Fic: Getting to Know You
Title: Getting to Know You
Disclaimer: I don't own em, I if I did glee would probably have to be on a different channel.
Rating: R-ish mostly for Puck's mouth.
Spoilers: Up to Home.
Characters: Puck and Kurt mostly, some Artie though.
Warnings: a little homophobic language, language and a wee bit of implied violence.
Word count: 3860
Summary: Mr. Schue has a "brilliant" Idea to help the kids learn to communicate better.
A/N: So this was a fill for this prompt over at the fic meme over at puckurt. Apparently I just can't shut the hell up and make a short story. *Sighs*
When Will had first come up with the idea, he thought at least some of the parents would have issues about it. Ok, so really, he was concerned that Burt Hummel would have issues with it, and he had already seen how far he was willing to go for his son. Strangely, he seemed to be ok with it once Carole Hudson was, and the other parents didn’t seem to have much fight that couldn’t easily be smoothed over.
His students on the other hand, they weren’t happy about it. Especially when the hat of fate came out. He watched as Artie’s face drained of color when Santana was listed as his partner for this assignment and Brittany just waved happily to Finn, when his name was called. Rachel and Quinn both looked slightly alarmed at being paired with each other, but Mercedes and Mike seemed to be relatively ok with being paired together, as were Matt and Tina. The problem really came in with Kurt and Puck.
Puck immediately went into an uproar, where Kurt turned pale enough that for a brief horrifying moment, Will thought he was going to pass out. Soon he began to offer agreements to Puck’s protesting, and Will quickly held up his hands.
“I think of everyone, you two can benefit the most from this assignment.” Will told them; the worst part is the kids know that their parents had agreed to this. Kurt thinks he must have lied in what exactly this was going to detail, or the partners hadn’t been picked, because he’s fairly certain his father wouldn’t have agreed if he’d known he’d be partnered with the guy who threw him in dumpsters all the time, of course his dad didn‘t actually know about that. Will clapped his hands and the kids turned to look at him.
“So two weeks at one house, two at the other. Quinn, you’ll be staying with Rachel, for the full four. Same sex teams will also share a room. So this is what it was decided on, Artie and Santana, first two weeks at Santana’s. Finn and Brittany, first two weeks at Finn’s. Mercedes and Mike, first two weeks at Mike’s. Tina and Matt, first two weeks at Tina’s, and Puck and Kurt, first two weeks at Puck’s.”
“This is a terrible idea.” Artie muttered to Kurt, who nodded in agreement.
“Ok guys. It starts tomorrow so make sure you pack your bags tonight.”
************
Puck was fairly certain that having Hummel live with him was going to be horrible. He was going to complain the entire time, and god only knew what else. However, once Kurt was actually in his home, he turned out to be nothing like he assumed. He was exceedingly polite to his mother, even when she harped on him repeatedly about his German last name, until she realized he was gay, and then things changed. ‘The gays burned with the Jews, Noah!’ she had exclaimed.
Puck had expected Kurt to complain about sleeping on a roll away cot, but he simply thanked him for it. He was nice to his sister, helped his mother with dinner, offered to do the dishes, and waited until everyone else had used the bathroom before doing his ridiculous skincare routine. All in all, he was the perfect house guest.
And it pissed Puck off. This wasn’t the Kurt Hummel he knew.
“Alright, spill it, what gives.” Puck asked, while Kurt tried to do his homework. The smaller boy glanced up, confused before going back to his homework.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“All this, this isn’t you. You’re to…you to be this normal.”
“You don’t really know me.” Kurt pointed out, and Puck frowned. “You only know what I present to the school, but we’ve been going to school together since kindergarten Puck, you should know I wasn’t always like I am now.”
“Gay?” And Puck could almost feel Kurt roll his eyes.
“No, guarded.” Puck could hear the unspoken, ‘you moron’ loud and clear. He thinks about what Kurt said for a minute before frowning, that didn’t make sense; Kurt had been a really quiet kid, like almost never spoke. Opposed to now where he rarely shut up. At least at school.
“I remember you being quiet as a kid, sounds you were guarded then too.” Puck pushed and Kurt rolled his eyes again.
“We were children Puck, I didn‘t need to be guarded then. I was just a quiet kid.”
“Right, whatever Hummel.” Kurt turned back to his homework, but something about the conversation is bugging Puck and he knows that eventually Kurt will slip up in this little good house guest routine he’s doing.
Except he doesn’t. Two weeks passed and Kurt hadn’t done a single thing to disrupt Puck’s daily life or how things were done at home. Naturally, Puck assumed this was done simply to make him look bad when he was staying with Kurt. Well that just wasn’t going to happen! Puck could totally play this game too!
