Title: Of Misunderstandings And Consequences (and a white, remarkable feather)
Author: saar_fantasy Pairings: Puck/Kurt, Puck/Sam friendship Rating: PG-13 Warnings: Character Death (not Puck or Kurt, but it's a main one)
Disclaimer: I don't own these people in real life. I know...It's very sad.
Summary: Kurt finds Puck and Sam engulfed into each other's arms one day in an otherwise deserted choir room. Of course he comes to the wrong conclusion and more than one boy gets hurt because of it.

"Kurt, this is not what you think it is." Puck tried to plead with his obviously upset boyfriend.

"No?" Kurt asked, "Then tell me what this is. Also, the whispering in each other's ears, the handholding; yes, I saw you holding hands that day; all of the times you were out with Sam without telling me. Do tell me what that is, Noah. Except for you cheating on me."

"I'm not cheating on you!"

"I knew I couldn't trust you. How could I ever be so stupid?"

"Kurt-" Sam tried, but Kurt just cut him off.

"You stay out of this, blondie. When I'm done with Noah, I'll get back to you."

"But-"

One of Kurt's icy glares was enough for Sam to back off and he just watched as his two friends continued their heated discussion.

This was all his fault.

"You, Noah Puckerman, are a man-whore." Kurt ignored the way Puck's whole face fell and just continued his angry fit, "I can't believe that I was so stupid for letting you seduce me. Everybody warned me for you. Telling me that one day you would go ahead and cheat on me like you always did with those girls. Yet I had faith. I had faith that this time, with me, that it would be different. That you could change even more than you already had. Guess I was wrong. You can't believe how mad I am at myself for getting myself into this, for caring about you while obviously you don't give one damn about me. Well guess what, Puckerman; It's over. I'm done with you."

Sam couldn't do anything but watch as Puck stood up from his place beside him and walked to the door with his head bowed down and his shoulders slumped forwards.

It wasn't until the door fell closed behind Puck that Sam stood up and crossed the room, over to Kurt and grabbed him by his shirt, talking to him before Kurt could.

"You are such an asshole," Sam growled, fisting Kurt's shirt with one hand, while digging into his pocket with his other.

"W-what-" Kurt couldn't finish that question as Sam released him from his hold and the next thing he knew, there was a letter shoved under his nose.

"Just read it," Sam muttered, then went back to sit down on his chair, his eyes never leaving Kurt.

Kurt opened the slightly crumbled up letter and gasped as he took in the printed words.

"You...you have cancer?"

Sam nodded as he looked straight into Kurt's tear filled eyes.

"Puck's the only one who knows about this, although Mercedes and Quinn have been nosy too, he's the only one I told that I have leukemia. He's the only one who's been there for me since I first transferred here to McKinley, except for you, and I'm probably the only guy, other than you, whom he opens up to. Not to Finn...Not anymore. I know that it might've seemed suspicious to you, but Puck has been nothing but a good friend to me. He loves you. Loves you like he's never loved anyone else. He wouldn't cheat on you dude, because if he would, he would already have done that when I gave him the chance."

Kurt knows what Sam was talking about. He knows about that one night that his boyfriend and Sam had been drunk and Sam had tried to make the moves on Puck.

Puck had turned him down and had told Kurt what had happened because he felt like he had to come clean, even if he hadn't done anything wrong.

It had involved into this huge fight between Kurt and Sam and Kurt clinging onto Puck wherever they went for a while, not wanting to let the blond and the mohawked boy to be alone together for one single second.

That's why it hurt Kurt so much to see them being so close again.

But now he knew why...

"How long?"

"A few months. A year at the most."

"Sam," Kurt said softly, "I'm-"

Sam stopped him by raising his hand and shaking his head.

"Don't apologize. How hard I might appreciate the gesture, I'm not the person you should be apologizing to."

Kurt nodded and walked up to Sam to hand him back the letter from the hospital.

When he stood in front of the boy, he suddenly felt the urge to scoop down and hug him, so he did, much to Sam's and even his own surprise.

Then he let go and without another word he left the choir room to go and search for his boyfriend.

Hoping he could still call him that after their fight.

Although he already had a clue where he would be...

