The Things We Never Say [Blaine/Puck]
Title: The Things We Never Say
Author:preferthemoss
Pairing: Blaine Anderson/Noah Puckerman
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Schmangst
Spoilers: General Season Two
Words: 3100
Summary: Prompt; Some of the McKinley jocks push Blaine around a little and he gets a few cuts and bruises. His boyfriend (preferably Puck) sees them and freaks out.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. (Read full disclaimer here.)
Notes: So I took a break from my Kurtofsky schmoop to write Ankerman angst.... which somehow turned into schmoop too. My life. Canon Glee events have a bit of a jumbled/AU timeline here, and I'm going with NewDirections!Blaine as well.
Blaine's hands trembled as he leaned against the sink in the McKinley high bathroom, a place he suspected he'd be spending a lot of time. Not hiding, of course, because Blaine Anderson hadn't been raised that way. But, in all reality, there were really few places elsewhere to clean up the blood.
"'Sup, gorgeous," Puck called out from the driver's seat of his car, and Blaine just smiled as he pulled the door open, sliding into the passenger seat as Puck turned down the music he was blaring from his iPod dock.
"Hey," Blaine greeted back simply, leaning over the console between them to rest a hand over the side of Puck's face, pulling him in close enough to press a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. "Thanks for coming tonight," he added as he pulled back, feeling guilty that he'd essentially pulled Puck out of the house on the one night he swore he'd actually been intending to study on. But, Rachel had backed out of their plans at the last minute, in favor of scheming over Finn, no doubt. And Blaine had called Puck, with the intentions of wallowing over the fact that he'd gotten his hair perfect, and was now doomed to stay in all night and waste it.
Of course, Puck had heard that as 'come pick me up now', and... Blaine really couldn't complain about that.
"Oh, we'll leave the coming for later," Puck leered back with a wicked smirk, and Blaine flushed deeply as he huffed out in amusement.
"You are terrible, you know that?" He asked around his laughter, letting his hand fly out to slap across Puck's shoulder playfully.
"Mmm, but you love me," Puck countered without missing a beat, winking at Blaine before pulling out of the driveway.
"Yeah," Blaine sighed deeply, in a way that was entirely put-upon. "I really kind of do."
"Noah," Blaine chastised without venom, sliding off of the stationary motorcycle he was trying and failing to steer through the video game screen in front of them, while Puck skillfully turned the handles and revved the gears on his, sending his game player across the screen at lightning speeds.
"Aw, come on, what?" Puck asked back with a laugh, words almost lost under the loud and grating electronic sounds of the arcade. "Dude, I am badass at this game!"
"Yeah, and I'm not!" Blaine reminded self-pityingly. "And don't call me dude, dude," he teased, moving to stand beside Puck, running a hand slowly down his well-toned arm.
"Oh, I see now what this is all about," Puck started as he continued to play, while Blaine's motorcycle lay in a burning heap off the side of the digital road. "You just don't wanna play anymore 'cause you're horny, and you wanna get laid," Puck accused teasingly, eyes on the screen as he whipped his bike around a corner.
Blaine smirked at Puck's words, wondering how he'd ended up with a man who was so unforgivably brash. But he swallowed down his urge to correct his terms, doing nothing but pressing in closer, tightening his grip over Puck's arm.
"Oh," Puck gasped out after a moment, before wincing as his motorcycle flew off-course, crashing into a brick wall. "Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about," he leered with a grin, sliding off the bike to wrap both arms around Blaine's waist, pushing him toward the door with a frantic and clumsy pace.
"Puck," Blaine warned, laughing as his boyfriend kicked at the wheelchair-access door opener, keeping his hands on Blaine's body, rather than using them for anything else.
It was moments like this when Blaine remembered that he didn't mind being with a man who was so unforgivably brash.
"Who's house is this?" Blaine asked with a hitch in his throat, feeling a sick sense of panic well up in his chest as Puck pried open a window, sliding it up in it's frame before moving to gesture Blaine inside.
"Relax," Puck insisted, "it's my house," he shrugged, and Blaine shook his head incredulously at how stupid Puck could sometimes be.
