Why Now
Written by Imaginarywriting
An AU Pizes Fic
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Noah "Puck" Puckerman & Lauren Zizes
Characters Mentioned: Tina Cohen Chang, Mike Chang, Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Sam Evans, Mercedes Jones, Brittany S. Pierce, Jacob Ben Israel, Will Schuester, Principal Figgins
New characters: Meg, Matthew, Jana, Rob
Disclosure: I don't own Glee or any of their characters. I just love this pairing and wish they would have lasted longer on screen as they do in my heart.
Synopsis: Puck and Lauren's relationship was over the first day of their Senior Year of high school. Their lives went on but their feelings toward one another never did. Graduation night brings them together again but Lauren thinks it's too late. What does Puck think? Will this couple ever relive their glory days?
It was graduation night at William McKinley High school in Lima Ohio. There were 158 graduates for the Class of 2012. Of the 158 graduates, 158 of them wanted out of Lima. Luckily for Lauren, her cousin Meg raved about how amazingly awesome Chicago was which led Lauren to apply and get accepted with a full academic scholarship to The University of Illinois at Chicago. Lauren was extremely excited to leave Lima and see what else was out there. It was beyond obvious that Principal Figgins would have the Glee Club perform a song at the graduation ceremony, but when Lauren saw Puck with his acoustic guitar, a sudden knot gathered in Lauren's stomach. She had forgotten how much she loved his singing and the strumming of his guitar. 'Can't Go Back Now' by The Weepies was the song being played and sung by The New Directions. Not a very traditional graduation song, but since when did Mr. Schuester follow tradition anyway. The song was great and Lauren took the words to the song as a sign that she couldn't go back. She really needed a change and that's what she planned on doing.
Lauren had remained close friends with Tina. So when Tina decided to throw a graduation part for Mike she invited Lauren to go. As far as parties go, the Glee kids did know how to have a good time and it was possibly one of the last times, at least for a while, that she would get a chance to party with Tina so she made plans to check it out. When arriving at Tina's house, Lauren began to wonder how Mike was all of a sudden so popular that the entire house was packed with hardly any walking room. Then again it was Lima, graduation night and a party, that's all it takes to have a small party suddenly become a ragger. Lauren, spotting Tina goes up to her to let her know that she did indeed show up. While chatting with Tina for a few minutes, Lauren's eye catches Puck, drink in hand staring at her. Their breakup didn't end badly. There was no cheating, no fighting, just a breakup. So Lauren decides to give him her 'licks lips first smile' that he always seems to like. Oh yeah that got his attention and he walked over to her and Tina. Tina sees Lauren's sudden smile and Puck walking toward them that she gives Lauren a light side hug and walks over to Mike who seems to be giving dance lessons to Jacob Ben Israel. Lauren, trying to play it cool, casually starts to look around for a Solo cup to get herself a drink. When grabbing a cup, Puck stands in her way causing her to look up at him. "Let's get you a drink. The good stuff is over here," Puck says as he pulls Lauren's hand to follow him to another part of the house. Lauren allows Puck to lead her elsewhere despite her usual need to be independent. Hidden on the side of a bookshelf was plenty of hard liquor, Lauren assumes Puck provided. Getting the Vodka, Lauren smiles that Puck remembered that's the kind of poison she preferred. Puck filled her cup with a couple of shots worth when Lauren suddenly speaks, "Trying to get me drunk, are you?" and proceeds to take a sip. "You know it babe," Puck replies as he hid the bottle with the rest. Puck, again grabbing Lauren by the hand, leads her to the enclosed back porch where only a few other people were. On their way, Lauren spots Mercedes cracking up with Kurt and Blaine while Sam and Finn clean up after Rachel spilled her entire drink on the coffee table. Lauren began to remember Rachel's first party and how everything used to be.