The day they were suppose to switch, Puck watched slightly amused as Artie wheeled up to Kurt and grabbed his wrist, barely acknowledging Puck was there at all.
“I’m glad you survived your two weeks with Puck, now I need you to help me kill Santana.” He pulled Kurt away before Puck could say anything in response. Santana seemed to be having a very similar discussion with Brittany, and somehow, Puck thought it was absolutely hysterical that it wasn’t him and Kurt trying to figure out ways to kill each other.
When Mr. Schue showed up the kids quietly slid into their seats, and waited for him to go through whatever song they would be doing. It came as no surprise to anyone when he gave Finn and Rachel the leads. Artie whispered furtively to Kurt the entire meeting, and Kurt would offer back pieces of advice that often made Artie frown. As the meeting began to wind to an end, Mr. Schue clapped.
“Ok guys, today’s the day we switch, two weeks down, two weeks to go!” He sounded far too happy about it, like this is all going according to plan. He watched as Santana gives Artie’s chair a push out the door, and the angry grumbling from Artie somewhere down the hall.
“I bet everyone thought that would be us.” Puck commented and Kurt nodded a little in agreement, before fishing out his keys, and the pair head quietly out to Kurt’s SUV.
************
Puck had been to Kurt’s house before; he had nailed the patio furniture to the roof after all. He had never been inside before though, and he had to admit, it was a really nice house. He followed Kurt through the hallways until they reached a door at the end of the hall.
“My rooms in the basement.” Kurt informed him, which striked Puck as weird, but then he sees it, it’s like his own little apartment, and he’s impressed, but he’d never admit to that.
“Must be nice to have money.” Puck sneered, and Kurt glanced at him blandly, before motioning to a sofa.
“It pulls out into a bed, but if you’d rather I’m sure my dad would let us bring one of the guest beds down.”
“No, this will be fine.” Puck refused to be a difficult guest. If Kurt could do it, he sure as hell could too!
“Ok. Let me know if you change your mind.” Kurt offered, far too politely, before he put down his bag and pulled out his homework. “If you want to watch TV, the plasma is in the living room.”
Puck sort of remembered that this lesson is suppose to be about communication, but he and Kurt spend more time sitting in silence than actually talking to each other, he suspected it’s why they hadn’t murdered each other yet, but still, Puck kind of thought it was a waste of a month.
“Where are your parents?” Puck asked, and Kurt stiffened for a moment.
“My dad’s probably still at the garage.” Kurt told him.
“Where’s your mom?” Puck leered, but the way Kurt cringed in on himself made Puck think he just stepped in it, all the way up to his knee.
“My mom died, when I was six.”
“Oh shit, Hummel, I’m sorry…” And somewhere in the back of Puck’s head he’s pretty sure he should have known that. He’d been going to school with the other boy for what seems like forever, and he never picked up on this before. Of course he and Kurt had never been friends really, not even when they were little. Puck always thought he was a little weird because he was so quiet, but now it suddenly made sense as to why he’d be so quiet.
“It was a long time ago.” Kurt said, but it doesn’t really sound like he’s ok. They spend another two hours in awkward silence before Kurt got up to make dinner. Puck ends up trailing after him, because suddenly Kurt’s big room seemed overwhelming.
“Do you cook a lot?” Pucks asked awkwardly, because he hasn’t forgotten that Kurt helped his mom out in the kitchen.
“If I don’t cook, we eat out, and my dad would eat nothing but junk all the time.” Kurt told him, and Puck can’t help but grin slightly. Kurt looks like he wants to reply, but the phone rings, and with startling speed, Kurt darts around him to pick it up.
“Hello?” And it’s silent for a few moments, and Kurt’s face tightened as he hung up.
“What was that all about?” Puck asked, and Kurt just shook his head.
“Nothing to worry about.” There’s something in Kurt’s tone that warns Puck off the subject, and for once he backs off.
It would be the first hint of things to come that would change the way Puck looked at Kurt.
************
“Seriously, help me bury her body.” Artie pleaded and Puck, who had taken to sitting behind Kurt in Glee couldn’t help but smirk slightly.
“Artie, remember what we talked about, homicide is not the answer. Say it.” Artie is still muttering that under his breath, while Kurt nodded encouragingly, when Mr. Schue came in.
“Ok guys, go sit with your partners!” Kurt stood and slipped a row behind to sit next to Puck and Artie threw a desperate look over his shoulder as Santana stalked over. It was kind of silly, considering they were on top of each other all the time anyhow, that they were being forced to sit with each other during Glee as well, but no one argued.
Glee went on to be the usual Rachel Finn love fest and Puck quickly took to provoking Santana. It’s not the most productive Glee meeting, and when it’s over, Puck listened to Kurt tell Artie to call him if he though he was in immediate danger of killing Santana, or if he thought she might kill him. Artie nodded slowly heading out of the room; Santana had already stalked off without him.
