On the narrowing line,
what a way to sort my troubles
In a very short time, gonna pop,
better duck and cover
Can you figure me out?
I got caught like a little kid stealing
Did I say it too loud?
A bit hard or a little misleading
Wishing Well – Blink-182
"Pull over," Puck ordered, getting his seat belt off as fast as he could. His hands clutched onto his stomach as he fought back the urge to vomit across his friend's dashboard. A disgusting burp escaped through his mouth, giving him a horrible taste to go along with the smell.
"We're on the fucking overpass, man," Jay stated as he pulled over as fast as he could, getting a round of honks for his actions.
He reluctantly stopped and let Puck jump out of the car. He rushed out onto the sidewalk, almost tripping on the too close curb. He stumbled a little more before he could grab and support himself on the safety rail before his stomach emptied onto the pavement, and unfortunate cars below.
"That's bad ass," he heard Dougie say behind him, probably sticking his head out the window. It was almost drowned out by the speeding and honking cars that sped by them.
Puck's hand moved up to wipe his chin. It was catching up to him; all the pressure, fear, guilt- it was all building up in his chest, and it was about to get the best of him. He couldn't break down here. He needed to get somewhere he could be alone... or better yet, with the only person who could calm him down.
He shoved his hand into his pocket, struggling to get it out. His fingers were shaking, along with most of his body. Puck couldn't figure out if it was from just throwing up, or having the weight of the world on his shoulders. He texted her as fast as he could, cursing every time he made a mistake, "I need you."
He could only hope that she got the hint. It would be less than ten minutes before he would be at her house. If she didn't leave her window unlocked, he would have to get into her house some how, and it'd be a shame if she weren't home.
A little envelope stood next to the time on his screen. From the looks of it, there were multiple ones he had missed. They were all from a blonde cheerleader, "we need to talk. I don't think I can just openly lie to Finn about all of this. I love him so much, but I can't make him believe this anymore. He may not be smart, but this whole hot tub thing is too unbelievable. If anyone is going to tell him, it needs to be us. And if I really am going to keep this baby, you're going to have to help me."
He contemplated throwing his phone over the railing, or smashing it with his own hands. Quinn was going to tell Finn with or without his okay. That's just the type of person she turned out to be: a think for yourself kind of girl.
"Go to Rachel's," Puck said, spitting out the extra pieces that were caught in his mouth. He slammed the door closed as he crashed into the broken leather.
"Ah. So this is her fault," Jay said as he cut in front of a large man on a scooter who began cursing incessantly at them.
"No. I need her," he said as he fought off the sinking feeling in his stomach. He had to tell someone. Someone he trusted... and lately, that's who Rachel was to him.
The rest of the ride to her house was quiet, aside from the snaps to pass the joint and the lighter to each other. When they pulled up to her house, Puck got out without a word.
He rushed up the lawn, seriously hoping he had a way into this house. He didn't see Rachel's car anywhere, so he assumed she wasn't home. His first thought was to scale the side of her house, and somehow manage to get up to her window. That was when he noticed her porch ceiling was only a foot or two away from her room.
Puck scaled up the side, grabbing onto the gutter and almost falling before he go to the roof of the porch. He grabbed onto the side of her window and made sure he wouldn't slip. He reached as far as he could with his other hand to test if the glass would actually move when pushed in.
Luckily, it did.
He grabbed onto the inside of the window, locking his fingers against anything he could get his hands on. His hand grasped onto the inner boarder of her bay window, pulling with all of his strength to make sure he got completely in the room.
The act took so much out of him, he almost collapsed on the floor as soon as he touched his palms to her soft, plushy, carpet. He groaned in pain as his leg scrapped against the weather lining, opening his flesh to expose a new layer of skin and blood. His hand applied pressure to his calf, trying to stop the bleeding and stinging that came along with his wound.
"Fuck," he cursed to himself, quite loudly, actually.
It was enough to fall into her window, but the added word confirmed his arrival. Rachel spun around in her bed, feverishly whipping the tears off of her heated cheeks.
"Noah?" a panicked voice spoke as his head shot up. He hadn't even noticed she was in there. The cardigan clad girl rushed over to him and instantly knelt down beside him.
Puck's mind stopped wandering around his problems, and focused on the feeling that was forcing his heart to race. Not only was it Rachel, but his perverted side came to the surface and he found himself being upset that she was too good at kneeling in a skirt.
"Are you okay?" Then she noticed the blood, "oh no. You can't get blood on the carpet, my dad's will kill me. Come to the bathroom."
She grabbed onto his arm, ignoring his confused stare as he helped her pull him to his feet. She didn't let go of his arm until she was able to swing him onto the side of the bathtub, positioned in front of the fuzzy, pink, toilet top. Puck had to move the pink and white polka-dotted, shower curtain out of his way or it would have ripped off the bar.
When he was seated, Rachel spun around in the little space and sunk down below the sink to get to her first aid kit. She pulled out peroxide, gauze, and five different options for a band-aid before getting up. She sat on the closed toilet and wrapped toilet paper over her hand, gently saying, "you know that I have a front door, right?"
