Challenge 10: Jar of Hearts
(608): He bought me a oreo ice cream cake with "thanks for not calling the cops!" written in icing. If that doesn't sum up winter break, I don't know what does.
Kurt put down his script on the coffee table and went to open the door. At first he was tempted to ignore it, but the person on the other side was being especially persistent.
“Just a minute.” He looked out of the peek hole and saw the last thing he ever expected to see again. I know that hair! He flung the door open and was about to ask Puck what the hell he was doing here when Puck rushed inside, slammed the door, locked it, and ran into the bathroom.
What the hell is going on here?
Outraged at the nerve of that neanderthal, he quickly followed him. He raised a fist to knock on the door, but stopped when he heard Puck muttering under his breath.
He couldn’t make out all the words, but he did hear Beth, Shelby, stupid, and juvie…so he was guessing it wasn’t good.
He gently knocked on the door and checked to see if it would open. When the knob turned, he eased the door open and peeked inside. Puck was sitting on the floor between the toilet and the bathtub with his legs pulled up to his chest and his head resting on his knees. When he heard the door open he looked up. His eyes were wide and nervous.
Kurt felt the need to yell at Puck leave him. I can’t. He looks so scared.
“Puck,” Kurt knelt down on the floor in front of him. “I need you to tell me what you did.”
Kurt regretted the phrasing of that as soon as it left his mouth. Puck face went from scared to angry so fast that it was unsettling. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I know I’m a screw up, but damn! Why does everybody always assume that I did something wrong?” He pushed himself to his feet, “You know what…screw you, dude. I’ll just leave you alone!”
With that he pushed past Kurt and out of the bathroom. Kurt was tempted to just let him leave, but something he had seen in Puck’s eyes made him hurry after him.
He caught up with Puck just as he was opening the door. Kurt threw a hand on it and forced it shut. Puck looked at him with fire in his eyes. “What the hell, man. Let me leave!”
Kurt just slid in between Puck and the door and looked at him. “I’m sorry that I said it that way, Noah. I didn’t mean anything by it…and I’m sorry.”
Kurt could see Puck deflate before his eyes. It convinced him that stopping him from leaving was the best option after all. “Why don’t we go sit down and you can tell me all about it?” When Puck didn’t answer him, he laid a hand on his arm and led him towards the living room.
He pushed Puck down onto the sofa and sat down next to him. He curled one leg underneath him and sat facing Puck. “Talk to me, Noah. You obviously need someone to talk to.”
Puck just looked at him blankly.
“Why don’t you start by telling me why you’re on my doorstep in New York when last I heard you were still in Columbus?”
Puck took a deep breath, and reluctantly began talking. After a few reluctant sentences, the story began to just fall from his lips. He talked quickly, like he couldn’t wait to get the story out.
Kurt just sat there and listened. He asked questions when he thought he should, but mostly he just let Puck get it out.
Puck told him how Shelby had finally settled down in New York with Beth. How she had told Noah that he could still see her if he was ever in New York. But that it was a different story when he showed up on her doorstep yesterday.
“She was so surprised to see me. I could tell that right away. I asked her if Beth was sleeping, and she said that she was awake. I don’t know why she just didn’t tell me that she was asleep. I would’ve come back later, but she didn’t so I asked her if I could come inside and see her.” Puck paused and swallowed. “She said ‘no’. At first I thought that I didn’t hear her right, but she went to shut the door. I didn’t understand, so I pushed it back open and walked inside. I swear…all I wanted was to see Beth.”
Kurt could see the tears forming in Puck’s eyes as he spoke. He could feel his heart starting to break for him.
“She told me that I needed to leave. That she didn’t want me there anymore. I asked her why, and she said that Phillip thought it was a bad idea. I asked her who the fuck Phillip was, and she said that he was going to be Beth father. He was her fiancé, Kurt. Some douchebag that I never met convinced Shelby that I would be a bad influence on Beth. He told her that I was ‘a bad seed’ and that since I’d been in juvie, I was never going near her again.”
The tears were coursing down his face now. “Who is he to tell me that I can’t see my daughter? I thought Shelby didn’t want a family. She said that she was going to raise Beth alone…I guess she just didn’t want a family with me?” Puck reached up and swiped his tears away roughly.
Kurt gave him a minute to pull himself back together before asking the question that had been bugging him since sat on his couch. “What happened that had you knocking at my door like the hounds of hell were on your heels?”
“Oh, um…” he trailed off guiltily. “I may have tried to break into Shelby’s house.”
“NOAH! What in the world were you thinking?!”
“I wanted something of Beth’s to take with me. If I’m never going to see her again…I wanted something to remember her by.”
Puck’s answer was so honest that it shocked Kurt. He wasn’t used to that from the man in front of him. Puck had always been cagey at best and downright belligerent at worst. The Puck before him was an emotional wreck. It was a little unnerving.
Kurt did something then that he never thought he would do. He scooted closer to Puck on the couch and pulled him in for a hug. He felt Puck tense in his arms, but he just ran his hands up and down his back until he relaxed.
“It’s okay, Noah. I’ve got you.”