Disclaimer – I don't own Glee or anything at all Superhero related
Hello again, thank you for reading and reviewing, welcome to chapter 7!
Chapter 7 – That's a Superhero Intervention
It took a few minutes for Kurt to calm down. By the time he did, he was visible again and as he made his way to the ground floor he was relieved to discover that Graham had been moved. He was sure the bully must have a broken leg along with some bumps and bruises but he didn't know if there were any more severe injuries. He hoped not. It had seemed like a fun idea at first to spook the boy, but the prank had gone horribly wrong and Kurt felt guilty.
"Hey, fancy seeing you here," Puck commented making reference to Kurt's visibility as he leaned casually against a locker, one ankle crossed over the other and his hands in his pockets. "You ok, dude?" he asked in a more serious tone as he took in the worried expression on Kurt's face.
"It's been a long day," Kurt sighed. "And I kind of did something… bad," he admitted dropping his eyes to the ground guiltily.
"Something bad," Puck repeated sounding amused. "Let me guess, you went and spied on boys in the locker room after all. I think that's awesome. That's totally what a gay boy with the ability to turn invisible should do. I'm proud of you, man," he claimed holding his fist out for Kurt to bump but Kurt made no effort to do so.
"I did not spy on anybody in the locker room," Kurt stated.
"So what did happen?" Puck asked pushing off of the locker. "Come on, Kurt, you can tell me," he said as he settled an arm comfortably across Kurt's shoulders and began steering him down the corridor.
"I happened to be invisible and saw one of the jocks who insist on bullying me," Kurt explained. "I thought it would be fun to use my invisibility to my advantage and scare him a little. It backfired, horribly."
"Shit, did you turn visible again in front of him?" Puck asked.
"No, he didn't see me at all," Kurt answered. "But I really did put the fear in him. He fell down the stairs when he was running away. It looked like quite a nasty tumble."
"Fuck," Puck swore coming to a stop and pulling his arm away from Kurt to run a hand through his Mohawk.
"I know I shouldn't have done it," Kurt said. "I should never have stooped to their level. But I just get so frustrated with the way people look at me, the way they judge me and treat me just because I'm… different. Every time some ignorant jock stalks towards me spitting insults and making threats… it scares me. Every time I wonder to myself if this will be the time that they decide to beat me to death just for being… gay," he whispered the last word, almost as though he were afraid of it and Puck found he didn't like that. He thought the boy ought to say the word loud and proud. "It's not easy being the only boy in school who likes other boys. Honestly, it's terrifying. I know I turn my nose up and act superior, like I don't care, but that's because if I let them know I'm scared then they'll eat me alive. I can't show them any fear. I have to be brave because if they see that I'm not they'll destroy me. And today, I saw Graham Brett walking alone and I just thought for once I'm going to make him feel afraid. I just wanted to scare him. I didn't mean to make him fall down the stairs. But I guess you don't understand that."
"No, I get it dude, better than you might think," Puck replied.
"Yeah, ok," Kurt rolled his eyes disbelievingly.
"Seriously, man," Puck said slinging his arm around Kurt's shoulders again. "I get it," he told him looking him in the eye and Kurt found himself silently appreciating how nice it was to hear Puck refer to him as 'man' or 'dude'. It was such a welcome change to all the 'Lady' jibes he usually received.
"Really?" Kurt asked, still a little doubtful but curious all the same.
"People don't exactly have a high opinion of me either," Puck pointed out. "They just think I'm a troublemaker, a Lima Loser, and that I'm on a road to nowhere. A lot of people look at me like I'm garbage, my own mother included. It sucks that assholes judge me like that and sure, there are some days when I'd like to be invisible."
"But?" Kurt prompted.
"But what?" Puck asked.
"I don't know," Kurt shrugged. "I just thought maybe we were having a touching moment there and you might say something wise and inspiring."
"We can have a touching moment if you like," Puck winked landing a playful slap to Kurt's rear.
Kurt was so embarrassed by the incident that his skin flushed bright red before he turned invisible again.
"Come on, Prince Charming," Puck laughed blindly reaching for Kurt, finding his arm and locking his fingers around the boy's wrist. "I'll walk you home."
"I don't need a bodyguard," Kurt objected.