He huffed, "it's more bad ass if you come in through the window." He winced as the peroxide mixed into his skin, causing all of the white blood cells to bubble up. She gently rubbed off the extra bubbles before blowing on the wound, lightly.
It took five band-aids to cover the wound, and two butterfly style ones to make sure the cut heeled properly. She looked at him with her classic "you're an idiot" stare, pushing her lips out slightly. "You should attempt to use the door the next time to avoid another injury like this."
"You've been crying."
Her eyes shot up to meet his, which in hindsight was a bad idea. She was fully showing him her droopy, dry, bloodshot eyes. They matched up to the hazel orbs that held concern for the girl, and she felt a little warmth in her chest.
Should she tell him?
Rachel's eyes drifted down to her hands, fumbling against each other as she zoned out of the situation. She knew that Puck has had feelings for Quinn since before they all joined Glee Club, and a part of her still believed that he just joined because she did, regardless of if Quinn was currently dating his best friend. The news might bother him as much as it bothered her.
She really cared about Puck. He was one of the only people she could really refer to as a friend, one she felt she could confide in. She just didn't want to hurt him... "Yeah... I was crying."
"Why? What's wrong?" he felt the disgusting feeling in his chest again. As if he wasn't beating himself up enough, Rachel was probably upset with something he did. Again.
"I don't really know how I'm supposed to go about this, but I over heard Quinn and Finn talking today... I think Finn got Quinn pregnant," she whispered the last portion, as if it was still too horrible to think about.
He still wasn't saying anything.
"I noticed you had feelings for her when I first met you in Glee Club... the way you looked at her was like she was everything to you." Rachel felt the pang of jealousy once more. "Of course you'd like Quinn... she's beautiful and I'm-"
"Don't you even start with that shit, Rachel," Puck cut her off in a strong tone. He wasn't going to let her bring herself down because of this. "Just because you're not tall, or blonde, or have green eyes, doesn't mean anything to me. I liked Quinn because of shallow reasons, and because it was such a challenge to get her into bed. I like you because you're so talented, and genuine, and you're one of the only pretty jews in all of Lima. You mean more to me than she does. More then she ever will."
And then he kissed her.
She was flabbergasted in ways even she didn't understand. Her mind could hardly process what he just told her, and now he was moving his lips against her own. He managed to shift her focus again, landing it on the pure bliss she felt from kissing Noah Puckerman, the most bad ass, and the most known player, in all of McKinley.
He had to do it. She had to know how he felt about her... maybe it would ease the pain that was about to hit her. She would know how much he needed her around.
Against every sensation in his body, he had to pull away.
Rachel was still shocked. He liked her? So what she felt when she was around him was real. It wasn't just her wishful, and somewhat lonely, thinking.
"You..." she pulled her hand away from him, slowly rising off the cozy seat. Her eyes raced around the room as she blinked furiously. "I... you like me?"
"Yes... it might even need to be made into an 'I really like you' instead," he told her, scratching the back of his head. He stood up, looking down at the shocked girl. Her pupils were dilated to twice their normal size.
"But you can't like me... I'm not hot like all the girls you've been with," Rachel stated.
"You're nothing like the other girls I've been with, and that's what attracts me to you. You're smart, and nice when it comes down to it, and when we're not in glee club, and your talent is amazing. You've also got the school girl act going on like a pro, it's kind of a turn on." He shrugged and walked out of the bathroom.
He felt like an idiot. He just poured his heart out to the girl, and probably rose her hopes up all too high. She looked upset earlier, and when she announced that Quinn was pregnant, he noticed the glint in her eyes fade ever so slightly. If it was a choice between the Quarterback and the Bad-ass, he was sure she went with the Q.B.
"Well, then aren't you going to," she looked down in a flattering blush before continuing into the bedroom, "you know, ask me to be your girlfriend?"
His chest welled up with longing. He wanted to be with her more than anyone else.
Then his thoughts floated out to Quinn. She was pregnant with his child, and she was completely against an abortion. He was responsible for her and the baby. But she was with Finn, and there was no way the girl would have given up him for the real father. She'll never tell anyone it's Puck's baby.
Maybe he was safe to go through with this. He could watch his daughter grow up from a little distance, but it was better than nothing. Quinn probably didn't want him in the baby's life anyway...
"Be my girlfriend."
"Was that a statement or a question?" Rachel played, smiling up at him as her arms wrapped around his midsection.
"Whatever it was, it looks like it was answered," he said, wrapping his arms around her neck, kissing the top of her head before pressing his cheek against it. Her hair smelled like lilac and lavender, and now quite possibly his favorite scent in the world.
To his disappointment, she pulled away from his chest, "we should probably get to work on those songs for Glee Club. We're going to need a lot of practice if we're going to beat Mercedes and Kurt. They're kind of a powerhouse together."
"First I have to do something," Puck said with a sigh.
