Getting one of the drabbles I have in stock up while I work on other stuff. now as much as I love slash (and I DO love slash) I am also a huge fan of just male friendship. And that's what that is.

It's set when the boys are probably around 11 or 12, or at least that's what I imagined when I wrote it.


"It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter." -Marlene Dietrich


'...CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

BUT IF YOU TRY REAL HARD...'

Finn rolled over with a moan, reaching out a hand towards his bedside table and groping around for the source of the Rolling Stones. Finally his hand wrapped around his cellphone and he stared at the caller ID as he tried to blink sleep from his eyes.

Puck? What the hell was Puck doing calling him at 4 in the morning? This had better be damned good- his friend knew they had a math test tommorrow morning. Finn flipped open the phone.

"Hello," he mumbled. For a minute he thought Puck had hung up, and was ready to roll back over and go to sleep so as to be well rested for when he kicked his teammate's ass the next day. But a noise from the other end stopped him. It was small, like the catch of a breath, but it got Finn's attention nonetheless.

"Hello?" he repeated, "are you there, Puck?"

"Hey Finn," Puck's voice was gruff and shaky, and Finn sat up in bed.

"Hey man. What's up?"

There was no immediate answer save for Noah's ragged breathing. It took Finn several moments to realize that his best friend was crying. "He's gone," Puck finally whispered, "My dad. He just... up and left tonight. He... he's not coming back."

Finn felt his like his bed had suddenly dropped out from under him. He swallowed around a suddenly dry throat, unsure of what to say. What could he say?

Misreading his silence, he heard Puck take several deep breaths before mumbling, "Shit. Look, I'm sorry for calling so late, I just... nevermind. I'll let you go back to bed-"

"No," Finn said firmly, arranging himself into a more comfortable sitting position against his headboard, "No, it's alright, I don't mind. What happened?"