“They aren’t going to make it out of this alive are they?” Kurt asked, watching them go, and Puck shook his head.
“Not a chance.” Puck agreed, and Kurt let out a sigh. He grabbed his bag and waited for Puck to join him before heading out into the halls.
“What do you want for dinner tonight?” Kurt asked. “Dad’ll be working late, so whatever you want is fine.”
“Dude, your dad is like never home.”
“Well, he‘s down two mechanics at the moment, so not even Finn or Carole are seeing much of him right now.” Kurt explained, and there‘s something almost wistful in his voice. “I may actually need to go down there tomorrow and help out, so if you want, you could maybe invite some people over or go hang out or something.”
“Can I go with you?” Puck asked he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Kurt actually get dirty. Kurt looked startled for a moment before he shrugged. “Sure, if you want.”
“Cool, and let’s just get something on the way home then. You won’t have to cook or anything.” It briefly occurred to Puck that they sounded very much like a married couple suddenly, and it doesn’t bother him nearly as much as it should.
************
When they get to the shop the next day, Puck can’t help but be a little overwhelmed. He’s only met Burt Hummel properly once, and that was when Kurt introduced them, but he was just a little intimidated by him. He was surprised at how warmly Kurt was received by the two other mechanics, but he just watched when Kurt set about working on replacing an engine in a Chevy. He stood on the opposite side, listening as Kurt told him what he was doing and couldn’t help but be a little impressed. They stay for nearly four hours and Puck even helped a little bit, but when those four hours were up and the shop was starting to close down for the night Burt put a hand on Kurt’s shoulder.
“I’ve got some paperwork to do still, but I’ll try and make it home before midnight tonight.”
“Ok. I’ll keep a plate in the oven for you.” Puck wasn’t blind, he saw the disappointment in Kurt’s face, but neither father nor son spoke about it, so he doesn’t mention it either. Puck trailed after Kurt, offering Mr. Hummel a brief wave as a goodbye. He was beginning to realize that maybe Kurt’s big nice home wasn’t quite so nice when you were the only one in it. Which he started to think was the case more times than not.
“So what are we having for dinner?” Puck asked when they arrive back at the house and Kurt shrugged as he started to undo his coveralls.
“Not sure yet, but I’m going to shower first.” Before Puck had a chance to reply, Kurt’s vanished downstairs. He heard the shower running a few moments later, and Puck goes into the living room to try and figure out the five remotes to see how he could get the game on TV. He’s so absorbed in the game he doesn’t even hear the water shut off, and it wasn’t until a commercial that he hears Kurt puttering around in the kitchen. He flipped the TV off, or at least he thinks he does, before he wandered into the kitchen.
“What did you decide on?” Puck asked, taking a seat at the island. Kurt glanced up and smiled vaguely before motioning to the ingredients on the table.
“Chicken stir fry.” Puck nodded approvingly, and when the phone rings, Kurt’s hands are kind of covered with raw chicken.
“Want me to get it?” Puck asked, and Kurt distracted, just tilted his head a little.
“Just hit the speaker phone, please.” Puck does so and Kurt called out a greeting.
“We’re coming for you fag.” and then a dial tone. Puck glared at the phone, like it was somehow responsible for the call, before releasing the call button and letting his glance flicker over to Kurt, who was standing still at the stove.
“Shit Hummel, does that happen a lot?”
“The threats are relatively new.” Kurt told him, and Puck frowned. “But we’ve been getting random calls for a while.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but Puck seethed on his behalf, this shit was not ok.
“Does your dad know about this?”
“He’s not stupid Puck, he figured out there was a reason I try to beat him to the phone.” Things were starting to fall into place for Puck suddenly, like the fact that he never saw Kurt alone, like ever.
“That’s not even the worst of it, is it?” Puck really took a good look at Kurt then and couldn’t help but notice how exhausted he looked. Like he could take the dumpster dives, and slushing at school, but the psychological warfare of it all, that was exhausting.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s just a part of my life, and I refuse to let it affected me more than I have to.” Kurt turned his back on him, and Puck can’t help but want to argue that this was bullshit, and it needed to stop. He knew though, honestly knew, that he had done more than his fair share of this kind of crap, so he really didn’t get much of a say.
“I’m sorry.” He says instead, and Kurt’s shoulders twitched in what may have been a shrug.
“No need to be.” Puck watched as Kurt dished up a plate, covering it with foil and putting it aside, before he served up their dinners. Puck quickly got up and got drinks, he might as well be helpful. Kurt simply nodded his thanks, and two ate an awkwardly quiet dinner.
