Fic: One of Us
Title: One of Us
Disclaimer: I don't own em, I if I did glee would probably have to be on a different channel.
Rating: PG-13-ish
Spoilers: Let's say through season 1 to be safe
Characters: Kurt, Finn, Puck, Artie, Mike, Matt, and a very brief appearance by Mercedes
Warnings: Violence, some bad language, a couple homophobic references, douchebag!puck, Matt speaks?
Word count: 4,218
Summary: While Finn and Kurt attempt to reconcile after the events of theatricality, Finn invites the glee guys over for video games and food. Thanks to Puck, it turns out way worse than he thought it would.
A/N: Written for This prompt over at glee_angst_meme It's probably a little different than what the prompter wanted probably, but I hope they like it anyway!
After faggy-gate, things had somehow managed to get closer to normal again. Apologizes had been given, forgiveness granted, and while things were still a little tense between Finn and Kurt, they would be damned if they kept their parents apart. Kurt hadn’t seen his father light up like he did around Carole since his own mother had been alive, and while on occasion that could hurt, really he just wanted them to be happy. So when they announced they were going away for the weekend, Finn thought it would be an excellent opportunity to invite Puck over for some video games, even though their parents said not to have anyone over. When he mentioned it to Kurt, the smaller boy hesitated briefly, before shrugging and offering to let Finn invite some other people over too, if he really wanted some extra company. It worked out perfectly, because Finn had wanted to invite the other glee guys as well. Especially since Kurt was agreeing to help cover for him.
This of course, also meant that Kurt could play hostess, something he never really got to do unless the girls were around, and even then, Mercedes hated it when he waited on her, and Tina always seemed to feel guilty asking him for anything. Brittany just wanted to help, so she usually tried to pitch in, (And make a huge mess in the process) so Kurt liked the idea of being able to help put together a small get together, even if he thought he himself was probably not invited to join in the actual playing of video games, not that he minded or anything. There may have even been a little bit of shy hope in Kurt’s chest that the glee guys might take to him a little better once the party was over.
So when the next night rolled around, Finn had been ecstatic with the snack selection. Kurt made homemade pizza rolls! He did not know someone could make such a thing! Kurt had been able to guess what most of the guys would like, and since he knew Artie was coming and actually knew what he liked to eat, he made sure to have a wide selection. When Puck, Mike, Matt, and Artie had actually arrived, Mike greeted Kurt with a friendly pat on the shoulder, while Matt beamed around a mouthful of food. Artie had commented on Kurt’s apron, but in a friendly teasing sort of way, while Puck just stared at him like he had seasoned their food with gay. The boys had scattered about the living room, getting ready to play, and shoveling food into their mouths like Kurt might take it away if they didn‘t. They were laughing and having a good time, when Finn began to set up the gaming systems.
It wasn’t until Puck realized that one of the controllers wasn’t functioning right that they realized they couldn‘t play any games with only one operational controller. He and Finn tried to perform some controller surgery when Kurt re-entered the room, loaded down with more snacks (having wisely decided to set a small plate aside for himself in the kitchen this time). Finn blindly grabbed one, grunting in thanks, and when Puck didn’t move, or even make like he realized he was there, Kurt thought maybe Puck was to absorbed in what he was doing to realize Kurt was there.
“Puck,” He said offering the tray, and when he didn’t respond, Kurt placed a hand on his back to get his attention. He opened his mouth to ask him if he wanted another snack or something to drink, but before any words actually came out, Puck had spun around, and punched him square in the jaw. Kurt hit the carpet hard, his head very narrowly avoiding the edge of the table that Carole’s favorite lamp resided. Black dots danced in front of his eyes for a moment, as one hand come up to cradle the damaged jaw. He sat there for two minutes, head angled downwards in silence heavy and no one moved. It was then Kurt knew, sure the others had no problem coming into his home, using his big TV, and eating his food, he was still just the gay kid and it had been so stupid of him to think that they might have actually been able to see that he was more than just the token gay kid.
Finally, Kurt managed to stagger to his feet, wishing someone had at least said something. He didn’t even notice that his snacks now lay scattered around the floor. Pain slammed into him with every step, and it isn’t until he’s safely on the first step of the basement stairs that he relaxes the stiff posture he had adopted on the walk, and lifted his head slightly. He managed to shut the door and lock it behind him before he allows himself to feel anything other than numbness and then the tears came. He managed to choke them down until he got into the bathroom that he and Finn now shared to try and do something about the blood that’s been filing his mouth since he started his trek and try and do something to at least stem the bruise that seemed to be trying to take over his face.
The lock sliding into place on the basement door seems to be what breaks the others out of their shock. Matt jolts like he’s actually been shocked into mobility and Mike turns a reproachful look on Puck, who looks more startled than remorseful at this turn of events. He hadn’t actually meant to hurt the kid, he had just reacted to being touched, that was all!
“Dude, what the hell?!” Finn demanded surging to his feet and Artie wheeled himself towards Kurt’s door, hoping that maybe he could at least convince Kurt to unlock the door. He knew that they weren’t particularly close, they were so different, but Artie did consider Kurt a friend, and he should have done something when that happened. It was just so surprising!
