Disclaimer: No claim to ownership of anything relating to the show known as Glee or the character names. How they are depicted here is mainly from my imagination.

A/N: A massive apology, Noah Puckerman style. And a major hit from Karofsky.

Apologies in advance for inconsistencies with actual law. It suits my story for this to be the case.

Puck came home from work with a huge bunch of flowers.

"They're beautiful, Noah," Miriam said with a smile as he came in the door. "I take it they aren't for your wonderful, endlessly patient mother?" she teased.

Puck blushed a little and shook his head. "Where's-where's Quinn?" he asked nervously, slightly breathlessly, his mouth dry and his heart beating madly in his chest.

"She's outside with Beth and Leah," Miriam told him, nodding backwards towards the backyard.

Puck nodded and blew out a breath before going out to the backyard. Miriam watched through the patio doors. She saw Quinn's face light up when he handed the flowers to her. She couldn't hear what he was saying but it obviously meant something really special to Quinn.

Quinn saw Puck come out to the yard. "Look, Beth," Quinn said, leaning towards her baby in her swing, "daddy's home," she smiled, straightening up.

"Hey," Puck said nervously. "I…errr….these are for you," he said in a rush, thrusting the flowers towards Quinn without any finesse.

Quinn's face lit up with pleasure. "Oh," she breathed taking the flowers in her arms. "They're beautiful. Thank you," she said, her voice cracking just a little. "But why?" she asked, a little puzzled. Quinn closed her eyes and took a long, appreciative sniff of the fragrant, multi coloured bouquet.

"Because," Puck shrugged awkwardly, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry that Karofsky got hold of your phone," he replied uncomfortably, frowning a little, looking at her denim clad legs, the ballet flats on her feet, anywhere rather than her face, he couldn't meet her gaze yet, he still had to say it yet, still had to admit it. "I'm sorry that he looked at the stuff on it, that he did what he did with it and that I wasn't there to protect you," he said, finally looking up into her bright, glistening eyes. "It was all my fault, I'm so sorry. I should never have put you in that position and I want you to know that I really am truly sorry."

"I could have refused," Quinn said quietly, a little smile on her face, looking shyly at Puck. "I didn't want to refuse, I chose not to refuse and I could have deleted them," she admitted. "And they couldn't actually see anything," Quinn reminded him. Even though Quinn had been naked when the pictures were taken - they were shot pointing upwards, from just below her boobs, she'd had one arm across her chest covering almost everything and her other hand thrust into her hair, pouting sexily, sensuously down at Puck - everything essential was covered. Just barely, but it was covered.

Puck's shy, slightly embarrassed smile appeared when he heard that. He stepped closer, took Quinn in his arms and hugged her tight, the flowers between them. "It was awesome, taking those pictures," Puck whispered into her ear. "The best part is that even though everyone has seen them, they have no idea what else we were doing at the time," he continued, trying to hold in the grin. When he'd taken the pictures, Puck had been laid on his back, occupied with other matters, counting backwards from one hundred to stop himself from exploding too soon. The impulse to record the moment had been impossible to ignore. He'd grabbed the first phone he could reach, he hadn't wanted to move too much and possibly ruin the moment, then he'd looked up at her, snapping pictures as she posed until just a few seconds later when he'd dropped the phone to grip her hips, forcing a fast paced rhythm. And then they'd both shattered. Exploded. Kissed. Slept.

Puck leaned back a little and looked at Beth in her swing, one arm still around Quinn. "How's my beautiful little girl today?" he asked her, smiling and signing to her one handed. Beth squealed and waved her arms and legs enthusiastically making the swing rock about from side to side.

Puck knelt in front of Beth, and pushed her gently, catching the swing each time it came towards him, bringing her close to kiss her nose. Beth chuckled madly. Quinn looked on with an indulgent smile on her face. "I'm going to go put these in water," she told Puck, leaving him in the yard with Beth and Leah.

