Puck/Kurt fic: Falling A Little Bit Faster
Title: Falling A Litte Bit Faster
Author: grimcognito
Rating: PG-13 (a few curse words)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): pre-slash Puck/Kurt,
Genre: fluffy, shmoopy sweetness
Warning: Cuteness?
Spoilers: Hmm, not really.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I make no profit from this.
Author Notes: My very late auction fic for the ever so patient and awesome cplone27 who bought me in the fic auction over at help_nz and donated even more than she had to. All for you, lovely! :D
Sorry it's more pre-slash than anything, but anything more seemed like a bit much. (maybe I'll try a second story, later in this timeline...)
Summary: Puck knows Kurt is a bit shallow, and his fancy-ass clothes are his pride and joy, so it's a surprise to see a glimpse of who Kurt Hummel is outside of McKinley High.
Word Count: 1632
Puck stretched his arms over his head as he walked to his truck, relishing the faint burn in his muscles after the workout Coach Beiste had put them through for practice. He’d been happy to notice that he was actually improving with the training, something that hadn’t happened with the last coach.
He climbed into his truck and pulled out of the parking lot, headed toward Sarah’s elementary school. He’d promised to pick her up from her after school program since his Ma was working the late shift again. He didn’t mind, his Ma needed someone she could count on and Puck wasn’t about to make his sister walk all the way back to the house by herself.
He was going to make sure she never felt the way he had at that age, with his Ma always tired from working, still hurting from his dad running off and leaving him to figure everything out on his own. He knew it wasn’t his Ma’s fault, but she still had to work all the time, so he was left caring for Sarah most days.
If nothing else, he was going to make sure Sarah didn’t turn into the girl version of himself, he’d make sure that she wouldn’t sleep around or steal shit because the thrill was the only thing to take his mind off all the other things going on in his head. He shook his head as he parked his truck at Sarah’s school, not wanting to go down that particular train of thought just yet.
He walked in and passed by the front office, waving to Janie, the usual desk clerk. She waved back with a smile, then called out to him, “Oh, wait a moment Noah!”
Puck paused and turned back to her, worried for a second that Sarah was in some kind of trouble, but she didn’t seem too concerned or anything. “What’s up?”
Janie raised a brow at the phrase but didn’t bother trying to correct him, “Just wanted to tell you that there were some teacher meetings in the usual rooms, so the after school program moved down to room 15B, at the other end of the hall.”
Puck thanked her and headed down the hall, turning right instead of his usual left. He wandered down the hall, not in any rush since he was still a little early, and absently checked out the rooms through the open doors as he passed.
This hall was where the younger kids had classes, all of the rooms were shades of pastel, decorated with sloppy crayon drawings and giant, colorful A B Cs. Most were empty, the younger kids having been picked up already, but there was one room still occupied.
Puck passed it by after a cursory glance proved the kids inside were too young for it to be his sister’s group, but nearly gave himself whiplash snapping his head back for double take. He walked backwards a step to look into the room again, and stared in confusion.
He recognized Kurt, even with his back turned, there was no way two people in Lima had the same weird oversized sweater, skinny jeans, hat and poncy shoes combo Kurt had been wearing that day at school. Something designer with a fancy name and looked stupid no matter how it was worn, but Kurt somehow managed to pull it off without looking like a complete idiot.
Puck looked around for the teacher that was supposed to be watching the kids and realized that it was just Hummel and the kiddies, all eyes glued on him as he read them a story in an animated voice that changed with the characters. Puck had to hold back his snort of amusement at the high pitched, princess voice suddenly dropping into a deeper tone to play the part of the hero.
Who knew Hummel even knew how to interact with kids? Puck would have thought that Kurt would stay far away in fear of getting kiddie germs all over his fancy-ass clothes.
He checked his watch to make sure he had a little more time and leaned against the doorway to watch for a few more minutes. A boy, messy haired and sniffling, wobbled over to Kurt and tugged on his sleeve, wanting to know if the prince was going to get eaten by the dragon.
Kurt turned to look at the kid, giving Puck a perfect profile and smiled. Something caught in Puck’s chest, reminding him why he’d been careful to avoid paying too much attention to Kurt, why he tried so hard to ignore the way he felt warm when Kurt focused his attention on Puck.
