GLEE: Life is a Bowl of Cherries
Title: Life is a Bowl of Cherries (until you bite a stone)
Rating: PG
Characters: Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, Kurt Hummel, Sarah Puckerman, Ma Puckerman
Pairing: pre-Kurt/Puck
Warnings: None
Spoilers: References vague Season 2, takes place in the middle of Furt.
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money. No affiliation.
A/N: from the glee_angst_meme, prompt here
Summary: Domestic!Puckerman household. With Puck and Kurt working together, Kurt is getting to see Noah for the first time; but school and safety gets in the way of getting to know him.
Continuation of Books and Their Covers
At school, Kurt finds himself watching for something. He's not sure what it is he's looking for but he's searching for it; in Puck's mannerisms, in his words, in his posture. He's just looking for some sign of that boy he'd seen the night before. He finds it when Rachel is standing next to his locker, talking with him. He doesn't exactly understand their friendship, because it never appeared to actually be there, it always just looked like Puck put up with Rachel because they shared their faith. But Jacob appears somewhere in the hall and Rachel almost curves towards Puck and that's when Kurt sees it; Noah's hand on the middle of Rachel's back, protective and caring, Noah's glower at Jacob the closer he gets and the clenched fists. It's in the threats and the warning and Jacob skittering off while Noah rubs at Rachel's back before closing his locker and walking, arm around Rachel's waist, towards what Kurt assumes is Rachel's next class.
It doesn't surprise Kurt that Noah is protective towards Rachel, it doesn't surprise him that it's Rachel that brings out Noah at school. Kurt is just shocked that he never saw it before. With Puck just out of juvie, with things going on with Karofsky, with Kurt trying very hard not to be scared, with the wedding just behind them, Kurt hasn't been paying too close attention. He tends not to linger in hallways, to make himself lost in the crowd as well as possible, to keep from being too obvious. At least when he doesn't have his gleeks with him.
The interaction weighs on his mind through the day, until he shows up outside the same little house, somewhat sad and tarnished, with ideas and thoughts on songs in his head and this giddy feeling about seeing Noah in a far more private setting. He knocks on the door with far less worry this time around, because there isn't that trepidation about what he's walking into. It's Sarah who flings the door open this time, bright and grinning.
"Kurt! You came back. C'mon in." She pulls him by the wrist, beaming at him. Her toys aren't over the floor, although there's a small pile of colouring books on the coffee table and some pens littered on the floor below it. "Noah's in the kitchen, cause he said you were gonna stay for dinner tonight, so he's making pasta, cause he says you're all skinny and stuff. Ma really likes when Noah makes pasta, cause Grampa was Italian and she misses him." Sarah declares it all while she's pulling at Kurt's bag to hang it up by the door and then his jacket too.
"Kid, what've you been told about answering the door?" Puck appears from the kitchen with a mild glare towards his sister but with very little heat.
"I checked from the window, and it was Kurt, you said he'd be coming. You take too long to get to the door, doofus." Sarah's hands go to her hips, and oh sweet Gaga, Kurt will just have to show her how to use that properly.
"I'll show you a doofus, is your room cleared?"
"Yes, and I put my laundry in the hamper and I have my school bag all packed. Can I watch my show and draw until dinner?" Puck nods and Sarah apparently forgets that Kurt is even there while she bounces into the living room to sit in front of her colouring books with Hannah Montana starting.
Kurt grabs his bag from where Sarah hung it up, following Puck into the kitchen with a small smile towards the girl. The kitchen is mostly the same as the previous day, except there are pots on top of the cooker instead of a dish in the oven. The table isn't as cluttered, since they'd managed to rule out a lot of thing yesterday and were just narrowing things down.