"But I'd like the company," Puck replied as he pulled Kurt along behind him.
It wasn't until they were walking up Kurt's driveway that Kurt became visible again.
"Ok, you can let go of me now," Kurt said and Puck practically tickled Kurt's wrist as he pulled his fingers away. "Right, well, I guess I'll go inside now and I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, cool," Puck nodded as Kurt fumbled with his keys. "Hey, Hummel," Puck said before Kurt could step inside. "That thing with Graham, don't beat yourself up about it alright? It wasn't really your fault. It was just an accident."
Kurt averted his gaze and offered a weak goodbye before stepping into his house and closing the door behind him.
XXX
Returning home himself, Puck entered his bedroom to find Finn, Mike and Matt eating chips and playing his Xbox.
"What are you dorks doing here?" Puck asked.
"We need to talk about the Glee Superheroes," Finn answered distractedly as he punched his finger on the buttons of the control pad frantically.
"They aren't Superheroes, Finn," Mike pointed out. "But we do need to talk and have some kind of intervention or something. Tina is out of control."
"Artie too," Finn added.
"Rachel's sad," Matt said.
"Why are you home so late anyway?" Mike asked. "Did you actually show up to a detention?"
"Hell no," Puck laughed at the idea. "I was walking my boy, Kurt, home."
As one, the other three boys pulled their eyes away from the computer game on the television screen to stare at Puck in bewilderment.
"What?" Puck asked challengingly and they all mumbled 'nothing'. "So, what's the deal with everybody?"
"I'm not going to lie," Mike stated. "I never really noticed Tina before but I do now and she's actually really hot but she's also a psycho."
"Gonna need more details, dude," Puck said.
Pressing a few more buttons and beating Finn on the computer game, Mike switched the console off so they could focus their full attention on the conversation at hand. He explained to the other three what he had witnessed Tina do to one of the senior boys.
"Yikes," Puck winced. "I didn't realise Goth Babe was so angry."
"You should talk to her, Puck," Finn suggested.
"Why me?" Puck asked.
"Um, because you're like… er, really good at talking to girls," Finn supplied.
"You're just too scared to talk to her yourself," Puck accused.
"I'm not scared," Finn denied. "I just don't want my fingers broken," he mumbled.
"Neither do I," Puck pointed out. "Asian Chick is really strong now. She'd easily kick my ass if she wanted to. Fuck, she'd kick all of our asses in about thirty seconds. No way am I talking to her alone. We'll talk to her together, everyone else from Glee Club too."
"So what's going on with Artie?" Mike asked. "A girl in my Art Class asked me if it was true he was on steroids."
"Whoa, what did you say?" Puck enquired.
"I told her I didn't know what she was talking about," Mike replied. "I figured it might be a rumour to explain how he's out of the wheelchair." He looked to Finn for some kind of an explanation.
"Artie had a run-in with Bradford," Finn told them. "I think the people who saw it all just thought Artie pushed him away from him. But it was more than that. The weird blue sparking stuff happened."
"Wait, are you saying Artie electrocuted him?" Mike asked.
"No, maybe, I don't know," Finn said obviously confused about what had transpired. "Artie only touched him for a moment but it was enough to send him through the air and crashing to the floor and he was just kind of twitching on the ground. Then Artie kicked him when he was down."
"Damn, I didn't think he'd be so violent," Mike commented.
"Anyway, I took him away so he could get outside and calm down," Finn continued. "I tried to talk sense into him but I don't think it worked."
"Did he mean to do it?" Puck asked. "Or was it an accident?"
"He told me it was an accident," Finn answered.
"Did you believe him?" Mike asked.
"I think so," Finn nodded. "But he also said even though he didn't mean to do it he wasn't sorry that he did. I'm really worried, guys, I've never seen Artie act like this."
"How are his parents going to react when he gets home?" Mike wondered out loud. "I mean, there won't be a wheelchair. He'll walk in on his own two legs. There's no way his parents won't notice the change."
"They'll probably freak," Finn supplied.
"We're gonna call a Glee Club meeting tomorrow," Puck decided. "We'll fill the others in on what's happened with Artie and Tina and we'll just try and talk things out and get through to them."
