A/N: OK, so I am pretty much the only girl in a million who liked the Lucy Caboosey storyline, so I am mentioning it here, but it isn't a major part of this story. Not at all. It is all Puckurt from here to the moon. So this is the Born This Way AU. I wanted to have more Brittana in this chapter, but I just couldn't find room for them to go with my story. So there. Also, the reason why I don't have Kurt call Puck "Noah" as he does in many a Fanfiction, is because Kurt actually doesn't call him by his first name on the show. And I love how sexy it sounds when he calls him "Puck" or "Puckerman"… Anyway; enjoy!
He broke her fucking nose! Finn Hudson wasn't exactly the smartest or most structured of people and Lord knows his dancing needed work, even though it probably wouldn't improve further in the future anyway. But never had Puck ever thought that it would lead to Finn breaking Rachel's nose. Fine, in all its stupidity, it was kind of funny. But not when Rachel approached the choir room and announced to everyone that she was planning on getting a freaking nose-job.
Puck wasn't actually known to be very accepting and tolerant of the girls he had dated or done, but even he was all for natural women. Wow, it was weird having thoughts about attractive girls again, seeing as all that usually was on Puck's mind was Kurt. That didn't, however, mean that he didn't find girls attractive anymore. He did. He always had and he most likely always would. He just didn't fall in love with them, apparently. At least he had never fallen deeply in love with a girl before.
Sure, he loved Quinn but more in a protective, brotherly way and because she had given birth to his child. He knew it wasn't really his place to be upset or to blame her for anything, but deep down inside he really wished she would've kept Beth or at least had some access to her mother. But no, Shelby Corcoran was far away now and whenever she returned to Lima, there would probably be no way she would let Puck anywhere near his child. Really? His child? Did he just refer to Beth, the so-called "accident", as "his child"? Whatever? She wouldn't let him see her. Puck knew that. He was a fucking delinquent for god's sake. No matter what anyone said, no one, not even Kurt, could convince him otherwise. Hell, it was the truth.
But enough about girls and Quinn, and back to Rachel. Puck really didn't want her to change her appearance. She looked great the way she looked. If she got a nose-job, she would lose what made her special… Wow, how much of a lame loser-comment was that? He sounded like Mr. Schue.
Puck had a lot to do this week! He had three plans, actually. No, four, to be exact. The first one being helping Rachel accept her nose, and he would totally need Kurt's help in that department, the second being getting Kurt back at McKinley without pushing him further. That was something he needed Santana's help on. His third mission was the Glee Club assignment for the week. Santana's bitchiness was escalating further, if that was even possible. As nearly every single member of the New Directions tried to force Rachel into not getting a nose-job, she had the guts to point out the flaws of every single member of the club. Even Puck understood how mean that really was. Still, he didn't bother commenting on it. He needed the girl, after all. However, the Glee Club assignment was to make a T-shirt with some flaw of yours written of it, to try to embrace the weirdest or maybe "worst" parts of you. Puck had no idea what to write. Sure, he was flawed, he knew that, but he was pretty sure his flaws were way too heavy for an ordinary, partly conservative public high school to handle. He would have to try to think of something later.
And to top it all off, Lauren Zizes, his "beloved" ex-girlfriend had approached him in the hallway today. Again. Puck was immediately a little afraid she would try to make a sex tape again, but he realized that would make Kurt kill him, so he wouldn't have that anyway.
Luckily that wasn't what she wanted. What Lauren wanted was, if possible, even more inevitable: She wanted to be elected prom queen. Puck had to hold back a chuckle at the thought. Chicks like Lauren just didn't become prom queen. That was a fact. It wasn't how Puck thought it should be, not at all, but it was a pure, horrifying norm of every high school community that the crown and the scepter and the title belonged to chicks like Quinn or Santana.
That didn't, however, mean that he didn't want to help Lauren out on her mission. He would gladly help her become prom queen if that was what she wanted. The thing was, he had never seen her as the prom queen type, when it came to her personality either.
