A/N: So here's the next chapter! Not many warnings to come up with here. No big shockers. Sweet fluff from dusk 'til dawn, I think I will say. Enjoy! Reviews are highly appreciated.

It was complete and utter chaos. Puck couldn't even comprehend how it came down to this. It had all started with coach Sylvester reviving the student newspaper called "The Muckraker". One would be stupid not to realize she only did this to get dirt on the Glee Club right before Nationals. Her goal as usual: To destroy the Glee Club. From within. Puck was slightly amazed at her ability to appear like a sport's freak and an evil dictator at the same time. You could say many things about coach Sylvester, but she had authority. Besides, she was the only one doing anything when Kurt was being bullied. Puck was kind of grateful for that. So therefore he decided not to pay too much negative attention to coach Sylvester.

But that was pretty heard, when Brittany the very same week had gotten the brilliant idea into her mind to start a talk-show, and Santana stormed into the choir room in rage. "You told everyone I play for another team on your ridiculous melted cheese show!" she yelled at Brittany who stared at her dumbfounded.

The blonde came up with the lousiest explanation ever as to how what she had said could have different meanings, seeing as Santana had been on the Cheerios, but was now in Glee club.

Finn acted weirdly this week as well. He had gotten into that thick skull of his that Quinn was cheating on him with Sam. Puck had no idea where he got that idea from, but he got a bigger clue when Kurt asked him after Glee if they could talk for a while. He had something to tell him, so they sat down in the choir room, Kurt leaning against the piano as Puck sat down on the piano chair, his arms loosely locked around his boyfriend's waist. As Kurt shifted a little, the keys of the piano played a short, atonal sound that prompted a small chuckle out of both of them.

Kurt smiled a little and rested his hands on Puck's shoulders. "Can you keep a secret?" he asked, a serious tone resting in his voice.

Puck gave a chuckle. "What do you think?" he asked. He had already kept two major secrets about Kurt all to himself, even though especially one of them had made him want to scream, beat someone up and cry at the very same time.

Kurt smiled vaguely. "Promise you won't tell this to anyone. Seriously."

Puck suddenly got concerned. Extremely so. When Kurt used that tone it usually meant devastating news. He pulled his hands from his waist and reached for his hands. He caressed them in his own for a few seconds, looking down on them as if comprehending something, before looking up into Kurt's eyes, asking: "Something happen to you, or…?" Because if it did, he would beat their asses!

"No," Kurt said rapidly, a comforting smile resting on his lips as he caressed Puck's cheek, - "No, it's nothing like that. It's Sam."

Puck frowned. "What about him?" He knew the boy would never cheat on him, but that didn't mean it didn't make him a little jealous hearing Kurt saying his name. Did that make him a crazy person? Probably. Whatever?

"His parents lost their jobs," Kurt said slowly, and Puck frowned. They lost their home? How? Sam had never mentioned anything about money problems. Puck had seen his family as a totally normal family. Oh well, he guessed there was something to every family.

"Oh," he said, but put himself on hold when he realized Kurt wasn't quite finished.

"And then they lost their house and now they're living in a motel."

Puck's eyes widened. "Shit," he muttered, but he didn't say anything more.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah," he said, - "I only found out because Blaine told me he delivered pizza to Dalton one day. So I checked up on him the other day and I found out his parents are out looking for jobs all day while Sam has to stay home and take care of his siblings. Only to make a living they have had to sell everything that they have, so I brought him some old clothes of mine."

Puck, not being the most observant of guys, had actually realized Sam had dressed a little weird lately, but then again, his outfits were usually strongly influenced by his Letterman jacket which made everything sort of look the same, if that made any sense.

Puck nodded. "Cool," he said, his face softening, - "It's so sweet how caring you are, really."

Kurt frowned. "You're not jealous?" he asked, teasing a little but both boys knew there was some seriousness behind his question.

"Should I be?" Puck asked, in the same tone.

