What's the Point of being Popular (if you can't do what you want?) Chapter 6
Title: What’s the Point of being Popular (if you can’t do what you want?) (6/??)
Pairing,Character(s): Sam/Puck (it's getting there)
Rating: Who knows. It feels PG-13 at the moment, but it might become a bit of a rollercoaster.
Spoilers: ...at this point the only spoilers would be for the first 5 chaps of this fic. Go read them for sure.
Summary: Why does everything always seem so straight-forward when you're warm in bed in the early morning?
Chapter 6
Puck figured it had to be before dawn, though he was pretty sure the curtains were drawn tightly enough that if it were one in the afternoon they’d be none the wiser. Still, the temperature in the room and the sleepiness of the house made him think it had to be around five in the morning.
He’d been woken up when Sam turned over and cuddled up closer to him in his sleep. Puck thought it was kinda awesome, like, that Sam enjoyed cuddling him... but he was troubled though, because he thought maybe he shouldn’t be doing this.
Puck wasn’t very good at thinking about feelings, and where Sam was concerned Puck felt really confused.
He had never given much thought to sexuality. Through most of high school he’d figured guys should be guys, and chicks should be chicks. Like, guys were supposed to do guy-things, and chicks were basically a mystery. Throwing Hummel into a dumpster had been a way of punishing the kid for breaking one of Puck’s fundamental laws; Kurt was a guy, but he acted like a chick. Puck only realized later that it might make Kurt feel bad.
Now though, Puck was pretty sure he’d outgrown the need to label everything in black and white. This revelation came as a relief, because Sam was snuggled into his side and Puck didn’t want to have to go dumpster diving in order to maintain his integrity.
Sam wasn’t like Kurt, anyway... he was a total dude. He was sporty and interested in computer games and he wore normal clothes. Lying in bed, Puck figured that as long as Sam was acting like a dude, according to bro rules, it was none of Puck’s business who the guy wanted to share a bed with. Or something. Maybe it didn’t even matter if Sam like... decided to wear dresses. Puck didn’t usually think this much, but he wasn’t sure he was really bothered at all who other people wanted to sleep with, just as long as he got to sleep with his fair share of the people that HE was interested in.
Puck shifted a little to relieve an ache in his arm. He couldn’t help looking down at Sam’s face. He looked relaxed and his eyes were moving a bit under the closed lids. Puck thought maybe that meant Sam was dreaming. He softly brushed some of Sam’s hair back off his face with his fingers. Sam’s skin was warm and smooth and Puck felt great with the weight of Sam’s body pressed up against him.
It was obvious to Puck that there were some changes happening in his life right now. Some of them were tough to deal with - Quinn and her issues were always in the back of his mind - but there were other things going on that Puck wasn’t too bothered about. He loved having Sam around. He’d never been close with a guy friend like this before, it was all new to him, and he liked it. The only thing that Puck wasn’t sure about was... well, he’d decided he didn’t care what Sam wanted to do behind closed doors with whoever. But now Sam was sharing a bed with HIM - hell, he’d practically broken a sweat hoping for an invitation. He had his arms around the guy, and it felt awesome. Puck gave Sam a squeeze and Sam nuzzled Puck’s shoulder in his sleep. Insanely awesome. Puck didn’t know what that meant.
Plus, Puck reminded himself, Sam’s like, living with me at the moment... it’s not cool to start something you’re not prepared to finish. Puck didn’t know if he might be bi or whatever, he knew that sleeping with chicks was a big part of his rep, and it felt good... but snuggling with a chick had never felt like this. He’d felt possessive of girls, but in Sam’s case he felt more...protective. The guy had been through some crazy shit over the past week and Puck found himself wanting to start a fight with anyone who looked at Sam funny. He wasn’t used to feeling so strongly about someone, though it definitely didn’t seem like a bad thing.
Besides, Puck thought quietly, who says I wouldn’t be prepared to finish it, if I started something? Puck had never considered the idea of like... sex with a dude... but sex in general was a really good thing, and hell, people wouldn’t DO it if it didn’t feel great. Plus, with the amount of flack gay guys took, he figured the sex had to be correspondingly amazing, or why would they bother?
