Puck now stared down into the empty box that once held poptarts. He had scarfed down the entire container in a matter of minutes. He started to stare at all the little designs on the box, looking into them as if they held all the answers he needed. He became so lost in the designs he didn't hear Finn's truck pull up into the driveway. He also didn't hear Finn, Mike and Sam get out of the truck and approach him.
Puck didn't notice any of them were even there until Finn placed a hand a shoulder on him and gently patted him. Puck immediately stiffened at the touch, and then jumped back away from Finn. Puck curled in on himself and clenched his eyes shut. He waited for the pain to begin. No pain ever came to him though.
"Dude just relax it's us. Calm down okay." Finn said in concern. He'd never seen Puck jump like that before. Finn could swear that Puck even looked like he was cowering now. No, couldn't be Puck was a fighter, not someone who cowered in fear. Finn shook the thought to the out of his mind, convinced that Puck was just slouching now.
Puck eyes shot open as he recognized the voice. He realized was breathing harder than normal and was still sitting in a cowering position. He shifted into a more natural position and tried to steady his breathing. He now noticed Sam and Mike were standing there along with Finn. He sat dazed looking up at them; he couldn't believe how fast they had snuck up on him.
"Dude what happened to your face. It looks pretty gnarly." Sam said seeing Puck's black eye and split lip.
At first Finn couldn't see what Sam was talking about, because of how Puck was still slightly hunched over. Now that Puck was starting up at them now though he could clearly see the injuries on his friend's face. Concern coursed over Finn.
"What the hell happened to you? Why haven't you been at school or been answering anyone's texts or calls?" Finn's words came out in a worrying tone after seeing how his friend looked.
There was a long awkward pause exchanged before Puck said anything to any of them. He just stared down at the ground for a while before finally breaking the silence.
"N-nothing. I j-just… Just got into a fight with gang is all." Puck stammered. He knew in all honesty it wasn't the best lie ever, but it was all he could think of at the time. Besides it was semi-plausible considering who he was.
"A gang in Lima Ohio." Mike stated not quite believing Puck.
"Didn't say the fight happened in Lima." Puck shot angrily at Mike while glaring at him intensely.
Puck was beginning to get defensive over the whole situation. No one could know what was going on with him. If any of them knew, they'd see him as weak. They would most likely think he was stupid for not fighting back, for taking such abuse. That maybe he deserved it, or that he maybe even liked to be smacked around. If anyone found out they'd all know how truly fuck up he really was. They'd think he was a sick freak. That's what scared him the most about them knowing.
He knew he must be fucked up, because a part of him believed that hedeserved the beatings and more. Felt like every punch, kick and verbal abuse was something he had somehow earned. He also knew that some sick part of him must enjoy it otherwise he'd put up some form of fight right? A part of knew that at least some of the reason he didn't fight back was because he was afraid his sister and mother would become the new targets of the abuse. To protect them he could manage being a punching bag or whatever else was needed of him.
"Oh sorry I didn't mean anything by it. Hey your lip looks kind of bad; it could probably use some stiches. Maybe you should go see my dad or someone for it." Mike mumbled avoiding eye contact with Puck. He could tell by Puck's voice just how agitated he was.
"Nah I'm fine, in fact I think I look pretty badass. Don't ya think? Besides it will heal up fast enough." Puck said while managing to give a small smirk.
"Okay so you still haven't told us where you've been or why you haven't been answering your cell." Finn said starting to feel like Puck was trying to avoid something.
Puck sighed and shook his head. He knew Finn wasn't going to let this drop until he got some sort of explanation.
"Okay look if you guys really want to know I just went to Chicago for few days. Decided since my sister and mother got to go away for a few days I did too. They went to some dance recital thing or something in Indiana. While I was in Chicago I got jumped by some random punkass gang and sort of got my ass handed to me. The reason I didn't answer my cell was because I accidently left it here at home. I didn't get home till about till about 4am this morning, so I crashed. So I hadn't gotten chance to call anyone yet." Puck said daring any of the guys to call him on the lie.
Well it's not the like the whole thing was a complete lie anyway. Not the part about his sister and mother anyway.
"Oh well that sort of explains everything. Sorry about all the worried calls then. It's just the girls sort of had us freaking out. They kept telling us all the shit that could have happened to you. Guess we sort of jumped the gun on this though." Finn said running a hand through his with a goofy grin plastered on his face.
A loud man's voice suddenly cut through their conversation.
"Noah you get your ass in here now boy!" The angry voice hollered from the house.