Kurt shook his head. "No," he said, - "No of course not." He caressed Puck's cheek briefly, before saying: "I just mean that… Rumors travel fast in this school, especially now that The Muckraker is back in business, and I figured people are soon enough gonna assume that Sam and I are…"

Kurt stopped himself. "Screwing?" Puck asked, a slightly wicked grin remaining on his face.

Kurt slapped him lightly. "I was about to say dating, but sure," he said, a dry laughter remaining in his tone. There was a break before he stated: - "I guess I just wanted you to know the whole truth before the rumors began."

Puck nodded, and pulled Kurt a bit closer, so that he was no longer resting on the piano, but standing between Puck's legs. Puck was still holding Kurt's hands.

"Thanks for telling me," Puck said sincerely.

Kurt gave a short smile and was about to go, before he remembered something: "Oh, and Puck?" he asked, going back to his previous position.

"Yes babe?" Puck asked, the same sly grin reappearing.

"Sam doesn't like that people knows, so I would appreciate it if you pretended like you didn't know anything, OK?"

Puck nodded. "Sure," he said, - "But how are we supposed to do that? I mean… I'd like to protect you from whatever rumor you will have thrown at you."

Kurt cocked his head slightly to the side; a gesture that made Puck find him even more adorable if that was even possible. "That's sweet Puck," he said, - "But I can take care of myself, I promise."

"OK," Puck agreed, - "I'll play along. I'll pretend like I don't know anything, but I won't be accusing you of anything."

His voice was a little stern and Kurt had to laugh. "OK," he said, trying to get out of his boyfriend's grip.

As usual, his boyfriend wouldn't give up without battle.

PKPKPKPKPKPK

It went well throughout the entire first half of the week. The rumors had started, as he had predicted, but they weren't as heavy as he had imagined. At least not yet. The Muckraker or just Jacob Ben Israel for that matter had gotten a clue what was going on, so the main rumors went within the Glee club, as they usually did.

The assignment for the week was doing songs from Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors"-album, seeing as they fought and made up rumors about each other nearly as much as the New Directions did at the time. Apparently Rachel and Finn had been spying outside Sam's motel, spotting both Kurt and Quinn exiting the motel late at night. Of course they immediately made the conclusion that Quinn was cheating on Finn with Sam, and that again meant that Sam was sort of cheating on Quinn with Kurt, unless they had some kind of deal, even though that sounded strange, knowing Quinn and Kurt.

It was a total mess, but Kurt dealt with it the only way he knew how. Take it all in and then let it out in one swift breath as if it didn't mean anything. But still, it actually did. As much as he'd like not having to admit it, there was this slight gut feeling he had that said that the rumors would eventually become too much to handle. Even for him.

He didn't know why or how, but he had the feeling that there was something that would take this to the point of no return, and he was sure it wouldn't go well from there.

He was right. One day it all went out of hand. The New Directions were collected in the choir room as usual, technically supposed to be preparing for Nationals, even though that thought seemed a pretty far distance away, even in Rachel's case. Stroke that. Especially in Rachel's case.

The Muckraker had finally gotten hold of the news, and Mercedes was the first one to shoot the elephant in the room in the face: "Kurt!" she commanded as she approached the choir room.

Kurt looked at her with widened eyes, not remember the last time he saw her that determined. Despite them having grown slightly apart lately, Mercedes was still his best friend and he loved her because and despite of all her flaws, but truth be told, she could be a little too much sometimes. Especially at times like these.

"What?" Kurt asked dryly, knowing what was coming. Or… not quite. He knew he was going through a cross-examination any moment but he hadn't expected it to start with such a bang:

"Why you ain't been telling me you lost your V-card?"

He was taken aback for a few moments, wondering what event she was really talking about. Honestly, he had occasionally been feeling a little guilty for not telling Mercedes the truth on how he really lost his virginity, but she was the sweetest and most gullible person Kurt had ever encountered. He knew her sudden outburst wasn't meant to hurt the way it did, but it still did. Whatever happened, he did not like being reminded of that horrific experience of his past. End of story.

His eyes flickered to Puck for a moment, who for whatever reason stood entirely to the right end of the choir room, along with the band kids who no one really had heard say a word. Maybe except for Rachel. Maybe. Puck's eyes flickered back to Kurt as well, a hint of awareness and comfort resting in them, as if to ask Kurt if he was OK.

