Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied to either the character names or the many snippets of song lyrics in this story.
A/N: How the future could have turned out…
"…and with us tonight, front man from Guns of Puckerone, Ohio's own, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman. Call in with your questions, anything you want to say, we're here from now till midnight, you'll answer anything, right Puck?" the DJ said into his microphone as he glanced across the studio at Puck.
"Just about anything," Puck replied with a huge grin on his face. "I've never been accused of being shy," he reminded the listeners of WEGE, Lima's classic rock station.
"So it's true you grew up here in Lima?" Carl Hauer, the bubbly, excitable DJ asked.
"I did," Puck confirmed. "My family still live here in the same house I grew up in, my mom still works at Lima Memorial, she's an ER nurse, my sister is at Ohio State studying nursing too," he explained.
"And you live in LA?" Carl asked, his face expressive though it could only be seen by Puck and the couple of other people sat quietly in the studio and the production team outside.
"Yep, I live in LA," Puck answered. "Well, I have a house in LA, for the last two years I've been living out of a suitcase on the tour bus and in hotels," he semi grumbled.
"It's been a really long tour for you guys," Carl agreed, "and this week is your last set of dates, ending with the smallest gig you've played in years I bet, an invitation only event on McKinley High's football field right here in Lima, is that right?" he asked, still not sure if that was a joke.
"That's right," Puck nodded, "the last night, this Friday, is an open air gig at McKinley, it's invitation only, the tickets went out weeks ago to the people who are invited, we have some here tonight to give away though, if your listeners are interested," he added.
"And how do our listeners get these tickets?" Carl asked.
"Just call in, maybe give us an interesting fact, ask a really cool question, just ask for a ticket, whatever," Puck shrugged, smiling even more.
"You heard it here first, people," Carl announced, "if you don't already have a ticket for the Guns of Puckerone concert at McKinley, you can't buy them you can only be issued with them, alright, call in, get your ticket, the lines will be open after this track from Guns of Puckerone…" he said then pressed a button on the computer in front of him cutting off the microphones in the studio. "Why would you want to give a free concert?" he asked Puck, completely puzzled.
"This is where I'm from, this is where I was running from when I went to LA," Puck answered with a shrug, "but I wouldn't be where I am, wouldn't have what I have without the experiences I had here, they moulded me, shaped me, I have a lot to thank Lima and McKinley for, this is my way of doing it," he finished, a little embarrassed at his intensity.
"Is it ok if I ask that question on air?" Carl asked, Puck nodded. "And you've brought your guitar, can we persuade you to play something live on air?" he almost begged.
"Sure, for the right caller, if they ask the right thing or tell me something really cool," Puck agreed, again a huge smile lighting up his face.
"Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed that track, that's from the new album, right?" Carl asked Puck, speaking into his microphone.
"Yes, that's the first track to be released from the new album, Coming Home," Puck said, feeling pride swelling in his chest just from thinking about the tracks on the album, how much they meant to him, what they said about him. Carl asked the same question he had when they'd been off air, Puck answered with the same intensity.
"We have our first caller, hello there Sam, you have a question for Puck?" Carl asked.
"Not a question exactly," a guy's voice said with a laugh. "Do you remember this, Puckerman?" he laughed then started singing. "Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday…"
"Oh God, yeah, Junior Prom," Puck shouted, laughing along, clapping. "Sam Evans, my man, how the devil are you?" he asked.
"I'm cool Puck, not seen you in a few years, I got my ticket, thank you, I'll see you at the gig on Friday. Will you be singing that song?" Sam asked, unable to contain the laughter.
"I really wouldn't like to promise it," Puck laughed back. "I hope we can all get together while I'm here," he added, making a quick decision, "you know, where we always used to go, maybe on Wednesday night? Maybe get a few more of the guys together?" he fished.
"Sounds good to me, see you Wednesday," Sam agreed before his call ended.
"Sounds like a friend?" Carl asked, wondering about the crappy song that Sam had sung briefly.
"Yeah, we were in glee together at McKinley, and me, Sam and another guy, Artie, sang that at prom, the glee club was the prom entertainment for our junior and our senior years," Puck explained, shaking his head and laughing slightly at the memories.