The first thing he had to do, however, was to try to make Rachel change her mind about the nose job. That was for sure. It wasn't long until she obviously would have her surgery and he would do everything that was in his power to try to make her change his mind. He, as everyone else in the New Directions, knew why she wanted it, of course. It wasn't so she could hit higher notes or just to look prettier. She was happy about her pitch, vocal range and looks. She wanted Quinn's nose. Why? Because Quinn was Finn's girlfriend and that was a position everyone knew Rachel would be more than happy to see herself in. And neither Puck nor Finn would have it! Only Quinn seemed supportive of her decision. Plus Santana of course, who lived by the philosophy: "If you see something you don't like, you should change it."
Puck knew Rachel. She was stubborn, that girl, and no one seemed to be able to change her mind once she had made a determined decision.
But God bless his beautiful boyfriend who Puck met up with at the Lima mall that week. They sometimes happened to hang out casually like that. They had to keep a somewhat low profile, that being said. Lima was a small town, and there was not a single person in that town who didn't know of Kurt Hummel's sexuality. For a boy to ever even be seen with him, would be seen as some kind of weird death wish, unless it was Finn, who was his brother now.
Puck didn't give a shit about people, so het let the norms fall, and decided to go to the mall with Kurt, even if it escalated into Kurt buying enough clothes to feed the entire staff of the mall for the rest of that month.
"You heard about Rachel?" Puck asked as he and Kurt were standing casually, leaning on the fence of the second floor of the mall.
Kurt frowned. "What about her? That she broke her nose?"
He obviously hadn't heard. Seriously, what kind of friends were they? The only ones ever telling him anything nowadays was either him, who was more his boyfriend than his friend so to speak, and Santana. Where's the sense in that? Not even Finn seemed to tell him anything and the two of them fucking lived together.
"Yeah, and she's considering getting a fucking nose job," Puck explained.
Kurt's eyes widened until they looked like silver plates. "What?" he exclaimed, loudly enough to make people wonder if everything was OK.
"True story," Puck commented, knowing Kurt would push for details all by himself.
Kurt slapped Puck on the arm to make him pay attention. "OW!" Puck exclaimed as he rubbed his arm. Damn, the boy had a mean right hook. "Why are you hitting me?"
"To make you listen! Please, tell me she changed her mind."
Puck shook his head. "No, she's still considering it. I tried to make her listen, but she just won't. It's not my business anymore."
"The hell it is!" Kurt exclaimed, before his face got some new light to it, - "I have an idea!"
Puck's face expression must've been priceless by the surprise that was showing. Hell, what was it with this guy? He had the perfect solution for everything.
"What is it?"
"She won't listen to you…"
"Not Finn either," Puck said, - "Not Tina, not Mr. Schue… No one."
Kurt nodded thoughtfully. "And she probably won't listen to me either," he said, leaving a long break in the air, making Puck want to shake the thoughts out of him, - "But I know who will," he said finally.
"Who?" Puck prompted.
A secretive smile appeared on the smaller boy's face. "Meet me here in two hours," he said, - "Bring Rachel."
"But…," Puck said, not really sure how to put his words, - "Where the hell are you going with all this?"
"You'll see," Kurt said as he walked away.
"Hey Kurt," Puck said before he walked off, a sly grin on his face.
"What?" Kurt asked, knowing that look.
"You're kind of cute when you're all excited like that."
Kurt nodded. "Kind of," he said, as he walked away.
PK
He hadn't meant "kind of". He had meant "extremely", but it was just something about Kurt that was so breathtaking Puck forgot how to use more advanced words than two-syllabled ones. He made a note to himself to make it up to him.
He met up with Rachel at the Lima mall as he and Kurt had planned. Kurt had sent Puck a short explanation of what his plan entailed:
"Here's the deal: U show up with Rach as planned, walk upstairs 2wards the place u & I were in earlier. We'll just give away some preachy explanations 2 y she shouldn't get her nose done, and then we're having a Barbravention!"
Puck had no idea what that meant, so he just typed back:
"I luv u, but WTF?"
Kurt's answer came sooner than Puck thought was possible:
"Barbravention = u, I and the rest of the Glee Club dancing to "Barbra Streisand" by Duck Sauce until she changes her mind. At the mall."
Puck had serious doubts that would work, but what could he do but trust the boy?
