Fic: Tomorrow Belongs To Me - 3/4
~*~
At the restaurant, Kurt had asked for some privacy until his guest arrived and then wanted to be seated outside. The maitre d’ looked a little confused but Kurt gave his most charming smile and was led to a quiet corner.
Fifteen minutes later he got a text from Puck and he smiled heading towards the front. “Hey sweety,” he said, kissing a shocked and confused Puck on the cheek. “Glad you could make it on such short notice.” Turning, Kurt nodded that they were ready to be showed to their table.
“What’s going on, Kurt?” Puck whispered. “You’re lucky I had a meeting today or else I’d be really underdressed right now.”
“You win,” Kurt whispered back. “I started getting fan mail. This all needs to stop.”
Stopping in front of their table, Kurt noted happily that they were right next to the little fence. He also smiled wider when Puck pulled his seat out for him.
“Okay,” said Puck once they were seated, “Why are we out here?”
“Because it’s just a matter of time before the paparazzi show up. I tweeted that I was going out for lunch and I happen to know that the maitre d’ here loves the show.”
Puck nodded slowly. “So why are we out here?”
Kurt sighed. “Because you need to be seen with me. We need to make this as public as we can if it’s going to work. I hope you don’t mind answering questions. Just keep an ear open to make sure our stories line up.”
They’d no sooner gotten their drinks than a reporter shoved a tape recorder between them.
“Kurt, who are you eating lunch with today? Where’s Blaine?”
“This is an old high school friend,” said Kurt smoothly, “Noah Puckerman. And I have no idea where Blaine is, nor do I care.”
“So are you saying that Blaine is completely out of the picture?”
“He better be,” mumbled Puck.
That got a grin out of Kurt and the full interest of the reporter. “What exactly is that supposed to mean, Noah?”
“Puck,” he corrected. “And it’s supposed to mean exactly what it sounds like. Blaine hurt Kurt. The only picture they should be in together is from the cast Christmas party.”
Hearing Kurt laugh, the reporter swung the recorder around just as a cameraman appeared. “How did you two… reconnect?”
Kurt tilted his head, wondering how to approach this. “We ran into each other the night the article came out. I was getting ice cream and he knew I rarely divulge in empty calories. So he invited me over to talk.” Kurt shrugged, “We just kind of clicked. We’ve been hanging out all weekend.”
“So you’re gay?” the second reported asked, shoving his camera in Puck’s face.
Puck just smirked. “Hey, what can I say? A hot bod is a hot bod. Besides, Kurt’s got a lot more than just that. I’m a lucky man.”
And so it went, reporters asking question after question. When the waiter asked if he should tell them to leave Kurt just shook his head and explained that he’d expected it to happen. Though he conceded that if the paparazzi were bothering other customers then of course they should leave.
Surprisingly, neither man slipped up in their story and they made it home without creating any other unsavory stories.
~*~
“When Kurt Hummel disappeared after the untimely reveal of Blaine Anderson’s affair with their co-star Chase Hudgins, many of us wondered what would happen to one of the top soap operas of the year.”
“Kurt you’re on tv!” Finn yelled.
Walking out of the kitchen, Kurt grinned at the images of Puck and him. “Noah, you’re on tv!” he hollered.
There were some thumps and curses, but Puck only missed a few seconds of the report.
“But only four days later we find him with unknown, Noah Puckerman. Who’s that? Well, “Puck” went to high school with our dear Kurt Hummel. What did they have to say about their new relationship?”
The show switched to shots of them from lunch. “We just kind of clicked,” Kurt watched himself say.
“A hot bod is a hot bod,” Puck smirked back.
“Dude!” Finn yelled, tossing a pillow at his best friend.
Avoiding the projectile easily, Puck frowned. “That’s not all I said. They cut out half of my comment.”
“Relax Finn,” said Kurt, watching as the reporter smoothly transitioned into a story about Brad Pitt, “I heard what he said. And it was sweet. Really.”
“Yeah man, I also said I was lucky,” mumbled Puck, only earning himself another glare.
Kurt sighed and shook his head. “Enough. Puck, think of specifics that we can talk about tomorrow evening.”
“What’s going on tomorrow evening?” Puck asked, standing up at attention.