“Kurt, open the door.” Artie called, rapping on the door. “Are you hurt? Let us help you.”
“What did you have to go and do that for! He didn’t even have to let me have you guys over; we’re not supposed to have anyone over!” Finn said pacing frantically. “I assured him it wouldn’t be an issue; I didn’t realize you were still so messed up around him. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have invited you over!” Puck’s mouth opened like he had something to say, then snapped shut again, and he shook his head.
“It’s not like that.” Puck protested finally.
“Then what’s it like?! Because it looked like you just punched Kurt in the face because he touched you! What are you going to say you didn‘t hit him? He magically fell down after he touched you?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Puck rubbed his knuckles a little, flinching to realize there was blood on them.
“Oh right, because your fist slamming into his face, that wasn’t supposed to hurt at all! Look man, we’re just getting over a pretty big argument, and I promised his dad I’d look out for him more. When his dad finds out about this, things are going to get really jacked up again, and we just got them back to some sort of normal!”
“Look man, I said it was an accident! I’ll go apologize to the little fairy, shit man; it’s not that big of a deal!” Finn’s mouth was starting to creek open like the fucking pit of doom, but Mike surprised them by interrupting, by literally popping up between the two.
“First of all, Puck, you are such a fucking idiot.” Mike said, and Puck startled slightly, because Mike never swore at him before, or well anyone to his knowledge, and it‘s then that Puck realized the others were clustered around Kurt‘s door. “Secondly, Finn what kind of lock does Kurt have on the door?”
“What?” Finn asked dumbly and Puck stared like Mike had lost his mind.
“Matt can pick the lock, be he needs to know what kind of lock it is. He‘s probably hurt, and we can‘t see how bad if we can‘t get to him.” Mike explained with extended patience.
“Oh, uh one of the kinds that you just turn the little thing in the middle of the door knob.” Finn said miming the action. Mike nodded and then darted off into the kitchen.
Artie vaguely heard the argument going on behind him and was visibly startled when Matt appeared at his side with a kitchen knife and an ice pack. “Kurt, I’m going to pick your lock if you don’t let us in.” Matt warned and Artie vaguely thought that might have been the longest sentence he had ever heard come from Matt. There was no response from Kurt, so Matt did exactly what he promised. He picked the lock so fast that Artie couldn’t help but look at him, eyebrow raised.
“Misspent childhood.” Matt said with an almost cheeky smile.
“Right, see if you can get him up here, I can’t get down the stairs.” Matt nodded, and he and Mike descended the stairs. Finn had gone back to yelling at Puck and hadn’t noticed the door was open yet. Artie thought it might be more important he go talk to Kurt, than continue yelling at Puck, who looked more indignant than remorseful. Artie wheeled his way over, deliberately rolling over Puck’s foot. He yelped in pain glaring at Artie.
“Fuck Abrams that hurt!” It would have been comical to watch Puck hop up and down on one foot if Artie wasn’t so pissed off.
“Finn, Matt got the door open, he and Mike are down there.” Finn abandoned his argument with Puck to go check on Kurt instead, leaving the mohawked boy to watch Artie warily, like he wasn’t sure if he might do it again, or try and break his legs or something. The way Artie’s glaring at him makes Puck think that if he had laser vision, his head would be splattered all over the room. Somehow, it was scarier than when Finn was yelling at him.
**************
Mike found Kurt in his bathroom, a cold washcloth pressed to his jaw. He then he realized that there was also blood in the sink, and Kurt’s eyes came up to meet his in the mirror.
“It’s fine, I just bit my tongue. Go back upstairs Mike, I’m not going to kick you all out or cause a bit scene, you don’t have to do this.” Kurt’s speech was more than a little difficult to understand due to the swelling in his jaw, but that wasn’t what made Mike freeze. Mike froze, because he had never heard Kurt sound like that, bitter and resigned and such a small, but powerful undercurrent of honest pain. Matt shouldered pass and gently took Kurt’s chin in his hand so he could examine the damage, trying to pretend not to notice the flinch his proximity had caused. The flesh was already starting to bruise and was spreading up towards Kurt’s eye.
“Mercedes is going to murder Puck when she finds out about this, she might even let some of the others help.” Matt said simply, and Kurt almost laughed. Matt pushed the wash cloth away and replaced it with an ice pack, ignoring the flinch it caused. Finn came barreling into the room then and took one look at Kurt, with an ice pack against his jaw, eyes slightly red-rimmed and he’s in motion once more. Mike and Matt beat a hasty retreat into the bedroom, not wanting to be around for whatever was going to go down between the two. They didn’t go upstairs yet though; they wanted to make sure Kurt was actually ok first.
“Oh man, Kurt I--I didn’t know he would do something like that. Please, you have to believe-”
“No Finn, I don’t have to believe anything.” Kurt told him, far too calmly for Finn’s liking. “What I believe is that I made a stupid mistake that I won’t repeat. I won’t rat you out, I can probably cover this up, or at least come up with a good enough excuse for it. Go back upstairs and enjoy your party, your friends are probably waiting for you.” Finn wasn’t the brightest by any means, but he knew well enough that Kurt had just implied they weren’t his friends too, and that was a whole new reason for him to be upset.
