[text: Blaine] Dude, ya gotta come over! Haven’t seen ya in awhile and I miss hanging out with ya.
Puck sighed as he placed his phone on his bed. Blaine and him had been hanging out a lot since the party. He enjoyed his time with Blaine because he could sorta be himself around the guy. Of course he was still pretending to be straight, but he would probably always do that. However, recently he’d been thinking about Blaine in a way that he shouldn’t. He’d catch himself starring at the younger man for long periods of time. He wasn’t entirely sure why this was happening. He just knew he needed to be around Blaine.
( mssg » puck | sent ) Hey! You’re right, it has been a while. I can do that! Dalton has an extra day off thanks to a teacher’s office day. I’ve been bored out of my mind. Let me get ready and I’ll head over.
Blaine smiled down at the phone. Not that hearing from Puck was a surprise. The two of them were becoming rather good friends and seeing one another more often than Blaine thought they ever would have after initially meeting McKinley’s self-proclaimed badass. But, weirdly, even after his very stupid mistake after one of Rachel’s basement parties? They just seemed to get along with each other and he enjoyed the times they got to hang out. Puck was right. It’d been too long since they last did that. However! A problem that could be easily remedied. Blaine left the house minutes later to make the drive to Lima. Now standing outside Puck’s apartment–gloved hands shoved in the pockets of his peacoat and his breath coming out grey–he waited for his knock to be answered.
Puck shrugged. “I mean, going to a party and not drinking is kinda boring. At least for me it would be. Then again, I like being the life of the party.” Drinking had always helped him deal with any pain he was feeling. It would magically disappear (for a bit) once he had a sip of alcohol. “Stick around us for too long and your name will definitely appear in the who’s with who pool. It’s bound to happen, dude. Though, once ya get used to the water, it ain’t too bad.” He chuckled, more to himself than to Blaine. “I’ve been in the deep end for years and I haven’t drowned yet.”
“Wow. That’s a great pitch. However? I think I better put a plug in the alcohol bottle when it swings in my direction. We’ve had what? Three parties with drinking involved. Two after we swore we were all on the wagon,” the light in his eyes and the lopsided smirk he tossed at Puck said Blaine was half-drunk joking around. Things were back to being easy between them. No more awkward skirts around what happened. Just. Talking. And picking on Puck was actually pretty fun. Why stop? Oh! And he DID–technically–have a point to make! “A promise, mind you, that Isomehow got pulled into that one even though I don’t go to McKinley and the one that made me promise it doesn’t either. Totally unfair. ANYWAY. Two out of those three times? I’ve ended up dipping my toes said pool and I think it’s time to stop before I end up in the deep end. I’ve heard the stories. They’re as confusing as the chain that links them all. No offense. But how do you guys get any practice done without someone wanting to drown someone because they’re making out with the person you made out with two days ago?”
“Nah, you weren’t making a fool of yourself! And yeah, that’s true.” When Blaine had kissed Rachel, everyone couldn’t stop talking about it. Puck had just assumed Blaine was gay and then that had happened. He nodded his head. “Yeah, that’s probably true. It’s burned in all of our minds even if we all were totally wasted at the time. It’s funny…We’ve both kissed Rachel Berry and now each other.” He frowned when something dawned on him. “God, we really are like the most incestuous group of friends to ever exist.” He was joking, sort of. It was hard to keep track of everyone’s relationships. He’d realized that the rumor about performing arts kids being horny all of the time was true.
“Incestuous? Really? I’ve hit that level already?” Blaine’s nose scrunched as he spoke–it was hard not to agree with Puck with the stories that Kurt told him about who was with who and who hated who. The New Directions seemed to have changes of heart every other week on who they were in love with. But–hey! He didn’t count, did he? A drunken game of spin the bottle wasn’t supposed to mean anything. And kissing Puck? That was a mistake. Right? If the other would have him believe anything else–it was starting to become overly evident that it was the ONLY way Puck would want to think about their hallway encounter–then maybe this one didn’t either. Or Puck was dead on and he was starting to fall into that trap. “Maybe staying sober the next go round might be a good idea. At least for me,” he laughed helplessly as a splash of red warmed the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. “I should keep my name out of the pool of who’s with who before I end up in a three solo cup refill vodka and cranberry juice nose drive into the deep end?”
