Three years ago today I worked up the courage to post my first fanfic – a Dasey. And as is customary around these parts, I come bearing an anniversary gift – my second Glee story. Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me this long (and thanks to any newcomers, as well)!
Also, Happy Birthday to the wonderful TheBucketWoman! *sending you virtual Chipotle tacos* ;-)
Now, on to the fic. I couldn't stop thinking about writing a Puck-in-juvie fic after seeing "Duets." (I missed Puck, and I wanted to see him on the inside, especially since we found out how horrible it was for him.) And, since fanfic is all about wish fulfillment, this particular story is Puckleberry-flavored.
Enjoy!
-Brandi
Disclaimer: It's Ryan and Brad's brilliant world. I just play in it.
Contraband
Puck arrived early for glee rehearsal. The choir room was empty, and the lights were dimmed. He flicked the switch a few times, but the lights stayed low. Huh. Weird.
"Heyyy," Santana purred as she joined him, swinging the door shut behind her. He smiled. Ah, this was more like it.
She pushed him roughly into a chair that he hadn't even realized was right behind him. Placing her foot on his chest, she slid her arms along her Cheerios uniform. "What do you say we make this glee practice a little more interesting?"
"Bring it," he breathed, reaching for the zipper on his jeans.
Santana swung her foot down and put her hand on top of his. "We have to wait."
Puck frowned, but perked up as he remembered. Brittany would be along any minute.
Santana sauntered over to the CD player to turn on the music. Just before she hit play, the door opened.
"Took you long enough, Brit—" Puck stopped short as he saw who had entered the choir room.
"What is she doing here?" he asked Santana, but she had disappeared. He stared at Rachel, who was now padding over to him in a white nightgown and bare feet. This was just like…
"Aw, no," he groaned. "I've had this dream before, and it had a sucky ending, remember?" Rachel was still advancing on him, so he gulped, "God?" Puck looked skyward, but Rachel was filling his vision. She was still walking towards him, a sweet smile on her face.
"Who says it ended?" she murmured. "You know you're still attracted to me."
"Sure. But you're hot. It's natural." He shifted in his seat, still wondering what she could possibly be doing here.
"Kiss me, Noah." She was right in front of him now, voice husky.
Well, he wasn't about to turn down a request like that. He reached up to meet her, and pulled her down on top of him.
"No one has to know about this. We can do this every night," she whispered.
"Uh-huh. Fine with me," he answered. "If I have to be in this hellhole, I guess I can take a break from my usual fantasy."
"I promise I'll make it worth your while." Rachel winked dramatically.
"Baby, you will," Puck nodded. He kissed her…and then he woke up.
He was still in the Mondale School for the Boys, still on lockdown, still not getting any waffles at breakfast. Too bad fantasies can't come true.
The next morning, and every morning after that, he didn't remember the dream.
()()()
"Your sister is here to see you," the security officer explained as he escorted Puck into the visitation room.
His sister? Oh, great. She was gonna get a major smackdown as soon as she walked in. Was she crazy, coming down here herself? And a better question, was Mom crazy, letting her?
The girl who walked into the visitation room was not his little sister. Far from it, though the way every inmate's head turned toward her appreciatively as she entered induced a similar protective reaction in Puck. She was wearing a gray dress that was better classified as a sack, and yet those guys probably hadn't seen a girl in months. Even dressed like a nun, she was a breath of fresh air.
Rachel beamed her thousand-watt smile once she saw him. He couldn't help but return it. Why she was here was anybody's guess. But in a strange way, he was happy to see her.
"Hi," she said timidly when she finally reached him. Puck couldn't believe she was acting shy. It was then that he noticed that her eyes held a hint of panic, and she was shaking like a leaf.
"You okay?" he asked before he could stop himself. Luckily, all of the curious eyes in the room seemed to be trained back on their own visitors, so they had some privacy. Well, as much privacy as a juvie visitation room afforded.
Rachel nodded unconvincingly. "I'm fine…This place is just a little intimidating."