"They are beautiful," Miriam told Quinn as she stepped into the kitchen. "What on earth did you do to deserve those?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Or what did Noah do that he had to apologise for?" she added, her lips pursed to hide a smile, one eyebrow raised.

"Nothing," Quinn fibbed. "They're just because," she told Miriam with a smile and a shrug. Quinn didn't want to admit to Miriam what they were really for, she didn't want to get either of them into trouble with Puck's mom.

After Quinn had arranged the flowers in a vase and put them in the living room she went back outside. She let Puck know what she had told his mom. "Crap," he whispered back. "Better tell dad not to mention it then," he said, his nose screwed up.

"Did your dad tell you to buy the flowers?" Quinn asked, suddenly feeling as though they weren't quite so special.

"No," Puck denied. "He asked me why I'd bought them for you and I told him," he admitted.

"You share a lot with your dad these days, don't you?" Quinn commented, sitting at the table on the patio. Puck came to join her, Beth watching both of them, Leah now pushing her gently from behind.

"Yeah," Puck agreed. "I know we've talked a lot over the last few months, got close again ever since Beth was born, but last week was," he shrugged, looking around for the answers. "It's like last week, I felt like he was really proud of me, you know? Like he appreciated what I was doing, what I could do," he said quietly. "He even thanked me for being one of Grandpa's pallbearers."

"It must have been an honour to be asked to do that," Quinn acknowledged, her hand covering Puck's on his thigh.

Puck nodded, chewing his lip. "It was," he replied, his voice a little gruff, blinking and looking away from Quinn, swallowing hard, trying to keep the emotion he felt from bubbling over.

"It's ok to cry, you know," Quinn said quietly. "It doesn't make you less of a man if you show emotion," she advised, squeezing his hand just a touch. Quinn felt Puck's fingers open to catch the tips of hers between them, as they curved over his, an answering little press from him. It was enough. He knew that she would never ridicule him if he did lose it and cry in front of her. And he appreciated that.

Puck cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Did Coach Sylvester come up with any new stunts for you to perform at the game on Friday?" he asked.

"Urgh, yes," Quinn groaned, rolling her eyes. "She must think we're made of rubber or something," she complained.

"Why? What's she got you doing?" he asked, grateful that Quinn had been subtle enough, understanding enough, to just go with it.

Quinn spent half an hour describing the moves, standing up and demonstrating some of the positions she had to be in for the new routine. Puck laughed at the faces she pulled. "You'll be brilliant, you know that," he assured her. "You always look amazing when you're standing at the top of the heap, all your underlings holding you up," Puck's voice got a little huskier as he gripped her hips and pulled her down onto his lap, facing him. "Queen of all she surveys," he whispered, leaning forward to kiss her.

"Dinner," Miriam called through the open patio doors. "It's your favourite, Noah," she added, "don't let it get cold," she said, going back into the kitchen.

"Have you stopped kissing yet?" Leah asked. "'Cos I want to get my dinner and I don't want to walk past you in case its catching," she said, a scornful look on her face.

"In case what's catching?" Quinn asked over her shoulder, a little bemused.

"Love germs," Leah replied, rolling her eyes, looking at Quinn as if she were stupid. "Mom and dad are always kissing, you and Noah are always kissing, it's got everybody," she shuddered.

Puck looked at Quinn, both eyebrows raised. "News to me," he told Leah. "When are mom and dad always kissing?" he asked. "I never see them."

"Last week at Nana's," Leah explained. "When they thought everyone was asleep, they were kissing and kissing before mom came to bed with me."

"Oh," Puck replied, looking up at Quinn with a little smile. "Best not let them know you saw them," he advised Leah. "They might be embarrassed," he explained. Puck waited till his sister had gone into the house then pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Hey," he offered his usual greeting when his call was answered. "You know what we were talking about this afternoon?" he asked. Whoever was on the other end of the call must have agreed that they did. "I need you to keep that to yourself, don't tell mom about it, ok?" he asked, winking at Quinn, waving their joined hands about, slowly. "Because if you don't I might have to wait till we're all at Nana's for lunch on Sunday and ask you about kissing mom when you thought everyone was asleep," he bargained. "Thanks dad," Puck said then ended the call. "He won't say anything to my mom about it," he promised then pulled her close for a kiss. "Dinner," he reminded Quinn then slapped her ass to get her to stand up.