************
They had one more week before this assignment was over, and Puck realized that Kurt had been right when he said he didn’t really know him. The kid was surprising him left and right. He was also getting just a little tired of trailing after Kurt like a puppy. So one day he made plans after school to hang out with Santana. It had been a nice little reprieve, but when he got back to the Hummel’s, he was really, really surprised when a small group of adults, who really should have known better grabbed Kurt hard enough to leave bruises and then threw water on him. By the time he had gotten to him, they had released him, or Kurt had broken the hold, he wasn’t sure which, and they had retreated back towards the street.
“What…What the hell was that?!”
“Holy water.” Kurt replied flatly as he wiped his face. “If your real lucky, you might get to see them try and do another exorcism, Carole got to see one of those, I thought she was going to start throwing punches.”
“Who was that?” Puck asked, already planning on going after each and every one of them.
“My neighbor and his crazy friends. They do things like this fairly often. They actually gave my father a card offering their condolences for my fagottry once. He didn‘t appreciate it.” Puck isn’t sure what to say to that, because one, he really doesn’t like hearing that word come out of Kurt’s mouth, but also, where the hell would they even find a card like that?
“I guess they really do make a card for every occasion.” Is what he ended up saying and Kurt’s lips tilt upwards a little in a sad resemblance of a smile.
“I suppose so.” The two trudged slowly into the house and Puck wasn’t really sure what to do at that point, he watched as Kurt descended the stairs to change. Puck hangs around in the kitchen for a while before Kurt reappeared and Puck attempted to smile, lighten the mood.
“So I was thinking, I feel kinda bad that most nights you cook, so I figured, if you’re up to it I mean, we could go out or…something.” And suddenly Puck felt lame, like a husband who was treating his overworked wife to dinner out.
“Sure.” Kurt replied easily. “What did you want to do?”
“There’s a great buffet I know, we’ll go there.” Puck said and when Kurt just nodded, he grinned. Once they actually got to the restaurant and sat down with the first plate, Puck watched the smaller boy for a moment.
“How often does what happened earlier happen?” Puck cringed at how unintelligent that sounded. Kurt seemed to know what he was asking though and his fork stilled against his plate.
“I don’t really keep track.” His voice is a little stilted, but sighed after a moment. “Couple times a month maybe?”
“That shit needs to stop.” Kurt shrugged before eating some of his salad.
“The police have already been involved several times, but more times than not they just get a warning.”
“I’m sorry.” Puck finally said and when Kurt looked surprised Puck shrugged. “I know I’ve been a total ass to you, and if I had known you were getting it from all sides like this, I would have backed off.”
“You…actually haven’t been that bad in a while.” Kurt replied with a mild shrug.
“Still, let me know if it gets really bad, especially at school, I‘m still a badass, I can help.” Puck told him, and Kurt seemed to study him for a moment, before he smiled that smile that Puck rarely sees, and has never seen directed at him before. He can’t help but smile back in response.
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“Oh my god, have we actually gotten something out of this experiment of torture?” Puck mocked and Kurt grinned in response.
“It kind of seems like it. You’re not such an asshole at least.”
“Yeah, you’re kinda cool actually.”
“We didn’t kill each other, that’s a total plus.”
“We should get extra credit for that alone.” Kurt can’t help but laugh at that, and Puck grinned. All in all, Puck would have to say he actually kind of liked Kurt.
“I am concerned for Artie however, because either he will kill Santana, or she will kill him, but either way I‘m pretty sure there will be blood.”
“It’s kinda funny how hardcore they seem to hate each other. I always thought Artie was kinda laid back.”
“He normally is.” They spend the rest of the evening making chit chat and a bet to see who would come out alive at the end of the week.
************
When Friday finally does roll around, Puck can’t help but notice some people were pretty happy with how their month went. Rachel and Quinn seem to have found some sort of common ground at the very least. When Mr. Schue announces that they are now free from their partners and that he hoped they all learned a valuable lesson, Puck chokes on his spit when he hears Artie mumble something about learning about eternal pms.
Several of the kids seemed to look at the person they’ve shared time with for a month before slowly starting to shift back into their normal groups. Glee went on as usual and it wasn’t until they all begin to pack up to go that Puck called out for Kurt.
“Hey Kurt.” And at the use of his first name, Kurt started a little, but turned to look at him.
“Yes Noah?” Puck can’t help but grin at that, first name basis; they could make this weird friendship thing they had going work.
“Let’s catch a movie later.”
“Sure, call me.” Then he was out the door, Mercedes questioning him about his month spent with Puck as they went.
Puck wasn’t sure how it happened, but somehow four weeks spent with Kurt Hummel had lead him to realize that Kurt may actually be his closest friend right now. That wasn’t even the weirdest part though. The strangest part of all, was that he was strangely ok with that.
