Hello again! Here with another Pinn fic in the Growing Up universe. I think this is alright as a stand-alone, but you may want to read that one first.

Please enjoy and let me know if you like it! This takes place in season 1 by the way!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

Puck couldn't stand it.

He knew that this whole "playing straight" was his idea, but he couldn't stand seeing Finn so happy with Quinn Fabray. The kid was like a freaking puppy when she was around, running about and doing things for her, making sure she looked good and making himself looked whipped beyond belief. Puck always did say that Finn was only ever cut out to be a bottom.

But it wasn't like Puck could say anything about it. He was the one who put a stop to their…"boyfriendry". He couldn't exactly go crawling back. That would be totally un-badass. So instead he stood back as his best friend catered to this cheerleader who didn't even know how good she had it, who took advantage of her boyfriend's kindness to get herself to the top, and who kicked him around to get what she wanted.

Puck hated Quinn.

At first he thought it was a good thing that Quinn and Finn hooked up. It would make Finn forget all about their little phase and make moving on that easier. However, slowly but surely, Puck felt himself being pushed out of the picture. It was always Finn and Quinn, Finn and Quinn. Finn and Quinn going out to the movies, Finn and Quinn hanging out at her house, Finn and Quinn doing homework together, and soon enough, Finn and Quinn joining Glee Club.

It was sickening, and it made Puck hate Quinn little by little.

They were sophomores now, and already at the top of the school. The seniors were too lazy to do anything about social status anyway, what with senioritis kicking in as soon as school started again. Finn was the quarterback, leader of the football team, and Puck was his right-hand man. They threw nerds into the dumpster in the mornings and threw slushies for the rest of the day. It was just how school was for them. It was the norm, and they gladly accepted it.

Puck was untouchable now. His badassery had earned him complete immunity from anything, and anyone who even thought of bad-mouthing Puckasarus got a free slushie facial. He was on top, and could get any girl he wanted. Trouble was, no matter how many girls he got with, he still couldn't get Finn off of his mind. It angered him sometimes, because he had been the one to end it. He told Finn that they needed to grow up and move on. Yet he was the one who seemed to miss Finn instead of the other way around. And it wasn't helping that Quinn kept pulling his best friend farther and farther away.

So he got revenge.

He had approached her one day and asked to come over for a little, just to hang , so he could get to know her more. She was his best friend's girlfriend after all. Maybe he could give her some tips on how to control Finn a little better. As soon as he mentioned that, Quinn was on board.

Puck made sure that his mom and sister were out for the day before taking Quinn over to his house. He grabbed some wine coolers his mom had in the fridge and offered her one. She had refused at first, before Puck explained that they were more like juice than anything. There was barely any alcohol in them anyway. It wasn't like he completely lied. And that was all it took to get her in bed.

He thought for sure that Quinn, the president of the celibacy club, the head cheerleader, and the all-around goodie two-shoes would confess to Finn. Then Finn would have no choice but to break up with her. But Puck didn't realize how conniving she really was. She didn't speak a word of it to anyone, and warned Puck to do the same. "If you don't, I'll make your life a miserable." Quinn hissed. "I promise you that."

Puck thought for sure that she knew about it. About he and Finn, about everything. And what if she made good on that promise? What if she took Finn away from him completely? Puck couldn't handle that, and so he kept quiet. He would rather have a little place in Finn's heart than to be forgotten completely, and he wouldn't put it past Quinn to do just that.

Then Babygate happened.

Somehow, Quinn had gotten pregnant, but she refused to acknowledge Puck as the father. And Puck was just…torn. He was going to have a baby, but with Finn's girlfriend. It was so wrong. This wasn't how it was supposed to end up.

Then suddenly the entire glee club knew, and before Puck could register it, Finn was staring at him with wide, broken-hearted eyes. "Is it true?" He asked. "Are you the father?"

Puck felt his heart breaking. He wanted to say no, this was all a mistake. Puck loved Finn, not Quinn. True, he was becoming attached to her, but just because of the baby. His baby. He couldn't just abandon it. He couldn't do what his own father had done and abandon his kid. But looking into Finn's eyes, so soft, so innocent, and broken, all Puck could do was nod.

