Disclaimer – I do not own Glee
Hello dear readers, welcome to chapter 28, still have no idea how many chapters this story will be (it was supposed to be 15 but we're well past that now) I'll take a random guess just for fun and say 36
As always thanks for reading/reviewing
Chapter 28 – Row, Row, Row Your Boat
On Monday afternoon, Rachel rallied the Glee Club together in the Choir Room.
"Fellow Glee Clubbers," Rachel announced happily as she stood before them all. "Before Mr. Schuester gets here I would like to once again congratulate you all on our winning performance at Sectionals over the weekend." She led her teammates in the applause. "Also, after certain events of this weekend, I believe I finally understand why Artie, Mercedes, Tina, Kurt and I have gained these incredible powers. We really are Choir Room Heroes," she declared.
"Hold up, did I miss something?" Santana asked.
"Did you guys hear about the fire in that apartment building a couple of blocks away from the school?" Quinn asked them all and there were a few nods and shrugs.
"It was on the local news," Mike said. "But it was just a fire. I mean, everybody got out."
"Yes, they did," Rachel nodded. "We saved them."
"Rachel had a vision," Quinn explained. "Then she called the others and we met up there. The building caught fire and they all worked together to get people out. Mercedes made it rain to try and help put the fire out and she froze some of the flames."
"Why didn't she freeze all the flames?" Brittany asked.
"I'd have done it if I could," Mercedes answered. "But I could only freeze the flames if I could see them. So I could only really help with the fire outside of the building, I couldn't do anything about the fire on the inside."
"Hey, your frosty-rain tricks stopped that fire spreading to any of the other buildings," Puck pointed out to her. "You did a great job."
"And Tina saved a mother and her children," Artie informed them all.
"Artie rescued the old man in the wheelchair," Tina stated.
"Kurt saved two people and then went back in to save Tina and Artie," Rachel said.
"Yes, Artie and I went in to save Kurt and somehow Kurt ended up saving us instead," Tina remarked. "How the hell did you get out?" she asked him. "I thought for sure you were gonna die when you were walking towards those flames."
"Walking through walls turns out to be extremely useful in a burning building," Kurt informed her.
"Who did you save anyway?" Tina asked.
"It was a baby," Quinn answered, her hands on her stomach.
"You see?" Rachel asked them all. "We're heroes. These powers have a purpose. Tina was right all along. We should be out there helping people."
"I'm down for that," Tina claimed. "You all should come for midnight walks with me and beat the crap out of people. It's a lot of fun."
"Girl, I still think there's a difference between helping people and looking for trouble," Artie said.
"I help people by finding the trouble," Tina retorted. "It's the same thing."
"I know you just want to help people, Rachel," Matt spoke up. "But what you're talking about is dangerous."
"He's right," Finn supported. "You could get hurt. So could Kurt and Mercedes. And Tina and Artie could do some serious damage to other people who might not deserve it."
"I'd love to do some serious damage to you," Tina muttered under her breath and Artie frowned at her shaking his head.
"Helping people is good," Brittany said. "But we should talk about this properly. You did a wonderful thing helping those people when the building caught fire but something terrible could have happened to either one of you."
"Are you saying if I get a vision of people in danger I should just ignore it?" Rachel asked.
"Nobody's saying that," Santana answered on Brittany's behalf. "If you get a vision and there's time to act then I guess you guys should do something about it if you can. But you shouldn't put yourself in unnecessary danger."
"If we hadn't put ourselves in danger those people would have died," Kurt said. "Including children."
"Maybe they were supposed to die," Matt suggested uneasily.
"No," Rachel shook her head. "I don't believe that. I got that vision because I was supposed to do something about it. I was supposed to make sure those people were saved."
"You know what, this is too much," Santana claimed. "It's too intense. I don't wanna talk about this anymore."
"But…" Rachel made to argue but Mr. Schue chose that moment to arrive.
