Catalyst

Chapter 7

By Dani J.

Summary: Kurt and Blaine have decided to just be friends and the dapper boy realized he really missed Dalton Academy so he's gone back. No Klaine-bashing is intended, it just wouldn't have worked for this fic. However, Kurt has an admirer in a new kid… and Puck isn't happy at all but doesn't seem willing to step up.

Disclaimer: I own nothing whatsoever. Blame RM and company for this unfairly attractive and addictive group of characters. Well, except for my cute, original character, Kristopher.

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Last chapter: Just the thought of getting close to Kurt, regardless of any pissing contest with Puckerman made his body tighten and a smile come to his face. That boy was just so damn hot; the air of purity surrounding Kurt just begged for someone to dirty him up a bit… and Kris was just the boy to do it.

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Kris sauntered into school the next day, swinging the keys to his bike in one half-gloved fist. He was heading to a certain young singer's locker and hoped that the little gift he had for him would go over well.

Kurt was entirely fascinating to him: the boy was always immaculately dressed yet he knew all about cars and engines and bikes. Kurt was an enigma and Kris was always fascinated by the unique and the mysterious. It also didn't hurt that Kurt was so easy on the eyes and Kris licked his lips as he thought about Kurt's delectable physical attributes.

The pale, creamy skin stretched over nicely-defined muscles, the broad shoulders flowing down to a small waist and surprisingly curvy hips. Jesus, Kris swallowed as he imagined his own large hands gripping Kurt's pale hips as those long, strong legs wrapped around him…

Ugh, Kristopher, get a hold of yourself; you don't even know if the boy likes you that way! His self-admonishment continued until he turned down a corridor and saw Kurt and Mercedes standing by the boy's locker.

Kris smiled to himself in anticipation tinged ever so slightly with guilt. He had to come up with a way to extricate himself from the mess he'd made with Puckerman. He'd been genuinely surprised at the jock's reaction to his goad. Maybe kids aren't as open here in the Ass End of Nowhere, Ohio, he thought derisively as he headed towards the two friends.

By the time he got to Kurt and Mercedes, however, Kris had a small, almost apologetic smile on his lips. He knew how to play this; appear to be sorry but don't slide into groveling… at least not yet. With this in mind, he called out to the other kids in a pleasant, faintly amused tone.

"Hey, guys, still talking to me?" His green eyes had a soft, pleading look in them as he addressed them both but stared at Kurt.

Kurt, not having seen Kristopher approaching, looked up in faint surprise but a small smile tugged at his lips anyway. He flicked a little look at Mercedes before responding to the gorgeous guy staring so avidly at him.

"And why wouldn't we be talking to you, pray tell?" He stuck his nose up in the air but his bright blue eyes were twinkling as he gathered his books and closed the locker door firmly.

Mercedes, a little less enamored with Kristopher than she'd been before, simply scoffed before adding: "Yeah, do you have something to confess, new kid?"

Kurt frowned at her and gave a sharp little, "'Cedes!" before turning to walk down the corridor with Kris on one side and 'Cedes on the other. "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, Kristopher; it's just that some kids here aren't as welcoming as we'd like."

Mercedes muttered something beneath her breath but when both Kurt and Kristopher glanced curiously at her, she just stared straight ahead, clutching her books to her chest and her brows furrowed slightly.

Kris cleared his throat and then asked, "So, um, Kurt, do you think we could work together on Mr. Schue's assignment?"

Kurt looked at the taller boy in pleased surprise, yet he shook his head. "Oh, that would be… uhm, no, I'm working with 'Cedes."

They'd reached their first-period class but as Kristopher didn't have that class with them, he stepped to the side of the door to allow Mercedes to enter while Kurt spoke.

"Oh, that's disappointing," Kris murmured, dropping his voice to an intimate tone that immediately brought color to Kurt's cheeks. "Uhm, here, I made this for you… well, when I was hoping we could perform together…"

Kurt felt his cheeks warming at the way Kris looked at him, as if he were the only thing he wanted to look at and at the warm tone of his voice. He was almost tempted to say yes but he could never do that to 'Cedes. He glanced down at what Kristopher was holding out to him and took the object.

"Oh, it's a playlist, I take it?" Kurt's voice was shy as he looked over the disc and his eyes ran down the short list of songs that Kristopher had penned on the label. "Oh, I love this one!"

