Fic: Those Old Streetscapes 19/24 (Glee, Puck/Kurt, PG)
Title: Those Old Streetscapes 19/24
Fandom: Glee/So You Think You Can Dance
Pairing: Puck/Kurt
Rating: PG
Word count: 5100
Warnings: Cheesiness. Lack of dance knowledge. Random Cat Deeley fangirling.
Summary: AU. Kurt's a classically trained dancer who has trouble connecting to his audience. Puck's a novice b-boy with loads of charisma and not a whole lot else. When they meet at the New York auditions for So You Think You Can Dance, both their lives change in more ways than they anticipated.
A/N: The whole thing, as always, is available on AO3.
Week Eleven: Top Six Perform
“Well?”
“Disco,” Puck answered, slumping against the wall next to Kurt and holding up his card. “I can’t believe I made it all the way to the top six and I’m going out on disco.”
He was going out either way, he was pretty sure, but he would have rather gone out on something like contemporary or even ballroom. Disco was…kind of embarrassing, and he knew he was going to hear about it from all his friends as soon as he got home.
“You don’t know that you’re going home.”
Puck rolled his eyes as the door opened and a producer called Kurt’s name. A second later he was gone, and Puck leaned back and waited for Kurt to reappear. When he did he looked a little nervous, and Puck figured maybe he’d gotten stuck with hip hop again.
“So?”
“Contemporary. With Robert,” Kurt answered, his eyes kind of wide as he looked up at Puck.
“Yeah, I’m definitely going out on disco.”
Kurt frowned and opened his mouth to answer, but before he could get the words out Cat was calling them all over. She smiled at all of them, eyes sparkling, and they’d been around her long enough to know by now that meant something was up.
“This week you will not be performing solos in addition to the routines you dance with the All-Stars.” She paused to drag out the drama or whatever, and Rachel kind of shoved him out of the way to get a better look at Cat.
“Is the show going down to a one-hour format this week? Please don’t tell me we’re being preempted by basketball.”
“It’s baseball season,” Puck said, but Rachel was too busy staring at Cat to hear him.
“No, my darlings, this week you’ll also be partnering with each other,” Cat said, then she smiled at them the way Puck had seen Kurt’s stepmom grinning at Kurt and Finn when they hugged goodbye.
Cat pulled out a card and announced that Mike and Rachel would be dancing together, and Puck didn’t look over to see Mike’s reaction, because if he did he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face. Then Cat pulled out a second card, grinning down at it for a second before she fixed them with that look like she knew something they didn’t.
“Oh, this routine I am looking forward to. Kurt and…” She paused, smiling at Kurt as though she’d personally given birth to him or something, and Kurt’s grip on Puck’s hand tightened so hard he felt his bones creak. “…Puck. You two will be dancing a Broadway routine choreographed by Will Schuester.”
When Puck looked over at Kurt he was still staring at Cat, like maybe he was waiting for her to tell him she was joking. And she did look like she thought the whole thing was pretty funny, but she was already waving her last card around, and Puck could see that it had Brittany and Tina’s names printed on it.
“What, you don’t want to dance with me?” Puck asked, leaning close to whisper the question in Kurt’s ear. And it was a joke, but it kind of…wasn’t. Because Kurt hadn’t even looked at him yet, and maybe he had a thing about keeping his personal life separate from work or whatever.
“Of course I do,” Kurt said, then he did turn to look at Puck, all the color drained from his face. “It’s just…they gave me Robert and you. That’s two all-male routines. That’s never happened on this show before.”
Puck wanted to pull him close and kiss the doubt off his face, but they were surrounded by Cat and the rest of the dancers, and he didn’t really want to start something he couldn’t finish right before they got split up for rehearsals. Instead he shrugged and squeezed Kurt’s hand a little harder, then he tugged until Kurt was close enough to let Puck whisper in his ear again.
“So maybe Nigel’s finally giving up and embracing the gay. It’s about time they figured out the audience doesn’t care anyway.”
Kurt nodded, but he didn’t look all that convinced. Puck wasn’t sure he believed it either, but if it meant he got to dance with Kurt, he didn’t really care what the reason was.
“Maybe they’re just taking pity on us and giving us a little more time together before they send one of us home.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Puck answered. He slid an arm around Kurt’s shoulders and leaned in, foreheads pressed together for a second before he pulled back again. “But once this is all over we’ll have all the time in the world.”
Kurt didn’t answer - not with words, anyway - but he leaned in and kissed Puck, right in front of Cat and the rest of them, and granted, nobody was paying attention to them, but still. “You realize I’m holding you to that.”
“Not a problem, babe.”
~
Their first rehearsal with Will was...strange. As soon as they walked into the studio Will was hugging them both, arms wrapped around their necks as though they were old friends, and for a second Kurt had some trouble breathing.
Once he let them go Will gripped Kurt’s shoulders, beaming at him in a way that made Kurt feel like he was missing something. “So Finn tells me you’re planning to move to New York.”
Kurt’s gaze slid toward Puck, but he just shrugged and edged a little further away from Will. Coward, Kurt thought, but he couldn’t exactly blame Puck, considering Kurt was already considering the best way to put some distance between himself and Will without being obvious.
“When exactly did you speak to Finn?”
As soon as he said it Will’s smile faded a little, and he let go of Kurt’s shoulders and took a step backwards. “Oh, not long ago. He was kind enough to remember the opening of my latest show and wanted to wish me well.”
“How uncharacteristically thoughtful of him,” Kurt said, and when Puck snorted a laugh Will’s cheeks flushed. For a second Kurt felt almost bad for him, but then Will clapped his hands together and smiled at them both again.
“So let’s get started. I’m really excited to be working with you both this week; I think you’re the perfect pair to pull off this routine.”
Twenty minutes later Will and his assistant had taken them through it step by step, explaining the story along the way, and once Will started the music Kurt had to agree that it really was tailor-made for them. That wasn’t a surprise, considering Will choreographed the number with them in mind, but when he heard the opening strains of “New York City” start to play, Kurt couldn’t help glancing at Puck and flashing a shy smile.