He made himself stop that line of thought because sex wasn’t supposed to be on his agenda right now. He let himself decide that the possibility of sex with Sam Evans could only be a good thing, and tried to push the thoughts aside. He figured Sam had to be a virgin - like, he’d dated Quinn, who as far as Puck knew only used sex as a method of driving Puck absolutely insane... he didn’t want to think about Quinn right now. Anyway, Puck reminded himself, if I’m thinking about this in terms of sex with dudes then I’m just as much a virgin as anyone else. Point being it would be kind of a big deal if anything happened between him and Sam. Lots of potential for someone to get hurt, and Puck sure as hell wasn’t going to let Sam get hurt again.
The room was really dark but he could still make out Sam’s sleeping face. Puck wanted to wrap himself around Sam, but he stopped himself. In a moment of particularly fierce protective emotion he’d wanted to kiss Sam’s forehead, like, to show he was there... and that was pretty platonic anyway, right? But he remembered his all-important bro-code, which was pretty clear on the fact that a dude shouldn’t kiss anyone he wasn’t hoping to climb into bed with. Puck reckoned it prevented a whole lot of misunderstandings. But I’m already IN bed with him... Puck decided not to make any kind of move until he figured out what he was feeling; overthinking this stuff made him feel a little knotted up inside.
Sam inhaled deeply and his eyes opened slowly; Puck could see the glint of them in the dark.
“Hey,” Sam said sleepily, the arm that he had across Pucks waist moving a little before freezing. Sam’s eyes snapped open. Puck could see panic in them.
“Hey,” Puck shifted forward and bumped their foreheads together gently before settling back into place. He made no move to untangle himself from Sam, and gradually the other boy relaxed.
“I dunno what we’re doing, but it feels nice.” Sam said, and his fingers started tracing little circles on the small of Puck’s back. It felt electric. Puck shivered a little; the touch of Sam’s fingers on his bare skin was sending jolts through his system.
“We’re hugging, dumbass. Try not to overcomplicate things.” Puck grinned at Sam in the dark to show he was being playful. He’d figured out he liked being close to Sam, but if Sam was suddenly going to like... ask him to go steady, or something (his heart gave a weird jump at that) - well, anyway, Puck was just hugging the dude. For the moment that was all he could cram into his self-image without warping it into something unrecognisable.
“Sure, I know... just like, it’s nice. It makes me feel like everything’s fine, you know?” Puck did know. When he’d finally opened up to his mom (he’d spent the longest time scared that she would hit him too) - when he finally had, her hugs were like magic. He remembered how safe he felt with her arms around her, she’d whisper comforting things in his ear. Hey, he thought, not a bad idea...no reason why I shouldn’t copy some tricks...
Puck shuffled a little closer, his arms bringing Sam into a strong hug which brought their bare chests together and Puck gave in to himself just a little by tangling a hand into Sam’s hair. It was as soft as it looked, and Sam didn’t seem to mind at all.
Puck whispered into Sam’s ear, very softly, that everything was fine, that Puck was there for him... a whole bunch of comforting stuff that Puck was frankly surprised he had in him. It was good for both of them, because somehow it helped Puck straighten out his jumbled up feelings. He wanted to be there for Sam. Maybe in more than one way; hell, he had to break their hug after a little while because the heat the dude was putting off was totally turning Puck on, and this sure as hell wasn’t the time... anyway, Puck decided he was cool with whatever happened. Like, if something happened.
Puck shook himself a little and Sam nuzzled his shoulder again.
“Any idea what the time is?” Sam mumbled sleepily, his eyes closed again.
“Too early for either of us,” Puck whispered. “Go back to sleep dopey.”
Puck followed his own advice after that - but not before he pulled away for a second and flipped over, quietly pulling Sam’s arm around his waist.
He was right, too - being the little spoon with Sam Evans was a fuckin’ rush.
