Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.
A/N: Still waiting to watch the actual episodes, my love of Quick has been appeased somewhat by the diligent posting of videos to YouTube, my gratitude is unending to those kind souls that have contributed and also thanks to QuinnLucySexyFabray for trying to help me watch the episodes via other methods. So, I must remind you that I have only actually seen pertinent parts, not a full episode, this is my take on it all with just a couple of little jiggles...
"Stay," she said huskily and that one word was enough, it was enough to wipe out all the hurt, all the heartache, wipe away everything that had ever gone before...
"Did you see that?" Jake hissed to Sam with barely repressed excitement as they lurked around the corner, covertly watching Puck and Quinn finally get it together, they'd watched Quinn chase after Puck. finally, instead of running the other way. Jake's grin couldn't possibly be any bigger, he was so pleased to see this, he knew this was what Puck had wanted for so long. Jake recalled the time he'd had to collect his big brother from the cemetery. A couple of weeks after Finn's funeral, the head caretaker at the cemetery had called and asked Jake to come pick Puck up. Puck had been off his head drunk, sat on Finn's grave talking total crap, blaming himself for everything that had ever gone wrong at McKinley High, blaming himself for Finn going off the rails and getting into some really serious shit, he'd blamed himself even more for Quinn not having faith in him, angry that she still couldn't find anything in him to love, not like he loved her, like he'd always loved her, he'd cried that it must have been because of the guilt over what they'd done to Finn all those years ago. It had taken Jake a lot of hard work to get Puck to realise that Finn had long since forgiven him and Quinn, forgiven them their trespass as Puck called it over and over again, he'd heard the Lord's Prayer at Finn's funeral and bits of it had stuck. "It's about time," Jake whispered almost to himself.
"They are so right together," Sam agreed, although he couldn't help the tiny, tiny stab of...not jealousy exactly, not quite, it was more like envy, he was envious. Sam knew that he had been in the way of this happening a couple of years ago, they really should have been together forever, and they would have been too if Sam hadn't sweet talked Quinn into dating him while Puck was indisposed and unable to fight for her, if Sam hadn't caught her at an extreme low. "They should be together, they deserve this," he said with a nod as they watched Puck lift Quinn up off her feet and spin around with her. He'd noticed yesterday how often Quinn's eyes had strayed in Puck's direction while she had been singing with Brittany and Santana, it seemed like every time she sang the line "I'm addicted to you", she couldn't stop her eyes from flicking to Puck instead of the Yale dweeb she'd brought with her.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Puck murmured, he couldn't take his eyes off Quinn's face, she looked beautiful, so happy, relaxed, way better than she had earlier when that stupid Biff dude was an asshole to her. Puck would totally kick his ass again if he came back here.
"Let's go," Quinn said with a nod, aware that they were drawing attention from all quarters, but why wouldn't they? Beautiful blonde girl caught up in the arms of the dashing young airman and no one could deny he looked totally hot in that uniform and the hair, phew, so much sexier than that silly mohawk. Quinn's knees felt a little weak and she knew why. Puck's kisses had always made her go weak at the knees, she just hadn't ever told him that before, he was always too cocky before and now he wasn't. Now he was just goddamn gorgeous.
"Where do you want to go?" Puck asked as he started his truck. "My mom is home right now and I don't really feel like twenty questions from her," he grumbled. For sure his mom would say something about Quinn not being a nice Jewish girl and ruin the moment. Not that she didn't like Quinn, she did, she just didn't think that 'Quick' would ever, could ever, work out, she'd told Puck that the last time he had been so drunk that he'd talked to his mom about his true feelings. Yeah, that shit had gone down well. Not. Confessing to his mom that the only girl he had ever loved, would ever love, was the girl he'd already had a baby with, perhaps wasn't one of Puck's finest moments. His mom still hid the JD whenever he came home on leave.
