Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

Author's note: Apologies for the huge delay between chapters (it's been more than a year, I know). I hit a massive wall with this story but now I'm determined to finish the story this year! Hopefully by chapter 40-45 at most.

Read on, oh faithful ones...

...

Chapter Thirty-Five

...

Mouse parked her car a few spaces away from Puck's - they were as close to each other and the dorm building as possible, which is to say, not at all - and took a few moments to breathe. Her hands were shaking, she was nervous, and despite her excitement three and a half hours ago, Mouse was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all now. She breathed in again, and started with a yelp of surprise when there was a knock on her window.

"You coming?" Puck asked, grinning at her.

"No, I thought I'd sit here for the rest of the year instead."

"Funny."

Mouse grinned and waved him back so she could get out of the car without smacking him with the door. Puck stepped back and waited, Candy standing beside him with a small roll of toilet paper tucked under his arm. Mouse got out of her car, stretching her arms high above her head and cracking her back.

"Better?" Puck asked.

"Much. How was the drive?" she asked, looking to Candy's red eyes and the toilet paper he had balled up in one hand.

Puck shrugged in response. "Candy stopped crying about ten minutes ago, and then I felt like I was going to start instead.

"I tried to laugh about it,
Cover it all up with lies.
I tried to laugh about it,
Hiding my tears in my eyes.
'Cause boys don't cry,
Boys don't cry," Puck sang softly, pulling Mouse close to hug her.

Mouse shook her head at him. "Play that stupid song,
From the days when we were young,
Everybody sing along, ooh.

"That's just a stupid song," she sang back, then stopped and smiled at him.

"You're allowed to cry, you know. It doesn't make you any less of a man if you show emotion."

Puck gave a short laugh. "That's not what my father said."

"Yeah, well, he didn't exactly stick around, did he?" Mouse pointed out, not trying to be mean, but trying to drive her point home.

Puck nodded in understanding. "Yeah, s'pose you're right. Now, how about we get all this stuff in your dorm room?"

Mouse kissed him, then smiled at Candy. "Ready to see my new room, sweetie?"

Candy brightened up and nodded firmly. "Sweet will carry Mousie's bag."

"Which one, sweetie? I have a few," Mouse said, looking into the back of her car.

"The blue one," he replied decisively.

"All right. Let's get this show started," she said, opening Bucket's back door to retrieve the blue bag for Candy.

Mouse was glad it was one of the lighter bags - the red bag was full of textbooks she'd probably never use - and handed it to Candy, who shouldered it with so much seriousness he looked as though he was going to university instead of her.

Puck grinned and grabbed two boxes from the back of his car, tucking his chin on top to hold them in place. Mouse put on the red bag and grabbed a box for herself, swaying slightly as the weight of both unbalanced her for a moment. Puck stood behind her, boxes against her bag, and waited until she was steady before moving again.

"Right; how are we going to lock the cars?" Puck asked, realising they all had their hands full except for Candy.

"Sweet will do it," Candy said, taking the keys that were held between Mouse's fingers awkwardly. He locked her car, checked the handle, and then double-checked it again. He did the same with Puck's car, checking both sides of the car carefully.

"You can hold onto the keys, all right, sweetie? Don't drop them, that's very important," Mouse said, heading up to the university dormitories.

Candy clutched both sets of keys in his hands and trudged after Mouse, Puck following them.

The dorm room was empty when they arrived, so Mouse had her choice of room. Deciding to choose the one on the left-hand side, Mouse started to put her things in there, Puck and Candy following her direction easily.

Puck took the car keys from Candy so he could get more of Mouse's things, while she and Candy started to put things away on shelves and in the small allocated wardrobe. Mouse was glad that she didn't have as many clothes as her mother; she barely fit all of her jeans and shirts in, and ended up leaving her underwear and socks stuffed in her bag. Candy looked around the room while they waited for Puck, and Mouse sat on the bed to watch him, wondering what he was looking for with such determination. Candy must have found whatever it was that he was looking for, because he opened one of the boxes and started digging through, humming under his breath.

Puck returned with two boxes and Mouse's red bag. She hurried to take the bag from Puck once he'd set the boxes down, hoping he hadn't hurt himself.

"Don't overdo it, it doesn't need to be brought in in the first ten minutes," Mouse reminded him.

"The sooner it's brought in, the sooner we can actually spend some time together. Or you can kick us out when your new roommate arrives, whichever," Puck added with a shrug.

"I wouldn't kick you out," Mouse said, surprised that he'd thought she would do that.

Behind them, Candy had found Mouse's small radio and plugged it in at the outlet under the desk. He fiddled with the stations for a few seconds, ignoring the crackle of white noise, and finally settled on a station that was playing a song he knew. Mouse sang along, watching fondly as Candy sang happily. Puck hummed along with them, taking the empty boxes out of the room.