“They’re your friends too!” Finn protested, and the look that Kurt set him with just broke his heart.
“It’s ok Finn, really. I get it, it’s fine really. Thank Matt for brining me the ice pack, it’ll bring the swelling down at least.”
“Come back upstairs with me.” Finn pleaded and when Kurt looked like he was about to refuse, so he tried something else. “Seriously, Artie’s freaking out and he can’t come down here to you.” Maybe it was a low blow, but Kurt hesitated a moment, before he nodded slowly. He and Artie might not be the closest of friends, but Artie had never been cruel to him, and of all the guys in glee, Kurt felt that Artie was his only friend.
“I’ll stay in the kitchen.”
“You don’t have to stay in the kitchen Kurt.”
“I’ll stay in the kitchen.” Kurt repeated, and he finally got up and moved towards the stairs, Matt and Mike falling in behind him with Finn bringing up the rear. Once he got to the top of the stairs, he moved into the Kitchen and Finn sighed rubbing the back of his neck.
“Artie man, Kurt’s in the kitchen.” Puck finally feels the heavy weight of Artie’s glare lift off him and he felt like he could move again. Artie wheeled into the kitchen, and Mike and Matt began to try and clean up the snacks that fell when Kurt had.
“I hope you’re happy Puck.” Finn said with a sigh. “Kurt’s pretty much convinced himself that we couldn’t be his friends too, because you’re a homophobic jackass.”
“We didn’t move.” Matt said suddenly, and Finn twisted to look at him. “When Kurt hit the floor, no one moved, no one said anything; he just sat there for a minute before he got up and retreated. He probably thinks we thought he had it coming or something.”
“It isn’t like we haven’t pretty much said he had it coming before.” Mike admitted softly. “Even you Finn, it was actually your idea to throw the pee balloons at him if you remember, and we did spend an awful amount of time throwing him in the dumpster.” Mike’s voice is heavy with guilt, and Finn feels weighted down and guilty. It had been his idea to throw the pee balloons, he had wanted to fit in and it had seemed like a hysterical idea at the time.
“Damn it all to hell.” Finn muttered before heading towards the kitchen again, the others trailing at his heels, Mike and Matt’s arms loaded down with the discarded snacks.
“I should have at least tried to help you up.” Artie was saying and Kurt let out a small noise of amusement.
“And risk dumping you on the floor if I knocked you off kilter? No thanks.” Kurt replied, and looked mildly affronted at Artie’s snort of amusement.
“Dude, I’m pretty sure the girl’s weights more than you do.”
“Don’t you dare ever say that to them, seriously.” Kurt said sounding more than a little horrified.
“Hey, give me a little credit, I usually do not have a case of foot in mouth, and I wouldn’t be mean enough to say something like that to them.” Mike pushed past an armful of the fallen snacks in his arms.
“Dude, these looked awesome, we should have a memorial or something for them.” Matt nodded in agreement, throwing them away.
“Farewell delightful little puffs of deliciousness.” Matt said mournful and a small smile tugged at Kurt’s lips for a moment, before it was gone.
“Listen man, I’m sorry we didn’t help you up or anything.” Mike said dusting his hands off and pulling out a chair next to Kurt. “We were kind of shocked, it shouldn’t be an excuse, but I don’t think any of us where expecting Puck to whip around and deck you one.”
“It’s fine.” Kurt said waving it off, but Matt shook his head.
“It’s not fine Kurt, we should have said something, helped you up, done something. We,” Matt gestured to himself, Mike, and Artie “Don’t want you to feel like you aren’t our friend, because you are. Hell I like you way more than I like Puckerman, that’s for sure.” Puck let out a small huff, but didn’t reply. “I don’t think I can ever tell you just how sorry I am for the amount of crap I helped take part of.”
“It’s ok.” Kurt said, mildly uncomfortable at the direction everything was going in.
“No it isn’t.” Mike said with a sigh.
“Really, it’s ok.” Kurt said a little more assurance in his voice. “It’s ok. I’m fi- I’ll be ok.” Kurt corrected himself. “Not like I never had a bruise before, and I never really blamed you guys for much of the bullying. I know you took part, I’m not blind, but you weren’t as bad. You aren’t like…”
“Me.” Puck spoke up for the first time, and no one missed how Kurt hunched in on himself. “That’s what you were going to say wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Shit Hummel,” And then Puck actually saw the damage to Kurt’s face and guilt swelled up fast and crushing and Puck stalled before swallowing thickly. “I’m… I’m sorry; I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”
“You punched him in the face Puck, what did you think was going to happen?” Artie asked acidicly.
“It’s ok, I should have known better than to touch him.” Kurt muttered, and there was an awful lot that was said with Kurt not actually saying it. Matt leaned forward and curled his fingers against Kurt’s palm, startling the smaller boy.
“You shouldn’t have to worry that merely touching someone is going to get you beat up Kurt.”
“No, I shouldn’t, but that’s the way it is. I had a momentary lapse of judgment. My own fault really.” Puck’s a little to stunned to say much of anything, but then he feels the duel weight of both Artie and Finn glaring holes into him and he forces himself to move, kneeling down by Kurt’s side to get a better look at the damage, he doesn’t miss how Kurt practically fell out of his chair and into Mike in an effort to get away from him.