"Um, no, Noah, this is not your house!" He threw back, crossing his arms over his chest as he refused to take Puck's hand. "I have been to your house, and this--"
"Okay!" Puck surrendered with his hands up, and Blaine tried to bite down a smile; Puck was really kind of adorable when he was flustered. "It's Finn's house," he explained, and Blaine's eyebrows raised as he looked from Puck, to the window, and back again. "Finn and his mom are in the process of moving in with Kurt and his dad, they've been spending nights there for a couple of weeks," Puck started, shoving his hands into his pockets as he did. "Meaning that right now? This house is ours," he insisted, moving in to close the distance between them, leaning down to press a kiss to Blaine's lips.
"Well... what if they come back here tonight?" Blaine asked tentatively, because while he knew that Finn and Puck were good enough friends for them both to be okay with this, he'd never met Finn's mom, and didn't exactly want to do it with his pants quite literally down.
"Oh come on," Puck taunted, slapping a hand to the bottom of the open window frame. "You're not gonna pussy out on me now, are you?" He asked with a smug and self-satisfied grin, and Blaine sighed deeply as he felt his resolve break down.
"Noah Puckerman," he started, shaking his head as he took a step toward the window. "You are absolutely evil."
Blaine melted against Puck's body, as Puck's hand ran up the back of his shirt, palm spread wide over his skin as he backed them up to the bed.
"You realize you're about to have sex in your best friend's bedroom, right?" Blaine asked teasingly, feeling himself blush as Puck licked at his neck.
"Mmm, wouldn't be the first time," Puck answered back with a shrug, and Blaine's jaw dropped incredulously as he took in that fact.
"Oh god, Puck," he tossed out, before throwing a good-natured punch to Puck's shoulder. "You are unbelievable," he laughed, swallowing down the jealousy that wove through him at the thought of Puck being with anyone other than him.
"But, once again," Puck started, pushing Blaine down onto the bed, "you love me."
Blaine smiled softly as Puck reached down to the button on Blaine's jeans, popping it open while sucking hotly at his neck, and Blaine was sure he'd be leaving some deep, dark bruises.
"Um," Blaine tensed immediately at the thought of the hickeys, remembering that the left side of his stomach was currently marred with discolorations that'd been put there in an entirely different way.
He knew he should have told Puck by now, that the hockey team had been roughing him up in almost a routine, most Wednesdays and Fridays after school. Blaine knew that he should have done something by now, but then he remembered Kurt, and the fact that he'd been dealing with this for years. It wasn't a big deal in Lima, Ohio, or at least not in McKinley. There were the cool kids, and then there were the ones who spent more than two minutes getting ready in the morning. And if you were the latter, well... that's just the way life worked for you.
"Puck, wait, we..." Blaine squirmed under his boyfriend's body, reaching down to pull the hem of his shirt back down over his stomach. "You should really study tonight, like you wanted to, we--"
"Hell no," Puck declined, shaking his head as he pulled the zipper down on Blaine's jeans. "Not when I've got you here all hot and alone," he lilted, and Blaine's breath hitched as Puck's hand ran over him, stroking across the fabric of his boxers.
"Puck, no," Blaine warned, knowing that Puck would overreact if he saw any of the marks.
It was his battle to fight, Blaine knew. And some day, he would fight back, without a doubt. And until then, he did not need his chivalrous boyfriend kicking ass for him. Blaine wasn't a damsel in distress, and he'd rather be the bleeding Glee kid than the coward who had other people fight for him.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Puck asked in confusion, as he leaned up on his knees, pulling his shirt up over his head. "I thought this is what you wanted."
Blaine closed his eyes as he focused on his breathing, suddenly feeling the bruises over his skin like a burning reminder that they were there. "I'm just really not feeling well," he insisted, with his words ringing out in half-truth.
He felt a little sick.