"So, I know we had a few artists to look through, but I think we should rule out that one by the Arctic Monkeys, I just don't think we'll manage to work it, so I'd rather not waste time trying to." Puck just nods, pulling out crockery and cutlery. "But I like the Snow Patrol one and,"
"Hey will you listen to the one there on my iPod?" Puck's iPod is sitting on the table, headphones in place and just perched on top of a book. Kurt ignores the interruption to pop the earphones in and press play, listening to the track all the way through. Puck sort of shifts around the kitchen, mostly doing nothing at all while Kurt listens. It isn't anything they'd usually do, either of them, but that is the whole point.
"You can play this?" Kurt never saw any sheet music at all, and he knew that Puck was good at picking up songs easily on the guitar, he'd seen it -impromptu sessions of free singing in glee showed them that. But he still didn't fully understand just how Puck could listen to a song a few times before playing it. And why he didn't fully utilise the ability.
"Yeah," but then, for all Puck's ego and attitude he seems to be just a touch on the modest side when it comes to certain things. Or maybe that's the Noah showing through again. "It's not too hard if it's just the acoustic version, that's on there too if you want to listen, it's a little more raw." Kurt could understand that, the song was wonderful, and if Puck could play it well, "I figured, you know, so long as we're both involved, it counts, right? So you'd be pretty great singing it and I could play."
It does make sense, because Kurt's already proven that he can sing the more feminine songs, that he's got the range for the high notes and that he can carry the more difficult of songs from musicals. But this is borderline soft-rock, this raw and low and more suited for Noah's voice really. Kurt wanted to show the club that he wasn't just a one trick pony, that he could do the songs they gave Finn just as well as the ones they gave Rachel, that his talent wasn't just Broadway and the fabulous Judy. He was a little surprised the Noah was the one to find the song for them to try, that he understood what Kurt was hoping to do.
"This is perfect."
"Mama's home!" It seems to be Sarah's battle cry, even as the front door unlocks and Kurt clears away Noah's iPod and things. "Mama, Kurt's come over again, and Noah's making pasta, and my teacher said that I had the best score on our maths test and that my book report was really good." Noah just chuckles as Sarah skips into the kitchen, holding to one of her mother’s hands and talking a thousand miles a minute. She's just this enthusiastic little thing really.
"Hello Kurt," Ruth smiles at him even as she crosses to the pot on the stove, lifting the lid and dipping the spoon from the counter in. Noah's setting out plates while Ruth tastes the sauce and Kurt just watches as Sarah pulls an extra chair over to the table, kneeling up to grin at Kurt.
"Hey, wait 'til it's ready, you heathen."
"Baby, don't you start with me." Noah's waving a wooden spoon at his mother, even as Ruth takes another taste of the sauce. "What's missing?"
"The basil, you impatient woman you." It's things like this, these little tells in the Puckerman house, Kurt's fascinated by them.
He'd always imagined that Noah came from a damaged house. Without his Dad around, it's obvious that Noah was put under a few too many stresses while dealing with some issues. Kurt understands that, because he lost a lot when his mother died. Noah's father walked away from his son, his wife and his unborn daughter; undoubtedly, it left a scar. So, for some reason, Kurt imagined that Noah's relationship with his mother might be strained, that he'd be distant from his sister, that maybe they would be a bit dysfunctional, that there would be shouting and angry remarks and disappointment etched into every corner of the house. He expected Noah to be Puck, angry and cold and detached. He didn't expect a bright, vivacious young girl playing dolls and colouring on the floor and doing her homework, or a tired but caring mother coming in from work and teasing her teenage son, he certainly didn't expect said teenage son doing the washing up, cooking the dinner and taking care of his little sister. He didn't expect to see Noah Puckerman threatening his mother with a wooden spoon before she spattered tomato sauce over his face.
"Haha, Mama got Noah good! Look, Kurt, it's like all over his face!"
"Baby, you okay?" Ruth looks torn between amusement and worry, and Kurt has to hide his smile behind his hand because Puck is just standing there, with a red smear of sauce all the way across his face. "Noah?"
"It's a little hot, Ma." She just laughs lightly and wipes at his cheek with a towel. "And definitely needs the basil."