So… He met up with Rachel at the Lima mall. At Rachel's question as to why the two of them were there, Puck gave the answer straight out: "I came here to knock some sense into your head," he said, even though he knew Rachel was tired of all the preachy comments regarding her decision. He couldn't contain himself, so he referred slightly to the conversation he'd had with Kurt earlier that day: "You won't listen to me, you won't listen to Finn…"
… and speaking of Kurt! There he was! Hot as ever… Puck, focus! "But she will listen to Barbra Streisand," Kurt said, as if wondering if Puck had forgotten something along the way.
Puck could only stand there grinning like an idiot. "Thanks Puck, I'll take it from here," Kurt said, and there was just something about the way he used his nickname that was so totally hot, - "Nice offer, but only I can lead this Barbravention."
Puck nodded and walked down, starting to work on the music to get everything ready. From where he stood, he could see Kurt pulling off his preachy down (he noticed this just by regarding his attitude). He was probably educating Rachel on how she was spitting on "Barbra's legacy" by getting a nose job or something like that.
At some point, Kurt turned towards him, with the most determined facial expression Puck had ever seen, hinting for him to turn the music on.
Puck hesitated for a second, distracted by the hotness of his boyfriend, before he turned the music on, and BAM! Kurt Hummel showed off his dance skills! Damn, the boy could dance, Puck would give him that. But also, that was a part he already knew. He had seen the boy pull off "Single Ladies" one year and a half ago. That was an image he would never want to get out of his mind.
PKPKPK
The Barbravention seemed to, against all odds and Puck's beliefs, work. The day after, Santana approached him in the hallway.
"I've got news for you," she said simply.
Puck liked this. It was a nice opportunity for him to introduce her to the plan on cooperating with her in order to get Kurt back to McKinley. Perfect! She came before him in that department, though. As Puck said "what?" as casually as ever, Santana prompted: "Karofsky's gay."
This was a fact that Puck was very well aware of, seen as Kurt had told him, but hearing Santana knew kind of surprised him.
"How do you know?" he simply asked, not bothering to act overly surprised.
"He was checking out Sam's ass in the hallway," she said, giving away a cold-hearted chuckle. There was a break between them, where Puck contemplated Santana's extraordinarily awesome gaydar, also wondering if she knew anything about him, before the Latina crossed her arms and asked: "Know what that means?"
Puck frowned, not really knowing where she was going with this. "No," he said, even though he had a feeling they were on the same term.
Santana rolled her eyes. "Now you listen to me squirrel head," she said, - "I'm only saying this once: Karofsky. Needs. To. Be. Blackmailed. So. We. Can. Get. Kurt. Back. At. McKinley. So. I. Can. Be. Prom. Queen."
Puck frowned. As if that was going to help. And besides, blackmailing him? "How?" he asked.
Santana shrugged. "Oh, I don't know," she said, - "We could threaten to out him to the entire school if he doesn't become nicer to Kurt. I actually happen to have a perfect idea!"
Surprise, Puck thought ironically, but he said nothing. The girl was smart, that was for sure. She was like an evil genius.
"Isn't that a little mean?" he asked, because that was pretty much the only coherent thought that was in his mind at the moment. He didn't know what it was, but it appeared is encouraging love for Kurt Hummel had made him brain dead.
"It's not like we're gonna do it, dumbass," Santana explained as if she was talking to a five-year-old, - "We're gonna threaten him with it."
"Oh," Puck said, a little relieved. He hated the idea of being outed himself, as well as he hated the idea of Santana being outed. He wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy. Not even on Karofsky, so he was grateful Santana didn't try to drag him into something that simply was too cruel. But wait a second…
"What if it doesn't work? What if he doesn't buy our threats?"
Santana shrugged. "He will," she guaranteed.
"How do you know?" Puck asked, a little perplexed, it seemed.
Santana rolled her eyes again. "What would you think if someone outed you on your extremely obvious love for Hummel, Puckerman?" she asked, again crossing her arms over her chest.
Wow… So her gaydar really was that awesome, huh? Puck was kind of amazed, but more than anything he wanted to know how the hell she knew that, so again he asked: "How do you know?"
"Oh please!" Santana exclaimed, - "You'd be blind not to see it! Or I would, anyway. Don't worry, I don't think the retarded friends of ours have a single clue what's going on, but I know that you're so into him you don't know whether you're dead or alive."