"Oh, what did you do? What did you say?
Did you walk or did you run away?
Where are you now? Where have you been?
Did you go alone or did you bring a friend?

"I need to know this 'cause I notice when you're smilin',
Out in the sun havin' fun and you're feelin' free.
And I can tell you know how hard this life can be,
But you keep on smilin' for me.

"What went right? What went wrong?
Was it the story or was it the song?
Was it overnight or did it take you long?
Was knowing your weakness what made you strong?

"Or all the above, oh, how I love to see you smilin',
And, oh, yeah, take a little pain just in case.
You need something warm to embrace,
To help you put on a smilin' face, hey, put on a smilin' face."

The song cut off abruptly when Candy realised that someone else was in the dorm room, and he stopped singing quickly, shy at the stranger's presence.

"Uh, hi. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," the girl said, looking disappointed that they'd stopped singing.

"It's okay. We should be unpacking anyway," Mouse said, grinning. "I'm Jane."

"Akiko," she replied.

"Ah-key-ko," Candy repeated softly, the syllables elongated as he tried to wrap his mouth around the newcomer's name.

"Hey, Candy, you want to help me get the rest of M- Jane's things?" Puck asked, offering his hand.

Candy nodded, ducked his head, and moved past Akiko shyly to take Puck's hand. Puck gave Akiko a brief nod and left with Candy, the dorm door closing behind them.

"Uh... What are you majoring in?" Akiko asked hesitantly, sounding uncertain and hopeful at the same time.

"Library and Information Studies," Mouse replied with a smile. Her smile faltered when she saw the look of surprise on Akiko's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no! Not at all! I just thought that you'd be in theatre or music or something with a voice like that."

Relaxing at her assurance, Mouse shrugged slightly. "I enjoy singing, but I'm not sure I'm good enough to make an actual career out of it. What's your major?"

"Major is theatre; minoring in Music. Have you signed up to any clubs yet? There's a few on campus that are specific to singing," Akiko said eagerly.

"I haven't even looked at them yet; I just wanted to get everything done in here first," Mouse admitted.

"When we're both done, do you want to go over with me? I haven't actually signed up yet, either. I did get a butt-load of brochures though," Akiko said, pulling out a small stack of pamphlets from her messenger bag.

"All right, sounds like a good idea. Do you need help carrying anything? Puck's probably dying to show off his muscles," Mouse said with a laugh.

"It's not my fault you only brought three boxes of books. Everything else barely weighs a thing in comparison," Puck said, coming into the room with two boxes and Candy a step behind him, wearing Mouse's final bag of things.

Akiko looked between Mouse and Puck for a moment, then looked back to Puck. "You really don't mind?"

"Depends on how heavy it is," Puck replied, grinning.

"Oh, not that heavy, I promise! It's just heavier than I expected, and I was going to bring it up in a few trips, but if you're offering?"

"Yeah, not a problem. I'll be back soon," Puck said, kissing Mouse briefly. "Help your sister, okay, Candy? Make sure she doesn't get caught up reading all of those books," he said with a grin.

Candy nodded seriously and tugged Mouse back into her room to keep unpacking.

Puck and Akiko returned about fifteen minutes later, and Mouse stuck her head out to see what was taking them so long, her eyes widening when she couldn't actually see Puck at all. Well, maybe she could see his feet. He was carrying four large striped bags, two hanging off the crooks of his arms, and two held in front of him, and despite the distance, Mouse could see the muscles bulging in his arms in protest. She winced in sympathy, knowing his arms would be aching tomorrow.

"What are you carrying?"

"Theatre clothes. There's a lot of period pieces in there, and I've got everything from the 50s to a few space-futuristic outfits, too. They're really flimsy and tend to get lost in the other clothes, but they're just as important," Akiko said, bringing in another large striped bag. "Would you mind putting them in my room? Just on the bed's fine; I'll unpack it all and put it away."

Puck made a small grunt of agreement and continued into Akiko's room to put the bags down.

"Lots of stripes," Candy said, eyes wide.

"Yeah. I've got another set of bags with spots on them; they have all of my accessories. Oh no, the make-up! If the lipstick's melted, I'll - " Akiko's threat was cut off as she ran out of the room and back to her car.

"How're your arms?" Mouse asked Puck when he came out of Akiko's room a moment later.

"Aching. Those clothes were heavier than I expected. Did you see my guns?" Puck asked with a grin and chuckle.

"Dork."

"But I'm your dork," Puck said, grin broadening.

"Yeah, you are," Mouse agreed, kissing him gently.

"C'mon, let's keep unpacking. Mum's promised to have dinner ready for me and Candy if we make it back by 7:30pm," Puck said.

"What if you arrive at 7:31pm?"

"I think she'll be forgiving for a minute or five. If it's 7:40pm, however, we probably won't be allowed to eat a thing," Puck deadpanned.