-..-

As he suspected, Kurt found Puck on the bleachers sitting with his elbows resting on his knees and his head resting in his hands as he stared over the football field.

Puck didn't even have to look to the side when he heard footsteps coming up the steps of the bleachers. He knew very well who it was.

He felt more then saw his boyfriend, if that's what he still was, sit beside him on one of the uncomfortable seats, after brushing it off of course, making Puck almost smile.

There was silence between the two boys but it didn't feel uncomfortable. For some reason, it never did.

It was Kurt who finally broke the silence, "Noah, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have judged you. Especially when I was wrong."

Puck didn't answer immediately, so there was another moment of silence before a sigh left the older boy's mouth.

"He told you." It wasn't a question and as Puck looked at Kurt from the corner of his eyes, he saw him nod.

"Yes. I'm so sorry, I...I really had no idea. If I had known that Sam was sick, then-"

Puck stopped Kurt's rant with placing his hand on the other boy's upper leg.

"It's alright, Kurt. Nobody knew, except for me. Plus, I get why you would think that I would cheat on you because I haven't been faithful in the past, but..."

"The past is the past, Noah. I shouldn't have brought up those old memories, because you have always been faithful to me and I'm so, so sorry for accusing you of something that you had absolutely no part in and you were just trying to comfort Sam, I get that now. I just..." He sighed softly, "I'm sorry..."

Puck turned his head to look at Kurt, who turned his head away, "Hey," Puck said softly, waiting until Kurt finally looked back at him, "It's fine. I get it. I just have one question..." Kurt frowned a little and Puck took a deep breath, steeling himself for what was about to come out of his mouth and what might happen next. "Did you mean it?"

When nothing else came out, Kurt asked gently, "Mean what?"

Puck tightened his hold on Kurt's leg unconsciously.

"When you said that it's over, that you're done with me. Did you mean it?"

Kurt looked straight into Puck's eyes, hoping he could send out everything he felt for the other boy through his own eyes, before leaning closer and softly brushing their lips against each other.

"No," Kurt whispered when he pulled away, "I didn't mean a thing, I was just angry and hurt. But now I know that I didn't have a reason for any of those feelings."

Puck smiled, just a small smile, then turned his head to stare back over the field.

Kurt placed his hand ove Puck' and they both stayed like that for a while in complete silence.

This time it was Puck's voice that cut through it.

"I can still hang out with him, right?" he asked softly, turning his head to look at Kurt again, "I don't want to lose him yet."

Kurt looked back at him and smiled, kissing him once more before answering.

"You can hang out with him as much as you want,just... Can I ask you one thing?"

Puck nodded, "Of course."

"Could I...Maybe..." Kurt hesitated, not really sure how to say it, but then deciding to just blurt it out. "Can I join you guys sometimes?"

Puck smiled and carded a hand through Kurt's hair, to which he was the only one allowed to do so, then leaned forward so their foreheads were touching.

"You can join us whenever you want, babe."

Relieved that this whole drama was out of the way, Kurt let their lips collide again.

It was gonna be a rough time time ahead for them, especially for Puck.

But no matter what, Kurt would be there for him. Every step of the way.

-..-

Kurt and the rest of the Glee club, the rest of the whole school actually, could only watch as Sam's condition got worse and worse and so did Puck's.

Finn had tried to make amends again and yes, he and Puck were back to being friends, but he couldn't stop Puck from almost getting into a depression.

Only Kurt could do that. But barely so.

Sam's body was giving up and he was slowly losing all the fight he had left inside of himself. He was gonna die and probably soon.

Puck was a wreck. Nobody could pull him away from Sam's hospital bed but to be honest, nobody even bothered trying.

Kurt stayed at the hospital sometimes too during the nights, right by Puck's side on the small, uncomfortable cloth.

It was a price he loved to pay if it meant something to his boyfriend. And it did. He could see it in his eyes every time.

Puck was very grateful to have Kurt, because if he hadn't been there, what else had there been left for him except for his mom and little sister?

Glee club and football, yes... He sometimes wondered if it was all worth it without Sam.

Kurt made him see that it totally was.

-..-

When Sam died, Puck, Kurt and Sam's parents were all in his room. Somehow, Kurt was kind of grateful for that, because he knew that Puck would have never forgiven himself if he hadn't been there for his friend until the last minute.