Kris took the opportunity to lean unnecessarily close to Kurt, inhaling the singer's subtle, slightly floral scent as he did so. "Oh, yes, my mom loves her. A bit before our time but still hot, right?"

Kurt grinned up at him, slightly startled at how closely Kris was standing. "Oh, yes, but somehow I don't think Mr. Schue would go for this one."

Kris chuckled as he leaned back, giving Kurt a little room. "Oh, no? What's wrong with Sweetest Taboo? Even he couldn't have a problem with Sade…"

The boys stared at each other, heat rising ever so slightly as Kris's eyes dropped to Kurt's plush lips curved in a soft smile. Christ, he'd better get control of himself or the teacher would turn up to see him pressing Kurt against the wall with his tongue down his throat!

He cleared his throat and stepped back, giving Kurt a wink as he said, "Well, if not this time, another time, eh? There are bound to be other assignments Mr. Schue will come up with. I call dibs on being your partner!"

Kurt laughed shyly as he shook his head teasingly at the other boy. Gosh, Kris was really gorgeous, he thought as the heat in his cheeks refused to subside. For a second there he thought Kris had been about to kiss him! It felt really good, though, to be wanted so blatantly and he basked for a minute in the unusual feeling.

He smiled up at the other boy as he turned to enter the classroom, a flirty look in his eyes as he whispered, "Next time, maybe. Now go to class, Kristopher!"

He and Kris chuckled as he watched the taller boy walk backwards for a few steps then wave back to him as he turned to go to his own class. Kurt shook his head, a soft smile still on his face as he entered the classroom.

The humor drained from his face as he saw that the classroom was almost full and the teacher was there already. Apparently he'd spent more time flirting with Kristopher than he'd realized. However, he held his head up as he wound his way between the rows of desk-chair furniture and plopped into the vacant one beside Mercedes.

As he placed his bag on the back of the chair his eyes, roaming uninterestedly over the other students, he held back a frown as he noticed one particular pair of eyes staring back at him.

Puck frowned slightly when he took in Kurt's rosy cheeks and the remnants of humor still lurking in his eyes. His full lips tightened as he speculated just why Kurt looked like that and he came to the conclusion that the new kid had walked him to class. He'd noticed that Mercedes had entered a couple of minutes ahead of Kurt but had thought nothing of it. Now he felt his temper stir at the thought of the two boys together.

Kurt frowned at the unhappy look on Puck's face but decided the best thing to do was simply ignore the tanned jock. Whatever his problems were, Kurt wanted no part of them, especially not after that outburst in Glee club. The lame apology later that evening hadn't eased the hurt in Kurt much and he was inclined to simply ignore the jock for the rest of their time here at school.

Mercedes noticed the brief interaction between the two boys as she'd turned to Kurt when he sat down. Now she glanced back at Puck and shook her head slightly. It wouldn't do for Puck to piss off Kurt any further and if he kept frowning at her boy like that, that was exactly what would happen. She hoped the plan she'd come up with for Puckerman would help somewhat.

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That afternoon the Gleeks (as Kris learned some folks called the 'losers' in Glee club) were buzzing with eagerness. Some of them had obviously found the songs they wanted to perform and Kris chuckled at their innocent excitement. He had really wanted to do one of the songs on his playlist with Kurt but even though the other boy had told him 'no', Kris was confident of his ability to get his own way on the subject.

As he entered the choir room some of the other kids had their heads together or were humming songs beneath their breath; a couple were reading music sheets and apparently polishing up their lyrics. He did none of those; he was more interested in seeking out Kurt and finding a seat close to him.

Kurt looked up when Kris came inside the room and smiled, just stopping himself from waving at the other boy. Mercedes glanced at him with an odd twist to her lips but she said nothing, just turned back to the sheet music in front of her.

"Hey, boo, you sure you don't want this pitched a little lower? I know you're fabulous and all that but don't you think it might be a tad high?"

Immediately Kurt lost interest in the new kid and focused the full intensity of his blazing blue eyes on his best friend. "Mercedes Jones, bite your tongue!"

He couldn't hold the fake ire for very long when his friend burst into rich chuckles, her eyes watering as she waved off his overly dramatic response. "Hoo, boy, you really need to be on the stage! I'm not bashing your ability just wondering if you wouldn't be more comfortable with it a little lower, is all."