"Take a seat, Rachel," Mr. Schue instructed and Rachel moved to sit beside Artie. "Ok, guys, we've won our first trophy… luckily. Now, it's nobody's fault that Sue leaked our set-list to the other teams. I'm really proud that you guys took the initiative to work out a new set-list by yourselves but the choices you made were incredibly risky. We're lucky they paid of."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Puck asked. "Queen T killed it taking lead on 'True Colours', Santana and Mercedes smashed their duet and my boy Kurt totally stole the show with his solo."
"The audience adored Kurt's performance, Mr. Schuester," Rachel affirmed. "So did the judges."
"Kurt was great," Mr. Schue agreed. "You were all great. But Show Choir is about formality and tradition. Now, we've got a lot of work to do before Regionals and I can promise you this time that Sue will not be leaking our set-list. We're not going to take risks this time. We're going to play it safe and play to our strengths. Rachel, you'll have the solo, then you and Finn will take the duet and we're doing disco for the group number."
"Disco sucks," Puck complained.
"We'll be booed off stage," Santana scoffed.
"Mr. Schue, you're grossing out my baby," Quinn claimed.
"Enough!" Mr. Schue called out above them all. "We are doing disco and that is final. The judges love disco. This week's assignment," he moved towards the white board with a pen and scribbled the word 'disco' on it causing the group to groan. "Disco. You can perform in groups, you can do duets or you can do solo's, whatever you want. But it must be a disco number. Have fun with it, go crazy. Use bright colours and lots of sequins and sparkles. It'll be fun and I promise you guys that after this week you're all going to love disco."
XXX
After Glee Club, Puck draped his arm around Kurt's shoulders and carried the boy's books for him as he walked him towards the parking lot.
"So, do you want to sing a disco number with me for Glee?" Kurt asked.
"Not really," Puck answered with a groan. "Disco is so lame. I may be a total badass but even I can't pull disco off. Can't we just perform something else instead? We could duet on 'A Whole New World' from Aladdin," he suggested with a grin. "I'll let you be Princess Jasmine."
"I guess we could work on that and perform it together after this awful disco week is done," Kurt replied. "But the assignment for the week is disco. We should at least try something."
"Sorry babe, but I'm sitting this disco shit out," Puck insisted. "But you could sing 'Hot Stuff' to me. That's a disco tune, right?"
"Hey Homo's, you're in my way," Karofsky's voice interjected as he roughly barged between the middle of them, separating the boyfriend's from one another and causing Puck to drop Kurt's books.
"Hey, you'd better watch where you're going," Puck snapped shooting Karofsky his most dangerous glare.
"Oh yeah?" Karofsky challenged staring him down as he stood an inch or two higher than Puck and considerably taller than Kurt. "And what are you gonna do about it you Glee-singing fag?"
"How about I give you the beating you deserve?" Puck snarled at him.
"Noah, let it go," Kurt said gathering his books up off the ground. "He isn't worth it."
Kurt didn't notice the flash of pain in Karofsky's eyes but Puck did.
"You're right," Puck agreed looking Karofsky over with a sneer. "He's not. Come on, baby," he placed his arm back around Kurt to lead him away.
"You're not man enough to take me in a fight anyway," Karofsky called out to Puck. "You're probably not even man enough to fuck Lady Hummel properly."
"Just ignore him," Kurt told Puck feeling the tension in his boyfriend's body.
"He's walking a fine line," Puck said. "If he doesn't change his act soon I'm gonna kick his ass… unless Queen T gets there first."
"He's just an ignorant dumb jock," Kurt sighed. "He really isn't worth fighting with. The best thing to do is just ignore him."
"He's not just a dumb jock," Puck replied as they slid into Kurt's car. "There's more to it than that."
"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked in confusion as he started up the car and drove them out of McKinley.
"I think the guy's secretly in love with you or something," Puck claimed. "It's fucked up and everything but it kinda makes sense, huh?"
