There Were Moments of Gold.
And I banished every memory you and I had ever made,
When you touch me like this,
And you hold me like that,
I just have to admit
That it's all coming back to me.
There were moments of gold,
And there were flashes of light,
There were things I'd never do again,
But then they'd always seemed right.
There were nights of endless pleasure,
It was more than any laws allow.
(Highly recommend listening to the song while reading!)
"You may now kiss the bride."
It's not like she doesn't want to be here. Essentially, she needs to leave; want is a luxury she doesn't have time to cater to. She would like to remain at the wedding, blissfully talking about the old days, happily reflecting upon everyone's lives now and basking in the glow of the newlyweds that is always there. Except, she simply can't.
Pretending has always come easy to Quinn Fabray, some might even say it's second nature to her. She's not in denial about that, but right here, right now, with these people in this place, she can't summon the energy to place on that carefully crafted mask and fake a smile. Not to be misconstrued, she is so happy for the bride and groom. In fact, Quinn couldn't be happier for the bride and groom, and she always knew she'd attend their wedding someday, but the man sitting in the row behind her is keeping that happiness at bay.
He's been shooting glances to her every few minutes when he thinks she doesn't notice, but how could she not? Doesn't he know that she's been itching to do the same since she took her seat? She had put this all behind her long ago. She had said her goodbye's, turned off the lights and walked away; Quinn doesn't need to be brought back here.
They're over. They had been over for a very long time. Yet, at the rehearsal dinner, when their eyes met across the table, it was like time had never lapsed. She should have known they'd be like this; there's always been that magnetism. Santana is sitting beside her, and noticing Quinn's absent look, nudges her subtly.
"Fabray, at least act as if you care. Only one of us can truly not care, and that's me. So suck it up."
She rolls her eyes, "I do care. I—I'm just distracted." They had been waiting for the church to empty out before leaving, and now that it is empty, Quinn stands with her friend and queue's to exit the pew.
"Well, stop pining over love lost. None of us want to be back in this shithole – I mean, look at Kurt. Pretty sure he's crying because this place looks like a rainbow threw up in here."
"I'm pretty sure he's crying because he's happy for them."
"Whatever." Santana waves her off, finally entering the aisle. The make their way out slowly, during which she tells Quinn, "I still want to get my freak on tonight… and you are, too. 'Course, we're not quite into the same thing, but getting drunk together is fine."
Quinn glances down at her hands, all of a sudden fighting the desire to run, "I don't know if I'll go, San.."
"C'mon Fabray, you were always more of a firecracker than that." Santana turns around speedily on her heel, and with that, a large smile spreads across her face. Quinn remains facing forward.
"Puckerman! How have I not seen you yet? Are you still filtering kids pee and calling it pool cleaning?"
"Always the charmer, Santana." She finally finds the courage to turn around, and the wind is once again knocked from her sails. He looks even better than he did the other night; his hair is still the same – completely absent, as he shaved off the Mohawk a few years back, there's a few more lines in his forehead but nothing major while his well-defined body is emphasised by a wonderfully-fitted suit. Memories assail her of those strong, secure arms holding her tight and wishing her everything good in the universe.
Quinn bans those recollections, as she has so many others. She banished them long ago, and she doesn't care to recall them now. Smiling at him, she nods, "Hey, Noah." It feels wrong to call him Puck now. They've all grown, maybe their relationship should, too. However, somehow, calling him by his first name feels even more distant. Being honest, that's what she wants. Quinn has a life back home that she can't try and involve him in again.
He holds her gaze for a second too long, then smirks, "You can still call me Puck, but you make Noah sound hot." The wink comes then, making her heart involuntarily flutter. She hates that.
Luckily, they reach the outside of the church then. All of them remain silent as the minutes pass, soaking up the atmosphere and their own thoughts. Puck leans back on his heel, "A Finchel wedding. Well, god knows we all knew we'd be here one day."
"You can say that again," Santana nods, sounding somewhat nostalgic as she searches the crowds inconspicuously.
He leans forward to whisper rather loudly, "I think she's gone to reception already."