"Biff is still at the hotel, he isn't going back to New Haven until tomorrow," Quinn sighed and pushed her hair away from her face. "There's always my house," she suggested and bit her lip shyly. Quinn felt a bubble of excitement fizz its way from her lower stomach, all the way up to her throat, she felt like she was about to explode with it. "Back to the scene of the crime, back to where it all started, that is so perfect," she realised then wondered if she'd said it out loud when Puck gave her that look, that look and that smile, the one he'd given her in the hospital when he'd admitted that he did love her. "What happened to us? Why did it take so long for us to get here?" she thought, even though she knew the answer.
"Cool," Puck murmured and gave her that one sided grin before he set off and drove towards Dudley Road. "I hope her mother's not home, I hope her mother's not home," he thought to himself, the words rattling round and round his head. "I have condoms," he reassured himself and glanced towards the glove compartment. "At least...crap, how long do they last? Do they have a sell by date or is that just the fruit flavoured ones?" he wondered. "Would it be too obvious to stop and get some, just in case? I mean, maybe she's thinking in terms of talking for hours and hours over coffee and I'm thinking in terms of serious loving with that delectable body freakin' naked ASAP. Crap, what if she doesn't want to? Dude, you are going to just have to chill, girls' prerogative, if she says no, it's no," he thought and had to swallow hard. "Man up, mention it now, don't leave it till you're on that bed again and trying to be all noble, 'cos that shit fucking hurts, blue balls is a condition that is not to be laughed at."
"Puck," Quinn said and nudged his arm, Puck realised that he'd heard her say his name about five times now to get his attention. "You don't have to worry," she reassured him carefully, she had been fully aware of every thought that had just passed through his head, every one had been written on his face. "I got this," she said with a wide smile and produced a pack of condoms from her over-sized, lime green tote.
"You actually bought these?" Puck asked, impressed when she nodded, obviously proud of herself for taking control of her own sexual health. He checked out the box. "But we still need to stop. These might have been fine for Preppy McDimplebutt, maybe he needs a 'snugger fit'," he read off the box, and wiggled his pinky at Quinn, "but some of us need extra large," he reminded her with a wink. Quinn blushed. And shivered. And allowed a silent internal cheer to send a thrill the whole way through her body. Mmm, she definitely remembered. Puck stopped at CVS. "Do you need anything?" he asked her before he got out of the truck. Quinn shook her head. "I'll be right back," he promised.
Good as his word, Puck was back in the truck inside fifteen minutes. "Was it busy in there?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah," Puck snorted. "I think everybody and their grandma was in there today to get a prescription filled, and the condoms are behind the counter to stop kids from stealing them so I had to wait in line," he explained. "Still, it was worth it," he sighed as he tossed three boxes of ten condoms into Quinn's lap. "I'd hate to run out just when we're getting somewhere close to being satisfied," he said with a huge grin as he started the truck again. Thirty should just about do it, they had a few years to catch up on. "You sure about this?" he asked.
"I have never been more sure of anything in my whole life," Quinn replied with absolutely sincerity. Puck didn't reply, he just drove.
The second that Puck stopped on the drive at Dudley Road his mouth dried up, he felt nervous, he felt a little scared. He glanced up to the window that he knew was in Quinn's room. Quinn leaned towards him and, with a gentle hand on his cheek, guided his lips to meet hers. Puck lost track of time, he dissolved into the kiss, allowed the feelings to spill over to every part of him. "Maybe we better take this inside," he suggested huskily.
"I think we probably should," Quinn agreed against his lips, her eyes were still closed, she didn't know if she would be able to breathe once they parted, even for the few seconds it would take them to climb out of the truck and be in each others' arms again on the driveway. "Let's go," she said firmly and pulled away.
Within seconds they were on the inside of the front door and all over each other like a rash. They stumbled and tripped their way up the stairs dropping items of clothing, shoes, Quinn's tote. "Crap, we need that," Quinn cried as the bag went tumbling down to the bottom of the stairs, the contents spilling out in a trail. "Ok, let's take a moment," she said, pulling in a deep breath. "I'll collect my bag and stuff, you collect our clothes," she instructed Puck. They made short work of the tasks and were in her room, giggling, a couple of minutes later. "What are you doing?" Quinn asked as Puck started to rifle through her closet.