Lauren quit the Glee club. It was her choice to simply focus on wrestling and quit wasting time on something that the entire school hated and mocked. Lauren did have fun though. But that's the past. Puck, cleaning off a chair for Lauren asks her to have a seat and play catch up. "So, how have you been babe?" Puck asked as he moved a chair closer to Lauren. "Babe? Really Puckerman," Lauren says as she puts her drink down on the arm rest of her chair. Puck just shrugs his shoulder lightly as he takes another drink of his beer. "Okay, well I've been doing pretty well actually. I finished All State Champion in wrestling while keeping my 4.0 GPA and I'm getting the hell out of Lima, so I'd say I'm doing pretty good. What about you?" "Wow Zizes, that's…wow! You are doing pretty well. I'm…wow…you're doing great babe!" Puck responds mainly overwhelmed with her statement. "Well what did you think I was going to say? That I'm miserable…that…that I've been miserable, that I'm nothing without you and the damn Glee club?" Lauren said with a little more attitude than she planned. Puck shocked by her response, spilled a little bit of his beer on his shirt from her sudden attitude, 'Whoa, Zizes...where did that come from? I didn't mean anything by it. I just…I'm just happy for you." "I'm sorry, Puck. I didn't mean for it to sound like that. It's just that I saw a few of the Glee kids on our way here and I started remembering stuff…you know, memories." Lauren said calmly looking up at the ceiling to keep from making direct eye contact with him. "Never mind…so you never answered how you were doing Puckerman?" she said as she looked back in his general direction. "Never mind? Zizes, that is exactly what I thought the second I saw you here tonight with Tina. You know…how everything was…you know before you dumped me that is." said Puck looking directly at Lauren's face. "I know I should have tried my wooing skills on you again but then so much happened that I decided to just let you be…give you what you wanted." He said as he threw his head down in defeat. "But to answer your question, I've been good. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, like I don't have a specific plan or anything, but you know." Lauren scooting around in her seat causes Puck to look up at her. "Well I'm glad you are doing well…like really happy for you. I think that you deserve to be happy. You are happy, right Puck?" Lauren said with a hopeful voice. "Sure, I'm happy babe. I just graduated high school. No more sitting through Math and English. I'm going to miss football though and well Glee." Puck really did hate his actual classes but he loved football and the Glee club and he excelled at both. "Well just making sure, that's all." Lauren said smiling at his obvious love for the Glee club. "You're happy too, right?" Puck said as he stared at her gorgeous smile. "Yeah, of course. I'm getting out of Lima. I got into UIC on a full academic scholarship so I'm leaving this place at the end of July. Do you remember my cousin Meg? You know the one that came down last summer with her creepy boyfriend? Well she convinced me to apply and I got in." Lauren said as she continued to consume her drink. "Ha, Meg's boyfriend was so damn weird. His stories were so long and repetitive. So, Chicago huh?" Puck asked hoping she'd give more information. "Yeah, Chicago. It's going to be different but Meg convinced me that Chicago was so amazing and what not so I'm going to see for myself." Lauren said as she finished up her drink. "Well let's hope you don't come back next summer with a weirdo boyfriend like Meg." said Puck smiling as he got a gentle push to the shoulder from Lauren. "Well since I'm on an academic scholarship, let's hope my roommate isn't a freak or a kleptomaniac." Lauren said laughing. "That is probably the only thing I'm not so happy about…you know the whole stranger roommate." "Well you wanted change Zizes and that's going to be a big change from your own bedroom with your queen size bed and that large space we practice your wrestling moves on." said Puck with a large smile across his face. "God, you are so right. It's going to suck! Ugh, if Meg hadn't moved in with her weirdo boyfriend, Matthew is his name by the way; I would have definitely lived off campus with her. She just lives a few blocks away from campus." Lauren said as she tipped her empty cup over. "Finished already? DO you want another?" Puck said as he picked up her cup. "Nah, I'm fine here just chilling out here, breathing in this cool night air." Lauren said as she took a deep breath. "Good thing I was sitting down cause that took a lot of strength," she said giggling. "You always did love the night air. I'm glad that didn't change." Puck said as he turned his chair over so both him and Lauren are side by side looking out to the lake behind Tina's house. "Some things don't need to change, Puck. Some things are wonderful the way they are." Lauren said as she laid all the way back in her seat. "Yeah…like you." Puck said as he turned and looked at Lauren. Lauren, sitting back up in her chair, "What? Are you drunk Puckerman?" "What, No! I'm just saying that you are wonderful and don't need to change." Puck said as he was trying to figure out her sudden mood change. "Exactly…what is that? Why are you telling me this? Why, Puckerman?" Lauren said with a slightly higher voice. "I don't know. Is it wrong? Am I wrong to say what I've always felt but never got a chance to say? Puck said as he began to shuffle around in his chair. "Yes, Puck, its wrong…it's wrong to say now. It's something that maybe you should have kept to yourself. God! You just ruined my buzz!" Lauren replied as she got up from her chair. "Ugh, I've got to go, Puck. I'm going to find Tina and take off." she said as she began walking back into the house. "Babe, wait!" Puck called out. Lauren looked back giving him her 'You've got to be kidding me' glare and went inside. "Shit!" Puck shouted as he crushed his cup and threw it on the floor. Lauren finds Tina and thanks her for the invite but she has to go. Tina wonders what happened between her and Puck but doesn't ask. They hug and Lauren leaves the party. Later that night Tina finds Puck passed out in her back porch with a bottle of Patron in his hand. Luckily Tina had the house to herself and most of the glee kids were passed out somewhere in the house. Tina didn't know what had happened, but as Brittany once pointed out, Tina loved gossip and she was going to find out.
