Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.
A/N: "He forgave us, right?"
"Yes, a long time ago...Rachel was his soul mate..."
"Who's your soul mate? Biff? I know who my soul mate is, has been since we were fifteen years old...just give me a reason, tell me to stay..."
"You don't want to be with me, I can't be honest in a relationship..."
"...the truth is there's only one guy you were ever really honest with...just tell me to stay..."
"Stay, please stay...but I have a confession to make...I wasn't always honest with you, I lied to you, it was only by omission but I lied to you. Do you remember, the day that Beth was born and I asked you if you loved me?"
"Yes..."
"I should have told you then, when you said that you did, I should have told you the truth, I loved you then and I still do, I love you Noah Puckerman, and it's you, it's always been you, you're my soulmate..."
"Can you believe he did that?" Marley asked, sniffing into her soggy tissue again. "That he would...urgh...I don't even want to think about it, how could he? How could he do that to me?" she demanded.
"Well, let's take a look at the clues," Quinn advised. "Number one, he's a Puckerman, number two he's male, number three he's a Puckerman, number four he's a horny teenager and number five, he's a Puckerman," she said, counting on the fingers of her left hand.
"Yeah, but not all Puckermans are like that," Marley replied with a tearful nod towards Quinn's finger and the ring that graced it. "Puck's not like that, he's faithful to you," she pouted, her tone almost accusing.
"He is now," Quinn agreed. "But he wasn't always. We've been through a lot, both together and separately and we, well, we work best together, we bring out the best in each other," she said with a shrug. "I have no clue how, we just do," she grinned, tilting the laptop back a little for Marley to see Puck come in the door. "I have to go, I have to make dinner for the conquering hero," Quinn mocked as Puck leaned over the back of the couch to drop a kiss on top of her head.
"Cool, I'm starving, I left before lunch and drove straight through. Hey Marley," Puck said with a wave at the screen. "Where's my idiot brother? Did you kick his ass yet?" he asked, he'd heard from Quinn what Jake had done, Jake hadn't had the balls to tell Puck himself. Marley sniffed and shook her head, trying to hold in her tears along with the broken little giggle that just bubbled up from inside her as she imagined herself physically kicking Jake's ass. "Want me to come to Lima and kick his ass for you?" he offered, Marley laughed again.
"No. Thanks for the offer, but no," Marley replied and sniffed inelegantly then wiped under her eyes, looking at her fingers to see if her mascara had run. "I think it'll hurt him more if I just don't forgive him," she decided. Much as she would dearly love to kick Jake from one side of Lima to the other, Marley really wasn't into violence, she'd seen far too much of that in the years before her mother had finally kicked her dad to the kerb, Edward Rose had been entirely too handy with his fists when things weren't going his way. "Tell Quinn thanks for the pep talk," she said before she cut the connection.
"Dude, are you freakin' insane?" Puck hissed at Jake, checking towards the kitchen, hoping that Quinn didn't come back into the living room any time soon, she was seriously pissed at Jake for treating Marley the way he had. "That girl is so hurt," he told him, shaking his head. "She doesn't even want me to come and kick your ass and believe me, I offered. What the hell were you thinking?" Puck suddenly demanded, actually getting angry with his brother. "Did you learn nothing from me or dad? From our mistakes?" he asked.
"Puck, chill," Jake finally managed to get a word in, frowning at his brother over the internet hook up. "Marley's cool, she understands," he said, carelessly tossing Marley's hurt feelings aside. "I mean, I'm a guy, she knows I have needs, she's not prepared to do it so I had to find it elsewhere. Doesn't mean I care about her any less, it doesn't mean anything, Bree, well, she's just a hook up, she's available whenever I want, it's just sex, I don't love her, I love Marley," he explained, his words petering out as he noticed the look of disgust on his big brother's face.
"Marley is so far from cool and understanding about this," Puck corrected Jake's delusion. "Which bit of the garbage you just spouted actually sounded real to you?" he demanded. "Because that sounded like the biggest load of crap I have ever heard and that's saying something, I lived with dad till I was thirteen don't forget," he reminded Jake.