"I need hangers," Puck explained. "I need to hang my uniform," he added. "It's a nightmare to have to iron if you leave it all messy," he explained.
Quinn giggled, her hand covered her mouth daintily. "You? Iron?" she choked.
"In the military you learn how to be self sufficient in everything, there's no one there to do my laundry for me, I have to do it myself," Puck replied with a self confident shrug. "Thousands of men have done it before me, thousands will after and it means I am very useful to have around the house," he told her with a wink. "You know, if you're thinking of keeping me around in the future," he suggested, "I can do all sorts of stuff so that you won't have to."
"You don't have to sell yourself to me," Quinn reminded Puck as she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've been waiting for this to happen for a long, long time," she whispered then closed the distance between their lips. Silence reigned, they were too busy for words...
"Quinnie," Judy called as she jogged up the stairs. "Darling, are you home?" she called. Judy didn't knock, she'd never needed to knock, she just opened the door to her daughter's bedroom as she had done a million times before. "Oh," she gasped as she pulled up short. This was the first time that she had ever found her daughter asleep in the arms of a man. A naked man. Well, he was certainly naked to the waist, Judy presumed that the nakedness extended further, all the way under the covers. "Oh," Judy repeated an instant later when she spotted the uniform hung on the closet door and realised who the naked back belonged to, she'd thought it looked a little too broad, a little too well defined to belong to that nice Biff-Buff-Boff boy, or whatever his silly name was. Why couldn't these people give their children proper names, real names, bible names. Like Noah, for instance, at least the licence plate on the truck outside made sense now. Judy crept out of the room, silently, she hoped. She'd make a lot of noise soon and pretend that she just got home, she just had one thing to do first. "Hello, hi, it's Judy, Judy Fabray, how are you?" she whispered into the phone. "Good, good. Well, you know what we always thought would happen? What we always suspected? Well, it looks like they've caught up with our thoughts. Finally," she confirmed. "Now we just have to wait to see if they tell us," she reminded the other person. "Bye, I have to pretend I just got home and make a lot of noise in the kitchen to wake certain people up," she announced with the hint of a giggle. "Bye," she repeated then went to work crashing pots and pans the second she ended the call.
"Crap," Puck whispered as the distant clang of metal on metal penetrated his brain. He stretched and yawned then nudged Quinn to wake her too. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty," he whispered into her ear after she turned over in his arms. "Hey, I think your mom's home," he said a little louder.
"Crap," Quinn whispered.
"I want to ask you something," Puck said, he sounded bashful.
"What's that?" Quinn asked then buried her lips in his throat, taking tiny little nipping kisses, making a pathway of tingles on his nerve endings all the way to his chest.
"Seriously," Puck insisted but he couldn't hide the smile on his face or in his voice, "mmm, but it can wait if you're going to do that. Miss Fabray, whatever would your mother say?" he teased as her hand closed round him. Again.
"What did you want to ask?" Quinn asked a while later when they both had their breath back.
Puck slipped out of bed and knelt at the side of it, he looked Quinn in the eye and held onto both of her hands. Puck prayed that Judy Fabray didn't take it in her mind to come and check on her daughter, otherwise she'd have his naked ass staring her in the face. "Ok, so, I have something I want to ask," he began nervously. "We've both dated a lot of people, the wrong people," he hurriedly assured Quinn, "but we've never dated each other and I don't know why. Quinn Fabray, will you be my girlfriend? Please?" he asked endearingly.
Quinn blinked and bit her lip. She swallowed hard and realised that her breathing had become very shallow, she felt just a little bit light-headed. "G-girlfriend?" she asked nervously.
"What do you think?" Puck asked, feeling his nerves tighten too. And she still hadn't answered.
"How-how would that work?" Quinn questioned. "I'm in New Haven, you're-you're somewhere...I don't even know where," she realised. Shit this was fast, she hadn't thought past this, this thing between them, their 'afternoon delight'.
