A/N bum bum bum the last chapter! Yeah! I just want to thank everyone who read/reviewed this story, your support has been amazing. Thanks for sharing this sometimes sad-centric journey with me, Santana, and Brittany.
Quinn ran a comb through her hair again, rearranged the flowers on the table for the third time and re-double checked the cranberry muffins in the oven. Puck was supposed to arrive any minute. She couldn't believe she was getting this nervous about seeing him. It had been years. By now he should just be an old fling from high school. She shouldn't want to impress him. Rachel had said that it was probably just lingering feelings she'd always have for him because of Beth. Quinn hoped so. She heard a soft knock on her door and jumped.
"Coming!" she yelped, her voice just a little too high to come across relaxed and breezy, which was what she wanted the whole tone of this evening to be. She checked herself in the mirror one last time, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Well, Puck thought as he eyed her over, Quinn still looks like she belongs in the 50's. Her hair was curled around her face, and she was wearing a light pink dress with a high collar and a skirt that sort of…poofed. She smiled at him, and he began noticing her face. Her skin was still creamy and clear, her eyes were bright, and she wasn't wearing much, if any, makeup. That's good, he noted silently, Beth would keep her mom's looks as she grew. She was gesturing him in, and he stopped analyzing which features she would hand down to their daughter. It was good to see her again.
Quinn felt herself babbling slightly as she led him to her living room. She shut her mouth and the only noise were her white kitten heels clacking on the wood floors. They sat down and faced each other. Puck had grown in the six years since she last saw him. The most noticeable difference was his hair, no longer in his signature Mohawk, or even shaved, it was in a conservative buzz cut. There were slight bags under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in days. Though he had kept his overall built silhouette, it was evident that he didn't work out as much as he used to. He was wearing black slacks and a deep purple button down shirt tucked in, and she could see the telltale bulge of a blackberry in his pocket. He had turned corporate, she thought ruefully. Puck cleared his throat and she was brought back into the awkwardness of the present situation. She crossed her legs primly.
"If you wanna get laid in the near future, you might need to loosen a button there Betty Crocker"
Quinn smiled, at least everything wasn't different. "The way I dressed didn't deter you"
Puck snorted, smiling too. "Quinn, nothing can deter me"
The pair laughed, and Quinn decided it was now or never. "So" she started, "Where have you been for the last six years"
Puck sighed and ran a hand through his buzz cut. "I've just been working my ass off not to be a Lima loser. I high tailed it outta there after graduation, got a job in finance, bought an apartment, starting wearing dress shoes and" he gestured to himself "now it's my life."
"I've tried contacting you before. When Beth turned two, three, and now she's eight"
He rubbed his eyes "I know, I'm sorry. I was busy, I thought she wouldn't know if I was there for her second or third birthday party."
Quinn tilted her head. "And for her fourth, fifth, and sixth? When all the sudden you went off the map. When your number went out of service."
"I changed phones, changed numbers, I forgot to re-add you as a contact. I just kinda let everything associated with Lima slip away"
"Even your daughter?" Quinn said harshly, leaning forward.
"Quinn!" Puck met her eyes "We're not her parents. YOU gave her up remember? I wanted her Quinn. I wanted that beautiful girl. Don't patronize me for doing what you told me to"
Quinn's head fell into her hands. "I'm sorry" she mumbled. "You're right. You didn't need to be here waiting all the time for Shelby to need a fucking babysitter like I do."
Puck reached out and rubbed her back and whispered. "It's okay Quinn, Beth's lucky to have you"
Quinn lifted her head up slowly. "She doesn't need me though. She doesn't love me, she doesn't ache every time we say goodbye, every time she tells a story about 'mommy' or what her room looks like at 'home' or that she learned how to spell her last name, C-o-r-c-o-r-a-n." She forcefully wiped a tear from her face, "Maybe you have the right idea. I shouldn't be so close to her and her real life."
Puck stayed silent, handing her a kleenex from the side table.
"Anyway, Beth wants to meet you."
Puck nodded. "Alright, when?" Quinn shrugged.
"Well she's away this weekend, she's going to Nashville with Shelby, but I think she's free next week. You know what, she's six, I think she can fit you in"
He smiled tightly, "I thought I was going to see her this weekend."
Quinn noticed the tone in his voice. "What does it matter? Just wait a couple more days. If things go well, you can see her every other weekend; Shelby said that Beth would love that. Rachel has actually started making a schedule-"
"Wait!" Puck shouted. "Did anyone even think to ask me before planning out my life? Did anyone stop to think that maybe I can't drop everything for a daughter I haven't even met yet?"