Kurt finds himself answering Sarah's questions as Noah and his mother work around the kitchen to plate up dinner. Noah is almost a foot taller than his mother, something that Ruth combats by poking him in the ribs, and Kurt is curious to know if it's a bony finger or if Noah Puckerman is actually ticklish, which would just be hilarious. And when dinner is served, Kurt is amazed to discover that it really is as good as Sarah makes out.
So, Noah is a good cook, and an awesome big brother, and a bit of a dork with his mother. Noah is polite at the table and somewhat modest, he actually listens to what Kurt says when Ruth asks a question and he doesn't get obnoxious when Kurt talks about fashion. It's strange, like there are two boys; one is Noah and one is Puck and Kurt doesn't know how to deal with that. "Why don't you two go work on this song in Noah's room, Sarah and I can clean up, sweetie." There's a blush on Noah's cheek when his mother strokes the back of his head and kisses his temple, pushing both boys out of the kitchen and Noah leads Kurt along the hall to a small bedroom.
Noah, it turns out is also oddly neat, because Kurt had expected that Puck's room would be an utter disgrace, but it's really not. He has a few baseball posters up, some caps for certain football teams, a really old television and a games console in his room, but beyond that, it's neat and arranged and there are actually books in the bookcase. Kurt's pretty sure he's fallen into the Twilight Zone.
"So, um, the song."
"Right, um, let me," Noah ducks under his bed, pulling his guitar case out and opening it up. Kurt knows that this is Puck's prized possession -more than anything else, his guitar is sacred, so it doesn't surprise him that it's all carefully stored and secure.
"You know, I wish I'd thought to get you to play at the wedding. Carole loves 'Wonderful Tonight' and frankly, you'd have been wonderful." Kurt might be gushing a little, but just seeing this side of Noah makes him wonder why he hadn't thought of it; because he knew Puck could do it, 'Sweet Caroline' and 'Beth' showed him that. Puck just shrugged.
"Ask me again when it's their one year anniversary."
"They only got married two days ago." Noah shrugged again.
"You wanna hear this or what?" Kurt just nods at Noah, sitting down by the desk and listening as Noah strummed through the song. He didn't sing it, which disappointed Kurt for some reason, but just playing it through still gave Kurt chills. Just that, Kurt knew they were going to blow the whole club away.
And Kurt had really been looking forward to it, but the news at school the next day sort of dashed those hopes. "Noah," he actually approached Puck at school and didn't even think twice about using his given name. Puck just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I, I'm sorry, but you'll have to perform the song yourself in glee next Friday, as I will no longer be attending McKinley."
It was politeness, that was all, he was informing Puck out of politeness because they were paired up on an assignment and just dropping the bombshell later would be rude.
"What are you talking about?" Noah's locker is shut, almost a slam, while he stares at Kurt, moderately confused.
"I, Karofsky's suspension is up tomorrow, I'm transferring to Dalton Academy. I can't be in the same school as him. I just can't." There's this look on Noah's face, one that Kurt can't look at, he's feeling far too vulnerable and lost and like he's being a coward by running away.
"This isn't just bullying." Puck doesn't ask it like a question, and Kurt averts his eyes to the floor, "If that's all it was you would'a left long ago, because I know I put you through hell." And Puck's right. If Karofsky was just doing the things Puck did; the slushies, the shoulder-checks into lockers, the dumpster tosses, it would be tolerable. But that fear, that cloying fear of what Dave is capable of, it's so much worse than anything Puck ever did. "What the fuck did he do to you?"
Kurt makes the mistake of looking Noah in the eye, and he sees it there, some understanding, some anger, he knows that it's more than Kurt's letting on, more than the threats, that there's something else.
"I- I," He wants to say it, wants to tell Noah about the kiss, about the way Dave stares at him, about the winks and the looks and how Kurt is scared for something that isn't his physical safety. But Noah is turning out to be a friend, to be protective of all the gleeks, to be more than the bully he used to be, and Kurt won't be the reason that Noah goes back to juvie. "I have to go."