#
He and Sam had done their homework together on Sunday and gone for a walk around the neighbourhood. Puck showed Sam the local skate park, they swung by the corner store and bought some food for lunch. The day had flown by. Once it got late they both brushed their teeth and Puck had play-wrestled Sam down onto his bed, and conveniently stayed there to cuddle and sleep again. Sam hadn’t said anything about it, which made Puck happy because he wouldn’t be able to explain why he was snuggling up to Sam without an explicit invitation.
They woke up early enough to grab a shower each and there was plenty of cereal and stuff for breakfast, after which they had bundled into Pucks truck and jetted off for school.
Somehow Puck thought everything would be different on Monday. Like, they’d rock up to school and everyone would look at them and just magically know everything that was going on in his head. He figured by lunchtime he’d be in a fist fight with the first little brat to work up the nerve to say something to his face.
Puck wasn’t too concerned; he figured once he broke a few bones the younger levels would fall neatly into line and the other seniors would quietly learn to live with the new reality: Noah Puckerman will sleep with whomever the fuck he wants. Unless, you know, for some reason the other party wasn’t interested - but Puck didn’t rate that as very likely so he didn’t give it much thought.
#
After getting all nervous about McKinley being filled with mind-readers, Puck felt surprised when no one looked at him strangely. No one knew about what had happened with Sam - though he doubted something like that could stay quiet for long.
Puck wandered down the seniors’ corridor toward his locker and felt a renewed sense of power when he saw that a lot of his own yearmates tried to keep out of his way. He knew that with his hair growing out into more of a no-hawk he looked a lot less intimidating from a distance, but he liked to think he retained the general ‘do not fuck with me’ air on close inspection.
After grabbed his books Puck shot off for home group. He found he was a little eager to get there and meet up with Sam again, even though they’d split up in the corridor only a few minutes before. Puck resisted the urge to slap himself around.
Sam was already sitting in the back in their normal spot and he smiled when Puck meandered into the room. Puck gave him a smirk and made his way over, slowly weaving through the desks in the way. He used the time to try and figure out if ruffling Sam’s hair would be crossing a line. There wasn’t enough time to be sure, so he just gave the blond kid a friendly punch on the arm before settling into his regular place.
The room stared to fill up shortly after that. Puck was starting to appreciate just how much noise a form group of upperclassmen could generate. By the time Wiggy arrived it would be impossible for the teacher to get their attention. Puck figured everyone was sharing their weekend stories.
“So I was going to say something this morning but I didn’t know how to say it really...” Sam had started talking to him quietly. The otherwise noisy room provided a great background for a private conversation, and Sam had leaned a little closer so he could talk to Puck without anyone having much chance of overhearing.
“If you’re going to compliment my cooking,” Puck said, “it was cereal.” Puck smirked at him and Sam grinned.
“Actually it was something else. I just wanted to say, I’ll probably be out of the closet pretty soon, one way or another... so, if you don’t want to be seen hanging out with me too much at school, that’s totally fine. I don’t want to pull you into anything.” Sam shuffled his feet under his desk and pushed his hair out of his face. Puck just snorted.
“Dude, we’re living together, once that gets around it’s not gonna make a difference whether I’m seen near you or not. So knowing that, I figure I’m all good to do what I want. Hanging out with you makes my list.” Puck was making an effort to explain himself in the most logical way possible. He didn’t want Sam to get the idea that Puck was kinda, maybe... interested. At least not yet.
“Suit yourself, It’d be good to have someone at my back in case anyone wants to start something.” Sam sat up in his chair a little and his shoulders relaxed.
“At your back? Man I’ll be leading the charge if any losers try to mess with you; hell, you’re so slow you’ll probably miss the fight. Who’s gonna cheer for me while I mash my fist into Karofsky’s face?” Just saying it out loud felt satisfying. Puck could only imagine how amazing the real thing would be.
“Who said anything about Karofsky? I thought he settled down after prom last year...” Sam had picked up Puck’s English book off his desk and was flipping through it slowly. Puck thought he might be looking for pictures, and he had to stop himself from laughing when Sam scowled a little at the realization that there weren’t any.