Kurt gave him a somewhat reassuring nod that wasn't quite reliable, as he slowly asked his best friend: "Mercedes, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You and Sam!" she squealed, - "I know who you're doing it with ain't my business, but at least you could have told me when you lost your big V?"

"Hey Aretha," Puck said casually, causing Mercedes' attention along with a mean glare.

"Waddup Puckerman?" she asked, the attitude never leaving her voice.

"Chillax!" Puck yelled, the only one in the room actually realizing how those words really affected the boy.

Grateful for his secret boyfriend's support, Kurt let his head fall back, partly because he was stated and partly because he really needed the time to process what was going on in the choir room. Luckily the next attention wasn't given to him, but to Quinn who was seated beside him. Thankfully.

"You too Quinn!" Mercedes said, - "You ain't no better."

"Oh please," Rachel broke in, - "No one here is surprised that Quinn would cheat on Finn, she's always been a man-eater."

Kurt took in what Rachel had said, and that really wasn't fair. Rachel had cheated as well. She wasn't as innocent as she claimed to be. He was ripped from his thoughts when Rachel said: "But Kurt?"

She looked at him with a shocked expression, as if she still couldn't believe how Kurt could do something like this. "I knew a lot of things about you, Kurt, but I never thought you were such a slut!"

Now, those were words that would've hurt no matter what context you put them in, and as Rachel had said that, Quinn reached for Kurt's hand. Kurt knew that she somehow knew how much that word could sting. There was something else in that word as well to Kurt, though. Something strongly associated with him. How he had put his words…

Puck realized the tears that were streaming from Kurt's eyes before Kurt did himself. "Way to go, Berry!" he yelled, actually sounding angry now, - "Way to fucking go!"

Everyone's attention was on Kurt now. Wait… Was it really that bad? As he let out a soft sob, he realized it must've been. Puck got up from his chair, and walked over to where Kurt was seated, not really caring about the shocked looks that were given them.

He knelt down in front of Kurt and took his face in his hands. "Hey, hey, hey…," he whispered soothingly, wiping away a tear with his thumb, - "It's ok, you're gonna be alright."

Everyone was staring at the two dumbfounded and both realized that it wouldn't be long before the rumor about them would start as well. The fact of the matter as of right now was that none of them really cared.

The silence seemed to last for a few hours before Sam broke it: "See what you've done?" he asked, - "Look, I'm not sleeping with Quinn or Kurt or anyone in this room at the moment!"

"Then why were you in that motel with them, huh?" Rachel asked, still not giving up.

"Give it up, Rachel," Finn said, even though his voice was barely above a whisper. His concern for his brother was taking over his instincts for a second.

Sam jumped straight to Rachel's question: "Because that's where I live now!"

Everyone went even more silent than before, as Sam explained the entire misunderstanding to them, before he stormed out of the choir room, having Quinn running after him. Puck let out a chuckle that didn't sound the least happy, now holding onto Kurt's hands. "I hope you're fucking happy," he said to the people around him.

Only he and Kurt knew it wasn't only Sam's case he was talking about. His attention withdrew to Kurt. "Are you OK?" he asked, knowing it was a silly question.

Kurt shook his head slowly. "No," he choked out.

Puck nodded. "Can I get you anything, or…?" he was whispering so low that he wasn't sure if anybody except Kurt could hear him.

"Puck…?" Kurt asked, almost as if to assure himself that he was still there.

"Yes?" Puck asked.

"I wanna go home…"

Puck nodded, as he helped the boy rise to his feet. "Sure thing," he said, - "I'll take you home."

They left the choir room, not caring about all the people staring at them as they walked away.

PKPKPK

They walked in silence to Kurt's car. As they approached it, Kurt was the first to speak: "Please, say something?"

His voice was weak and still shaking. He had his arms wrapped around himself, almost in a protective gesture. Puck looked at him, and Kurt could see the outrage that was in his eyes. The bigger teen took one step forward and wrapped his arms around him, not caring if anyone was there to see.