"For now I'm based at Wright-Patterson but that could change," Puck replied. "Since completing basic we've all been held in a group, but bit by bit people are being assigned to different sections, different squadrons, different bases," he shrugged. In reality he had no idea how long he would remain at Wright-Patterson AFB. "Hey, I could even end up overseas," he warned with a wink.
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," Quinn advised. "And I think maybe you should get up," she suggested, glancing warily at the door, it wasn't unknown for her mom to walk into her room unannounced.
"How about we invite both our moms to dinner at Breadstix?" Puck suggested as they headed towards Quinn's bathroom.
"I think that sounds like a really nice idea," Quinn agreed. "I'll ask my mom, you call yours," she decided. "In a little while, anyway," she murmured as their lips melded one more time...
"Yes I have a clean shirt," Puck replied and crossed his eyes, pulling a face at Quinn as he listened to his mom on the other end of the phone. "And boxers, yes. Ma, just listen, I will meet you at Breadstix," he said then checked the time, "in an hour and a half, ok? Yes, and socks, ma, I have an overnight bag in the back of my truck, I'm cool. Yes, there's a table booked. Puckerman, under the name of Puckerman. Yes, I'll see you there. No, I'm not trying to set you up with a guy. Yes, if she wants to come. Ma, ma? Mom, for God's sake, ma," he tried to interrupt but she wasn't listening. "Ma, I'm going, I have to shave and get dressed, yes, I have everything I need with me, see you later. No, it isn't about any more long lost brothers or sisters, no, it's nothing to do with dad. Can't I just invite my mother out to dinner?" he asked and rolled his eyes, imitating to Quinn by opening and closing his hand the age old gesture of someone nagging. "Ma, if I was in trouble, I wouldn't ask you to meet me at Breadstix, now would I?" he sighed. "I have to go, I have to shave and get dressed. I'll see you soon. Yes, if she wants, see you soon," he said again before ending the call. "God, she makes everything so damn hard," he grumbled then dragged Quinn close up against him. "Not in the same way you make everything hard," he muttered suggestively before sampling her lips one more time. "Go talk to your mom," he advised and patted Quinn's ass when she turned and walked away. "I'll call Breadstix, make a reservation," he grinned, Puck thought he'd better, seeing as how he'd told his mom he'd already done that. Puck scrolled through the numbers on his phoned and pressed the one on his speed dial, he turned away as his call was answered. "Yes please, can I book a table for four, possibly five, please?" he asked. "Around seven thirty. Perfect. Thank you, yes, Puckerman, Thanks," he said and ended the call. "Done, go invite your mom. Sarah might be joining us, I'm not sure yet," he explained the vague number of guests for dinner.
Quinn left her room dressed only in her bathrobe, her hair was already beginning to dry and curl slightly on the ends. "Mom, hi, did you have a good day?" she asked when she found Judy in the kitchen looking through the fridge.
"Oh, hi sweetie," Judy said as she turned around and acted surprised to see Quinn.
"Don't bother cooking," Quinn told her mother with a smile, "you're coming out to dinner with us," she said, sensing that an invite might be turned down whereas just telling her mom would be accepted, her dad had done it for years and years.
"Oh, that's nice," Judy said in surprise. "What's the occasion?" she asked.
"No occasion," Quinn said with a pretty smile. "And I know you know who is upstairs, his truck is parked out there in the driveway," she informed her now blushing mother, the licence plate was a bit of a give away, it read 'PUCK 1'. "So, we are all going out to dinner, Puck has called his mom too and she is meeting us there," she explained. "I'm going to go dry my hair and get ready, ok?" she said and kissed her mom's cheek.
Judy followed Quinn from the kitchen and up the stairs. At the top she glanced over to Quinn's room, through the open door and saw Noah Puckerman sat on the edge of her daughter's bed, bent over, pulling on his socks, his shirt open, untucked from his pants. "How weird is it that that looks so everyday? So normal?" she asked herself. "I think I have expected to see this since the day that Beth was born, since you declared your undying love for her when you thought she and I were asleep. I'm pretty sure that Quinn was asleep though, but it was beautiful, what you said, I hope you say things like that to her every day for the rest of her life, every girl deserves to hear things like that," she whispered.
