Always Shout Fire - A Glee Fanfic, Chapter 13/?

[ashtakra]

Title: Always Shout Fire
Chapter: 13/?

Author: AshtakRa

Fandom: Glee

Pairing: Kurt/Puck

Warnings: Adult themes, language and set in season 2

Spoilers: Spoilers for up to Duets

Summary: Kurt decides further investigation is needed regarding the Puckerman situation.  He is both surprised and shocked to find his former nemesis brought low and how it changes them from team mates, to friends and perhaps...

Previous Chapters:

aaaand with this chapter 'Always Shout Fire' becomes the longest story (excepting series) that I have written since 'All That is Old', my very first fanfic back in 2006.  I also think there is much more to tell in this story, maybe twenty chapters?  We will see.


Chapter 13

From his bed Puck watched Kurt potter seemingly aimlessly around his room.  Picking up objects, a guitar pick or some trophy from the fourth grade (runner-up to Finn of course) and glancing nervously at the array of photographs spread around the edges of Puck’s full length mirror.  The fact that Kurt had not commented, even to himself, on Puck having a mirror that size spoke volumes.

“Found what you’re looking for yet Hummel?” he said softly.  Kurt only jumped slightly, must have thought Puck was still snoozing on the sleeping pills.  They had at last let him have them once the worst of the post-surgical drugs had left his system.

The guy was dressed a little differently and Puck could not work out why.  Grey slacks, white shirt and a tie he could not quite make out from this angle.  Was Kurt going to some interview?

“Puckerman,” answered Kurt his most prim of voices, ouch! thought Puck, that’ll teach him to use the surname.  “I’m not sure I see you in this room.”

“Right here princess.”  He might learn not to call him Hummel but be damned if he couldn’t get some other good ones in there.

Kurt wriggled his nose as if there was a foul stench, which made Puck try to remember when he had last showered.

“Yes, I can… see that.  What I mean is that the Puck I know, that bad ass from school - where is he in this room?”

Puck considered what he may mean exactly.  He knew what Kurt was getting at but what precisely was it?  Sure, he kept a tidy room, ordered his Ma would say.  There were no posters on his wall, except the one of an astronaut on the moon.  A dude could have aspirations couldn’t he?  His bed was a queen, with cedar headboard and intricate carvings, they were Celtic but Puck would not easily admit he knew that.  His guitar sat in its stand neatly in the corner, by a small stereo and CD collection.  His desk sat in the other corner, as tidy as his room.  Laptop (brand new thanks to his grandparents) was closed next to his course books and three novels he was in the middle of: two fiction and a non-fiction.  He really hoped Kurt stayed away from them.

“Ah!” said Kurt with success as he opened the wardrobe.  “Here he is.”  Shuffling through shirt after shirt and huffing in disgust Kurt went on to ignore Puck completely.

Which was just a little disconcerting.  This was his house, his room - who the hell was Kurt to just come in and start rummaging through his stuff?  Why, thought Puck, I should go over and…  His thought process was lost as he gazed at Kurt’s backside in those slacks.  Had he been working out because that was quite toned and as the shirt stretched across his back Puck could see that was muscled too, dancer muscles.

He looked down at his own lap as something stirred and Puck had to resist shouting with joy.

That had not happened in ages and he was worried it was broke.

“Well its hardly a compliment saying these are the best of a bad bunch but they will have to-.”  Kurt turned and froze as he first saw Puck with a huge grin and the beginnings of an erection beneath the sheets.

“What?” said Puck, his grin turning to leer and refusing to cover himself up.  “Like what you see princess?”

“I, that is, um.”  Kurt was unable to reply and Puck sniggered as he noticed the guy trying to look away but unable to truly do so.

Crossing his arms behind his head, knowing this was usually sure to show off his body thin as it was, Puck kept acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary.  “You were talking about clothes?”

“Yes,” Kurt cleared his throat and managed to finally look away.  “I’m getting you out of here today, Mrs P’s orders… so put these on,” he threw the clothes on the bed and made a beeline for the door.  “I’ll be in the living room, you have ten minutes.”