He takes the cowards way out, and runs.
Rating: PG
Characters: Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, Kurt Hummel, Sarah Puckerman, Ma Puckerman
Pairing: pre-Kurt/Puck
Warnings: None
Spoilers: References vague Season 2, takes place in the middle of Furt.
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money. No affiliation.
A/N: from the glee_angst_meme, prompt here
Summary: Domestic!Puckerman household. With Puck and Kurt working together, Kurt is getting to see Noah for the first time; but school and safety gets in the way of getting to know him.
Continuation of Books and Their Covers
At school, Kurt finds himself watching for something. He's not sure what it is he's looking for but he's searching for it; in Puck's mannerisms, in his words, in his posture. He's just looking for some sign of that boy he'd seen the night before. He finds it when Rachel is standing next to his locker, talking with him. He doesn't exactly understand their friendship, because it never appeared to actually be there, it always just looked like Puck put up with Rachel because they shared their faith. But Jacob appears somewhere in the hall and Rachel almost curves towards Puck and that's when Kurt sees it; Noah's hand on the middle of Rachel's back, protective and caring, Noah's glower at Jacob the closer he gets and the clenched fists. It's in the threats and the warning and Jacob skittering off while Noah rubs at Rachel's back before closing his locker and walking, arm around Rachel's waist, towards what Kurt assumes is Rachel's next class.
It doesn't surprise Kurt that Noah is protective towards Rachel, it doesn't surprise him that it's Rachel that brings out Noah at school. Kurt is just shocked that he never saw it before. With Puck just out of juvie, with things going on with Karofsky, with Kurt trying very hard not to be scared, with the wedding just behind them, Kurt hasn't been paying too close attention. He tends not to linger in hallways, to make himself lost in the crowd as well as possible, to keep from being too obvious. At least when he doesn't have his gleeks with him.
The interaction weighs on his mind through the day, until he shows up outside the same little house, somewhat sad and tarnished, with ideas and thoughts on songs in his head and this giddy feeling about seeing Noah in a far more private setting. He knocks on the door with far less worry this time around, because there isn't that trepidation about what he's walking into. It's Sarah who flings the door open this time, bright and grinning.
"Kurt! You came back. C'mon in." She pulls him by the wrist, beaming at him. Her toys aren't over the floor, although there's a small pile of colouring books on the coffee table and some pens littered on the floor below it. "Noah's in the kitchen, cause he said you were gonna stay for dinner tonight, so he's making pasta, cause he says you're all skinny and stuff. Ma really likes when Noah makes pasta, cause Grampa was Italian and she misses him." Sarah declares it all while she's pulling at Kurt's bag to hang it up by the door and then his jacket too.
"Kid, what've you been told about answering the door?" Puck appears from the kitchen with a mild glare towards his sister but with very little heat.
"I checked from the window, and it was Kurt, you said he'd be coming. You take too long to get to the door, doofus." Sarah's hands go to her hips, and oh sweet Gaga, Kurt will just have to show her how to use that properly.
"I'll show you a doofus, is your room cleared?"
"Yes, and I put my laundry in the hamper and I have my school bag all packed. Can I watch my show and draw until dinner?" Puck nods and Sarah apparently forgets that Kurt is even there while she bounces into the living room to sit in front of her colouring books with Hannah Montana starting.
Kurt grabs his bag from where Sarah hung it up, following Puck into the kitchen with a small smile towards the girl. The kitchen is mostly the same as the previous day, except there are pots on top of the cooker instead of a dish in the oven. The table isn't as cluttered, since they'd managed to rule out a lot of thing yesterday and were just narrowing things down.
"So, I know we had a few artists to look through, but I think we should rule out that one by the Arctic Monkeys, I just don't think we'll manage to work it, so I'd rather not waste time trying to." Puck just nods, pulling out crockery and cutlery. "But I like the Snow Patrol one and,"
"Hey will you listen to the one there on my iPod?" Puck's iPod is sitting on the table, headphones in place and just perched on top of a book. Kurt ignores the interruption to pop the earphones in and press play, listening to the track all the way through. Puck sort of shifts around the kitchen, mostly doing nothing at all while Kurt listens. It isn't anything they'd usually do, either of them, but that is the whole point.