"I have never been so in awe of one person before in my life, you are so amazing and I love you so much, both of you...I know you want to give her up and you are so strong to be able to do that, I don't know if I would have the strength...I know that you don't love me and it doesn't matter, I love you enough for both of us, I'm going to go now, go see Beth before she isn't ours any longer..."
Judy shook herself and went to her room to get ready.
Monica and Sarah Puckerman were already seated when Puck, Quinn and Judy walked into Breadstix. Monica waved to them. "Hi," she said with a smile. "Noah looks very pleased with himself," she thought to herself.
"Hey," Puck said in greeting then sat once all the ladies were seated. He sat next to Quinn, he took her hand under the table and rested it on his thigh, his foot tapped nervously, incessantly. "Squirt," he said with a wink at his sister, she pulled her tongue out at him.
"Hi Quinn," Sarah said in her most creepily pleasant voice. "Why are you hanging round with this loser?" she asked and nodded her head towards her brother.
"Because I love him," Quinn announced, she decided that she might as well just get the ball rolling, get all the curiosity out of the way first then they could settle down and enjoy their meal.
"Ha, I knew it," Sarah exclaimed triumphantly. "I heard about you today, kissing in the hallway at school," she announced loudly. "Like it's not bad enough that everyone knows Jake is my brother and he's apparently the senior," she mocked with a roll of her eyes. "All the girls want to date him," she confided to Quinn. "Well they did," she corrected herself, "but now they're all fainting over you in your uniform doing An Officer And A Gentleman moves on Quinn in the hallway," she grumbled. "What's that about?" she demanded, disgusted. Sarah really did not understand the non-Puckerman female psyche. Not at all. Didn't they all know how unreliable the male Puckerman was? How unreliable her dad was? And Noah too most of the time and Jake, he was way too involved with the ladies to be reliable as well. Why didn't they all just realise this and move on, stop freaking on her shoulder when Jake looked at another girl, complaining that it was never them. Or even worse, turning into a dribbling mess when he did look at them and she absolutely detested the snivelling mess they became when Jake's gaze moved on to the next 'them'.
"So what's all this about?" Monica asked curiously, she glanced quickly at Judy, caught her eye.
"Well, ma, you know how it's always been for me, I've told you before how I've always felt about Quinn, Judy, I think you know already and after today, Quinn knows too," Puck announced, looking Quinn in the eye as he spoke. "I have loved her for forever and I have been in love with her for just as long, she is my love, my soul mate," he said with a shy, half-smile.
"Wow, that was some declaration," Judy said with a hint of a laugh. "Quinn? Dare we ask for a reply from you?" she teased lightly.
Quinn blushed a little but took the bull by the horns. "From the very first time you kissed me, you set my soul on fire," she began, her eyes were locked with Puck's, her voice was very husky as though talking was an effort. "For years I tried to deny it, tried to run away from it but I just don't want to anymore, I want to see where this love will take us, see where it will guide us because I love you too, I have for a very long time," she whispered almost breaking down in tears. "And yes, I will be your girlfriend."
"Wait, what?" Puck asked, pleasantly surprised by Quinn's words.
"Yeah, you know, I can't make any promises," Quinn said, maintaining the steady eye contact, "but you're the only guy who's actually been ok with me just being myself," she shrugged.
"Wow, well, once you've seen a baby come out of a girl's magic garden, everything else is easily acceptable," Puck responded with a glint in his eye, Quinn knew he was teasing for the shock factor to their mothers.
"I know I love you, Puck," Quinn admitted. "It's not going to be easy with me in New Haven and you heaven knows where, but I'd rather do hard with you than easy with somebody else," she said softly and Puck knew she meant it, every single word, he had to blink the emotion away. Puck lifted Quinn's hand to his lips to kiss the back of it, a comforting gesture for both of them, to give them time to recover from sharing such huge emotions.
"Oh, that was so beautiful, almost like vows," Monica whispered to Judy. "Maybe we should have written them down, they could use them if they ever decide to get married, not the garden bit, but the rest of it" she said a little teasingly. "But let's not rush things, eh?" she added when she saw the freaked out look on both Quinn's and her son's faces.