Rachel had a slight moment of panic. What was he sighing about? She was in shock when she felt his lips press against her own for the second time that night. Her hand moved up to his left cheek, cupping it gently as her lips moved with his own.
The hand moved from his cheek, down to his neck, tracing her nails lightly over his skin. She traveled down his shoulder and over to his chest before her lonely fingers turned into a stiff palm, "Song. Now."
She pushed him away gently, but still enough to move him away from her. Rachel's laugh filled the air as she swayed over to the computer to play the song she picked for him...
She couldn't sleep. The haunting thoughts in the back of her mind. How could she manage to keep up this lie. It was going to ruin Finn's life entirely. A kid at 16? There was no way he was going to make it out of Lima if he did that. He didn't want to stay here... she remembered him saying that not too long ago. Now she was going to deprive him from his dream.
Quinn moved away from the window, rushing to get her Cheerios jacket off of her perfectly made bed, and out the door she went. Her breathing was shallow as she tried to calm herself down.
The last thing she wanted was for Finn to give up on them. She loved him so much, and the fact that she was drunk and stupid and believed that "trust me" was a sensible form of birth control. The truth had to come out, and she had faith in what they had.
The steps of her staircase disappeared under her feet as she quietly made her way down. Her father had fallen asleep on the couch to the Game Show Network for the millionth time. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as his intense snoring echoed through the room. Quinn picked up her keys off the coffee table and proceeded out the door and into her car.
She put the key in the ignition, letting the lights on the inside come on. The glowing green clock read an ugly three twenty-seven in the morning. She had been up almost twenty-four hours and her mind was obviously thinking rationally.
Her engine started and she reversed out of her driveway as quietly as possible. The left blinker blinked a harsh yellow against the red of the stop sign. She fished through her pocket, fishing for her phone that was lodged between the fabric and her skin. Hopefully her boyfriend was still awake playing video games or watching porn on HBO.
It took four different phone calls to finally get her boyfriend to step away from Halo, and she could only tell because he was talking into his headset while he absentmindedly picked up the phone, "hello?"
"Finn. I need to talk to you," she stated, not letting her voice tremble as much as she wanted it to. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. "I'm going to be at your house in less than three minutes."
"Is everything okay? Can't I have a hint?"
She smiled darkly to herself, a stray tear dripping down her cheek, "you're an idiot."
That's when she hung up as she pulled up to the very last stop sign. Last chance. Her wheel veered into the left. She was in front of his two story house in seconds, the perfect time for a struggling Finn came into view. He was attempting to cover his torso with his Letterman jacket.
Should she get out of the car? No. It was better to keep it running, just in case her need to escape grew stronger.
Finn jogged up to her red punch buggy, opening the door quickly, chatting "cold, cold, cold" as he weighed the right side of the car down.
Quinn couldn't look at him. Her vision stayed towards the empty road in front of her. Should she just drive? No. If you're old enough to have sex, you're old enough to tell your boyfriend that it's not his baby.
"It's not yours."
"What? This jacket?" he smelt it quickly before a puzzled look went across his face, "I'm pretty sure this is mine."
A sick smile graced her face before it began to morph into crying, as she tried to hold back her sobs, she managed to say, "you're so stupid."
"Hey," he got offended, "stop saying that to me. Especially when you're crying... kind of makes me feel like my personality is going to make you miserable."
"It would be the baby... I lied to you, Finn. I love you, but I lied to you." It made her laugh a little to tell him that she loved him now. Obviously she didn't or she wouldn't have had to sleep with her boyfriend's best friend.
He was quiet, just staring at her.
"Please say something. I need to know that we're going to be okay..." she pleaded, finally looking at him. She went to take his hand in her own, but he refused her gesture.
"You had sex with someone else... and not me," he played back her information in his head, "then told me you were pregnant with my child. A hot tub... how stupid am I really?"
"You're not stupid... I'm just very convincing," Quinn tried to make the atmosphere lighter.
"Who?" his hand turned into a fist.
"Does it really-"
"Of course it fucking matters."
She bit her tongue for a second. He never used curse words in front of her. "It was a Saturday night... and I felt really fat that day. Then he came around with a box of whine and we got drunk. He called me skinny and made me feel beautiful."
"Who the fuck is he?" Finn yelled, slamming his fists against he dashboard, causing her to jump a little and a small squeak escaped her lungs.
"Puckerman..."
"Are you-... No. Fuck this. Fuck you. Fuck everything."
He opened and slammed the door closed within seconds from those words.
Quinn's eyes welled up with tears as her heart pulled towards the man who was quickly storming back into his house, probably to punch a hole through the wall, or trash his room. He wasn't one for harsh actions, but there was little reason left behind a man who just found out the girl he was in love with cheated, and got pregnant, by the man he called his best friend.
She could only imagine what the school would be doing in the morning.
With blurry vision, she found her cell phone that rested in her cup holder and sent a text message, "I had to tell him. It looks like you just lost a best friend."