Quinn blinked, and tilted her head. "Oh my word Puck" she whispered, noticing for the first time the wide gold band circling his ring finger. "You're married."
Puck exhaled loudly. "Yeah, I'm married, her name's Leah. I have kids too. A boy and twin baby girls."
Quinn sat in shock. "Oh" she breathed.
Puck nodded. "I can't just pick up and leave every other weekend. I can't just become a full fledged father to Beth, who lives 4 and a half hour away from my real family, the family I made out of my choice."
"I'm sure you could bring your kids with you, maybe even Leah. I know that if I was married, or involved with someone, I'd want them to get to know Beth, that they'd want to know her."
Puck sprang to his feet. "She doesn't know Quinn!" he yelled. "She doesn't know about Beth, okay?"
Quinn gasped. "What? Puck, this is your daughter!"
"No! This is Shelby's daughter, and you know what, I've spent six years trying to escape Lima and everything that went with it, trying to become a good man. I've finally found happiness. I'm not screwing it up."
Quinn stood up too, her face inches from his. Her voice got dangerously quiet. "So you're just going to lie to your wife, to deny the existence of another human, one you created?"
"At least I'm not following Beth around like a puppy dog, waiting for her to love me, chaining myself to the past, living alone, sleeping alone, sacrificing everything for a daughter that won't ever need you"
"Get out of my house" she whispered.
"Gladly."
He pivoted and walked out the door, and Quinn collapsed on the ground crying. Eight and a half years ago she had gotten drunk on wine coolers and slept with Noah Puckerman. Eight years ago she had given birth to a seven pound baby girl. Seven years ago she had worked off the baby fat, and the adoption was official. She had thought her life was back to normal. Stupid girl. That drunken night would be with her for the rest of her life. Her phone buzzed, and she realized she had three text messages. One from Rachel, one from her boss, and one from Shelby. She sighed, and opened the message from Shelby, because for the rest of her life, Beth would come first.
3 days later…
Brittany was dancing in her living room. She had pushed all the furniture against the wall and turned her stereo up until it hurt her ears. She was going through the most complex routine she knew, pushing herself harder and harder, hoping that if she worked herself enough she could forget the date on the calendar, forget what was happening in a church 7 blocks from where she pirouetted. She was dimly aware of the blue outside her window as she spun, it was raining. She couldn't stop it, she thought to Santana's wedding. It's okay, San had always loved the rain. Somehow she always seemed fiercer in the rain. She wondered if Mike Chang liked the rain. She squeezed her eyes shut and began moving faster, her movements blurring together until she banged into the fireplace. She slammed her hand down on the stereo, cutting the techno beats. She lay on the floor, head pounding, lungs on fire, breath catching, eyes shut, surrounded by the rain beating against her windows. The rhythm of the drops seeming to sound out her name. Suddenly, there was a new sound. The door. Someone was pounding on the door. Brittany groaned as she sat up, blood rushing from her head. She slowly shuffled to the door, pulled it open, and there she was.
Santana.
Wedding dress muddy on the bottom, curls falling out of her hair, soaking wet, panting, and gorgeous beyond all belief.
"It was you Brittany." She said, voice hurried and catching, and Brittany could just distinguish tears running down her face. "It was always you. It always will be. I was scared. I was scared of what everyone would think, of what would happen, but I can't do it, I can't live without you. Fuck what everybody thinks, It's you. You told me to live a life as beautiful as I am. Britt, the only way my life could ever be beautiful is if you're in it. I'm sorry. I love you." She finished, amber eyes burning into Brittany's.
"Oh." Was all she could utter, before pulling Santana into a bone-crushing hug. Santana laughed against Brittany's shoulder, and Brittany reveled in the feeling of Santana moving against her, fitting into her embrace. The pair rested their foreheads against one another. "I got a job in Seattle." Brittany whispered softly.
Santana didn't hesitate before whispering back "Seattle sounds like fun" Brittany smiled as she felt Santana's words blow across her lips.
"What about your fancy lawyer job?"
"Seattle needs lawyers too. Besides Brittany, you're my future."
"You sure?" Brittany breathed.
Santana nodded against her, "I thought you'd want proof."
She slipped an old folded Polaroid into Brittany's hand.
Brittany beamed, and turned her head to catch Santana's lips, capturing her in a kiss. Santana wrapped her arms around Brittany's neck, and Brittany brought Santana closer to her, still clutching the photograph. Santana kissed the tears off Brittany's face, murmuring to her as Brittany unzipped Santana's wedding dress. Then, seamlessly, finally, easily, Santana stepped out of the wedding dress and into the rest of their lives.