( mssg » p. | sent ) I know I said I could do this. That I’m fine with how things are. You have to be yourself and do things at your own pace. I still agree with every part of that. I’d never pressure you to be different. Or step out of your own comfort zone just for me. That’s greedy. I like to think I’m anything but that. ( mssg » p. | sent ) But I’m not sure I can do this anymore. I care too much about you now. I know I’m probably ruining the arrangement we have by saying this. I don’t want to ruin us though. Maybe friends is just better. ( mssg » p. | sent ) No mixed emotions and no one gets hurt. Or hurt worse. I’m sorry. -B.
Puck nodded his head. “Yeah, he’s fine. Luckily for all of us he didn’t hit his head and get a concussion. I’m way too drunk to drive to the hospital right now.” He chuckled. “Agreed. We’re gonna have to monitor how much he drinks for the rest of our lives!” Shit. He was hoping Blaine had forgotten about that. He had to think of something quick. Something that didn’t sound stupid. He wasn’t the best at thinking on his feet. “Um…I liked the way you were dancing at the party. Ya got some sweet moves, dude!” He hoped Blaine wouldn’t be able to tell that he had just lied his ass off. Maybe someday he’d tell the younger male the truth. He was just too scared of saying the words out loud. It’d mean that he was sorta coming to terms with his sexuality, something that scared him. He knew how the kids at his high school treated anyone they perceived to be different. Besides, he’d worked so hard on making sure everyone knew he was a womanizing badass. Liking dudes just didn’t fit into that lifestyle.
Blaine didn’t realize how he’d squinted until his bright eyes became two hazel slits pinched at their edges giving Puck a measuring glance back and forth across his darker stare. Whether he believed Puck or was letting his answer pass was a mystery hidden with an easy smile and a bob of his head that followed it. “Aw, Puck. Thanks! That’s really sweet,” he blushed a notches warmer across his cheeks. “I thought I was making a fool out of myself but you know? I really didn’t care. I was having too much fun and everyone else was about as gone as I was. Least I didn’t kiss Rachel this time around. So there’s that?” His lips remained to himself the entire time. Go figure that they wouldn’t when he was alone with the straightest guy of the McKinley bunch, right? Blaine took another sip of his water and sat it on the coffee table so he could reached one hand down to toy with the hem of his pant’s cuff. His chin rested on one bent knee effectively becoming a ball of Warbler at the other end of the couch. “I don’t think I’ll ever live that moment down between Kurt and the rest of you guys. I think it was brought up like three times tonight.”
Puck swallowed hard. It was now or never. There was no going back after this moment. Soon Blaine would see him at his most vulnerable. “Uh, well…” His voice trailed off for a moment as he took a deep breath. He wasn’t used to feeling so nervous. Wait, was he sweating? Great. He hoped Blaine couldn’t tell. “I…liked…” He was about to spill the beans when he heard a loud crash coming from his bedroom. “Shit. I think Sam’s up. Uh, let me go check on him. You stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Puck let out a sigh of relief as he walked to his bedroom. He wasn’t a very religious person, but decided that Sam falling out of his bed was a sign from God to not tell Blaine the truth. “’Sup, Sam?” he asked as he walked into his bedroom. “Are you okay?” He cautiously walked over to the blond. Sam looked up at him in confusion. “Dude, it’s okay. You’re with Blaine and me. Lets get you back in bed, okay?” He carefully helped Sam get up and settled back in his bed. “Get some sleep, dude,” he told Sam before he closed the door.
“Uh, sorry about that. Sam fell out of my bed and wasn’t sure where he was. I got him settled back in my bed and he’s hopefully fallen back asleep. Luckily, he didn’t throw up,” he told Blaine as he sat back down next to him on the couch.
Blaine might not have been close enough to see Puck starting to sweat but he could tell he was getting nervous. The stuttering was a huge factor in cluing him in on that much. He might be clueless as to the reason why Puck was suddenly choking on his own words and hesitating, sure. Not seeing that the other boy was acting like he couldn’t find the right words to say? Now that part was impossible.