The following day at school Puck waited for some sort of retaliation from Karofsky or his crew. Nothing happened. At practice, the last one before the game, Coach Beiste reminded the players of their roles within the team, keeping a close eye on both Puck and Karofsky.

"I will not tolerate any fighting within the team," she announced. "If you can't keep personal issues outside this locker room then you don't deserve to be in here," she said, looking round. "There are fifty other guys ready and willing to take your spots," she reminded them. "Are we clear?" she shouted.

The team, as one, responded. "Yes, Coach."

"ARE WE CLEAR?" Coach bawled, even louder.

"YES, COACH," the team shouted back.

"Good," Coach Beiste acknowledged with a nod. "Pads on, on the field in five minutes. Karofsky, Puckerman, my office," she instructed, marching away from the group of young men.

In Coach Beiste's office, Karofsky stared at Puck with malevolent eyes. Puck stared back, looking totally unconcerned.

"I don't know what went down with you two yesterday," Coach Beiste said as she sat down at her desk, not inviting either one of them to take a seat. "But whatever it was, it ends now, you hear me?" she told them.

"I have no problem with that, Coach," Puck replied. "He acted, I answered. It's finished as far as I'm concerned," he said with a shrug.

"It's over," Karofsky said, his split lip making his unconvincing smile look gruesome.

"Make sure that it is," Coach repeated. "Puckerman, you're dismissed, get out on that field. Karofsky, a word."

"Yes Coach," Puck nodded and left the office. Outside he relayed to Finn and the others what Coach had said.

"You're lucky," Finn stated. "I heard that she kicked players off her last team for not eating together at lunchtime," he revealed, his eyes wide, not totally sure if he believed that piece of information himself.

"Right, whatever," Puck scoffed, putting his helmet on. "I'm not sitting and eating with that piece of shit," he insisted. "If that means I'm off the team, then I'm off the team," he told his friends.

Coach Beiste had waited till Puck was well out of ear shot before she told Karofsky exactly what she thought of him. "If I ever find out you've done something to intimidate or humiliate Quinn Fabray again, or anyone else for that matter," she told him, her finger pointing in his face, her eyes flashing with anger, "Puckerman will be the least of your worries," she promised. "Get out of here," she told Karofsky. He didn't say a word, he just left the office and got ready to go out on the field.

In the huddle Puck was aware of Karofsky just staring at him. During play, Karofsky managed to be distracted, looking the other way or being at totally the wrong area of the field each and every time he was supposed to be running interference for Puck. At the end of practice, Puck was battered and bruised. He sucked it up. Coach Beiste did not.

"What the hell sort of play do you call that?" she spat at Karofsky.

"I'm sorry Coach," Karofsky said, feigning ignorance. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean," he told Coach. "I did as you asked, I kept away from Puckerman," he said simply, "Isn't that what you meant?" Karofsky asked indolently.

"If you're not a team player Karofsky," Coach Beiste yelled, "you're off the team," she shouted before slamming into her office.

"Screw the team," Karofsky muttered under his breath, shoving his pads into his locker.

Puck bit his tongue. He held in what he wanted to say to that. For about ten seconds. "You'd love to do that, wouldn't you Karofsky?" Puck asked loudly.

"What?" Karofsky hissed, aware that silence had descended in the locker room, everyone waiting for round two. "What did you say?" he asked again.

"You didn't hear me the first time?" Puck asked, pretending total innocence. "I said that you'd love to screw the team," he repeated, expanding on what he'd originally said, just to get his meaning across.

Karofsky glanced around self-consciously before demanding Puck retract what he'd said.