"So let's get some history, knock the rumours and falsehoods on the head, let's get the real Noah Puckerman in here," Carl said suddenly, deciding exactly where he wanted this segment to go. "You graduated McKinley twelve years ago, right?" he asked.
"I did," Puck agreed nodding, "I barely graduated," he revealed, "it was actually my good friends, people like Sam who helped me to pass my final test, they made sure I passed and graduated and I'll never forget them for that, one person in particular," he said, a far away look in his eyes, a half smile on his face.
"And you were in the glee club?" Carl asked. "I've heard that before and always thought that was just a vicious rumour, I never realised it was actually true, and you don't mind admitting it?" he asked, quite disbelieving.
"Hey, National Show Choir Champions 2012," Puck cried, defending New Directions and his friends.
"Champions?" Carl demanded. "They do competitions in this stuff?" he asked, his face showing that he could not believe what he was hearing.
"Yeah, we were good, we were damn good," Puck nodded, picking up his guitar. "Taught me a lot about other people, song choices, life choices," he shrugged. "Played a lot of really crappy songs that are just not my style but we did a few classics too," he grinned.
"We're ready for our next caller, hello to you, Beth, what's your question?" Carl asked the person on the line.
"Hi Noah," a young girl's voice came on the line.
"Hey Boo, how are you and why aren't you in bed? Does your mother know you're on the phone?" Puck asked, grinning at the sound of her voice.
"Yes, Mom's here, we're on speaker," Beth sighed.
"Hey Shelby, how are you?" Puck asked.
"We're good Noah," Shelby answered.
"S'up Boo?" Puck asked. Carl listened to the interaction, heard the familiarity and wondered what the hell was going on. He'd done his research into Puck, there wasn't anything about a 'Beth' or a 'Shelby' in his history.
"One of my friends at school called me a liar when I told her we've got tickets to your McKinley concert, she said that I wouldn't get one because I'm not special enough," Beth said, the pout evident in her voice.
"There's nobody in the world more special, you know that Boo," Puck reassured, concern for Beth prickling inside him.
"So I want to know, do you mind if I tell her what makes me special?" Beth asked, suddenly nervous of the answer.
"What does your mom say?" Puck asked, wetting his suddenly dry lips.
"Mom says I can, Momma Quinn does too," Beth announced.
"Then I say, go for it," Puck agreed, suddenly feeling fourteen years worth of pressure releasing. "So, Beth Corcoran, do you want to tell Lima what makes you special?" he asked, teasing a little.
"I don't know if I dare now," Beth replied, her voice a nervous whisper.
"Tell you what, how about I sing your song for you?" Puck offered, glancing at Carl for his agreement too. Puck started playing. "Beth I hear you calling, but I can't come home right now…." he sang, the sound echoing beautifully, the acoustics perfect.
As soon as Puck stopped playing Carl jumped in. "That was a beautiful version of the Kiss classic, Beth," Carl announced, thrilled to have an exclusive right here on his show. "So what makes that particular track special?" he asked.
"Singing that song to Beth's birth mother is how I got to name her, got to be there when she was born, got to hold her when she was just a minute old and got to make sure that she didn't have my nose," Puck said, the hint of teasing coming through. "We were still only sixteen when she was born, kids ourselves, we couldn't look after her, we didn't really have the support, Shelby adopted her and Beth has had the best of everything, right Boo?" he asked.
"Yep," Beth agreed, sniffing a little. "But it's really cool knowing who my birth mom and dad are," she admitted.
"Are you going to bed now?" Puck asked. "It's getting late and you have school tomorrow but I promise, I'll pick you up after school, ok?" he bargained, taking advantage of the situation.
"That's cool Noah, I'll see you tomorrow, Mom's nodding her head too," Beth agreed, sounding a lot happier.
"Wow, you heard it here first, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, high school dad," Carl announced, crowing inside at the scoop. "We'll be right back after this," he said and cut off the microphones. "Bet you didn't think that little secret was going to come out tonight," he said to Puck, trying really hard to give some sympathy.
"I never wanted it to be a secret, it just ended up that way to protect Beth," Puck revealed, "but if she's ready for the world to know, I'm cool with it," he shrugged. "I hope Quinn is too," he murmured to himself.