Luckily, it didn’t happen often. But this, this was something else all together, because he’d never seen Kurt smile like that before. It wasn’t smug, or mean, or that damned fake smile he used when he was hurting but tried to pretend he wasn’t. This was a real smile, all warmth and contentment, and it hit Puck like a physical blow.
He rubbed at his chest, hoping that heat just beneath his ribs was because of that burrito he’d wolfed down for lunch and not because he was having feelings or some shit.
Then Kurt had to go and kick his denial in the ass when he murmured something to the kid and gently wiped his nose using the edge of his sweater sleeve. Puck’s heart thumped hard at the sight and, shit, he was in way too deep.
Puck backed away from the door before he ended up with a stupid grin on his face or googley eyes, or some nonsense. He walked quickly to his sister’s group in a classroom at the end of the hall and let her babbling about her day wash away any other thoughts, at least for the rest of the afternoon.
………….
At school, Puck slammed his locker shut and ran a hand over his mohawk in an attempt to calm his nerves. Nothing to be nervous about, he tried to convince himself, as he headed down the hall to Kurt’s locker, relieved that he was still there.
He tapped Kurt on the shoulder once he reached him, ignoring the brief pang of disappointment when Kurt leveled a suspicious glare at him. “Do you need something, Puckerman?”
Puck dug in his pocket and pulled out the small packet he’d been keeping there since he’d picked it up from the drug store on the way to school. He held it out to Kurt, who just stared at his outstretched hand. “Here. It’s for you.”
Kurt raised an eyebrow. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Shaking his head with a frown, Puck tried again, “Dude, just take it and say thanks. Geez, you think I’d be this freaking obvious if it was a prank? Don’t answer that, just,” he blew out a sigh, “Just take it, okay?”
Kurt still looked suspicious, but held out his hand and Puck dropped the small packet into his palm.
“Tissues?”
Puck smirked at the cute little frown of confusion, “That way you don’t have to wipe kiddie snot on your sleeves. It’s unclean, man.”
Kurt blinked up at him, surprised. “How did you know about that?”
Shrugging, Puck shoved his hands into his pockets. “My sister goes to the afterschool program, and I pick her up. I saw you reading to the kids.”
“Oh.” Puck took a step back, afraid that if he didn’t, he’d do something stupid, like hug Kurt for having such an adorably surprised expression. And when the hell did he turn into such a girl?
He stopped caring about his sudden turn down the path of fluff and cuddles when Kurt smiled up at him. That sweet little upward turn that made his eyes look soft and didn’t have the bitter edge of his usual fake smiles. “Thank you. I’ll make good use of them.”
Puck shrugged, suddenly finding everything in the hallway but Kurt’s face very interesting. What the hell was wrong with him? He might as well sign away all of his badass points, because all his usual swagger was lost under his mumbled answer. “Whatever. I, uh, gotta go.”
Kurt kept smiling, “Alright, and Puck?”
Why was it so hard to walk away? “Yeah?”
“Next time you stop by to hear me read, come in and say hi. I’m sure the kids would love to have two people doing the voices. You can play the part of the dashing prince.”
He wasn’t blushing, because Puck never blushed. It was just really warm in the hallway for some reason. Yeah, that was it. “Um, sure, I guess. If, you know, I have time or whatever.” Jesus, it was like he was some middle-school kid with a first crush. Definitely time to make his escape. “Later, man.”
“See you later… Noah.”
Puck refused to acknowledge the way his heart thumped at the way Kurt said his given name, like it meant something. He just kept moving until he made it to his classroom, ignoring the shocked look on the teacher’s face as he sat down. It wasn’t until he was in the middle of scribbling notes down that he realized he was actually doing his math work in an attempt to distract himself from replaying Kurt’s smile in his mind. Clearly, that boy was going to be the death of him. At least his mom would be happy with his new drive for schoolwork.
As he continued to solve the problems on the worksheet, he wondered if he’d have time to show up early for the next reading session. He’d totally make an awesome prince, slaying dragons, doing epic shit, and maybe he’d be able to coax another one of those shy smiles out of his ‘princess’.