'And that's the story of how the director of Step Up thought I was Sandra Oh's younger brother.' says Mike as the rest of the gang laughs. The atmosphere at Breadsticks was light as the old friends joked and teased each other. They were all seated comfortably in their usual booth and drinks were being served on the house by the owner of Breadsticks seeing that his old-timers especially Santana were all back in town. The atmosphere was light and everyone was having a good time.
'It seems like such a long time back since we graduated.' says Mercedes with a sigh. 'Yeah, and look at us now. You're a budding recording artist, Mike's a successful dancer, Quinn is at Yale, Puck joined the Air Force, Rachel's a Broadway star in-the-making and I'm the official face of Yeast-I-Stat.' says Santana as everyone laughs. 'We did it guys. We made it out of Lima and made a name for ourselves. 'adds Rachel. 'And to think it was just a while ago when we performed that Kesha song while we were all half-assed drunks?' says Santana as everyone laughs and start to recall past memories.
Puck takes a sip of his drink and sits back as he listens to his friends talk about the past. He chuckles at a few of them especially those involving him and Quinn, remembering the good old days of Glee. He is deep in thought when Quinn nudges him. 'What are you secretly laughing at?' she asks. 'Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about the crazy things we used to do in school. Remember the food fight we had in the Home Ec room?' he gives her a mischevious look. 'Of course I do. You got food all over me, jerk.' she says. 'Well, you cracked an egg on my head first! It took me days to get the smell off. You started it first Fabray!' Puck exclaims, faking a horrified expression. Quinn laughs. They start to banter with each other, joking about this and that. They knew each other so well that even after not meeting for so long, they could still talk together as old buddies.
'Hey are you two lovebirds done laughing with each other? Mind sharing what is so funny?' says Santana. Puck and Quinn then realize the whole gang has been watching their exchange. 'Sorry, can't. It's confidential information.' Says Puck winking at Quinn, who smiles at him. The rest of the gang exchange looks knowingly. 'Okay then. Speaking of lovebirds, where's darling Biff Q? I thought he would be following you here to have decent conversation with us? Or are we too unrefined for his liking?' says Santana mocking Biff's accent. 'He's busy with other things.' says Quinn, glaring at her friend. There was a brief tension between them, leaving the rest of the gang to try and diffuse the situation. 'Knock it off Santana.' says Rachel. 'Fine.' says Santana, clearly unhappy with Rachel's butting in. Puck sighed, these two girls would be the death of him. They could be the best of friends one minute and deadly enemies the next. Thankfully, Mercedes broke the icy tension by relating one of her endless humorous tales about her journey as a recording artist. By the end of it, the girls were back to their normal selves, the argument far away from their minds, with no further mentions of Biff.
As it got later and later, the old gang left one by one. Soon, it was only Quinn and Puck left. As Quinn was waiting for Biff to fetch her, they chatted about life and how their families were doing. Puck's sister was entering high school, Quinn's mother was recovering from her drinking addiction; no news from her father. For some reason, these topics were too sensitive to be discussed with anyone but each other. They had after all, seen each other at their best and their worse. After a while, the restaurant was closing and they left.
'Do you need a lift?' Puck asks. ' No, it's alright. Biff said he would fetch me soon.' replies Quinn though she glances uncertainly at her watch. 'You said that an hour ago. It's already 9.30, Q and its really dark around here. C'mon, I'll send you back. You're staying at the Greensmith motel right?' She nods so he continues 'It's on my way so you won't be inconveniencing me.' he looks expectantly at her. After a brief moment, she agrees. ' Thanks Puck. I'll just text Biff to let him know.' He nods. 'Okay I'll bring the truck over.'
Throughout the drive, they sat in silence. It seems like they had in a way, run out of things to say. Puck had one burning question that he had been dying to ask her but he was afraid that she would get mad. Finally, just as they were about to arrive at the motel, he couldn't hold it in anymore.
'Quinn?'
'Yeah?'
'Can I ask you a question?'
'Sure. What's up?'
He took a deep breath. "Why didn't you come to Finn's funeral?'
