Title: More than a Lima Loser
Word Count: 1,460
Characters: Puck, Quinn, Shelby
Pairing(s): past Puck/Quinn past Shelby/Puck
Genre: Friendship
Rating: K+ for now? (I don't know how to write those scenes, so if you're looking for porn, you've come to the wrong place.)
Warnings: Unbetaed, feel free to correct any grammatical or syntactical errors
Summary: This is their weird messed up family now.
Spoilers: umm, up to and including 3x12, just to be safe?
Author's Note: I guess this turned out to be more than a one shot. Inspiration struck. I'm trying to see if I can get all my ships in before canon ruins everything about my fic. Like I said before, I ship weird couples, so if that's not your cup of tea, then don't complain when they show up later. I forewarned who they were.
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
It's awkward. He's standing in the doorway next to Quinn, who is staring at Shelby with a wary expression on her face. Quinn glances between Puck and Shelby before taking a step forward.
"We want," Quinn pauses for a moment before she figures out what she wants to say, "What I mean is, we want to say 'thank you,' you know, for giving us a second chance?" She doesn't know why it came out as a question, but it did, which just serves to make her nervous. She looks back at Puck and sees that blank stare on his face, which she's managed to figure out means he's pretty pissed about something. She gets it, she really does: They gave this woman their child and she offered to let them be a part of her family, and then she broke their hearts by taking their child away again. But, Quinn loves Beth more than anything, and she knows Puck does too because otherwise, they wouldn't be here trying to figure out how to make this work.
Shelby looks at the two of them before stating once again that there are rules. Quinn suppresses the urge to look back at Puck, who she knows is rolling his eyes right about now.
"Of course there are," Quinn says. She takes a deep breath before she continues, "I—I'm sorry about before." She has to force the word out of her mouth, and she hears Puck snort behind her, but she knows she has to do this. She was lost and scared and acted recklessly, so she puts on her big girl boots and admits it.
Shelby looks at her and sighs before replying, "I'm," she pauses, which makes Quinn wonder what she's going to say, "I'm sorry as well." Quinn's eyes go round in shock, and when she looks back at Puck, she notices he's not looking at the floor. He casts a glance at the floor, shoves his hands in his pockets and shrugs his shoulders before replying, "Yeah, me too."
Quinn's grateful that they've all managed to clear the air. They've all got a million things to apologize to each other for, but if this is going to work, they're going to have to start anew, and put the past in the past. She clears her throat before asking, "This isn't going to be weird, is it, I mean, if it is, Puck and I can get a place in the city, or…"
"No," Shelby interrupts her, which she's grateful for because there's no way they could afford a place in Hartford, and her scholarship didn't cover living expenses. Her mom might be able to use the alimony to help her, but it wouldn't be much. She's startled out of her thoughts when she hears a voice.
"I meant what I said," Shelby continues, "I want you to be a part of this family."
She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and hears Puck sigh behind her.
"Spare rooms are down the hall—second doors on the right and left. Bathroom's the first door on the left, master bedroom's the first door on the right and Beth's room is at the end of the hall. She's taking a nap, but it's almost time to wake her. Why don't you guys get settled before taking care of that?"
Quinn looks up, surprised.
"That's it," Puck blurts out.
"We'll talk more after dinner," Shelby replies before heading out of the living room and into the kitchen.
Puck looks at Quinn, and she knows her surprise must be written all over her face, but she can't help it. She grabs her stuff and hears Puck follow with his own stuff. She takes the spare room on the right, letting Puck have the one next to the bathroom and starts getting settled. She unpacks a few things before heading across the hall to knock on Puck's door, but he comes out before she can.
"Ready," she asks him. He has a soft smile on his face and he nods his head in affirmation. They walk down the hall before opening the door and there's their little girl sitting up in her crib. Quinn picks her up gently, but her heart immediately falls when Beth fidgets in her arms and starts crying. Puck tells her to use up and down motions because they're soothing, and not to take it personally because Beth's just hungry. Quinn's about to snap back at him that she knows Beth's hungry, but when the up and down motions seem to quiet Beth down, all Quinn can do is smile at Puck in gratitude. He's smirking at her with a look that screams 'I told you so' that Quinn just wants to slap right off his face. Instead, she just hugs Beth fiercely before passing her off to him, and when she sees the look in his eyes, she has to remind herself of all the reasons they'll never work together as a couple. They walk down the hall and Puck gets Beth settled in her high chair while Quinn helps set the table.
They all sit down to have a very cordial dinner with Beth giggling among them. Shelby asks Quinn about Yale and Puck asks Shelby about her new teaching job. He also states he'll start looking for a job tomorrow, which Quinn and Shelby both agree is a good idea. There's a calm domestic vibe around the table, but the atmosphere is tense due to the unavoidable and necessary conversation they need to have. They clean up after dinner and finally get Beth to tire out, which Shelby admits is easier to do with two other people to help, which is what starts the conversation. Before anyone can realize what's happening, they're all shouting at each other. Puck and Shelby are screaming at each other causing Quinn to come to Puck's defense. First, she's screaming at Shelby for taking advantage of Puck, despite the fact that Quinn knows he wasn't entirely innocent in the matter. She then directs her attention to Puck and starts yelling about how important it was not to screw things up. Puck looks shocked, and she kind of hates herself for yelling the exact words she knew he wouldn't want to hear, but they all have things to get off their chests. Before she knows it, Puck's yelling back at her and she's hearing things like 'hot sauce' and 'books' and she's fighting back tears. When Shelby tries to mediate, they both lash out at her for taking their child and all sorts of emotions are coming out until they've all finally said their peace.
They're all sprawled across the couch in various states of distress. Their eyes are red from crying, and their voices are hoarse from yelling, and they're completely out of breath. Quinn reaches over to take Puck's hand, and her other hand gently approaches Shelby's. When Shelby meets her halfway, Quinn smiles, and says "I'm surprised we didn't wake Beth."
Shelby smiles back at her before responding, "She could sleep through an earthquake. She doesn't even wake up during thunderstorms."
Before Puck can make a comment about how his little badass isn't afraid of anything, Quinn tells Shelby that Puck's mom told her Puck was the same way as a kid. This of course leads to Puck to vigorously proclaim his prior thoughts. They're laughing and joking around and telling stories about their childhoods, leading them to talk about Beth. Quinn's surprised when Shelby asks them what they want for her, but they're adamant in their responses—that they only want what's best for her. Shelby is Beth's mother, and she gets to decide how to raise her, but Shelby tells them that that's not how this is going to work. So, they all come up with rules for Beth and for each other, and by the time it's two in the morning, they're surprised at what's been accomplished. As far as dating goes, no one brings anyone home to meet Beth unless everyone agrees. Puck plans on getting a night job, so someone can be with Beth during the day when school starts back up. They'll eventually have to decide on a nice pre-school for her. When Quinn and Puck try to bring up rent, Shelby mentions that the house is paid for, thanks to an uncle of hers who passed away. They want to argue, but Shelby insists that that's not why they're here. They're here for Beth, and what's best for Beth is to have everyone around.
They bid each other good night before heading to bed. Quinn smiles to herself while she's lying in bed, and thinks about how far she's come.