"What happened? Did someone hurt you?"
"No, no. Noah, I'm here to see if you're okay."
She was obviously fine, just scared. He could put the front back on. The front she saw through and knew about anyway, but when he was showing his vulnerability like this it created a dynamic between them that made him uncomfortable. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" he scoffed. "No school, no chores—"
"Noah." She arched her eyebrows. "Don't start. I'm serious. I heard about your mom from the gossipers at temple. Now I understand why you did what you did."
Puck groaned. "This has nothing to do with my mom. I'm in here because all badasses get caught eventually."
"I know your mom lost her job, Noah."
He really wished she'd knock off the 'Noah' crap. It made him feel even more exposed in front of her.
"I think it was really sweet of you to try and contribute to the family finances," she continued. "But we both know that stealing an ATM was not the best way to go about it."
"Ya think?" He rolled his eyes at her, and she pouted. That pout was dangerous – anything that drew attention to her mouth was a sure sign he was losing focus on playing it cool. Now all he could think about was kissing that mouth. He had been locked up way too long.
"I'm just trying to say I'm sorry about your mom. That's all. And…I brought you some contraband." She reached up the sleeve of her dress and he realized why she'd chosen that instead of another of her grandmotherly outfits. He couldn't even tell she had anything up there.
"Oreos," she said proudly, producing a six-cookie pack, and from the other sleeve, a bottle of Pepsi.
Puck blinked at her. "You smuggled me food?" he asked dumbly, staring at the items in shock.
"Normally, I wouldn't condone the consumption of junk food, but I recognize its potential to lift your spirits. I figured you weren't getting anything edible here. And I was right. The menu I passed by the mess hall door is disgustingly unkosher."
She offered him the bottle and package. "We only have a half hour. You'd better eat it now."
He took them both, and motioned for her to come around to his side of the table. "See that guy over there?" he pointed to the security officer standing guard at the room's entrance. "If you sit on my lap, you'll block his view of us."
Rachel balked. "I don't think—"
"Do you want us both to get in trouble?"
"No, of course not." She blushed. "But no funny business."
Puck laughed. "Yeah, sure." She settled herself on his lap as he took a long swig of the Pepsi. He was suddenly very glad that he had chosen the last table in the room. No one could see him well enough to rat him out.
"Puckerman!" the security officer barked, and Puck whispered for Rachel to turn around. She did, giving the officer her most dazzling smile.
"Come on, look at her!" he called, hoping that her hotness would buy him some sympathy. He leered at Rachel to drive home the point, and she narrowed her eyes but kept up the charade, fluttering her eyelashes.
The security officer glanced at Rachel again and shrugged, uninterested. "No funny business," he warned, and Rachel dissolved into relieved giggles as soon as she turned around.
Puck was already on his third Oreo by the time she calmed herself down. "This place is truly awful, isn't it?" she asked, forehead creasing in concern.
"Yeah. But I'll live." He took another swig of the bottle. Mm. This girl was a saint.
"Has your mom been to see you?"
"We can only have visitors once a week, so yeah, once."
"Oh, no, did I take up your mom's spot this week?"
Puck swallowed his fourth Oreo. "Nah, it's okay. I'll explain to her on the phone. We get a phone call once a week, too." He grimaced. His last phone call had been to Santana to see if she was up for a little preview of what they would be doing when he got out. But she hadn't picked up her cell.
Rachel ran her hand over his head fondly. "Your mohawk's growing back." He tried to concentrate on her words and not the sensation of her fingers on his scalp.
"One thing I'll say about this place, they do care about hygiene. I can get all the haircuts I want, and I asked the barber to hook me up." He handed her the empty cookie package and she tucked it back into her sleeve. "Thanks," he mumbled through his last mouthful.
"You're welcome." She absently wiped a few crumbs from his ugly prison suit. Why did she feel the need to touch him all the time? It was distracting.
"So, what's been going on with glee club?" He realized he sounded too eager and backtracked, "Not that I care, of course."
