Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

Chapter 12: Unexpected

"Do you think I'm ugly?" Kurt asked Chad as he absently twirled his mocha frappe with his straw.

Chad frowned at him. "What am I, the mirror on the wall?" Kurt rolled his eyes. He really enjoyed doing shopping with Chad since he knew all the right places to be but his sense of humor was sometimes too overwhelming.

Kurt threw a balled up paper napkin at Chad which caught it in no time. "Just answer the question." He said grumpily. Well, ever since he woke up that morning, he was in a sour mood. The only thing that kept him going was the retail therapy with Chad. He decided not to think too much on what happened last night at the party. It was not good for his health and his mental being.

Chad chewed on his breadstick as he studied him with squinted eyes. "Hmmm, you have gorgeous eyes." Chad said with a nod and before Kurt could duck, Chad had already poked his left cheek with his forefinger. "And your skin is smooth." Chad added.

Kurt sighed. "You still didn't answer the question."

"And your lips, they look so soft." Chad continued, completely ignoring what he just said. "Can I touch it?" Chad asked seriously.

"Oh god, I should have asked Finn to come with me instead of you." Kurt said with a slap on his forehead.

Chad waved him off with a flicked of his wrist. "Please, Finn has a personality of a teaspoon and he scares the sales people because he's too tall." Chad replied without batting an eyelash. "And you're not ugly. You are beautiful Kurt. What makes you think you're not?"

Not as beautiful as Paris though.He thought as he stabbed his cheesecake repeatedly.

"Not as beautiful as Paris?" Chad repeated and Kurt stared at him with wide eyes. Oh crap, he said the words out loud. "Wow, so you're insecure that's why." Chad added thoughtfully. Kurt could feel a blush creeping on his neck.

"I'm not." Kurt protested and he sure hoped that Chad missed the squeak in his voice. It always seemed to happen every time he told a lie. Fine, he was a bit insecure because, okay, why was he insecure again?

"Oh shit Kurt. Are you in love with Puck?" Chad asked point blank as he abandoned his food and looked at him eagerly. Chad looked like he unlocked a mystery to a very complicated puzzle.

"You know what? I suddenly have a craving for that gourmet pizza you're always talking about." Kurt said, ignoring Chad's sudden interest on his feelings. He was not going to answer that. No freaking way. Chad raised an eyebrow at him.

"Changing the subject is as good as admitting it." Chad finally said, smiling wickedly. Kurt was floored. "Fine, let's have that pizza, your treat." He added as he started to grab their shopping bags on the floor. He made a move to get up but Kurt stopped him by grabbing the front of his shirt. Kurt knew that he had to deal with this sooner rather than later.

"I'm not in love with him, at least not yet." Kurt said in a quiet voice. There he admitted. And it was Chad, of all people to first hear the words coming out of his mouth. Fate sometimes really had a sick sense of humor. On the contrary instead of feeling restless with what he just revealed, he actually felt calm. It was like something heavy was lifted off him.

"Are you sure?" Chad asked, looking really dumbfounded. "How did it happen? I mean, Puck is my friend but he's not actually candidate for Lover of the Year. He only displays emotions when he comes."

Kurt cringed at Chad's bluntness but decided to just ignore it. "I don't know, but every time I see him, I was torn between punching the living daylights out of him and then cuddle him afterwards. Is that weird?"

"No, it's kinky." Chad said matter-of-factly. Kurt shot him a deathly glare. He was starting toi doubt if Chad was capable of serious conversation? "Seriously, it's weird but everyone seems to develop a habit of protecting Puck despite the shit he always does. Almost everybody hates him but he's never confronted. It was probably because those people know that the 'I don't give a shit about anything Puck' is just a façade."

Kurt understood what Chad meant because he somehow knew about Puck's past from what had Finn told him. "I was thinking if I should continue with the marriage." He suddenly blurted out. Truth was, he was thinking about it the whole night. He was seriously contemplating about booking a flight back to Ohio and hiding in his basement room until he grew old but then, it was too melodramatic even for him.

Chad's eyes went wide as he shook his head. "You can't do that, Puck will lose everything."

"We can tell Grandpa the truth. I'm sure his grandpa will understand. And besides, Paris is back. Maybe they could work things out now." Kurt said and he almost cried out the last words. Thinking about it pained him in an unexplainable way. "I just know that if I marry him, it would do us no good."

Chad just looked at him sympathetically then he reached out to hold his hand and squeezed it affectionately.

Kurt squeezed it back. He was grateful that Chad didn't say a word because he was starting to get frustrated with himself by the minute. He hated himself for falling too quickly for a person who didn't even give a shit.

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut as he remembered an article he read a long time ago. He laughed about it because he was too jaded to believe it back then. He had read somewhere that love comes from unexpected places and it shoots right through you without a warning. Karma was a bitch.

