He swears he hasn't seen her this happy and confident since, well it's been a while. He was the first person she called as soon as she got the letter. She couldn't breathe for a good five minutes until she was actually able to form the word 'Yale'. He always knew that she wouldn't be stuck with that stupid real estate agent future, she just needed a little push in the right direction. He's humming the tune of the song he had heard her sing just minutes ago while flipping over that picture of them that she had told him to take down. They're at least friends now and that counted for more than what they were just a few months ago.
"Hi…" she says in that quiet voice when she's trying to humble herself. He closes his locker door and smiles at the sight of her, proud that she finally performed a solo. It was almost like a statement that she doesn't need anyone to be great, unlike her duet riddled year last year.
"I'm proud of you." he beams not able to say anything else about it. Pure joy.
"I'm not the only one who's changed you know." she said raising an eyebrow making him raise his. "You've always been a good person Puck, but you just needed to shave off that extra layer, that hard exterior. From the start when you found out I was pregnant, to being able to be the reason I'm going to Yale. You didn't just change my life Puck, you changed yours to without even knowing it." she said shifting her weight onto her heels. "I'm the one proud of you Puck, and I should have never called you a Lima Loser…"
He doesn't know how to say thank you, and to be honest this is the most real anyone has been with him for a while. He can't wipe the stupid smile off of his face so he just keeps his eyes on hers to let her know he appreciates it.
"Maybe Beth wasn't meant to be ours, maybe she was meant for us. We wouldn't have been anything if it wasn't for her. We wouldn't have become the people that being parents shape you to be. We wouldn't be who we are now…" she says smiling although a thin layer of tears cover her eyes.
He nods picking his backpack off the floor tossing it over his shoulder. "You're right…" he says still nodding letting her words soak in. Yeah, it sucked not being able to be in Beth's life, but maybe she WAS meant for Shelby and she was meant to change their lives in the most positive way. "It is really hard to say goodbye isn't it?" he sighed.
"I was never able to say it to you." she blushes, but smiles cocking her head to the side.
"I never saw the point if we were just going to end up together again…" he says scratching the back of his mohawk nervously.
"I never got the chance to tell you, how much you mean to me. If they would've allowed female visitors under the age of 18 at that juvenile hall I would've said it then."
This all seemed too much now. After all this time how did they go from ignoring to this conversation? Then it hit them both seemingly at once, that no matter if they hadn't talked for years, their past isn't the kind that's an anchor, or the kind that you want to forget nor can you. Their past made them who they were now, their past was the only reason they had a future.
"All that stuff you said to Rachel was a load of bull shit."
"How'd you hear about that?"
"Can't say…" he shrugged not sure if he should bring up the fact that he had been watching girls pee for the last 3 years of high school.
"It was."
"It was what?"
"A load of bull shit." she grinned widely taking his hand in hers.