According to Will, Kurt was portraying a wide-eyed young man coming to New York for the first time. Puck was the local who took Kurt under his wing and showed him everything the city had to offer, and in return Kurt’s character helped him to see the city again through fresh eyes. Will claimed the song was a love song to New York, but Kurt was fairly sure it was just a love song.
The routine ended with them hand in hand, backs to the audience and staring in front of them at what was supposed to be the New York skyline. So maybe it was about the city, but in a way it was about their future, too, and if this was their last week on the show together, Kurt couldn’t think of a more fitting way to close things out.
He didn’t ask how many times Will had spoken to Finn, or just what Finn had told him about Kurt and Puck. He didn’t ask where Finn had gotten the impression that Kurt was planning to move to New York, either, because Kurt hadn’t said anything to his family yet, but it wasn’t as though Finn was wrong.
“At least somebody’s embracing the gay,” Puck said during their first break. They were sitting side by side on the bench that ran along one wall, sharing a bottle of water and watching Will and his assistant fine-tune the routine.
Kurt laughed and looked over at Puck, holding out the water bottle for him to take. “I suppose if one of us is going home this week it won’t really hurt.”
“Whatever, you’re an awesome dancer. It doesn’t matter who you’re hooking up with.”
“It does matter,” Kurt said, and he felt his face heat up, but he didn’t look away. “And it’s not just hooking up.”
For a second Puck just grinned at him, then he swayed a little closer and pressed their shoulders together. “Yeah, I know, babe.”
Puck set the water bottle down on the floor, then he reached for Kurt’s hand and threaded their fingers together. Kurt squeezed back, then he leaned hard against him and smiled. “I’m glad they paired us together. If this is our last week…”
“Our last week here,” Puck interrupted, lifting their joined hands to press a kiss to Kurt’s fingertips. “After that...”
“Guys, let’s take it from the top, if you’re ready,” Will said, and Puck laughed when Kurt let out a frustrated sigh.
“You heard the dude,” Puck said, standing up and dragging Kurt to his feet. “Let’s take it from the top.”
Kurt rolled his eyes, but he took his mark, and by the time Will was ready to call it a day they’d made it all the way through the routine a few times. It helped that they’d been dancing together for months; Kurt knew how Puck moved, knew what to anticipate and he was confident that Puck would be there to meet him at every turn.
He was looking forward to dancing with Robert, of course. Robert was an amazing performer, and Kurt had admired his technique since he watched Robert’s season. But dancing with Puck felt like more than just a performance; for the first time he could really relate to the story they were trying to tell, and he thought he finally understood what the judges had been saying about him connecting to the audience since the beginning.
And he didn’t want either of them to go home, but if one of them had to leave he was grateful that they got a little extra time together before they were separated. He slipped his hand into Puck’s as they left the rehearsal studio, and when Puck looked over at him Kurt just smiled and pulled him a little closer.
“I thought you were waiting to tell your dad about New York until you could do it in person.”
“I was,” Kurt said, shrugging when Puck raised an eyebrow at him. “He knows how I feel about you, though, so I suppose it wasn’t much of a leap, even for Finn.”
“Yeah? You told your brother how crazy you are about me?” Puck asked, and he was grinning, but Kurt could see the hint of surprise in his expression.
“I doubt I needed to spell it out,” Kurt answered, and he didn’t even mind that he was blushing again. “According to him, we’re sort of obvious.”
“It’s not our fault we’re perfect for each other, babe,” Puck said, and Kurt wasn’t inclined to disagree.
~
“What happens when you get home?”
They were stretched out in bed, legs tangled together and Kurt’s fingers stroking along the side of Puck’s neck. Puck’s head rested on Kurt’s shoulder, eyes closed and drifting toward sleep, but when he heard Kurt’s voice he blinked his eyes open and looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re not going back to your old job, right? There’s the tour, of course, but after that...have you thought about what you’d like to do?”
He’d thought about it some, sure, but he still didn’t have any answers. Until the show he’d never really minded bussing tables; it wasn’t glamorous or anything, but it kept his kid in Pull-Ups, and it meant he could help out with the bills instead of just being another burden on his mom. The thought of going back to that now was weird, though, like something had changed and he couldn’t go back to his old life even if he wanted to.
“I don’t know, babe. I mean, I’m not exactly cut out for Broadway, you know?”
“No, I don’t know.” Kurt shifted until he was propped up on one elbow, frowning down at Puck and yeah, he kind of wanted to laugh, but mostly he was too busy trying to breathe around the lump in his throat to worry about anything else. “You’re an amazing dancer, Noah. There’s no reason you can’t do whatever you set your mind to.”
And the thing was, Puck could tell Kurt believed it. Kurt believed in him, and yeah, Puck already knew that, but every time Kurt reminded him it managed to catch Puck by surprise all over again.
“Look, Kurt, Broadway’s your thing, not mine. No way could I keep that kind of schedule with a kid anyway. Not right now.”
He could tell by the way Kurt was looking at him that he wanted to argue, but the truth was there was nothing to argue about. Beth wasn’t even in school yet, and it would be a long time before she was old enough to look out for herself, so Puck couldn’t sign on for anything that would keep him away from home at weird hours.
“Noah,” Kurt said, and now he just sounded kind of nervous. He reached out to rest one hand on Puck’s chest, fingers trailing along his skin and sending distracting little shivers down Puck’s spine. “Are you sure you want to leave your mother’s place? It’s just...I know how much she helps you with Beth, and it would be understandable if...I mean, I would understand...”
“Hold up a second,” Puck interrupted, pushing up on his own elbow to look at Kurt. As soon as he did Kurt went kind of red, and Puck’s stomach twisted for a whole new reason. “What are you saying here? I thought you wanted to move to New York.”
“I do. It’s just...”
“You just don’t want to move in with us.”
Puck’s stomach took another nose dive, but he swallowed hard against the sensation and sat up. And yeah, he got it; moving in with Puck was one thing, but taking on a kid too? That was a big deal for anybody, let alone somebody who’d never even been in a relationship before. Hell, his mother hinted around about it every time he called home, so maybe he should have seen this coming.