"But Finn and I already tried that," Mike pointed out. "It didn't exactly work."
"No," Matt acknowledged. "But we're not as close to them as some of the others are."
"That's true," Puck nodded. "Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel might have a better chance at getting through to them than we do. Speaking of Rachel, you said she was sad?" he looked to Matt.
"Hearing people's thoughts are getting to her," Matt said. "Even though she's able to connect to everybody's mind she's feeling really isolated and alone. Being able to walk inside people's minds has made her feel like more of an outsider than ever. She feels like the whole entire world is against her. She could really use some friends right now."
"We'll all make an effort," Finn decided. "Is there anything we need to worry about with Kurt or Mercedes?"
"Not that I know of," Mike said and Matt shrugged.
"I don't know about Mercedes," Puck told them. "And Kurt will be ok; I'm looking out for him."
The other three shared another bewildered look but made no comment.
"Alright, well then, we'll try and sort this stuff out tomorrow?" Finn asked and the others nodded in agreement. "Ok, then," he turned the Xbox back on and they resumed playing.
XXX
A pregnancy test was discreetly tucked away in Rachel's school bag. She had near died of mortification when she purchased it at the drug store. It was only natural that the lady behind the counter would assume that Rachel was buying it for herself but the disparaging judgemental thoughts she had about Rachel were still difficult to hear.
Clutching the strap of her bag, Rachel nervously walked up Quinn Fabray's driveway. She doubted she'd receive a warm greeting but she felt compelled to try and help Quinn out. Hence the pregnancy test hidden away in her bag.
Raising her fist, Rachel knocked on the door and shifted from foot to foot as she awaited an answer. Not long later the door opened to reveal a very pretty blonde woman who could only be Quinn's mother.
"Hello there, can I help you?" Mrs. Fabray asked. She must be begging for some kind of charity.
"Hi, Mrs. Fabray," Rachel greeted politely trying to sound confident. "I'm a friend of Quinn's. Is she home?"
My little Quinny is friends with… that? She'll never win Prom Queen associating with girls like… that. I'll just say she's not home.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Mrs. Fabray said. "Quinn isn't home right now. She's out with some of her other friends. Cheerleaders." This one definitely isn't a Cheerleader.
"Quinn and I are in Glee together," Rachel said trying to inject some pride in her voice about that fact.
"Oh, that's nice," Mrs. Fabray smiled falsely. Not that ridiculous Glee Club. I keep telling Quinn that Show Choir will damage her reputation and popularity. "I'll be sure to tell Quinn you stopped by."
"Ok, um, thank you," Rachel replied not knowing what else she could say.
"Mum, its ok," Quinn's voice called as she descended the stairs. I can't believe the hobbit actually came to my house. How does she even know where I live? Oh God, what if she tells my mum?
"Oh Quinn," Mrs. Fabray feigned surprise. "I didn't realise you were already home. Well, it is getting late," she commented looking at the expensive gold watch adorning her wrist. "It really isn't a good time to entertain guests I'm afraid," she told Rachel apologetically though her thoughts clearly indicated that she just wanted to get rid of her.
"Rachel won't stay long, mum," Quinn said. "She just came to borrow a book and some notes. We've been partnered up to work on a project together at school."
"Oh," Mrs. Fabray said. Perhaps they aren't really friends then. Nevertheless I'll have to talk to Quinn about the importance of popularity. A beautiful girl like my Quinny is destined for Prom Queen and should only surround herself with friends as pretty as she is like Brittany or Santana. "Well, as long as you girls don't take too long," she said standing back so Rachel could enter.
"Thank you, Mrs. Fabray," Rachel said politely even though she didn't like the woman very much at all. She followed Quinn upstairs to her bedroom and Quinn closed the door before glaring daggers at her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" the blonde hissed.
"Brittany gave me your address," Rachel answered. "And I know it isn't my business and you don't care for my opinion, but Quinn, I really think you need to take… this," she withdrew the test from her bag and Quinn's glare intensified. "Ignoring this matter won't make it go away," Rachel pointed out. "And things might still be ok. You could be worrying over nothing. At least if you take the test you'll know for sure one way or the other."
"Just get out of my house," Quinn told her as she snatched the pregnancy test from Rachel's hands and promptly set about hiding it.
