Puck delayed his flight back to Los Angeles by a day or two. All right, so he delayed it by a weekend at his sister's insistence. It's not like he had much to do going back there except clean some pools. Plus, it's kind of nice being back at home. No, not being back in Lima, but having his family around isn't all too bad.

"Ready?" he asks his sister.

She puts her hands up in a guard, just like he taught her, and takes a steady stance.

"Noah stop teaching Sarah how to fight!" his mother yells from the kitchen.

"She's learning how to defend herself, Ma!"

He aims low, poking her stomach before a tickle war erupts and she comes out victorious. As always, she stands above him, foot resting on his chest as she claims victory.

The phone rings and snaps them out of their laughter. It's not long before his mother's poking her head into the living room.

"There's a 'Jake' on the other line asking for you," she tells him, walking over and handing him the phone.

He grabs the phone from her hand and heads upstairs. He hasn't broken the news to his mother just yet and certainly doesn't plan on it. Last thing he wants to tell her is that he originally came back at the insistence of Mr. Schue just to talk some sense into a half-brother he never met.

"What are you doing calling here?" Puck asks him once he's out of range from everyone downstairs. "How'd you get this number?"

"You're the only Puckerman in Lima," Jake answers, as if it's the clearest answer of all.

"So, what's up?" It's sinking in how awkward this is; he never expected himself to be having a conversation with his half-brother on the phone, let alone hiding the fact from his mother and sister.

"This is gonna sound weird but…do you think we could, I dunno, hang out and talk for a while? You kind of just threw a lot of crap at me in the choir room and walked out."

Puck raises a brow. They are brothers, whether he liked the idea originally or not. They've got more in common than Jake wants to pretend they don't. It won't hurt anything, right?

"Sure," he agrees because he's pretty interested himself to see what this kid has to offer. "You wanna meet me in McDonald's in fifteen?"

Jake agrees, and if Puck isn't mistaken he's sure he heard a happier tone coming from him after that. Hanging up, he grabs his jacket and heads back down to tell his mother he'll be gone for a while. He'll work on breaking the news sooner or later.

They're sitting in one of the back booths, almost done with their burgers, hidden from everyone else. For the better, probably, Puck thinks while he eats. He doesn't need anyone still around approaching him, spilling something he might not want to spill at all.

"So that rep you've got," Jake begins to say. "All of it's true?"

Puck nods, taking a sip of his drink. "Every last detail." Lies; some were changed to protect said rep, but it's what matters.

"Even you knocking up the head cheerleader during your sophomore year?"

Puck's eyebrow shoots up in the air. Of course that'd go around. Jake wasn't even in McKinley when that happened and yet everyone in Lima seems to know about that. Jewish bad boy knocks up the good little Catholic girl. To this day, he's pretty sure they all think he's some kind of monster.

"Her name's Quinn," Puck corrects him. "And yes, that's true, too."

"So where is she?" Jake asks. "The baby. Does she take her to school with her or does her mom have her?"

"Neither." Puck wipes his hands before he reaches into his wallet. He pulls out a worn picture, two years old now, and unfolds it, handing it to him. "That was the day she was born. Quinn was screamin' all this shit to me but it was pretty awesome. We signed the papers and gave her up a few hours after."

Jake immediately gives the picture back and mumbles an apology before looking down at his food.

"It's cool," Puck brushes it off. "We got to see her last year until her mom disappeared on us. Haven't really heard from her since but at least we know she's okay. She's perfect. Looks just like Quinn, but she's got my smile."

"So where's she now?" Jake inquires. "Quinn, I mean."

"Yale. Connecticut," Puck answers with a small shrug. "She's making something of herself. Something she couldn't do while she was stuck here. It's what she needed: to get out of this town while she still had a chance. They're all just a bunch of losers her anyway. She's the furthest thing from it."

"Then why are you going back to LA? Why'd you go in the first place?"

"What?"

"I may be younger than you, but I don't think someone talks like that when they're into sleeping around with other chicks. At least, not the way you talk about her." Jake points to Quinn in the picture. "Plus, she's pretty hot. I'm not the stupid one for letting her get away."

Puck rolls his eyes. He's not about to take relational advice from his younger half-brother who's mission up until yesterday was probably to try to sleep with every girl in McKinley.

"Time to go," he deviates, grabbing the tray and leading him out.

A week later and he's sitting on a porch swing. He's wearing his best shirt, best jeans, even best jacket, but he didn't expect the weather to be so gloomy. It's definitely different from what he had gotten accustomed to in such a short time.

As he spots the familiar head of blonde hair approaching, he gets up from where he sat and walks down the steps. She's laughing with some friends, but the minute she sees him her eyes seem to light up and a smile's present to match.

Quinn drops her backpack on the end of the path and runs to him. He's ready to catch her but she surprises him wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his. He wraps his arms around her waist, picking her up so that they're level with one another. He's got a smile that matches hers the minute he pulls away.

"Shouldn't you be telling me I'm lost?" he asks with a small laugh.

She laughs, shaking her head before she kisses him again. "What took you so long?"

"I took a detour in LA."

"I'm glad you finally got here."