Disclaimer: I don't own em, I if I did glee would probably have to be on a different channel.
Rating: R-ish mostly for Puck's mouth.
Spoilers: Up to Home.
Characters: Puck and Kurt mostly, some Artie though.
Warnings: a little homophobic language, language and a wee bit of implied violence.
Word count: 3860
Summary: Mr. Schue has a "brilliant" Idea to help the kids learn to communicate better.
A/N: So this was a fill for this prompt over at the fic meme over at puckurt. Apparently I just can't shut the hell up and make a short story. *Sighs*
When Will had first come up with the idea, he thought at least some of the parents would have issues about it. Ok, so really, he was concerned that Burt Hummel would have issues with it, and he had already seen how far he was willing to go for his son. Strangely, he seemed to be ok with it once Carole Hudson was, and the other parents didn’t seem to have much fight that couldn’t easily be smoothed over.
His students on the other hand, they weren’t happy about it. Especially when the hat of fate came out. He watched as Artie’s face drained of color when Santana was listed as his partner for this assignment and Brittany just waved happily to Finn, when his name was called. Rachel and Quinn both looked slightly alarmed at being paired with each other, but Mercedes and Mike seemed to be relatively ok with being paired together, as were Matt and Tina. The problem really came in with Kurt and Puck.
Puck immediately went into an uproar, where Kurt turned pale enough that for a brief horrifying moment, Will thought he was going to pass out. Soon he began to offer agreements to Puck’s protesting, and Will quickly held up his hands.
“I think of everyone, you two can benefit the most from this assignment.” Will told them; the worst part is the kids know that their parents had agreed to this. Kurt thinks he must have lied in what exactly this was going to detail, or the partners hadn’t been picked, because he’s fairly certain his father wouldn’t have agreed if he’d known he’d be partnered with the guy who threw him in dumpsters all the time, of course his dad didn‘t actually know about that. Will clapped his hands and the kids turned to look at him.
“So two weeks at one house, two at the other. Quinn, you’ll be staying with Rachel, for the full four. Same sex teams will also share a room. So this is what it was decided on, Artie and Santana, first two weeks at Santana’s. Finn and Brittany, first two weeks at Finn’s. Mercedes and Mike, first two weeks at Mike’s. Tina and Matt, first two weeks at Tina’s, and Puck and Kurt, first two weeks at Puck’s.”
“This is a terrible idea.” Artie muttered to Kurt, who nodded in agreement.
“Ok guys. It starts tomorrow so make sure you pack your bags tonight.”
************
Puck was fairly certain that having Hummel live with him was going to be horrible. He was going to complain the entire time, and god only knew what else. However, once Kurt was actually in his home, he turned out to be nothing like he assumed. He was exceedingly polite to his mother, even when she harped on him repeatedly about his German last name, until she realized he was gay, and then things changed. ‘The gays burned with the Jews, Noah!’ she had exclaimed.
Puck had expected Kurt to complain about sleeping on a roll away cot, but he simply thanked him for it. He was nice to his sister, helped his mother with dinner, offered to do the dishes, and waited until everyone else had used the bathroom before doing his ridiculous skincare routine. All in all, he was the perfect house guest.
And it pissed Puck off. This wasn’t the Kurt Hummel he knew.
“Alright, spill it, what gives.” Puck asked, while Kurt tried to do his homework. The smaller boy glanced up, confused before going back to his homework.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“All this, this isn’t you. You’re to…you to be this normal.”
“You don’t really know me.” Kurt pointed out, and Puck frowned. “You only know what I present to the school, but we’ve been going to school together since kindergarten Puck, you should know I wasn’t always like I am now.”
“Gay?” And Puck could almost feel Kurt roll his eyes.
“No, guarded.” Puck could hear the unspoken, ‘you moron’ loud and clear. He thinks about what Kurt said for a minute before frowning, that didn’t make sense; Kurt had been a really quiet kid, like almost never spoke. Opposed to now where he rarely shut up. At least at school.
“I remember you being quiet as a kid, sounds you were guarded then too.” Puck pushed and Kurt rolled his eyes again.
“We were children Puck, I didn‘t need to be guarded then. I was just a quiet kid.”
“Right, whatever Hummel.” Kurt turned back to his homework, but something about the conversation is bugging Puck and he knows that eventually Kurt will slip up in this little good house guest routine he’s doing.
Except he doesn’t. Two weeks passed and Kurt hadn’t done a single thing to disrupt Puck’s daily life or how things were done at home. Naturally, Puck assumed this was done simply to make him look bad when he was staying with Kurt. Well that just wasn’t going to happen! Puck could totally play this game too!
