Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied, the author does not make any profit from this work of fiction.
A/N: "…wait for me to come home…"
Judy looked on with such pride flooding through her, she couldn't believe that this day had actually arrived. Judy glanced over her shoulder, she felt some slight smug satisfaction that she had been guided to the reserved seating in the front row, while Russell and his new wife - wife number four, actually - were relegated to the middle of the audience. If she was being completely honest, it was way more than slight satisfaction, it was immense satisfaction! Judy settled back in her seat and waited for the show to begin.
Quinn caught sight of her mother immediately she walked out on stage. Judy waggled her fingers at her daughter, the wave made Quinn smile. "I wish Puck could have been here," Quinn thought to herself but refused to allow her disappointment to show on her face. "I've worked hard over the last four years," she silently reminded herself, "damn hard, I've earned my degree, I've earned this accolade."
Judy caught the eye of the president's personal assistant, they winked at each other. "Yes," Judy cried inside her head. "Oh, what a wonderful gift," she thought – she desperately wanted to turn to the stranger by her side and tell her how wonderful it was going to be, but she restrained herself, she had been trained well - Russell's strict ways had at least been good for something. A squeak of delight did manage to break free, Judy covered it by coughing slightly and pretending to clear her throat.
One by one, as each graduate was called, they were handed their diploma and then they walked to the far side of the stage to line up in formation, for the photographs and the traditional tossing of the caps. Quinn almost zoned out when the speeches began, she had to really concentrate to keep herself awake. "So, if I get my mom to take most of my stuff home with her, maybe my dad and the witch can take the rest and I won't have to stuff my car till it's absolutely full of crap," she mused. "I'm really glad my dad bought me that car for graduation," she thought and smiled beautifully at the audience and then tuned back in to the president's words.
"…a brief musical intermission," the president announced, "please, enjoy the pictures as you remember and reflect on your time here in our hallowed halls," he advised the students and indicated the huge screens that were strategically placed around the hall.
Quinn gasped as she recognised a candid snap of herself on one of her first days here at Yale, she had no idea who had taken it or who had provided it for the slide show, but it made her smile as she recognised more and more people, and more than one photograph of herself – actually, it seemed to be every third picture or so was of Quinn…and a fair number were of Puck, too. Quinn sighed with pleasure as the song began to play. "I just love Ed Sheeran," she thought to herself just before his distinctive voice rang out, clear and proud. "This one always reminds me of Puck. Especially now," she grinned to herself as that thought slipped through her mind – she remembered when Puck had said that to her for the first time before it became their thing. "Did you love me?" she'd asked.
"Yes, especially now," Puck had answered as they stared in adoration at their 'perfect thing'. Quinn's breath hitched in her chest as the first few words of the song struck a chord deep within her.
"Loving can hurt
Loving can hurt sometimes
But it's the only thing that I know
When it gets hard
You know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive,
We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts are never broken
Times forever frozen still
So you can keep me
Inside the pocket
Of your ripped jeans
Holdin' me closer
'Til our eyes meet
You won't ever be alone
Wait for me to come home."
Quinn sighed as the montage showed when Puck had deployed overseas, she had no idea who had taken that picture, the one that showed them hugging, he in his flight suit, she in her rattiest, tattiest jeans and a huge oversized sweater. The next picture showed Puck just staring into Quinn's eyes as she gazed up at him, the shimmer of a tear was forever frozen on her lower lashes, it was a stunning shot, the love between them was there on display for all to see. Quinn suddenly tuned in again and heard the song that was playing, actually heard the words, the lyrics struck a real chord with her. "Oh my God, this is so us," she realized and hummed along.
"Loving can heal
Loving can mend your soul
And it's the only thing that I know (know)
I swear it will get easier
Remember that with every piece of ya
And it's the only thing we take with us when we die
We keep this love in this photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Our hearts were never broken
Times forever frozen still
So you can keep me
Inside the pocket
Of your ripped jeans
Holdin' me closer
'Til our eyes meet
You won't ever be alone
And if you hurt me
That's OK, baby, only words bleed
Inside these pages you just hold me
And I won't ever let you go
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Oh you can fit me
Inside the necklace you got when you were 16
Next to your heartbeat
Where I should be
Keep it deep within your soul
And if you hurt me
Well, that's OK, baby, only words bleed
Inside these pages you just hold me
And I won't ever let you go,"
Quinn looked around as the voice changed, she knew that she alone would recognise that voice, it was like Puck had sung over the last couple of words, Puck was singing to her, she looked up at the screens again, saw another wonderful shot of the two of them, one from their McKinley days, when they'd just performed at Sectionals their senior year.
"When I'm away
I will remember how you kissed me
Under the lamppost
Back on 6th street
Hearing you whisper through the phone,
'Wait for me to come home'," Puck sang as he stepped out on stage, in his full dress uniform, a smile on his lips and his eyes on Quinn. Puck couldn't have cared less that he had an audience, especially when Quinn pushed her way past all of her classmates to reach him. Puck braced himself, he caught her as her feet left the floor and swept her up in his arms, her arms were wrapped so tightly around his neck that Puck was in very real danger of passing out! "Missed me?" he asked quietly into her ear as they just absorbed each other, felt each other, felt each other's presence. Neither Puck nor Quinn even heard the huge wave of applause from the audience and from the people gathered on the stage.
"Of course, I missed you," Quinn whispered huskily, she was quite surprised that her voice even worked, she felt so full of emotion, full of love. "Is that it? Are you back now?" she asked as Puck returned her feet to the floor.
"For now," Puck replied with a sigh and hugged her again.
"Welcome home to Senior Airman Noah Puckerman," the president announced as he applauded along with the entranced audience. "And congratulations to the class of 2016," he cried as the whole of the student body threw their caps in the air.