He didn’t look over when Kurt sat up, or when Kurt let out a sigh and knelt in front of him. Puck wanted to be cool about this, wanted to understand where Kurt was coming from, even though just the thought of not waking up with Kurt every day left a weird, hollow feeling in the middle of his chest, but that didn’t mean he wanted to look at Kurt while Kurt shot him down.
“I get it, Kurt. It’s okay.”
“No, you don’t,” Kurt said, and when his hand closed around Puck’s he did look up. Kurt was kneeling on the mattress in front of him, his blush spreading clear down his chest, but his eyes were bright and a little darker than usual and the sight sent another thrill of warmth through Puck.
“Of course I want to move in with you. I love you, you idiot. I’m not going to pretend I’m not a little terrified at the thought of living with you and your daughter, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to uproot Beth’s entire routine to make room for me. I’m sure I could find somewhere to stay, at least for awhile, until we decide what’s best for everyone.”
He was pretty sure what Kurt meant was, “Until we know if it’s going to work out between us.” And he was probably right; that was probably the smart approach, not rushing into anything they’d have a hard time taking back.
But the thing was, they already knew they could live together, and they knew they loved each other, so Puck didn’t see how adding Beth to the mix was going to change things all that much. Kurt would have to get used to Dora the Explorer and sticky fingerprints on every flat surface and telling the difference between Beth’s real tears and when she was faking it to get her way, but Puck was pretty sure he could handle it.
It probably wouldn’t even take him that long to get used to it, and once he did he wouldn’t have any excuse not to marry Puck. And it would be a lot easier to plan a wedding if they were already living together, so the way Puck saw it, moving in together just made sense.
“Look, babe, I don’t know what I’m going to do after the tour. I don’t know if anybody even wants to hire a guy like me to dance. But I know I’m crazy about you, and I know Beth’s going to love you too. I mean, I don’t even have a job, so it’s not like I have a lot to offer here,” he said, pausing to grin when Kurt laughed. “But you can’t afford a place in New York on your own, so you might as well move in with me.”
“You make a compelling argument,” Kurt said, still smiling as he let Puck ease him forward for a kiss.
“I figure I better stake my claim before you get a better offer.” Puck grinned at him up close this time, hand sliding through Kurt’s hair. “Though I’m starting to think Will would put you up if you asked, just to score points with your brother.”
Kurt frowned, his forehead wrinkling the way it did whenever Puck brought up Finn and his weird thing with Will. “I almost feel sorry for him. Finn’s sweet and all, but he’s not exactly known for his long attention span. I can’t imagine him managing a long distance relationship.”
“Who says it has to be long distance?” Puck asked. He slid his arms around Kurt and dragged him forward, then pushed him back onto the mattress and stretched out next to him. “Maybe he’ll follow you to New York. You know, keep an eye on his little brother and all.”
He laughed when Kurt rolled his eyes, then he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Kurt’s lips. “Anyway, why are we talking about Finn?”
“You’re the one who brought it up,” Kurt said, arms sliding around Puck’s neck to drag him closer. He bent a leg and slid it around Puck’s waist, fitting them together and seriously, dating a dancer was awesome.
“Right. Forget I said anything,” Puck answered, swallowing Kurt’s laugh with a kiss.
~
“Oh. You look…wow.”
“I look like a total dork,” Puck said, rolling his eyes and tugging at the shirt that was hanging open over his chest.
They’d both been in wardrobe for the past hour, and Kurt hadn’t seen Puck since the makeup and hair people got their hands on him. So he hadn’t seen Puck’s costume until it was almost time for the dress rehearsal to start, and now that he had seen it he wasn’t sure how he was going to focus on his own routine.
It was clear that Puck wasn’t comfortable, and it wasn’t exactly fashion-forward, but he definitely didn’t look like a dork. His pants were black and clinging to him in ways that should really be illegal, and his red silk shirt was open across his chest, revealing tanned skin that Kurt had seen up close and personal plenty of times, but never in front of other people.
“You look incredible,” Kurt said, his gaze wandering back down Puck’s chest.
“Yeah?” Puck said, his lips curving up in a slow smirk. “You like what you see, huh?”
Before Kurt could stop him Puck was moving forward, arms sliding around Kurt’s waist and he could hardly resist when there was so much warm skin right there. Kurt’s hands landed on Puck’s chest, running under the edges of his shirt while Puck leaned in to open his mouth against Kurt’s neck.
“We have to go,” Kurt said, but his voice was breathy already and his hands were wandering without his permission.
“What are they gonna do, send us home?”
Kurt’s heart clenched at the thought, and he pulled his hands away from Puck’s chest to let them rest on his hips. “Only one of us.”
“Babe,” Puck said, hand under Kurt’s chin to tilt his face up just enough to press a kiss against Kurt’s lips. “It’s gonna be fine.”
Kurt nodded, then he pressed forward and kissed Puck hard. His hands left Puck’s hips to slide around his back, curving around his ass and squeezing just hard enough to get Puck’s attention. “See if you can get away with keeping the pants.”
Puck snorted a laugh and let go of him, then he caught Kurt’s hand and dragged Kurt’s arm around his waist to steer them both toward their marks. “I’ll see what I can do.”
~
Puck liked watching Kurt dance. It was one of his favorite things to do, and the fact that he got to keep doing it after the show was over was still kind of hard to believe. So he watched Kurt and Robert run through their contemporary routine, and he wasn’t jealous or anything, but he was glad he got to dance with Kurt last.
In a way it kind of made sense that his last dance on the show was with Kurt, because Kurt was the first dancer he partnered with all the way back in New York. And granted, that wasn’t technically part of the competition, but if it wasn’t for dancing with Kurt, Puck never would have made it past that first round of choreography.
