Glee - SLL Verse - Attention Grabbing - 4/8 - R
At Sectionals, Puck couldn’t help grinning. They were gonna make it this year, he just knew it. They were seniors, and third time’s the charm. Their numbers were awesome. Puck poured on the sultry during the ballad with Santana (Brittany had given him a severe talking to about girlfriend stealing after the decision was made, but he never had any intention of taking the Latina from her; they had waited long enough).
The second song, featuring heavy vocals by Artie and Quinn with Finn and Rachel providing a counter-sound, went well. The dance moves were difficult, but everyone had them down by competition day. The final song, led by Kurt and Mercedes, really blew the roof off the house, though. With her Chocolate Thunder, his beautiful voice, and their combined lung power, it couldn’t have gone better.
They all ran off stage, laughing and cheering and hugging at random. Puck found himself swinging Mike Chang around for a moment (the guy had nailed every set of splits out there, and there were a lot). Kurt’s squeal of “Blaine!” brought him down to Earth awfully quickly, though. He had his arm around Tina’s neck, but let it slide off as he watched the countertenor run to his boyfriend.
He could see Kurt’s brilliant smile (and it meant something that it killed him to see it directed at Blaine instead of himself, didn’t it?) as he babbled on about the selections and asked if the raven liked it. Puck couldn’t actually hear the answer the douchebag gave, but he could very nearly guess what sort of things he said as he watched Kurt’s giddy grin slip until he looked absolutely crushed.
Fuming, Puck glanced at Finn. Finn had a forced smile on his face as he talked to Rachel, but his eyes caught Puck’s and he knew they were both pissed (and maybe hurt) by what was going on in that corner between Kurt and the Harry Potter wannabe.
Kurt’s smile didn’t come back until they were announced the winners, and even then it wasn’t as wide as it should have been.
On the bus ride back to Lima, Puck sat next to Kurt. “So, you kicked ass at that solo today.”
Kurt shrugged. “I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I rushed a little mid-way, and I didn’t hold the final note as long as Mercedes did.”
“So? I’ve heard you sing that number a lot, and today was your best performance.” Kurt shrugged again, looking out the window. “Seriously, Kurt. You always do better at competition. You light up on stage, your face practically glowing the emotions for the audience.”
“You think so?” Kurt asked, turning back to Puck with a curious look in his eyes.
“I know so. I was part of that audience a couple of times last year.”
“Yeah, but I only had any significant part in Candles.”
“What’s your point? You just about had me in tears by the end of that song.”
Kurt’s face burned red. “What?”
“Don’t tell anybody,” Puck insisted, glancing around. Kurt laughed. Puck pinned his gaze back on Kurt. “What did that asshole say to you?”
“What?” Now Kurt was just confused.
“You were so happy, so pleased, with the performance until your boyfriend told you his opinion. What did he say? And why did you let it bother you like that?”
“Puck, it’s really not any of your business.” Kurt was refusing to look him in the face.
“Kurt, you don’t have to take his shit like this.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You let him tear you down, and I don’t like that. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“I suppose so…”
“Then I can tell you that I don’t like him, right?”
“Puck, who I date isn’t up to-”
“I know that, but don’t you think you can do better?”
“No, actually, I don’t. Not now, at least.” Kurt was looking at him again, but now he was glaring.
“How can you let him talk to you like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re not good enough!” Puck clenched his jaw as Kurt’s eyes widened. He glanced to check that they hadn’t gained any attention before going on. “You don’t deserve him, Kurt.”
“And what do I deserve, Puckerman?”
“Somebody who’ll treat you right and not talk down to you. Or about you. Somebody who won’t use your insecurities to manipulate you to stay with them. Who won’t yoyo their feelings and hurt you deliberately, even if only with words.”
“Well I hate to break it to you Puck, but this is high school. Everyone uses others’ insecurities, and everyone yoyos, and no one treats anyone right. And despite how many people are lined up to get with you, I don’t have anyone but Blaine interested. So why shouldn’t I stay with him?”
“Kurt, you’re wrong. I would rather you be alone than waste your last year of high school, or the first years of your life, or all your life, with that dick.” Kurt’s face twisted, like he’d tasted something sour. “There are people out there, Kurt. People in the world, in Lima, in our school. People on this bus that would worship you. That would treat you like a prince and make you feel like a star when you’re down, rather than tear and drag you back down to the dirt with the rest of us. Because, Kurt, that’s what you deserve.”
Kurt stared, wide-eyed, mouth gaping. It was horribly adorable, and Puck had to get away before he started trying to kiss that sweet confusion away. He stood up and walked up the bus aisle.
“Puck, sit down!” Schue called back. Puck threw himself into the seat beside Finn and groaned, covering his eyes with one hand.
“What happened, dude?”
“The jackass basically told him that he sucked on stage this afternoon.”
“What?! I’ll fucking kill him!” Puck jabbed his elbow into Finn’s side.
“Shut up!”
“Ow.” Finn rubbed the spot before looking up from it to Puck (also with a humiliatingly adorable face). “So what did you say?”
“I told him he kicked ass and his boyfriend’s a moron.”
“Okay.”
“And that he deserves better.”
“Good.”
“And that there are people who would give him what he deserves.”
“Right…”
Puck shrugged, glancing back. “I may have gotten a bit semi-poetic, so he might know I like him. Or he might think I hit my head.”
“So you like him now?”
Puck glared. “Is that a problem?”
“No. You just…hadn’t said if it had gone from wanting in his pants to wanting more.”
“Well, seeing that idiot hurt him today really helped,” Puck muttered, picking at invisible dust on his pants.
“Mmhm. What’s our next move? Are we still going for this together or are we each making our own bid?”
“Well neither of us can do anything until he dumps that jackass. So until that happens, we should probably just do what we have been.”
Finn nodded, and Puck wanted to punch himself. A chance three-way with Finn had been a long time dream, but things since last year had gotten so much more intense between them. And since they had admitted being into Kurt, the attraction between them had grown. The phone sex the night before had been…incredible. Puck knew he could get a person shaking and panting with his voice, but hearing Finn groaning, knowing it was Finn coming undone had turned Puck on so much. He really had gotten a call from the neighbor telling him to shut up after hanging up with Finn.
Suddenly, he had gone from pushing Finn towards going for Kurt and hopefully getting a threesome out of it to being ready to fight Finn for Kurt and Kurt for Finn. How did he get there so fast? He was so fucked, because he didn’t think he could ever really have either. Finn was into thin, semi-girly, curvaceous Kurt and Kurt had been crushing on sweet, bumbling, adorable Finn. What was Puck?
A mask of uncaring; a tail-chaser; a juvenile delinquent. Too buff for Finn’s tastes, too coarse for Kurt’s. They were going to fall into each other’s arms eventually, and Puck would just have to watch and pray his heart didn’t get broken again.