Lowering her gaze, Rachel turned to leave the room. As she was leaving, Quinn's thoughts became so frantic and jumbled that Rachel couldn't really decipher them. She just caught a few fragments such as 'mistake', 'reputation', 'trust me' as well as thoughts of both Finn and Matt.
Leaving the Fabray house, Rachel wondered if the jumbled thoughts meant that Matt was the father (if Quinn was actually pregnant that is). She bit her lip wondering if it was possible that Quinn had cheated on Finn with Matt. She then racked her brains trying to think of all interaction between Quinn and Matt but she couldn't even recall the pair ever speaking to one another. There was also the fact that Quinn was so wholesome. She was hardly the type to throw herself around and sleep with just anyone. It was girls like Santana who behaved like that. Then there was Matt who was so quiet and had been so nice to her when she'd been slushied earlier that day. Matt wasn't the type of boy to sleep with another boy's girlfriend, especially when he was friends with that boy. No, the frantic thoughts in Quinn's head couldn't mean that Matt was the father of the baby she might be carrying. Right?
XXX
The following morning, a nervous Kurt sat opposite his dad at the kitchen table as they ate breakfast together. The younger Hummel couldn't stop worrying, fearful that he would abruptly turn invisible in front of his dad. He had no idea how his dad would react is he witnessed such a thing and Kurt certainly had no real explanation. Sure, he and the others were struck by a mysterious blue light, but that explanation really only posed more questions rather than answering any.
"Ok, Kurt, what is it?" Burt asked setting the morning paper aside and gripping his coffee mug as he looked across at his son.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kurt answered.
"Uh-huh, try again," Burt replied.
"It's nothing," Kurt shrugged. "I just… I didn't sleep well," he lied.
"Right," Burt clearly didn't believe him. "Well, if you decide you wanna let me in on whatever's going on then you know where to find me ok, kiddo?"
"I'm fine, I promise," Kurt insisted just as there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," he offered.
"Sit down," Burt ordered. "You haven't touched your breakfast. Eat something."
As Kurt picked at his food, his dad found Noah Puckerman standing on his doorstep.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Burt asked gruffly.
"I'm Puck," the mohawked teen replied proudly. "I'm a friend of Kurt's."
"You?" Burt asked doubtfully taking in Puck's ripped jeans, worn sneakers, hoodie and Mohawk. "You're friends with my kid?"
"Sure, we're in Glee Club together," Puck told him. "I thought I could walk Kurt to school today."
"Yeah?" Burt stepped closer to the teenager. "What else are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking 'damn, I wish that Kurt had opened the door because this guy kinda scares me'," Puck answered honestly.
"Come in," Burt grunted.
"Um… ok," Puck replied not expecting the invitation. He stepped inside and wandered through, finding Kurt in the kitchen. "Hey, man," he greeted.
"Puck," Kurt said in surprise. "What are you…?"
"Your Glee Club friend would like to walk you to school today," Burt stated. "Something you wanna tell me Kurt?"
"Um… I don't think so," Kurt responded.
"Really?" Burt raised a brow. "How long were you planning to keep this from me?"
"I don't actually know what you're talking about," Kurt said truthfully.
"Kurt, kid, if you're gonna have a boyfriend then you gotta give me a heads up about it so I'm better prepared when they knock on the door," Burt claimed.
"What? No, dad, that's not… we aren't… Puck isn't my boyfriend," Kurt insisted. "Tell him Puck."
"Kurt isn't ready to be exclusive just yet," Puck said, smirking mischievously when Kurt glared at him. "He's been fooling around with a few other boys but I hope some day soon he'll declare me his one and only."
"Damn it, Puckerman, get out of my house," Kurt huffed. "Honestly dad, nothing he just said is true, I swear."
"Just get to school, we'll talk later," Burt waved him off clearly unsure how to handle the situation. "I'm heading to work."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hummel," Puck commented with as innocently charming a look he could muster while sporting a Mohawk.
"Hmm," Burt grunted as he hurried out of the house.
"I think your dad likes me," Puck grinned, ducking just in time when Kurt threw a piece of toast at him.
"Are you insane? Why would you say all that?" Kurt fumed.