“It’s not your fault that I freaked out when you touched me.” Puck admitted grudgingly. “It wasn’t even so much that it was you touching me, someone just suddenly touched and I freaked.”
“You aren’t the first person to freak out because I touched them Puck, and I’m sure you won’t be the last.” Kurt sounded so resigned, like he was just use to this kind of treatment.
“I’m really sorry I didn’t react quicker.” Matt said softly, and Kurt offered him somewhat of a twisted smile.
“Hey, you picked my lock didn’t you?” That startled a laugh out of Matt, and the silence was a little more comfortable.
“What do you want to do now?” Artie asked, and Kurt was startled to realize he was speaking to him. “If you want us to go, we will. Or we could stick around and play some games, whatever. I bet we could all chip in for a pizza or something, you don’t need to make any more snacks, not for us.”
“Oh, uh…” Kurt wasn’t sure; he wasn’t used to being asked for his opinion on anything other than fashion and occasionally things at his dad’s shop. “You guys don‘t have to leave just because of this, I mean that‘s not fair to Finn, he invited you all over to play games, you shouldn‘t have to leave because of this.”
“Kurt kind of rules at guitar hero.” Finn mentioned brightly, “He totally kills me every time!”
“Oh no, that’s ok, you guys go back to your video games, I wasn’t-”
“Dude, you live here, what did you think we were going just sit around and play video games and ignore you all night?” Finn asked, and Kurt’s quiet long enough that the others realized that’s exactly what Kurt thought was going to happen.
“Guitar hero it is then.” Artie said decisively. “Come on Finn, I’ll help you set up the game.” He gave Puck a pointed look, and Mike and Matt trailed after them. Puck, who was still kneeling by Kurt’s side finally reached out to tilt Kurt’s face and get a better look at the damage.
“I really am sorry.” Puck said with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have hit you, you didn’t deserve that.” The look Kurt sets him with makes something unpleasant twist in his stomach and finally Kurt shrugs.
“Ok.” And that’s it, he doesn’t say anything else, he just pushed the chair away and stood up moving into the living room. Puck follows him, and the group spends the rest of the night playing guitar hero and other random video games. Still, Puck can’t shake that unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach.
**************
When Monday rolls around, Puck isn’t sure what Kurt told his dad about the bruise on his face, but Finn is still alive, and more importantly, so is he knew it wasn’t the truth. All Puck knew for sure was that Kurt had agreed to cover for the party they weren’t suppose to have. Still he knows he’s not out of danger, because he can hear Mercedes shriek of outrage when she saw the discoloration on Kurt’s face, and while he’s a badass and he’ll never admit to it, Mercedes can be kinda scary when she’s in protective mama bear mode, and he’s not really sure his balls would make it out unscathed if she decided to attack him.
Kurt however, for some reason that Puck will never know, looked right at Mercedes, and lied. Told her some fabricated, but hysterical and embarrassing story about some sort of could only happen to him mishap at his dad’s shop and how one of his dad’s workers was now in mortal fear of his job because he hadn’t been there when it happened. By the end of the story, Mercedes is wiping tears from her eyes and telling Kurt he was just to cute sometimes, but really he should be careful he could really hurt himself. She links her arm through his and when they turn to start down the hall, Puck’s eyes meet Kurt’s and he tries to express just how thankful he is, but Kurt looks away so quickly, Puck thinks it was probably lost in translation.
He can’t figure out why Kurt didn’t tell Mercedes, why no one told what actually happened. As the day progressed, Puck thought he must be the only one who wasn’t filled in on the particular cover story, because Artie seemed unhappy with the arrangement and Mike and Matt didn’t look to thrilled about it either. Still, no one says anything to contradict Kurt’s story. Puck wanted to ask him about it, but Kurt wasn’t alone at all during the day, he’s always with someone and Puck has no chance to ask him why he saved his skin. Kurt had ever reason to tell anyone who would listen about just what exactly it was that Puck did. He didn’t and it caused confusion and worry to well up in Puck’s chest.
Finally after two days, Puck realized he was totally in the clear, Kurt had thoroughly convinced the others not to say anything, and Kurt didn’t pay him any more attention than he had previously. Puck relaxed, he was off the hook. No one was going to tell, he was going to face no repercussions for what he did. He wasn’t sure why Kurt was being so cool to him, but he wasn’t going to turn it down either. It wasn’t until he really paid attention that he noticed. Kurt seemed much more comfortable in Mike and Matt’s company now, and Puck himself still caused Kurt to tense up and look like a trapped deer when they were in close proximity to each other.
It’s enough to make Puck think that maybe Kurt wasn’t doing it to save his skin; maybe Kurt had an entirely different reason for not ratting him out. It didn’t really matter though, because even though he got off scot-free, he still felt an overwhelming crushing wave of guilt each time Kurt flinched away from him. It was enough to make him think that Kurt actually did believe it was his own fault for touching Puck in the first place.
Something cold and heavy settles in the pity of Puck’s stomach again, and no matter what he does, he couldn’t shake it loose this time.
