Don't Say You're Sorry, Just Apologize - Tina

Rating: T - Because Puck is a grown up and cusses because he can.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own glee but I do own all the CDs, the DVD and a WHMS hoodie I got on eBay

A/N: I've been wanting to write this part of the fic forever. I was in a Glee RP and our Puck and Tina were the best couple in the game because of the players so a big shoutout to Johanna and Charli, the best Tinas ever. Thank you to knkykty for being a great Beta Babe at such short notice! You rock my mismatched socks off.

He's getting married and he's absolutely scared out of his fucking mind. Why? His mother has been calling every day to talk to him and his girl about their plans. The woman's constant attention is seriously harshing his calm. He's not big on thinking too far ahead so he's left a lot of it up to Tina. She is having way too much fun with the whole thing and it makes him laugh so he gives her shit about it. Right now she's online and he half hears her talking to him about what she's found for their wedding and how he's going to love it.

"Babe?" he asks. "Did you just giggle about picking out our cake? I was just wondering because I consider cake pretty important in my life."

She raises an eyebrow and smirks at him. "As do I, sweetcheeks. As do I. Which is why I ordered a totally kickass cake."

"Please tell me it's shaped like the Death Star!" he said with his eyes wide. "You know I have always wanted a Death Star cake and holy shit that would be a fuckin' awesome wedding cake!"

Tina grabs her phone off the nearby table and she quickly presses a few buttons then turns it to face him with a growing grin on her face. Of course she had known about his childhood fantasy so she searched all over the internet to find someone up to the challenge.

He grabs her phone to stare at the picture in high def of his future wedding cake in all its glory. His jaw drops and he seriously has a tear in his eye. It is absolutely mindboggling how fucking awesome his girl is and he still thinks it's just a little insane that they got together in the first place.

Insane because they weren't even really friends until after high school. They were both gamers and somehow ended up being in the same club at OSU. His excuse was that they met in a bar near his apartment and they played on a sixty inch screen. Hers was that her roommate had a boyfriend and they didn't make earplugs strong enough to block their... she couldn't even say it.

Every week she would beat his bragging ass at CoD or really any game he chose, then he'd buy the biggest basket of the hottest wings and she'd eat half. After another night of getting royally beaten he was doing his usual play by play explaining why he was actually better when she kissed him. It definitely shut him up.

That was five years ago and he's pretty sure his mother has been waiting for them to get to this point for about four and a half of that. He thought she was going to lose her mind when they moved in together but she's actually been pretty cool since they set a date a few months ago. But Tina's mom? She made his mom look like a rookie in comparison.

Tina won't even answer her mother's phone calls anymore. The last one she had with her he couldn't even understand part of it because Tina was talking so fast. She only does that when she's completely at the end of her rope. Now her mother calls him and leaves voice messages for her. He often wonders if this is what it's going to be like for the rest of their marriage.

It's about two weeks before their wedding when they have an argument over something stupid. After not talking to each other for almost a week they can't seem remember why it started or why they're still mad. When she walks in the door from an especially long day of work and he's sitting at the dining room table holding a dozen lilies her heart just breaks.

"I apologize T," he chokes out. "I just want us to be happy again. I'm fuckin' miserable and for the life of me I don't know what to do."

She starts bawling, sits down on his lap and hugs him so tightly he can hardly breathe. He has missed her touch so much it just confirms the fact that this is forever.

"I love you so much and it's not okay when things get this bad between us," he murmurs. "It's not okay, T. We're getting married so shouldn't we be all stupid and sappy right now?"

"I don't want to get married in the temple," she blurts out. "I want it to be just us. Please?"

He freezes for a moment then gently pushes her face towards him to look in her eyes. Now he feels guilty because he had no idea she felt that way. She had spent hours with their mothers talking to planners, bakers and caterers then come home to talk excitedly about it. Remembering that makes him feel even more guilty.

"We'll do whatever you want, babe," he murmurs. "I just want one day to stand up in front of everyone to tolerates me to let them know how much I fucking love you. I want them to know how you put up with my shit and that being with you makes me not want to be an asshole."

She kisses him to shut him up. Again. And it works. Again.

She pulls back from the kiss with a grin on her face. "So how are we going to tell our parents we're just gonna have a Vegas wedding?" she asks in between giggles.

He lets his head fall forward and rests his head on her shoulder. They've already put a deposit down on a banquet hall in Wapakoneta and paid for the kosher buffet to be catered so maybe they could just call Rabbi Aronson and get him to marry them at the courthouse with a judge.

"Why did I just hear an explosion in your head, Puck?" Tina asks. "What are you plotting now?"

They stay up that night talking about how their wedding is now going to be ten times better than before. Of course they call their parents the next morning and then spend the rest of the day apologizing while they rearrange everything else. It's a struggle to get it all finished but it's definitely worth it.

The following days pass quickly and he's standing at the courthouse, waiting for his fiancee and he has time to think. He is trying to remember what events and people brought him to this day - his wedding day. There are so many things in his life that have made him the man he his - good and bad. One constant throughout his life has been his mother's words "Noah, saying your sorry is too easy. It has no soul or meaning because people say it every day and don't really mean it. When you mean it you apologize. Do you understand? Apologize."

Please take a moment to comment/review. Thank you!