“Karofsky is the face and name we use to describe any loud-mouth jackass who can’t keep their hands to themselves.” Puck only realized afterwards that this description applied just as much to himself as Karofsky, but he let it go. Sam knew what he meant, and the guy nodded slowly to confirm as he furrowed his brow, concentrating on a page from early in the book to figure out if he and Puck had read up to that point yet.
In the background Wiggy was talking about an upcoming teacher-planning day. It was weeks away so Puck didn’t give it much thought as Sam passed his book back. Home group was nearly over and everyone had started collecting their gear.
Once the bell rang out everyone started to move out of the room. They were almost out the door when Wiggy called Sam back.
“Evans, Coach Beiste asked for you to be at her office straight after school.” The little man was very direct, and he shuffled the papers on his desk together, not even looking at them. Sam just nodded dumbly; Puck had forgotten all about football tryouts and Sam’s performance the week before. It was obvious now what had been going on in Sam’s head that brought his game so far down.
“Dude, do you even want to be on the team anymore, if you’re coming out soon?” Puck asked Sam as they maneuvered through the corridor.
“I seriously don’t know... I like football, and I want to play, but I don’t know if it would be worth it... besides, Beiste can’t put me on the front line after how bad I played last week, and I don’t want to be warming the bench all season, I’d be better off spending the time in the gym...” Sam looked torn, and Puck didn’t blame him.
“Just see what Coach has to say tonight. Maybe she can help you sort it all out... I’ll catch you at lunch though.” Puck left Sam with a half-wave and took a side corridor. He wasn’t sure what he thought Sam should do. On the one hand, he wanted Sam on the team - he was an awesome player and he figured it might be good for Sam to keep up with some of his usual activities, what with all the changes going on right now. But Puck didn’t know how the team would react if Sam came out like he was planning. If he were in the same boat he wasn’t sure what he’d do, except hope like hell that Glee and practice were clashing this year to weight the choice. Privately, Puck knew he’d easily pick Glee over football.
#
Lunch swung around in no time and Puck was shoving his books back into his locker when Sam appeared at his elbow, leaning into one of the other lockers while Puck finished.
“Spanish hates me.” Sam moaned as Puck clamped his lock into place and they started walking down the corridor. “Seriously, it’s even worse than English, at least in English when someone reads it out I can understand it. Spanish is like wading knee deep through verb conjugations. With sharp teeth. I don’t even know what a conjugation is.” Sam was half smiling, so Puck let him bitch. The truth was that neither of them were any good with Spanish, but Schuester was an okay teacher so Puck had scraped by so far.
They got to the clubs’ corridor and Puck remembered that he still hadn’t checked if football and Glee were going to clash. In fact, he hadn’t seen many of the other Glee clubbers yet - but he had remembered over the weekend that they were actually going to have to audition this year. Puck made a left and Sam followed his lead.
They came to the Glee notice board to see a large sign posted for auditions to occur in the auditorium on Monday afternoon. Puck was happy about that, because it gave him time to think of something he could sing and it meant less chance of any haters coming to the auditions to mess with them. He glanced at Sam.
“Any ideas?”
Sam shrugged a little. “Maybe something classic like Elvis, or... I don’t know, is it cool if we go through your CDs for some ideas later?” Sam scratched his chest absently. Puck had already been planning to do exactly that.
Out of nowhere, Santana squeezed between them to get at the board and stapled a large yellow sheet below the audition notice. She turned to them.
“Puckerman, seriously? After three days of looking for you in the corridor last week Britt wanted to send out search parties, and now it just turns out that you’re badly in need of a haircut?” She glanced from Puck to Sam and flicked her hair back. “Trouty,” she gave Sam a wink and Puck felt his stomach twist uncomfortably “Good to have you both in one place, we’re having a pre-audition party Friday night and you two are pegged to bring the beer.” She treated Sam to a lingering look up and down before sliding between them again- rubbing suggestively up against Sam in the process- and heading back down the corridor. Puck felt like his hackles were raised, whatever that meant.
The notice Santana had posted was to advise Glee Club auditionee’s about the party. Puck mentally congratulated her on her deviousness; A party at Santana’s place was a pretty persuasive way to bring in new recruits.