The day they were suppose to switch, Puck watched slightly amused as Artie wheeled up to Kurt and grabbed his wrist, barely acknowledging Puck was there at all.
“I’m glad you survived your two weeks with Puck, now I need you to help me kill Santana.” He pulled Kurt away before Puck could say anything in response. Santana seemed to be having a very similar discussion with Brittany, and somehow, Puck thought it was absolutely hysterical that it wasn’t him and Kurt trying to figure out ways to kill each other.
When Mr. Schue showed up the kids quietly slid into their seats, and waited for him to go through whatever song they would be doing. It came as no surprise to anyone when he gave Finn and Rachel the leads. Artie whispered furtively to Kurt the entire meeting, and Kurt would offer back pieces of advice that often made Artie frown. As the meeting began to wind to an end, Mr. Schue clapped.
“Ok guys, today’s the day we switch, two weeks down, two weeks to go!” He sounded far too happy about it, like this is all going according to plan. He watched as Santana gives Artie’s chair a push out the door, and the angry grumbling from Artie somewhere down the hall.
“I bet everyone thought that would be us.” Puck commented and Kurt nodded a little in agreement, before fishing out his keys, and the pair head quietly out to Kurt’s SUV.
************
Puck had been to Kurt’s house before; he had nailed the patio furniture to the roof after all. He had never been inside before though, and he had to admit, it was a really nice house. He followed Kurt through the hallways until they reached a door at the end of the hall.
“My rooms in the basement.” Kurt informed him, which striked Puck as weird, but then he sees it, it’s like his own little apartment, and he’s impressed, but he’d never admit to that.
“Must be nice to have money.” Puck sneered, and Kurt glanced at him blandly, before motioning to a sofa.
“It pulls out into a bed, but if you’d rather I’m sure my dad would let us bring one of the guest beds down.”
“No, this will be fine.” Puck refused to be a difficult guest. If Kurt could do it, he sure as hell could too!
“Ok. Let me know if you change your mind.” Kurt offered, far too politely, before he put down his bag and pulled out his homework. “If you want to watch TV, the plasma is in the living room.”
Puck sort of remembered that this lesson is suppose to be about communication, but he and Kurt spend more time sitting in silence than actually talking to each other, he suspected it’s why they hadn’t murdered each other yet, but still, Puck kind of thought it was a waste of a month.
“Where are your parents?” Puck asked, and Kurt stiffened for a moment.
“My dad’s probably still at the garage.” Kurt told him.
“Where’s your mom?” Puck leered, but the way Kurt cringed in on himself made Puck think he just stepped in it, all the way up to his knee.
“My mom died, when I was six.”
“Oh shit, Hummel, I’m sorry…” And somewhere in the back of Puck’s head he’s pretty sure he should have known that. He’d been going to school with the other boy for what seems like forever, and he never picked up on this before. Of course he and Kurt had never been friends really, not even when they were little. Puck always thought he was a little weird because he was so quiet, but now it suddenly made sense as to why he’d be so quiet.
“It was a long time ago.” Kurt said, but it doesn’t really sound like he’s ok. They spend another two hours in awkward silence before Kurt got up to make dinner. Puck ends up trailing after him, because suddenly Kurt’s big room seemed overwhelming.
“Do you cook a lot?” Pucks asked awkwardly, because he hasn’t forgotten that Kurt helped his mom out in the kitchen.
“If I don’t cook, we eat out, and my dad would eat nothing but junk all the time.” Kurt told him, and Puck can’t help but grin slightly. Kurt looks like he wants to reply, but the phone rings, and with startling speed, Kurt darts around him to pick it up.
“Hello?” And it’s silent for a few moments, and Kurt’s face tightened as he hung up.
“What was that all about?” Puck asked, and Kurt just shook his head.
“Nothing to worry about.” There’s something in Kurt’s tone that warns Puck off the subject, and for once he backs off.
It would be the first hint of things to come that would change the way Puck looked at Kurt.
************
“Seriously, help me bury her body.” Artie pleaded and Puck, who had taken to sitting behind Kurt in Glee couldn’t help but smirk slightly.
“Artie, remember what we talked about, homicide is not the answer. Say it.” Artie is still muttering that under his breath, while Kurt nodded encouragingly, when Mr. Schue came in.
“Ok guys, go sit with your partners!” Kurt stood and slipped a row behind to sit next to Puck and Artie threw a desperate look over his shoulder as Santana stalked over. It was kind of silly, considering they were on top of each other all the time anyhow, that they were being forced to sit with each other during Glee as well, but no one argued.
Glee went on to be the usual Rachel Finn love fest and Puck quickly took to provoking Santana. It’s not the most productive Glee meeting, and when it’s over, Puck listened to Kurt tell Artie to call him if he though he was in immediate danger of killing Santana, or if he thought she might kill him. Artie nodded slowly heading out of the room; Santana had already stalked off without him.