Disclaimer: I don't own em, I if I did glee would probably have to be on a different channel.
Rating: PG-13-ish
Spoilers: Let's say through season 1 to be safe
Characters: Kurt, Finn, Puck, Artie, Mike, Matt, and a very brief appearance by Mercedes
Warnings: Violence, some bad language, a couple homophobic references, douchebag!puck, Matt speaks?
Word count: 4,218
Summary: While Finn and Kurt attempt to reconcile after the events of theatricality, Finn invites the glee guys over for video games and food. Thanks to Puck, it turns out way worse than he thought it would.
A/N: Written for This prompt over at glee_angst_meme It's probably a little different than what the prompter wanted probably, but I hope they like it anyway!
After faggy-gate, things had somehow managed to get closer to normal again. Apologizes had been given, forgiveness granted, and while things were still a little tense between Finn and Kurt, they would be damned if they kept their parents apart. Kurt hadn’t seen his father light up like he did around Carole since his own mother had been alive, and while on occasion that could hurt, really he just wanted them to be happy. So when they announced they were going away for the weekend, Finn thought it would be an excellent opportunity to invite Puck over for some video games, even though their parents said not to have anyone over. When he mentioned it to Kurt, the smaller boy hesitated briefly, before shrugging and offering to let Finn invite some other people over too, if he really wanted some extra company. It worked out perfectly, because Finn had wanted to invite the other glee guys as well. Especially since Kurt was agreeing to help cover for him.
This of course, also meant that Kurt could play hostess, something he never really got to do unless the girls were around, and even then, Mercedes hated it when he waited on her, and Tina always seemed to feel guilty asking him for anything. Brittany just wanted to help, so she usually tried to pitch in, (And make a huge mess in the process) so Kurt liked the idea of being able to help put together a small get together, even if he thought he himself was probably not invited to join in the actual playing of video games, not that he minded or anything. There may have even been a little bit of shy hope in Kurt’s chest that the glee guys might take to him a little better once the party was over.
So when the next night rolled around, Finn had been ecstatic with the snack selection. Kurt made homemade pizza rolls! He did not know someone could make such a thing! Kurt had been able to guess what most of the guys would like, and since he knew Artie was coming and actually knew what he liked to eat, he made sure to have a wide selection. When Puck, Mike, Matt, and Artie had actually arrived, Mike greeted Kurt with a friendly pat on the shoulder, while Matt beamed around a mouthful of food. Artie had commented on Kurt’s apron, but in a friendly teasing sort of way, while Puck just stared at him like he had seasoned their food with gay. The boys had scattered about the living room, getting ready to play, and shoveling food into their mouths like Kurt might take it away if they didn‘t. They were laughing and having a good time, when Finn began to set up the gaming systems.
It wasn’t until Puck realized that one of the controllers wasn’t functioning right that they realized they couldn‘t play any games with only one operational controller. He and Finn tried to perform some controller surgery when Kurt re-entered the room, loaded down with more snacks (having wisely decided to set a small plate aside for himself in the kitchen this time). Finn blindly grabbed one, grunting in thanks, and when Puck didn’t move, or even make like he realized he was there, Kurt thought maybe Puck was to absorbed in what he was doing to realize Kurt was there.
“Puck,” He said offering the tray, and when he didn’t respond, Kurt placed a hand on his back to get his attention. He opened his mouth to ask him if he wanted another snack or something to drink, but before any words actually came out, Puck had spun around, and punched him square in the jaw. Kurt hit the carpet hard, his head very narrowly avoiding the edge of the table that Carole’s favorite lamp resided. Black dots danced in front of his eyes for a moment, as one hand come up to cradle the damaged jaw. He sat there for two minutes, head angled downwards in silence heavy and no one moved. It was then Kurt knew, sure the others had no problem coming into his home, using his big TV, and eating his food, he was still just the gay kid and it had been so stupid of him to think that they might have actually been able to see that he was more than just the token gay kid.
Finally, Kurt managed to stagger to his feet, wishing someone had at least said something. He didn’t even notice that his snacks now lay scattered around the floor. Pain slammed into him with every step, and it isn’t until he’s safely on the first step of the basement stairs that he relaxes the stiff posture he had adopted on the walk, and lifted his head slightly. He managed to shut the door and lock it behind him before he allows himself to feel anything other than numbness and then the tears came. He managed to choke them down until he got into the bathroom that he and Finn now shared to try and do something about the blood that’s been filing his mouth since he started his trek and try and do something to at least stem the bruise that seemed to be trying to take over his face.
The lock sliding into place on the basement door seems to be what breaks the others out of their shock. Matt jolts like he’s actually been shocked into mobility and Mike turns a reproachful look on Puck, who looks more startled than remorseful at this turn of events. He hadn’t actually meant to hurt the kid, he had just reacted to being touched, that was all!
“Dude, what the hell?!” Finn demanded surging to his feet and Artie wheeled himself towards Kurt’s door, hoping that maybe he could at least convince Kurt to unlock the door. He knew that they weren’t particularly close, they were so different, but Artie did consider Kurt a friend, and he should have done something when that happened. It was just so surprising!
