A/N: Suggested mood music: not meant to be – theory of a dead man / ghost of a good thing – dashboard confessional / X&Y – coldplay. Fact: This is kind of short, but it's setting me up for like twelve chapters to come, which will hopefully be longer. Assignment: look for underlying themes present in all songs, or just review. Whichever you prefer ;) (Actually, please just review? Love.)
Title: Fleeting Moments
Author: sparklinglemonade
Rating: M
Summary: Noah Puckerman isn't a good person – he's an ass, a studly sex-shark – but when it comes to Quinn Fabray he tends to have his moments.
Genre: Angst/Drama
Chapter: Thirty Five
Breath
He always makes sure to take a breath before he sees her now; takes a few moments to mentally prepare for the ravaged mess she always seems to be in around him – he figures it's because for her, he's the only reminder of what they've been through.
They've made a habit of the football field – her meeting him when he gets out of work (or, on the nights he doesn't work, him picking her up around the same time) and using her Cheerio's keys to get into the gated field. They sit on the emblem and watch the moon (more accurately she watches the moon while he watches her get drunk – she always brings a water bottle full of whatever her choice that day is, always, and most of the time he wishes he had one for himself) and talk. They always circle the topic of Beth, of Shelby, of them, and just have simple conversations – he bitches about work, she bitches about her Mother, and it all works.
Kind of works – sometimes works.
He's pissed she's doing this to him, he wants to shake her and tell her to cut the shit – she's being stupid and he doesn't want to deal with it, or tell her that sometimes he wants to do stupid shit but he can't because she has to – but he doesn't. He doesn't because look at the last time – he told her to stop, and it indirectly led to the demise of their relationship. One plea from him to quit it and she broke, they broke, and it was bad. He figures they need to stay on solid ground for once, and eventually when they're stronger they can see what happens in the water.
As for their nights at the field, they're usually the same in structure. They sit together and talk (sometimes about nothing, sometimes about everything) until she gets too upset and can't handle it anymore. He doesn't usually say much – it hurts – but he lets her know that he's listening. He tells her (once) that she should tell him about it, about whatever she thinks is making her sad, that maybe saying it will make him feel better. She tells him it doesn't – most of the time it makes it worse. Sometimes he drinks with her – on the nights she brings something he likes – but never enough to get him drunk, or barely tipsy. Never enough to make him less numb to the situation, and for that he's thankful.
They both realize this isn't normal (he hopes she does), but maybe, as of now it's kind of standard for them. He likes shat their weird togetherness has a sameness about it – that they have some kind of tradition even if it is really dysfunctional and strange.
The thing about it is, for some reason when they're together it seems to be their clearest moment – he sees her as Quinn more than as the girl who he loves, but is (for lack of a better tem) a hot mess, and he figures she sees him as Puck, the bad boy turned kind of alright. Hopefully maybe one day she'll think of him as Noah, the guy who was worth fixing herself for.