"Why?" Puck asked. "We all know you bat for the other side," he said with a huge grin, looking round his team mates for support and getting it in the form of high fives, laughs and murmurs of agreement. "We've all seen you checking us out in the showers. Sorry dude, you're just not my type," Puck laughed looking Karofsky up and down disdainfully. "Nah, man boobs are just gross," he said with an exaggerated shudder, "give me a real woman any day," causing another wave of laughter to be directed at Karofsky.

Karofsky growled and threw himself at Puck. He was grabbed by several members of the football team. "You better watch your back Puckerman," Karofsky warned, his eyes wild with temper. "You just better watch it," he shouted.

Walking down the hall towards Glee Puck was feeling just a little ashamed of himself. He knew that most of the football team hadn't even had suspicions about Karofsky. It was just unfortunate for David Karofsky that his surname was particularly uncommon in Lima and when Paul had been regaling Puck and Jim about the new young cub he'd fallen head over heels for in Lima's one and only gay bar, well, Puck knew he had ammunition to fire whenever he needed it. He hadn't thought he'd have to use it quite so soon though. Still, if Karofsky protested too much, like he seemed to be doing right now, and Puck could produce evidence, like he had in his locker, as well as a drawing he'd 'borrowed' from Paul, it added weight to Quinn's 'Karofsky is a liar' statement. And as much as Puck would always be a team player, his family would always, always come first.

"Alright Puck," Mr Schue said, smiling at him as he waited, guitar across his body, ready to give his promised performance. "What do you have for us today?" Mr Schue asked, giving Puck a chance to explain his choice.

"As you know, I like to do songs by Jewish artists," Puck replied with a smile. "This one is by Mr Billy Joel," he said as the band started to play. The energetic, catchy song was a hit with everyone, the whole team up and dancing, especially Quinn after Puck had run up to the top row where she sat, to sing right to her about her white confirmation dress and her gold cross. She grinned and gave a little shoulder shimmy, then stood up dancing with Santana. They'd all laughed and clapped along when he finished. "And it's all true, Mr Schue," Puck said, slightly out of breath, "I'm sure your mother said something like that," he grinned at Quinn. She laughed and nodded, her mother probably had mentioned something about Puck destroying her reputation.

Friday's game was epic. From the routine that the Cheerios performed before the football team ran out onto the field, to the first two quarters, which saw the Titans up by twelve points to the half time show. Puck managed to sneak out to the tunnel to watch Quinn and the squad perform the elaborate and potentially Nationals wining routine. She looked amazing, unstoppable. Hot.

Back on the sidelines ready to cheer the team on in the third quarter, Quinn sensed someone behind her. "You might want to look away," Karofsky said, close to her ear, "right about now. Oops, too late, the show's already started," he crowed joyfully.

Quinn looked up in stunned silence, her pompoms held under her chin, her mouth open wide. She watched the big screen above the scoreboard, seeing a huge version of her naked self, posing and pouting, winking and smiling.

The deadly silence that had descended on the whole place suddenly erupted into raucous cheers and wolf whistles as the live feed camera panned to Quinn, who was looking round, trying to find her escape. She felt two arms grip around her, knew who they belonged to and sank into them.

Puck hustled her off the field, into the waiting embrace of his mother in the tunnel. "I have to get back," Puck told her. "Will you be ok?" he saw Quinn's very faint nod. "The girls' locker room is down there," he pointed, looking at his mom. "As soon as the game is over," he promised, "I'll be as quick as I can. Ok?" he said, kissing Quinn's forehead. She still hadn't opened her eyes, had barely even taken a breath, her whole body paralysed with shock and shame.

Puck ran back to the sidelines, waiting to be put into play. Finn was at his side in a second. "How is she?" he asked.

Puck shrugged. "My mom's with her, she hasn't said anything yet," he said, looking up at Finn. "Karofsky is going to pay for this," he told him. Finn did not want to argue with Puck about that. The look in his eyes said everything. Puck looked back towards the crowd. He saw his sister and his dad, Beth in his arms. Ethan watched his son, hoping that he wouldn't have been put off his game by what had just happened.