"Oh come on, it was just too funny," Puck laughed picking the toast up off the kitchen floor, grossing Kurt out as he took a large bite.
Kurt muttered and raged under his breath for a few minutes before gathering his school things and ushering Puck out of his house so they could walk to school together.
"How's the invisibility thing going?" Puck asked conversationally.
"Thankfully my dad hasn't noticed anything," Kurt said. "But I definitely turned invisible a few times during the night and when I got up this morning to go the bathroom I did take a shortcut through the wall. I honestly don't know how to control it," he admitted. "I'm really just hoping that nobody outside of Glee Club will ever discover what's going on."
"Hey, it'll all be ok," Puck assured. "We'll get this thing fixed. We'll find a way."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Kurt asked suspiciously.
"The nicer I am to people the better chance I have at getting into heaven," Puck stated.
"Jews don't believe in heaven," Kurt pointed out.
"Look, somebody's gotta look out for you, man," Puck claimed. "Why shouldn't it be me? I'm hot and I'm a badass."
"I really don't know how to interpret your behaviour," Kurt replied. "So I'm not even going to try. I simply request that for the remainder of our journey we stay silent."
"I can do silent," Puck said walking closer to Kurt than seemed normal.
XXX
"Check it out," Tina grabbed Mercedes' arm excitedly. "Kurt and Puck are walking to school together. They're so close together, practically shoulder to shoulder."
"Where?" Mercedes asked looking around unable to see the two boys.
"Over there," Tina pointed out.
"You're sure that's Kurt and Puck?" Mercedes asked only being able to make out two blurs that could be anybody.
"Improved eyesight remember?" Tina answered before catching a fly between her fingers and squishing it to death.
"Right, well, they're walking and talking together, that's a good sign," Mercedes said.
"We need to encourage them to spend as much time together as possible," Tina insisted. "Try and get them to sit together during Glee Club."
"They should sing a duet," Mercedes suggested. "The adrenaline of performing a song together should get them hot for each other."
"Hey, girls," Finn called out to them. "Emergency Glee Club meeting before school starts."
"We'll be right there," Mercedes answered. "Should we wait for Kurt and Puck and tell them?"
"You go on ahead," Tina told her. "I'll tell Kurt and Puck."
In the blink of an eye Tina was gone, moving so fast that nobody even saw her pass by. In a matter of seconds she was standing in front of Kurt and Puck.
"Tina," Kurt cried in shock while Puck was so startled he nearly fell over.
"Emergency Glee Club meeting," she informed them. "Let's go," she ordered. "Oh and Puck, maybe you should hold Kurt's hand, just so we know where he is in case he turns invisible again."
"Sure," Puck agreed trying to take Kurt's hand but the fashion-lover pulled away. "What?"
"If I stay visible people will see you holding my hand," Kurt pointed out.
"So?" Puck shrugged.
"So… people will see you holding hands with another boy," Kurt explained as though it were obvious. "Rumours will circulate that you're gay before you can even throw a dweeb in the dumpster."
"Hey, I'm not throwing dweebs in the dumpster anymore," Puck said defensively.
"I saw you throw Jacob Ben-Israel in the dumpster two days ago," Kurt retorted.
"I've changed a lot these past two days," Puck excused.
"Why can't I just hold Tina's hand?" Kurt asked looking to her.
"My nails are too sharp, I wouldn't want to hurt you," Tina replied.
"But…" Kurt tried to argue.
"Just hold my hand, you know you want to," Puck said successfully gripping the boy's hand in his own. Puck's fingers had barely closed around Kurt's when the countertenor turned invisible.
XXX
While waiting for Kurt, Puck and Tina to arrive, Rachel pried through Quinn's thoughts for the results of the pregnancy test but discovered the Head Cheerio hadn't taken it yet.
She then heard Tina thinking what a hot couple Kurt and Puck would make as she entered the room ahead of Puck and presumably an invisible Kurt. Tina's new improved hearing helped her to guess where Kurt was and she steered him towards the seats, making sure he and Puck sat next to one another.
"Ok, we're all here," Finn said looking about the Choir Room, clearly taking it upon himself to play the role of leader. "I'm just going to get straight to the point and tell you all that this is an intervention."