The next day was bad for everyone who attended Mike's grad party. It was definitely one to top if you wanted any street cred. Tina got up first as she didn't drink nearly as much as everyone else. First person to see, other than Mike, was Puck. Tina didn't bother to move anyone from their passed out state so she knew exactly where to find Puck. He was awake sitting on a chair looking out to the lake. Tina took a seat next to him placing her head on his shoulder. "Ugh, not now Tina," Puck whispered. "I know you want to know what happened last night but…I…I just…I don't even really know what happened last night to be honest," Puck said as he got up slowly from his chair and stood in front of Tina. "Because you drank so much Patron that you forgot…or…," asks Tina with a confused stare. "Huh? No! Yes, I got drunk but that's not what I mean. I mean that I don't know what happened. One minute we were talking about her college plans, then about her love of night air and then she totally got all weird." Tina interrupts, "Weird? What do you mean by weird? Did you try and feel her up because that would make you the weird one." "What, Tina, come on!" says Puck as he begins to pace back and forth. "Okay so she says how she just wanted to enjoy the night air when I asked her if she wanted another drink. Then I told her it was nice that she still enjoyed the night air like she did when we were together, and then she said how some things don't need to change or something like that." "Okay so that's when you obviously said or did something stupid, right? Because I don't see anything wrong so far," interrupted Tina. 'You'd think so right? You'd think that I'd say something stupid or try and kiss her or something, but No ! All I said was, 'Yeah, like you!'" Puck said as he took his seat again. "All I did was agree with her that some things were wonderful and didn't need change. Then she got all defensive, which is something that I love about her. I love that she doesn't take shit from anyone, especially me, but I don't get what was so wrong. She asked if I was drunk, which I wasn't by the way, and I said No that it's just something I always felt but never said and she flipped the hell out. She said I ruined her buzz and that she had to go. I called out for her but she did that adorable glare and walked out to find you." "Adorable glare," asks Tina smiling. "You know that glare she gives when I call her babe when we are arguing," said Puck as he turned to look at Tina. "Adorable glare, Puck. Adorable glare! Are you listening to yourself? You are so in love with Lauren. Oh my God, you are so in love!" squealed Tina. "I never stopped loving her, Tina," said Puck slowly. "Wait she was going to find you. Did she say anything to you?" asked Puck anxiously. "No, she didn't. She just thanked me for the invite but that she had to go," answered Tina. "Shit, Tina! You see what I mean. I don't know what went wrong or what made her flip out on me. Damn it, I need another drink, says Puck as he attempts to get up from his seat. "Oh, no you don't Puck," says Tina as she pulled Puck back down into his seat. "Let's think about it for a minute. You compliment her and she freaks right? Maybe because she still has something for you. I mean you guys did have a long relationship, well long for you. Okay she tells you that you ruined her buzz…" "Yeah, I walked up to her as she was getting herself a drink, and I took her by the hand and lead her to the secret stash." "And she didn't pull away?" Tina interrupts. 'No, she didn't actually." "OMG! Puck! Why didn't you mention this in the beginning? She still has something for you or else she would have pulled away. We all know Lauren hates that kind of stuff," says Tina as she jumped out of her chair. "God, Tina, too loud, too early." Puck whispers. 'Sorry, but OMG! Ahhh!" Tina starts again. "But something went wrong. We need to know what was said to get that type of reaction out of her," says Tina as she now begins to pace. 'I don't know. It was so weird. She never flips out. That's another thing I like about her. Sure, we'd argue when I'd say inappropriate stuff in front of her little brother, but never did she flip out over a compliment." Puck said as he grabbed his cell from his pocket. "Crap, it's almost noon. Maybe I should have called her this morning…you know to see if she's okay." "She's fine. She left me a voicemail last night saying she got home in one piece and complained that there was vomit on one of her tires," said Tina as she stopped in front of Puck. "What exactly did she say? You complimented her and then what? I mean other than that you were a buzz kill." asked Tina. I don't know exactly. She said something like why now...that I should have kept that to myself." "Ahhhh! OMG! Oh my God! I know why she flipped out!" screamed Tina. "Don't you get it Puck? She asked why now? She told you about her college plans, meaning she told you about Chicago, right?" Tina explains. Puck starts to nod confusingly. "Okay so she freaked out because you basically told her you still had feelings for her but now she's leaving. She said to keep it to yourself because now she knows that you still have feelings for her but to her it's too late. Now she has to leave knowing that nothing can happen," shouts Tina. "Wait. What? Why can't something happen? It's not like we are strangers. We were together a good 6 months. We can pick up where we left off, right?" asked Puck with a hopeful voice. "I don't know about that Puck, but that has to be the reason she freaked out. I don't see any other reason. So, now that you know, what are you going to do about it?" asked Tina in a calm voice. "Ugh, I don't know but I've got to do something!" Puck says as he grabs his cell and makes his way into the house. "This is awesome! Puck and Lauren love each other!" Tina screeches. "Not going to tell you again, Tina…Too loud…too early." "Its almost noon Puck!" says Tina smiling. "Ugh…seriously never partying with you again, or at least not any time soon," says Puck as he finds his keys to his truck. "Where are you going? Im going to make brunch," says Tina as she walks toward the refrigerator. 'I've got plans to make Tina. Time stops for no one," says Puck as he opens the front door. "Oh and Tina, thanks…for the party, the advice, everything." "Anytime!" Tina winks at Puck as he closes the door loudly waking everyone up in the living room. "Damn it Puck!" shouts Tina. 'I swear, how Lauren put up with him all that time I'll never know," mumbled Tina as she grabbed the eggs from the fridge. "Everyone wake up or you don't eat!" shouted Tina. The sounds of mumbled filled the room and Tina knows she's got a long afternoon ahead of her.