Rachel eyed him knowingly. Of course he cared. "Well, we did duets last week. I knew Finn and I had to lose so that our new member could win—"
"New member? You replaced me?" he was so upset he almost shoved her off his lap as he stood up. But her arms were in a vice grip around his neck before he could, and he shot her a glare as he settled back into the chair.
She glared in return. "Will you let me finish, without knocking me to the floor?"
He frowned, and Rachel sighed. "We did not replace you. We added another member, technically replacing Matt. Sam, from the football team."
Ugh. That kid. Well, Sam was a decent singer, so he guessed that was all right with him. "Dude's kinda…" He wiggled his hand back and forth. Not that he cared if Sam was gay, but did they really need another Kurt?
"Nope, Kurt already went down that road. Sam's straight. He's dating…" she bit her lip.
"Quinn?" he finished for her, feeling like he should have seen it coming. Quinn had been eyeing Sam since the day he arrived. Rachel nodded, and Puck stared at the wall. He wasn't angry. A little hurt, maybe, but hey, he had Santana. And Quinn didn't even put out, except that one time. So it was really Sam's loss.
"I'm so sorry." Rachel cocked her head. "Are you upset?"
He shook it off. Badasses didn't need to sort out their feelings. "Nah. Tell me more about glee club."
Rachel happily chattered on about the duets, and how Dr. Carl sang for them, and Rocky Horrible something or other. He tuned her out and concentrated on the way her hair fell across her neck, how her eyes lit up when she thought of a new detail that was sure to fascinate him, the little flashes of shiny white teeth as she spoke.
"And so, Mr. Schue will be announcing our Sectionals competition when he hears from the board next week," she finished, watching expectantly for his reaction.
Puck snapped out of his daze. "Cool. We're gonna smoke 'em."
"I really think this is our year to go all the way," Rachel agreed. "To Nationals," she added when she saw what the innuendo did to Puck's expression. He quickly wiped off his smirk.
"Puckerman!" the guard interrupted. "Time for the girl to go!"
Puck leaned backwards so that the guard could see him and saluted. Then he hid behind Rachel again and downed the rest of the Pepsi. She put the empty bottle back into her dress. "Well, Berry, you're welcome for the quality Puckasaurus time."
Rachel made a face. "Hmph. I hardly think this qualifies as—"
"Seriously," he cut her off, "I really appreciate the food. It makes this place a little more bearable." He slid her gently off his lap and they stood face to face.
"Oh, Noah. I hate to think of you locked up like this." Rachel buried her tiny frame in his arms. "We need you for Sectionals," she added, a flimsy excuse for why she cared so much. He didn't question it. No matter the reason, it felt good that she did care. He hugged her back, well aware that the guard was now watching every move he made.
"I'll be okay," he whispered as they pulled apart.
Staring at him sadly, she reached up on her tiptoes to give him a peck on the lips, one he returned automatically. He tried not to think about the fact that she was now kissing Hudson with those lips.
"Be safe, Noah. There may be something you can do to get out of your sentence early. You should do some research on community service options."
"Yeah, maybe." Puck put an arm around her to shield her from the other inmates as they approached the room's entrance. The guard motioned for them to separate, and another guard who had been waiting nearby fell into step with Puck to lead him back to his room.
"I'll see you soon!" Rachel called as she walked towards the exit. She started to look scared again as she ventured off alone. He guessed she would be subjected to catcalls and lewd gestures as she left, probably by the same guys whose rooms she had passed on the way in. He marveled at the fact that she had braved juvie just for a mitzvah. That girl was something else.
"Sister, huh?" the guard asked with a sneer once Rachel had turned the corner.
"Well, you know how it is," Puck answered, playing it cool.
"Heck, I'd be dying to get out of here myself if I had her waiting for me."
Puck shrugged. He didn't quite have that. But in an unofficial way, he had her friendship, which he had to admit, was kinda nice. And he had a whole club of people who were willing to take him back into their fold once he returned. Speaking of the club, what Rachel had said gave him an idea. "Hey, I have a suggestion for community service I could do…"