He’d never expected to be here this long. He figured top twelve, maybe, if he kept getting lucky, but he hadn’t even planned on making the tour. So he was okay with going home this week, even if it meant leaving Kurt for awhile. He was okay all the way through dress rehearsals and through the first part of the show, but as soon as Kurt stepped onto the stage and Puck saw that they were going to show video footage of their parents, he wasn’t quite as okay anymore.
It was bad enough watching Kurt’s dad talking about how proud he was and how he’d always known Kurt was going to do big things someday. Then his stepmom came on, all teary-eyed and going on about what an amazing young man he was, and it wasn’t like Puck disagreed, so when Kurt came offstage and pressed a wet face to Puck’s neck it was hard not to lose it himself.
Puck didn’t cry; instead he wrapped his arms around Kurt’s back and held on until Kurt pulled it together, then he pressed a kiss to salty lips and ran his thumbs under Kurt’s eyes.
“Okay?” he asked, and when Kurt nodded and flashed a watery grin Puck laughed and kissed him again.
“You’d think they could have given us a little warning, at least.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Puck asked, and when Kurt snorted a laugh, Puck grinned back at him.
“It’s your turn next,” Kurt reminded him, and Puck nodded and hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt. He kissed Kurt one more time before Puck let him go, then he headed to the edge of the stage to take his mark.
He took a deep breath while he listened to Cat do the lead-in to his video package, and when his mom’s face appeared on camera looking terrified he let out a surprised laugh. When he started talking about how he’d given her so much trouble when he was a kid his stomach dropped, but when she brought up how he’d stepped up with Beth and how he was trying to make a life for them he had to swallow hard against the lump in his throat.
They showed some video of Beth too, Sarah’s voice in the background coaxing her into a little kid booty shake to her favorite Wiggles CD. Puck laughed again, then he cleared his throat, and when he felt a hand on his shoulder he looked over to find Ellenore standing next to him.
“It’s like a sucker punch right to the gut,” she said, smiling sympathetically. “They do it every season, the bastards.”
Puck laughed as Cat introduced them, then he led Ellenore onto their mark, and when the music started, he started to move. He wasn’t thinking about the disco routine, about the cheesy costume or even the way the pants made his ass look. Instead he thought about Kurt, about the routine they still had to perform and all the stuff they’d be doing together when they got back to New York. They’d be there to have each other’s backs for everything, and yeah, it might be hard sometimes, but Puck already knew it was worth it.
His smile was a little less cheesy than their choreographer probably wanted, but he got all the lifts down and he didn’t drop Ellenore on her ass, so he was calling it a victory. And he was still going home on disco, but his mom was proud of him and Kurt loved him, so nothing else really mattered.
Once the judges were done telling him he didn’t completely suck he headed backstage for a wardrobe change, and it was hectic enough back there that he managed to get away with shoving his disco costume in his bag before any of the wardrobe girls grabbed it. He pulled on the outfit for their Broadway number, then he let one of the makeup artists smudge some black shit around his eyes before he went looking for Kurt.
Puck found him in the hallway running through some of his steps, but when Kurt looked up and found him watching he smiled and spun toward Puck. “Okay?”
“Now I am,” Puck answered, and that was even cheesier than the disco routine, but Kurt was grinning at him, so he didn’t really care. He took a couple steps forward and slid a hand around Kurt’s waist, pulling him close for a quick kiss. “You ready for this?”
Kurt nodded and took a deep breath, his smile slipping a little, and Puck knew he was thinking about one of them going home tomorrow. He knew exactly how to distract Kurt, but before he got the chance one of the producers was barreling down on them and shoving them toward the stage. Puck heard Cat introducing them, and he grabbed Kurt’s hand and squeezed before the music started.
Before he tried out for the show Puck didn’t think of dancing as telling a story. He just liked the way it made him feel, and if other people liked watching him do it, that was just a bonus. But as soon as Kurt took the stage it was like he became the wide-eyed kid Will was talking about in rehearsals, and it was easy to believe that this was a story about them and all the things Puck was going to show Kurt when he moved to New York.
He wanted all that stuff with Kurt, wanted to show him everything the city had to offer and discover a whole bunch of new stuff with him too. He had a feeling some of it he wouldn’t be all that crazy about, like sitting through musicals, but he’d do it if Kurt wanted him to. Besides, the good stuff would make up for a few boring musicals, and he already knew there would be plenty of good stuff.
Puck grinned at the thought and caught Kurt in mid-air, spinning him in time to the music to show him some imaginary tourist attraction to the left of the stage, then spinning him to the right to show him something else. Kurt grinned right back at him when they separated, and Puck knew it was only partly because of the character he was supposed to be playing.
He managed to remember not to kiss Kurt at the end of the number, though he figured it wouldn’t really matter if he did. They were already holding hands, after all, and the crowd was still going crazy, so it didn’t matter much if Nigel was going to be uptight about the whole gay thing.
When Cat called them over Puck wrapped an arm around Kurt’s shoulders, pulling him close and brushing a kiss across the top of his ear that made Kurt blush. Puck laughed and straightened up again, sliding his other arm around Cat’s waist and grinning up at her as she beamed down at the two of them.
“Magnificent, my darlings,” she said while they waited for the audience to settle down. “I expected nothing less, of course.”
Once the applause died down she turned to the judges, but Kurt’s hand was clutching his where it rested on Kurt’s shoulders, so Puck wasn’t really listening. Instead he focused on the feeling of Kurt’s hand wrapped around his, and when Cat finally let them go he pulled Kurt close and hugged him again before they headed offstage.
“Your mother was right, you know,” Kurt said, his hand closing around Puck’s again as soon as they were off camera. “You’re amazing.”
Puck stopped walking and pulled Kurt close, backing him against the wall and leaning in to plant a soft kiss on his corner of his mouth. He pulled back far enough to look at Kurt, taking in flushed cheeks and a sad smile. Puck grinned and ran a thumb over Kurt’s bottom lip, then he leaned forward for another kiss.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” he whispered against Kurt’s mouth, smiling at Kurt’s soft laugh. And yeah, this was probably the end of the road for him on the show, but when Kurt kissed him back it felt like it was just the beginning.