“Kurt, open the door.” Artie called, rapping on the door. “Are you hurt? Let us help you.”
“What did you have to go and do that for! He didn’t even have to let me have you guys over; we’re not supposed to have anyone over!” Finn said pacing frantically. “I assured him it wouldn’t be an issue; I didn’t realize you were still so messed up around him. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have invited you over!” Puck’s mouth opened like he had something to say, then snapped shut again, and he shook his head.
“It’s not like that.” Puck protested finally.
“Then what’s it like?! Because it looked like you just punched Kurt in the face because he touched you! What are you going to say you didn‘t hit him? He magically fell down after he touched you?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Puck rubbed his knuckles a little, flinching to realize there was blood on them.
“Oh right, because your fist slamming into his face, that wasn’t supposed to hurt at all! Look man, we’re just getting over a pretty big argument, and I promised his dad I’d look out for him more. When his dad finds out about this, things are going to get really jacked up again, and we just got them back to some sort of normal!”
“Look man, I said it was an accident! I’ll go apologize to the little fairy, shit man; it’s not that big of a deal!” Finn’s mouth was starting to creek open like the fucking pit of doom, but Mike surprised them by interrupting, by literally popping up between the two.
“First of all, Puck, you are such a fucking idiot.” Mike said, and Puck startled slightly, because Mike never swore at him before, or well anyone to his knowledge, and it‘s then that Puck realized the others were clustered around Kurt‘s door. “Secondly, Finn what kind of lock does Kurt have on the door?”
“What?” Finn asked dumbly and Puck stared like Mike had lost his mind.
“Matt can pick the lock, be he needs to know what kind of lock it is. He‘s probably hurt, and we can‘t see how bad if we can‘t get to him.” Mike explained with extended patience.
“Oh, uh one of the kinds that you just turn the little thing in the middle of the door knob.” Finn said miming the action. Mike nodded and then darted off into the kitchen.
Artie vaguely heard the argument going on behind him and was visibly startled when Matt appeared at his side with a kitchen knife and an ice pack. “Kurt, I’m going to pick your lock if you don’t let us in.” Matt warned and Artie vaguely thought that might have been the longest sentence he had ever heard come from Matt. There was no response from Kurt, so Matt did exactly what he promised. He picked the lock so fast that Artie couldn’t help but look at him, eyebrow raised.
“Misspent childhood.” Matt said with an almost cheeky smile.
“Right, see if you can get him up here, I can’t get down the stairs.” Matt nodded, and he and Mike descended the stairs. Finn had gone back to yelling at Puck and hadn’t noticed the door was open yet. Artie thought it might be more important he go talk to Kurt, than continue yelling at Puck, who looked more indignant than remorseful. Artie wheeled his way over, deliberately rolling over Puck’s foot. He yelped in pain glaring at Artie.
“Fuck Abrams that hurt!” It would have been comical to watch Puck hop up and down on one foot if Artie wasn’t so pissed off.
“Finn, Matt got the door open, he and Mike are down there.” Finn abandoned his argument with Puck to go check on Kurt instead, leaving the mohawked boy to watch Artie warily, like he wasn’t sure if he might do it again, or try and break his legs or something. The way Artie’s glaring at him makes Puck think that if he had laser vision, his head would be splattered all over the room. Somehow, it was scarier than when Finn was yelling at him.
**************
Mike found Kurt in his bathroom, a cold washcloth pressed to his jaw. He then he realized that there was also blood in the sink, and Kurt’s eyes came up to meet his in the mirror.
“It’s fine, I just bit my tongue. Go back upstairs Mike, I’m not going to kick you all out or cause a bit scene, you don’t have to do this.” Kurt’s speech was more than a little difficult to understand due to the swelling in his jaw, but that wasn’t what made Mike freeze. Mike froze, because he had never heard Kurt sound like that, bitter and resigned and such a small, but powerful undercurrent of honest pain. Matt shouldered pass and gently took Kurt’s chin in his hand so he could examine the damage, trying to pretend not to notice the flinch his proximity had caused. The flesh was already starting to bruise and was spreading up towards Kurt’s eye.
“Mercedes is going to murder Puck when she finds out about this, she might even let some of the others help.” Matt said simply, and Kurt almost laughed. Matt pushed the wash cloth away and replaced it with an ice pack, ignoring the flinch it caused. Finn came barreling into the room then and took one look at Kurt, with an ice pack against his jaw, eyes slightly red-rimmed and he’s in motion once more. Mike and Matt beat a hasty retreat into the bedroom, not wanting to be around for whatever was going to go down between the two. They didn’t go upstairs yet though; they wanted to make sure Kurt was actually ok first.
“Oh man, Kurt I--I didn’t know he would do something like that. Please, you have to believe-”
“No Finn, I don’t have to believe anything.” Kurt told him, far too calmly for Finn’s liking. “What I believe is that I made a stupid mistake that I won’t repeat. I won’t rat you out, I can probably cover this up, or at least come up with a good enough excuse for it. Go back upstairs and enjoy your party, your friends are probably waiting for you.” Finn wasn’t the brightest by any means, but he knew well enough that Kurt had just implied they weren’t his friends too, and that was a whole new reason for him to be upset.