“They aren’t going to make it out of this alive are they?” Kurt asked, watching them go, and Puck shook his head.
“Not a chance.” Puck agreed, and Kurt let out a sigh. He grabbed his bag and waited for Puck to join him before heading out into the halls.
“What do you want for dinner tonight?” Kurt asked. “Dad’ll be working late, so whatever you want is fine.”
“Dude, your dad is like never home.”
“Well, he‘s down two mechanics at the moment, so not even Finn or Carole are seeing much of him right now.” Kurt explained, and there‘s something almost wistful in his voice. “I may actually need to go down there tomorrow and help out, so if you want, you could maybe invite some people over or go hang out or something.”
“Can I go with you?” Puck asked he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Kurt actually get dirty. Kurt looked startled for a moment before he shrugged. “Sure, if you want.”
“Cool, and let’s just get something on the way home then. You won’t have to cook or anything.” It briefly occurred to Puck that they sounded very much like a married couple suddenly, and it doesn’t bother him nearly as much as it should.
************
When they get to the shop the next day, Puck can’t help but be a little overwhelmed. He’s only met Burt Hummel properly once, and that was when Kurt introduced them, but he was just a little intimidated by him. He was surprised at how warmly Kurt was received by the two other mechanics, but he just watched when Kurt set about working on replacing an engine in a Chevy. He stood on the opposite side, listening as Kurt told him what he was doing and couldn’t help but be a little impressed. They stay for nearly four hours and Puck even helped a little bit, but when those four hours were up and the shop was starting to close down for the night Burt put a hand on Kurt’s shoulder.
“I’ve got some paperwork to do still, but I’ll try and make it home before midnight tonight.”
“Ok. I’ll keep a plate in the oven for you.” Puck wasn’t blind, he saw the disappointment in Kurt’s face, but neither father nor son spoke about it, so he doesn’t mention it either. Puck trailed after Kurt, offering Mr. Hummel a brief wave as a goodbye. He was beginning to realize that maybe Kurt’s big nice home wasn’t quite so nice when you were the only one in it. Which he started to think was the case more times than not.
“So what are we having for dinner?” Puck asked when they arrive back at the house and Kurt shrugged as he started to undo his coveralls.
“Not sure yet, but I’m going to shower first.” Before Puck had a chance to reply, Kurt’s vanished downstairs. He heard the shower running a few moments later, and Puck goes into the living room to try and figure out the five remotes to see how he could get the game on TV. He’s so absorbed in the game he doesn’t even hear the water shut off, and it wasn’t until a commercial that he hears Kurt puttering around in the kitchen. He flipped the TV off, or at least he thinks he does, before he wandered into the kitchen.
“What did you decide on?” Puck asked, taking a seat at the island. Kurt glanced up and smiled vaguely before motioning to the ingredients on the table.
“Chicken stir fry.” Puck nodded approvingly, and when the phone rings, Kurt’s hands are kind of covered with raw chicken.
“Want me to get it?” Puck asked, and Kurt distracted, just tilted his head a little.
“Just hit the speaker phone, please.” Puck does so and Kurt called out a greeting.
“We’re coming for you fag.” and then a dial tone. Puck glared at the phone, like it was somehow responsible for the call, before releasing the call button and letting his glance flicker over to Kurt, who was standing still at the stove.
“Shit Hummel, does that happen a lot?”
“The threats are relatively new.” Kurt told him, and Puck frowned. “But we’ve been getting random calls for a while.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but Puck seethed on his behalf, this shit was not ok.
“Does your dad know about this?”
“He’s not stupid Puck, he figured out there was a reason I try to beat him to the phone.” Things were starting to fall into place for Puck suddenly, like the fact that he never saw Kurt alone, like ever.
“That’s not even the worst of it, is it?” Puck really took a good look at Kurt then and couldn’t help but notice how exhausted he looked. Like he could take the dumpster dives, and slushing at school, but the psychological warfare of it all, that was exhausting.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s just a part of my life, and I refuse to let it affected me more than I have to.” Kurt turned his back on him, and Puck can’t help but want to argue that this was bullshit, and it needed to stop. He knew though, honestly knew, that he had done more than his fair share of this kind of crap, so he really didn’t get much of a say.
“I’m sorry.” He says instead, and Kurt’s shoulders twitched in what may have been a shrug.
“No need to be.” Puck watched as Kurt dished up a plate, covering it with foil and putting it aside, before he served up their dinners. Puck quickly got up and got drinks, he might as well be helpful. Kurt simply nodded his thanks, and two ate an awkwardly quiet dinner.