"Jeez, ma, chill," Puck muttered then had to gulp, she'd scared the life out of him with those few words.
"Monica, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Quinn advised. "We're reconnecting, re-learning ourselves and finding out where we want to go," she explained. "Plus it's only been a few hours, give us a chance to get some real dating going on first, alright?" she finally teased.
The dinner went well, Puck and Quinn were very relaxed with the company, both moms seemed to be very happy with their offspring and the choice of partner, which actually surprised both Puck and Quinn for different reasons. Sarah was just Sarah, same as she ever was, a chatterbox who rarely took time to draw breath or allow anyone else into the conversation.
"...and you're sure you don't mind?" Puck asked again when Sarah and Quinn had gone to the ladies.
"Noah, I'm not really used to you being in the house anymore," Monica reminded her son. "I'm fine with it."
"And I don't have any objections either," Judy replied. "Quinn is a grown woman with a mind of her own and you seem to make her happy, truly happy not just surface happy like she has been for years."
"Cool," Puck replied and gave both moms a beaming smile. "Hey," he said to Quinn as she eased past him to sit next to him in the booth, he had leaned back a little but had made the most of her ass sliding past him. The conversation went on...
"Night mom," Quinn called with a smile as she closed her bedroom door behind her and Puck. She turned and found herself in his arms, their lips met. "Mmmm," she sighed as they leaned back from one another. Puck's gentle half-smile and the look in his eyes made Quinn's heart skip a beat. "I take it you're staying here for the rest of your leave?" she asked then bit her lip.
"Yep, it's just two more days, I have to be back on base by nine o'clock, Saturday morning so I'll have to leave here at seven, gives me time to stop for breakfast on the way," Puck informed her with a sad sigh. "But we can make the most of it, right?" he urged, Quinn nodded and leaned close again, her head on his shoulder for the comfort his hug could give her.
Puck laid Quinn gently back on her bed. "You know that guy is still watching us, right?" he teased against her throat. Quinn glanced up to the large oil painting of Jesus on her wall.
"He's seen some pretty interesting stuff from you and me over the years," Quinn agreed with a grin. "He saw the beginning of us," she added softly then opened her lips for Puck's tongue to slide inside, to stroke her tongue.
"Shit, who's that?" Puck sighed as his phone began to sing at him. He sat up to answer. "Jake, s'up?" he asked his brother once he'd identified himself.
"I got a message for you from Mr Schue," Jake told Puck. "He'd like you to sing something tomorrow in Glee club," he announced. "And now I'm going because Marley has agreed to go with me to the Lima Bean for coffee and much as I hate coffee, if that's what's on offer, I'm going to take it and be grateful," he sighed.
"Dude, suck it up, don't be an asshole and no is no, right?" Puck advised his brother. "Your secret's safe with me, I won't tell a soul," he promised after Jake told him not to tell anyone, Marley didn't want anyone to know that she was considering forgiving Jake, she especially didn't want Ryder telling her she was stupid for doing so, she wanted to think it all out first then make her decision, apparently, according to Jake anyway. Quinn gave Puck the look, that special look, the look that, ever since they had known each other, ever since they'd felt that little spark, had made him confess everything to her. "He's going out for coffee with Marley," he said, it had only taken him half a second to cave. Quinn smirked, her eyes were on her knees as she smoothed out her pretty yellow dress. "Want to sing something with me tomorrow?" he asked her. "We've never sung together before, I think we could be very good," he said, thinking back over the Glee years. "What should we sing?" he asked.
"I have an idea," Quinn said lost in thought. "Mmm, I think this could work for us," she decided.
"Give it up then," Puck encouraged, "don't keep me waiting," he added then rolled her over to lie in his arms, he grinned down at her. "It'll keep," he murmured against her lips, neither of them thought about the song again till the morning...
"Morning," Quinn said huskily as Puck rolled out of bed. "Time is it?" she asked, squinting in the direction of the clock.