Kurt grabbed the sheet music from her and stared at it, all thoughts of Kristopher gone from his head as he perused the notes. "Hmm, I see what you mean but no, I know I can handle this."

Mercedes watched him studying the paper and hid her triumphant smile. She'd liked Kristopher – or rather found him attractive – when he first came a couple of days before but the way he moved in on Kurt so fast made alarms go off in her head. It wasn't that she thought Kurt didn't deserve a hot guy macking on him; her boy was so worth it, despite what others might think. Kurt was beautiful inside and out and talented to the max. Any number of boys should have been beating down his door to get to him. If they had lived anywhere else but the most close-minded city in the country, Kurt would have been dating non-stop.

Her thoughts brought her around to the one jock she suspected might be harboring feelings for her gorgeous friend – Noah Puckerman. Unfortunately, the jock was a product of the same culture that had made her best friend grow up feeling he was only good enough for the scraps of people's attention, people like the handsome and dapper once and present Warbler, Blaine Anderson. Puck gave off vibes that, had they been anywhere else, Kurt would have been a notch in his belt long ago… or more than just a notch, she suspected.

When she had taken Puck the day before to the auditorium, they had gone through both their music playlists to come up with the perfect song for him to sing to Kurt. They had been successful – or she hoped they were if Kurt accepted it – and today they would find out.

"Okay, guys," Mr. Schue's voice interrupted her musing. "Has anyone got anything ready for us? Brittany, go ahead if you're ready." He smiled at the cheerful blonde whose hand had been waving frantically at him.

"Mr. Schue, I want to sing to Lord Tubbington. Is that okay… even though he's not here?"

There were snorts of poorly hidden laughter as Will stared at the cheerleader. He sighed, nodded and waved towards the microphone stand. "Uh, yes, I suppose it is… okay, yes, go ahead."

He sighed again as he took a seat in the front row and Mercedes could have sworn he was gritting his teeth. She chuckled, nudged Kurt who had looked up from the music and settled down to enjoy Brittany's performance.

Jaws dropped as the blonde girl jumped up, tugged on cat ears and shimmied out of her uniform to show a snug short catsuit that highlighted every curve of her fantastic body. She reached into her backpack and took something that she attached to her butt and when she turned around she was wearing a cat tail.

Kurt was the first one to get an idea what she was going to perform but when the school band struck up the first chords of her song, Rachel joined him in laughing gleefully.

Brittany smirked at them, struck a pose with her hands on her hips and told them: "This is from Lord Tubbington's favorite musical and I hope you all like it!"

Kurt, Rachel, Mr. Schue and a couple of the other kids laughed out loud when she began a sultry step/dance combo before turning to start singing:

The greatest magicians have something to learn
From Mr. Mistoffelees's conjuring turn

And you'll all say:
Oh! Well I never! Was there ever
A cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

He is quiet, he's small
He is black
From the ears to the tip of his tail
He can creep through the tiniest crack
He can walk on the narrowest rail

He can pick any card from a pack
He is equally cunning with dice
He is always deceiving you into believing
That he's only hunting for mice

He can play any trick with a cork
Or a spoon and a bit of fish paste
If you look for a knife or a fork
And you think it was merely misplaced

You've seen it one moment, and then it is gone!
But you'll find it next week lying out on the lawn!

And we all say:
Oh! Well I never! Was there ever
A cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees?

Oh! Well I never! Was there ever
A cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees?

Oh! Well I never! Was there ever
A cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

His manner is vague and aloof
And you would think there was nobody shyer
But his voice has been heard on the roof
When he was curled up by the fire

And he's sometimes been heard by the fire
While he was about on the roof
(At least we all heard that somebody purred)
Which is uncontestable proof

And of his singular magical powers
And I've known the family to call
Him in from the garden for hours
When he was asleep in the hall

And not long ago this phenomenal cat
Produced seven kittens right out of a hat!

And we all say:
Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever
A cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees?

Oh! Well I never! Was there ever
A cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees?

Ladies and gentlemen
I give you the marvelous
Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!

Presto!

At that last, Brittany definitely wowed them when she whisked up a toy cat that really looked as if he were dressed in a tiny tuxedo. Everyone whooped and cheered, laughed and stomped their feet, leaving Brittany flushed and triumphant as she took a bow.