"You can play this?" Kurt never saw any sheet music at all, and he knew that Puck was good at picking up songs easily on the guitar, he'd seen it -impromptu sessions of free singing in glee showed them that. But he still didn't fully understand just how Puck could listen to a song a few times before playing it. And why he didn't fully utilise the ability.
"Yeah," but then, for all Puck's ego and attitude he seems to be just a touch on the modest side when it comes to certain things. Or maybe that's the Noah showing through again. "It's not too hard if it's just the acoustic version, that's on there too if you want to listen, it's a little more raw." Kurt could understand that, the song was wonderful, and if Puck could play it well, "I figured, you know, so long as we're both involved, it counts, right? So you'd be pretty great singing it and I could play."
It does make sense, because Kurt's already proven that he can sing the more feminine songs, that he's got the range for the high notes and that he can carry the more difficult of songs from musicals. But this is borderline soft-rock, this raw and low and more suited for Noah's voice really. Kurt wanted to show the club that he wasn't just a one trick pony, that he could do the songs they gave Finn just as well as the ones they gave Rachel, that his talent wasn't just Broadway and the fabulous Judy. He was a little surprised the Noah was the one to find the song for them to try, that he understood what Kurt was hoping to do.
"This is perfect."
"Mama's home!" It seems to be Sarah's battle cry, even as the front door unlocks and Kurt clears away Noah's iPod and things. "Mama, Kurt's come over again, and Noah's making pasta, and my teacher said that I had the best score on our maths test and that my book report was really good." Noah just chuckles as Sarah skips into the kitchen, holding to one of her mother’s hands and talking a thousand miles a minute. She's just this enthusiastic little thing really.
"Hello Kurt," Ruth smiles at him even as she crosses to the pot on the stove, lifting the lid and dipping the spoon from the counter in. Noah's setting out plates while Ruth tastes the sauce and Kurt just watches as Sarah pulls an extra chair over to the table, kneeling up to grin at Kurt.
"Hey, wait 'til it's ready, you heathen."
"Baby, don't you start with me." Noah's waving a wooden spoon at his mother, even as Ruth takes another taste of the sauce. "What's missing?"
"The basil, you impatient woman you." It's things like this, these little tells in the Puckerman house, Kurt's fascinated by them.
He'd always imagined that Noah came from a damaged house. Without his Dad around, it's obvious that Noah was put under a few too many stresses while dealing with some issues. Kurt understands that, because he lost a lot when his mother died. Noah's father walked away from his son, his wife and his unborn daughter; undoubtedly, it left a scar. So, for some reason, Kurt imagined that Noah's relationship with his mother might be strained, that he'd be distant from his sister, that maybe they would be a bit dysfunctional, that there would be shouting and angry remarks and disappointment etched into every corner of the house. He expected Noah to be Puck, angry and cold and detached. He didn't expect a bright, vivacious young girl playing dolls and colouring on the floor and doing her homework, or a tired but caring mother coming in from work and teasing her teenage son, he certainly didn't expect said teenage son doing the washing up, cooking the dinner and taking care of his little sister. He didn't expect to see Noah Puckerman threatening his mother with a wooden spoon before she spattered tomato sauce over his face.
"Haha, Mama got Noah good! Look, Kurt, it's like all over his face!"
"Baby, you okay?" Ruth looks torn between amusement and worry, and Kurt has to hide his smile behind his hand because Puck is just standing there, with a red smear of sauce all the way across his face. "Noah?"
"It's a little hot, Ma." She just laughs lightly and wipes at his cheek with a towel. "And definitely needs the basil."