Kurt returned the hug, clinging on to Puck as if his life depended on it. Puck could feel the boy's arms around him, and he was happy he at least could feel safe around him. He rubbed his back comfortingly, and when they finally broke out of their embrace, they got into Kurt's car.

Kurt was sitting by the steering wheel, but as he was about to start the car, Puck noticed his hands were shaking. Puck put his hand on Kurt's, to try to make him stop shaking.

"I don't feel like driving right now," Kurt whispered, - "Will you…?"

Puck nodded. "Sure thing," he said, and gave Kurt a quick kiss on the cheek. They switched places and Puck got behind the steering wheel.

They had driven in silence for a few minutes when Kurt spoke: "I tried to rise above it… In there," he said, pointing behind him as if gesturing to the school.

"Well how fucking could you?"

Kurt was taken aback by the sudden outburst and Puck realized what he had said could be taken the wrong way. His hand quickly went to Kurt's shoulder and he held it there, stroking him occasionally. "I mean," he said, - "How were you supposed to stay calm when they were yelling at you like that?"

Kurt shook his head. "What Rachel called me…," he said, - "That's what that guy said… The guy who raped me…"

Puck looked at him and nodded. "I figured as much," he said.

They were silent for a few more minutes, and this time it was Puck's turn to break the silence: "Well, don't fucking listen to him! And don't listen to her either!"

Kurt nodded vaguely, his gaze drawn to his hands. "I try," he said, - "But I still can't shake off that feeling… Like it was my fault…"

"Well, it wasn't, alright?" Puck said, still sounding pissed.

Kurt was silent. "It wasn't your fucking fault, Kurt," Puck said, a little calmer this time, - "Now, how many times do I have to tell you that? And hell, if you're a slut, then what does that make me?"

Kurt gave a soft chuckle, and even though it didn't sound happy, Puck knew it was real. Kurt nodded. "Thank you, Puck," he said, - "It's stupid, I know…"

Puck shook his head, letting his hand go from Kurt's shoulder to his hand, gripping it firmly. Even though he had to pay attention to the road, Kurt knew he was meaning to stare directly at him.

"No it's not stupid, Kurt," he said, holding onto his hand, - "I just need you to know that whatever that asshole said to you while he was…" he couldn't finish, - "You know… Whatever he said, you shouldn't believe him."

Kurt was silent for a few minutes. "I try," he said again.

PK

When they approached Kurt's house they both got out of the car. They got inside and stood there for a moment. "So…," Puck said a little uncomfortable, - "Shall we watch a movie, or…?"

"I'd like to just go to bed," Kurt said truthfully, - "You can join in if you want to, I mean… I've shared a bed with you before."

Puck nodded. "Cool," he said.

They walked upstairs, to Kurt's room and Kurt quickly changed into his pajamas. Puck mockingly blocked his eyes as Kurt's pants came off and he was in his boxers. "We have been swimming together, Puck," Kurt said matter-of-factly.

Puck chuckled. "I know," he said before he got on the bed.

Kurt joined him as soon as he was dressed in his pajamas. He lay down under the covers, facing Puck as the bigger boy wrapped his arms around him. He received a soft kiss to his temple. They lay there for a while, just listening to the breaths of one another, before Puck asked softly: "You OK, baby?"

Kurt shrugged vaguely. "I don't know," he said, - "I'm thinking…"

"About that day?" Puck asked.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah," he said, - "It was so terrifying… I was crying, begging him not to do it, but he didn't care… He hurt me."

Puck nodded as he shifted, letting the boy rest on his arm, keeping a close distance but still being able to look at each other. He stroked Kurt's cheek softly. "I know, babe," he said. There was another break. "Wanna talk about it some more?" Puck asked.

Kurt shifted a bit and looked at him. "Yeah," he whispered, - "I can do that."

Puck stroked his arm as he said: "Tell me about that day Kurt," he looked up into his boyfriend's eyes, - "Tell me everything. Not just what happened but how you felt after as well."