"Welcome back, we have another caller, hello William, do you have a question for Puck?" Carl asked.
"Yes I do," William said, sounding quite cross. "Where is your Spanish homework?" he demanded. "It's thirteen years late," he added, laughing. "Puck, how are you? Thanks for the tickets, Emma says hi too," Mr Schuester added.
"Mr Schue," Puck cried, "how are you doing? Still teaching?" he asked, still sat with his guitar on his lap.
"Yes, still teaching, still taking glee club too," Mr Schue answered. "Is your guitar still handy?" he asked.
"It sure is Mr Schue," Puck nodded, "do you have something in mind?" he asked.
"I have my ukulele right here," Mr Schue informed Puck. "Think we can give it a go?"
"Sure," Puck nodded, laughing a little more, hoping he wasn't losing some of his more hardcore fans. "Somewhere over the rainbow…." he harmonised with Mr Schue, memories flooding back, Quinn looking so beautiful yet so fragile, the sheer happiness of his friends around him for the way things had taken a turn. "That was cool Mr Schue," Puck sighed as they finished playing and singing. "Think you might want to join us on Wednesday? You know where," he nodded, looking forward to the evening more and more.
"Sure Puck, we'll be there, see you Wednesday," Mr Schue agreed before ending his call.
"So Puck, what sort of student were you in high school?" Carl asked.
"I was an ass for most of high school," Puck admitted. "I was on the football team, the basketball team and in the glee club but I didn't do too well at lessons," he sighed. "Our football team was hopeless until Coach Beiste took over, she really made us work, brought focus to the team, we won state championships in 2011, the year before that we'd only won one game, one," Puck exclaimed, "and that was with the help of Kurt Hummel," he revealed.
"Kurt Hummel the designer?" Carl asked in surprise.
"Yep, the very one," Puck laughed, remembering the only game the Titans won in his sophomore year.
"How did he do that?" Carl asked, his curiosity aroused.
"Well, Kurt joined the team as a kicker then taught us all this dance routine," Puck explained, grinning and snickering, remembering how bad they sucked at it. "When it got right down to the wire and we were losing yet another game, the QB called for us to pull out this dance routine, we did it, caught the other team off guard, QB threw, I caught and scored," he said, remembering seeing Quinn race to share a kiss with Finn straight after. "Yeah, it was pretty cool, we got some ribbing for that though, for sure," he admitted, shaking his head, his eyes screwed up tight, still feeling a little embarrassed about it.
"Do I dare ask what routine it was? Can you remember?" Carl asked with a wince.
"Single Ladies," Puck admitted, laughing. "God we were desperate, we were garbage, but we won."
"And our next caller," Carl announced, giving the name of the person on the line. He came up with an interesting fact about Ohio. "Stay on the line to give your details, tickets are winging their way to you, congratulations," Carl cried. He brought the conversation back to Puck's early life. "So you said you always lived right here in Lima?" he asked.
"Yes, I was born here and lived here till the age of eighteen," Puck confirmed again. "As soon as I graduated high school I hit the road and landed in LA with plans of making it big, I didn't know how, I didn't really care how, I just knew that I was going to do it, so I got myself a really crappy apartment, started giving piano and guitar lessons to be able to eat and pay the rent, started busking at all the well known celebrity hang outs, got myself noticed by a few producers, all the time I was writing my own material," Puck explained, remembering some of his earlier works, how bad they were, he was embarrassed to claim some of them. "One of the first tracks I recorded was written by a guy from Texas, an actor and musician name of Mark Salling," Puck explained. "He was in LA, similar situation, about ready to call it a day, we got to talking one day, started playing some stuff together, I recorded his song and the rest, as they say, is history, this is it, Pipe Dreams," he said and found the right chord on his guitar to start.
"There's a woman I've known, for all of my life,
She's an anchor, when all of your waves pass me by,
There's a bottle I drink, that makes me feel fine…
"That was his 'I've almost given up hope and I'm packing up to go home and admit defeat' song," Puck explained. "It's the song that gave us both the start we needed," he shrugged, thankful to his friend and fellow songwriter for the life they both now had.
"That's really cool, and you've written songs with some of the greats, Chad Kroeger, Chris Daughtry to name a few, is that right?" Carl asked, reading from his notes.
