in which he had cornered her, made sure to be the one who escorted her for things like her medication just to be able to get her alone...

"And then what happened Ms. Fabray?" posed the Prosecuting attorney.

"He - Uh - Told me that he knew how much of a whore I was, and that could I be a whore for him too."

"Did he leave you alone after that?"

"No. Things got worse for a while. One day he managed to get me alone on my way to our exercise class and he, h-he..."

She trailed off, her head ducked down as the sobs began to surface.

"Ms. Fabray?"

"I-I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and steadied herself. "He pulled me into a utility closet. Then he p-pulled my underwear down, and he, he put his fingers inside me."

The courtroom was dead silent with the exception of her sniffling. Gavin looked close to being sick.

"Was that the only time Ms. Fabray?"

She jerkily nodded, taking the tissue offered to her by the bailiff.

"Thank you. Yes. That was the only time he'd done t-that. He threatened to do more but then... He sort of started doing things like that less and less."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Why do you think that was?"

"Cause... Because Kurt came."

"Excuse me?"

She grimaced, then looks directly at Kurt. "Because Kurt came to Vista Point. I saw it. The same signs were there. He made sure to be around when Kurt was... like his classes or in between group sessions. Then I noticed him whispering things to him, trying to catch him alone. I knew what it was, what it was leading up to, right then."

"So why didn't you say anything to anyone Ms. Fabray?"

Her lips quivered, her chin dimpling as the tears flowed anew.

"I-I was... I was just happy... t-that he wasn't - that it wasn't me anymore."

The prosecuting attorney, Mr. Dilbeck, Kurt recalls, sighs, and then waits. Quinn wipes her nose with a tissue, then proceeds.

"And I... I was, I was so angry. I was angry with Kurt, because I knew that he had - I knew how Noah felt about him."

"Mr. Puckerman?"

She nods. "I was angry because - he never looked at me the way he looked at Kurt. I wanted him to but... I'm so so sorry Kurt," She mumbles. Kurt's eyes are leaking. He nods, the tears running with abandon.

"I wanted Kurt to hurt. I did. And I was wrong."

"Ms. Fabray, tell me about the day you had confronted Mr. Puckerman about his relationship with Mr. Hummel for the second time."

She took a moment to wipe away her tears and regain her composure. And as her voice echoes across the courtroom, Kurt pictures it... Sees the whole scene so vividly...

"I knew you were with him."

Kurt felt himself shiver at the ice in her tone.

"Is that why you could never fuck me Puckerman? Cause you wanted dick this whole time?"

Kurt looks over at Puck. Puck seems to only have eyes for the girl watching him from down the hall.

"Quinn-"

"Maybe I just should've let you fuck me in the ass, huh? Maybe then you would've done it."

"Quinn stop-"

"God. This is hilarious actually. The biggest homophobe on the planet is in reality the biggest fag there is."

Kurt notices Puck wince at her words. Surprisingly, he doesn't react.

"All I ever wanted was to be yours. Don't you get it. I just wanted to be yours," she says brokenly. Her eyes are fixated on the carpet now.

"I-I-don't... Quinn. Look at me. Please."

Quinn was stricken by something... Maybe it was Noah actually saying the word 'please.'

He begins to walk forward as he spoke. Kurt reluctantly loosened his grip on the other boy's arm. Puck shoots him a quick smile which gives Kurt the strength to let him go completely.

"I couldn't be what you needed. And I can never be what you need. What we had. It was just some half assed scheme so we wouldn't feel so lonely all the time. I can't have you. No one can, because you're too good - too awesome of a girl to be kept by anyone."

Quinn looks like she is near to losing it. Her green eyes are alight with tears. Kurt feels his own eyes becoming slightly damp.

"What we were doing was just... It was comfortable. But I couldn't go all the way with you. Because of how broken both of us are Quinn. Because we were just usin' each other. It wouldn't have been right. In the end."

Kurt's wiping at his own eyes now. This feels like too much - Like maybe he's intruding.

"What if I tell? I can tell you know? About you being with him."

Kurt thinks his heart may have stopped mid-pump when Puck's words flow into his ears.

"You do that Quinn. Just don't forget the part about me loving him too. Okay?"

Quinn wants to say something. Kurt knows it. But she's struggling, the words just out of her reach.

Noah reaches up and brushes a stray tear away from her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"Did you ever love me?" She croaks, her throat surpressing a lingering sob.

Puck sadly shakes his head. "No. But I like you. A lot. When you're not being all fuckin' loony and stalkerish."

Then she's laughing through her tears, and Noah is hugging her to him. For some reason, Kurt doesn't feel any sense of jealousy at their embrace... Just pride in the boy standing before him with another girl in his arms.

"Well khum-bay-fuckin'-yah. What interesting little scene did I just happen to stumble upon?"

Why did he always seem to just be around? Why couldn't he just leave him alone?

"I'd say it looks like you were getting ready for a threesome. That is if that one wasn't as queer as a three dollar bill."

"Leave him alone."

Gavin laughs darkly in response. Kurt knows that laugh well. He feels his spine tingle with apprehension. Gavin's club strikes Puck in his leg the same second that Kurt is just beginning to register that he's feeling fear.

"Noah!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Quinn yells out. She ducks down by Noah's side.

"Leave him and get going Fabray."

"N-no. I'm not-"

"Get lost or I'll put your ass in the quiet room for a couple of days. No where to hole up and spew up your din-din, I'm afraid when you're in there. Just you, in a padded cell, with all your little self hating voices doing monologues in your head until you can't take it anymore."

Kurt could see that she was scared. That his words were exactly what she needed to hear to instill the right amount of trepidation.

"Leave her alone Ga- Ow- fuck!" He strikes Puck again and Kurt rushes forward. He stops when Gavin holds the club out toward him.

"Now I don't want to bruise that pretty porcelain skin of yours Dorothy. So unless you want me to give you some natural eye make up, I would stay put. Move it Fabray!" Gavin shouted at her.

Quinn is so unsure and worried. It's obvious in the way she takes very slow, measured steps. Puck tries to give her a look of reassurance, a nod to let her know that it would be okay, but his lips grind together in a thin line as his head falls forward, the pain seeming too much.

...

"And then I left."

Kurt tunes back in, the scene dissipating as the memory fades back into the recesses of his mind.

"I knew what Gavin was capable of and I was scared. I didn't want to be in the quiet room. Not alone. I can't handle that."

"When was the last time you'd seen Noah Puckerman?"

Quinn smiles. Somehow the gesture surpasses the tears staining her face.

"The day they'd arrested him. I saw him in passing. Both of us were on our way to different places - just going down the hall. I remember thinking to myself how unbelievably happy he looked. He smiled at me" - She chuckles wetly - "An actual smile."

"Do you know anything of what happened later on that day?"

"You mean about Jacob?"

"Yes. Mr. Jacob Ben Israel."

"I had heard that Jacob had killed himself - hung himself in his dorm room with some torn sheets I think. Puck - Noah, they say that he'd found him first and tried to save him... Said he'd tried to hold him up until Kurt had gotten help. They had to practically pry Noah away from the kid."

"Thank you Ms. Fabray. No more questions."

Then it was the Defenses turn.

Mr. Collier tried his best to discredit Quinn. Brought up old dirt about her past and her current habits as a patient at Vista Point; that she was often deemed cruel and calculating by her peers and was a known manipulator. Quinn took it all in stride ending with a simple statement: "I am what I am sir. But at least I can admit it."

As Quinn walks off the stand escorted by the bailiff, she catches Kurt's eye. They reach an understanding without words.