Hello everyone! Enjoy!
Chapter 9
The next day, Puck got Beth to school and called out of work to recover from everything that happened yesterday. Not only was the kissing situation between him and Rachel not resolved but then he also had to deal with everything that happened with Quinn. He didn't know if he felt comfortable letting Beth go back to her house with all the fighting between Quinn and Sam.
Rachel walked in, interrupting his thoughts. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"I took the day off. I needed a break today."
She sat down across from him at the table. "Thinking about Beth?"
"Yeah. I just can't forget how scared she sounded when she called. I don't want her to have to deal with stuff like that."
"She's nine years old, she shouldn't have to. But I'm sure Quinn wouldn't let anything happen to her. She is her mother."
"I know but something about all this just doesn't feel right." Before Rachel could say anything else, the doorbell rang and Puck opened it to see Quinn. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"
He hesitated before finally nodding and opening the door wider for her to come in. "Sure."
"I called the station and they said you called in sick so I figured you'd be here," she said, walking in. "Hello Rachel."
Surprised that Quinn acknowledged her, Rachel hesitantly replied. "Hey Quinn. I guess I'll let you guys talk."
As she went upstairs, Puck and Quinn sat in the living room. Puck sighed. "Look Quinn I don't like what I saw last night. Honestly, I'm pissed about it."
She nodded. "Normally I'd fight with you but in this case I don't blame you. If Beth called me like that I'd be pretty pissed too."
"I don't know what's going to happen between you and Sam but I do know I don't want Beth there if it's going to be a hostile environment for her."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." She took a deep breath. "As Beth probably told you, Sam has been cheating on me for a few months. The other woman called the house with the intention of me finding out and I just lost it. I spent a year and a half with this guy and he betrayed me just like that. He didn't even seem affected when I threw his stuff out on the street and told him to never come back. I guess you can say 'I told you so'."
Puck shook his head. "I'm not going to do that. I may not be able to stand you half the time but you're the mother of my child so I have to have some kind of respect for you even though I'm pissed at you right now. Beth can't be around when you're like that, Quinn. It scares her and quite frankly it makes me worry for her safety."
"I understand. Which is why I think she should live with you for a while. Full time."
He froze. "What?"
"I need some time to get myself together. I don't want Beth to think of her mother as this crazy person who she can't feel safe with. Ever since she was born I've been trying to get my life back on track so I could feel as confident as I did before I had her but that's been hard. I need to go away for a while and really work on myself."
"Quinn I'm sympathetic to everything that happened with Sam but you can't just abandon Beth like this, what am I going to tell her? She's not five years old, I can't tell her Mommy went on vacation or something."
"Tell her I'm just going away for a little while but I'll be back soon. Tell her I'm going to get better for her. She's smart, she'll understand."
"No kid ever understands their parent abandoning them. I know I didn't."
Quinn went silent for a moment before speaking. "Puck please. I lost my mind last night and I don't want to put Beth through that ever again. You've been asking for more time with her anyway."
"I meant something like fifty-fifty. Not me basically taking her full time."
"Look you have the gang right? I'm sure they'd be willing to help out. Please just do this for me. Please I'm begging you."
Seeing that she was desperate, Puck sighed. He didn't know how any of this was going to work but he also in good conscience couldn't let Beth go back to that house with the possibility of Quinn exploding like that again. "Okay, I'll do it."
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."
"Just get yourself better for Beth."
"I will." She got up and started to head to the door. "I'll make sure to get her stuff here before she gets out of school."
"Okay. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Positive. Just please take care of my little girl."
Seeing how worried she was about all of this, he didn't even bother to correct her. "I will, I promise."
She gave a small smile before walking out. As Puck closed the door behind her, he leaned against it and sighed. He didn't know how he was supposed to explain this to Beth or what was about to happen.
Rachel came downstairs and looked at him. "Everything okay?"
"I don't know," he said, going over and sitting on the couch. Rachel sat next to him as he sighed again. "Quinn wants Beth to stay here full time while she goes away to get herself together."
She raised her eyebrows. "Wow. How do you feel about that?"
"I don't know. I mean I love Beth and of course I want her with me but I never imagined having her full time. I don't know if I'll be able to do it."
"Well you won't be doing it alone. You have your friends and…you have me."
He looked at her and gave a sad smile. "I have you until you go back to your life. Who knows how long Quinn will be gone for or even if she'll come back."
"Puck I've seen how you are with Beth. You're an amazing father. Trust me, you can handle it."
"You really think so?"
"I know so," she smiled. He smiled back and nodded. "So what are you going to tell Beth?"
His smile faded. "I have no idea."
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Puck and Rachel sat in silence later that evening as they watched Beth process the information he had just given her. He wasn't sure how to take her silence and he was hoping it wouldn't lead to some kind of meltdown.
"So Mom's gone?" she asked.
"Just for a little while," he assured her. "She wants to make sure that she gets strong enough so she can be the best mom she can be for you."
"And then she'll come back?"
Trying to hide his uncertainty, Puck quickly nodded. "Then she'll come back."
"Well what about Sam?" she asked.
"Sam's moving out so you probably won't see him anymore."
Beth was quiet for a moment before shrugging. "That's okay I guess. He always just seemed like he was trying to be my dad."
"Well I'm glad you know you only have one of those," he smiled, hugging her. "So what do you think? Are you okay staying here with me?"
She quickly nodded. "I love being here with you. And Rachel."
Rachel smiled. "I love being here with you too."
"Alright munchkin go finish up your homework," he told Beth. She nodded before running upstairs as he looked at Rachel. "Well that went better than I expected."
"She might not fully understand the situation. Like you said, who knows when Quinn is coming back."
He shrugged. "I guess we'll find out, won't we? In the meantime, I just have to be prepared for full time parenting."
"I'm sure you can handle it." She looked at him and remembered their kiss and their conversation before Beth called the previous night. "Look Puck I know it probably shouldn't have happened but…I don't regret that kiss."
He looked at her, surprised. "You don't?"
She shook her head and walked over to him. "No. And I definitely wouldn't have an issue with it happening again."
He stared at her. "What about Brody?"
"It's a fake relationship for the cameras. Besides he knows we're basically over since I ran away and refuse to speak to him. I'm ready for something real and I think this could be it."
"I don't know Rachel, I mean you're going to be leaving eventually and I still have Beth to worry about. I don't think we should."
Disappointed, she frowned and nodded before going upstairs to her room. She should've known Puck wouldn't want to further their feelings. And after everything that's happened with Quinn, it probably wasn't the best time to bring it up. Now that he's about to be a fulltime father maybe a relationship would be too much for him to handle.
Later that night while everyone was asleep, Puck laid awake in bed thinking about Rachel. He couldn't get her out of his head no matter how hard he tried. She was gorgeous, sweet, and great with Beth. She was basically everything he ever wanted for himself so what was he afraid of? Maybe this time he could get what he wanted.
He got out of bed and silently walked to Rachel's bedroom. He knocked, trying to be as quiet as possible so that he wouldn't wake up Beth who was down the hall. After a few seconds, Rachel opened the door and looked at him confused.
"Puck? Is everything okay?"
Instead of responding, he leaned in and kissed her. Shocked at first, Rachel eventually wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. After a moment, they pulled away and she brought him further into the room and closed the door so they wouldn't risk Beth coming out of her room and seeing them. Rachel didn't know what made Puck change his mind but at the moment, she didn't care. She was just glad he did.
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