“You and I are having a quiet dinner where we can amp up the romance and follow it up with a one-on-one interview.”
“With who?”
“I’m returning a favor to Mercedes. She told Blaine and I about the auditions for the show and I am giving her cousin an exclusive to help with her career.”
“Oh,” was Puck’s only reply before he disappeared back into his room. He looked very contemplative which earned him extra teasing from Kurt when they discussed some details before going to sleep later that night.
~*~
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kurt whispered as they waited to be seated at his requested table, the one right next to the front window. “I know I’m asking a lot from you.”
Puck shrugged, gently placing his hand at the base of Kurt’s back. “Remember that I offered to do this, Kurt.”
“But that was before I decided to flaunt it for the paparazzi.”
Chuckling, Puck gave Kurt a gentle push when the hostess reappeared. “Relax, babe, I wouldn’t be doing this if I hated the idea.”
That made Kurt pause, but he couldn’t say anything about it because he could already see a camera flash from outside and he had a show to perform.
It started out well when Puck rushed to hold Kurt’s chair for him. Then it got a little awkward once they were both staring at each other.
“We need to start talking or else they’ll get suspicious when our lips aren’t moving,” Kurt grinned.
“I’m sure they would make up a story about us spending the entire evening staring lovingly into each other’s eyes,” joked Puck, breaking his eyes away to look at the menu.
“Yes, we don’t need words to talk,” laughed Kurt.
Puck was quiet for a second before he let out his own chuckle. “Yeah, well, I don’t think that would work very well with us. I’d probably interpret something you were thinking completely wrong.”
“Hmm, probably. But I would still find it amusing to hear what you believe I’m thinking. And you can stop looking at the menu, I’ve already ordered for us.”
And almost as if she had been waiting, the waitress walked up with a bottle of wine and allowed Kurt to test it before pouring them both glasses.
“You think you know what I want?” asked Puck, taking a sip from his glass and raising an eyebrow at how high end it tasted.
“No. But I know what you like and if I didn’t pre-order then we’d be here for at least two hours and we have an appointment to keep.”
“How long will we have to wait for the food then. Cause I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’m starving.”
Kurt laughed. “We can ask them to bring it out whenever we’re ready. Should I tell our waitress?”
“Can we? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
Ten minutes later Puck found himself staring at what was apparently duck. “Isn’t this a little over the top?”
“Well, if I wanted to pre-order, it was either this or some form of pork. And while I know you have no qualms about eating non-kosher meals, I didn’t want to chance your mother seeing it on tv. If it makes you feel any better, I got bacon for breakfast.”
“Sweet,” smiled Puck, digging in.
~*~
“I saw some footage of you two at dinner,” said Jasmine, as the three of them were getting makeup put on. “Noah looked a little handsy.”
“What can I say, I’m a textile guy,” shrugged Puck, smirking into the mirror.
Kurt rolled his eyes and ignored the man. “What has Mercedes told you exactly?”
“Just that you two were barely friends in high school,” said Jasmine, looking through some of her notes, “and that you aren’t really dating. This is just to get your fans off your back so you can move on from Blaine.”
“We were great friends in high school,” argued Puck, wrinkling his nose when he recognized that he was getting blush on his face.
“Our senior year,” countered Kurt.
“Save it for the camera boys,” sing-songed Jasmine. “Now, I’m going to be rough and upfront with my questions, but I’ll let you approve the final cut before it airs. So don’t worry about slipping up.”
“Thank you,” smiled Kurt, reseating himself as the crew backed away and the cameras started rolling. He glanced over at Puck, recognizing his nerves as the man licked his lips. He reached over and squeezed his hand, “Relax, Noah, this isn’t a live interview or anything.”
Kurt could feel the way Puck seemed to relax almost immediately and dropped the man’s hand as Jasmine went through the initial introductions.
“Now,” Jasmine continued, “Everyone knows your story, Kurt. We all know that you dated Blaine since your junior year of high school. But what we really want to know is who Noah is.”
“Call me Puck, please.” Noah couldn’t help but notice how Kurt’s smile became a bit more forced. They’d planned for Kurt to take the lead, but it looked like it may change.
“Of course. So Puck, how long have you known Kurt?”