He now experienced it first hand.

***!***

"How'd the shopping go?"

Kurt almost jumped a foot when he heard the voice. He knew that he was supposed to be shit scared and all that because someone clearly broke in his apartment but the sound of the voice was very familiar. He dropped the shopping bags on the floor and faced the direction of the voice.

"How did you get in?" He asked in an exasperated tone. Puck just smirked at him as he lazily draped his arm on the back of the sofa. Kurt tried hard not to notice how Puck looked so sexy slumping lazily on the sofa. "Have you ever heard of privacy?"

"You seemed to have no problem walking in on me while I fuck someone." Puck replied calmly. "You should answer that question yourself."

Kurt was tired, and not to mention that Puck was the last person he wanted to see right now. He was not in the mood for his games. "Look, if you're here because you're bored or whatever, just go. I'm tired and I just want to rest."

"I just want to apologize for last night." Puck said suddenly and Kurt felt his throat went dry. This was a conversation he didn't want to be in right now. "I shouldn't have run after Paris. It was wrong and uncalled for."

Kurt frowned. Puck was apologizing for running after Paris? Was Puck on some kind of hallucinogens to be thinking that way?

"But the song, he loved that song and he was surprised that it was played last night. He couldn't bear to listen to it so he run and I just found myself running after him." Puck added and Kurt didn't miss the ghost of sadness that passed momentarily on Puck's face. It sometimes scared him how he could easily read Puck even with just the minute of details. It was like he was paying attention too much. Kurt knew better to drop that habit he developed within the last two months.

"You don't have to apologize. It was instinct that made you run after him. It's because you still care." Kurt managed to say.

Puck looked at him and Kurt had a hard time reading his expression. "That was the problem Kurt. I don't want to care anymore but every time I tell myself to just ignore him, my body does the exact opposite."

Kurt smiled despite the slight tugging in his chest. The Puck before him was different from the Puck who blackmailed him into marrying him. Love must have caused Puck a lot of pain which was enough to change him from a romantic guy to a promiscuous-fuck-anything-no-regrets guy.

"Do you still love him?" Kurt asked bravely. He didn't know what made him asked the question but he just felt the need to do so. He knew he had to ask even though he didn't want to hear the answer.

Puck looked at him meaningfully, his face was devoid of any emotion. Kurt suddenly regretted asking the question. He really needed to learn to shut his mouth sometimes.

Uncomfortable silence stretched between them then finally, Puck broke the silence. "Move in with me Kurt." He replied, completely ignoring his question.

***!***

"So let me get this straight. Puck asked you to move in with him?" Chad asked as he leaned on his kitchen counter and chewed on a carrot stick. "And why exactly are you telling me this?"

Kurt rolled his eyes in exasperation. He should have known better not to ask advice from Chad but Mercedes was currently out of the country and he had no one to talk to. It had been three days since Puck asked him the million dollar question. He remembered how his jaw dropped in awe and disbelief when Puck asked him to move in with him. It was a really big step on their non-relationship status. He also remembered how he remained silent for a few minutes until Puck said goodbye and told him that he was not going to pressure him to answer immediately.

"Chad." Kurt said curtly and Chad raised his hands in defeat.

"Okay, so he asked you to move in. What's the big deal?" Chad said as he grabbed another carrot stick from the chopping board. "Maybe he wants to know you better and he wants you to help him forget about Paris. Maybe Puck wants to make amends on what he did to make you marry him. Maybe he wants to start over and completely forget his unfortunate past. He wants you to help him be a better man again and all that shit."

Kurt couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this Chad speaking or his doppelganger? Kurt frowned at him. "What made you say that?" He asked curiously.

Chad made a face. "Puck told me those things." Kurt lifted an eyebrow incredulously. "Fine, he told Finn last night and I was eavesdropping. They thought I already passed out from too much booze. Happy?" Chad threw him the carrot stick and glared playfully.

Kurt couldn't help the smile creeping slowly on his face.

"And please, can you just say yes? Because really, if I hear Puck again saying he wants to be a better man, I'll nominate him for best bottom in a gang bang at the next Jupiter's award just to annoy him."

Kurt laughed out loud. Chad was too much. "I don't know, I have to think about it." He said but deep inside, he had already made a decision.

Maybe, he should give Puck a chance and himself too.

***!***

"I never thought you had it in you Hummel." Chad said from behind him. He was helping him pack his clothes because two days from now, he would be moving to the mansion.

Kurt stopped folding his gray turtleneck and turned to Chad. His eyes went wide when he saw Chad swinging a pair of hot pink skimpy briefs in front of him. He made a dive for it but Chad was too quick for him and he failed to snatch the underwear. God, it was really a mistake asking Chad for help.