He still didn’t like the way she had looked at Sam though. The only consolation was that he could be fairly sure that Sam wasn’t looking back.
Pairing,Character(s): Sam/Puck (it's getting there)
Rating: Who knows. It feels PG-13 at the moment, but it might become a bit of a rollercoaster.
Spoilers: ...at this point the only spoilers would be for the first 5 chaps of this fic. Go read them for sure.
Summary: Why does everything always seem so straight-forward when you're warm in bed in the early morning?
Chapter 6
Puck figured it had to be before dawn, though he was pretty sure the curtains were drawn tightly enough that if it were one in the afternoon they’d be none the wiser. Still, the temperature in the room and the sleepiness of the house made him think it had to be around five in the morning.
He’d been woken up when Sam turned over and cuddled up closer to him in his sleep. Puck thought it was kinda awesome, like, that Sam enjoyed cuddling him... but he was troubled though, because he thought maybe he shouldn’t be doing this.
Puck wasn’t very good at thinking about feelings, and where Sam was concerned Puck felt really confused.
He had never given much thought to sexuality. Through most of high school he’d figured guys should be guys, and chicks should be chicks. Like, guys were supposed to do guy-things, and chicks were basically a mystery. Throwing Hummel into a dumpster had been a way of punishing the kid for breaking one of Puck’s fundamental laws; Kurt was a guy, but he acted like a chick. Puck only realized later that it might make Kurt feel bad.
Now though, Puck was pretty sure he’d outgrown the need to label everything in black and white. This revelation came as a relief, because Sam was snuggled into his side and Puck didn’t want to have to go dumpster diving in order to maintain his integrity.
Sam wasn’t like Kurt, anyway... he was a total dude. He was sporty and interested in computer games and he wore normal clothes. Lying in bed, Puck figured that as long as Sam was acting like a dude, according to bro rules, it was none of Puck’s business who the guy wanted to share a bed with. Or something. Maybe it didn’t even matter if Sam like... decided to wear dresses. Puck didn’t usually think this much, but he wasn’t sure he was really bothered at all who other people wanted to sleep with, just as long as he got to sleep with his fair share of the people that HE was interested in.
Puck shifted a little to relieve an ache in his arm. He couldn’t help looking down at Sam’s face. He looked relaxed and his eyes were moving a bit under the closed lids. Puck thought maybe that meant Sam was dreaming. He softly brushed some of Sam’s hair back off his face with his fingers. Sam’s skin was warm and smooth and Puck felt great with the weight of Sam’s body pressed up against him.
It was obvious to Puck that there were some changes happening in his life right now. Some of them were tough to deal with - Quinn and her issues were always in the back of his mind - but there were other things going on that Puck wasn’t too bothered about. He loved having Sam around. He’d never been close with a guy friend like this before, it was all new to him, and he liked it. The only thing that Puck wasn’t sure about was... well, he’d decided he didn’t care what Sam wanted to do behind closed doors with whoever. But now Sam was sharing a bed with HIM - hell, he’d practically broken a sweat hoping for an invitation. He had his arms around the guy, and it felt awesome. Puck gave Sam a squeeze and Sam nuzzled Puck’s shoulder in his sleep. Insanely awesome. Puck didn’t know what that meant.
Plus, Puck reminded himself, Sam’s like, living with me at the moment... it’s not cool to start something you’re not prepared to finish. Puck didn’t know if he might be bi or whatever, he knew that sleeping with chicks was a big part of his rep, and it felt good... but snuggling with a chick had never felt like this. He’d felt possessive of girls, but in Sam’s case he felt more...protective. The guy had been through some crazy shit over the past week and Puck found himself wanting to start a fight with anyone who looked at Sam funny. He wasn’t used to feeling so strongly about someone, though it definitely didn’t seem like a bad thing.
Besides, Puck thought quietly, who says I wouldn’t be prepared to finish it, if I started something? Puck had never considered the idea of like... sex with a dude... but sex in general was a really good thing, and hell, people wouldn’t DO it if it didn’t feel great. Plus, with the amount of flack gay guys took, he figured the sex had to be correspondingly amazing, or why would they bother?
