This is just a short one shot that I thought up the other day at work… Hope you guys like it, again, please review. Reviews are like fuel to my fire and they help me with my creative moods! Enjoy the Puckleberry! I do not own Glee
O.O.O.O.O.
He stared down the stairs to the subway. People moved around him, pushing him to get on with their day, oblivious to the fact that his world was shattering around him. Five years of hurt and tears finally stood in the flesh, standing halfway down the stairs, glued to the cement beneath her feet. A little girl with green eyes and brown curly hair smiled softly at the stranger while she wrapped her tiny hands around her mother's. The three stood motionless for what seemed like eternity until the child grew restless.
'Mommy, is that him?' the girl asked in a sing song voice. The question broke Rachel from her trance. She spun on her heels and ran back down the stairs as quickly as she could with her daughter in tow. Luckily, the girls voice had broken Puck from his trance as well so he quickly followed behind them.
'Rachel stop! I'm not letting you do this to me again!' he yelled. His daughter stopped in her tracks.
'It is him.' She said dramatically as Puck caught up.
'Elli baby, you need to come with me.' Rachel pleaded, trying to urge the little girl onto the train.
'No Mommy. You promised. You said if he found us than it we could live happily ever after like the princesses.' She replied, stomping her tiny foot on the ground, dropping her mother's hand and turning to face Puck.
'You are my daddy.' She said pointedly.
'Yes I am.' He replied with misty eyes. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He squatted down and picked the little girl up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him the biggest hug she could. He returned it, giving it all of the love he had for the little girl since the moment he found out Rachel was pregnant and all of the pain he felt that he had lost her. She laid her head on his shoulder and he looked up at Rachel.
Rachel's eyes were filled with tears as she watched her daughter in Puck's arms. She knew this day would come but she never expected it to be this soon.
'I love you daddy.' Elli whispered in Puck's ear.
'I love you too baby girl.' He replied; trying to hold on to the moment as long as possible; terrified he would never have another.
'Let's go.' Rachel's voice cut through.
'No Mommy, I'm not ready to go.' Their daughter replied with complete sadness.
'All of us, let's go. Noah and I need to talk and you need to eat.' Rachel replied wiping the tears out of her eyes. Puck's eyes shot up in shock.
'Really?' He asked.
'Yes Noah, let's go to lunch.' She couldn't help but feel all of her old feelings for him resurface as he smiled at her.
'I want sweet and sour pork!' Elli shouted.
'You like sweet and sour pork?' Puck asked her.
'Yeah, it's my favorite.'
'Mine too.'
'Really?' she asked with wide excited eyes.
'Yep, since I can remember.' He smiled when she hugged him tighter.
'You will be amazed at how alike the two of you are.' Rachel added quietly from her train seat beside them. 'She's stubborn, free-spirited, and despite the fact that I have never said the word, she has deemed herself a 'badass.' I'm pretty sure she got it from someone at school, but you can imagine my reaction when I heard her say it.'
'You're a badass too daddy?' she asked with a shocked expression.
'That's not a good word to say Elli, but yes, I was a badass when I was a kid.' He smiled at her sideways grin.
'You're not anymore?'
'Nope, I stopped being one when I lost two things that were really important to me.' He replied.
'Me and Mommy?' she asked, he was shocked at how receptive she was; he simply nodded.
'What do you mean Noah?' Rachel asked.
'I was broken after you left. I really thought we were going to be a family and then one day I show up to your house and your dads are crying waving that stupid letter in my face like it was my fault. I left town for a few days and spent them drinking at the lake. When I got back I knew that the only way I was ever going to see my daughter was if I found you. So I cleaned myself up, quit the football team, and put all of my energy into my schoolwork. The guys on the football team were pissed so they started bullying me relentlessly. I had to start wearing my glasses to school because they kept hitting me so hard my contacts would tear and I couldn't afford it. The glasses only seemed to make it worse. I became the school joke; the gay nerd that cried all day for the girl that he wasn't good enough for. The glee kids stopped talking to me because they said it was my fault you left and because of it we lost sectionals. Mike's the only one that stuck by me but I eventually pushed him away too. I ended up graduating with honors and getting excepted into NYU; but I also got egged as I walked across the stage. I left Lima the day after and came here. After four and a half years you would think that I'd have a life here but I don't. I graduated last year with a BA in Music and Literature; not the usual combination but it helped me a lot with song writing and books have kind of become my obsession; another reason I have no friends. I've been trying to find you guys but obviously haven't had any luck until today. Thank you for giving her my last name.' he said with tears in his eyes.
The train pulled up to their stop and they filed out, Elli still wrapped in Puck's arms. They walked to the chosen restaurant, sat and ordered. There was still an uncomfortable silence surrounding them while they sat sipping their waters.
'I'm sorry Noah.' Rachel finally stated.
'I know Rach. I forgave you the day I got the birth certificate in the mail with her picture.'
'I don't deserve your forgiveness. I was just so scared.'
'You do deserve my forgiveness; look at our daughter. She's beautiful, smart, and healthy. You did that. I don't know why you were scared but you had every right to be. We were sixteen.'
'I was scared because I love you too much. I was scared because the idea of being on stage was becoming less and less important to me. I wasted all these years without you, hurting you, for something that I didn't even end up doing because I didn't have any help. I couldn't go to auditions because I had no one to watch Elli so I ended up getting a job at the theatre as a ticket girl. I'm still their and I manage it but I never made it to the stage. I wish I could take it all back and be with you instead.' She cried. He got out of his seat and walked to her. He squatted next to her chair and took her hands in his.
'You have me. We can't go back in time but we can start now. There's not one day that has passed that I haven't prayed you would come back into my life. I want to be that family. I want to wake up and see your beautiful face and make pancakes for my daughter. I want to drop her off at school and go grocery shopping with you. I want to feed the ducks at the pond with both of you and take you to auditions. If you say no, I'll go back to the life I've been living. I survive that way. If you say yes I will finally be complete. I know it's cliché but I have been empty since that day over five years ago. I want you and my daughter in my life.' He stood back up and took his seat as the waitress brought their food.
'Don't worry daddy, mom cries every night in her sleep because she's sad. She loves you bunches and wants you to come home with us.' Elli beamed, 'Right Mommy?'
'Well, that's more information than I would have liked to give but yes. She's right. It seems absolutely crazy but I haven't been able to even look at anyone else since I left. I miss you, I want you, I need you.' Rachel answered with more tears forming in her eyes.
'It is absolutely crazy, but I've had the same problem. I have not been with anyone since the last time we were together. Hell, I've even spent money on rent of a two bedroom apartment for the last four years praying I you and Elli would eventually fill it. I need you Rachel. I needed you then but I really need you now.'