Puck gave his lap another look and laughed.  “Better make it fifteen!” he yelled at the retreating figure.

Yep, he smiled heading to the shower, he heard me.

KPKPKPKPKP

“It’s a little late for school isn’t it?” he asked as they entered the carpark.

“But not for Glee club,” answered Kurt.  “Rachel insisted and she has been nice to me lately and I kind of owe them.”

“Them?  What did you do, turn the rest of the guys gay?”

Kurt parked the car very suddenly and Puck was glad he had a seatbelt on.  Watching Kurt exit the vehicle without a word and stalking off Puck rolled his eyes.

“Kurt!”  He got out and followed, trotting to catch up and realising even that made him lose his breath.  “Wait, please, I can’t-.”  He looked imploringly at Kurt as he turned around and Puck gave him his best kicked dog look, he’d learned it from Finn.

Walking back and sticking a finger in his face Kurt went into full diva mode.  “You’d better not be faking it Noah, and for the record you-kissed-me!”  He didn’t wait for a reply from Puck and grabbed his arm, more gently than his tone implied and helped him to the entry.  Puck hid a grin as he leaned into Kurt and snaked an arm around his waist.

“You’re really hot when angry,” he whispered into Kurt’s ear as they walked the hall, once he had his breath back.

Kurt absently flipped his tie and looked a little guilty.  “Well just remember that, there’s kind of something I have to tell you before we go in-.”

“Puck!” screamed Tina, detaching herself from Mike and running up to hug him.  She kissed him on both cheeks and giggled.  “Never thought I’d do that without wanting to disinfect.”

Instead of being insulted Puck leered and looked at Kurt as he spoke.  “That now makes all the girls and half the guys - I am so awesome.”

“You’re disgusting,” but Kurt said it with a smile.  Then his face screwed up in confusion.  “Wait, half?”

Puck shrugged.  “Just kissing, no biggie.”

“What Finn?”

“No, ew!  He’s like my brother.”

“Sam?  He’s barely been around, how fast do you-.”

“Him singing his audition with that huge mouth, how could I resist, but the guy wasn’t into it - like some others,” grinned Puck and flashed a glance at Mike, wriggling his eyebrows.

Mike just rolled his eyes.  “Half a carton of beer and vodka shots - I could have kissed Sue Silvester and not cared.”

Tina was giving them both appraising looks, and it was not disgust.

Huh, thought Puck, the chick really does have a dark side.  Mike must have guessed too and grabbed her hand.  “No!  We’re not discussing that again.”

“Oh honey,” she whined.  “If you at least think about it I’ll think about talking to Santana, you get your ideal threesome and I get,” she somehow managed to pull off an innocent expression while smiling at him and Puck.  “An abtastic ménage a trois.”

Puck wasn’t sure whether to smile back, she was joking right?”

“Veto,” stated Kurt, glaring at Puck.

“Um, yeah,” he muttered.  He had not had a good chance to talk with Kurt about what being boyfriends meant but sleeping with two other people may not be the best start.

“Wow,” said Mike and held out his arm to fist-bump Puck.  “So its official, congratulations man - hope you can pull it off with the whole separate school thing.”

“Separate school?”  Puck raised an eyebrow at Kurt and gave his clothes another inspection.  Things fell into place.  “I see.”

He shrugged off Kurt, who was desperately saying he could explain but Puck stalked away.

Why was he the last to know?

KPKPKPKPKP

“Hey Puck,” Mr Shue sat down and Puck forced out a smile, no need to take his mood out on Shue.  “I guess you heard about Kurt’s transfer.”

He grunted an answer.  Finn had found him and explained it, in true Finn fashion which took twice as long as I should have.

“You know, you shouldn’t blame Kurt - it wasn’t his fault.”

Puck almost swore but remembered this was his teacher, the only one he respected at that.  “Of course I don’t blame him, just could’ve told me earlier you know, before he decided to leave.”