Kurt finds himself answering Sarah's questions as Noah and his mother work around the kitchen to plate up dinner. Noah is almost a foot taller than his mother, something that Ruth combats by poking him in the ribs, and Kurt is curious to know if it's a bony finger or if Noah Puckerman is actually ticklish, which would just be hilarious. And when dinner is served, Kurt is amazed to discover that it really is as good as Sarah makes out.
So, Noah is a good cook, and an awesome big brother, and a bit of a dork with his mother. Noah is polite at the table and somewhat modest, he actually listens to what Kurt says when Ruth asks a question and he doesn't get obnoxious when Kurt talks about fashion. It's strange, like there are two boys; one is Noah and one is Puck and Kurt doesn't know how to deal with that. "Why don't you two go work on this song in Noah's room, Sarah and I can clean up, sweetie." There's a blush on Noah's cheek when his mother strokes the back of his head and kisses his temple, pushing both boys out of the kitchen and Noah leads Kurt along the hall to a small bedroom.
Noah, it turns out is also oddly neat, because Kurt had expected that Puck's room would be an utter disgrace, but it's really not. He has a few baseball posters up, some caps for certain football teams, a really old television and a games console in his room, but beyond that, it's neat and arranged and there are actually books in the bookcase. Kurt's pretty sure he's fallen into the Twilight Zone.
"So, um, the song."
"Right, um, let me," Noah ducks under his bed, pulling his guitar case out and opening it up. Kurt knows that this is Puck's prized possession -more than anything else, his guitar is sacred, so it doesn't surprise him that it's all carefully stored and secure.
"You know, I wish I'd thought to get you to play at the wedding. Carole loves 'Wonderful Tonight' and frankly, you'd have been wonderful." Kurt might be gushing a little, but just seeing this side of Noah makes him wonder why he hadn't thought of it; because he knew Puck could do it, 'Sweet Caroline' and 'Beth' showed him that. Puck just shrugged.
"Ask me again when it's their one year anniversary."
"They only got married two days ago." Noah shrugged again.
"You wanna hear this or what?" Kurt just nods at Noah, sitting down by the desk and listening as Noah strummed through the song. He didn't sing it, which disappointed Kurt for some reason, but just playing it through still gave Kurt chills. Just that, Kurt knew they were going to blow the whole club away.
And Kurt had really been looking forward to it, but the news at school the next day sort of dashed those hopes. "Noah," he actually approached Puck at school and didn't even think twice about using his given name. Puck just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I, I'm sorry, but you'll have to perform the song yourself in glee next Friday, as I will no longer be attending McKinley."
It was politeness, that was all, he was informing Puck out of politeness because they were paired up on an assignment and just dropping the bombshell later would be rude.
"What are you talking about?" Noah's locker is shut, almost a slam, while he stares at Kurt, moderately confused.
"I, Karofsky's suspension is up tomorrow, I'm transferring to Dalton Academy. I can't be in the same school as him. I just can't." There's this look on Noah's face, one that Kurt can't look at, he's feeling far too vulnerable and lost and like he's being a coward by running away.
"This isn't just bullying." Puck doesn't ask it like a question, and Kurt averts his eyes to the floor, "If that's all it was you would'a left long ago, because I know I put you through hell." And Puck's right. If Karofsky was just doing the things Puck did; the slushies, the shoulder-checks into lockers, the dumpster tosses, it would be tolerable. But that fear, that cloying fear of what Dave is capable of, it's so much worse than anything Puck ever did. "What the fuck did he do to you?"
Kurt makes the mistake of looking Noah in the eye, and he sees it there, some understanding, some anger, he knows that it's more than Kurt's letting on, more than the threats, that there's something else.
"I- I," He wants to say it, wants to tell Noah about the kiss, about the way Dave stares at him, about the winks and the looks and how Kurt is scared for something that isn't his physical safety. But Noah is turning out to be a friend, to be protective of all the gleeks, to be more than the bully he used to be, and Kurt won't be the reason that Noah goes back to juvie. "I have to go."
He takes the cowards way out, and runs.