Candy's eyes widened and he hurried to open a box.

"He's being silly, Candy. You'll be allowed to eat, no matter what time you get back, honest," Mouse assured him quickly, Candy frowning.

"Promise?"

"Promise. We'll be good and keep unpacking though, okay?"

Candy considered her words for a moment, but then finally nodded in agreement.

"If you're talking about food, there's a free barbecue for students near the admin area," Akiko called from her room.

"Is it just for students?" Mouse asked, looking into Akiko's room to see her new roommate standing on her bed and attempting to pin up a poster.

"Don't think so!" Akiko called.

"I'm behind you," Mouse said, grinning when Akiko gave a shout of fright. "Sorry."

"No, you're not," Akiko replied, groaning.

Mouse grinned. "We might head over to the barbecue; do you want to come too?"

"I'm going to finish up in here. Thanks for inviting me though."

"No problem. See you later, Akiko," Mouse said over her shoulder, grabbing her bag with her keys and wallet.

She took Candy's hand in one hand, Puck's in her other, and they left the dorm room together, heading out of the building towards the admin building for a late lunch.

...

"Bye, guys. Let me know when you get back to Lima, okay? I'll worry if I don't hear from you," Mouse said, frowning a little.

"Sweet will text," Candy said proudly.

At their graduation, their friends had presented their own graduation present to Candy: a mobile phone so that he could stay in contact with all of them. His eyes had widened at the gift and he'd promptly turned to Terrence to get the older boy to show him how to use the phone. Once he'd worked it out, Candy took almost an hour to put in everybody's phone numbers and send each of them a carefully typed text to make sure it worked every time. He'd spent the rest of the day clutching his prized gift and smiling whenever someone sent him a text in return.

Mouse had to make him promise to keep his phone in his bag while he was in school; Mrs. Komp wouldn't want Candy getting distracted while he was trying to study. Candy had nodded very seriously and promised that he would study hard and not text. He made Mouse promise the same thing, and while she intended to keep her phone in her pocket for emergencies, she hoped that she could keep her promise.

"I'm going to head back now. I think I need to sleep off that hamburger."

"Good idea. Take care and learn lots," Puck said with a grin, kissing her.

It was a surprisingly gentle kiss, something that made Mouse think of soft and sweet. It almost felt like a goodbye and she breathed out shakily when they pulled away. "I'll call you later in the week to organise when I'm coming down, okay?"

"Looking forward to it already."

"Dork."

"Love you too, Mouse."

"Love you, Puck." Mouse bit the inside of her cheek so she wouldn't start crying, then she turned to her brother and pulled him in to a firm hug. "I'm gonna miss you, sweetie."

In response, Candy started to cry against her shirt.

"You'll text me, won't you? And call. Any time, even if I'm in class, I'll answer."

"But you promised."

"Yeah, but for you, I'd break my promise. You're always more important," Mouse said, her voice thick with tears. "So, any time, okay? Just call and I'll be there."

"Ain't no mountain high enough," Candy sang weakly, pulling away to rub stubbornly at his tears.

"That's right. Be good, okay? And remember that I love you."

"Love you too, Mousie," Candy sniffled, then trudged over to Puck's passenger door to get in the car.

Mouse pressed one more kiss to Puck's lips, firm and hard, gave him a smile and stepped back so he could get in the car as well. She moved further up towards the university buildings, still close enough that they could see her wave but far enough that they couldn't see her tears.

"I would tell you that I loved you,
If I thought that you would stay.
But I know that it's no use,
And you've already gone away," Puck sang softly, his heart tight in his chest, before he slid into the driver's seat and shut the door behind him.

Candy was sniffling in the passenger seat, balled up toilet paper clenched in one hand and the almost-empty toilet roll getting squished in the other.

"Hey, Candy, share the roll?" Puck asked.

Hand and bottom lip trembling, Candy held the roll of toilet paper out to him. Puck grabbed a few sheets and wiped at his eyes quickly.

"We'll sing all the way home. That will help, won't it, Puck?" Candy asked, eyes wide and his bottom lip still wobbling precariously.

"Yeah, Candy kid, it'll help," Puck promised, turning on the ignition.

They both waved to Mouse before Puck had to concentrate on reversing out of the parking lot. Candy looked over the back of his seat the best he could, still waving almost five minutes later when they were long gone from the university.

Puck tugged Candy back onto his seat properly, then reached over and turned the radio. "Let's hear you sing, Candy kid," he said, trying to smile.

Candy used some more toilet paper to blow his nose and wipe at his tears. He threw the ruined paper into the plastic bag - almost full now - and then, with as much determination as he could muster, he began to sing.

"This ain't goodbye,
This is just the way love goes.
But when the words ain't warm enough,
To keep away the cold, oh no,
This ain't goodbye.
It's not where our story ends."

...

End of the thirty-fifth chapter!

Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it.