Puck thought for a second. They’d thought out a few random details, but most of them were for the past weekend. They weren’t supposed to have known they lived so close together until recently. So he decided to just go with the truth until their fake story came up. “Technically we lived in the same town our whole lives, but I really only knew who he was when we started high school.”
“Did you become instant friends?”
Kurt laughed. “Friends? He threw my into a dumpster on my first day of school.” Kurt immediately bit his lip, “I mean… Sorry, Puck,” he whispered.
Jasmine gave Puck a look of surprise. “Is it true that you threw him in the dumpster?”
Slowly Puck nodded. “More than once, actually. And most of the way through our sophomore year.” He shrugged, grinning and giving Kurt a wink. “What can I say? It took me a while to realize pulling on pigtails would never actually work.”
“Are you saying you’ve liked Kurt since you met him?”
“I guess. I think I was still too young to realize exactly what I was feeling. But I do know I looked forward to being able to get my hands on him a few times a week.”
“Noah,” Kurt hissed.
To Kurt’s dismay, both reporter and fake-boyfriend ignored him.
“But is it true that you slept with many of the girls in your school? In your town even?”
“Two words,” smirked Puck, “De and Nile. I was scared. I saw the crap Kurt got and didn’t want the same to happen to me. I spent two years building up my tough guy reputation.”
“In order to… what? Be able to tell him the truth?”
“Yeah, and not get beat up about it. I was pretty close too. Then he transferred, met Blaine, and I chickened out. I wanted him to be happy, and clearly Blaine made him happy.”
Jasmine turned to Kurt, giving him a moment to recompose himself into a love-struck boyfriend. “Did you ever know about any of this?”
“I had no idea,” Kurt smiled, squeezing Puck’s hand.
Puck applauded himself on not wincing in pain. Kurt was clearly not happy about the sudden story telling. Thankfully, they soon got to the point where their story was supposed to have started and Kurt relaxed his death grip on Puck’s hand.
~*~
“I can’t believe you told her all that crap, Noah!” Kurt yelled as soon as they were through the front door an hour and half later. “Now all of our friends are going to think you’ve been in love with me since we were freshmen and keep asking us questions.”
“What’s wrong with that?” asked Puck, a little irked that Kurt was making such a big deal out of this.
“Because, the more people we have to tell about our charade the more likely the truth will get out. I love our friends but you know they all love gossip and they’ll tell their friends the truth and someone will eventually tell a reporter, either by accident or for money.” Kurt huffed and dropped onto the couch. “Jasmine will have the final product tomorrow afternoon and it’ll be on the evening news. We better enjoy a quiet night while we can.”
Just then Sam walked out. “Uh, Kurt, there’s something you’re going to want to see,” he said, not meeting Kurt’s eyes as he turned on the television.
“What is it Sam? I know there’s probably stuff from our dinner. I planned it that way. And don’t worry, I told Puck to do that thing with his foot,” he added a little louder as Finn came out to join them.
“It’s not that, Kurt,” said Finn, “Not that it doesn’t bother me.”
“What are you two talking about?”
“And now, for our exclusive first look into Noah Puckerman,” said a smiling female reporter.
Kurt squeaked in shock as he saw footage from barely an hour ago of what looked like an interview with Puck. Kurt wasn’t even in it.
When it was over, Sam quickly turned off the tv, leaving the four of them in silence.
“Dude, way to improvise,” said Finn, only a little nervous at Kurt’s lack of response.
“This won’t work,” said Kurt, eyes wide and scared. “All of our friends will know the truth and it will eventually get out. We can’t keep this up.”
“What truth?” asked Puck, voice low.
Kurt gave him a look of pure disbelief. “You really think our friends will believe that you’ve been in love with me for that long?”
Finn opened his mouth to say something but Puck cut him off. “Our friends can believe whatever the hell they want. Isn’t this supposed to be for the paparazzi? Isn’t this all just a show to you?”
“That’s what I’m saying. I already told you that word will eventually get to the media,” Kurt argued. “Why did you say all of those things?”
Puck just stared, face completely blank. “I’m going to bed. Hope you have a good night’s sleep.”
Kurt knew, just by the way Puck closed his door a little harder than usual, that he was going to have to sleep on the couch that night.
~*~
Part 4 -->