Hello everyone! First of all, thank you to anyone of you who rieviewed, faved, followed or just read the story. You are totally awesome and you rock!
Here it is the second chapter! Keep on reading and review *Hug*
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or Magic Mike, bla, bla, bla...
"Puck! Drag your ass out of bed and get ready!" shouted Sam from the living room. It was the third time this morning that the blond tried to wake his best friend and roommate up. "Come on dude! We have to be at the club in two hours!"
"Have you done with the shouting, mom?" said Puck sleepily.
He appeared from the hallway, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He dragged his feet and went to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. He scratched his abs absent-mindedly while searching for something edible to eat. He set for a bowl of cereal with a splash of milk. Then he joined Sam in the living room's couch.
"What is that fuckery about be at the club in two hours? It's Wednesday! I know that you're not as smart as me but you should know that we don't work on Wednesdays. Thought that after 4 years you would have got that shit right".
The blonde rolled his eyes at his friend's antics and then looked at him unimpressed.
"If you would have gotten up when I first start calling you, you would have known that Schue called this morning. He found Matt's substitute and wanted to introduce him to us. And then he asked if we could drag the newbie to the gym to get him in shape".
"And why on earth the fucker hired the dude if he's not smocking hot, uh? I mean, I don't say that he should have looked for a stud like me – I'm one in a billion, so it's like impossible – but he could go for someone at least passable, like you. We've got a reputation!" said the mohawked man, irritated.
"Jeez, talking to you do wonders for my ego" muttered Sam under his breath.
"Sorry, did I hurt your feelings?" Puck smirked to his friend "Is it again that time of the month? Do you have enough tampons?". At his own statement, the man laughed out loud.
The blonde shook his head and passed his hands across his face. Why on hell does he have such shitty tastes about friends? He definitely needs new ones.
They met for the first time when the southern man moved to the Big Apple and found a job at New Directions. Puck was working there from a couple of years already and, even if he was abrasive and crass, the two immediately got along and became great friends. Sam moved in with Puck just a few days after he landed the job.
"However," said Sam, just enough to be heard over the laughter "give the man a chance. We still haven't met the kid yet. Maybe he's better than what we think!"
Puck got up from the couch and went toward the kitchen "Fine, princess. Let's do it your way."
After rinsing the bowl, the brunette said "I'll take a shower and get dressed so we can be there in time. Okay, Trouty Mouth?" smirked Puck from over his shoulder.
Sam's eyes grew exponentially "Dude, still with this nickname?! Cut the crap and go! Sometimes my grandma is faster than you in getting ready!
"Dude, are you questioning my badassness? Have you seen my guns?" said the dark-haired man, flexing the muscles in his arms.
"GO!" was the exasperated yell that Sam threw to his roommate.
Puck's arms fell along his side and looked at his best friend as he grew another head. "Evans, seriously, can't wait for your period to stop! You're really edgy in these day".
Okay, the pillow he received on the head? Totally deserved.
Finn was quite nervous. It was like go back to school where you have to look very cool so the popular kids will like you. He really, really, really hoped to make a good impression: those guys would teach him everything to become a good stripper. God, he never thought that one day he would become an exotic dancer (a term used by Rachel earlier that day that made him laugh a lot. There's nothing exotic in him; he comes from Ohio, for crying out loud!). But what do they say? YOLO, right?
Finn arrived outside the club and opened the door.
As soon as he went in, he noticed that on the bar stools were seated two men and other two were behind the bar. The ones seated had both dark hair. One was Asian, with a very toned and lean physique, while the other was definitely built. Muscles seemed as they were this close to rip his T-shirt, and he totally rocked a strip of dark hair on his head. On the other side of the counter, other two men was laughing at something that one of their friend had said. The taller was blonde, VERY blonde; he looked like he could be the main character of The O.C. His face featured a friendly smile with rosy cheeks and his body seemed very similar to the one with the strip of hair. The last was short, like, really short. His hair was perfectly tamed with tons of gel and he had a bowtie around the collar of his shirt.
Finn coughed a couple of times and four set of eyes fell on him.
"You've got to be shitting me" muttered mohawked man, gaining a slap on the back of his head by the Asian.
Finn squirmed on the spot. He was totally freaking out, but he managed to utter "Hi, I'm Finn Hudson."
The first to speak was the shortest one. He went out from behind the counter and extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Finn. I'm Blaine Anderson and I'm really happy to welcome you here. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask. I'll be very glad to help you setting in this new environment" said Blaine friendly.