He never saw the punch coming. He stumbled backwards and held his throbbing cheek. Mr. Schuester and someone else had grabbed Finn, telling him to back off, and suddenly Quinn was there and she was crying, and everyone was shouting. Puck wanted to tell them to stop, that Finn wasn't the bad guy. It was his fault. Puck had been the one to blame. If he had just been a man and owned up to his feelings for Finn, then maybe none of this would have happened.

Then the worst happened.

"I'm done with you!"

Puck looked up, his eyes widening. No…Finn…

Finn was looking at Quinn, then his eyes locked with Puck's. He was so angry, so sad, so heartbroken. Puck was filled with guilt. He wanted to reach out and stop Finn, and apologize, and tell him that he loved him. It didn't matter that they were two dudes, he loved him.

"I'm done with all of you!"

Finn stormed out, and Puck felt like it was the end of the world.

Ring….ring….

Ring….ring…

Puck groaned. It was still early, but he had just been in the middle of a nap. He rolled over on his bed and grabbed his cell phone off of the floor, pressing the green phone button and putting it to his ear.

"'llo?"

"Puck? Dude?"

Puck's heart leapt in his chest. Finn hadn't talked to him since everything had gone down. Not even at Sectionals. "Finn?" He asked, trying not to sound too hopeful, but failing miserably. "I, uh, wh-what's up dude?"

"I need a place to stay."

Puck's eyebrows pressed together in confusion. He thought that Finn had been staying with Kurt Hummel and his dad. Not that he had asked Hummel for information or anything. "Why, what's up?"

There was silence on the other end, and then Finn sighed. "You know what, never mind, I'll just-"

"No, no dude! I mean its fine, you…" Shit, Puck sounded like a girl right now. He pressed a closed fist against his forehead and mouthed 'stupid' before speaking again. "Do you need a ride?"

"Nah, I'm already outside."

"…oh. Okay, I'll…see you in a sec then."

"Alright, bye."

Puck hung up his phone and sighed. He tossed the phone onto his blankets and rubbed his hands over his face, trying to wake himself up. Alright, now was not the time to panic. Finn needed him. He got up and slid on a shirt, buttoned his jeans, and headed to the front door. Finn was already on the porch, his backpack slung over his shoulder and a sad look on his face. Puck felt like he was going to punch a wall. He hated seeing Finn looking so upset. When the door opened, Finn looked up and gave Puck a hopeful smile. Puck couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey dude." Finn said.

Puck was speechless. He was surprised, but it was a good surprise. Finn was really here. The quarterback raised his eyebrows. "Dude, you okay?"

Puck nodded quickly and opened the door wider for Finn to walk in. "Yeah, yeah. Come in." He said.

Finn walked in, smiling a little at the familiar surroundings. Seeing the Puckerman household, he realized that he hadn't been here in quite a while. Too busy with Quinn and everything. He hadn't realized either how much he missed it.

Puck closed the front door and leaned against it, watching Finn look around the house. He jammed his hands into his pockets, gnawing on his bottom lip. "So…."

Finn looked over and smiled. "Thanks for letting me crash here dude."

Puck shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Yeah, no problem." He scratched the back of his head. "So, uh, what happened? I mean, did your mom get super mad at you for not taking the trash out or something?" He asked, feigning stupid. He didn't want Finn to know that he had been checking up on him through Hummel.

Finn seemed to deflate, and he shook his head. "No, I…well, you know Kurt Hummel right?"

Puck hummed, pretending to think. "The gay kid from glee? Yeah I guess."

"Well, his dad and my mom kinda got together, so we've been living with them."

"Oh. Well that's…cool."

"Yeah, Burt's a cool guy. That's Kurt's dad's name. He's really cool and he takes me to games and stuff. We watch TV together a lot. It's kinda nice, you know, having a dad."

Puck shrugged.