“They’re your friends too!” Finn protested, and the look that Kurt set him with just broke his heart.
“It’s ok Finn, really. I get it, it’s fine really. Thank Matt for brining me the ice pack, it’ll bring the swelling down at least.”
“Come back upstairs with me.” Finn pleaded and when Kurt looked like he was about to refuse, so he tried something else. “Seriously, Artie’s freaking out and he can’t come down here to you.” Maybe it was a low blow, but Kurt hesitated a moment, before he nodded slowly. He and Artie might not be the closest of friends, but Artie had never been cruel to him, and of all the guys in glee, Kurt felt that Artie was his only friend.
“I’ll stay in the kitchen.”
“You don’t have to stay in the kitchen Kurt.”
“I’ll stay in the kitchen.” Kurt repeated, and he finally got up and moved towards the stairs, Matt and Mike falling in behind him with Finn bringing up the rear. Once he got to the top of the stairs, he moved into the Kitchen and Finn sighed rubbing the back of his neck.
“Artie man, Kurt’s in the kitchen.” Puck finally feels the heavy weight of Artie’s glare lift off him and he felt like he could move again. Artie wheeled into the kitchen, and Mike and Matt began to try and clean up the snacks that fell when Kurt had.
“I hope you’re happy Puck.” Finn said with a sigh. “Kurt’s pretty much convinced himself that we couldn’t be his friends too, because you’re a homophobic jackass.”
“We didn’t move.” Matt said suddenly, and Finn twisted to look at him. “When Kurt hit the floor, no one moved, no one said anything; he just sat there for a minute before he got up and retreated. He probably thinks we thought he had it coming or something.”
“It isn’t like we haven’t pretty much said he had it coming before.” Mike admitted softly. “Even you Finn, it was actually your idea to throw the pee balloons at him if you remember, and we did spend an awful amount of time throwing him in the dumpster.” Mike’s voice is heavy with guilt, and Finn feels weighted down and guilty. It had been his idea to throw the pee balloons, he had wanted to fit in and it had seemed like a hysterical idea at the time.
“Damn it all to hell.” Finn muttered before heading towards the kitchen again, the others trailing at his heels, Mike and Matt’s arms loaded down with the discarded snacks.
“I should have at least tried to help you up.” Artie was saying and Kurt let out a small noise of amusement.
“And risk dumping you on the floor if I knocked you off kilter? No thanks.” Kurt replied, and looked mildly affronted at Artie’s snort of amusement.
“Dude, I’m pretty sure the girl’s weights more than you do.”
“Don’t you dare ever say that to them, seriously.” Kurt said sounding more than a little horrified.
“Hey, give me a little credit, I usually do not have a case of foot in mouth, and I wouldn’t be mean enough to say something like that to them.” Mike pushed past an armful of the fallen snacks in his arms.
“Dude, these looked awesome, we should have a memorial or something for them.” Matt nodded in agreement, throwing them away.
“Farewell delightful little puffs of deliciousness.” Matt said mournful and a small smile tugged at Kurt’s lips for a moment, before it was gone.
“Listen man, I’m sorry we didn’t help you up or anything.” Mike said dusting his hands off and pulling out a chair next to Kurt. “We were kind of shocked, it shouldn’t be an excuse, but I don’t think any of us where expecting Puck to whip around and deck you one.”
“It’s fine.” Kurt said waving it off, but Matt shook his head.
“It’s not fine Kurt, we should have said something, helped you up, done something. We,” Matt gestured to himself, Mike, and Artie “Don’t want you to feel like you aren’t our friend, because you are. Hell I like you way more than I like Puckerman, that’s for sure.” Puck let out a small huff, but didn’t reply. “I don’t think I can ever tell you just how sorry I am for the amount of crap I helped take part of.”
“It’s ok.” Kurt said, mildly uncomfortable at the direction everything was going in.
“No it isn’t.” Mike said with a sigh.
“Really, it’s ok.” Kurt said a little more assurance in his voice. “It’s ok. I’m fi- I’ll be ok.” Kurt corrected himself. “Not like I never had a bruise before, and I never really blamed you guys for much of the bullying. I know you took part, I’m not blind, but you weren’t as bad. You aren’t like…”
“Me.” Puck spoke up for the first time, and no one missed how Kurt hunched in on himself. “That’s what you were going to say wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Shit Hummel,” And then Puck actually saw the damage to Kurt’s face and guilt swelled up fast and crushing and Puck stalled before swallowing thickly. “I’m… I’m sorry; I didn’t think I hit you that hard.”
“You punched him in the face Puck, what did you think was going to happen?” Artie asked acidicly.
“It’s ok, I should have known better than to touch him.” Kurt muttered, and there was an awful lot that was said with Kurt not actually saying it. Matt leaned forward and curled his fingers against Kurt’s palm, startling the smaller boy.
“You shouldn’t have to worry that merely touching someone is going to get you beat up Kurt.”
“No, I shouldn’t, but that’s the way it is. I had a momentary lapse of judgment. My own fault really.” Puck’s a little to stunned to say much of anything, but then he feels the duel weight of both Artie and Finn glaring holes into him and he forces himself to move, kneeling down by Kurt’s side to get a better look at the damage, he doesn’t miss how Kurt practically fell out of his chair and into Mike in an effort to get away from him.