The one who talked before said "Dude, you're scaring the guy to death! He's this close to turn around and run away" The brunette stopped and pretended to think before adding with a smirk on his face "You know what, Anderson? Keep going! He might really run away and never come back" With this, he gained another slap by the Asian.
Blaine refocused his attention on Finn "Please, excuse him. Rumour has it he was raised by wolves and never learn how to be civilized".
Finn smiled warmly at Blaine. "Noted" he said.
"Let me introduce you to some of the guys. The one with the ridiculous haircut is Noah Puckerman" the short one was once again interrupted by Noah. "Do you have something against the 'Hawk, Anderson? It's totally badass!" and then looked into Finn's eyes "Call me Puck, or I'll beat the crap out of you". Finn nodded.
"So much for giving him a chance, uh?" muttered Sam to his best friend. Puck shrugged his shoulders.
"This" continued Blaine, putting one of his hands on the Asian's shoulder "is Mike Chang. He's one hell of a choreographer and he's the mind behind some of our shows". Mike waved friendly to Finn.
"And that one is Sam Evans" finally said Blaine. Sam stopped Blaine by extending his hand to Finn and saying "Hey dude! It's good to meet you. Welcome in the family. You ready to hit the gym with me and Puck this afternoon? The one where we go is awesome! And it's a nice change having someone else to come with us. Puck can be quite an asshole" Finn laughed out loud and a cute dimple appeared on his cheek.
Just as Puck was about to say something to the blonde, the door slammed and Schue, followed by another man, entered the room. The young man had brown hair with swing bangs that covered his forehead and blue eyes.
The owner immediately spotted Finn.
"Hi Finn! See you met the guys. Hope they didn't scare you too much" eyeing Puck. Noah raised his arms in defence "Hey, I didn't do anything wrong! Just wondering why you gave him the job if he looks like a beached whale".
"Puck, you're an asshole!" said Mike, while Sam looked at the newbie in the eyes "Don't worry man" said the blonde "We'll have you in great shape in no time!"
"Okay, kids, stop!" shouted Schue. Once the young men stopped bickering, the owner said "Finn, this is Artie Abrams, one of your colleagues. Now, if you follow me in my office, we'll talk about your pay check and things like that". Finn flashed at smile at Artie, who answered to it with a wave, and promptly followed Will.
The guys remained alone in the big hall.
"Well, he seems like an okay dude! Maybe a little shy, but he just have to know us more and there will be no problems!" stated Sam. Everyone agreed, except Puck.
"I don't know" he started, scratching the back of his neck "He seems out of place here. Like, 'I got lost and I need direction, please help me' out of place. He doesn't belong in here!"
Blaine intervened "You said the same thing about me the first time you saw me and here I am!"
"Actually, you still suck!" joked the dark-haired man.
"I'm totally cool with him being part of the crew" said Mike "I mean, once he builds up some muscles and we teach him the tricks of the trade, he will be a great addition to the crew. Really hope he could dance, though, 'cause he seems a little goofy"
"Well, Puck" said Artie, at last "seems like you're being outnumbered because I got a good vibe about the guy, even if I've been in the same room with him for like 5 seconds." He looked at his friend, whose hands were covering his face in desperation. "Come on" the blue-eyed one said to Puck, poking him with his elbow "give him a chance!"
"Exactly!" Sam jumped at the occasion of saying something "You told me you would have given the dude a chance! You owe me that!"
"Fine" muttered Puckerman to the others. "I'll try to give the dude a chance. Happy, pussies?"
After half an hour, Finn and Schue came back and rejoined the group of strippers.
"Well, Finn" said Artie "It was a pleasure meeting you but I have to go. Got a romantic evening with my lady" smiled the guy fondly, thinking about his Mercedes. "See you tomorrow night! Bye guys!". And with that, Artie was out.
"It's better for me to go too if I want to make it to dance class in time" declared Mike. The Asian patted Finn's shoulder and, noticing that no one was listening to him, added "Don't listen to what Puck says, he's joking the majority of the time. I know he can be a real asshole but he's a good friend. You'll find out pretty soon".
"Thank you for the heads-up, man. I really appreciate it" stated Finn sincerely.
Chang winked at him and waved at the rest of them.
"Frankenteen, you ready to hit the gym? Me and Trouty mouth here will make you cry" finished Puck with a satisfied grin on his face. Finn looked at Puck in the eyes and, smiling, said "Bring It!".
Sam laughed at the brunette's answer and then asked Blaine "You coming too?"