"That's right and I still try to include some of Chris' stuff when I can, he's a supreme song writer, I'm in awe of the guy," Puck said, heaping praise on one of his friends.
"Time for another break now, this is Guns of Puckerone's break out track, the one that got you noticed by the masses, right?" Carl said, cuing the track on the computer and switching the microphones off. "You have a call, she's asked to speak to you before going on air, if that's ok," he told Puck quietly. "Quinn Fabray?" he said, checking Puck would want to speak to her.
"Hey babe," Puck said as soon as Quinn was put through. "How are you?" he asked.
"I'm good," Quinn replied. "I hope you were ok with Beth's call earlier, I hope it hasn't caused you any problems," she sighed.
"I'm fine with it, I never wanted her to be a secret, you know that, how are you doing with it, now that it's totally out there?" Puck asked, turning the question back on Quinn, remembering how far off the rails she went just as they turned eighteen after realising that she'd never be able to be a mother to Beth.
"I'm really ok with it," Quinn replied, a little bit of surprise evident in her voice, as though she was shocked at how ok she was.
"And your mother?" Puck asked a touch nervously, ready to hear that Judy Fabray had set the National Guard on him.
"My mother is fine about it too," Quinn laughed, Puck could picture the roll of the eyes and the smile on her lips as she spoke.
"Can you stay on the line?" Puck asked, as Carl threw the hushed question at him.
"Sure," Quinn agreed then followed the hurriedly added instructions.
"This is Carl Hauer on WEGE, Lima's classic rock radio station. Tonight we're here with Lima's own, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, lead singer from Guns of Puckerone," Carl announced. "And we have a caller on the line, go ahead caller, what's your name?" he asked.
"I'm Quinn," Quinn replied.
"Do you have a question for Puck?" Carl asked. "Or have you got some juicy gossip about him you'd like to share with the world?" he laughed.
"Where do I start?" Quinn sighed, sounding as though she was settling in for the long haul. "Well, when we were sixteen…"
"Hey," Puck cut in, "careful what you say there, Slick," he warned, laughing too.
"When we were sixteen," Quinn began again, even more laughter in her voice, "we both joined glee club, Puck was wide receiver on the worst high school football team in the whole of Ohio, I was a cheerleader…" she explained as Puck cut in again.
"Babe, you were head cheerleader, captain of the Cheerios," Puck reminded Quinn. "And mmm, your ass in that uniform, I could have watched that walk down the halls of McKinley for hours," he groaned quietly, flirting with her a little over the air.
"You did," Quinn shot back, quick as a flash.
"Yeah," Puck laughed back, admitting it was true.
"Anyway Carl," Quinn continued as though Puck hadn't spoken, "what happened was this…"
"Wow," Carl exclaimed halfway through Quinn's story, "and you all ended up friends?" he asked, looking at Puck with surprised eyes.
"We did," Puck confirmed, "and after we won Nationals and Rachel went off to New York…" he added only for Carl to cut in again.
"That's Rachel Berry, the actress, right?" Carl asked.
"Yep, that Rachel," Puck nodded as Carl cut him off again.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Carl butted in, "in your class there was Kurt Hummel, the designer, Rachel Berry, the actress, Santana Lopez, the award winning cheerleading coach and Noah Puckerman, singer songwriter, anyone else?" he asked, absolutely dumbfounded that so much talent could have been in one school.
"Not only were we all in the same graduating class," Puck announced, "we were all in glee together, and there was Mercedes Jones too, I think she's touring Australia right now, Mike Chang, I know he's just retired from the Bolshoi but he's still an amazing, amazing dancer, Blaine Anderson, he's just won his fifth Tony and quite a few more who preferred to stay out of the limelight but are equally talented people, we were a talented group."
"Wow, glee sure wasn't like that at my school," Carl admitted, amazed even more by the hidden talent in this strangely normal little town. "So I keep hearing references to Wednesday night and a place you all used to go," he fished, hoping for some more information.
"Oh no," Puck laughed, "I'm not telling you that, we need a night to get together, me and the guys from glee, significant others, whatever, and just kick back, remember those of us who are no longer with us, have a few drinks, raise a glass, you know? Like a mini reunion thing," he said, hoping that Carl would respect that, not try to dig any deeper.