She put a friendly wink after the last sentence, reassuring Puck that he was safe. She wasn't going to tell anyone. Besides, if she did, he also had his chance at outing her. And he would do it! Cruel as it would be or not, he would.
Going back to the Karofsky case of it all, Puck finally agreed. "I'm in," he said. It was their only way, after all.
PKPKPKPK
Puck didn't really have to be a part of the plan at all. Santana took care of most of it on her own. She met up with Karofsky at a café one day, and her blackmail process begun. She got him to come into the choir room one day, much to everyone's despise, giving a half-hearted apology which Santana silently mouthed to him through. No one brought up the subject that it was Kurt he should be apologizing to, not them, but Figgins beat them to it. He told them that Kurt's father and Kurt himself, as well as Karofsky and his dad had agreed on a meeting with Figgins and Mr. Schue later that afternoon to see if there was a possibility Karofsky really had changed.
This afternoon? Puck had to give Kurt a message:
"U OK, babe? Hear ur meetin with the terrorist 2day?"
Puck obviously hadn't told Kurt of his bright idea of getting him back to McKinley. He didn't want to come on too pushy. It was Kurt's decision and he needed to know that his boyfriend had his back no matter which school he decided to attend.
The response came almost immediately:
"I'm fine. How did u hear?"
Puck replied:
"Karofsky came in2 the choir room 2day, givin some lousy apology for how he treated u."
Kurt's answer came after a few minutes:
"We'll c when I get there. Hoping for the best."
Puck responded: "Good luck, babe. I'm here when u need me."
He didn't really expect a reply from his boyfriend on that one. I mean, didn't he have lots to do in Dalton at the moment? But he got an answer: "Thanks. Ur amazing."
He was pretty sure he was giggling throughout the rest of the day. The afternoon came and went and Puck didn't hear more from Kurt that day. He supposed the plan hadn't gone well, seen as he hadn't heard from him all night. He didn't bother giving him a call. He was too tired, besides, tomorrow would come and he could talk to him then after school.
PKPKPKPK
Puck got a message from Mercedes by lunchtime that day. That was a bit strange, seeing as Puck couldn't remember her ever having sent him one single message since they were dating for a couple of days last year. The message read:
"Meet up at the outside cafeteria by noon! – Mercedes."
Puck had no clue what the girl was talking about. Probably some Glee thing or a "let's join together against Rachel Berry's divaness"-operation. It crossed his mind that it could be about Kurt, but he let that thought slide pretty quickly. Mr. Schue had been right: Kurt was gone and he wasn't coming back. It occurred to Puck that having him after school and on the weekends just wasn't enough. He needed to spend every moment of every day with the one person he would ever be capable of loving.
Holy shit! Had he just thought that? That he loved the boy? Sure, he was in love with him, he had never been able to deny that, neither to himself nor Kurt, but did he love him now? Because that sure as hell wasn't the same thing! Oh, be it. If he loved him, he loved him. Wasn't that what true relationships were about anyway? Yes, it was, he decided.
He met up where Mercedes had told him to. "It's noon," he heard her say, - "It's time."
"Time for what?" Puck asked, before an all too familiar voice interrupted him, yelling:
"My transfer!"
As Puck took the moment to look up and see the very familiar silhouette illuminated by the sun, the voice yelled: "Kurt Hummel's back at McKinley!"
A little stagnant, wondering if he had actually heard right, he could only stare at his secret boyfriend until he had come down all the stairs and given hugs to all the Glee clubbers. When he had hugged Finn, Puck came up to him and gave him a slight hug from the side, causing a few weird glances from their fellow Glee club members. They didn't care to ask, though.
When they were somewhat alone, and the others had gone to their classes, Kurt and Puck were left behind. They walked a few meters in silence before Puck spoke up: "I'm glad to have you back."
Kurt gave away a smile that Puck couldn't help but return. "Me too," he answered.
They walked in silence for a few meters more, before Kurt spoke up again: "Sorry I didn't call you yesterday."
Puck chuckled. "It's OK," he said, - "Though I thought it hadn't gone well seeing as you didn't call me. How did it go? With Karofsky and the meeting and all?"
Kurt shrugged. "He promised not to bother me anymore and… I asked to talk to him alone for a moment."
Puck looked at him, a frown appearing on his forehead. "You dared that?"