Trying not to get too self-conscious about it by letting himself think Puck’s sudden tenseness was about what happened earlier when he did everything in his power to reassure him that it wasn’t–Blaine sat patiently waiting and let Puck work through his nerves so–hopefully–he’d talk. Leaning in as Puck began–he practically fell off the couch when he heard the crash coming from Puck’s room. Blaine went to bolt up but the world spun out of control and he flopped back down with a shellshocked nod as Puck went to take care of things. –What was he going to say?–
“Is he okay,” Blaine was back in his corner, knees bent with his arms around them and toes twitching against the ribbing of the couch cushion when Puck returned. “He’s never allowed to drink that much again. ..Ever.” He grew quiet and fiddled with the bottom cuff of his right pants leg. “Um–Puck? What were you going to say before he fell? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I had fun too!” Puck nodded his head. “Yeah, sure. That’s a good idea, Blaine. I’ll be right back.” Getting up from the couch, he slowly walked over to his kitchen. He’d been drunk enough times to know that if he walked too quickly, he’d fall over. He definitely wasn’t trying to embarrass himself in front of Blaine. After grabbing two water bottles from the fridge, he made his way back to the couch. “Here ya go,” he told the other male, handing him a bottle before sitting back down on the couch. After opening the bottle and drinking from it, he looked over at Blaine. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone? Not even Kurt?” He bit his lip. Was he really going to tell the other teen the truth? That he had in fact enjoyed the make out session and wanted to kiss him again? Was he crazy? Probably. But he felt like he could trust Blaine, a feeling he didn’t feel with most of his friends.
Blaine gave the rest of the living room a subtle glance as Puck disappeared into the kitchen. You could learn a lot about a person by seeing what they were surrounded with. He smiled at the guitar propped up in the corner and the few pictures that were dotted around the room. That and it was an easy way to not let his thoughts get the best of him. Mainly the ones that’d come up later when he thought back to how he managed to think it was a good idea to just plaster one right on Puck’s mouth like no big deal! Brilliant idea drunk!Blaine! Absolutely brilliant! Even though they seemed to be past that? Giving himself a roll of the eyes now that he was alone for the first time was only gut instinct. Back to a lazy smile when Puck returned–Blaine leaned up out of his corner and took the water with a grateful nod. “Thank you,” he twisted the cap off only getting a few sips before Puck’s question. A brow lifted and he shrugged. “Sure. I promise I won’t tell anyone. Not even Kurt. What’s on your mind?”
Puck chuckled. “That’s true, although I’m certainly no saint. I’ve done some bad things. Sure they were badass, but they were still bad.” He wasn’t entirely sure why he was admitting this to Blaine. He was almost positive Kurt had told Blaine about all of the things he had done, good or bad. “Uh, yeah, of course, dude!” He rarely felt threatened by others. The only reason he would feel threatened by the other male was if he thought Blaine was lying about telling people about what had happened earlier that night. Luckily, he believed Blaine so for now, Puck had nothing to worry about.
“We all have. I’m not sure if I can say all of mine were,” he held up his fingers in a wobbly set of quotation marks and gave Puck a lopsided grin, “badass. But?” His hands dropped heavily back into his lap before he curled further into the crease between the back and the side of the couch snuggling his head in for the long haul. Helped to keep the room from threatening to spin too. “As long as we learn from the ones that weren’t so cool and were actually real mistakes? That’s what matters–yeah?” Hazel eyes lingered on Puck and the silence between them said Blaine was thinking. About what? Nothing that looked as though it’d see the light of day. Because segwaying into a topic this light didn’t require that much thought. “I had way too much fun tonight. Could I–um–bother you for water? Probably a good idea if you have some, too.”
“You haven’t kissed many guys? I’m surprised ‘cause you seemed…experienced,” Puck quickly admitted, clearing his throat and looking away for a moment. He’d been with a lot of girls and knew the difference between experienced and inexperienced chicks. He was glad that Blaine understood his situation. He was one of the most popular guys at McKinley. If anyone found out about his drunken make-out session with Blaine, his reputation would be ruined. There had been some rumors about Finn and him being a couple but ever since Finn had started dating Rachel, the rumors had died down. “Yeah, you guys aren’t that bad. Compared to Vocal Adrenaline, The Warblers are saints. I’ve never worried that you were trying to sabotage us. You just don’t seem like that kind of dude.”