"Puck hates pink but I think he'll make an exception." Chad said with a guffaw as he tossed the underwear at him. "Tell you what, he got really excited when I told him that you agreed to move in."

Kurt was flabbergasted. Puck got excited? "Really?" Kurt asked and he had to stop a huge grin which was about to be displayed on his face.

"No. I was just kidding." Chad said flatly. "He was actually concerned about you using up all the hot water." He added. Kurt was about to throw him a very hard object he grabbed from the drawer when the ringing of the doorbell interrupted him. He shot a quick glare at Chad and walked out the room to get the door.

All coherencies abandoned him as soon as he opened the door. He was not expecting this person to be on his doorstep at this moment.

"You are Kurt Hummel right?" Paris Vanderbilt asked. "I need to talk to you."

***!***

Kurt was sitting across from Paris in the living room. Chad had excused himself to get something to eat but he knew that Chad didn't want to partake on the soon to be awkward conversation. He knew that it would be awkward because what else would be the reason Paris was here? They only had one thing in common as far as he was concerned.

"I'm not going to make this any longer than necessary." Paris said, breaking the silence. "I want Noah back."

Kurt felt ice run through his veins. Why did Paris sound like he was just getting a thing back? He sounded like Puck was something he bought then returned then when he realized he still wanted it, he just made a grab for it again.

"I think you got the wrong person. You should speak to Noah, not me." Kurt said flatly.

Paris smiled briefly. "I think I should start with you." He said, his hands clutched tightly on his lap. Kurt felt that Paris was having a hard time expressing himself but he didn't want to dwell on it that much. "I know that you're his fiancé now but I really feel that Noah was having second thoughts on marrying you."

Kurt stiffened on his seat. So Paris was still expert on Noah's feelings.He thought sarcastically. Paris, of all people, had no right meddling on Puck's business. Not after what he did to him.

"I'm sorry that I have to say that Kurt but I knew him." Paris added when Kurt remained silent because truth was, he had absolutely nothing to say without cursing. "I made a huge mistake when I left him and if I could back to reverse it, I would without second thoughts. I feel that he still loves me even after all those years."

Kurt bit his lip as Paris words started to sink in. He knew that Paris was telling the truth when he said that leaving Puck was a huge mistake. Kurt could feel the sincerity in every word. And as much as he didn't want to think about it, Paris might also be right about Puck still having feelings for him. He shook his head a bit to push out that sad thought.

"I don't mean to sound rude but I think what Noah does is not your business anymore. You have revoked that right when you left him and came back with another man. You can't expect him to sit around and wait for you forever." Kurt said, the words just kept on tumbling out. He tried to ignore the momentarily flicked of pain on Paris's face because as far as he knew, it was Noah who was badly hurt with his relationship with Paris. Not the other way around.

Paris nodded as his face cleared in a much better expression. "I understand where you're coming from Kurt. I know that you're just trying to protect Noah. I would do the same." Paris said in a rather calm tone. "And by the way, I also came here to tell you that I invited Noah for dinner tonight. I told him that if he will come, it means that he is willing to give us a chance."

Kurt's happiness from his morning conversation with Chad was immediately squashed by what Paris said. Puck was supposed to fetch him tonight so he could pick out what room he would like to settle in. Puck also promised him a movie in his state of the art theatre room. Kurt was starting to see that plan vanished into thin air. There was no way Puck would choose him over Paris.

***!***

Kurt stared at his bedroom clock. It was only seven in the evening but he was already in his pajamas. He was not expecting Puck to show up anymore. When would he learn not to trust Puck? He shook his head and grabbed one of his pillows and hugged it tightly. Suddenly, he heard his doorbell rung. It was probably the pizza guy. He swung his feet over the bed and scrambled in his slippers to get the door.

"Seriously Hummel, can you be any slower? I've been ringing the damn doorbell for like ten minutes already." Puck said as soon as he opened the door. Kurt's jaw dropped at the sight. He couldn't believe Puck was standing at his doorstep.

"I thought you have a dinner date with Paris tonight?" Kurt blurted out.

Puck frowned at him. "I already told Cynthia to tell him that I have other plans tonight." He said as he pushed his way inside the apartment. "And you look like shit you know. Can you at least take a shower before we go?"

Kurt nodded as he watched Puck slumped lazily on the sofa. Puck was really here. He chose him over Paris. What the hell was going on? He decided not to think about it too much. He turned around to go back inside his room so he could prepare his clothes. A smile was slowly creeping on his face.

"Hey Kurt." Puck called out. Kurt looked over his shoulder. Did Puck change his mind?

"Butter or salt for the popcorn?"

Kurt smiled widely. Tonight's going to be a good night.