"Yeah, well, some of us only got his name, not his time," Jake sighed, once again making Puck feel like crap for mentioning their dad in the first place.
"Trust me, you were the winner in that race," Puck murmured, more to himself than to Jake.
"What? I missed that, speak up," Jake ordered Puck while checking something on his phone. Puck thought it was possibly from his current squeeze, if the sudden flash of interest in Jake's eyes was anything to go by.
"Doesn't matter, look, I'm going, I only have tonight here with Quinn then I have to be back on base, I can't be late again," Puck sighed. "I'll give you a call some time next week, I hope you get your head on straight and apologise to Marley, she deserves that at least," he reminded Jake. "See ya," he added just before he cut the connection.
"Is it safe to come in now?" Quinn asked from the doorway. "I don't even want to see him, I know he's your brother but he's an asshole," she said with a frown.
Puck looked over and did a double take when he saw the stocking clad leg with an exceptionally high heeled, sparkling, rhinestone encrusted 'fuck me' shoe sliding daintily up the door frame towards the ceiling. He watched as a hand latched on to the edge of the door, presumably to steady the rest of Quinn while that one leg rose higher and higher. He walked towards the door, applauding slowly, appreciatively. "Wow," Puck breathed as he caught sight of Quinn. There was very little else on her body, besides the tiniest, raunchiest thong that Puck had ever seen. "Jesus, where the hell did you find that?" he asked, once he had swallowed enough and could actually string almost coherent sounds together.
"A little insider information from our mutual stripper friend," Quinn replied with a wink and a jiggle of her boobs so that the rhinestone pasties covering her nipples twinkled in the dim light.
"Only Santana could find a crotchless thong," Puck murmured with appreciation, his fingers toying with the thin, lightweight ropes of rhinestone that were in place of any sort of fabric for the front of her panties. "I am in awe of your shopping abilities," he said, his mouth lifted at one side as he concentrated on gently shifting the rhinestone strands on her thong, which in turn made Quinn shift restlessly as it brought wonderful pressure to bear on her most sensitive parts. "And so thankful for the years and years that Coach Sylvester made you practice the splits upright against the wall."
"She did it for punishment, you know," Quinn reminded Puck with a little grin on her lips.
"Oh you have been a bad, bad girl," Puck sighed as he pressed himself up behind her, his fingers toying with the strands of rhinestone, his lips seeking out the sensitive parts of her neck, behind her ears. "Such a bad girl," he whispered just before he spun her in his arms and carried her towards her bedroom.
The high-pitched scream of the smoke alarm sounding throughout the house gave the first indication that needs other than his stomach had taken priority for Puck. "Aw, crap," he cried, diving out of bed and running into the kitchen. Quinn followed and wafted a towel to try to get the smoke away from the sensor on the ceiling while Puck leapt out of the kitchen and into the back yard with a flaming roasting pan held out at arm's length, an oven mit on to protect his hand and nothing else. Not another stitch. "Evening Mrs Melner," he called across the fence to Quinn's upstairs neighbour as she gawped, wide eyed at Puck, in all his majestic, rampant glory, her half smoked cigarette dangling from her lip. Puck gently placed the pan on the stone bird table then slowly turned, walked back to the house and climbed the four steps to the back door, he figured she might as well get a good look at his rear end too, she'd just had a real eyeful of Puck junior.
Quinn watched from the doorway, she'd taken the time to grab her bathrobe at least, she couldn't help but grin at Puck's face. "Hi Mrs Melner," she called to the little old lady who still hadn't yet said a word. "You know she's going to tell the agent about this, don't you?" she murmured to Puck as he passed her. She closed the door firmly, shutting out the cooling Connecticut evening.