Kurt nodded and got comfortable on his boyfriend's arm. "He was so intimidating…," Kurt explained, - "He had this… authority about him, that just made him so horrifying. You know you had to do what he told you to. So that's why I obliged to everything he demanded of me… He almost didn't prepare me at all. It hurt so badly, it felt like I was being ripped apart, physically and emotionally. He muttered some words when he was raping me. Calling me a faggot, a slut, a whore, telling me I should like this… And when I… reacted to what he did to me, he said the body didn't lie and that this was proof I deserved what I got."

Puck shook his head and stroked Kurt's cheek. "Do you realize how strong you are to get through this the way you have?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, I'm not," he denied.

"You are," Puck insisted, putting pressure on every word just to get his point out, while looking into his boyfriend's gorgeous eyes, - "You've dealt with this on your own all this time, and you never lost your grip… Didn't you ever wanna just forget and oppress?"

Kurt seemed to think for a while, before admitting: "Yes… At some point I did… Look, I need to tell you the whole thing… What happened after as well, if that would be OK?"

Puck nodded and delivered a kiss to the countertenor's shoulder. "OK," he said. He never liked hearing Kurt talk about what happened to him, but he still knew he needed to hear it. This boy was definitely his complete weakness. He'd take a bullet for him anytime, he knew that.

Kurt took a deep, somewhat shaky breath, and let it out slowly, in the same shaking manner. Puck looked at him, a concerned look resting on his features. He stroked his boyfriend's shoulder gently, whispering: "You can do this, baby."

Kurt nodded, giving away a weak smile. "Yeah," he agreed.

A short break passed, before Kurt started speaking: "When he had…" he flinched slightly, - "When we had…"

"There's no 'we' in this, Kurt," Puck interrupted, - "There's a sick rapist whose balls are gonna be cut off as soon as he gets out of that fucking prison."

"I came Puck," Kurt insisted, - "Nothing can change that. It happened. I'm always gonna be ashamed of it."

It was Kurt's way of saying 'end of story' and Puck wasn't having it. He propped himself up on his elbow, looking down on his boyfriend, who had refused looking at him. Puck still noticed how his eyes were shimmering with unshed tears.

Puck thought about being firm or angry or upset in his way of speaking, but he let it go as he saw the look on his boyfriend's face. "Kurt, look at me," he said softly.

Kurt turned his head slowly. Puck continued: "You gotta believe me when I say that it didn't matter how you reacted… This guy forced himself on you, Kurt. You had nothing to do with it. You were fifteen, and he raped you. He ruined something for you, Kurt… He took what was supposed to be the best moment of your life, and turned it into the worst. You are completely innocent when it comes to this, Kurt. Completely. So therefore there's no 'we' in this case when it comes to what was being done. OK?"

Kurt looked at him, his lip quivering slightly, before he wrapped his arms around his neck, sobbing softly. "Thank you, Puck," he whispered, and Puck just held him tightly, rubbing his back comfortingly.

"It wasn't your fault, baby," he hushed, - "Not your fault."

Kurt nodded and after a long while, he finally pulled away and continued talking: "After he finished…," he said, noticing Puck's assuring smile, and better yet noticing that he was paying attention, - "He just stood there… behind me. Waiting for what felt like hours before he pulled out."

A painful frown appeared on Kurt's features, as the memory flashed before his eyes. - "I felt so dirty, so used and broken. I remember falling to the ground immediately. I was shivering, and he just stood there, watching me with this evil, sadistic look on his eyes. I remember crying and yelling at him. I remember yelling, or more like, crying: 'I hate you', over and over again, and it just made him laugh."

Puck held a firm grip on his hand, and he squeezed it. "At least you had the balls to tell him off," he smiled, and Kurt gave a vague chuckle.

"Not much to be proud of," he said, - "I felt like a freaking rag doll. He just grabbed me and put my clothes back on, making some lousy comments on how devastating it was to dress me again. I was just crying. I couldn't even move, I was hurting everywhere. It was so humiliating."

"So what happened after?" Puck asked, - "Did it just leave you there, or?"

"It?" Kurt asked, a little startled.