Kurt laughed a little. "Yeah, it was no big deal, really. My dad and Finn stood outside the whole time."
Puck was about to frown at the mention of Finn, but once again he remembered that he and Kurt were brothers now and that there was no way the two of them would have a thing going. So he just nodded and put an arm around the smaller boy's shoulder.
"Um…," Kurt said hesitating.
"What?" Puck asked.
"I think you might end up in serious danger holding me in public."
Puck rolled his eyes and pulled Kurt closer before letting him go. "I don't really give a shit," he said, - "I'm just glad to have you back."
Yet another comfortable silence appeared between them, but then Puck asked: "So are you planning on singing anything to mark your return?"
Kurt smiled wider now. This was definitely his type of conversation. "I was thinking 'As If We Never Say Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard. What do you think?"
Honestly, Puck had never heard the song, and he didn't feel the need to lie to his boyfriend about it, so he just shrugged and said with a grin: "Never heard it."
Kurt laughed. "I guess you're about to, then," he smiled. They walked in silence towards their classrooms.
PKPKPKPKPKPKPKPK
God, the boy's voice was so beautiful. Come to think of it, Puck hadn't heard Kurt sing since Regionals and it was delightful to hear his sweet, angelic voice again. All he could do was sit still with a dreamy expression painted on his face, regarding his boyfriend with all the love he had for him.
The only two things left on his bucket list were helping Lauren with her prom queen campaign and make his T-shirt. He still had no idea what the shirt would say by the way, but the one thing he was determined to focus on now was Lauren's campaign.
After school that day when Kurt had transferred, Puck approached him in the hallway. "Care to drive me home today?" he asked.
Kurt smiled and shrugged. "Sure," he said.
And so it went. In the car Puck told Kurt of his new plan. Kurt was, softly spoken, completely and utterly flustered. "Wait what?" he asked, - "Lauren Zizes wanting to be crowned prom queen? What happened to the world?"
Puck had to chuckle as Kurt regarded him intensively behind the steering wheel. "Kurt, watch the road, please, I don't want you to damage your pretty little face."
Kurt snorted softly, but did as his boyfriend said. He went back to the topic. "So…," he asked, - "What are you gonna do about it?"
Puck shrugged. "No clue," he said simply. It was the truth, but Lauren had come up with an idea. Better tell Kurt everything: "Lauren is all for digging into the crap of her resistor's past. Her biggest rival being Quinn…"
"Puck, that's mean," Kurt said sternly.
Puck rolled his eyes. "I know," he said, making a pouty face that never failed to make Kurt laugh. Not even now. Puck continued, rubbing Kurt's neck slightly as he said: "But not everyone can be as perfect as you, you know."
"Cheesiest line ever," was Kurt's immediate comment.
"Care? You're still in love with me."
Kurt couldn't argue.
PKPKPKPKPKPK
Puck went on his mission with Lauren. They did research on the school Quinn had told she went to before she attended McKinley, but they didn't seem to have a record of anyone named Fabray at all.
So they found the school she really attended, but surprise, surprise, they didn't have a record of anyone named Quinn Fabray either, but they had, however, a record of someone named Fabray. Lucy Fabray, to be exact, and she apparently looked a lot like Lauren.
"Perfect," Lauren muttered through gritted teeth. So they travelled along up to Quinn's real old school, found her picture (it was a lot easier than expected, seeing as it was Lauren and Puck they were talking about), and got away with it all.
As they were back in the car, Puck wondered what the hell he had just done. He had probably broken a bunch of laws already, only during this day. He figured he just needed the adrenaline.
As they were seated in Lauren's car, Lauren took a long glance at him. "I enjoy hanging out with you again, Puckerman," she said, a small smile lingering on her lips.
Puck grinned. "Yeah, same," he said, not really thinking.
Before neither of them had time to think, Lauren had brought Puck's face closer to hers and kissed him on the lips. Puck's instincts told him to lean into the kiss as he always did, but then reality sunk in! He was changing into a better person who didn't throw away people like they were trash. And he had a boyfriend!
He immediately pulled away, leaving behind a baffled Lauren. "What the fuck?" she simply prompted, - "What's the matter with you? Who's having you so whipped?"