Silence reigned in Quinn's quaint little duplex. Quinn loved her little apartment. She had the whole of the ground floor of the 1920's house and Mrs Melner had the upstairs. The front yard was given over to parking for both herself and Mrs Melner and the rear yard had been split right down the middle, giving them both a long thin strip of yard that they each had to take care of. In times gone by, the house had been a single family home but in more recent years it had been taken over by developers and converted into the two apartments. Quinn felt lucky to have found this property, at a reasonable rent and in a great location. The only downside was how far away Puck was stationed. Still, she only had a few months to go to get her degree, she was already planning to do her Master's and was debating transferring to a college closer to Goldsboro, North Carolina where Puck was stationed. She'd already made enquiries to Central Michigan which was actually in Goldsboro. Maybe she'd get lucky, maybe she'd be able to rent a little house there in Goldsboro, then Puck could come over all the time he wasn't on duty or deployed anywhere, either on a training mission or on something more secretive. If she was being entirely honest though, she didn't really want to go there. What she really wanted to do was transfer to the University of Massachusetts in Boston, their Counseling and School Psychology program was exactly what Quinn was looking for. But it was even further away from Puck, another two hours at least. That made her hesitate.
"I wonder if I could transfer somewhere closer," Quinn murmured against Puck's chest, thinking of the minimum nine hour drive that was facing him in just a few hours. "I mean, you'll have spent at least eighteen hours on the road to spend just eight hours with me, it's not worth it," she sighed, feeling Puck's hand rub up and down her bare back. "You'll be exhausted, you'll be up on another charge if you over-sleep again or if there's any traffic and you're late back, it's just not right, we should work out something better, something that doesn't take almost a whole day," she pouted then touched her tongue to his ringless nipple. "But we'll work on that in a little while," she murmured, lifting herself over him, touching her lips to his. Puck wrapped his arms tight around Quinn and held her close as they loved, rocked together, Quinn on top of him, her arms around his neck.
"Hi mom," Quinn said with a grin at the laptop screen. "What have you been up to this week?" she asked.
"I had dinner with Claudia and Caroline," Judy Fabray began, mentioning two of her friends in their newly formed First Wives Club. "I met Ruth for coffee this morning," she added. "She says she hasn't seen Noah for months, every bit of spare time he has he drives up to New Haven, is that right?" she asked.
"Yeah," Quinn sighed. "It's not fair though, it's such a long way," she said, frowning, trying to work out a better solution than an eighteen hour round trip. Flying there and back would work out far too expensive to do on a regular basis, she just couldn't see a way round it. "I'm thinking of transferring for my Master's," she admitted to her mom and watched to gauge her reaction.
"Transferring to where?" Judy asked, she really hoped that Quinn hadn't heard her gulp, she really didn't want Quinn to transfer at all, she was so proud of her daughter for getting into Yale.
"I've been checking out different options and although Central Michigan is actually based in Goldsboro, and that would be ideal for living arrangements, I would be compromising on what I'm looking for with my education," Quinn explained with a huge frowning sigh.
"So what would happen if you compromised on your education, went to Central Michigan and then Noah got deployed for a lengthy period, say six months or a year, would the transfer have been worth it?" Judy asked then waited for an answer.
"It would knock about thirty minutes off my journey to Lima," Quinn replied with a completely fake smile, "so it's not a total bust even if he does get deployed, which I'm sure he will at some point," she admitted. Quinn pouted and growled in frustration.
"Will you do something for me?" Judy asked Quinn, looking very serious, very intense.
"Sure," Quinn replied with a shrug.
"Don't make any moves based on a relationship, make all your moves based on yourself, be selfish," Judy urged. "I based my life around your father. Everything I did was with him in mind, from the college I went to, the charity work I chose, everything and look where that got me," she added. "Tossed aside for a younger, more exciting model," she reminded Quinn. "Now I'm not saying that Noah would do the same thing, although, to be fair, he does have a pretty crappy track record," Judy murmured, Quinn pulled a face but she could not dispute a word her mother was saying.
"Maybe he got all of his crazy, bad decisions out of the way early," Quinn suggested with an embarrassed, breathless laugh.
"Maybe he did," Judy agreed with a nod. "And maybe, in twenty years he'll be looking for something, someone more exotic, like a tattooed freak," she muttered the last part, more to torture herself than to advise Quinn.