“Right,” said Mr Shue.  “And there’s no way you would have tried to rush back to school to protect him?”

“I-.”  That’s exactly what he would have done.

“Before you were ready, before you were well enough,” continued Mr Shue.  “And even if you were okay do you think you could have protected him all the time and from every threat?”

The anger welled within Puck and he glared at his teacher.

“I shouldn’t have to - that’s your job, the other teachers… the principle, parents, the god damned… lunch ladies,” it didn’t make sense but Puck continued.  “You all just let this happen and shrug, say there’s nothing you can do.  Truth is there’s so much you could do, instead you all take the easy route and ignore it, avoid it until its so bad the most awesome person to ever walk these halls has to leave ‘cause he’s scared for his life.”

“Puck,” Mr Shue tried to explain.  “I don’t think you-.”

“I know exactly what I’m talking about,” hissed out Puck.  “I played you guys, knew how far I could push things - knew how to make it like nothing bad was going down.  I was the biggest bully here but I never pushed it to what Karofsky was doing - but I helped open the door, made it so people like him believed they could get away with anything.  I mean did you walk past us every morning and think we were hanging around with all the nerds at the dumpster discussing world politics?”

Mr Shue hung his head, his silence telling Puck he had known what they doing, known all along and did nothing.

Sighing heavily Puck rested his own head on his knees.  The steps were real hard to sit on, probably due to his rear end being so bony at the moment.  It had been over a week since the end of his hospital stay, his appetite had started to return but it would take time to put weight back on.  There had been no more hallucinations which buoyed his spirits and he had a scan booked for later in the week.  Puck was trying to keep it real, knowing that being cured of this was unlikely but the docs said because they removed the primary tumour the secondary one could probably be forced into remission.

A lot of ifs and maybes but Puck was really getting into the whole look on the bright side of things.

Mostly thanks to Kurt, and he counted as one of those good things to come out of being sick.  Now Kurt was going to another school, which meant he’d meet heaps of other guys.

Guys that had never bullied him.

“We’re all to blame,” Puck muttered and Shue remained silent.  “And I can’t change what happened but Kurt taught me that sometimes you have let the past go to believe you have a future.”

“Yeah,” said Mr Shue, giving Puck a sardonic grin.  “So you can learn?”

Déjà-vu

Puck hesitated, a slight chill going up his spine before he smiled back, letting the man know they were okay.  “Only when sex is on the table,” he laughed when Mr Shue shook his head in mock dismay.

“But seriously, what can we do Puck.  Kurt’s gone and he’s not coming back?”

Puck gave it some thought, the half-remembered vision from his surgery floating through his mind.

“We change the future.”

KPKPKPKPKP

“That is just so wrong in so many ways, I won’t miss her fashion, truly I won’t… its abhorrent, a disaster of epic proportions-.”

“Cut it out,” muttered Puck, elbowing Kurt lightly.  “She’s singing me a welcome back ballad, its…” he winced at is own words.  “Sweet.”

Kurt made a puking sound but retained a self-satisfied smile, probably because Puck was talking to him again.

Rachel finished to polite applause, mostly from Puck and Finn.

“So,” said Kurt, turning to give Puck his full attention.  “About the other school thing, I know you’re upset and I have some explaining to do.”

Puck shrugged.  “I was upset, but not anymore, not with you anyway - and no explanation necessary, we’re cool.”

Kurt looked a little shocked then brightened.  “I can see being… with you will not carry a huge amount of angst.”

“I’m a bad ass, no time for angst,” explained Puck, giving a half-leer for good measure.

He may have traced a hand up the back of Kurt’s shirt where no one could see but anyone looking would only have seen him and Kurt sitting innocently side-by-side.  Sure he had come out about himself and Kurt to their families and to most of the Glee clubbers but this was school and he was not yet at that point.

Which gave Puck another idea for something else but he remained silent.  Too many ideas running around his head was making him woozy.