For a split second, Santana seems surprised, but it's gone then and she's sending him an irritated look, "What are you talking about?"
"Stupid doesn't suit you, Santana." He says flatly, then informs them that he'll see them later on. Puck makes a point of looking at Quinn here, who nods resignedly. She wants to go, but there's a bad feeling surrounding it.
She knows exactly why, too.
The whole show is as beautiful as Rachel wanted, and she looks radiant. Quinn's glad the two eventually waited until they had finished college, because they have real money to carry it off flawlessly and invite all the people they desire to. At twenty-six, Quinn knows that they'll survive forever. Maybe forever is a long time to stamp something with, but if there's anything that's been a constant in all of their lives together (the glee club) it's Finchel.
The food is impeccable, the dancing is hilarious and touching, the music is delightfully sentimental and Quinn is sitting at the best possible place: The glee club table – and not beside him, more importantly. She's sitting in between Sam and Santana, which she's thankful for, and leads her to believe that Rachel has done her homework. Rachel, Sam and Santana are the only people she remained close friends with after college. Of course, she keeps in contact with the majority of the Glee club, but those three are the ones she meets with frequently and know everything there is to know.
Sam may surprise some, but she and Sam always had something. Once they decided it shouldn't be romantic, it was a lot easier to be friends. They both lived in Connecticut a few years back, which made it easy to be friends when he eventually attended college. Every now and again, they made trips to Lima.
Quinn tends to avoid Lima now, though. In their college days, it was safe, because Puck was a distant memory and he was living in LA, but right now he's looking after his sick mother – right now he's across the table from her, yet again. She's long put the whole "Puck and Quinn" saga to bed. Quinn has moved on, dated other people and god knows she's been in love enough times since she was with him.
Yet, he's looking at her with such intensity that everything they ever were seems to race back to her. Quinn watches in slow-motion as he walks around the table to her, extending his hand with that same old grin, and asking softly, "Fancy a dance?"
She knows it's a bad idea. She knows she shouldn't. And by god, Quinn's aware of the possible consequences. As his hand touches hers, this all melts away. All of these worries disappear and all that remains is them; Noah Puckerman, and Lucy Quinn.
He knows Lucy and he knows Quinn, and he's loved them both. She's loved both Noah and Puck, because they're both completely different aspects of his personality, not unlike her. She stands with him and moves to the dance floor, her eyes not leaving his for a moment.
Every dance, every twirl and hug, catches up with them and their years. All of their running and forgetting is hitting with full force and she can't stop it. Puck places his hand on her back, drawing her in close. His embrace is so tender, so delicate and so bound with care that she melts into it.
Quinn remembers the nights as a scared fifteen-year old, crying into the shirt of the boy she got herself into the mess with. She remembers the words of comfort. Quinn remembers losing her mind in her senior year, but she also can now recall with brilliant clarity the words of the boy who had her heart.
"If there's one person I'm sure is going to get the hell out of this town and make something of herself, it's you."
She hasn't thought about those words for a long time now, but with the remembrance, comes an intense rush of affection, security, him, them, and love. Being in love is another topic, but Quinn loves Noah Puckerman, and part of her always will.
Taking her head off of his chest, she meets his green eyes again. They still hold the same twinkle of humour and mischief that she's familiar with. He's holding her gaze with an expression of genuine emotion, one of sincerity and without secrets and facades. She owes him the same, after all this time.
It doesn't take a genius to predict what happens as the night runs its course – but that doesn't matter. That's not what this night is about; it's about his touch that ignites her thoughts, or her eyes that bring his defences down and mostly, it's about the fact that no matter how hard they try, they keep coming back to each other.
A/N: Sorry it's so short! I just wanted to write something after hearing Lea sing that song so phenomenally well. She was just absolutely amazingly brilliant and jaw-dropping singing that song. Anyway, as you know, I don't own it as it's Ms. Celine Dion's :) I also don't own Glee. Hope you liked, please review!
To those following Friends, I'll update today. To those who aren't, you may find it interesting ;) Thanks for reading!
CN.