Chapter 28

"Ugh just let me go! Please?" Puck pleaded. Kurt grumbled at him and pushed him into another store. They came out about twenty minutes later, three bags heavier than when they had gone in. "this is torture." Puck grumbled. Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but only a shriek came out as he was shoved to the side. A few familiar looking hockey players slammed Puck back into the store display. There was some shouting, and two of them held Puck down while the third yanked down the wristband covering his mark.

"Ha! I knew it!" Rick cackled. "You are a fudge packer!"

Puck sneered and tried to launch himself forward, but was restrained by the others. "Fuck you puckhead! I will rip your head off!"

"It's almost sad you know." He continued as if Puck hadn't spoken. "Noah Puckerman, the guy who had a dumpster named after him for single handedly tossing more nerds in there than anyone else in the history of McKinley. And now he's crawling like a bitch with his little butt buddies."

Puck screamed and tore himself away from the two holding him down, who were too busy laughing to keep a grip on him, and managed to pin the boy on the ground, punching him in the face. Kurt screeched and grabbed Puck by the shoulder, tugging at him desperately.

"Noah, stop! Let him go Noah, get up!" he begged. Puck spared him a glance and stilled his movements if only for a second. His brows furrowed and he slammed the boy's head into the ground before pushing himself up and pulling Kurt out of the mall.

*break*

"What were you thinking? This is insanity Noah; you can't keep letting them affect you like that." Kurt insisted, pacing in front of the coffee table and pulling at his hair.

"Noah!" Sebastian shouted as the door flew open, banging against the wall. Blaine followed closely behind, pulling Kurt into his arms. "Oh my god, are you alright?" Sebastian asked urgently, coming to sit next to him. Puck groaned and smacked his hands away.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Why the hell are you here?" he asked in annoyance.

"Kurt called me. He said you were attacked, I was worried."

"If we're being specific they just teased him. He was the one who started punching him in the face." Kurt muttered, leaning into Blaine.

"Noah, why would you attack someone?" Sebastian demanded.

"Because I fucking felt like it." Puck finally screamed, hurling himself off the couch and pacing away, reaching up to pull at the sparse hairs of his mohawk. "You don't fucking get it!" he accused.

"No, I really don't." Sebastian snapped. "I don't know why anyone would purposely beat someone up. I don't know what is wrong with you but you need to straighten out."

"Why should I? I'm fucking nothing so why does it matter if I beat up a few people?" tears shone in his eyes though he'd never admit it, as he began ranting. He seemed almost unable to stop as the words flew. "You don't know what it's like to feel worthless! You don't know what it's like to be the joke of the school. You know how many concerts my mom has been to in the last three years? I've been on the football team since eighth grade and she's never been to a single game. Hell, I knocked a girl up when I was fifteen and she didn't even fucking notice." He laughed harshly. "My dad always told me I'd grow up to be a piece of trash and he must be really fucking proud because that's exactly what I turned out to be."

Something touched Puck's shoulder and, thinking it was Sebastian, he spun angrily, his hand flying out without thinking of the consequences. There was a resounding smack and a loud thump. An all too familiar scream finally managed to shake Puck from his anger, and he looked down to see Sam, holding his temple, his lips trembling.

He broke.

"Sam." He sobbed. He hit his knees and choked on a cry when Sam flinched away from him. He pulled the shaking blonde into his arms, tears streaming down both their faces openly as Puck whispered over and over. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

Sebastian approached them slowly, somewhat scared that Puck would lash out again. He kneeled beside them and hesitantly wrapped his arms around the two. Instead of pushing him away, Puck took a shaky breath and let his head fall onto his chest.

Kurt shivered and hid his face in Blaine's shoulder. He'd never seen Puck freak out like that. Blaine's arms wrapped around his waist comfortingly and he pulled him out into the hall, leaving the threesome in peace.

"Are you ok?" he asked gently. Kurt nodded slowly.

"Yeah I just… it just scared me." he explained shakily. Blaine kissed him on the forehead.

"Come on, we should give them some time." He suggested, twining his fingers with Kurt's and pulling him away from the dorm rooms. The drove in silence to the Lima Bean, grabbing a coffee and cookie each once they were there. "Are you sure you're alright?" Blaine double checked as Kurt slowly tore his cookie to crumbs.

"Yeah. I'll be fine; I'm just worried about them." Blaine reached across the table and took his hand.

"They'll be okay. They need to work this out with themselves though. Just give them their space and be there when they need you, okay pet?." He advised. Kurt tangled their fingers together again and kissed Blaine's knuckles.

"Kay." He sighed.

*break*

He felt Sam's lips trail down away from his and frowned, cracking an eye open reluctantly in time to see the boy start nibbling randomly across his chest, noises of content drifting up like music to his ears. If this was what it took to calm Sam down, he was more than willing to oblige.

"I'm sorry. Sam, I'm so fucking sorry." He whispered hoarsely, still holding him tightly. The blonde in question finally made a noise other than his soft sobs and struggled out of Puck's embrace, only to push him back roughly by the shoulders. "Sam?" Puck grunts in confusion, looking up at the tearstained sub.

He leaned down and started kissing and nuzzling the column of Puck's strong neck, murmuring the same words as if a chant to himself, over and over.

"not him, not him, not him."

Puck didn't understand. Should Sam hate him? Be hitting him and calling him horrible names? He was cut off from his confused musings by Sam kissing him softly.

"it's okay." He whispered, their foreheads resting together.

"But Karof-" he was interrupted by Sam covering his mouth with a hand.

"you're not Dave." He whispered again, faintly, as if trying to convince both of them it was true. He curled into Puck's chest possessively, kissing him again. "please don't do this." He begged softly. "don't pull away from me Noah. Don't leave me."

Puck's arms wrapped around the blonde tightly, protectively, looking him directly in the eye. "I'm never leaving you." He whispered back, not ashamed of the small tears gathering in his eyes. "Never."

His fingers tangled in that soft blonde hair and smiled in content. Yeah, he could get used to this.