Puck's mom hadn't been feeling so great lately, either, getting dizzy and confused at the most random of times. She'd been spending full days and nights in the hospital, leaving Puck to take care of his sister and be the man of the house. Blaine had dropped by more nights than not, making dinner for them while Puck helped her with her homework. And it was heartwarming to see a glimpse of adult life with Noah Puckerman, but the truth was that he was only seventeen, and Blaine did not want to add 'oh yeah, the jocks have been beating me' to his boyfriend's list of troubles.
"Is this about Finn's room?" Puck asked with a raised eyebrow, "'Cause, you know, we can totally go fuck on Carole's bed."
"Oh god, Puck," Blaine threw a hand over his eyes, shaking his head as he inhaled deeply. "No, it's not about Finn's room, it's..."
"Is it about Finn?" Puck cried out with an amount of unwarranted worry that was really almost hilarious.
"No, it's... why would it be about Finn? Jesus, Puck," Blaine rambled off in a confused state of panic, realizing that his silence right now was really only making things worse. "I just don't want you to see my body tonight, okay?" He asked finally, settling on a vague version of the truth.
"Aw, baby, I've seen your body before," Puck lilted as he leaned down over Blaine, pressing soft, easy kisses to his forehead and cheeks. "You're sexy, you know that."
Blaine sighed deeply as he realized that this was it, the moment he'd been avoiding for at least the last two months. There was no way he could hide the bruises, and apparently, no way he was talking himself out of having sex tonight, either.
"I just..."
Puck rose an eyebrow as he waited for the words, and Blaine shifted under him, almost wishing they'd gone somewhere a little less private. "I just, kind of... school's really hard on me sometimes. And I know you always say that I can talk to you about anything, unless it starts with the words 'on Broadway', and I appreciate that so much, Puck, I really, really do," he started, bringing one hand up to rest along the back of Puck's neck. "But you have so much to worry about already, with your grades, and football, and Glee, and your mom. And I just... I don't want to add to that, because I want to be your escape from that stuff, not just another addition to--"
"What are you sayin', baby?" Puck interjected with a tone that was low and serious, and Blaine realized then that he had been rambling.
"I... I'm saying..." His eyes ran over Puck's face, warm and worried, as he reached down between them, fingers tangling in the hem of his own shirt as he pulled it up over his body, exposing his stomach, and four long, dark bruises.
Puck's eyes fell down to the newly exposed skin, and Blaine held his breath as Puck tensed incredibly over him, before pushing off the mattress to sit on his knees between Blaine's legs.
"What..." Puck floundered for a moment, and Blaine pulled his shirt back down quickly, biting his lip as he tried to work out an answer.
"It's not a huge deal, Noah, it's--"
"Who?" Puck asked with something dark in his eyes, and in that moment, Blaine felt a little scared.
"It doesn't..." Matter, Blaine wanted to say, until he put himself in Puck's position. "The hockey team, they... they just like to mess around with me some days. Usually when you're at football, or staying late in Glee," he admitted, trembling slightly as the words left his lips.
Puck moved off of the bed, coming to stand at the end of it, hands on his hips as his eyes burned over Blaine's covered stomach. "How long?" He asked in a tone that was shakily calm, forced to stay low, Blaine realized, and he hated the sound of it.
"A couple of months," he answered after a moment, biting his lip as Puck's shoulders squared back. "But Puck, it's--" His words hitched off into a gasp as Puck spun around immediately, throwing a punch to the wall with a loud and almost sickening crack, and Blaine shot up off the bed, hoping to god that the sound had been Finn's wall and not Puck's hand.
"Noah!" He cried out, reaching out to grab at his arm, studying his hand carefully, as if it might break.
"My hand is fine," Puck snapped back, yanking his hand out of Blaine's tentative grip. "It's the rest of me that isn't, Blaine! Why didn't you tell me about this?" He yelled out with a rough and broken tone. "Did you tell anyone else?"
"No!" Blaine insisted, wishing he could rewind and erase until the moment Puck had suggested going to the arcade. "I haven't told anyone, I--"
"Not even Kurt or Rachel?" Puck interjected, crossing his arms over his chest in a way that spoke volumes.
