A/N: So this is my first Glee fanfiction and my first fanfiction in a really really long time. I was playing rockband today and this song came on and it made me think what if Puck sang this to Quinn? And I sat down to write it and this came out. Its longer then I expected and also a lot darker. This is a oneshot… I think. I feel like it could go on but I don't know how. Last time I wrote a oneshot and then tried to continue it, it didn't go very well. So I'm just going to leave it like this for now. If I get inspired I will add more. The lyrics that are in italics are Puck singing, bold are Rachel and bold and italics are the both of them. This is not a Rachel and Puck fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the music in this story. So don't sue me! Thanks! ;)
Open Up
Noah Puckerman's life was about to implode around him. Not that it was his choice for things to turn out the way they were, Quinn didn't want anyone to find out their dirty little secret but Puck knew from experience that the truth always came out. He had trouble sleeping at night and concentrating; from the inevitable doom he was going to face, he was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Finn to find out and never speak to him again, for the football team to choose sides, hell for even Glee to choose sides. He was not a well-liked person and he knew that, he knew this would not end in his favor.
He had been so out of it at football practice, stressing over not acting stressed at all about his situation with Quinn. He wasn't even sure how he got to Glee practice, let alone know what was happening around him.
"Puck… and… let's see, ah… Rachel," Mr. Schuster announced.
Puck's eyes snapped open. What now? Berry and him were doing what? He hadn't spoken to her since the episode on the bleachers. Where she broke up with him and he told her they were never friends. He was just rejected again by another girl for Finn. Of course. He was so sick of playing second fiddle to Finn. He really did not want to have be any where around her right now. Or he might actually set himself on fire this time.
"Puck, you will be picking the song you and Rachel are going to perform next Monday," He groaned.
"Mr. Schue –" Rachel started. He finally looked at her she didn't seem to be as upset by this pairing as he was.
Mr. Schue rolled his eyes before turning to face her and Puck smirked. "Yes Rachel?"
"I uh… well… never mind," She responded. Now Puck was looking at her concerned. Berry never had a hard time expressing herself. Mr. Schuster looked just as surprised and moved on.
"Okay, next pair Mercedes and Matt,"
Puck stared off into space for the rest of practice. He really did not want to have to put that much effort into this duet but he knew that if he didn't he was going to get long lectures from Berry in words that he did not understand. Everyone was pairing off just as Mr. Schuster announced practice was over. Puck continued to sit in his seat not making any movements toward Rachel. She eventually got annoyed and crossed the room to him. He had his eyes shut but he knew that it was her because of her heavy sigh.
"Berry," He greeted her.
"Noah," She responded civilly.
When he didn't say anything for a few minutes she elbowed him.
His eyes opened and sat up looking at her. "Jesus Berry, if I didn't know any better I'd think you are just looking for any excuse to touch me," he smirked.
She stared him down for a few minutes before finally saying "Can you just pick the song already?"
He was surprised that she wasn't trying to fight with him or steer him to a song choice she wanted to sing.
"How about Puff the Magic Dragon?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Noah be serious for once will you? That's not even a duet," She was annoyed. He didn't even have the energy to sit there and tease her at the moment.
"Well I have no idea… why don't you pick it?" He said shutting his eyes again. He slouched down in his chair and rested the back of his head on the top of the chair back.
"You should pick a song for Quinn," She whispered.
He growled. That's the last thing he wanted to put energy into. She made it perfectly clear how she felt about him.
"If you want to win her over you should sing to her," Rachel prodded.
"I thought you said I wanted it too much" He reminded her.
"Well you may want it too much but from what I have seen you haven't tried at all," She baited him.
He sat up and opened his mouth to tell her that she had no clue. what she was talking about. But before he could she gave him a knowing look. He stood up picked up his bag and then grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the choral room. They stopped in a deserted classroom and he dropped her arm. She started rubbing her wrist.
"What have you heard Berry?"
"Look, I know alright? I wasn't trying to eavesdrop this morning, I was in study hall when you and Quinn in the back of the library by the non-fiction section. I went to return Barbra Streisand's Biography to its rightful spot when I heard Quinn refuse to take your money,"
"Shit," his voice hitched.
"I haven't told anyone, not even Finn but I must say that this is deplorable even for you," Rachel scolded.
"Quinn does not want me to be part of its life. She thinks Finn will be a better father. And I can't tell him what I did because he's my boy. She wants to keep it a secret so be it,"
"And you want to be part of the baby's life?" Rachel asked.
"I'm not going to run out on it like my dad did to me!"
"Well then you have to show her you'll be a better man. You have to show her that you can be the father,"
"Oh yeah and singing a song to her is going to do that," Puck hissed.
"Joining Glee has changed you, you are not as chauvinistic as you once where. You singing the song to me showed me a softer side to you and that you have the ability to take a leadership role. You surprised us all with that song, even Quinn. I don't know if you saw her face that day but I did. She looked very enamored with you,"
"She looked what?"
"I'm just saying that even if it does not help you with her you could sing her a song about how you feel. Singing is a great expression. You could pick a song to get all your frustration out, show her that she has hurt you-"
"Whatever," He said losing interest.