Week Eleven: Top Six Results
Fandom: Glee/So You Think You Can Dance
Pairing: Puck/Kurt
Rating: PG
Word count: 5100
Warnings: Cheesiness. Lack of dance knowledge. Random Cat Deeley fangirling.
Summary: AU. Kurt's a classically trained dancer who has trouble connecting to his audience. Puck's a novice b-boy with loads of charisma and not a whole lot else. When they meet at the New York auditions for So You Think You Can Dance, both their lives change in more ways than they anticipated.
A/N: The whole thing, as always, is available on AO3.
Week Eleven: Top Six Perform
“Well?”
“Disco,” Puck answered, slumping against the wall next to Kurt and holding up his card. “I can’t believe I made it all the way to the top six and I’m going out on disco.”
He was going out either way, he was pretty sure, but he would have rather gone out on something like contemporary or even ballroom. Disco was…kind of embarrassing, and he knew he was going to hear about it from all his friends as soon as he got home.
“You don’t know that you’re going home.”
Puck rolled his eyes as the door opened and a producer called Kurt’s name. A second later he was gone, and Puck leaned back and waited for Kurt to reappear. When he did he looked a little nervous, and Puck figured maybe he’d gotten stuck with hip hop again.
“So?”
“Contemporary. With Robert,” Kurt answered, his eyes kind of wide as he looked up at Puck.
“Yeah, I’m definitely going out on disco.”
Kurt frowned and opened his mouth to answer, but before he could get the words out Cat was calling them all over. She smiled at all of them, eyes sparkling, and they’d been around her long enough to know by now that meant something was up.
“This week you will not be performing solos in addition to the routines you dance with the All-Stars.” She paused to drag out the drama or whatever, and Rachel kind of shoved him out of the way to get a better look at Cat.
“Is the show going down to a one-hour format this week? Please don’t tell me we’re being preempted by basketball.”
“It’s baseball season,” Puck said, but Rachel was too busy staring at Cat to hear him.
“No, my darlings, this week you’ll also be partnering with each other,” Cat said, then she smiled at them the way Puck had seen Kurt’s stepmom grinning at Kurt and Finn when they hugged goodbye.
Cat pulled out a card and announced that Mike and Rachel would be dancing together, and Puck didn’t look over to see Mike’s reaction, because if he did he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face. Then Cat pulled out a second card, grinning down at it for a second before she fixed them with that look like she knew something they didn’t.
“Oh, this routine I am looking forward to. Kurt and…” She paused, smiling at Kurt as though she’d personally given birth to him or something, and Kurt’s grip on Puck’s hand tightened so hard he felt his bones creak. “…Puck. You two will be dancing a Broadway routine choreographed by Will Schuester.”
When Puck looked over at Kurt he was still staring at Cat, like maybe he was waiting for her to tell him she was joking. And she did look like she thought the whole thing was pretty funny, but she was already waving her last card around, and Puck could see that it had Brittany and Tina’s names printed on it.
“What, you don’t want to dance with me?” Puck asked, leaning close to whisper the question in Kurt’s ear. And it was a joke, but it kind of…wasn’t. Because Kurt hadn’t even looked at him yet, and maybe he had a thing about keeping his personal life separate from work or whatever.
“Of course I do,” Kurt said, then he did turn to look at Puck, all the color drained from his face. “It’s just…they gave me Robert and you. That’s two all-male routines. That’s never happened on this show before.”
Puck wanted to pull him close and kiss the doubt off his face, but they were surrounded by Cat and the rest of the dancers, and he didn’t really want to start something he couldn’t finish right before they got split up for rehearsals. Instead he shrugged and squeezed Kurt’s hand a little harder, then he tugged until Kurt was close enough to let Puck whisper in his ear again.
“So maybe Nigel’s finally giving up and embracing the gay. It’s about time they figured out the audience doesn’t care anyway.”
Kurt nodded, but he didn’t look all that convinced. Puck wasn’t sure he believed it either, but if it meant he got to dance with Kurt, he didn’t really care what the reason was.
“Maybe they’re just taking pity on us and giving us a little more time together before they send one of us home.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Puck answered. He slid an arm around Kurt’s shoulders and leaned in, foreheads pressed together for a second before he pulled back again. “But once this is all over we’ll have all the time in the world.”
Kurt didn’t answer - not with words, anyway - but he leaned in and kissed Puck, right in front of Cat and the rest of them, and granted, nobody was paying attention to them, but still. “You realize I’m holding you to that.”
“Not a problem, babe.”
~
Their first rehearsal with Will was...strange. As soon as they walked into the studio Will was hugging them both, arms wrapped around their necks as though they were old friends, and for a second Kurt had some trouble breathing.
Once he let them go Will gripped Kurt’s shoulders, beaming at him in a way that made Kurt feel like he was missing something. “So Finn tells me you’re planning to move to New York.”
Kurt’s gaze slid toward Puck, but he just shrugged and edged a little further away from Will. Coward, Kurt thought, but he couldn’t exactly blame Puck, considering Kurt was already considering the best way to put some distance between himself and Will without being obvious.
“When exactly did you speak to Finn?”
As soon as he said it Will’s smile faded a little, and he let go of Kurt’s shoulders and took a step backwards. “Oh, not long ago. He was kind enough to remember the opening of my latest show and wanted to wish me well.”
“How uncharacteristically thoughtful of him,” Kurt said, and when Puck snorted a laugh Will’s cheeks flushed. For a second Kurt felt almost bad for him, but then Will clapped his hands together and smiled at them both again.
“So let’s get started. I’m really excited to be working with you both this week; I think you’re the perfect pair to pull off this routine.”
Twenty minutes later Will and his assistant had taken them through it step by step, explaining the story along the way, and once Will started the music Kurt had to agree that it really was tailor-made for them. That wasn’t a surprise, considering Will choreographed the number with them in mind, but when he heard the opening strains of “New York City” start to play, Kurt couldn’t help glancing at Puck and flashing a shy smile.
