Category/Warning: It takes place after the Christmas episode, sort of.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did, Puck and Quinn would be treated properly on the show.
Author's Note: A huge thank you to Izzy for being my beta this time. You're simply amazing.
It's New Years Eve.
There's a party at Brittany's house, and she goes because it's better than spending the night with her mom. Jocks, cheerleaders and other popular kids are the only ones there. (Brittany invited the rest of the glee club, but not even one of them is present. She thinks it's because they don't want to cause any trouble.)
She's having fun (as much fun she can in a party like this). She watches as Sam and the rest of the jocks make fun of Karofsky, because he just fell off a chair. She rolls her eyes and looks around, looking for Santana or Brittany.
And that's when she sees him. He's leaning against a wall, and it's so dark there that you just can see the outline of his body and the unrecognizable shape of his mohawk. He's alone, and no one seems to notice him standing there. Well, except from her.
She looks at him and sees him noticing her there. She can practically feel his eyes on her. She doesn't look away though. She stands there, looking at him hidden in the dark, like it's the first time she has seen him in years. (It's not, but it sort of feels like it.)
Brittany's the one that makes her break contact when she pulls Quinn to the other side of the garden to show her what Michael and Sam are doing.
Quinn leaves with her, but hesitates for a moment. She turns around to look at him, but he's not there anymore.
! ! !
She opens the kitchen door (it's locked because Brittany doesn't want anyone to steal her food) and quickly starts opening the kitchen cabinets. She finds the bottles on the third one and puts them on the table, turning around to grab the cake Brittany asked her to.
She's taken by surprised when she sees someone standing in the kitchen with her, so she lets out a little scream. She looks up and finds him standing three feet away from her, his mohawk in full view because he's looking at the floor.
"You scared me!" She says and then, almost immediately, realizes it's the first time she has spoken directly to him in months.
He says nothing – like he didn't notice that too - and continues to stare at the floor. Quinn notices the beer in his left hand and sighs. It's not a surprise he's drinking, at all. Santana has been saying he's drinking a lot more now than he usually does (she pretends that she doesn't think she knows why he's doing it), and she also remembers (too well) just how he did it before anyways.
She watches him take a sip from the beer and then toss it to the trash beside him. He's still not looking at her, and she feels irritated because it's like he's pretending she's not even there, standing right in front of him. (Like she hasn't practically being doing the same.)
She waits for him to say something or acknowledge she's there, but he doesn't. She feels so pissed about what he's doing that she can't control herself and talks to him again. (Something she was avoiding doing) "Are you going to pretend I'm not here?" She asks, irritated.
Finally, he looks up and looks at her (not completely though). His eyes show that he has had more than just that beer, but again, she's not surprised. It's the silence that surprises her.
Quinn remembers that when Puck drinks he's even more of a jerk than he usually is, so this doesn't make sense. He should me making some type of snarky comment, but instead he's quiet and just… so not like himself.
"Puck?" She asks, and her voice shows she's worried (shows that she cares) and oh, she really should turn away right now before something that she doesn't want happens. "Are you okay?"
He shakes his head. "No." His voice is rough, restrained, controlled. (She hates it.)
She doesn't know what to say, so she just looks at the floor and counts to ten. She has to find the strength to make her legs work so she can turn around and leave. It's the right thing to do. She shouldn't talk to him. (It hurts too much.)
"Quinn..." Her name comes out from his voice softly, and she realizes she hasn't heard him say it in a long time (too long).
She looks at him again. He's leaning against the table behind him and has both hands in his pockets. She notices that they're both curled up in fists.
"Happy New Year." He says, and his voice sounds like he only half means it.
She looks at his eyes then and they are so deep (so hurt, so bitter) that she feels her walls crumbling down. His hazel eyes are showing so much (too much) and it's like last time and oh, there's that feeling again of wanting nothing besides his arms around her.
She's barely had anything to drink, but with him she doesn't even have to. He hypnotizes her without needing anything else. His eyes, his cologne, just him. It's (always) more than enough.
He takes a step forward, but she only realizes it when it's too late and he's close (too close).
He kisses her. It's a simple touch of lips. There is no roughness in it. It's soft and careful. (It tastes like goodbye.)
It's different from everything they have ever shared. And it's over so quickly (too quickly) that it seems like it never happened.
She opens her eyes and watches him take a step back. His eyes find hers again, and she has to look away because they're like in that day (the day he mentioned especially now) and she can't take it.
"Happy New Year Quinn." He says again and it's so bitter, so hurt that she feels her stomach flip and her heart break a little. (Just a little, just enough.)
And then he turns around and disappears in the dark. She doesn't see him again after that.
! ! !
School starts five days later. She gets back to her routine: classes, cheerios practice, Sam, glee club, home, church.
She sees him every day, but not exactly. They belong to the same group of friends, but it's like they don't notice each other. They dance and sing together every week, in some day, but it's like they're just someone (and not the person who, not long ago, meant something important to them.)
It's easy (easier than it should be) to pretend like nothing happened.
! ! !
(No, you don't mean nothing at all to me.
But you got what it takes to set me free.
Oh you could mean everything to me.)
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