"He doesn't have to look far," Quinn murmured almost silently and thought about her own artwork, the Ryan Seacrest monstrosity she got during her skank melt down and the more recent addition, the one she'd had done with Puck, they each had half of the tattoo, together they made a full one, Puck had 'one love' and Quinn had 'one heart' on their ribs on the left side, followed by the date of their reunion in Roman numerals III-XX-MMXIV, March 20th, 2014, Quinn remembered the day well. "You're my soul mate too," she whispered.
"What was that dear? I missed that," Judy asked, noting the flush on her daughter's cheeks. "Are you alright? You're not coming down with something, are you?" she questioned.
"No mom, I'm fine, it's just a little warm in here," Quinn replied. "I have to go, I need to get ready for tonight, Rachel and Santana are on their way from New York for a girls' night out," she lied as she spotted Puck's icon flashing, letting her know he was online and trying to connect with her.
"Alright sweetie, we'll catch up in the week," Judy said with a nod. "Bye, honey."
"Bye mom," Quinn called just before she closed the connection. "Hey," she said as Puck's face appeared on her laptop screen. "How are you today?" she asked with a shy smile.
"I'm good," Puck replied. "What are you wearing?" he asked, his voice husky, that certain look in his eyes that turned Quinn on so much.
"Nothing," Quinn replied, knowing he was only asking about her underwear. "Totally commando," she sighed.
"Show me," Puck begged quietly, the need in his voice vibrated through the miles to pluck at an answering need in her. Quinn felt her body tremble, felt a jolt, a flush of excitement, of arousal. "Show me," he repeated.
Quinn stood up, she carefully placed her laptop where the camera could get the best view of her. Slowly, very slowly she began to move to some unheard tune, she danced and removed her clothes, stripping like a pro, just like Santana had taught her when she'd spent a week in New York complaining about what a shitty boyfriend Puck was turning out to be when he had cancelled their weekend plans for the third time in succession. She had been forced to eat her words when he had surprised her by taking her to Paris for their one year anniversary. Puck had traded all his down time with other guys in his section to get the two weeks off to take her. And she had loved it, what they'd seen of it once they'd decided to venture further than their hotel room, which admittedly had taken about five days. And then he'd surprised her even more on their last night there when he had taken her to the top of the Eiffel Tower and proposed to her before taking her to the ridiculously expensive Jules Verne restaurant on a lower level.
"Fuck, you're awesome," Puck breathed when she was finally naked, stood in a suggestive pose in front of the camera, for his viewing pleasure. "I wish I was with you right now," he sighed.
"Where are you?" Quinn asked, it looked like he was in his truck somewhere, he wasn't in uniform so she knew he was off duty.
"Look out of your window," Puck suggested.
Quinn pulled her t-shirt on and ran to the window. "Arrgghh," she squealed when she saw Puck's truck parked at the kerb. Quinn opened the door and ran to his truck, she launched herself into his arms the second he stepped out.
"Jeez, Quinn, give the neighbours an eyeful, why don't you?" Puck cried, laughing at the look on her face when she realised she was almost naked and out in the street for anyone to gawp at. "At least when I ran out of here naked I was in the back yard," he teased before he attacked her mouth with his. Puck groaned into her mouth as he walked to the apartment with Quinn in his arms, her arms and legs wrapped around him, her bare ass on display. "Evening Mrs Melner," he said with a wink as he passed her door at the very second she opened it. "It's a beautiful night, don't you think?" he added over his shoulder just before he pushed Quinn's front door shut with his foot.
"So I have some news for you," Puck said, nuzzling between her breasts as he lay partially over her, in her bed.
"Mmm?" Quinn sighed her question, she felt amazingly relaxed, replete in the best possible way.
"I put in for a transfer," Puck announced. "I didn't tell you before because I didn't know if it would come off. Anyway, I got it, I'm transferring to Hanscom, Mass. I'll only be a couple of hours away," he said and hugged her even closer. "I was so proud of you when you told us all you'd been accepted to Yale, I don't know if I ever told you that before, but I was, I am," he said quietly, his lips against her skin. "I know you've been looking at other options, other colleges, but I don't want you to give up something that you worked so hard for, especially not for me."
"You'd do that? For me?" Quinn asked, her disbelief evident in her voice.