"No," Kurt shook his head finding Puck's theory to be ludicrous. "In fact, it makes no sense whatsoever. If you're secretly in love with someone you don't shove them in the hallways and call them derogatory names. He's just a Neanderthal who is too narrow-minded to accept people for being different."
"I don't think so," Puck disagreed. "I think he's a massive closet-case who desperately wants to tap your ass but is way too scared to admit it. So he bullies you instead and I swear if that punk lays so much as a finger on you I'm gonna lock him in a room with Tina and just let Vampire Babe have her fun."
"You're crazy," Kurt decided and Puck frowned at him. "Oh, don't pout," Kurt said. "You're still my Sweet Kitten," he smiled and Puck was unable to keep a straight face.
"I really wanna make-out," Puck said.
"Well we can't, I'm driving," Kurt told him. "But I'm sure I can sneak you in for a make-out session before dinner."
XXX
Finn was the first of the New Directions to perform a Disco number. His dance moves left a lot to be desired and it was clear from the expression on his face that he wasn't overly enthusiastic about the number. Nevertheless, Mr. Schue beamed at him as he led the applause and even Finn knew the teacher was over-praising his performance.
"That's a great start to our Disco week," Mr. Schue grinned as he bounced on the balls of his feet energetically. "Does anybody else have something to perform today? Ah, Rachel," he looked to her as the little brunette girl raised her hand in the air. "Time for another stunning Rachel Berry solo is it?" he asked.
"Actually Mr. Schuester I've been working on a duet with Quinn," Rachel answered him.
"Great, take it away ladies," Mr. Schue encouraged them and the pair got up to perform their Disco Diva Duet. "Amazing work girls," Mr. Schue applauded as they finished their song. "What do you guys think? See, Disco is fun."
"That performance wasn't entirely awful," Santana acknowledged.
"Your voices sounded pretty good together," Mercedes told them.
"I'm loving the sparkles in your outfits," Kurt complimented.
"Smart choreography," Mike approved.
"I wanted to hear the baby sing," Brittany whispered loudly.
XXX
By the end of the week, Puck was the only member of the New Directions not to have sung or danced to a Disco number. On Friday he even insisted on wearing a t-shirt sporting the words 'Disco Sucks'. Mr. Schuester was not impressed with the shirt and made his opinion known so Puck stripped it off and tossed the clothing item to Kurt to catch. He then refused to put his t-shirt back on and threatened to remove his trousers if Mr. Schue or anyone pestered him further.
"So Noah, are you looking forward to this weekend?" Tina asked with an amused smirk as she coiled her long nails around Puck's bicep and walked along with him while Kurt and Mercedes walked slightly ahead linking arms with one another.
"It's just a fishing-trip, Tina," Kurt called back to them. "It'll be fine. There really is no need to make a fuss."
"Oh, there so is," Mercedes insisted. "This is Puck's opportunity to really impress and bond with your dad. If this goes wrong then your dad might never fully approve of you two being together. Make sure you make a good impression and get this thing right, Puckerman."
"It's cool, I'm a badass," Puck shrugged. "I can totally handle this. Right Vampire Babe?" he asked looking to Tina for her opinion.
"Perhaps," Tina responded. "You'd better be on your best behaviour. I have superhero strength but even I wouldn't dare to cross Burt Hummel. You're a badass," she acknowledged. "I'm a badass chick," she boasted. "But Mr. Hummel is the ultimate badass, do not fuck with him."
"Praise," Mercedes said. "What are you going to do if things do go badly?" she asked Kurt.
"Everything will be fine, 'Cedes," Kurt replied. "Noah just needs to be himself and my dad will approve. I'm sure they can bond over some kind of sport and a shared love of greasy food."
"Should I wear a flannel shirt and a baseball cap?" Puck asked.
"Absolutely not," Kurt answered.
XXX
The following day, Puck showed up at the Hummel house in a pair of old jeans and a hoodie and trying not to let his nerves show as Burt answered the door to him.
"Morning, Mr. H," Puck nodded to the man.