"Yeah," Puck said, as if wondering why Kurt was even surprised, - "Don't make me refer to that… whatever it was, as human cause I won't."

Kurt chuckled softly. "OK," he said, - "And no, he didn't. He pulled me to my feet, roughly, it made me cry out a bit and he told me to shut up. Someone could hear us. He brought me to his car and told me he would take me home. While we were seated he asked me if my dad was home yet and when I just shook my head he said that it was good, but it wouldn't make a difference either way. No one was going to believe me if I told, and if they did, they would understand that I had wanted it. Begged for it. I know it's messed up but he made me believe it was all my fault…" He took a short break and snuggled closer to his boyfriend, - "He fondled me all the while home. It was so humiliating. I told him no, but he wouldn't listen. When I got home I just took a shower and decided to forget about the whole thing, pretend like it didn't happen. When I got out of the shower I threw up for about half an hour and then I went to bed. Slept until the next morning."

Puck frowned. "Didn't your dad wonder what was wrong?"

"Did he ever," Kurt said, -"Insisted I was sick and should stay at home from school. So I did. It was a good idea, actually. Got me to thinking. I realized then that I had a choice, and you know… That choice gave me back some sense of control that I had lost. I realized I had to really digest everything, to never in my life think of suppressing. And if I couldn't do that, I would have to tell someone. No matter how they would look at me after… So I went along and I went through everything on my own. Really thought it through. Did a lot of crying, but I got through it."

Puck nodded, stroking his head, twirling his hair in his fingers and joined him completely on the pillows. "And…," Kurt whispered, looking at Puck, taking his face in his hands, - "When finally I told someone… I wasn't met with anything of what I had been afraid of, or what that man promised me. No blame, no reason to feel ashamed. Nothing. Thanks to you, Puck."

Puck gave him a smile and pressed his lips to his, tucking him in under the covers with him, letting his tongue slip into his mouth. Kurt nibbled slightly on it, and Puck was always amazed by how much of a good kisser Kurt was.

"Damn Kurt," Puck breathed, when their make-out session was over. He gave a chuckle, and wrapped his arms around the boy.

A soft silence fell upon them, before Puck broke it: "I'm gonna make love to you some day, you know."

Kurt shifted and looked at him for a while. "I know," he nodded.

Puck smiled. "One day," he said, - "When you're ready, I'm gonna invite you to my place. My mom and sister will be gone at some relative's place, and we will have the house to ourselves. We will have everything perfectly planned. I will even use protection, believe it or not."

Kurt had to laugh at that. "And then we will have dinner. I'm a great cook actually. And you will be more anticipated than nervous, and I will have made everything all romantic and shit just the way you like it. We will have candles and music and it will be so fucking amazing. We're gonna lay on the bed and I'm gonna prepare you until you're god damn screaming for me."

Kurt laughed even more now. "Puckerman, god bless your screwed up mind."

"Doesn't have to have a screwed up mind to want to make love to you, sweet cheeks," Puck stated, and Kurt blushed at the nickname.

Puck continued with his story: "And then I will make love to you. Gently as ever. I will make up for all the damage that Shithead McFuckface put you through and then some. You deserve the best, baby. But all of this," he looked at Kurt, - "Will happen when you are absolutely ready. Not a minute earlier."

Kurt smiled at him and kissed him once more. "I love you," he said, not really thinking. Shit. Had he really said that? Oh god. What if Puck didn't say he loved him back? What if he had totally screwed up everything?

Puck was silent, taking his time to really process what the boy had said. He loved him? Was he seriously loved by the world's most beautiful creature or was his mind playing tricks on him? it wasn't. this was real. Kurt Hummel loved him and his life was fucking beautiful. Wait. He needed to say something!

"I love you too, baby!" he said, before pulling Kurt into another heated make-out session, - "So, so, so much," he mumbled between the kisses.

The two boys fell asleep on Kurt's bed for the second time of their lives that afternoon. Puck had his arms wrapped firmly around Kurt, never willing himself to let him go.

He loved him more than he thought he ever could be capable of, and he loved him back. Life was just fucking beautiful.