A/N: Hey guys, so I actually meant to upload this chapter of Beth a couple of days ago, but I kept forgetting, so I'm sorry about that! I also got a review saying I made someone cry with this story! Aww! Don't worry, I made myself cry too, I have a lot of Quinn/Puck/Beth feelings! Do enjoy the result of those feelings in my new chapter!
Chapter 12:
Over the next two months, Beth's excitement about the baby only grew, and Quinn found herself answering the same question in the same way over and over again;
"When's the baby coming?"
"Soon, Beth,"
It went on and on, and as much as Quinn was bored of answering the same question she couldn't help but be glad for her daughter's enthusiasm. Puck however, she noticed, had been anxious for the past few days, and she couldn't help but think it was because of the baby; maybe their situation was feeling more real to him now. Her heart dropped at the thought of him backing out; Puck, who had been there for her no matter what when they were sixteen, who was one of the few people she trusted wholeheartedly, couldn't possibly be abandoning her, could he?
One night, when Beth was staying the night at Kurt and Rachel's apartment, Quinn decided to find out; she found Puck sitting on the couch, sipping a beer and staring blankly at the TV,
"Puck?" she asked him, and he looked up at her, clearly startled out of his own thoughts.
"Hey," he said finally, looking over at her.
"Can I ask you something?" she said as she sat down beside him on the couch.
"Sure," Puck replied casually, but Quinn saw straight through him.
"Are you leaving?" she saw him visibly tense and her stomach dropped "Is this too much for you? Because I don't need to hear about you leaving in the middle of the night because you can't handle a family, OK? So just be honest with me, because the truth won't hurt nearly as much as being abandoned by you," Puck was silent for a moment, staring at his hands,
"Quinn, I-"
"You're kidding right?" Quinn demanded, getting to her feet "You're leaving me behind? You're leaving Beth?! Puck, you're leaving our unborn child without a father, all because you're scared?"
"I've been deployed, Quinn-"
"We were just becoming a real family, after all these years! Things are finally going right for us, and you're leaving it all behind!"
"Quinn!" Puck raised his voice to match hers as he stood, towering over her "I-" he lowered his voice "I've been deployed overseas for work, I'm so sorry, I just- I didn't know how to tell you,"
"Puck," Quinn breathed out, her legs giving out as she sat down on the couch again "I'm sorry I- I shouldn't have blown up like that,"
"It's OK,"
"No, it's not, I just- how long will you be gone?" she asked reluctantly.
"Six months," he told her after a moment, avoiding eye contact.
"What?" Quinn asked, tears stinging her eyes.
"I have no choice, babe, I've gotta go," he sat down beside her and began to rub her back, but she pulled away, getting up again.
"You could be killed!" she got out "Puck, it's so dangerous!"
"I know-" he began.
"What if you do get killed?" Quinn interrupted "Did you ever think about that? You have a family now!"
"I know!" Puck yelled over her, but immediately regretted it "I-" he sighed, his voice low "I know, OK? But this is the first time since Beth was born that I've actually felt like I was doing something right, and I can't give it up." he took a breath and watched as Quinn sat back down "When Finn died, I felt like crap for so long, I didn't have the will to get out of bed in the morning, but I knew he wasn't gonna watch me lie around the rest of my life, so I dragged my ass down to Lima for his memorial, but I still couldn't shake the emptiness, you know?" Quinn nodded, blinking at her tears as she thought back to her own experience of hearing the news, the way she had curled up under her blankets and cried until she made herself sick; it was one of the worst moments of her life to date, and her stomach writhed guiltily as she heard that even Puck, who had lost someone he considered to be his brother, had managed to pull himself together for the memorial. "Coach Bieste talked me through it," Puck admitted "and even though I still felt like crap, I knew that Finn would've wanted me to move on without him and be my own quarterback," it hurt like hell to reiterate what his former football coach had said to him that day, to unearth the pain he had felt, but he knew Quinn needed the piece of mind, she needed to at least know there was a reason behind what he was doing to her. "so I knew then that I needed to make something of myself, be the man that Finn already was in high school. That's what this is about, Q, this Air Force stuff, every time I'm out there, I can see him, and I know he's proud that I didn't turn out to be a deadbeat like my dad, that I'm on my way to being even half the man Finn was. I know it hurts, but it'll kill me if I have to give up on another thing that felt right for me," he reached out and held Quinn's cheek in his hand, wiping at the tears with his thumb as he gazed at her, and she nodded, sniffling.
"I get it," she said weakly "I just- be safe, OK?" Puck gave a small smile,
"Always am,"
A/N: AWW Puck! By the way, I'm hoping deployed is the right term, I read it in a story once and I just kind of used it, so sorry if I'm wrong!
Also, last chapter I forgot to mention that I've solved my dilemma! I've decided to write another Quick story, just because I don't want to keep doing this story after the ending that I love, so this way I can keep writing about Beth without messing up this story!
I've also got another Glee story in the works, which is basically my version of the characters' 10 years later, but I'll explain that some more as I've written more of it, but so you know I'm not done with writing Glee stories yet!
Do let me know what you think of this story for now though, and I'll see you all soon!