Blaine gave Puck a puzzled look that was broken up by an embarrassed laugh. “Yeah–no. I haven’t. Thanks though,” the last two words lifted in pitch to the point where they nearly sounded like a question. He stopped himself from adding in some embarrassedly nervous joke like he must be a natural because it–technically–wasn’t only one of their first kisses with a guy. Who wants to admit that their first kiss might’ve just been by planting one on a straight guy while drunk? Absolutely nobody. That’s who. Definitely–not him. The entire situation was awkward enough. Why mix that into it? Some might say Blaine wasted it. Blaine couldn’t bring himself to feel about it that way. Regretting it down to his bones now or not? He wanted to kiss Puck. Even if the end result was a huge oopsie that sober Blaine was–no doubt–going to want to smack himself upside the head for. Back to the conversation! Blinking out of his haze–Blaine shrugged and snuggled deeper into his corner of the couch until he was a ball. Knees to his chest and arms around his shins. “Wouldn’t say we’re saints but in comparison to Vocal Adrenaline? Most people are. Thank you for not seeing me as a threat. You have no idea how huge of a relief that is.” –In more ways than one, I guess.–
“I think I’m one of the few people who sees Santana as more than a background singer. I don’t know if ya know this, but we use to date. Uh, before she came out. She’s a really good kisser.” Puck cringed the moments the words left his mouth. Had what he just said upset Blaine? Or make the man jealous? He wasn’t trying to do that. He really liked Blaine and wanted to hang out with him again. Maybe not by themselves. Hanging out with Blaine with a group of people seemed safer. Then Puck couldn’t act on his feelings, which was good for him.
A huge grin appeared on Puck’s face. “Thanks, dude. I’m glad I can trust ya with stuff.” He was never really open with people, but tonight, for whatever reason, he was. Maybe it was the alcohol that was still flowing through his veins that made him more vulnerable. Or maybe it was because for a second, when he was making out with Blaine, he could finally be himself. He nodded his head. “I’d love to play for ya sometime. Not tonight though. I’m still drunk and I don’t want to wake Sam up. He can throw up in my bed later…” He sighed. He really hoped his blond friend wouldn’t throw up, but knowing how Sam held his alcohol, the chances were slim that Sam wouldn’t. There was silence for a few moments, as they stared into each other’s eyes. God, Blaine was so cute. And hot. He felt a bunch of emotions he hadn’t recently felt while he was with a girl. When Blaine looked away, he snapped back to reality. It didn’t matter if Blaine was cute. Puck could never admit this out loud. “Oh, it’s no problem, Blaine! If I’m being honest with ya, I freaked out for like a moment. I guess kissing a guy does that to ya? We like you too, dude. You’re super cool even if you are a member of The Warblers.”
Blaine didn’t give any sign that the news affected him in any way. There was no real jealousy to be had in Blaine’s book when it came to Puck admitting that he and Santana used to date. He was pretty sure he heard the story from Kurt but–honestly? Keeping track of the gossip about who was dating who and who hated who was practically impossible for someone on the outside. Unless they had a color coded map to follow. Blaine lost track and didn’t really think to have it all rehashed so he could figure it out and remember. He had his own school’s innerworkings and politics to worry about. Dalton had it’s fair share of drama but Blaine was mostly outside of it. The Warbler dating map didn’t interweave near as much. Blaine preferred it that way. Just to keep thing simple and let setlists, politics of who was doing what and when at the top of that list besides who was with who that week? He considered himself far more lucky than the poor McKinley kids who had a soap opera to deal with on top of daily life of a high school student that was mentally exhausting on it’s own. “Yeah. Another time. Let’s not encourage Sam getting sick by making too much noise. I’m sure it’ll happen,” he grinned, “We don’t need to provoke it and–who knows? We might get lucky?”
Another reason why he’d gladly keep their kiss a secret? Bringing some kind of bad drama into Dalton because he couldn’t keep his lips to himself with a buzz? Not what he wanted to do. Though Puck’s situation (anyone finding out he kissed a guy since he was straight and McKinley wasn’t the most tolerant of anyone not..) was much more dependant on his silence. Of course, Puck would receive it. His expression softened when Puck mentioned the kiss freaked him out. A new rush of red dusted over his olive complexion and he snapped his attention down to his lap. “I can see where that would freak you out. I–,” he looked up with a scrunched nose and a shy squint. “I haven’t really done it a lot either–. Sort of freaked myself out now that I think about it. But–big difference between a gay guy that is a little inexperienced and your situation. I get it,” he laughed and let his head fall to rest on the back of the couch. “Thanks. You know? Us Warblers aren’t so bad. We’re definitely not evil masterminds. Okay–maybe we can be but–! I’m not on duty around you guys like..ever. I swear.”
pianokeysandbowties back up 