The short guy shook his head "Next time, Sam. Right now I just have to get home and study for tomorrow class". He looked at Finn kindly and said "Welcome in the family, Finn. Hope you'll like it in here. I know this isn't a very normal job but at least the pay is good and the colleagues aren't that bad…Well, the majority of them at least!" winking at Puck.
"You hitting on me Anderson?! I mean, I know I'm a stud and all but I definitely don't swing that way" joked Noah. Blaine laughed out loud at his friend statement. "Guess that was my cue to go! See you tomorrow, guys!" declared the shortest of the group.
After saying goodbye to Schue, it was time for the three men to go to the gym and get Finn back in shape.
At the gym, Finn was definitely more self-conscious about his body. And having Puck and Sam as work-out buddies wasn't of any help. Puck's shorts were riding low on his hips and his muscular arms were set free thanks to a black wife-beater and Sam had long pants and his t-shirt barely restrained his muscles. Finn felt like the ugly duckling with his overused pants and McKinley titans' tee. He definitely had to buy new gym clothes.
After an hour and a half, all Finn wanted to do was dig a hole and die in there. He didn't work out in a very long time and his body was screaming.
"What about we take a break?" said the blonde of the threesome "You don't have to overwork yourself. It's not good for your body". Finn wanted to answer but, since he was completely out of breath, he just managed to nodded a couple of time.
The three men went to the gym bar and Sam ordered orange juices for them to drink.
"So, what's your story?" asked Puck to the newbie.
"What?" asked Finn after he drank his OJ in one gulp.
Puck rolled his eyes "What's your story? You know, where are you from, something about your family and shit like that".
"Oh, sure!" and, like that, Finn started talking. "I'm from Lima, Ohio and my parents were Carole and James. My mom was an housewife and my dad was in the Army. They died when I was 8". A sad smile emerged from his face. "The only things that I actually remember are our breakfasts together. My mom cooked some mean chocolate pancakes and my dad, as soon as he sat down, would pass me the comics section of the newspaper because he knew that I wanted to read it really bad but he also knew that, since I wanted to let him enjoy his reading in peace, I would wait for him to finish, fidgeting in my chair" Finn smiled fondly at the memory.
"They died in a car accident. A drunk driver missed the stop and…" the man shrugged; the other two were looking at him, engrossed with his story. So he kept going "At that point, I had two options: moving in with my grandparents in Pennsylvania or stay in Lima with my parents' best friends. I chose to stay in Lima and live with my now stepparents. It's the best decision I have ever taken in my life. And with two amazing stepparents I also gained a little sister, Rachel. She's just a few months younger but still. She's my rock. I think she's the bravest person I know. She was heavily bullied since she was a little girl because of her big dreams and our fathers' homosexuality but she had always kept her head up high and fought for what she thought was right!". He took a deep breath and followed with his story "Even when high school came along and I was nominated quarterback of the football team, the bullying continued. I had tried my hardest to protect her but it wasn't enough. One day, I was this close to leave the football team 'cause one of my teammates slushied her but she begged me not to, she wouldn't want to see me put up with all the crap that she had to face every single day. And then she said 'One day, all this little-minded buffoons will see my star shine so bright it will make it painful to watch at and they will still be here, in Lima, living sad lives and drinking till their livers will explode'". Finn laughed recalling his sister's words. "And you know what? She was totally right 'cause Rachel will graduate from NYADA in the spring and some musicals' producers already want her in their productions while the majority of her bullies are still stuck in Lima, working at the local 7/11, or at the only restaurant in town". At last, he told them the same things he said to Schue and why he needs to work at New Directions.
"Whoa!" the blonde finally said, looking at his best friend "This is one hell of a story!".
Finn smiled coyly.
It was Puck's turn to talk "So, this explained why your sister is here but not why you are here in the City".
"As if I would have let her be all by herself in this big ass city! She's brave but she's little. She's like Blaine-tall. I have to protect her" said Finn seriously.
Puck laughed out loud at the statement. "I get you, dude. I have a little sister, too. Now, if you ladies mind, could we come back to our work-out?" And with that, the dark-haired man got up and patted Finn's shoulder. "Come on, dude! I'll help you with your weigh-lifting".
Sam smiled. Finn just received the Puckerman's stamp of approval.
And this is a wrap for chapter 2! You met the first pair: Artie/Mercedes (always thought they would made a cute couple...and their voices are SO GOOD together!). Like it? Hate it? Write on the box below and let me know! (uh, it rhymes!). The Puckleberry meeting is approaching but you have to wait a little longer.
Up next: It's Show Time!
XOXO