Will jumped up and went to take her place as she skipped back to her seat, a huge grin on her face as she high-fived Santana.

"Brittany, wow, that was amazing! I know you all recognize that as a song from 'Cats', one of the longest-running Broadway musicals, right, guys?"

At everyone's good-natured groans and nods, he continued. "Well, while I'd thought you would focus on pop songs, I can accept that this entered the pop lexicon because of the show's overwhelming popularity," he said now, remembering that he'd said no show tunes. Brittany, however, was a special case and he guessed there weren't many pop songs you could dedicate to your cat.

Everyone understood how it was with Brittany so the others listened between the lines of what their choir leader was saying. Most of them had pretty good ideas what they would be performing anyway and they had stuck to the brief. Schue, satisfied that the kids understood him, opened his hands in a gesture of "well, anyone else?" and took his seat when Tina bounced up to take his place.

After that, the songs performed were, indeed, pop, romantic and sometimes inspirational and they were presented as solos or duets. He was pretty pleased with the kids but he admitted to being a little curious as to what the new kid, Kristopher, would do.

Finally, he got up when it looked as if the flow of performances had trickled to a stop and looked at the ones who had yet to perform. His eyes roved over Kurt, Mercedes, Kristopher and Noah and he repressed a sigh as he remembered the unfortunate incident two days before.

Mustering up as much enthusiasm as he could – it had been a long day – he glanced at the last four and said, "Well, we have time for one more for today; who is it gonna be?"

To his eternal surprise, Noah Puckerman's hand raised slowly in the air. "Uhm, yes, Noah?"

Puck cleared his throat and spoke firmly even though his cheeks were slightly darker. He flicked a glance at Mercedes before saying to Schue, "Yeah, I want to do mine but we have to go to the auditorium."

Will held back his surprise as he nodded; to say he was the only one who was curious would have been a lie. There were whispers susurrating in the room but for some reason, Kurt was the only person staring ahead with a stony expression on his face. Will let out the sigh this time.

"Okay, folks, let's head to the auditorium and hear what Noah has for us."

There was the sound of chairs being pushed back and people talking softly but he noticed that Mercedes had gone over to Puckerman and appeared to be speaking encouragingly. His eyes roamed to where Kurt was stuffing some papers stiffly into his bag and the new kid appeared to be hovering at the door, waiting for someone. Will shook his head; always the drama in this club.

The group arranged themselves in the center section of the auditorium at a comfortable distance from the stage where the band was waiting, apparently, for Puck. Mercedes hurried along the row of seats to slip into the one beside Kurt who barely looked at her, his soft lips in a tight line. She placed a hand over his and squeezed it before turning to stare at the stage.

On Kurt's other side, Kristopher had snagged a seat and he thrilled at the chance to sit beside the boy he was so attracted to. However, at the moment, Kurt was like a human-shaped iceberg for all the warmth emanating from him. Kris prayed silently that whatever the jock was going to do wouldn't upset Kurt further. He doubted it though if the idea was to get back into Kurt's good graces. He found himself subsequently wishing that Puckerman would foul things up.

He heard Kurt's soft, indrawn breath when Puckerman came out onto center stage and walked down towards the front, a baby spotlight on him.

Puck cleared his throat and because the auditorium lights weren't completely off he could see the others sitting there waiting for him to start. Squaring his shoulders now he glanced towards where Kurt was sitting and then looked at Mr. Schue who was sitting slightly apart from the group of kids.

His voice was a bit husky when he started but it got clearer as he spoke. "Some of you might guess that this is an apology to …" he paused and then started again. "This is an apology not just to Kurt but to all of you."

He stepped back and took up his guitar, his most precious possession and perched on the stool one of the band members had placed there for him. They were providing a very low-key backup for him on this song because he wanted the focus to be just him, his guitar and the words.