KPKPKPKPKPKPKP

Finn kept as quiet as possible but had to whisper at Puck when they’d been hiding for over twenty minutes.

“Dude, what exactly are we doing?”

“Stake-out,” Puck whispered back.

They were behind the bushes at the corner of C block, with a good view of the carpark and utilities shed.  If anyone walked past they looked like they were just sitting in the shade, although given the time of year that didn’t make any sense.  A few students had given them quizzical looks, then when those students realised it was Puck they moved even quicker in the opposite direction.

Smirking to himself Finn thought once again how Puck did it.  He was still quite thin, his head had a bandage sitting under the beanie he wore and he could not run ten paces without getting out of breath.  All that and students still feared him, and he had not bullied, slushied or dumpstered anyone in a very long time, even way before his illness.

“This is it,” whispered Puck, and raised the camera.

Leaning over his shoulder Finn saw half-a-dozen of the jocks block the path of two other students, forcing them closer to the dumpster. The poor students were jostled, elbowed and one was even slapped across the head.  Finally they were thrown into the dumpster, only then did Puck lower the camera, sitting still and facing away from Finn.  He could feel the emotions flowing off Puck and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You alright man?”  He no longer had to ask what their mission was, it was becoming pretty clear.

“No,” croaked Puck, his face still turned away.  “Why did we ever think that was okay?”

Finn had no answer for him.  While he knew he had never actually thrown anyone in there himself he had helped others do it, standing by and virtually giving permission, scratch that - he had literally given permission.

“Its High School,” he ventured.  “The natural order of things you always said.”

Puck faced him now and his expression was not sad, or angry, or upset - just frustrated.  “Since when did you ever listen to what I said.”

It was not really a question so Finn didn’t answer.

Instead he nodded at the camera.  “What now, turn the evidence into Figgins?”

“So he can ignore it, claim you can’t see the faces or prove its in our school... no, this thing is going viral.”

Finn gave it some thought.  Putting it on the internet would get some exposure but more likely it would just have people laughing and probably encourage the bullying, he said as much to Puck.

“You don’t get it Finn,” Puck explained, bringing up the footage and zooming in.  “This ain’t about outing the jocks, its about embarrassing the establishment.”

“What do you-.”  Finn stopped talking as he saw in the footage a figure walk right past the dumpster diving.  “That was the deputy principle.”

“Yep.”

Silence ensued as Finn considered the fall out.  Would she lose her job, would the school do anything - they would just claim it was one incident and one teacher’s inability to act.  Then he saw the grim set to Puck’s mouth.  His friend was bravado ninety-nine percent of the time, and could fake stupid real well but if him being around Kurt had shown Finn anything it was Puck had the ability to plan things out.

“You’ve got other evidence haven’t you?”

Puck grinned and stood up, offering a hand to Finn, which was kind of funny since Finn now out-weighed him by a good thirty pounds.  He took it anyway, Puck would be insulted otherwise.

“A dozen other teachers,” said Puck.  “And over half the jocks in this school - not just me either, Artie got the AV crew into it.  Now we have film, sound and even a damn montage.  I know all the places where bullying happens, every time some kid gets roughed up, or even slushied - we’ll have pictures.  When we have enough it will be uploaded, with the ability to name and shame, the site is being constructed as we speak, using outside servers so the school can’t crash us.”

“Woah,” muttered Finn.  “That’s like... I just thought you’d put a few clips on youtube.”  He scratched his chin.  “What you’re suggesting could get us in trouble, I mean if they know who did it.”

“What are they gonna do?” Puck spread his hands.  “Give us detention, for what?  Telling the truth?”

“I don’t know,” Finn frowned.  “I’ll have to think about it, maybe there’s another way that won’t cause so much trouble.”

“Yeah,” Puck seemingly agreed, then nudged his shoulder.  “Maybe we could ask the guys real nicely to stop it - worked on us didn’t it?”

“I think... you’re mocking me.”

Watching Puck walk away Finn could see his shoulders shaking in laughter.

This all new Puck was going to take some getting used to.

Tbc...

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