According to Will, Kurt was portraying a wide-eyed young man coming to New York for the first time. Puck was the local who took Kurt under his wing and showed him everything the city had to offer, and in return Kurt’s character helped him to see the city again through fresh eyes. Will claimed the song was a love song to New York, but Kurt was fairly sure it was just a love song.
The routine ended with them hand in hand, backs to the audience and staring in front of them at what was supposed to be the New York skyline. So maybe it was about the city, but in a way it was about their future, too, and if this was their last week on the show together, Kurt couldn’t think of a more fitting way to close things out.
He didn’t ask how many times Will had spoken to Finn, or just what Finn had told him about Kurt and Puck. He didn’t ask where Finn had gotten the impression that Kurt was planning to move to New York, either, because Kurt hadn’t said anything to his family yet, but it wasn’t as though Finn was wrong.
“At least somebody’s embracing the gay,” Puck said during their first break. They were sitting side by side on the bench that ran along one wall, sharing a bottle of water and watching Will and his assistant fine-tune the routine.
Kurt laughed and looked over at Puck, holding out the water bottle for him to take. “I suppose if one of us is going home this week it won’t really hurt.”
“Whatever, you’re an awesome dancer. It doesn’t matter who you’re hooking up with.”
“It does matter,” Kurt said, and he felt his face heat up, but he didn’t look away. “And it’s not just hooking up.”
For a second Puck just grinned at him, then he swayed a little closer and pressed their shoulders together. “Yeah, I know, babe.”
Puck set the water bottle down on the floor, then he reached for Kurt’s hand and threaded their fingers together. Kurt squeezed back, then he leaned hard against him and smiled. “I’m glad they paired us together. If this is our last week…”
“Our last week here,” Puck interrupted, lifting their joined hands to press a kiss to Kurt’s fingertips. “After that...”
“Guys, let’s take it from the top, if you’re ready,” Will said, and Puck laughed when Kurt let out a frustrated sigh.
“You heard the dude,” Puck said, standing up and dragging Kurt to his feet. “Let’s take it from the top.”
Kurt rolled his eyes, but he took his mark, and by the time Will was ready to call it a day they’d made it all the way through the routine a few times. It helped that they’d been dancing together for months; Kurt knew how Puck moved, knew what to anticipate and he was confident that Puck would be there to meet him at every turn.
He was looking forward to dancing with Robert, of course. Robert was an amazing performer, and Kurt had admired his technique since he watched Robert’s season. But dancing with Puck felt like more than just a performance; for the first time he could really relate to the story they were trying to tell, and he thought he finally understood what the judges had been saying about him connecting to the audience since the beginning.
And he didn’t want either of them to go home, but if one of them had to leave he was grateful that they got a little extra time together before they were separated. He slipped his hand into Puck’s as they left the rehearsal studio, and when Puck looked over at him Kurt just smiled and pulled him a little closer.
“I thought you were waiting to tell your dad about New York until you could do it in person.”
“I was,” Kurt said, shrugging when Puck raised an eyebrow at him. “He knows how I feel about you, though, so I suppose it wasn’t much of a leap, even for Finn.”
“Yeah? You told your brother how crazy you are about me?” Puck asked, and he was grinning, but Kurt could see the hint of surprise in his expression.
“I doubt I needed to spell it out,” Kurt answered, and he didn’t even mind that he was blushing again. “According to him, we’re sort of obvious.”
“It’s not our fault we’re perfect for each other, babe,” Puck said, and Kurt wasn’t inclined to disagree.
~
“What happens when you get home?”
They were stretched out in bed, legs tangled together and Kurt’s fingers stroking along the side of Puck’s neck. Puck’s head rested on Kurt’s shoulder, eyes closed and drifting toward sleep, but when he heard Kurt’s voice he blinked his eyes open and looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re not going back to your old job, right? There’s the tour, of course, but after that...have you thought about what you’d like to do?”
He’d thought about it some, sure, but he still didn’t have any answers. Until the show he’d never really minded bussing tables; it wasn’t glamorous or anything, but it kept his kid in Pull-Ups, and it meant he could help out with the bills instead of just being another burden on his mom. The thought of going back to that now was weird, though, like something had changed and he couldn’t go back to his old life even if he wanted to.
“I don’t know, babe. I mean, I’m not exactly cut out for Broadway, you know?”
“No, I don’t know.” Kurt shifted until he was propped up on one elbow, frowning down at Puck and yeah, he kind of wanted to laugh, but mostly he was too busy trying to breathe around the lump in his throat to worry about anything else. “You’re an amazing dancer, Noah. There’s no reason you can’t do whatever you set your mind to.”
And the thing was, Puck could tell Kurt believed it. Kurt believed in him, and yeah, Puck already knew that, but every time Kurt reminded him it managed to catch Puck by surprise all over again.
“Look, Kurt, Broadway’s your thing, not mine. No way could I keep that kind of schedule with a kid anyway. Not right now.”
He could tell by the way Kurt was looking at him that he wanted to argue, but the truth was there was nothing to argue about. Beth wasn’t even in school yet, and it would be a long time before she was old enough to look out for herself, so Puck couldn’t sign on for anything that would keep him away from home at weird hours.
“Noah,” Kurt said, and now he just sounded kind of nervous. He reached out to rest one hand on Puck’s chest, fingers trailing along his skin and sending distracting little shivers down Puck’s spine. “Are you sure you want to leave your mother’s place? It’s just...I know how much she helps you with Beth, and it would be understandable if...I mean, I would understand...”
“Hold up a second,” Puck interrupted, pushing up on his own elbow to look at Kurt. As soon as he did Kurt went kind of red, and Puck’s stomach twisted for a whole new reason. “What are you saying here? I thought you wanted to move to New York.”
“I do. It’s just...”
“You just don’t want to move in with us.”
Puck’s stomach took another nose dive, but he swallowed hard against the sensation and sat up. And yeah, he got it; moving in with Puck was one thing, but taking on a kid too? That was a big deal for anybody, let alone somebody who’d never even been in a relationship before. Hell, his mother hinted around about it every time he called home, so maybe he should have seen this coming.