"I'd do anything for you," Puck reminded her and gave her the look, that heavy lidded look, the look that had melted her insides since she was fifteen years old. "I love you, you're my soul mate."
"I love you too," Quinn sighed as her lips joined with his once more.
"There's something else I need to tell you," Puck said nervously a few minutes later...
"Quinnie," Judy cried as Quinn parked her car on the driveway about a month later. "I wasn't expecting you till tomorrow," she added, so pleased to see her daughter, close to tears too, menopause was an absolute bitch.
"My last class was cancelled so I came a day early," Quinn shrugged, hugging her mom back. "And there's something I want to discuss with you," she said, sounding quite serious.
"Sounds intriguing," Judy said with an uncertain smile. "Come on, let's get something to eat, we can snack and chat." Judy made sandwiches while Quinn brewed a fresh pot of coffee. "Ok, tell me what has you sighing every thirty seconds," Judy teased lightly as they sat at the island in the kitchen, sandwiches and a fruit bowl between them.
"Ok," Quinn said and blew out a breath to calm her nerves. "Well, you know how I've been checking out other options, for the fall, for my Master's," she said, looking at her mother with slightly worried eyes.
"Yes," Judy nodded, keeping her gaze trained on her incredibly nervous daughter, she could see Quinn physically trembling.
"Well, I applied to University of Massachusetts in Boston," Quinn began in a rush, desperate to get it all out before she lost her nerve, "and I got accepted. The course is slightly more school psychology focussed than what I've been doing at Yale, but actually, I think it's more me," she explained, still without giving Judy any eye contact. Judy waited, she knew there would be more to come, no way would Quinn be so nervous just for that. "And also," she added, her voice trembling even more, "I will be living about thirty minutes away from campus," she said quietly, studying her fingernails rather than looking at her mother. "I'll be living on base with Puck," she announced then bit her lip, waiting for her mother to say something, anything.
"I don't understand," Judy said, looking at Quinn with troubled eyes. "How?"
"Puck's transfer to Hanscom has gone ahead," Quinn told her mom, feeling a little more relieved now that her mother hadn't exploded. At least she hadn't yet. "He's already living in what will be our house," she said and looked down at her cup, debating whether to pour herself more coffee or to get out of Dodge while she could.
"And what else?" Judy demanded, sitting back in her seat with her arms folded, her lips pursed. "There's something more, Quinnie, I know there is, and when Noah Puckerman is involved it usually means trouble," she added under her breath.
"Oh, no, it's nothing to worry about," Quinn swiftly denied as she hurried to answer the knock at the front door. "Hi," she said to Puck's mom and his sister. "Come in," she told them and allowed them to step past her. "Hey," she murmured to Puck as he wrapped his arms around her and bent for a sneaky kiss.
"Did you tell her yet?" Puck whispered with a nod towards the kitchen.
"Not yet, I was just about to..." Quinn replied, she was cut off.
"LUCY QUINN FABRAY," Judy yelled from the kitchen.
"I sort of get the feeling she just found out," Puck informed Quinn, quite unnecessarily. They both turned to face the sound of feet thundering in their direction.
"Married?" Judy shouted at them both crossly. "You got married?" she demanded. Both Puck and Quinn gulped. "Without telling us? Why?" she cried. "Why would you do that? Cheat us all out of being there?" she wailed. "Quinn, I can't believe you would do that to me," she managed to say before she started to cry. Judy turned to Ruth. "We said they'd do something stupid, didn't we?" she sobbed. "We knew, from the second you got together, we knew. I thought you'd get pregnant again before you finish college and have to give it all up," she added, getting herself back under control a little. "You're not are you? Is that why?" she asked crossly, dabbing at her eyes with her pretty, lace edged handkerchief.
"No, no, look, Judy," Puck hurriedly began, reaching out a hand to his mother-in-law, he glanced over Judy's shoulder at his sister who was silently laughing at them. "Judy, I'm sorry you feel you've been cheated, that wasn't why we did it like that," he reassured her. "Shelby offered us the chance of spending a few days with Beth before they moved to England and Beth's biggest wish was to be a bridesmaid, how could we say no to that?" he asked, giving Judy his very, very best puppy dog eyes. "We had a quickie, thrown together ceremony in New York just for her and I promise, we'll do it again in the summer, do it properly and we'll even let you have free rein," he offered. "Anything you want."