"No! Puck, don't be like that, I didn't keep it from you because I didn't want you to know. I just didn't want you to have to deal with this right now, when I know that your coach has been giving you a hard time with your grades, and Karofsky's been stepping up on Kurt, and I know you've been dealing with trying to take care of him, and I--"
"And none of that matters next to this, Blaine!" Puck insisted, kicking at an already-broken skateboard sticking out from under Finn's bed. "I can take those guys! I can fuck them all up so bad that th--"
"I don't want you to do that!" Blaine cried out, feeling exasperated now as he tried to make his point. "I've seen you go after Karofsky for Kurt, and I love you so much for doing that for him," he started, crying now as he fell back down onto the bed, sitting tensely on the edge as he looked up at Puck. "And it's good, because Kurt's into having you stand up for him. He likes having this big, strong guy who'll kick all the ass that he can't. But I... I'm not okay with me being in that position, I have done everything for myself my entire life, and I cannot have you fighting my battles for me now."
"But you aren't fighting them!" Puck cried out without missing a beat, a major fact that Blaine hoped Puck would skip somehow. "I bet you don't even hit back when they hit you!"
"Because I can't take on six guys at once!" Blaine tried to defend, clasping his hands in his lap before raising one to wipe at his eyes.
"So then why the hell won't you let me do it for you?" Puck asked in confusion, hands out at his sides as he moved to sit on the bed. "Why..." He trailed off unexpectedly, words suddenly ceasing to work out of his throat.
Blaine turned to face him, seeing something on his face that he wasn't so sure he'd ever seen there before. "Puck?" He asked aimlessly, feeling worried suddenly at his boyfriend's tense silence.
"I just want you to be honest with me," Puck explained after a moment, swallowing audibly as he reached around Blaine's body, sliding a hand over his back. "I need you to be, because... dude, you've turned me seriously gay, do you know that?" He asked with a forced grin, and Blaine didn't return the gesture as he waited for Puck to continue. "I've been in relationships before," he finally began, and Blaine almost winced at the omni-present reminder that only one of them had been a virgin on the day that they first met. "Couple of times, they were even sort of serious," he continued. "Only, they weren't, not completely. And I knew that because of all the lies... and all the things that neither one of us would admit. Like how Santana would disappear all weekend and then forget to tell me where she'd been. And I never even really cared, because... Santana wasn't you."
Blaine bit his lip softly as he listened to Puck speak, sure he'd never heard him use such a soft, honest tone before.
"And I didn't give a fuck when she'd lie to me. And I never felt bad when I'd do it to her. And that's how I knew that even though she was a cool chick, I... really didn't love her. But I can't be that way with you, I gotta know what's up with you, and where you go, and what you do, and what people do to you, so that I can kick their fucking asses," he finished with a growling tone, and Blaine's heart hammered in his chest as he reworked the words in his mind, hearing a beautiful confession just under the surface.
"I love you too, Noah," he insisted, taking a leap as he stated the words. He'd done it before, after their first two months dating. They'd gone to a party together at Brittany's house, swimming in the pool under the moonlight as some obnoxious synth-pop flooded out from the house. He'd said it then, sitting on the edge of the pool, with Puck's arms around him, and had never gotten an answer back.
Now, though... he was pretty sure he just did.
Puck crumbled then, turning to wrap both arms around Blaine, pulling him into a warm and solid hug, as he let his lips press against the side of Blaine's face. "I do love you," Puck admitted on a whisper, silencing himself as he moved to press his lips against Blaine's.
It was warm and soft and slow and easy, tasting like a brighter future as Blaine felt himself grin.
"But if you tell anyone, I'll kick your ass, too," Puck added without any real threat in his voice, and Blaine laughed openly as he agreed himself to silence, because he knew that he didn't need to tell anyone in order for them to see it.
"No you won't," he shook his head, pressing one last kiss to Puck's lips before pulling away. "But maybe you can teach me how to kick theirs?" He asked hopefully, eyebrows high as he waited for an answer.
"Oh hell yes," Puck agreed loudly, more relaxed now as he ran his hand through Blaine's tangled hair. "Having a badass boyfriend would be pretty fucking hot, anyway."