"That's cool Puck," Carl nodded, recognising how important it was to both the man in front of him and his friends. "It's time now for another give away," he announced, "the caller will not only get tickets to the gig but a whole host of freebies if they can answer this question. What was Guns of Puckerone's fourth single to hit the top ten?" he asked the audience listening to their radios. "Answer after this track."
Puck took the opportunity to go to the bathroom while they were off air, he sent a quick text message to his sister too, telling her he'd be home straight after the radio show was done. Back in the studio the phone lines were lit up. "Ready?" Carl asked as Puck sat down again and picked up his guitar. Puck nodded. "Ok, caller number three, what's your name?" he asked.
"Brittany S Pierce," the girlish voice announced proudly.
"Ok Brittany, what was Guns…" Carl's question was cut short.
"Brit, hey babe, you don't have to win tickets, I already sent you yours, Santana has it for you, remember?" Puck interrupted.
"Oh," Brittany sighed. "I don't have to win?" she asked. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure Brit and I'll see you on Wednesday, ok?" Puck said, wondering if the information would stay in her beautiful blond head.
"Ok, caller number seven, what's your name and what's the answer?" Carl asked, choosing another phone line at random.
"My name's Rick and the answer is The Light In Your Eyes," a slightly sneering voice answered.
"I'm impressed," Puck nodded, "I never thought you'd follow my music," he said to Rick, "I still remember when you were an all out asshole to everyone at school."
"We all have to grow up some time," Rick sighed, "and it's cool to say to my kids, when they're listening to your music on the radio or something, that I went to school with you and that I kicked your ass."
"You got in a lucky shot," Puck countered, "but did you get your tickets?" he asked.
"I did, thanks, these ones are for my in-laws, they're big, big fans of yours," Rick sighed, resigned to being compared unfavourably once again to someone else in his graduating class that his mother-in-law deemed to have made much, much more of his life than Rick had. She wasn't wrong.
"We have time for one last question," Carl announced. "Hi caller, what's your name and what's your question?"
"My name is Robyn," a young girl's voice announced breathlessly, "and are you my mom's sperm donor?" she asked.
Puck choked on the drink of water he'd just taken. "Am I what?" he demanded, his voice almost soprano.
"My mom's sperm donor," Robyn said again, without a touch of shame or embarrassment. "My mom always said that the donor was famous, from the local area so," she stopped for a second. "Oh, my mom's name is Sue Sylvester by the way," she remembered to add.
"I'm sorry Robyn," Puck stuttered, "I can confirm one hundred percent that I am not the sperm donor that your mother used, ok?" he said softly, hoping she hadn't been pining too much on finding out who her father was.
"I didn't think so, it was a long shot," Robyn sighed, "but I thought maybe because of Beth, you know, maybe but no, I didn't really think so," she waffled.
"Is your mother there?" Puck asked after he'd motioned for Carl to take the call off air, keep the conversation private.
"She's in the house," Robyn hedged, keeping her answer precise.
"Can I talk to her?" Puck asked.
"No-o," Robyn refused. "She's asleep right now," she added in a rush. "Thanks, I have to go."
On Wednesday night the entire group, except for Mercedes because she was in Australia, met for dinner at Breadstix. Puck had a quiet word with Mr Schue about Robyn Sylvester. "I'll look into it, thanks Puck," Mr Schue murmured to Puck, patting his back in a half 'man hug'.
"This is so cool," Santana sighed, looking round at the gathered group of friends. "It's so long since we were together, I think the last time was…Artie and Tina's wedding, wasn't it?"
A few puzzled faces looked around. "Yes," Quinn agreed, "I think it was."
"So what sort of stuff will you be doing at this concert on Friday?" Sam asked, bringing everyone back to the reason they were all together.
"Well, I thought some of my own stuff, I don't know, maybe requests, maybe get a few of you guys up with me to do a couple of numbers, go with whatever," Puck shrugged, he didn't want to have too much of it set in stone, he needed a little flexibility, just a little.
They eventually went their separate ways around eleven, all taking a few minutes in the parking lot to say their goodbyes. Puck held on to Quinn's hand until everyone else had dispersed.
"What's up Puck?" Quinn asked as soon as they were alone.
