AN: Inspired by lyrics from "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" by Oasis. During the performance of "Candles" in "Original Song" I happened to catch the expression on Puck's face and it fascinated me. This is my take on what might be going through his head.
When he had stepped off the riser the last thing I had expected was to be spellbound. I mean this was Kurt - the kid I had started throwing into dumpsters the first week of our freshman year. The prissy boy who was more worried about his facial routine and designer clothes rather than the typical guy stuff. The kid I had told only months ago to go do something useful like spying on the Garglers because I thought his opinions weren't worth my time. And perhaps I wasn't quite as bad as Karofsky, well at least this past year, but I was guilty of bullying him. I was part of the reason that he left McKinley.
As Kurt stood in front of the Warblers, I realized something I never had when he was part of our group - the guy had an amazing voice. Like I had dismissed his opinions, how many of us had dismissed just how talented Kurt was because he didn't fit the description of what we had in mind for our star performer.
In that moment I realized something - all Kurt had ever wanted was to be noticed. Recognized for the talented person that he was but me and so many others refused to give him a second glance. But the Warblers had and as he stood out in front of them singing his heart out, his eyes focused on someone who clearly truly saw him for who he was, I knew that everything that the others and I had done to him didn't matter. Very few ever made it out of Lima but somehow I knew Kurt was going to be one of those that did, and nothing anyone else did would stop that.