-End-
Author:preferthemoss
Pairing: Blaine Anderson/Noah Puckerman
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Schmangst
Spoilers: General Season Two
Words: 3100
Summary: Prompt; Some of the McKinley jocks push Blaine around a little and he gets a few cuts and bruises. His boyfriend (preferably Puck) sees them and freaks out.
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. (Read full disclaimer here.)
Notes: So I took a break from my Kurtofsky schmoop to write Ankerman angst.... which somehow turned into schmoop too. My life. Canon Glee events have a bit of a jumbled/AU timeline here, and I'm going with NewDirections!Blaine as well.
Blaine's hands trembled as he leaned against the sink in the McKinley high bathroom, a place he suspected he'd be spending a lot of time. Not hiding, of course, because Blaine Anderson hadn't been raised that way. But, in all reality, there were really few places elsewhere to clean up the blood.
"'Sup, gorgeous," Puck called out from the driver's seat of his car, and Blaine just smiled as he pulled the door open, sliding into the passenger seat as Puck turned down the music he was blaring from his iPod dock.
"Hey," Blaine greeted back simply, leaning over the console between them to rest a hand over the side of Puck's face, pulling him in close enough to press a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. "Thanks for coming tonight," he added as he pulled back, feeling guilty that he'd essentially pulled Puck out of the house on the one night he swore he'd actually been intending to study on. But, Rachel had backed out of their plans at the last minute, in favor of scheming over Finn, no doubt. And Blaine had called Puck, with the intentions of wallowing over the fact that he'd gotten his hair perfect, and was now doomed to stay in all night and waste it.
Of course, Puck had heard that as 'come pick me up now', and... Blaine really couldn't complain about that.
"Oh, we'll leave the coming for later," Puck leered back with a wicked smirk, and Blaine flushed deeply as he huffed out in amusement.
"You are terrible, you know that?" He asked around his laughter, letting his hand fly out to slap across Puck's shoulder playfully.
"Mmm, but you love me," Puck countered without missing a beat, winking at Blaine before pulling out of the driveway.
"Yeah," Blaine sighed deeply, in a way that was entirely put-upon. "I really kind of do."
"Noah," Blaine chastised without venom, sliding off of the stationary motorcycle he was trying and failing to steer through the video game screen in front of them, while Puck skillfully turned the handles and revved the gears on his, sending his game player across the screen at lightning speeds.
"Aw, come on, what?" Puck asked back with a laugh, words almost lost under the loud and grating electronic sounds of the arcade. "Dude, I am badass at this game!"
"Yeah, and I'm not!" Blaine reminded self-pityingly. "And don't call me dude, dude," he teased, moving to stand beside Puck, running a hand slowly down his well-toned arm.
"Oh, I see now what this is all about," Puck started as he continued to play, while Blaine's motorcycle lay in a burning heap off the side of the digital road. "You just don't wanna play anymore 'cause you're horny, and you wanna get laid," Puck accused teasingly, eyes on the screen as he whipped his bike around a corner.
Blaine smirked at Puck's words, wondering how he'd ended up with a man who was so unforgivably brash. But he swallowed down his urge to correct his terms, doing nothing but pressing in closer, tightening his grip over Puck's arm.
"Oh," Puck gasped out after a moment, before wincing as his motorcycle flew off-course, crashing into a brick wall. "Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about," he leered with a grin, sliding off the bike to wrap both arms around Blaine's waist, pushing him toward the door with a frantic and clumsy pace.
"Puck," Blaine warned, laughing as his boyfriend kicked at the wheelchair-access door opener, keeping his hands on Blaine's body, rather than using them for anything else.
It was moments like this when Blaine remembered that he didn't mind being with a man who was so unforgivably brash.
"Who's house is this?" Blaine asked with a hitch in his throat, feeling a sick sense of panic well up in his chest as Puck pried open a window, sliding it up in it's frame before moving to gesture Blaine inside.
"Relax," Puck insisted, "it's my house," he shrugged, and Blaine shook his head incredulously at how stupid Puck could sometimes be.