“It’s not your fault that I freaked out when you touched me.” Puck admitted grudgingly. “It wasn’t even so much that it was you touching me, someone just suddenly touched and I freaked.”
“You aren’t the first person to freak out because I touched them Puck, and I’m sure you won’t be the last.” Kurt sounded so resigned, like he was just use to this kind of treatment.
“I’m really sorry I didn’t react quicker.” Matt said softly, and Kurt offered him somewhat of a twisted smile.
“Hey, you picked my lock didn’t you?” That startled a laugh out of Matt, and the silence was a little more comfortable.
“What do you want to do now?” Artie asked, and Kurt was startled to realize he was speaking to him. “If you want us to go, we will. Or we could stick around and play some games, whatever. I bet we could all chip in for a pizza or something, you don’t need to make any more snacks, not for us.”
“Oh, uh…” Kurt wasn’t sure; he wasn’t used to being asked for his opinion on anything other than fashion and occasionally things at his dad’s shop. “You guys don‘t have to leave just because of this, I mean that‘s not fair to Finn, he invited you all over to play games, you shouldn‘t have to leave because of this.”
“Kurt kind of rules at guitar hero.” Finn mentioned brightly, “He totally kills me every time!”
“Oh no, that’s ok, you guys go back to your video games, I wasn’t-”
“Dude, you live here, what did you think we were going just sit around and play video games and ignore you all night?” Finn asked, and Kurt’s quiet long enough that the others realized that’s exactly what Kurt thought was going to happen.
“Guitar hero it is then.” Artie said decisively. “Come on Finn, I’ll help you set up the game.” He gave Puck a pointed look, and Mike and Matt trailed after them. Puck, who was still kneeling by Kurt’s side finally reached out to tilt Kurt’s face and get a better look at the damage.
“I really am sorry.” Puck said with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have hit you, you didn’t deserve that.” The look Kurt sets him with makes something unpleasant twist in his stomach and finally Kurt shrugs.
“Ok.” And that’s it, he doesn’t say anything else, he just pushed the chair away and stood up moving into the living room. Puck follows him, and the group spends the rest of the night playing guitar hero and other random video games. Still, Puck can’t shake that unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach.
**************
When Monday rolls around, Puck isn’t sure what Kurt told his dad about the bruise on his face, but Finn is still alive, and more importantly, so is he knew it wasn’t the truth. All Puck knew for sure was that Kurt had agreed to cover for the party they weren’t suppose to have. Still he knows he’s not out of danger, because he can hear Mercedes shriek of outrage when she saw the discoloration on Kurt’s face, and while he’s a badass and he’ll never admit to it, Mercedes can be kinda scary when she’s in protective mama bear mode, and he’s not really sure his balls would make it out unscathed if she decided to attack him.
Kurt however, for some reason that Puck will never know, looked right at Mercedes, and lied. Told her some fabricated, but hysterical and embarrassing story about some sort of could only happen to him mishap at his dad’s shop and how one of his dad’s workers was now in mortal fear of his job because he hadn’t been there when it happened. By the end of the story, Mercedes is wiping tears from her eyes and telling Kurt he was just to cute sometimes, but really he should be careful he could really hurt himself. She links her arm through his and when they turn to start down the hall, Puck’s eyes meet Kurt’s and he tries to express just how thankful he is, but Kurt looks away so quickly, Puck thinks it was probably lost in translation.
He can’t figure out why Kurt didn’t tell Mercedes, why no one told what actually happened. As the day progressed, Puck thought he must be the only one who wasn’t filled in on the particular cover story, because Artie seemed unhappy with the arrangement and Mike and Matt didn’t look to thrilled about it either. Still, no one says anything to contradict Kurt’s story. Puck wanted to ask him about it, but Kurt wasn’t alone at all during the day, he’s always with someone and Puck has no chance to ask him why he saved his skin. Kurt had ever reason to tell anyone who would listen about just what exactly it was that Puck did. He didn’t and it caused confusion and worry to well up in Puck’s chest.
Finally after two days, Puck realized he was totally in the clear, Kurt had thoroughly convinced the others not to say anything, and Kurt didn’t pay him any more attention than he had previously. Puck relaxed, he was off the hook. No one was going to tell, he was going to face no repercussions for what he did. He wasn’t sure why Kurt was being so cool to him, but he wasn’t going to turn it down either. It wasn’t until he really paid attention that he noticed. Kurt seemed much more comfortable in Mike and Matt’s company now, and Puck himself still caused Kurt to tense up and look like a trapped deer when they were in close proximity to each other.
It’s enough to make Puck think that maybe Kurt wasn’t doing it to save his skin; maybe Kurt had an entirely different reason for not ratting him out. It didn’t really matter though, because even though he got off scot-free, he still felt an overwhelming crushing wave of guilt each time Kurt flinched away from him. It was enough to make him think that Kurt actually did believe it was his own fault for touching Puck in the first place.
Something cold and heavy settles in the pity of Puck’s stomach again, and no matter what he does, he couldn’t shake it loose this time.