"You mean you'd even do it in a church?" Judy pounced immediately, sensing a moment of weakness.
"Anywhere you want," Puck offered, despite Quinn pinching his ass to get him to stop promising her mother the earth. "But we have to have a rabbi as well as your pastor, right?" he suggested, nodding at Quinn then at his mom. Ruth nodded with a satisfied smile, his sister almost bust a gut laughing, still managing to keep it silent, oh she was going to get some mileage out of this.
"Oh, man, you are so whipped," Sarah managed to say through her laughter. "He hasn't told you yet that mom threatened to ground him, has he?" she added to Quinn, she was almost apoplectic with laughter, she could barely breathe. "Ground him!" she repeated. "He's twenty-two," she screamed, tears pouring down her face.
"I might have over-reacted a little," Ruth mumbled with a fiery red face.
"I asked if she was going to call my CO," Puck muttered to Quinn. "Or you," he added with a wink. "You can ground me, send me to my room maybe," he suggested with a wink, "if you come with me," he added, hopefully.
"Well, I must admit, although I'm hurt," Judy sighed, heaping the guilt on to them, "I can understand why you rushed this, especially to have Beth be a part of it, but please, can we take our time and plan it properly?" she pouted.
"Yes, of course," Puck and Quinn replied together, their arms around each other. "We do have to discuss this weekend though," Quinn added.
"Discuss what?" Judy asked.
"Erm, where we'll stay," Quinn replied with a faint blush. "Oh God, just open up and swallow me now, floor, please, please?" she thought. "We've spent enough time apart and this weekend is the last time we'll be able to spend time together till I move to Bedford," she informed her mother, Judy still didn't get it. "So, do we sleep here or at Ruth's house?" she spelled out.
"Oh, oh," Judy started as she realised what Quinn was saying. "Oh, fine, you can both stay here, I have no objections, now that you're actually married," she told them, surprising the hell out of Puck, he would have thought she'd object all the more now.
"Thanks, Judy," Puck replied with a wink. "You don't mind, do you mom?" he asked, he didn't want to insult his mom, make her feel left out, but really, this was a no-brainer, stay in Quinn's old room with her en suite bathroom or stay in his old room and share a bathroom with his sister, hmm, difficult decision. Not.
"Of course not, Noah," Ruth replied, she'd have gone for the same option too. "And welcome to the family Quinn, I am so happy for both of you," she cried, walking towards Quinn to hug her. "This doesn't mean I will cook bacon for you for breakfast," she teased, Quinn laughed and hugged Ruth tight.
"Hey," Puck called as Jake came through the door at Breadstix, waving him over to their table. Puck and Quinn waited for the teen to take a seat. "So, how have you been?" Puck asked.
"Not good," Jake admitted. "Marley still won't talk to me, she still cuts me dead except if we have to sing together but I suppose that will all end next month when we graduate," he sighed. Jake looked as depressed as he sounded.
"Hate to say this dude, but what did you expect?" Puck asked. "I mean, you went with another girl, behind her back and then openly flaunted it, what's she supposed to do? Forgive you?"
"You did the same," Jake retorted, giving Puck an indolent stare. "And she forgave you."
"And do you know how long it took?" Puck reminded Jake. He picked up Quinn's hand and looked at her. "Years, it took years for us to work it out, and if we hadn't all got together for Mr Schue that time, maybe we wouldn't have ever worked it out, maybe the timing wouldn't have been right. Oh my God, you could have married that Yale dick, Biff," he realised and told Quinn, pulling a face.
"Instead I married you," Quinn responded and reached up to kiss Puck's cheek.
"What?" Jake cried, looking at his brother and Quinn in shock.
"Ah, yeah, that's sort of what I want to talk to you about," Puck mumbled, embarrassed. "See, we had a quickie, secret sort of wedding in New York last month and the moms have just found out about it," he explained.