"Noah, just think about it okay?"
He grunted in response and walked out of the classroom.
Puck was into classic rock not the show tuney crap that Rachel liked. Picking a song for Glee that Mr. Schuster would like from his music selection was going to be hard. He already ruled out Led Zeppelin, his favorite band because he could not hit the really high notes Robert Plant could.
"Are you sure this song will be good enough?" He was in the choral room with Rachel before Glee practice on Monday. They were working out the last few kinks of the song.
"Well it won't really show off my vocal abilities but for the purpose for which you are singing this song yes it is a good choice." Rachel relented.
She agreed only to sing the chorus with him, which surprised him. She told him it would show Mr. Schuster that she was in fact a team player.
The rest of the Glee members slowly trickled into the room and Puck began to grow nervous. He hadn't spoken to Quinn since the blow out in the library. He knew he had already surprised the class once singing. He was a little nervous about that performance as well but he knew for a fact singing for Rachel would score him brownie points. Singing for Quinn was such a shot in the dark. He had no idea how she would react.
He was tuning his guitar when Quinn stalked in the room with Finn in toe. He tried to sit next to her but she waved him off. Clearly perturbed by something he had done. She kept her eyes fixed on the wall opposite her. The fact she was sitting by herself made him even more nervous because he could look directly at her, people would know he was singing to her. He pulled at his collar he felt like he was suffocating.
Mr. Schuster walked in at that moment.
"Alright guy's this is our first day of duets. Puck and Rachel are up first," He announced.
Puck looked at Rachel who was smiling encouraging at him. At that moment he knew that he could not have done this with out her. He hated to admit it but she was becoming a friend to him. She hadn't told anyone his secret even though it could damage her relationship with Finn as well and helped him arrange the song for Quinn. He gave her a shy smile back before strumming the first few notes of the song. He then turned to the class and set his eyes on Quinn as he began to sing.
Loving you isn't the right thing to do
How can I ever change things that I feel?
If I could, maybe I'd give you my world
How can I, when you won't take it from me?
Quinn gave him a quizzical look as he sang the first line. By the third line her face softened and she looked at him sadly. Puck thought he might falter but then Rachel joined him for the chorus.
You can go your own way, go your own way
You can call it another lonely day
You can go your own way, go your own way
He watched as Quinn turned her head to the side not making eye contact with him. He could tell she looked annoyed and he supposed he would probably get in trouble for singing this song as it kind of outted him for what was going on. But then again Finn would be too stupid to pick up on the context of the song.
Tell me why everything turned around?
Packing up, shaking up, is all you wanna do
Those lines made him smirk a little. It did not have that much to do with their circumstance but still he knew she would get the meaning. She turned her head back to look at him and glared at him. He didn't care though he was glad she was looking at him again and began to sing the next few lines with more conviction.
If I could baby I'd give you my world
Open up, everything's waiting for you
Quinn was biting her bottom lip and focusing hard. He could tell she was fighting back tears. He couldn't look at her anymore. Not because he didn't want to but because he hated watching girls cry. He looked over towards Finn. He was humming along not really getting the gravity of the situation but he could tell looking at the seat in front of Finn that Santana had clearly understood what was going on. Puck gave Rachel a sideways glance and decided it would be much easier just to look at her the rest of the song.
You can go your own way, go your own way
You can call it another lonely day
You can go your own way, go your own way
You can go your own way, go your own way
You can call it another lonely day, another lonely day
You can go your own way, go your own way
They were about to sing the chorus for a final time when he heard the door to the choral room slam. His head shot up and Quinn was no longer sitting before him. He stopped strumming and Rachel stopped singing. Before he knew what he was doing he was thrusting his guitar towards Rachel and jogging out the room after Quinn.
He did not have to go very far, he found her sitting the cove by the doors to the auditorium. She had her knees pulled to her chest and had her head down. She was sobbing. Puck ran his hand threw his only stitch of hair on his head. He took a deep breath in not sure what to do.
"Why did you have to do that?" He heard a small voice ask.
He looked down and saw Quinn looking up at him with tears in her eyes.
"I had to get you to listen to me some how. You can't keep ignoring me Quinn,"
"You had no right to do that! Now everyone's going to know,"
"Well it's only a matter of time before everyone finds out anyway,"
"They wouldn't have if you didn't make a huge spectacle in front of the entire class!"
Puck kneeled down to her level.
"Rachel knows," he whispered.
"You told her!"
"No, she heard us in the library," Puck explained. "I'm telling you it's only a matter of time…"
"Before she blabs and tells Finn because she worships the ground he walks on,"
"She has known for four days, she hasn't told him yet,"
"But she will!"
"No, if anyone tells this juicy gossip, it will be me," They heard a voice come up behind them. Puck looked up to see Santana standing there smirking at them.
"See what you did!" Quinn slapped his chest. She stood up and from what Puck could tell would run away again. He grabbed her by the arm. She pulled out of his grasp.
"Don't,"
And with that he was left standing there by himself. He was stupid! Why did he listen to her? Rachel had no idea what she was talking about.