And now that he was there, he could hold Puck through his tears and give him some comfort by hugging him, rubbing his back and whispering sweet words into his ear.

Sam had known when he was gonna blow his last breath. Kurt could tell.

With his last bit of strength, Sam had taken Kurt's hand and pulled him close. Kurt had leaned his ear close to Sam's mouth so he could hear what he had to say.

"Promise..." Sam had whispered and Kurt knew how hard it was for him to still find the strength to speak, "Promise me you'll take care of him."

With a tear rolling down his cheek, Kurt had looked Sam straight in the eyes and nodded.

"I promise."

Sam had smiled, albeit faintly, then he had tugged Puck closer after letting Kurt pull away.

Puck closed his eyes against the tears that were prickling behind his eyelids when he heard what were meant to be Sam's final words.

"I love you, man."

Puck dropped his head onto Sam's shoulder and sobbed into the awful hospital gown as Sam turned his head towards his parents and smiled, his eyes closing for one final time.

Then there was nothing but the sound that indicated a flatline on the machine connected to Sam's heart and the sobbing of a few of the people he left behind him.

A nurse came into the room to shut off the machine and told them how sorry she was. He was still so young.

Kurt had to pull Puck away from the bed as more people came into the room to prepare Sam's body to go into the mortuaium where they would keep him until the funeral would come around.

Puck clinged onto Kurt as he cried and cried and cried. Before they rolled Sam's bed out of the room, Puck stared at his friend's face one last time.

Words falling out of his mouth before he had any way to stop them.

"I love you too."

-..-

The funeral was beautiful but sad. Sadly beautiful. Beautifully sad.

Finn and Rachel sang a duet together. Artie, Tina and Mike sang a song together, as did Quinn, Santana and Brittany.

Mercedes sang alone, tears rolling freely down her face as she thought about her ex-boyfriend, now lying in that stupid coffin in front of her.

Last ones to close the whole ceremony were Kurt and Puck. Their voices blended beautifully and when Puck's voice suddenly broke off from all the emotions, Kurt just took over his part and waited until his lover was up to singing again.

The Glee club was thanked by Sam's parents for making this sad day that much more special.

They all had to swallow the lump in their throat when they told them Sam would certainly be smiling down on them.

Even Kurt, who didn't even believe in God, kind of hoped that Sam had heard them all and that it would make him happy.

Sam had been loved by simply everyone. So it wasn't a surprise that even most guys of the football team had showed up as well.

During the coffee table, after the ceremony and going to the graveyard, Puck was suddenly gone.

Kurt asked everyone who knew Puck if they had seen him leave, but nobody had.

Worried, Kurt had told Sam's parents he was gonna look for Puck, but declined when they asked if he needed help.

This was something he had to do on his own. Besides, he already had an idea where to find him.

-..-

"I knew I could find you here."

Puck looked up from staring at his feet that were kicking sand up from the ground as he slowly swung back and forth on the swing he was sitting on.

"You know me too well," Puck said and nudged with his chin towards to the swing next to him to let Kurt sit on that one.

Kurt got the hint and sat down beside his boyfriend in silence.

They both started swinging, always a little higher, until they stopped swinging their feet back and forth and they fell silent again.

Then Puck started to speak, staring in front of him instead of looking at Kurt.

"Do you think they're right? About Sam looking down on us and smiling I mean."

Kurt didn't hesitate when he smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I believe he is," Kurt turned his head towards Puck and waited for him to look back. When he did, Kurt said, "I bet he's waiting for you to smile back."

Puck looked a little confused, but he did look up to the sky and after a moment, he smiled.

Suddenly, Kurt heard Puck gasp and he looked up to see what was happening.

There, up in the sky, completely out of nowhere 'cause there were no birds in sight, came a completely white feather fluttering down.

It landed on Puck's lap and he picked it up, stroking it in wonder.

He looked back at Kurt with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Do you think this is..."

He didn't have to finish that sentence, because Kurt was already up on his feet and in front of him. His hand on top of Puck's, both their fingertips caressing the feather gently.

They both looked up again and a smile appeared on both of their faces.

"Yes, Noah. I think it is."