"Intervention for who?" Kurt asked just as he became visible again. "And please say it's for him," he jerked his thumb in Puck's direction.
"No," Finn replied clearly confused. "This is for… um…" he seemed to lose his nerve as Tina's eyes bored into his and Artie's fingers flexed, a small spark of blue briefly erupting from his fingertips.
"Sit down, Finnessa," Puck said. "Let the real bad boys take care of things," he swaggered up to the centre of the room and took a moment to lock eyes with Tina before doing the same with Artie. "This intervention is for Artie and Tina. We're worried about you guys and I think you know why. Am I wrong?"
"How badly do you want me to hurt you, Mike Chang?" Tina asked with a glare knowing that he must have told the others what he had witnessed the previous day.
"Mike's just trying to look out for you," Puck defended. "We all are," he added pointedly.
"I'm not," Santana chipped in. "I don't care what happens to any of you." Glee Club's the best part of my day. You guys are my family. I don't know what I'd do if anything bad happened to any of you… even Rachel.
"Liar, you care about us," Rachel stated knowingly.
"I so want to punch you," Santana told her. Really hard, in the face, repeatedly, the Latina's thoughts continued.
"Look, Mike and Finn filled everybody in on what happened with you guys," Puck explained as he looked between Tina and Artie, his hands resting on his hips in a very macho way. "This is some serious shit going on and it's dangerous. Tina, your new strength is crazy and I'm all for you defending yourself if you need to, but you shouldn't go looking for a fight."
"Why not?" Tina challenged. "I've been a victim all my life. Jocks and Cheerio's have bullied me for fun. But I'm the huntress now and it's my turn. From now on, they're my little play things." And I'm out for blood, she thought darkly and Rachel's eyes widened in alarm. I'm so thirsty. I could just bite Artie's neck.
Rachel fussed with the collar of Artie's shirt, pulling it up to cover his throat in the hopes that it would calm Tina's blood lust. The boy looked at her quizzically wondering 'what are you doing, girl?' but he made no effort to stop her or adjust his shirt back to its normal state.
"You can't just do that Tina," Mike told her. "Just because you're stronger now doesn't mean you should go around bullying other people."
"Really?" Tina asked with a laugh, her irises looking darker and her fangs definitely more pronounced. "I thought that was the way things worked at this school. All the big strong guys and the beautiful girls are automatically popular and at the top of the McKinley High chain while people like us," she gestured to herself, Artie, Mercedes, Rachel and Kurt, "are treated like weak insignificant animals. Puck and Finn are bigger and stronger than Kurt, so they threw him in the dumpster every day. Quinn, Santana and Brittany are more beautiful than me, Mercedes or Rachel so they threw drinks in our faces, tripped us up in the hallways, made scathing comments to tear down our self-esteem. But I'm stronger now," Tina pointed out. "I'm stronger than everybody in this room. Hell, I'm stronger than everybody in this school. So why shouldn't I be the meanest, nastiest bitch the school has ever known and have people fear me?"
"Because you're not like that," Kurt said. "You're quiet, shy and sweet and there's nothing wrong with that. And you're so much better than any Neanderthal who has ever bullied you. Don't stoop to their level and turn into the very thing you've spent years fearing and hating."
"Kurt's right," Mercedes agreed. "Don't let these powers and the bullies at this school turn you into something unrecognisable. The girl I became friends with would never go around breaking people's fingers for fun or some kind of twisted revenge."
"What you did was wrong, Tina," Rachel stated. "Deep down you know that."
"He deserved it," Tina insisted. "And if you're all here expecting me to apologise you can forget it because I'm not sorry. I'm glad I broke his fingers and I'm glad he's scared of me."
"Nobody here wants an apology," Puck told her. "And honestly, I get why you did it and why you enjoyed it. Seriously," he added when Tina tutted in disbelief. "I've been bullying dweebs since I was four years old. It feels good to have power over somebody and know they're afraid of you. But it doesn't last," he warned her. "At some point you have to face yourself and accept why you're really treating other people like they don't matter."
"Go on, enlighten me," Tina said in a bored tone.
Grabbing a chair, Puck placed it directly in front of Tina and sat backwards on it so they were eye to eye.
