A/N: Me again :) Story takes place just before Duets, AU after that.
"You're drinking my bourbon."
"'s my drink." The bald teen replied, sitting down on the seesaw, "Finders fuckin' keepers."
The girl scowled at him, snatching the bottle, "That may have worked when we were five," she replied, stepping past him and onto the wooden plank, balancing precariously in the middle of the play equipment and taking a slow drink from the bottle, relishing the burn, "but we're not kids anymore."
He smirked, climbing up on the seesaw with her, laughing as she wobbled, "I'll drink to that."
She handed him the bottle, "So," she asked, her dark eyes watching him drink like a dying man in search of water, "what brings you to Kenzie's corner?"
He chuckled, catching her as she stumbled on their teetering precipice, "You're drunk."
She leaned into his arms, reaching up on her tip toes to give him a peck on the lips, "Not yet." She laughed, dancing out of his embrace, leaping from the seesaw, "But I can remedy that." She said with a wink.
"Who are you?" he asked, the dark haired girl was familiar, he knew that for sure, he just couldn't place her.
The girl stopped dancing, her arms falling to her sides, "I should have known you wouldn't remember me. No one ever does. But I remember you, Noah Puckerman." She wagged a finger in his direction, "You were my first kiss."
"I was?" he asked, his eyes wide in disbelief, "Why?"
"We were friends once." She said with a shrug, "A whole 'nother lifetime ago."
He vaguely remembers a girl, dark hair in pigtails, oversized glasses slipping down her nose, "Kenzie." He breathed, his eyes wide as his eyes raked over the red haired girl, "You grew up."
She nodded, "Yup. Happens to the best of us."
"'s fuckin shame." He paused, "I have a kid, you know?"
She dipped an imaginary hat in his direction, "Mazel tov."
"It's not like I'm ever gonna see her. Q made me put her up for adoption."
"You didn't want to?"
"Of course I didn't! She's MY kid. She's sposed to be with me, not someone else!"
She sat down on the swing as he followed her over, "What makes you think you're ready to be a father?"
"I-" he ran his hand over the stubble on his scalp, "I don't okay, it's just, she's my little girl...but she's not."
"She'll always be your little girl, Puck." Kenzie said, taking his hand in hers, "Always."
He smiled at her, "Thanks." He dropped her hand, pushing off on the swings, they swung together in silence for a few minutes before he asked, "So, what brings you to the Puckerone's play palace?"
She tilted her head back, laughing loudly into the night air, "I thought," she paused, still chuckling, "that was in your truck?"
"What can I say? I'm a fucking stud. I talked, 's your turn Z."
"My parents are getting a divorce." She said with a shrug, "It's like world war three."
"That sucks."
"Yup." She swung a little higher, humming a tune Puck found familiar but couldn't pick.
"What's the tune?"
She didn't answer him, just kept singing, pouring all the unspoken hurt into the words.
Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
Maybe someday you'll look up,
And, barely conscious, you'll say to no one:
"Isn't something missing?"
He watched her, wondering how so much rage and pain could be bottled up in such a happy person and deep down, he wanted to help her. Wanted to hold her hand and tell her, it gets better. It stops hurting after a while. But, he wasn't exactly the poster child for well adjusted teens from broken homes.
You won't cry for my absence, I know -
You forgot me long ago.
Am I that unimportant...?
Am I so insignificant...?
Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?
It was nice, she didn't sing often, but there was something about being here, in the dark, with Noah Puckerman that, surprisingly, made her feel safe.
Even though I'm the sacrifice,
You won't try for me, not now.
Though I'd die to know you love me,
I'm all alone.
Isn't someone missing me?
The feeling must have been mutual because, to her surprise, Puck picked up the next verse, refusing to look at her, swinging higher, his voice rough with emotion.
Please, please forgive me,
But I won't be home again.
I know what you do to yourself,
I breathe deep and cry out,
"Isn't something missing?
Isn't someone missing me?"
And if I bleed, I'll bleed,
Knowing you don't care.
And if I sleep just to dream of you
I'll wake without you there,
Isn't something missing?
Isn't something...
Kenzie's voice tapered off, flinging herself off the swings she stumbled, rolling as she hit the chip-bark.
"Shit!" she heard him swear followed by a thump as he jumped off the swing, rushing to her side, "You alright Babe?"
"I think I'm drunk." She grinned up at him.
He smiled, helping her up, "Yeah, I think it's time to take you home."
Her eyes widened, "No! I'm drunk! My Dad will kill me! You don't want that on your conscience, do you?"
Good Lord, he thought to himself, grinning at the drunk girl in his arms, what had he gotten himself into?
"Alright." He sighed, "We'll drive around a bit, so you can sober up."
She grinned at him, "You're alright, you know that Puck?"
He was chewing on his bottom look, regarding her thoughtfully for a moment, "You can call me Noah."
Her smile faded for a moment before her lips curled up again, "Thank you, Noah."
Not letting go of the smaller teen, he guided her to where he'd parked his mother's car, opening the passenger door and placing her in it winding down the window before shutting the door and climbing in the other side.
They'd been driving around for fifteen minutes before Kenzie admitted, "I think I've forgotten where I live."
He laughed, pulling into the shopping centre parking lot, "We'll just drive around for a bit." He smiled, I'm sure it'll come to you."
The parking lot was mostly abandoned this late at night, the only cars there belonged to the drycleaners and the attendant at the convenience store. The two of them lapped the station, letting the stillness of the night wash over them once again.
Each time they rounded a particular corner, Noah lined the car up with the convenience store, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
Hoping to distract him from whatever he was contemplating she said, "You know, once I finish school, I want to get out of this town. Just somewhere..."
"Where everything can just stop." He finished, "New York I reckon. I'm going to go there and just drown out the noise."
Something changed in that moment, as they drove towards the store, Noah's foot planting firmly on the accelerator.
"What are you doing?" she cried, "We're going to crash!"
He turned, grinning at her, "That's the idea."
The glass front of the door splintered around them, as they barrelled forward, coming to a stop as they hit the ATM machine, Kenzie's head hitting the dashboard as they did.
She sat up, dazed, staring in shock as money began to spout from the machine, "Ow." She muttered, surveying the surroundings, "Oh Noah. What have you done?"
He brushed the hair out of her eyes, ignoring the woman behind the counter, screaming at them in a mix of English and Chinese, "Get out of the car."
"What?" she gasped, "I'm not leaving you here."
He reached across her, opening the door, "I'm not going to ruin your life too. Go!"
She stumbled from the car as the sirens of police cars neared the shop, her dark eyes catching his in the rear view mirror with a smile she disappeared into the darkness, pulling her jacket tighter around her.
She passed the police cars, lights and sirens blazing, wandering the streets until she came to her street, wandering down to her house she unlocked the front door, only to come face to face with her infuriated father.
"Daddy," she whimpered, her arms encircling her father's waist, "I've done something bad."
It wasn't until two days later, when she got back to school that she heard the whispers, the rumours that Noah Puckerman had been sent to Juvie.