He made himself stop that line of thought because sex wasn’t supposed to be on his agenda right now. He let himself decide that the possibility of sex with Sam Evans could only be a good thing, and tried to push the thoughts aside. He figured Sam had to be a virgin - like, he’d dated Quinn, who as far as Puck knew only used sex as a method of driving Puck absolutely insane... he didn’t want to think about Quinn right now. Anyway, Puck reminded himself, if I’m thinking about this in terms of sex with dudes then I’m just as much a virgin as anyone else. Point being it would be kind of a big deal if anything happened between him and Sam. Lots of potential for someone to get hurt, and Puck sure as hell wasn’t going to let Sam get hurt again.
The room was really dark but he could still make out Sam’s sleeping face. Puck wanted to wrap himself around Sam, but he stopped himself. In a moment of particularly fierce protective emotion he’d wanted to kiss Sam’s forehead, like, to show he was there... and that was pretty platonic anyway, right? But he remembered his all-important bro-code, which was pretty clear on the fact that a dude shouldn’t kiss anyone he wasn’t hoping to climb into bed with. Puck reckoned it prevented a whole lot of misunderstandings. But I’m already IN bed with him... Puck decided not to make any kind of move until he figured out what he was feeling; overthinking this stuff made him feel a little knotted up inside.
Sam inhaled deeply and his eyes opened slowly; Puck could see the glint of them in the dark.
“Hey,” Sam said sleepily, the arm that he had across Pucks waist moving a little before freezing. Sam’s eyes snapped open. Puck could see panic in them.
“Hey,” Puck shifted forward and bumped their foreheads together gently before settling back into place. He made no move to untangle himself from Sam, and gradually the other boy relaxed.
“I dunno what we’re doing, but it feels nice.” Sam said, and his fingers started tracing little circles on the small of Puck’s back. It felt electric. Puck shivered a little; the touch of Sam’s fingers on his bare skin was sending jolts through his system.
“We’re hugging, dumbass. Try not to overcomplicate things.” Puck grinned at Sam in the dark to show he was being playful. He’d figured out he liked being close to Sam, but if Sam was suddenly going to like... ask him to go steady, or something (his heart gave a weird jump at that) - well, anyway, Puck was just hugging the dude. For the moment that was all he could cram into his self-image without warping it into something unrecognisable.
“Sure, I know... just like, it’s nice. It makes me feel like everything’s fine, you know?” Puck did know. When he’d finally opened up to his mom (he’d spent the longest time scared that she would hit him too) - when he finally had, her hugs were like magic. He remembered how safe he felt with her arms around her, she’d whisper comforting things in his ear. Hey, he thought, not a bad idea...no reason why I shouldn’t copy some tricks...
Puck shuffled a little closer, his arms bringing Sam into a strong hug which brought their bare chests together and Puck gave in to himself just a little by tangling a hand into Sam’s hair. It was as soft as it looked, and Sam didn’t seem to mind at all.
Puck whispered into Sam’s ear, very softly, that everything was fine, that Puck was there for him... a whole bunch of comforting stuff that Puck was frankly surprised he had in him. It was good for both of them, because somehow it helped Puck straighten out his jumbled up feelings. He wanted to be there for Sam. Maybe in more than one way; hell, he had to break their hug after a little while because the heat the dude was putting off was totally turning Puck on, and this sure as hell wasn’t the time... anyway, Puck decided he was cool with whatever happened. Like, if something happened.
Puck shook himself a little and Sam nuzzled his shoulder again.
“Any idea what the time is?” Sam mumbled sleepily, his eyes closed again.
“Too early for either of us,” Puck whispered. “Go back to sleep dopey.”
Puck followed his own advice after that - but not before he pulled away for a second and flipped over, quietly pulling Sam’s arm around his waist.
He was right, too - being the little spoon with Sam Evans was a fuckin’ rush.
#
He and Sam had done their homework together on Sunday and gone for a walk around the neighbourhood. Puck showed Sam the local skate park, they swung by the corner store and bought some food for lunch. The day had flown by. Once it got late they both brushed their teeth and Puck had play-wrestled Sam down onto his bed, and conveniently stayed there to cuddle and sleep again. Sam hadn’t said anything about it, which made Puck happy because he wouldn’t be able to explain why he was snuggling up to Sam without an explicit invitation.