She didn't seem hurt or rejected, she just seemed bewildered. At least that was something. But he couldn't tell her. Not for the life of him. "No one, I'm just not trying to get into any more messes than the ones I've already made," Puck said, not bothering on giving a further explanation.
Lauren didn't buy it of course. She just shook her head. "No, no, Puckerman," she said, her grin becoming triumphant. They wouldn't leave the parking lot before she had gotten some answers, and if someone found them they would immediately find out that they had broken into the school right by them. Damn, was he trying to get into Juvie again?
"Fine," Puck gave in, - "But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone."
An expression Puck had never seen on Lauren ever appeared on her face. Something similar to concern… Was it anxiety or something? He didn't know.
"Sure," she just said, leaving Puck constricted as to why she didn't bother blackmailing him into anything. Maybe she was just a very good friend. He would make it up to her somehow. He made a mental note there.
"OK," Puck said, dragging his hand through his mohawk. "Lauren…," he hesitated, before he blurted out: "I'm dating Kurt."
Lauren's reaction was anything but what Puck expected. She looked pleased actually. Satisfied. As if she had just gotten something right. "That right?" she asked, giving a crooked grin.
"Yeah?" Puck said, seeming completely directionless. He probably was as well.
Lauren nodded again. "Go figure," she said, before patting his leg, - "Don't worry. I won't tell. But you better make this up to your boyfriend. Tell him straight out that I kissed you. Better be honest. This is your shot at doing something right."
She winked at him, and they drove away in silence.
PKPKPKPKPKPKPK
The day after was the infamous "Born This Way"-day. The "make a T-shirt representing your insecurities"-day while performing a number by Lady Gaga. That was like coming out. Seriously. Nothing was gayer than that.
And Puck still had no T-shirt! He was contemplating writing: "Kissed Lauren", but that would be wrong in so many ways.
Besides, he didn't kiss Lauren. She kissed him. And for once, that was an honest truth. Though he knew Kurt would never buy it.
Puck approached him during lunch break, in the cafeteria. "Hey my little hottie," he whispered in his ear, his voice low. He could see the chills appear on the smaller boy's flawless skin.
"Hey," he smiled.
"I sort of need to talk to you," Puck prompted, not really knowing what he was saying.
Kurt frowned a little. "What's wrong? Something happen?" His voice was filled with concern and it only made Puck's heart swell even more with love for him.
"No, no, it's nothing like that. I'm fine," he said, - "I've just sort of been an asshole."
Kurt put his tray away and said: "Let's find an abandoned classroom or something, so we can talk, OK?"
Puck nodded. "Yeah, sure," he said. What the hell was he giving himself into? He hated the new, honest version of himself!
They found an abandoned classroom, and Puck sat down on one of the desks, meaning Puck was standing a little taller than usual.
"What's wrong?" Kurt asked, crossing his arms over his chest, reminding Puck of Santana for a second.
"I went to dig into Q's past last night, to her old school, with Lauren."
Kurt frowned and nodded for him to go on. "OK…?"
Puck took a deep breath and letting everything out in one: "When we were outside the school, in her car, she sort of happened to kiss me."
He watched Kurt's concerned expression darken into something similar to disbelief. A silence appeared between the two and it was anything but comfortable. This wasn't gonna be good. After what felt like hours, Puck whispered: "Please, say something…"
Kurt's eyes went to the roof. It was apparent he was contemplating something to say. When he finally opened his mouth, his voice had the same tone of disbelief as his face had: "She 'sort of happened to kiss you'?"
Puck shrugged, seeming even more stupidly unsure than usual. "Yeah. Kurt, I promise you, that is all that happened!" Wow, he had suddenly become desperate. But he couldn't lose this boy now. He couldn't give it all up, what he had worked so hard to make work.
Kurt nodded, before he let out in a hoarse whisper: "I want to believe you…"
"Please believe me," Puck said.
Kurt shook his head, a single tear falling from his eyes, but he wiped it away quickly. It broke Puck's heart to see him like that. And it was because of him.
"No please don't cry," Puck begged. Was he seriously begging?
Kurt shook his head again. "I don't know what to believe…," he said, - "I'm returning and the first thing you do is make out with Lauren…"
"I didn't make out with her," Puck insisted, - "She kissed me, that's all!"