"Um, no, Noah, this is not your house!" He threw back, crossing his arms over his chest as he refused to take Puck's hand. "I have been to your house, and this--"
"Okay!" Puck surrendered with his hands up, and Blaine tried to bite down a smile; Puck was really kind of adorable when he was flustered. "It's Finn's house," he explained, and Blaine's eyebrows raised as he looked from Puck, to the window, and back again. "Finn and his mom are in the process of moving in with Kurt and his dad, they've been spending nights there for a couple of weeks," Puck started, shoving his hands into his pockets as he did. "Meaning that right now? This house is ours," he insisted, moving in to close the distance between them, leaning down to press a kiss to Blaine's lips.
"Well... what if they come back here tonight?" Blaine asked tentatively, because while he knew that Finn and Puck were good enough friends for them both to be okay with this, he'd never met Finn's mom, and didn't exactly want to do it with his pants quite literally down.
"Oh come on," Puck taunted, slapping a hand to the bottom of the open window frame. "You're not gonna pussy out on me now, are you?" He asked with a smug and self-satisfied grin, and Blaine sighed deeply as he felt his resolve break down.
"Noah Puckerman," he started, shaking his head as he took a step toward the window. "You are absolutely evil."
Blaine melted against Puck's body, as Puck's hand ran up the back of his shirt, palm spread wide over his skin as he backed them up to the bed.
"You realize you're about to have sex in your best friend's bedroom, right?" Blaine asked teasingly, feeling himself blush as Puck licked at his neck.
"Mmm, wouldn't be the first time," Puck answered back with a shrug, and Blaine's jaw dropped incredulously as he took in that fact.
"Oh god, Puck," he tossed out, before throwing a good-natured punch to Puck's shoulder. "You are unbelievable," he laughed, swallowing down the jealousy that wove through him at the thought of Puck being with anyone other than him.
"But, once again," Puck started, pushing Blaine down onto the bed, "you love me."
Blaine smiled softly as Puck reached down to the button on Blaine's jeans, popping it open while sucking hotly at his neck, and Blaine was sure he'd be leaving some deep, dark bruises.
"Um," Blaine tensed immediately at the thought of the hickeys, remembering that the left side of his stomach was currently marred with discolorations that'd been put there in an entirely different way.
He knew he should have told Puck by now, that the hockey team had been roughing him up in almost a routine, most Wednesdays and Fridays after school. Blaine knew that he should have done something by now, but then he remembered Kurt, and the fact that he'd been dealing with this for years. It wasn't a big deal in Lima, Ohio, or at least not in McKinley. There were the cool kids, and then there were the ones who spent more than two minutes getting ready in the morning. And if you were the latter, well... that's just the way life worked for you.
"Puck, wait, we..." Blaine squirmed under his boyfriend's body, reaching down to pull the hem of his shirt back down over his stomach. "You should really study tonight, like you wanted to, we--"
"Hell no," Puck declined, shaking his head as he pulled the zipper down on Blaine's jeans. "Not when I've got you here all hot and alone," he lilted, and Blaine's breath hitched as Puck's hand ran over him, stroking across the fabric of his boxers.
"Puck, no," Blaine warned, knowing that Puck would overreact if he saw any of the marks.
It was his battle to fight, Blaine knew. And some day, he would fight back, without a doubt. And until then, he did not need his chivalrous boyfriend kicking ass for him. Blaine wasn't a damsel in distress, and he'd rather be the bleeding Glee kid than the coward who had other people fight for him.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Puck asked in confusion, as he leaned up on his knees, pulling his shirt up over his head. "I thought this is what you wanted."
Blaine closed his eyes as he focused on his breathing, suddenly feeling the bruises over his skin like a burning reminder that they were there. "I'm just really not feeling well," he insisted, with his words ringing out in half-truth.
He felt a little sick.