They woke up early enough to grab a shower each and there was plenty of cereal and stuff for breakfast, after which they had bundled into Pucks truck and jetted off for school.
Somehow Puck thought everything would be different on Monday. Like, they’d rock up to school and everyone would look at them and just magically know everything that was going on in his head. He figured by lunchtime he’d be in a fist fight with the first little brat to work up the nerve to say something to his face.
Puck wasn’t too concerned; he figured once he broke a few bones the younger levels would fall neatly into line and the other seniors would quietly learn to live with the new reality: Noah Puckerman will sleep with whomever the fuck he wants. Unless, you know, for some reason the other party wasn’t interested - but Puck didn’t rate that as very likely so he didn’t give it much thought.
#
After getting all nervous about McKinley being filled with mind-readers, Puck felt surprised when no one looked at him strangely. No one knew about what had happened with Sam - though he doubted something like that could stay quiet for long.
Puck wandered down the seniors’ corridor toward his locker and felt a renewed sense of power when he saw that a lot of his own yearmates tried to keep out of his way. He knew that with his hair growing out into more of a no-hawk he looked a lot less intimidating from a distance, but he liked to think he retained the general ‘do not fuck with me’ air on close inspection.
After grabbed his books Puck shot off for home group. He found he was a little eager to get there and meet up with Sam again, even though they’d split up in the corridor only a few minutes before. Puck resisted the urge to slap himself around.
Sam was already sitting in the back in their normal spot and he smiled when Puck meandered into the room. Puck gave him a smirk and made his way over, slowly weaving through the desks in the way. He used the time to try and figure out if ruffling Sam’s hair would be crossing a line. There wasn’t enough time to be sure, so he just gave the blond kid a friendly punch on the arm before settling into his regular place.
The room stared to fill up shortly after that. Puck was starting to appreciate just how much noise a form group of upperclassmen could generate. By the time Wiggy arrived it would be impossible for the teacher to get their attention. Puck figured everyone was sharing their weekend stories.
“So I was going to say something this morning but I didn’t know how to say it really...” Sam had started talking to him quietly. The otherwise noisy room provided a great background for a private conversation, and Sam had leaned a little closer so he could talk to Puck without anyone having much chance of overhearing.
“If you’re going to compliment my cooking,” Puck said, “it was cereal.” Puck smirked at him and Sam grinned.
“Actually it was something else. I just wanted to say, I’ll probably be out of the closet pretty soon, one way or another... so, if you don’t want to be seen hanging out with me too much at school, that’s totally fine. I don’t want to pull you into anything.” Sam shuffled his feet under his desk and pushed his hair out of his face. Puck just snorted.
“Dude, we’re living together, once that gets around it’s not gonna make a difference whether I’m seen near you or not. So knowing that, I figure I’m all good to do what I want. Hanging out with you makes my list.” Puck was making an effort to explain himself in the most logical way possible. He didn’t want Sam to get the idea that Puck was kinda, maybe... interested. At least not yet.
“Suit yourself, It’d be good to have someone at my back in case anyone wants to start something.” Sam sat up in his chair a little and his shoulders relaxed.
“At your back? Man I’ll be leading the charge if any losers try to mess with you; hell, you’re so slow you’ll probably miss the fight. Who’s gonna cheer for me while I mash my fist into Karofsky’s face?” Just saying it out loud felt satisfying. Puck could only imagine how amazing the real thing would be.
“Who said anything about Karofsky? I thought he settled down after prom last year...” Sam had picked up Puck’s English book off his desk and was flipping through it slowly. Puck thought he might be looking for pictures, and he had to stop himself from laughing when Sam scowled a little at the realization that there weren’t any.
“Karofsky is the face and name we use to describe any loud-mouth jackass who can’t keep their hands to themselves.” Puck only realized afterwards that this description applied just as much to himself as Karofsky, but he let it go. Sam knew what he meant, and the guy nodded slowly to confirm as he furrowed his brow, concentrating on a page from early in the book to figure out if he and Puck had read up to that point yet.