"Just after six," Puck whispered as he tied his sneakers. "I'll be back soon, just going for a run, ok?" he told her, then bent to kiss her head. "Sleep, I'll see you soon."
Puck stretched on the driveway while he found the album he was looking for on his iPod. He shoved his earphones in, strapped the iPod to his arm and set off, jogging slowly away from Quinn's house. He'd built up quite a bit of speed, was humming to himself as he ran along the tree lined roads, fairly enjoying the early morning sunshine and peacefulness. The blast from the police car's sirens made Puck jump. "Crap," he sighed as he turned around to find a cop car following him down the road. Puck pulled his earphones out of his ears and tried to calm his breathing. "Can I help you officer?" he asked, his heart sank when he saw who it was, Dave Karofsky Senior, the same officer who had arrested him on more than one occasion
"Just wondering what a Puckerman is doing running through this neighbourhood at this time of the morning," Karofsky replied as he got out of the car, his tone and his manner was incredibly condescending.
"Just going for a run then back to my girlfriend's house," Puck replied, he shook his legs out so that he didn't tighten up.
"Haven't seen you around town much recently," Karofsky commented.
"I'm only home on leave for a few days," Puck explained, "I'll be leaving tomorrow morning, going back to Wright-Patterson, I'll be on duty straight away," he added, wondering if Karofsky would get it.
"Wright-Patterson?" Karofsky asked incredulously. "Air force? You're in the air force?" he demanded. "Good God they'll take anything," he muttered. "So what do you do in the air force?" he asked, taking note.
"I'm training to be a Tactical Aircraft Maintenance Engineer," Puck told Karofsky proudly and realised he had stood a bit taller, stood easy, his hands behind his back, his chest out.
"I'm proud of you, son," Karofsky told Puck, "I never thought you'd have done anything with your life, I thought you'd have turned out to be as much of an asshole as your dad."
Puck went on his way, the praise and congratulations from Officer Karofsky ringing in his ears. "Hey," he called as he closed the front door behind him.
"Morning," Judy called from the kitchen. "You were out early," she commented.
"Yeah, not used to sleeping in anymore," Puck sighed regretfully, he truly missed the days when he had slept the clock round, when his mom was calling him to get out of bed at dinnertime and his answer was ten more minutes. "Quinn up yet?" he asked.
"I heard her shower running," Judy answered as she poured more coffee. "Here," she offered, holding a cup out to Puck. "Do you want to take one up to Quinn, too?" she asked.
"Helping me to earn boyfriend points already?" Puck joked. "Cool," he nodded and took the other cup that Judy held out.
Puck climbed the stairs and walked straight into Quinn's room. "Morning," she called when she heard him come in. "How do I look?" she asked, emerging from the bathroom in a yet another red dress.
"Gorgeous," Puck replied and bent to kiss her proffered lips. "But I'm all sweaty, I'll jump in the shower then we can go, how about breakfast at Tiffiny's this morning?" he asked, naming a small cafe that had been opened recently by one of his mom's friends.
"If my mom hasn't already made something for us then yes, that would be lovely," Quinn replied, then turned to concentrate on her make up.
Every member of Glee club looked at Puck and Quinn, sat as they were on the tall stools in front of the piano, Brad sat patiently waiting to play, they'd already told him and the band what song they were going to sing. "Thank you," Mr Schue called, drawing everyone to order. The talking stopped. "This is a duo we've never heard from before," he commented, indicating the pair of them, Quinn blushed just slightly, Puck tried to hold in the grin but struggled to do so.
Puck had removed his uniform jacket and rolled up his sleeves, he gave Quinn an encouraging wink, he took her hand and rested it on his strong thigh. He gave Brad a tiny nod, they were ready to start, they'd decided over breakfast that they weren't going to introduce the song, they were going to sing it then answer questions after if anyone needed to ask any, if the song wasn't enough. Puck was convinced that this song would answer everyone's unspoken questions. He hoped it would anyway.
"Right from the start, you were a thief, you stole my heart,
And I, your willing victim," Quinn sang, she couldn't stop the smile from lighting up her face, she felt such a surge of love, especially when she looked into Puck's eyes as she sang.