On the field facing their opponents, the usual trash talk was being slammed back and forth. "I hope the naked hottie is waiting for me when we put you clowns on your ass," one of the other team called, laughing. "I could really show her a good time," another voice added. Puck growled. The second the ball hit Finn's hand Puck pounced. He hit the first guy running and slammed right through him. He was relentless. Puck was halfway to the end zone, he merely needed to glance up to jump and catch the throw from Finn, taking the ball all the way, slamming it down, adrenaline racing through him. The congratulations and cheers from his own team didn't even register. Puck wanted to get this game over with. He needed to get back to Quinn. And God help Karofsky when Puck got hold of him.

Titans won the game by the biggest margin they had ever recorded. Puck did not stay on the field to celebrate with the others. He ran to the girls' locker room, bursting in without a thought to any of the other Cheerios.

"Get the hell out of my locker room, Puckerman," screeched Sue Sylvester, standing with her fists on her hips, scowling.

"Where's Quinn?" he asked, panting, looking round for her. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"I'm here," Quinn's small, tearful voice came from the huddle of semi naked girls. In any other moment Puck might have been living his dream. Being here in the girls' locker room, every one of them in a state of undress. But he only had eyes for Quinn.

Puck pushed through the crowd and grabbed Quinn to him, hugging her, comforting her, his thumb brushing aside the tears. "It'll be ok," he whispered against her hair, "it'll be ok," he repeated, murmuring over and over to her.

Quinn's shuddering sobs had all but ceased. She clung to Puck. "You have to go, get changed," she managed to tell Puck. "I just want to go home," she said quietly. "I want to get home to Beth," she sniffed.

"Ok," Puck nodded, looking into her tear filled eyes. He kissed her tenderly, their lips pressed together, noses side by side. "I'll be back soon," he told Quinn. "Wait here for me," he said, looking to Brittany and Santana to watch over her for him. Santana nodded, not needing to be asked.

Puck entered the guys' locker room. "How is she?" Finn asked quietly.

"Destroyed," Puck answered. "Devastated," he added. "Karofsky is going to pay for this," he promised. Finn nodded firmly in agreement.

Puck knocked and waited to be admitted to the girls' locker room. He took Quinn's hand and left with her. She allowed him to lead her to the parking lot without even glancing up, she didn't want to see a single person look her way.

"Oh, hey," a voice called over the lot. "It's the porno queen," he shouted, followed by numerous other male voices all shouting something rude, crude and downright dirty.

"Oh dude," another voice yelled, "you have to share, that's just not fair," it was followed by a lot of mocking laughter. "Give me a call when you're through with this loser, I got something right here for you honey," one guy shouted, thrusting his hips suggestively in Quinn's direction.

"Just ignore them all," Puck advised, helping Quinn into the car. "Let's get home, Beth will be waiting for us, ok?" he reminded Quinn. "Everything will be ok, alright?" he asked, lifting her chin to look into her eyes before going round and getting in himself. He drove home as fast as the speed limit allowed, every light working in their favour.

The second they walked into the house, Miriam grabbed Quinn and hugged her breathless. She hadn't wanted to be chased out of the locker room but Quinn had insisted that the girls would take care of her till Puck could bring her home. "Are you ok?" she asked Quinn now. Quinn nodded and sniffed.

"As well as I can be," she replied hoarsely. "I know who did this. We know who did this," she corrected.

"And his biggest mistake is that he's a senior and he's already eighteen and I'm pretty sure that displaying a picture of a naked minor is a criminal act. He already posted those pictures on the internet, surely that constitutes distributing child pornography or something, don't you think?" Puck asked, looking round at both of his parents.

"I'm not sure, let me call someone," Ethan replied, walking into the kitchen, scrolling through the contacts on his phone. "You might have something there Noah," he said as he came back into the living room. "Tony has it all in hand," he told them, looking at Quinn.

