Author's Note: It's come to my attention that there's a real lack of Puck/Lopez fanfiction out there. That makes me sad because I love Puck and I love Santana (and I might love them together even more). So, this story will give you a couple glimpses into the lives of Puck and San over the years. In my personal head canon, Santana and Puck are really close -best friends first, then dating for a while, and eventually best-friends-with-benefits. So that's the universe I'm writing in. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.

1.

She's sitting on the jungle gym with Brittany, watching a couple of the older kids hanging out underneath that big tree where the teachers can't see them. Britt's busy plucking the petals off of a flower and letting them blow off into the breeze, but Santana's totally engrossed in watching those two by the tree. One's a boy and one's a girl, and they remind her of someone. She can't really decide who. But the girl's leaning back against the tree trying to look uninterested, but her smirk's a little too wide. And the boy, he's keeping a little space between them, but he's got an arm resting against the tree so his face is right up in the girl's. They might have been arguing with the quick words they're exchanging, but they're both laughing now. And then the boy leans in a little and they kiss.

"Britt, look!"

"Huh?"

They've both seen this happen many times before. From an eight-year-old's standpoint, a kiss is something shared between two people of opposite gender who are close. Maybe best friends? Santana's not sure, but the boy and girl are both grinning when they break apart. Brittany just blinks. "So? My mom and dad do that all the time."

"Yeah, but your mom and dad are old."

"Oh, yeah."

The two girls are quiet for a moment, Brittany turning her attention back to her flower and Santana letting her gaze wander from the older kids and to the group of third grade boys playing football in the large field in front of the school. They're all covered head to toe in dirt and practically undistinguishable, but a couple of them are easy to pick out. Finn Hudson is already towering over the rest of the boys, and he's the one with the ball right now. And the shaggy-haired kid who's running head-first at the quarterback?

That would be Noah Puckerman, Santana's best-friend-since-birth. His backyard leads into hers and their mothers have been friends forever. So they've known each other since they were in diapers. He tackles Finn to the ground and the football squirts out from the awkward tangle of limbs. Mike Chang scoops it up and scores a touchdown for Noah's team.

The wheels are turning in her head and she turns to Brittany for advice because, as much as she loves Noah (in a totally friendly way; come on, they're eight), he doesn't get girl stuff like Barbies and nail polish. So Santana was really glad to meet her best-girl-friend in kindergarten (even if Noah was totally jealous for two days). "What d'you think about Noah?"

Brittany blinks, turning rounded eyes to the group of scrambling boys. "I think he's a boy named Noah." Santana grins. Leave it to Britt to state the obvious. Santana straightens her little skirt and kicks her Mary-Janes together.

"Well, do you think he's cute?" Brittany scrutinizes the football playing boys for a long moment. Her forehead is wrinkled like she's thinking real hard and Santana nudges her after a couple minutes. "Britt?"

"Which one is he again? I can't tell." Santana wants to sigh and rub her forehead, but she knows her friend well enough by now that it hardly bothers her anymore. But when she looks out at the field and sees all of the boys in their grade lumped together and fighting over the football, she laughs. It really is kind of hard to tell them apart when they're in a pile like that.

As soon as the ball squirts free again, Noah's the first one up from the ground, sprinting down the line and stooping to pick up the ball. Several of the other boys are hot on his heels, and Noah throws a glance over his shoulder before speeding up a little, breathing out in a long laugh when he breaks free from the pack. He skids into the endzone and throws the football down nose first before letting out a yell of triumph and moving his arms in a circular motion in some kind of touchdown dance. He looks absolutely ridiculous, but he's still her best friend.

"Oh, he's cute," Brittany giggles, nudging Santana's shoulder. "But," she says knowingly, holding up a finger. "Boys have cooties. And if you're thinking what I think you're thinking…" She sighs loudly because Santana's already on her feet. "You should at least get the shot first!"

She cups her hands around her mouth and calls out to him. "Noah!" He looks up at her and grins a wry grin, raising one arm in a wave. She waves back and pulls her fingers towards her, calling him there. Noah frowns a little, looks over his shoulder at the guys, and holds up a finger to tell them one sec. Santana's really smug that he'll come see her even if the boys might think he's weird. That's why they're such good friends.

"Hey," he says, resting his hands on his knees as he stops in front of her. "What's up?"

"Can I ask for something?" She's digging her shoe into the dirt and he's straightening up, looking wary. He's known her long enough not to agree right away.

"What?"

"A kiss."

"Why? " He's looking at the other guys again, and they're all staring at them. "That's gross. Girls have cooties."

Santana stomps her foot a little and Noah laughs, raising his brows like you did not just do that. "Best friends do that, though, Noah!" His eyebrows pull together in a frown.

"You and Britt…?"

"No!" Because, no, that hasn't happened (yet). "I mean best friends when one's a boy and one's a girl. Duh."

"Oh," Noah says, and he's relieved because there was no way he was gonna kiss Finn, best friend or not. "What if it's weird?"

"Just once. Please?"

"Ugh. Fine."

They stand there for a few seconds, Noah with his hands in his pockets and Santana looking up at him expectantly. He takes a step forward and purses his lips and sticks his face forward, his eyes screwed shut. Santana thinks he looks kind of like a fish, but ignores that and leans forward enough so that their lips meet. It's sloppy and awkward and they're both really bad at it, barely brushing their lips together for five or ten seconds before he steps back, blinking in surprise. "You taste like cherry Ring Pop."

"You gave me one at lunch, 'member?" Her voice is unusually quiet, and she's licking her lips a little. He's not looking directly at her, but he heard Matt Rutherford yelling about cooties.

"Oh!" Noah reaches out to take Santana's arm and she looks at him questioningly. "No, see, you gotta get a cootie shot." He does the circle, circle, dot, dot job on her arm and then his own. "There. We're good." They stare at each other for a second before Brittany pops up on Santana's left, bringing them back to the playground and recess.

Finn yells, "Hurry up, Puckerman!" With a little smirk, Noah (not Puck, not yet) shrugs and runs back to join the rest of the boys. "Why'd you do that, Noah?"

"Duh, Finn, best friends do that all the time." He can sense his friend's confused expression without looking at him. "Only when one's a guy and one's a girl. Now let's play football." He steals the ball from Finn and dashes off, ignoring the way Mike and Matt are singing that dumb k-i-s-s-i-n-g song.

"So," Britt says, once Noah's run off to join the rest of the boys. "How was it?"

"…wet."