He didn’t look over when Kurt sat up, or when Kurt let out a sigh and knelt in front of him. Puck wanted to be cool about this, wanted to understand where Kurt was coming from, even though just the thought of not waking up with Kurt every day left a weird, hollow feeling in the middle of his chest, but that didn’t mean he wanted to look at Kurt while Kurt shot him down.
“I get it, Kurt. It’s okay.”
“No, you don’t,” Kurt said, and when his hand closed around Puck’s he did look up. Kurt was kneeling on the mattress in front of him, his blush spreading clear down his chest, but his eyes were bright and a little darker than usual and the sight sent another thrill of warmth through Puck.
“Of course I want to move in with you. I love you, you idiot. I’m not going to pretend I’m not a little terrified at the thought of living with you and your daughter, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to uproot Beth’s entire routine to make room for me. I’m sure I could find somewhere to stay, at least for awhile, until we decide what’s best for everyone.”
He was pretty sure what Kurt meant was, “Until we know if it’s going to work out between us.” And he was probably right; that was probably the smart approach, not rushing into anything they’d have a hard time taking back.
But the thing was, they already knew they could live together, and they knew they loved each other, so Puck didn’t see how adding Beth to the mix was going to change things all that much. Kurt would have to get used to Dora the Explorer and sticky fingerprints on every flat surface and telling the difference between Beth’s real tears and when she was faking it to get her way, but Puck was pretty sure he could handle it.
It probably wouldn’t even take him that long to get used to it, and once he did he wouldn’t have any excuse not to marry Puck. And it would be a lot easier to plan a wedding if they were already living together, so the way Puck saw it, moving in together just made sense.
“Look, babe, I don’t know what I’m going to do after the tour. I don’t know if anybody even wants to hire a guy like me to dance. But I know I’m crazy about you, and I know Beth’s going to love you too. I mean, I don’t even have a job, so it’s not like I have a lot to offer here,” he said, pausing to grin when Kurt laughed. “But you can’t afford a place in New York on your own, so you might as well move in with me.”
“You make a compelling argument,” Kurt said, still smiling as he let Puck ease him forward for a kiss.
“I figure I better stake my claim before you get a better offer.” Puck grinned at him up close this time, hand sliding through Kurt’s hair. “Though I’m starting to think Will would put you up if you asked, just to score points with your brother.”
Kurt frowned, his forehead wrinkling the way it did whenever Puck brought up Finn and his weird thing with Will. “I almost feel sorry for him. Finn’s sweet and all, but he’s not exactly known for his long attention span. I can’t imagine him managing a long distance relationship.”
“Who says it has to be long distance?” Puck asked. He slid his arms around Kurt and dragged him forward, then pushed him back onto the mattress and stretched out next to him. “Maybe he’ll follow you to New York. You know, keep an eye on his little brother and all.”
He laughed when Kurt rolled his eyes, then he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Kurt’s lips. “Anyway, why are we talking about Finn?”
“You’re the one who brought it up,” Kurt said, arms sliding around Puck’s neck to drag him closer. He bent a leg and slid it around Puck’s waist, fitting them together and seriously, dating a dancer was awesome.
“Right. Forget I said anything,” Puck answered, swallowing Kurt’s laugh with a kiss.
~
“Oh. You look…wow.”
“I look like a total dork,” Puck said, rolling his eyes and tugging at the shirt that was hanging open over his chest.
They’d both been in wardrobe for the past hour, and Kurt hadn’t seen Puck since the makeup and hair people got their hands on him. So he hadn’t seen Puck’s costume until it was almost time for the dress rehearsal to start, and now that he had seen it he wasn’t sure how he was going to focus on his own routine.
It was clear that Puck wasn’t comfortable, and it wasn’t exactly fashion-forward, but he definitely didn’t look like a dork. His pants were black and clinging to him in ways that should really be illegal, and his red silk shirt was open across his chest, revealing tanned skin that Kurt had seen up close and personal plenty of times, but never in front of other people.
“You look incredible,” Kurt said, his gaze wandering back down Puck’s chest.
“Yeah?” Puck said, his lips curving up in a slow smirk. “You like what you see, huh?”
Before Kurt could stop him Puck was moving forward, arms sliding around Kurt’s waist and he could hardly resist when there was so much warm skin right there. Kurt’s hands landed on Puck’s chest, running under the edges of his shirt while Puck leaned in to open his mouth against Kurt’s neck.
“We have to go,” Kurt said, but his voice was breathy already and his hands were wandering without his permission.
“What are they gonna do, send us home?”
Kurt’s heart clenched at the thought, and he pulled his hands away from Puck’s chest to let them rest on his hips. “Only one of us.”
“Babe,” Puck said, hand under Kurt’s chin to tilt his face up just enough to press a kiss against Kurt’s lips. “It’s gonna be fine.”
Kurt nodded, then he pressed forward and kissed Puck hard. His hands left Puck’s hips to slide around his back, curving around his ass and squeezing just hard enough to get Puck’s attention. “See if you can get away with keeping the pants.”
Puck snorted a laugh and let go of him, then he caught Kurt’s hand and dragged Kurt’s arm around his waist to steer them both toward their marks. “I’ll see what I can do.”
~
Puck liked watching Kurt dance. It was one of his favorite things to do, and the fact that he got to keep doing it after the show was over was still kind of hard to believe. So he watched Kurt and Robert run through their contemporary routine, and he wasn’t jealous or anything, but he was glad he got to dance with Kurt last.
In a way it kind of made sense that his last dance on the show was with Kurt, because Kurt was the first dancer he partnered with all the way back in New York. And granted, that wasn’t technically part of the competition, but if it wasn’t for dancing with Kurt, Puck never would have made it past that first round of choreography.
He’d never expected to be here this long. He figured top twelve, maybe, if he kept getting lucky, but he hadn’t even planned on making the tour. So he was okay with going home this week, even if it meant leaving Kurt for awhile. He was okay all the way through dress rehearsals and through the first part of the show, but as soon as Kurt stepped onto the stage and Puck saw that they were going to show video footage of their parents, he wasn’t quite as okay anymore.