Puck looked at his feet as his fingers stroked Quinn's for a second. "Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we'd done things differently?" he asked, looking up to see her eyes.
"No," Quinn replied softly, "I can't torture myself with that stuff, it would hurt too bad."
"Is that why you've never married, never found anyone?" Puck pushed, needing to get to the truth.
"I've had relationships, they just didn't last, I guess I just never found the right person," Quinn shrugged with a sigh.
"Me either," Puck reminded her, his fingertips rubbing over her knuckles once again. "Good night," he whispered and kissed her cheek before she got into her car. Puck watched Quinn drive away.
"Good evening Lima," Puck shouted into his microphone, a little out of breath from the energetic first track he and his band had just finished. "Fantastic to be here, let's make some noise…" he cried, stretching the word out to the cheers and screams of his audience.
Guns of Puckerone performed ten songs before Puck called Rachel Berry onto the stage. "My very good friend Rachel," he announced then kissed her cheek, "is going to perform with me," he told the audience then picked up his acoustic guitar. Puck started playing, Rachel counted the beats then came in on cue. "Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor…" she sang. The duet was well received. Puck played a few more songs, bringing Artie and Sam to the stage and singing that song, then the one he was really looking forward to. "Can I hear a huge McKinley cheer for Miss Beth Corcoran," Puck shouted, clapping high in the air once he'd finished talking, the audience copied.
Beth came out on stage a little shyly, she carried her microphone a little awkwardly, she chewed her lip. "Ready?" Puck asked her, his microphone lowered to his side. Beth nodded.
"I feel unhappy, I am so sad, I lost the best friend, that I've ever had," Beth sang, facing Puck.
Puck took Beth's free hand, stared into her eyes, gave her a little wink and little half smile, he took the next few lines. "She is my baby, I love her so, but it's too late now, I've let her go," he sang, the audience went nuts. Both Puck and Beth sang the next part together. "We're going through changes, we're going through changes, changes."
When the song was done Beth launched herself at Puck, he grabbed her up in a huge hug. "Beth Corcoran, everybody," he reminded them all as he let her go and raised one of her hands high in the air.
Puck and his band sang another set of their own songs, some from their new album and some well known ones too. "This last song, from the pen of my good friend, Mr Chris Daughtry, is for one very special person, she means the world to me," Puck announced, lazily strumming his guitar.
"Ten miles from town and I just broke down
Spitting out smoke on the side of the road
I'm out here alone just trying to get home
To tell you I was wrong but you already know
Believe me I won't stop at nothing
To see you so I've started running
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter
As long as I'm laughing with you
I'm thinking that all that still matters is love ever after
After the life we've been through
'Cause I know there's no life after you
The last time we talked, the night that I walked
Burns like an iron in the back of my mind
I must've been high to say you and I
Weren't meant to be and just wasting my time
Oh, why did I ever doubt you
You know I would die here without you
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter
As long as I'm laughing with you
I'm thinking that all that still matters is the love ever after
After the life we've been through
'Cause I know there's no life after you
You and I, right or wrong, there's no other one
After this time I spent alone
It's hard to believe that a man with sight could be so blind
Thinking 'bout the better times, must've been outta my mind
So I'm running back to tell you
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter
Without you, God knows what I'd do, yeah
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter
As long as I'm laughing with you
I'm thinking that all that still matters is love ever after
After the life we've been through,
I know there's no life after you
No there's no life after you
No there's no life after you
No there's no life after you
No there's no life after you, yeah"
Puck looked to the side of the stage and saw Quinn waiting for him, Beth hugged up to her side. "Thank you all and good night," he called, waving as he walked off stage towards them.
"Was that for me?" Quinn asked breathlessly, her heart beating madly.
"You know it was," Puck replied, taking Quinn in his arms. "Ready to go out there with me?" he asked, taking Quinn's hand then Beth's hand too, they both nodded. "Ok, one encore, then we're out of here, we have a lot to talk about," he insisted, jogging back onstage pulling Quinn and Beth with him.
"New Directions, want to come up here with me?" Puck called. He waited till his friends were assembled. "This one is for our very good friend who is no longer with us, Finn, this one's for you," he added, looking upwards.
"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere…".