"I let you see the parts of me that weren't all that pretty,
And with every touch you fixed them," she sang and she meant every word so sincerely.
"Now you've been talking in your sleep, oh, oh," she sang as she circled behind Puck.
"Things you never say to me, oh, oh,
Tell me that you've had enough of our love, our love," she couldn't help the smile as she brushed by Puck's shoulder to stand in front of him and sing the rest, her back to their friends.
"Just give me a reason
Just a little bit's enough,
Just a second, we're not broken, just bent
And we can learn to love again,
It's in the stars,
It's been written in the scars on our hearts,
We're not broken, just bent
And we can learn to love again," she sang and felt relief that it was out there for everyone to hear, this wasn't just a song, this was a declaration of love, of loving, of Quick.
Puck stood as Quinn came to the end of her first part. He slowly circled around her as she sat back down on her stool, he hugged her shoulders as he sang.
"I'm sorry I don't understand,
Where all of this is coming from,
I thought that we were fine," he sang, he had a little smile for Quinn, his back was to their audience.
"Oh we had everything," Quinn put in as Puck gave her shoulders a squeeze.
"Your head is running wild again,
My dear we still have everything,
And it's all in your mind," Puck sang.
"Yeah, but this is happening," Quinn added, gazing up at Puck.
"Now you've been having real bad dreams, oh, oh,
You used to lie so close to me, oh, oh," he sang and remembered when that was so very, very true.
"There's nothing more than empty sheets,
Between our love, our love,
Our love, our love," they sang together, their hands clasped, their eyes locked.
Puck and Quinn sang the song to each other, not for their audience, just for each other. They both knew, even if no one else did, how exactly this song mirrored their long, long dance of courtship, the advance and retreat pattern that they had followed since the summer before their sophomore year. Quinn didn't think she was quite prepared to admit that some of the words were so scarily accurate, this song could have been written about them. Yes, they did used to lie so close together, Quinn had slept every night wrapped up in Puck's arms when she had lived at his house before Beth was born, but no one knew that. And even when they'd tried again to be close when Shelby and Beth returned to Lima, yes, Quinn tried so hard to not say the wrong thing that she ended up repressing everything, holding it all in while Puck got drunk every night, the words were so totally about them.
"Just give me a reason,
Just a little bit's enough,
Just a second we're not broken,
Just bent and we can learn to love again," they sang, looking deep into each other's eyes, their hands clasped together. Puck couldn't hold back, the emotion was running too high, the second they came to the end of the song he drew Quinn close and kissed her, right there in the choir room, in front of everyone. And Quinn kissed him back. From somewhere far away, Puck could hear clapping and cheering, slowly he raised his head. "I think they might have guessed," he muttered to Quinn.
"Maybe," Quinn replied very quietly, "but I still think we should make an official announcement, in fact," she whispered then turned to face the everyone. "I'd like to make an announcement," Quinn told everyone as she and Puck joined hands. "Puck has asked me to go out with him, as boyfriend and girlfriend and seeing that we've never actually dated before, despite everything we have been to each other," she rolled her eyes when she said that, "I said yes," she continued.
"I knew it," Jake cried from the third row, he had a big beaming smile and looked so much like his brother. "I saw you this morning looking very cosy over breakfast at Tiffiny's," he added loudly.
"Thanks Jake," Puck sighed and rolled his eyes. "Thank you brother, just inform everyone I am now a card carrying member of the 'I Have My Own Vagina' club, why don't you?" he thought but refrained from saying. Puck knew that Quinn appreciated the romantic little touches and as she told him years ago and again this morning, she thought he was special and romantic.
"Congratulations," Mr Schue said with a smile, "I can't think of any two people better suited to each other," he said. "You've grown into each other," he added and immediately both Puck and Quinn knew what he meant. Throughout their years at McKinley and in the couple of years since they'd graduated, they hadn't been right for each other, they'd both had some growing up to do, some maturing, and now they were right there, in the right place both physically and emotionally, a place that had been waiting for them, it was no wonder it felt so right, it was right, it was Quick.