"A comment made by many a cheater," Kurt said cold-heartedly. His voice was so emotionless it almost scared Puck a little.
Kurt's expression was heart wrenching. Puck wanted nothing more than scooping him into his arms and hold him until everything was OK, like he used to when Kurt was sad. But now was not the time for that. But what could he do? Should he lie? No, that would be wrong. But apparently this was wrong too. Why did he never get anything right?
"I would never cheat on you," he promised, - "For fuck's sake, Kurt, you know how crazy I am about you!"
Kurt nodded. "Please don't talk right now," he said, - "I can't talk right now."
And by that he left the classroom. Puck ran after him in the hallway, not really caring if anyone was staring at the moment. no one was present though.
"So that's it, then?" Puck asked, - "You're breaking up with me?"
Kurt turned around quickly, instantly. "No," he said, sounding almost surprised, - "No, I'm not breaking up with you. I need time to think. I will have thought everything through by our Born This Way performance."
And by that he ran away.
PKPKPKPKPKPK
Puck met up at the auditorium an hour before they were supposed to be there. He had finally found out the perfect saying for his shirt: "I'm with stupid", with an arrow pointing down to his dick. Most perfect description of Puck in general. It was mostly his definition, now that he thought about it.
He heard steps above him, and turned around to see Kurt standing a few meters above him. Kurt's eyes widened at the sight of him, and he turned to walk out of the auditorium. Puck wanted to yell after him that he had promised to have thought everything through by now. But instead all he came up with was: "That's it? You don't even wanna see my shirt?"
He could practically hear Kurt roll his eyes, but at the same time he could hear the slight smile appearing on his face, whether he wanted it to be there or not.
Either way, Kurt turned around to face him, and his eyes flickered down to his shirt, and he couldn't let back a soft chuckle, that he tried to hold back as soon as it was too late.
"Know I lost my V-card at twelve?" Puck asked.
Kurt's eyes widened but he didn't say anything. His eyes were confirmation enough. "Thought so," Puck said simply, taking a step closer to Kurt, his hands resting in the pockets of his jeans. He continued: "Was some old lady… I was big for my age though, she probably thought I was older. Besides, it was kind of good."
Kurt shook his head in disbelief. "Why are you telling me this, Noah?" he asked.
Puck chuckled, took one step further and said: "First of all, haven't I told you to call me Puck? Second, this," he took a few steps closer again, until he and Kurt were only a couple of meters from each other, - "Is me. Opening up. To you. I have never opened up to anyone in my life, so this is probably a little weird."
Kurt took the last step, hesitantly, forward. "Do tell," he said, - "We still have almost an hour until the rest of the guys will be here."
Puck had no description for how relieved he felt at that moment, and the relief wasn't exactly belittled when Kurt reached for his hand and led him towards the chair-row at the bottom of the auditorium. They sat down, hands still linked.
"Do tell," Kurt said again, - "Open up. I'll listen. But I have to say I have a feeling this ain't about you losing your virginity."
Puck let out a laugh. "You figured as much?"
Kurt laughed as well now. "Yeah, you couldn't impress me there anyway. I lost it at fifteen to a…" He stopped, - "Sorry, I'm an attention whore. This isn't about me. It's about you. Go ahead."
Puck laughed and shook his head as if to deny everything Kurt had just said about himself. "It's OK," he said, caressing his smaller hands in his own, - "Yeah… Sometimes my entire family just gets on my nerves."
He stopped, thinking about how to put his words, before continuing: "In a way it was much better when my dad was still living with us. I mean… I didn't have that much of a burden hanging on my shoulders as I did after he left…" He took a break, but started talking quickly again: "You see… My father was a great dad in many ways. At least when he was sober. When he was drunk…" He shook his head, taking a deep breath in the process, - "Not so good."
Kurt's eyes were filled with concern. "What did he do?" he asked.
"You wanna know?" Puck asked.
Kurt shrugged, before saying something Puck swore he had heard somewhere before: "No, I don't, but it will only be worse if I don't hear it. I wanna know what that bastard did to you."