It was bad enough watching Kurt’s dad talking about how proud he was and how he’d always known Kurt was going to do big things someday. Then his stepmom came on, all teary-eyed and going on about what an amazing young man he was, and it wasn’t like Puck disagreed, so when Kurt came offstage and pressed a wet face to Puck’s neck it was hard not to lose it himself.
Puck didn’t cry; instead he wrapped his arms around Kurt’s back and held on until Kurt pulled it together, then he pressed a kiss to salty lips and ran his thumbs under Kurt’s eyes.
“Okay?” he asked, and when Kurt nodded and flashed a watery grin Puck laughed and kissed him again.
“You’d think they could have given us a little warning, at least.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Puck asked, and when Kurt snorted a laugh, Puck grinned back at him.
“It’s your turn next,” Kurt reminded him, and Puck nodded and hoped he didn’t look as nervous as he felt. He kissed Kurt one more time before Puck let him go, then he headed to the edge of the stage to take his mark.
He took a deep breath while he listened to Cat do the lead-in to his video package, and when his mom’s face appeared on camera looking terrified he let out a surprised laugh. When he started talking about how he’d given her so much trouble when he was a kid his stomach dropped, but when she brought up how he’d stepped up with Beth and how he was trying to make a life for them he had to swallow hard against the lump in his throat.
They showed some video of Beth too, Sarah’s voice in the background coaxing her into a little kid booty shake to her favorite Wiggles CD. Puck laughed again, then he cleared his throat, and when he felt a hand on his shoulder he looked over to find Ellenore standing next to him.
“It’s like a sucker punch right to the gut,” she said, smiling sympathetically. “They do it every season, the bastards.”
Puck laughed as Cat introduced them, then he led Ellenore onto their mark, and when the music started, he started to move. He wasn’t thinking about the disco routine, about the cheesy costume or even the way the pants made his ass look. Instead he thought about Kurt, about the routine they still had to perform and all the stuff they’d be doing together when they got back to New York. They’d be there to have each other’s backs for everything, and yeah, it might be hard sometimes, but Puck already knew it was worth it.
His smile was a little less cheesy than their choreographer probably wanted, but he got all the lifts down and he didn’t drop Ellenore on her ass, so he was calling it a victory. And he was still going home on disco, but his mom was proud of him and Kurt loved him, so nothing else really mattered.
Once the judges were done telling him he didn’t completely suck he headed backstage for a wardrobe change, and it was hectic enough back there that he managed to get away with shoving his disco costume in his bag before any of the wardrobe girls grabbed it. He pulled on the outfit for their Broadway number, then he let one of the makeup artists smudge some black shit around his eyes before he went looking for Kurt.
Puck found him in the hallway running through some of his steps, but when Kurt looked up and found him watching he smiled and spun toward Puck. “Okay?”
“Now I am,” Puck answered, and that was even cheesier than the disco routine, but Kurt was grinning at him, so he didn’t really care. He took a couple steps forward and slid a hand around Kurt’s waist, pulling him close for a quick kiss. “You ready for this?”
Kurt nodded and took a deep breath, his smile slipping a little, and Puck knew he was thinking about one of them going home tomorrow. He knew exactly how to distract Kurt, but before he got the chance one of the producers was barreling down on them and shoving them toward the stage. Puck heard Cat introducing them, and he grabbed Kurt’s hand and squeezed before the music started.
Before he tried out for the show Puck didn’t think of dancing as telling a story. He just liked the way it made him feel, and if other people liked watching him do it, that was just a bonus. But as soon as Kurt took the stage it was like he became the wide-eyed kid Will was talking about in rehearsals, and it was easy to believe that this was a story about them and all the things Puck was going to show Kurt when he moved to New York.
He wanted all that stuff with Kurt, wanted to show him everything the city had to offer and discover a whole bunch of new stuff with him too. He had a feeling some of it he wouldn’t be all that crazy about, like sitting through musicals, but he’d do it if Kurt wanted him to. Besides, the good stuff would make up for a few boring musicals, and he already knew there would be plenty of good stuff.
Puck grinned at the thought and caught Kurt in mid-air, spinning him in time to the music to show him some imaginary tourist attraction to the left of the stage, then spinning him to the right to show him something else. Kurt grinned right back at him when they separated, and Puck knew it was only partly because of the character he was supposed to be playing.
He managed to remember not to kiss Kurt at the end of the number, though he figured it wouldn’t really matter if he did. They were already holding hands, after all, and the crowd was still going crazy, so it didn’t matter much if Nigel was going to be uptight about the whole gay thing.
When Cat called them over Puck wrapped an arm around Kurt’s shoulders, pulling him close and brushing a kiss across the top of his ear that made Kurt blush. Puck laughed and straightened up again, sliding his other arm around Cat’s waist and grinning up at her as she beamed down at the two of them.
“Magnificent, my darlings,” she said while they waited for the audience to settle down. “I expected nothing less, of course.”
Once the applause died down she turned to the judges, but Kurt’s hand was clutching his where it rested on Kurt’s shoulders, so Puck wasn’t really listening. Instead he focused on the feeling of Kurt’s hand wrapped around his, and when Cat finally let them go he pulled Kurt close and hugged him again before they headed offstage.
“Your mother was right, you know,” Kurt said, his hand closing around Puck’s again as soon as they were off camera. “You’re amazing.”
Puck stopped walking and pulled Kurt close, backing him against the wall and leaning in to plant a soft kiss on his corner of his mouth. He pulled back far enough to look at Kurt, taking in flushed cheeks and a sad smile. Puck grinned and ran a thumb over Kurt’s bottom lip, then he leaned forward for another kiss.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” he whispered against Kurt’s mouth, smiling at Kurt’s soft laugh. And yeah, this was probably the end of the road for him on the show, but when Kurt kissed him back it felt like it was just the beginning.
Week Eleven: Top Six Results