"Oh my God," Jake whispered, wide-eyed. "And Ruth hasn't killed you?" he asked, in awe of his brother's ability to talk himself out of any hotspot.
"My mom wasn't the problem, her mom on the other hand," Puck replied, shaking his head. "Anyway, we kind of had to promise we'll have a second ceremony with all our family and friends around us and that's where you come in," he added then blew out a breath. "I'd like you to be my best man," Puck told his brother, his eyes narrowed against some weird unknown emotion. "This is not right, I should be asking Finn to do this for me," he realised silently. "Finn, man, if you're listening, I know you'll be there for us, I still love you like a brother dude, rest easy," he thought and glanced upwards.
"Really?" Jake asked, absolutely dumbfounded that Puck would want him to do an important job like that. "You really want me?" he asked.
"Of course," Puck replied, he could see exactly how emotional Jake was finding this, he knew first hand how much their dad's constant rejection nibbled away at a person's self-confidence. "Jake, you're my brother, you might be an idiot sometimes, but there's no one else on the planet I would ask to do this for me," he said intensely, he meant every word, Finn wasn't on the planet anymore.
"Puck, I know that if Finn was still here, you'd want him," Jake said with deep understanding. "I get it, you guys were best friends for years and I was the strange little kid that showed up on your doorstep and told you we had the same dad," he said with a shrug. "But I would be honoured to stand up with you, be your best man."
"Thanks," Puck murmured and held out a hand to shake with his brother. "Now what are we going to eat, I am starving," he announced.
"You're always starving," Quinn said with a gentle shove at Puck's shoulder. "I am going to the ladies room, if you guys will excuse me," she added and stood up, Puck stood and moved out of the booth for Quinn to pass, he noticed what Quinn must have noticed, he winked at Quinn and nodded. If anyone could, Quinn could.
Quinn followed Marley into the ladies room. "He hasn't seen me, has he?" Marley begged tearfully, her hands wrapping nervously in her little white apron. "I only just started working here last weekend, he doesn't know I'm here, I asked Sandra to swap stations with me, you're sat in my section," she added, karma sure is a bitch sometimes.
"I know exactly how betrayed you feel," Quinn said quietly to Marley, "and I'm not asking you to forgive him or understand him, none of this was your fault, it is all entirely him, he just needs to realise that," she told the tearful young girl. "In our senior year, me and Puck, well, we tried again to be together, we'd tried while I was pregnant and that didn't work out too well, we tried over that first summer after Beth then he got sent to juvie when he did something really stupid and for that whole year, right up till we went to New York, we managed to stay off each other's radars. And that was the longest year of my life. In New York, for Nationals, we found each other again for a while but Puck was dating someone else so we ended it and I had a sort of melt down, I got a tattoo," she revealed, rolling her eyes.
"Like this?" Marley asked, lifting her uniform top to reveal a heart ripped in two tattooed on her left side.
"Much worse, that I can understand," Quinn replied with a nod towards the heart, she sighed and shook her head at herself, at her own embarrassment. "No, I got this," she admitted and lifted the back of her shirt to show off the Ryan Seacrest. Marley looked surprised and puzzled. "Yeah, don't ask," Quinn giggled. "Anyway, even though we both knew who we should be with, even though we both knew that there wouldn't be anyone else for either of us and any relationship was doomed to fail, we still couldn't get our act together, we pushed each other away, used the excuse of Beth and anyone else around us, truth is, we were both afraid to try because we had failed each other so many times before," she explained simply. "And I would love you to be in our wedding party this summer, but I understand if you want to refuse. Puck just asked Jake to be his best man," she added. "And now I'm going back out there otherwise they'll think I'm pooping," she grinned.
Quinn walked to the door and pushed it open. "Quinn, wait," Marley called. Quinn turned around. "How did you know you could trust Puck again?" she asked, trying her very best to not allow the tears to fall.
"I didn't," Quinn replied softly, "I just had to have faith," she shrugged with a sad smile. "Same as every day, I have faith that I will wake up, that the sun will rise, that Puck will love me, I just accept it as it is," she said. "But it's worth the risk because a life with him is so much more than a life without him," she added, "and we are meant to be, he's my soul mate."