The piano intro to a ballad began and he didn't look up as he heard some of the others murmur in recognition. The guitar notes slid in between the piano's soft notes and then he started singing:

It's been going on for so long
All the words we said wrong way back then
And I still hear them all in my head
It keeps playing over and over again
I can't run, I can't hide, it don't matter how hard I try
To move on, but

CHORUS
I don't want to leave it, bury it and forget
I've already wasted so much time
Can't wait another moment, am I all out of chances
For you to believe it's on my mind
I've gotta let go of my pride and apologize

I thought I would never let go,
Never thought I could know what it's like
To wake up, holding what I gave up,
After all this time still trying to find
What it is to forgive even when it isn't that easy
So please believe me, cause

CHORUS
I don't want to leave it, bury it and forget
I've already wasted so much time
Can't wait another moment, am I all out of chances
For you to believe it's on my mind
I've gotta let go of my pride and apologize

If I caused you pain, I will take the blame
You can put it on me
if I broke your heart, if I left a scar
let me say I'm sorry

Cause I don't want to leave it, bury it and forget
I've already wasted so much time
Can't wait another moment, am I all out of chances
For you to believe it's on my mind
I've gotta let go of my pride…
I've gotta let go of my pride,

I've gotta let go of my pride,
And apologize, apologize…

As the last notes of the single violin played, Puck sat still, his hands on his guitar and then he looked up straight into Kurt's eyes… and smiled.

There was silence; the others knew this was really between the two boys and they waited to see how Kurt would respond.

Kurt, his eyes shimmering with tears he refused to shed, felt as if his heart was too full, his chest too tight to breathe. The song was beautiful and the fact that Noah had sung it to him in front of everyone – humbled himself enough to do this for him… Kurt could hardly believe it.

Still, the other boy was there, on the stage, sitting in tense silence, waiting for something from Kurt and…

Kurt smiled.

Sound seemed to erupt as Mercedes started clapping, the others joining in along with a couple of whistles from the jocks in the group.

Kurt sat there as the rest of the group and the band members straggled out of the auditorium and then, finally, it was just him and Noah who was still on the stage. In fact, he hadn't moved except to nod in relief when Kurt had smiled at him.

Kristopher turned at the closest auditorium door to the car park and looked back at Kurt sitting in the semi-dark and his heart burned. Puckerman had done it; he'd come up with a pretty classy way to apologize and it made him want to tear the jock to pieces.

He turned away abruptly, not wanting to watch as Kurt got up and strode to the steps leading up onto the stage. There was no way that he would let Puckerman cock-block him; he was going to woo Kurt and to hell with Noah Puckerman and his lame apologies.

Kurt, unaware of the turmoil in the boy who had just left his side with a gentle squeeze to his shoulder, stepped up onto the stage and approached Puck… Noah. The gentle side he'd seen in the other boy didn't suit the name 'Puck', that mischievous Shakespearean spirit. Strangely enough, because of a middle school assignment, Kurt knew that 'Noah' meant 'peaceful' in Hebrew.

Puck tensed as Kurt came slowly towards him, his hands wrapped in the shoulder strap of his bag. Puck couldn't quite read his expression because he wasn't smiling now. He waited for Kurt to speak and he fiddled with his guitar, his hands giving away his nerves.

"That was beautiful… and unexpected," Kurt said as he stopped a few steps away from the other boy. His voice was low even though they were the only ones left in the building.

Puck nodded and then looked up at Kurt, taking in the serious eyes and straight lips. He realized he would rather see the eyes shining and the lips curving in one of Kurt's signature smirks.

"Yeah, well, Aretha helped…" and then he grinned at Kurt's widening eyes. "Yeah, I apologized to her yesterday as well, explained about some of the stuff so she decided to help me with this."

Kurt tilted his head and frowned, curious. "Some of the stuff – why not all of it?"

Puck looked away and down at his guitar, wondering how much he should say. If he told Kurt what Kristopher had said, it might come across like he was telling tales. No, if Kurt wanted to know he was going to have to ask the kid himself.

He shrugged now, still not looking at Kurt but all humor gone from his face. "Let's just say that … I'm really sorry for what I said. You know I didn't mean it that way…"

Kurt straightened up, a frown on his face and Puck sighed at the sight. "So how did you mean it then? It seemed pretty straightforward… to all of us."

Puck got up, placed the guitar on the stool and then ran a hand through his hair as he sighed in frustration. Finally, after a long moment of silence, he looked at Kurt, his eyes dark and sad.

"How did you know?" When Kurt looked at him in confusion, Puck blurted out the last thing Kurt would ever have expected to come from him.

"How did you know you were… gay?"

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TBC

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A/N: Mr. Mistoffelees by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot and Apologize was by 33Miles.

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