Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters.
Forward: A bit of an AU, here. Personally, I prefer Puck/Quinn to Quinn/Finn or Puck/Lauren. I can deal with the other two, but I don't like it. So I decided to try to put them back together :) What would happen if after Lauren had posted those horrible pictures of Quinn all over the school Puck came to comfort her instead of Finn? Please review! I'm not too Glee-obsessed, so if I made any continuity mistakes or OOC moments, I'd really love to know so I can fix it!
She couldn't believe this. It had to be some nightmare where she would wake up and find herself safe in bed safe and with an intact reputation. There was no way that she, the popular and beautiful Quinn Fabray, could have been humiliated to this scale. It just wasn't a possibility. Quinn was a bitch and she was fine with that. But what that girl had done to her…that was beyond bitchiness. That was beyond evil. There was no word to describe how cruel this was and how awful of a human being that teenage girl was. Lauren must have been another name for the devil, she supposed.
But even so, moping around about it wasn't going to solve anything. The longer Quinn stood out there in the middle of the hallway gaping like an idiot, the more her reputation seemed to crumble. She had to get out of sight, and quickly, before she reduced herself to the same social level as…as…Rachel Berry. She shuddered at the thought and taking one last moment to rip a grotesque poster off the wall, Quinn briskly walked into the only room she could think of to go. No, the bathroom wasn't the best idea. There were too many witness's there. When someone went into the bathroom to cry, the rumor spread like wildfire. Quinn wasn't stupid. She was surprised to find that in her desperation her instincts led her right into the glee clubs room.
"My safe haven is the freakin' glee club, I don't think I could get any more pathetic." Quinn muttered to herself as she sunk in defeat into one of the chairs in the front row. Holding her head in her hands she then allowed the tears to fall. How could Lauren have done this to her? It was only Prom Queen, nothing to ruin someone's entire life over. Okay, it was big…no, huge…deal to her. Being Prom Queen meant the world to Quinn. Her entire high-school career had been leading to this achievement while Lauren had only decided to go for the title on a whim. How was that fair? How could that justify what she had done? Those pictures were hidden for a reason, after all. Hacking into her life, her privacy, and her past was not right. Sure, she was allowed to do that to other people (but even then, only when it was absolutely necessary), but no one was allowed to do this to her; especially not some fat freak.
"Quinn, what are you doing here?" Quinn looked up sharply, trying to gather her composure as quickly as possible. Her first assumption was that the stranger was perhaps a janitor or even Mr. Schuester. But when she looked up she was surprised to see that it was Puck. At first she felt embarrassed, but that emotion passed quickly. After that came confusion and suspicion. What the hell was Puck doing here?
"I should ask you the same question." Quinn sneered, trying to turn the tables on him. "What? You don't have anything better to do second block then hang out in an empty choir room? Don't you have class?" As she asked these questions, insulting Puck, she was also inadvertently insulting herself. She hoped her didn't notice that her cruel words to him was a reflection of her self-loathing or she was really screwed.
"Yeah, so? You think I actually go to class?" Puck joked, than turned serious as he realized Quinn wasn't laughing. "Well to answer that, no. I don't. So it's completely normal for me to be hanging out here. The real question is, what are you doing here?" Puck asked, looking Quinn directly in the eye. As much as it embarrassed her, Quinn couldn't maintain eye contact and had to look at the ground.
"It's none of your business." For a moment she had actually forgotten her reason for coming. Just for a second. Then when she remembered, she also remembered one other important fact. Puck liked Lauren. He was just as much of an enemy of hers right now as Lauren was. There was no way she was being nice to him now.
"Oh, come on! Now I'm curious. What's troubling you?" When Quinn refused to respond, Puck sighed. "I won't judge you, Quinn. You can trust me. I mean, I was the father of your daughter once upon a time, doesn't that count for something?" Quinn looked back down, realizing that he had a point…sort of. The last year Puck had tried to help her out with the pregnancy, in his weird unhelpful Puck way. Okay, sometimes he was actually helpful…and sweet, too. Feeling guilty, Quinn realized that she had to tell Puck what had happened. Even so, she didn't know how to word it without sounding like a whiny, self-pitying, loser. Like Rachel always sounded like.
"Don't pretend you don't already know. Nobody is that oblivious…except maybe Finn…but that's not the point." Quinn replied, raising an eyebrow. Fine, she just didn't want to say the words aloud. And anyway, Puck had to be playing dumb. She was probably the talk of the school by now.
"Hey, I'm stupid but I'm not oblivious!" Quinn raised her eyebrow even higher and actually smirked at that…against her will, of course. "Okay, that came out wrong. But seriously, I have no idea what you're so upset about." There was a long pause, before Puck finally sighed. "What is it? The posters?" Quinn blushed faintly at that, attempting in vain to hide her embarrassment in the fact that her predicament had been acknowledged out loud.
"It took you long enough…" Quinn muttered. To her surprise, Puck just burst out laughing. She couldn't believe it. Here she was, upset and destroyed, and all Puck could do was laugh? What was wrong with him? That horrible, wretched, bastard…."What's so funny? I don't see anything funny about this, Puckerman."