Quinn couldn't meet anyone's gaze. She felt uncomfortable in her own body as well as her clothes. She felt dirty, unclean, she wanted to get in the shower and never get out. "Hey," Ethan said softly, his hand resting gently on Quinn's shoulder, "this is not your fault," he told her, looking straight into Quinn's eyes when she slowly, shyly raised them. "It isn't your fault," he repeated.

"Yes it is," Quinn refuted. "Karofsky took the pictures from my phone. My phone," she said with a slight sob. "If we hadn't taken them in the first place, he couldn't have done this," she reasoned. "We're as guilty as he is," she added, before bursting into tears again.

"The only thing you're guilty of is being stupid," Miriam insisted, taking Quinn back in her arms. "Both of you," she included her son, giving him a stern glare. "You're not the first people to have ever taken rude pictures, probably not the first in your class, never mind the first in your school," she said with a smile. "You're just the first ones who've been stung by them," she added, roughly rubbing Quinn's shoulders, feeling her laugh for just a second before another sob hit.

The weekend was a tough one. Beth picked up on the tension and was extremely fractious. It got a bit better when she finally cut the two teeth that had been bothering her for weeks. She looked so cute, grinning and showing off the two tiny pearly white stumps.

By Sunday lunchtime even Nana Connie had heard about the photos. "Oh yes," she said with a nod. "It was all over temple yesterday," Connie grinned at Quinn, hugging her head close, kissing her cheek. "They're all just jealous, sweetie," she told Quinn, still grinning. "If I had boobs like those, I'd show them off too," she winked, catching sight of her grandson's appreciative smile that he was trying to hide with his water glass.

Ethan followed Puck outside when he took the garbage out for his Nana. "Just because this is all out in the open, doesn't mean you can snitch on me and your mom," he reminded Puck. "We had a deal, I didn't tell your mom," he said nervously.

"Relax Grandpa," Puck teased his dad. "I'm not going to snitch on you," he agreed. "Leah on the other hand…" he trailed off laughing, racing back into the house ahead of his dad who was still trying to gag Puck with his hand.

Connie frowned at them both, considering their antics childish and unbecoming. Which she told them. And it made them both burst out laughing. Quinn felt herself relax for the first time out of the whole weekend.

Monday morning was a nightmare. Quinn felt so ill, she truly did not want to go to school. "You can't let him win this way," Puck insisted. "If you skip today it'll be ten times worse tomorrow, a hundred times worse the day after that," he said, his hands on her shoulders, massing gently, trying to give her encouragement.

"Noah's right," Miriam agreed softly. "You have to do this," she said drawing in a breath and drawing herself up, unconsciously demonstrating to Quinn how she could do it. "You have to show them all that you can rise above. You're Quinn Fabray, right?" she asked, smiling at Quinn before hugging her tightly. "You can do this," Miriam told her again. Quinn nodded firmly. She didn't feel confident, she was terrified.

Principal Figgins called a special assembly to take place instead of first period. He asked Mr Schue to do the talking.

"We are all fully aware of what happened at the game on Friday night," Mr Schue began, holding either side of the wooden lectern, gazing across the students seated in the auditorium. "Principal Figgins has been informed this morning that one student from this school has been arrested for possession of indecent photographs of a minor and sent to a Young Offenders facility," he informed them, his gaze resting briefly on Quinn, hoping that she could take comfort from the fact that Karofsky would not be able to bother her any more. "I would urge you, each and every one of you," he added looking round sternly, "that if you too are in possession of any copies of those pictures, delete them, destroy them and please, let this be a lesson to you. Something done in fun, in the heat of the moment can be the worst lapse in judgement of your life. Don't do it," he ended simply, stepping away from the podium and walking off the stage.

Quinn breathed a huge sigh of relief. She knew she would still have to face the stares of the other students at school but at least she knew that Puck would be by her side. Karofsky was gone, he couldn't hurt her now. She knew that Puck would defend her, as he always had done, but she also knew that if Karofsky had still been around it would have become an endless grudge match. They had to move forward, get on with their lives, and they would. Miriam had been right this morning. She could do this, she could do anything, she was Quinn Fabray, right?