"Vulnerability, insecurity," Puck listed. "I think most bullies have bigger insecurities than their victims. I throw dweebs in the dumpster, call people names, beat people up," he admitted. "I attack them with whatever I think will hurt the most. Looks, weight, a stutter, a disability, sexuality, it doesn't matter. I find out someone has a weakness, I use it, and I use it to make them feel like shit. If I can beat someone down and make them look weak to make myself look strong, then that's what I do. I've done it more times than I can remember. And the reason I do that is because I'm a messed up fuck and I want people to feel worse than I do. I try and make people feel like they don't matter, because I feel like I don't matter. I don't matter to my deadbeat father who ran off when I was a kid. I don't matter to my mother who gets drunk and then throws things at me and tells me I'm the reason my old man left. I don't matter to the teachers who think I'm an idiot on a road to nowhere. I don't matter to any girl I've ever had in my bed."
You matter to me, Rachel heard Santana think but the girl didn't say it out loud.
"You matter to us, Noah," Rachel spoke up since Santana wasn't going to say it.
Puck didn't verbally respond to Rachel's comment, but the girl felt a special connection between them and a wave of affection being directed her way.
"My point is Vampire Babe," Puck continued speaking to Tina. "You can break as many guys' fingers as you like. But at some point your own insecurities are gonna catch up to you and it'll be so overwhelming that you won't be able to ignore it and take it out on other people anymore. And it will catch up to you," he promised her. "A lot faster than it would with your average bully because you have a conscience, you have a good heart, a good soul and you know what it's like to be on the other side."
"He's right, Tina," Artie said without looking at the girl and Rachel could tell from Tina's thoughts that Artie's opinion was the one that mattered most to her.
"We're good here," Rachel assured the others.
"Alright," Puck nodded. "Artie, you've gotta control your electric thing, man. I couldn't give a shit about that Bradford guy," he said. "But the whole thing was an accident right?"
"Right," Artie confirmed.
"Well, what if that accident had happened with somebody else?" Puck asked him. "What if what you did to Bradford had happened with one of the girls, or a kid or old lady in the street, a waitress at Breadsticks, your parents?"
"I know," Artie said quietly. It's all I could think about last night.
"You need to control it, dude," Puck reaffirmed and Artie nodded knowing the other boy was right. "Mercedes, you can help him get control right?"
Mercedes shared a look with Santana and in a matter of seconds Rachel became aware of the Rosie Boyd incident.
"I'm not as in control as I thought I was," Mercedes revealed.
"What do you mean?" Finn asked.
Mercedes looked to the ground and Rachel knew she was too ashamed and embarrassed to explain. Tentatively, Rachel told the others, skipping over the detail about Rosie shaming Mercedes for her weight.
"You burnt her skin?" Quinn asked sounding horrified.
"She didn't mean to," Santana defended. "And there isn't actually any proof that it was Mercedes," she pointed out. "It could have been a natural plumbing accident."
"I didn't know plumbs could burn people's skin," Brittany commented.
"You will find a way to control this," Rachel said supportively to Mercedes. "You too, Kurt," she added. "You're not alone. We'll help you," she rested her fingers on top of Artie's hand. She listened to his thoughts to see if the touch was unwanted. He didn't seem to have any protests so she bravely linked their fingers together.
"Is Rachel dating that new guy?" Brittany asked Santana in a loud whisper. "And where's the robot boy?"
Don't you dare laugh at her, Santana warned threateningly in her mind. She's so beautiful, she thought as she smiled warmly at Brittany and Rachel found herself very intrigued by how caring and protective Santana secretly was.
"We should all head to class," Mercedes spoke up just before the bell signalled.
"We should meet again later," Puck said.
"After proper Glee rehearsals, right?" Rachel asked. "We still have a competition I need to prepare for… I mean, that we need to prepare for," she corrected hurriedly.
Diva… drama queen… self-obsessed… selfish… steals all the solos… demands the spotlight… the thoughts were so jumbled that Rachel couldn't identify which thought belonged to which person. The only thought she could make perfect sense of was Artie's why is she still holding my hand? Feeling a little embarrassed, she let Artie's hand go and watched him walk away from her, missing the pout on Finn's face and his thoughts on her holding hands with Artie.
To Be Continued…
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