In the background Wiggy was talking about an upcoming teacher-planning day. It was weeks away so Puck didn’t give it much thought as Sam passed his book back. Home group was nearly over and everyone had started collecting their gear.
Once the bell rang out everyone started to move out of the room. They were almost out the door when Wiggy called Sam back.
“Evans, Coach Beiste asked for you to be at her office straight after school.” The little man was very direct, and he shuffled the papers on his desk together, not even looking at them. Sam just nodded dumbly; Puck had forgotten all about football tryouts and Sam’s performance the week before. It was obvious now what had been going on in Sam’s head that brought his game so far down.
“Dude, do you even want to be on the team anymore, if you’re coming out soon?” Puck asked Sam as they maneuvered through the corridor.
“I seriously don’t know... I like football, and I want to play, but I don’t know if it would be worth it... besides, Beiste can’t put me on the front line after how bad I played last week, and I don’t want to be warming the bench all season, I’d be better off spending the time in the gym...” Sam looked torn, and Puck didn’t blame him.
“Just see what Coach has to say tonight. Maybe she can help you sort it all out... I’ll catch you at lunch though.” Puck left Sam with a half-wave and took a side corridor. He wasn’t sure what he thought Sam should do. On the one hand, he wanted Sam on the team - he was an awesome player and he figured it might be good for Sam to keep up with some of his usual activities, what with all the changes going on right now. But Puck didn’t know how the team would react if Sam came out like he was planning. If he were in the same boat he wasn’t sure what he’d do, except hope like hell that Glee and practice were clashing this year to weight the choice. Privately, Puck knew he’d easily pick Glee over football.
#
Lunch swung around in no time and Puck was shoving his books back into his locker when Sam appeared at his elbow, leaning into one of the other lockers while Puck finished.
“Spanish hates me.” Sam moaned as Puck clamped his lock into place and they started walking down the corridor. “Seriously, it’s even worse than English, at least in English when someone reads it out I can understand it. Spanish is like wading knee deep through verb conjugations. With sharp teeth. I don’t even know what a conjugation is.” Sam was half smiling, so Puck let him bitch. The truth was that neither of them were any good with Spanish, but Schuester was an okay teacher so Puck had scraped by so far.
They got to the clubs’ corridor and Puck remembered that he still hadn’t checked if football and Glee were going to clash. In fact, he hadn’t seen many of the other Glee clubbers yet - but he had remembered over the weekend that they were actually going to have to audition this year. Puck made a left and Sam followed his lead.
They came to the Glee notice board to see a large sign posted for auditions to occur in the auditorium on Monday afternoon. Puck was happy about that, because it gave him time to think of something he could sing and it meant less chance of any haters coming to the auditions to mess with them. He glanced at Sam.
“Any ideas?”
Sam shrugged a little. “Maybe something classic like Elvis, or... I don’t know, is it cool if we go through your CDs for some ideas later?” Sam scratched his chest absently. Puck had already been planning to do exactly that.
Out of nowhere, Santana squeezed between them to get at the board and stapled a large yellow sheet below the audition notice. She turned to them.
“Puckerman, seriously? After three days of looking for you in the corridor last week Britt wanted to send out search parties, and now it just turns out that you’re badly in need of a haircut?” She glanced from Puck to Sam and flicked her hair back. “Trouty,” she gave Sam a wink and Puck felt his stomach twist uncomfortably “Good to have you both in one place, we’re having a pre-audition party Friday night and you two are pegged to bring the beer.” She treated Sam to a lingering look up and down before sliding between them again- rubbing suggestively up against Sam in the process- and heading back down the corridor. Puck felt like his hackles were raised, whatever that meant.
The notice Santana had posted was to advise Glee Club auditionee’s about the party. Puck mentally congratulated her on her deviousness; A party at Santana’s place was a pretty persuasive way to bring in new recruits.
He still didn’t like the way she had looked at Sam though. The only consolation was that he could be fairly sure that Sam wasn’t looking back.