"You don't?" Puck asked, smiling. "I personally find this hilarious. You call me stupid but in reality you're the idiot!" Quinn couldn't take this anymore. She was mocking her for what she had once been? He had the gall to tease her about this after he saw how devastated she was? It was unbelievable!
"This is why I don't tell you anything, you asshole! How dare you laugh at me?" Quinn shouted, standing up in her fury. "Here I am, foolishly thinking that maybe for once in your life you'll actually be nice to me! Maybe be caring and kind! You always wondered why I wanted Finn over you…well this is exactly why, Noah. You're a pathetic excuse for a man, always laughing at others because you're too scared to face your own faults. Always chasing after a girl while insulting her to her face! You…you…" Quinn couldn't take it anymore and she collapsed back into the chair crying.
"Quinn…" Puck whispered, moving over to touch her shoulder comfortingly. However, once he touched her shoulder, she snapped up and pushed him away.
"Don't touch me." Quinn ordered, her voice icy cold. Puck recoiled as if having been slapped. Good, he deserved it.
"Quinn, I wasn't laughing at you for the poster. Sure, maybe you weren't the greatest looking girl in the world, back then…" Puck flinched as Quinn glared at him. "I was laughing at you because you have no reason to be upset. You're the most beautiful girl I have ever met. And seeing those old pictures now…Quinn, it makes me love you even more." Quinn was about to come up with a retort, but then she realized that Puck was actually complimenting her. For the picture? What was he on? And he loved her? That was a funny one, seeing the way he chased after Lauren like a little puppy dog.
"Nice try, Puck. If you really loved me, you wouldn't be trying to woo that fat bitch." Quinn spat out. "And will you stop that? Sounding sweet, kind, and…sincere! God only knows why, but you do know that I sometimes…I actually believe you when you say stuff like that? You're a dick, you know that?" She'd said more then she meant to say and she cursed under her breath. How did Puck do this to her? He made her so…sentimental and emotional! She loved him….and she hated herself for it.
"It's because I am being sincere! And what do you care about Lauren? You broke up with me for Finn of all people! What was I supposed to do, Quinn? Wait around for you to just decide to like me again, only for you to decide the day after that that you hated me again? I moved on, Quinn, because that's what I had to do. That's what you made me do. You have no right to judge me on whom I choose to be with!"
"When she's ruined my life, I do!" Quinn shouted, stunning Puck into silence. "What, you didn't know that either? Yeah, Puck, your new fling decided to ruin my life so that she could become Prom Queen! She humiliated me, ruined my reputation, and doesn't even care! Is that the kind of girl you want to go out with?" Puck was still silent, taking in the new information.
"I…I didn't know." Puck replied truthfully. "I'm really sorry Quinn." He paused a moment before continuing. "If it makes you feel better, I had no part in this."
"Oh yeah, cause that changes everything." Quinn replied sarcastically.
"I still believe there's nothing to get so worked up over, though. If anything, Lauren just helped you win popularity and votes." Quinn raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "People love a people's person. They vote for people they can relate to, not people they are jealous of. The way I see it your chances of winning have just improved." Quinn paused, thinking that through. That actually made a lot of sense, even if it was coming from Puck.
"You…really think so?" Quinn asked, touched despite herself.
"Would I lie to you?" Pause. "Don't answer that." Quinn actually laughed at that. Surprisingly, this talk had actually helped her. She missed that about Puck. He might be an inconsiderate idiot most of the time but he really did come through when it counted. If only she had given him an actual chance…
"Thanks, Puck." Quinn muttered, hating that she now owed him something yet eternally grateful at the same time.
"Did you just thank me? You- Quinn Fabray- thanked me? What happened to the Quinn, I knew?" Quinn smirked at the joke.
"Don't get used to it, Puckerman." She teased. God, she missed this. She missed being with him. She missed how easy it was to talk to him, how natural it was. This was her chance, right now she could take him. She could win him back before Lauren got to him. Besides, she knew Puck would jump at the chance. He could never resist her. Leaning in for the kiss, she knew this was what she wanted. Finally, she knew.
"Oh, no you don't." Puck admonished her, laughing teasingly. Quinn crossed her arms, practically pouting. Great, now she felt embarrassed again. "I'm not taking advantage of you when you're upset. Besides, you're confused. If you really do want to come back to me, I'll wait until you make that decision with a clear mind. See, I can be responsible, Quinn." Puck replied, adding a bit of a tease in at the end.
"I hate to say it, but your actually right for once, Puck. Well, I suppose I'd better be off to second block, at least find out what the homework is." Quinn smiled, actually genuinely smiled. "Thanks again, Noah." With that she left the room.
"No problem, Quinn." Puck mumbled to himself, after she had left. "I'll always be here for you…"
Ending Note: I hope you liked it! Sorry, I have a flair for the dramatic…and the cliché too. But cliché isn't bad! Canon Glee is Cliché most of the time…Please tell me if you like it or not! (If you don't like the couple, please don't flame the story…just don't read it if you really don't like the couple!)