Puck's mom hadn't been feeling so great lately, either, getting dizzy and confused at the most random of times. She'd been spending full days and nights in the hospital, leaving Puck to take care of his sister and be the man of the house. Blaine had dropped by more nights than not, making dinner for them while Puck helped her with her homework. And it was heartwarming to see a glimpse of adult life with Noah Puckerman, but the truth was that he was only seventeen, and Blaine did not want to add 'oh yeah, the jocks have been beating me' to his boyfriend's list of troubles.
"Is this about Finn's room?" Puck asked with a raised eyebrow, "'Cause, you know, we can totally go fuck on Carole's bed."
"Oh god, Puck," Blaine threw a hand over his eyes, shaking his head as he inhaled deeply. "No, it's not about Finn's room, it's..."
"Is it about Finn?" Puck cried out with an amount of unwarranted worry that was really almost hilarious.
"No, it's... why would it be about Finn? Jesus, Puck," Blaine rambled off in a confused state of panic, realizing that his silence right now was really only making things worse. "I just don't want you to see my body tonight, okay?" He asked finally, settling on a vague version of the truth.
"Aw, baby, I've seen your body before," Puck lilted as he leaned down over Blaine, pressing soft, easy kisses to his forehead and cheeks. "You're sexy, you know that."
Blaine sighed deeply as he realized that this was it, the moment he'd been avoiding for at least the last two months. There was no way he could hide the bruises, and apparently, no way he was talking himself out of having sex tonight, either.
"I just..."
Puck rose an eyebrow as he waited for the words, and Blaine shifted under him, almost wishing they'd gone somewhere a little less private. "I just, kind of... school's really hard on me sometimes. And I know you always say that I can talk to you about anything, unless it starts with the words 'on Broadway', and I appreciate that so much, Puck, I really, really do," he started, bringing one hand up to rest along the back of Puck's neck. "But you have so much to worry about already, with your grades, and football, and Glee, and your mom. And I just... I don't want to add to that, because I want to be your escape from that stuff, not just another addition to--"
"What are you sayin', baby?" Puck interjected with a tone that was low and serious, and Blaine realized then that he had been rambling.
"I... I'm saying..." His eyes ran over Puck's face, warm and worried, as he reached down between them, fingers tangling in the hem of his own shirt as he pulled it up over his body, exposing his stomach, and four long, dark bruises.
Puck's eyes fell down to the newly exposed skin, and Blaine held his breath as Puck tensed incredibly over him, before pushing off the mattress to sit on his knees between Blaine's legs.
"What..." Puck floundered for a moment, and Blaine pulled his shirt back down quickly, biting his lip as he tried to work out an answer.
"It's not a huge deal, Noah, it's--"
"Who?" Puck asked with something dark in his eyes, and in that moment, Blaine felt a little scared.
"It doesn't..." Matter, Blaine wanted to say, until he put himself in Puck's position. "The hockey team, they... they just like to mess around with me some days. Usually when you're at football, or staying late in Glee," he admitted, trembling slightly as the words left his lips.
Puck moved off of the bed, coming to stand at the end of it, hands on his hips as his eyes burned over Blaine's covered stomach. "How long?" He asked in a tone that was shakily calm, forced to stay low, Blaine realized, and he hated the sound of it.
"A couple of months," he answered after a moment, biting his lip as Puck's shoulders squared back. "But Puck, it's--" His words hitched off into a gasp as Puck spun around immediately, throwing a punch to the wall with a loud and almost sickening crack, and Blaine shot up off the bed, hoping to god that the sound had been Finn's wall and not Puck's hand.
"Noah!" He cried out, reaching out to grab at his arm, studying his hand carefully, as if it might break.
"My hand is fine," Puck snapped back, yanking his hand out of Blaine's tentative grip. "It's the rest of me that isn't, Blaine! Why didn't you tell me about this?" He yelled out with a rough and broken tone. "Did you tell anyone else?"
"No!" Blaine insisted, wishing he could rewind and erase until the moment Puck had suggested going to the arcade. "I haven't told anyone, I--"
"Not even Kurt or Rachel?" Puck interjected, crossing his arms over his chest in a way that spoke volumes.