He gave him a small smile and Puck wanted nothing more than kiss and hold him forever in that moment. He didn't, however. He just said: "I remember one day specifically… My mom was five months pregnant with Sarah. It wasn't long before he left us… He had been out drinking all night and he came home at two. It was a Thursday, but my mom and I were still up. He came home, drunk as ever, yelling something about how we were a waste of his time…"
Puck looked at Kurt for a moment. "Can you even imagine?" he asked, - "I was eight years old, and I heard my father yelling about useless I was."
Kurt shook his head and rested his head on Puck's shoulder, still caressing his hands. "He should know how lucky he was to have a son like you," he whispered.
Puck kissed the top of his head, before continuing the story: "He screamed for, I don't know, ten minutes straight, maybe? Before my mom had had enough of him… So she started yelling back…"
Puck shook his head in disbelief. "I remember him raising his hand, ready to hit her. Good thing it all happened in slow-motion to me, meaning I could act fast. I just stepped in front of her immediately, like fucking Matrix I tell you, and he hit me instead… God, my mom screamed."
He gave a chuckle, but it was dry and crushed. "She screamed for him not to hit me, but he continued… And I just hoped she would stop screaming… I hoped she would just let me have it… I hoped he would beat me senseless and when I finally passed out, that he would be satisfied and not start beating her…"
He shook his head, hiding it in his hands. Kurt wrapped his arms around him, and kissed his shoulder softly. He didn't say anything.
"Maybe my prayers were heard," Puck said, the same cold-hearted chuckle returning, - "My mom had no bruises the next morning… I woke up on the kitchen floor, my dad sitting by the table, telling me how sorry he was. How he never would do that again… Bullshit."
As Kurt noticed Puck was fighting back tears, he wrapped his arms firmer around him. "Oh Noah…," he whispered, not caring that he was using his first name.
Puck shook his head as if pulling himself together, before asking: "Remember how Q gave Beth up?"
Kurt nodded. "Of course," he said sympathetically. Puck was silent, so Kurt found the urge to speak: "Do you regret it?" he squirmed a little uncomfortably, - "Giving her up?"
Puck nodded vaguely. "Yeah, I do," he said, dragging his hand across his face in a defeated manner, - "My dad hardly played any part in my life, and the few moments I remember him being a good father are so few and lost in all the other shit he did…"
Kurt nodded, kissing his shoulder gently. Puck continued: "At least I wanna play a part in Beth's life, you know? I wanna let her have the father that I never got… But hell, there's no way Shelby would let me."
"Why not?" Kurt asked, looking Puck in the eyes, a stern look in his eyes, - "Puck, you are the most amazing person I've ever met. Why not?"
Puck laughed a little at the insanity that was his boyfriend. "Because to her, a grown woman with a brain, I am just a simple delinquent. That's not even a bad conclusion."
"The hell it is," Kurt scoffed, - "Puck, if that woman is anything like her first daughter, we can say many things about her… But if they are anything like each other, we can say that she isn't judgmental. At least not that way."
Puck never thought he could love his boyfriend more than he did in that very moment. Kurt leaned in and gave Puck a real hug that lasted for nearly a minute. When he pulled away he could see tears in Puck's eyes.
"Hey, hey…," Kurt said comfortingly, wiping the two that had fallen down his face away, - "You gonna be alright?"
Puck nodded, wiping his tears angrily. "Yeah," he said, - "You're too good to be true, that's all."
Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head, before leaning in, kissing his boyfriend.
"So," Puck said, deciding to change the subject, - "What does your T-shirt say?"
Kurt laughed as he unzipped his sweater, revealing a shirt that simply said: "Likes boys."
Puck gave a light chuckle. "Well, can't say that's an insecurity, babe."
Kurt shrugged. "I know," he said, - "Not to us, at least… But to the rest of this town, this state… It really is."
Puck nodded. Kurt was right, as sad as that was. The "Born This Way" performance was quite possibly the most honest and sincere performance they had ever done. If you excluded Santana watching them with a T-shirt that said: "Lebanese", which everyone could put two and two together and find out what meant, and Karofsky sitting beside her.
And it was in that moment, as Kurt saw his former bully sit in the auditorium that he knew something was up with that kid. Not in a bad way on his part, but Kurt suddenly got worried. He hoped Karofsky wouldn't torture himself too much over the huge secret he was carrying.
He quickly shook his worries away. He was probably just exaggerating. As always.