************
They had one more week before this assignment was over, and Puck realized that Kurt had been right when he said he didn’t really know him. The kid was surprising him left and right. He was also getting just a little tired of trailing after Kurt like a puppy. So one day he made plans after school to hang out with Santana. It had been a nice little reprieve, but when he got back to the Hummel’s, he was really, really surprised when a small group of adults, who really should have known better grabbed Kurt hard enough to leave bruises and then threw water on him. By the time he had gotten to him, they had released him, or Kurt had broken the hold, he wasn’t sure which, and they had retreated back towards the street.
“What…What the hell was that?!”
“Holy water.” Kurt replied flatly as he wiped his face. “If your real lucky, you might get to see them try and do another exorcism, Carole got to see one of those, I thought she was going to start throwing punches.”
“Who was that?” Puck asked, already planning on going after each and every one of them.
“My neighbor and his crazy friends. They do things like this fairly often. They actually gave my father a card offering their condolences for my fagottry once. He didn‘t appreciate it.” Puck isn’t sure what to say to that, because one, he really doesn’t like hearing that word come out of Kurt’s mouth, but also, where the hell would they even find a card like that?
“I guess they really do make a card for every occasion.” Is what he ended up saying and Kurt’s lips tilt upwards a little in a sad resemblance of a smile.
“I suppose so.” The two trudged slowly into the house and Puck wasn’t really sure what to do at that point, he watched as Kurt descended the stairs to change. Puck hangs around in the kitchen for a while before Kurt reappeared and Puck attempted to smile, lighten the mood.
“So I was thinking, I feel kinda bad that most nights you cook, so I figured, if you’re up to it I mean, we could go out or…something.” And suddenly Puck felt lame, like a husband who was treating his overworked wife to dinner out.
“Sure.” Kurt replied easily. “What did you want to do?”
“There’s a great buffet I know, we’ll go there.” Puck said and when Kurt just nodded, he grinned. Once they actually got to the restaurant and sat down with the first plate, Puck watched the smaller boy for a moment.
“How often does what happened earlier happen?” Puck cringed at how unintelligent that sounded. Kurt seemed to know what he was asking though and his fork stilled against his plate.
“I don’t really keep track.” His voice is a little stilted, but sighed after a moment. “Couple times a month maybe?”
“That shit needs to stop.” Kurt shrugged before eating some of his salad.
“The police have already been involved several times, but more times than not they just get a warning.”
“I’m sorry.” Puck finally said and when Kurt looked surprised Puck shrugged. “I know I’ve been a total ass to you, and if I had known you were getting it from all sides like this, I would have backed off.”
“You…actually haven’t been that bad in a while.” Kurt replied with a mild shrug.
“Still, let me know if it gets really bad, especially at school, I‘m still a badass, I can help.” Puck told him, and Kurt seemed to study him for a moment, before he smiled that smile that Puck rarely sees, and has never seen directed at him before. He can’t help but smile back in response.
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“Oh my god, have we actually gotten something out of this experiment of torture?” Puck mocked and Kurt grinned in response.
“It kind of seems like it. You’re not such an asshole at least.”
“Yeah, you’re kinda cool actually.”
“We didn’t kill each other, that’s a total plus.”
“We should get extra credit for that alone.” Kurt can’t help but laugh at that, and Puck grinned. All in all, Puck would have to say he actually kind of liked Kurt.
“I am concerned for Artie however, because either he will kill Santana, or she will kill him, but either way I‘m pretty sure there will be blood.”
“It’s kinda funny how hardcore they seem to hate each other. I always thought Artie was kinda laid back.”
“He normally is.” They spend the rest of the evening making chit chat and a bet to see who would come out alive at the end of the week.
************
When Friday finally does roll around, Puck can’t help but notice some people were pretty happy with how their month went. Rachel and Quinn seem to have found some sort of common ground at the very least. When Mr. Schue announces that they are now free from their partners and that he hoped they all learned a valuable lesson, Puck chokes on his spit when he hears Artie mumble something about learning about eternal pms.
Several of the kids seemed to look at the person they’ve shared time with for a month before slowly starting to shift back into their normal groups. Glee went on as usual and it wasn’t until they all begin to pack up to go that Puck called out for Kurt.
“Hey Kurt.” And at the use of his first name, Kurt started a little, but turned to look at him.
“Yes Noah?” Puck can’t help but grin at that, first name basis; they could make this weird friendship thing they had going work.
“Let’s catch a movie later.”
“Sure, call me.” Then he was out the door, Mercedes questioning him about his month spent with Puck as they went.
Puck wasn’t sure how it happened, but somehow four weeks spent with Kurt Hummel had lead him to realize that Kurt may actually be his closest friend right now. That wasn’t even the weirdest part though. The strangest part of all, was that he was strangely ok with that.