"No! Puck, don't be like that, I didn't keep it from you because I didn't want you to know. I just didn't want you to have to deal with this right now, when I know that your coach has been giving you a hard time with your grades, and Karofsky's been stepping up on Kurt, and I know you've been dealing with trying to take care of him, and I--"
"And none of that matters next to this, Blaine!" Puck insisted, kicking at an already-broken skateboard sticking out from under Finn's bed. "I can take those guys! I can fuck them all up so bad that th--"
"I don't want you to do that!" Blaine cried out, feeling exasperated now as he tried to make his point. "I've seen you go after Karofsky for Kurt, and I love you so much for doing that for him," he started, crying now as he fell back down onto the bed, sitting tensely on the edge as he looked up at Puck. "And it's good, because Kurt's into having you stand up for him. He likes having this big, strong guy who'll kick all the ass that he can't. But I... I'm not okay with me being in that position, I have done everything for myself my entire life, and I cannot have you fighting my battles for me now."
"But you aren't fighting them!" Puck cried out without missing a beat, a major fact that Blaine hoped Puck would skip somehow. "I bet you don't even hit back when they hit you!"
"Because I can't take on six guys at once!" Blaine tried to defend, clasping his hands in his lap before raising one to wipe at his eyes.
"So then why the hell won't you let me do it for you?" Puck asked in confusion, hands out at his sides as he moved to sit on the bed. "Why..." He trailed off unexpectedly, words suddenly ceasing to work out of his throat.
Blaine turned to face him, seeing something on his face that he wasn't so sure he'd ever seen there before. "Puck?" He asked aimlessly, feeling worried suddenly at his boyfriend's tense silence.
"I just want you to be honest with me," Puck explained after a moment, swallowing audibly as he reached around Blaine's body, sliding a hand over his back. "I need you to be, because... dude, you've turned me seriously gay, do you know that?" He asked with a forced grin, and Blaine didn't return the gesture as he waited for Puck to continue. "I've been in relationships before," he finally began, and Blaine almost winced at the omni-present reminder that only one of them had been a virgin on the day that they first met. "Couple of times, they were even sort of serious," he continued. "Only, they weren't, not completely. And I knew that because of all the lies... and all the things that neither one of us would admit. Like how Santana would disappear all weekend and then forget to tell me where she'd been. And I never even really cared, because... Santana wasn't you."
Blaine bit his lip softly as he listened to Puck speak, sure he'd never heard him use such a soft, honest tone before.
"And I didn't give a fuck when she'd lie to me. And I never felt bad when I'd do it to her. And that's how I knew that even though she was a cool chick, I... really didn't love her. But I can't be that way with you, I gotta know what's up with you, and where you go, and what you do, and what people do to you, so that I can kick their fucking asses," he finished with a growling tone, and Blaine's heart hammered in his chest as he reworked the words in his mind, hearing a beautiful confession just under the surface.
"I love you too, Noah," he insisted, taking a leap as he stated the words. He'd done it before, after their first two months dating. They'd gone to a party together at Brittany's house, swimming in the pool under the moonlight as some obnoxious synth-pop flooded out from the house. He'd said it then, sitting on the edge of the pool, with Puck's arms around him, and had never gotten an answer back.
Now, though... he was pretty sure he just did.
Puck crumbled then, turning to wrap both arms around Blaine, pulling him into a warm and solid hug, as he let his lips press against the side of Blaine's face. "I do love you," Puck admitted on a whisper, silencing himself as he moved to press his lips against Blaine's.
It was warm and soft and slow and easy, tasting like a brighter future as Blaine felt himself grin.
"But if you tell anyone, I'll kick your ass, too," Puck added without any real threat in his voice, and Blaine laughed openly as he agreed himself to silence, because he knew that he didn't need to tell anyone in order for them to see it.
"No you won't," he shook his head, pressing one last kiss to Puck's lips before pulling away. "But maybe you can teach me how to kick theirs?" He asked hopefully, eyebrows high as he waited for an answer.
"Oh hell yes," Puck agreed loudly, more relaxed now as he ran his hand through Blaine's tangled hair. "Having a badass boyfriend would be pretty fucking hot, anyway."
-End-