She's still beautiful, after all these years. Blond hair falling in loose, lovely curls around her face, broad smile in place, smile lines just beginning to show around the edges, green eyes dancing with obvious delight at life. She's still perfect, after all these years.
"Hey Quinn," he says, nervous, like he's sixteen again and falling in love with his best friend's girlfriend all over again.
"Hi Noah!" she says, a girlish squeak slipping into her voice as she hugs him, and damn it all, he feels like he's back in freaking high school again. If she hadn't called him Noah, he would have never believed that they were both nearing thirty-five. No one's called him Puck since high school. She hasn't called him Puck since Annabelle was born.
"How've you been?" she asks when she finally let's go of his neck. He can't speak for a moment, his eyes traveling from her eyes to the cross necklace still dangling from her neck in the same way it has been since they were kids to a loose curl that's falling in front of her lips, and he almost tells her he loves her right then. But he startles out of his reverie to answer her.
"Fine, fine," he said, meaning it in the way that things really were fine and not in the way that he was just trying to get the conversation over with as soon as possible, "Been playing a few gigs in coffeehouses and bars on the weekends, helps boost the income a little. Not enough to move me into a new tax bracket, but it's fun, you know."
"Wow," she said, laughing, and god, it's still the most beautiful sound he has ever heard, "Never thought I would hear Noah Puckerman, resident bad ass, dropping phrases like 'boost the income' and 'new tax bracket'. You've grown up."
"Guess I had to eventually. What about you? How've you been?" he says, trying to keep it casual, make small talk, although there's really only one thing he wants to ask her right now: Marry me?
"Good. Everything's been amazing actually," she said, and he stops himself from wincing at that, because he really does want her to be happy.
"How's Damon and RJ?" he asked, because he likes Damon, and RJ's a pretty cool kid for a seven-year-old. And of course Quinn grew up to marry the blond haired, blue eyed, movie star gorgeous guy who had a steady job and they had a little boy who's pretty much a blond haired, blue eyed freaking angel come to earth (because, seriously, as much as Puck likes the kid, he's like some kind of perfect little Disney movie character, and that annoys him).
"Great. RJ's growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday he was a baby and now, I mean, he's almost a first grader. And Damon just got promoted, and you know how excited he gets about things like that. He's been bouncing around almost as much as RJ these days," she said, and he knows that there's only one thing left to ask about. Only one person left that he needs to know about.
"How's Annabelle? How's she doing?" he asks, calling himself every foul name he knows (which is quite a few) because he's almost crying just asking about her.
Quinn pauses for a moment, knowing just how much he loves their daughter, just how much he wants her to do well, just how much his heart aches every time he has to ask for an update, before she speaks, "She's doing great, Noah. She's starting at Stanford in the fall, but you knew that."
"Yeah," he says, nodding and biting his bottom lip hard, "She called me a couple weeks ago and we talked for a while. She still going out with that Don guy?"
"Shawn," Quinn said, smiling slightly at his forgetfulness, "Yeah, she is. She really likes this guy, Noah. I'd be expecting an invitation to the wedding the day they graduate. Though, who can tell with these things, right?"
"Yeah," he said, and there was so much else he wanted to say, so much she needed to know about him and he needed to know about her, so much he wanted to hear about Belle and RJ and even Damon, so much he wanted to tell her about all the reasons that he loved her, but he couldn't. Not when everything was going so great for both of them as two separate entities.
"I've got to go pick up RJ, but I suppose I'll see you at the wedding," she said, and bit her lip to keep back a smile.
"Kurt and Mercedes's? Yeah, I'll be there. All though, of all the people in the whole damn world to get married, those two would be the last two I would put together. I mean, Kurt's gay," he said, laughing despite himself.
"When things click, they click I guess. Plus, I don't know, it's kind of cute."
"Girls always go for this kind of stuff," Noah said, rolling his eyes, and then he couldn't hide behind small talk anymore, and Quinn said good-bye one last time and headed off the way she'd been going when he'd first seen her. He watched her go, blond curls fading in to the crowd.
--
Puck woke with a start. He couldn't deal with that. He wasn't going to be the guy who had to get updates about his daughter from some happenstance meeting with Quinn on the street. And Quinn sure as hell wouldn't be marrying any movie star and having a kid named RJ. What kind of ridiculous name was that?
He wanted her to be happy, but he wanted her to be happy with him. And Noah Puckerman was going to do whatever it took to let Quinn Fabray know that. It's a short drive from his house to Brittany's house, where Quinn's staying. It's kind of cold out in Ohio in December at 4 in the morning, and he's kind of starting to wish he'd put on more then a jacket and a pair of jeans, but he needs to talk to Quinn as soon as freaking possible.
And he can't think of anything better, so he starts chucking rocks at the window that he hopes to God is Quinn's. Six rocks in, the window finally slides open and her blond head peers out.
"Puck? What the hell are you doing here?" she says, green eyes wide as he shifts back and forth trying to keep warm, "Why the hell aren't you wearing a shirt? It's freezing!"
"Just come down here for a second, will you? Please?" he added, because he really is trying to be nicer to people.
A few seconds later she was standing in the doorway, and he was standing on the porch, rambling like a crazy person, "Listen, Quinn, I know I fucked up, but I want to try. I want to try and be a good dad. I can't promise that I can change, and I can't promise that I'll always love you, and I can't promise that we'll ever get out of this town, but I can promise that I'll try, and that I love you right now. 'Cause I can't deal with you marrying some guy named Damon and having a kid named RJ, and not just because that's a shitty name for a kid. I want you to be happy, but fuck it, I want you to be happy with me.
I don't want to be the guy who has to ask about his daughter when I just happen to bump into you on the street. She hasn't even been born yet, and I love her more then I thought I could ever love anything. I want to be a good dad for her more then anything in the world, and I want to be a good what ever you want me to be for you, even if it's just a friend. 'Cause it'll kill me to be anything but the one guy for you, but if just friends is all you want to be, I'll be the best damn just friend you've ever had. I love you, Quinn Fabray, and I love our daughter, and I'd really love it if you would just give me a chance, maybe after this whole thing with Finn calms down," he said, standing there, panting in the cold air.
Quinn just stood there for a second, looking about on the verge of tears, before she nodded.
"Yes? Yes what?"
"I'll give you a chance. But I swear to God, Puck-"
"Noah," he interrupts her with, and she gives him a strange look before continuing.
"I swear to God, Noah, if you fuck this up, I'll, I'll-" but she's not able to finish because she finally starts crying and Puck pulls her to him in a tight hug, being careful not to put any pressure on her expanding stomach.
"Thanks, Quinn."
"You're welcome, P-Noah."
"Have you thought of any names for her?" he asked, and felt Quinn shake her head against his chest.
"How about Annabelle?" he asked, and she smiled and asked him where he got that.
"It just came to me," he replied, cocking an eyebrow at her and smiling, earning him a watery grin in return. RJ was a stupid name for a kid, but he thought Annabelle was pretty sweet.
A few notes: This oneshot popped in to my head, and wouldn't leave until I wrote it. So I wrote it. I don't know if would consider myself an official Quick shipper, but something about it intrigues me. Also, I personally have nothing against the name RJ, but I wanted something to give Puck his voice from the show, and that just kind of seemed to fit. Originally, I was going to have Puck's dream be reality, and have it be angsty but I just couldn't do it. So I gave them a happy 'ending'. Also, I could not help giving my favorite Glee pairing (Kurt/Mercedes) a shout out. I really could not help myself.