There, he said it.
She freezes and looks uncomfortable. Puck waits for her to start yelling at him or to get out of the truck but she surprises him.
'Because I was scared. ' She says softly after what seems like eternity.
Puck didn't expect that.
She inhales sharply. ' I know some of them think that I was a stone-cold bitch for not going to the funeral of one of my closest friends. But it's not that I didn't want to go, it's just that I couldn't. I couldn't do it.'
In that moment, Quinn looks so fragile, so broken that Puck just wants to hug her, to protect her with all his might.
She continues ' I caused so much pain to him. I lied to him, cheated behind his back. He was so simple and kind and I took advantage of that, like the mean bitch I am. I couldn't stand going to his funeral and seeing his mother and Rachel there, knowing that I had hurt him deeply in his short life.'
'That was in the past, Quinn. You can't keep blaming yourself for things like that. Finn forgave you for all of those things.' Puck says.
'But I can't forgive myself Puck! I just can't!' Quinn shouts as she starts to break down. 'Even after everything, I still can't forgive myself for hurting him back then. All of you were such good friends to him. All of you are good kind people to the core. All of you had the guts to say your last goodbye to him! But I couldn't! I'm such a horrible person that I can't even go to his funeral and tell him I'm sorry!'
'Quinn, Quinn. Don't be like that please.' pleads Puck as he puts his arms around her, trying to console the crying girl. 'I wasn't the best friend to Finn either, but the Finn I know does not hold grudges. He's forgiven all of us, for all the things that we've done to him. The last years of his life were good. He had Rachel, he was training to be a good teacher, he had a good life despite all the earlier setbacks he faced. Don't you see that? Finn loved you, Quinn. He wouldn't want to see you like that, full of regret and remorse. Don't do this to yourself, please.'
Puck's heart feels like it's been shredded in two, seeing Quinn in such a pitiful state. She was still broken, hung up about Finn's death when they had all already moved on to a better place. His arms surrounded her, trying to let her know that everything was going to be okay.
They stayed like that for a long time; Puck's arms wrapped around a sobbing Quinn, trying to comfort her. Somehow, it managed to work as she gradually stopped and wiped the tears from her eyes.
'Thanks Puck. It felt good to finally let it all out to someone.'
'Yeah, it's sorts of relieves you in a way, right?' he replies, remembering how Coach Beiste had helped him through that rough time when Finn had just passed.
'Yeah.'
There was an awkward silence between them.
Quinn breaks it. 'You know, after Finn died. I was in a bad place. Kept feeling all those negative things. I couldn't talk to anyone about it; there was already a riff between Santana and I after I didn't attend the funeral. Rachel was obviously in a worse state then me. I felt like no one could understand what I was going through.
'I could' thought Puck wistfully. He listened on.
'I was almost at my breaking point. That's when I met Biff.' She glances at Puck, trying to judge his reaction. 'He took my mind of things. Helped me not to dwell on the past. A few days with him made me feel like I was back to my old self. I know he can be not very nice at times, but I really owe it to him for getting me out of my depressive funk. Besides, not everyone can put up with my maniac-depressive tendencies.' Quinn laughs feebly, trying to make a joke.
'You deserve so much better' Puck almost replies but stops himself. He didn't want to argue with her.
She looks at her watch.
'Crap, it's so late already. Biff would have been waiting for me. Thanks for sending me back Puck.' says Quinn as she hurridly opens the door and steps out of the truck.
'You're welcome.' Puck replies. 'Hey Quinn?'
'Yeah?'
'If you ever need someone to talk to, or something, erm..you can always call me. Okay?' says Puck.
Quinn smiles. 'Okay.'
He makes sure she safely enters the motel before driving away. On the road home, he's unusually deep in thought. 'Quinn deserves so much better than an egotistic rich kid after all the shit she's gone through.'He had a bad feeling that this Biff guy was going to break her heart one day. He couldn't stand that she would be the one having to pick up the pieces, but he knew one thing for sure; if Biff did hurt her, Puck would make sure he regret it.