"Puckerman," Burt replied.
"It's Noah," the teenager answered.
"Alright, Noah," Burt agreed. "Kurt isn't ready just yet but you can help me load the car."
It seemed to be an order rather than a suggestion so Puck simply nodded and followed Burt inside the house and grabbed the items Burt instructed him to and took them out to the car. They had just placed everything they needed for their fishing trip into the vehicle when Kurt emerged in a pair of tight-fitted army pants with a plain black long-sleeved t-shirt with a plunging v-neck.
"Ok, I'm ready," Kurt announced carrying a bag of magazines, a sketchpad and a few pieces of stationery.
The drive to the lake was fairly uneventful. Burt had the music on and was humming under his breath. Kurt had his window partially open and kept his eyes closed so he could feel the breeze on his face and Puck was just hoping that he'd be able to catch at least one fish so as not to make a fool of himself.
XXX
They arrived at the lake and Kurt perched on the bonnet of the car filing his nails as his dad and boyfriend set things up.
"You ever been fishing before, kid?" Burt asked as he sat down on one of the fold-up chairs and indicated for Puck to take the one beside him as Kurt moved to join them with a magazine in hand.
"Finn's mum took us to the seaside once and we used an inflatable rubber ring and a bunch of seaweed to try and catch a shark," Puck said and Burt and Kurt both quirked their eyebrows at him. "It, er, didn't work out."
"Right, well, here's what you do," Burt began instructing Puck through the process while Kurt flipped through the pages of his magazine.
XXX
Over an hour had gone by and Puck had yet to catch anything. Thankfully, Burt hadn't caught anything either but Puck was still desperate to catch something so he could prove himself. As for Kurt, he had his sketchpad open and was creating some new fashion designs.
"You know, we're not having much luck in this part of the water," Burt commented. "What do you say to taking a boat out?"
"Um, I guess," Puck shrugged. There were a few little wooden boats out on the lake already, all hired from a cabin a little further on down the lake.
"What about you Kurt?" Burt asked.
"No chance in the name of all fashion am I getting in one of those boats," Kurt responded firmly. "I will simply remain here and work on my drawings."
"Suit yourself, buddy," Burt replied. "Come on, Noah."
Puck cast Kurt a pleading look for help but it went unanswered and he had no choice but to follow after Burt to rent a boat from the cabin.
Before Puck knew it, he was sat awkwardly in the little wooden boat and Burt was rowing them out to the middle of the lake. The man started to hum a tune and Puck looked out longingly at Kurt sitting by the lake edge with his sketchpad. As they drifted further across the lake Burt started to sing.
"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Throw your son's boyfriend overboard and listen to him scream."
"What?" Puck spluttered but the man just smiled as he began humming again.
"Alright, that's far enough," Burt decided. "Let's see if we can catch some fish from here."
XXX
Over three hours later, the little boat had been returned and Burt, Puck and Kurt were back in the car driving away from the lake. Burt had caught three impressively sized fish. Puck had caught a single fish that was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. It wasn't much to boast about but Puck had still caught it all on his own.
"I really did try to catch you a big one," Puck said, his hands in his pockets as they made their goodbyes, both fully aware of Burt watching their every move. "I guess I just kinda suck at fishing."
"It was your first time," Kurt pointed out kindly. "And catching one fish is better than no fish at all. And personally I thought the fish you caught was really cute."
"Don't say cute," Puck complained.
"Sorry," Kurt laughed. "And seriously, don't worry about it. I don't need you to catch me a big fish. Your fishing abilities really aren't a top priority for me."
"Right, good," Puck nodded. "Who cares if I suck at fishing anyway? I already caught something way better than any fish. I caught myself a Kurt Hummel."
Burt turned away to grant the boys privacy as they shared a goodbye kiss.
"Well?" Kurt asked his dad nervously joining him in the living-room after Puck had left.
"I guess he's alright your Noah," Burt answered.
To Be Continued…
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