Finn sighed. "But, uh…Kurt kinda has a crush on me, you know? Has for a while, and today was just kinda the last straw."

Puck folded his arms. "What happened?" He swore in his mind if Hummel did anything to Finn, he would kick the kid's ass. Then again, what could he have possibly done? Finn had at least ten feet on him.

"He redecorated the room we were sharing. It was nice and all, but it was just…it was too much, you know? Like I knew why he was doing it, and I like him and all-" Puck felt jealously flare up inside of him. "-but as a friend. Not like that. But Kurt just kept pushing and pushing until I finally snapped, and I called him a faggot-"

"Whoa, whoa!" Puck said, and Finn looked over curiously. "…You called him a fag?"

Finn nodded, looking guilty. "Yeah."

"My friend? Finnocence?"

Finn blushed. "Shut up."

Puck smirked. "I'm just saying, I didn't think you had it in you. Thought you had a crush on the little fairy."

"Yeah, well I don't. And I just got so mad, and it slipped out, and his dad heard me."

Puck's blood ran cold, and he looked at Finn seriously. "H…He didn't like, beat your ass, did he?"

Finn shook his head. "No, dude. He just got really mad. Told me he thought I was different, and that I couldn't stay there anymore. So…" he shrugged. "That's why I'm here."

Silence fell between the two. Finn shifted a little on his feet, and Puck took interest in the ceiling fan. He wanted to say something, anything that would make it better. He wanted to pull Finn close and kiss the sad look on his face away. But he couldn't, not after everything Puck had told Finn. Instead, he unfolded his arms and walked back to his room. "Well, I was taking a nap before you called, so I'm going to go finish it."

Finn watched his friend go, his feet cemented in one place. When he heard Puck's bedroom door close, he slid his backpack off and sat on the couch. He rested his elbows on his knees and held his face in his hands. What was he going to do?

Puck couldn't sleep. He kept trying, but knowing that Finn was out in his living room, alone and scared, it tugged at his heart. He felt guilty for just leaving him out there, but what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't kiss the pain away. He wasn't even sure Finn had really forgiven him for everything yet.

Then he remembered, wasn't this his plan the entire time? There had been a few bumps in the road, but it had worked! Quinn was no longer in the picture, and Finn was out there, alone, and all his. They were safe here in his home, without any of the McKinley losers here to listen to them. Puck could say anything he wanted without worrying about anyone else hearing it.

He got up slowly and walked out of his room, only to find the living room empty. His heart sunk. Was he too late? Did Finn take off?

And then he heard it.

"Finny you're so tall!"

Puck nearly ran to the kitchen, where his mom was cooking, and his sister was sitting at the dinner table with Finn, drawing on some pieces of paper with crayons. Finn grinned softly. "Yeah? My mom says it's all the veggies I ate when I was little."

Puck's mom smiled over. "See that Sarah? If you eat your veggies, you'll grow up tall like Finn."

Sarah pouted. "But I don't wanna be the size of a tree."

Finn blushed, and the two girls laughed softly.

Puck walked over and rubbed his knuckles against Sarah's scalp. "Hey monkey."

Sarah screamed. "Mom! Noah's messing up my hair!"

"Noah." His mom said in a warning tone, and Puck grinned before sitting next to Finn. Finn looked over at him and offered a smile. "Good nap?"

Puck shrugged.

Finn had offered to sleep on the couch, but Puck's mom wasn't having it. She pulled out an inflatable mattress and put it in Puck's room, getting an extra pillow and blanket for him. When Finn wasn't looking, Puck pulled the mattress closer to his bed before getting into it and stretching. Finn came out from the bathroom and yawned, kneeling down on his bed and laid down on it. When Puck looked over, he saw that Finn was curled up tightly in the blanket, facing away from him. Puck sighed softly and closed his eyes.

"Finn?"

"Hm?"

"You are different."

Finn blinked, and turned around to look at Puck, but the other was already turned away from him, eyes shut tight. Finn smiled softly.

"Thanks Puck."

Puck smiled to himself. He would get Finn back, no matter how many people he had to go through.