Author's Note: I don't know about you, but when Santana and Puck had their little solo/duet during Don't Stop Believin' at Regionals, I literally squealed. Partly because I love both Mark's and Naya's voices (and they sound awesome together) and partly because they both looked so freakin' happy. I know that might just be Mark and Naya being Mark and Naya, but still. Here's a prelude to that. Practice makes perfect. Also, there will be one more chapter. I know. The title's misleading.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.
5.
They're all sitting in the choir room screwing around because Regionals is coming up and everyone's depressed. Ever since the St. James kid dumped Rachel –and, consequently, New Directions- morale had been low for the Glee Club. So Puck and Finn had taken it upon themselves to put the past behind them –for now- and entertain the rest of them with a guitar and drum medley. They're halfway through High School Never Ends when Mr. Schuester blows into the room all wild hair and hot-off-the-presses sheet music.
"Okay, guys, we're gonna change things up for Regionals."
"Mr. Schuester, I really think that the combinations we have are proving to be very successful in the long run and-"
"Let the man speak, Berry." Finn throws him a look but Puck just shrugs. There's only so much diversity in giving every lead and solo to Rachel-and-Finn, the Glee power couple anyway. Besides, Puck's sure Schue's just trying to humor the rest of them. The golden couple will still get their solos.
"Uh. Thanks, Puck. Anyway, here's the changes I've made on Don't Stop…"
It's quiet for a second as everyone looks over the scribbled notes Mr. Schue's written over the verses and chorus. Rachel's brow is furrowing farther and farther, but when she looks up she seems fine. She does, however, ask the question that most of the club's thinking. "Puck and Santana?"
Santana, who'd been texting away, looks up abruptly. Dark eyes flick from Rachel to Schue and back again. Her gaze drops to the sheet music in front of her, then to Puck, and her eyes narrow into little slits. "You've got to be kidding me." If anything, she'd expected them to throw Fabray the lines. After all, Glee Club seemed to be all about sexual tension while singing…but, she supposes, she and Puck always brought a lot of that to the table. She thinks Schuester is screwing with them. Or, trying to help (since he's always doing that). Either way, Santana is not amused.
"Your vocal ranges are actually pretty similar," Rachel says brightly. Santana's glare is directed at her and the Glee queen shuts up almost immediately. Puck snorts and then the dagger eyes are thrown at him instead. He rearranges his expression into a neutral one.
"She's right, Santana. Your voices will probably sound good together." Mr. Schue.
"If she doesn't want it, I'll take it." Mercedes.
"At least you're getting a solo." Kurt.
Santana's teeth are gritting with each point, partly because she's annoyed and mostly because they make total sense. But Puck's had little to do with her since Quinn moved in to his place –and then moved out- and singing Journey is not gonna fix anything. "Remember that time you and Puck sang Happy Birthday to me?" If it had been anyone other than Britt, Santana probably would've growled at them. As it is, she just closes her eyes and rubs her temples. "You sounded almost as good as the High School Musical kids."
"Come on, San," Puck says, rolling his eyes at her from across the room. "Or are you backing down?" That's all he has to say to get her to begrudgingly agree. Santana Lopez never backs down from a challenge. Unfortunately, that left them to actually have to practice together, which might become a problem if she just wanted to kick him in the balls. "Let's head out to the gym. You know Berry and Hudson are gonna hijack the auditorium…"
"We are not," Finn says. But when Puck and Santana walk by ten minutes later, they hear Berry's High F through the door and exchange a look.
They walk down the hallways in silence, which isn't necessarily weird for them, but it's not a comfortable silence. It's thick with tension and kind of awkward and Puck hates it. He knows it's been hard for her, ever since the whole baby gate thing went down, but there's not much he can do about it. He had to take responsibility for his kid like his father never did. Santana gets that. He knows she does. Doesn't make it any easier. "So…" He tries, looking up from his untied shoelaces to catch her gaze.
He almost wishes he hadn't looked since she's giving him that bitch glare again. But Noah Puckerman doesn't back down from a challenge, either, so he just stares back at her evenly. "Don't even start, Puckerman," Santana barks, and Puck shrugs at her. He knows it's better to just let her go once she gets going. "You don't say a fucking word to me until you need to whine about your stupid mohawk-" She's lying. She loves that mohawk. "-or you want laid. You do realize I'm more than just a quick fuck, right?"
They're in the middle of the hallway between classes, so it's not like there's many people to listen. That Jew-fro kid would probably love to catch this conversation, though, and write something up about another nonexistent love triangle. Puck hated that kid. "Look, you're the one who broke up with me before all the shit even hit the fan." Santana huffs a little because, yeah, that's totally true. She has nothing to say to that, really.
There was a real reason she broke up with Puck, but she hasn't even admitted that to herself yet. She's sure as hell not gonna try and stumble her way through it to justify the decision to him. He probably wouldn't get it anyway. He's got a baby momma and he thinks with Little Puck more often than that. "Can we just do this thing?"
"Have sex?"
"You're such an ass." He's smirking and when he does that, she can hardly help the quirk of her lips that follows. He's looking at her and the smirk melts into a Noah grin, one she remembers from grade school days. Santana throws a glance over her shoulder, but not because she's embarrassed. She's Santana fucking Lopez. She doesn't do embarrassed. But Jacob Ben Israel is creeping down the hallway, and she knows he likes to write like Gossip Girl, so she gestures to the gym and he nods, grabbing her hand and hiding behind the corner James Bond style.
She tries to ignore the way he's pressing against her while they stand against the wall. Puck keeps looking around the corner and muttering curse words under his breath because Jacob's not leaving. He's hanging around Rachel's locker. "I think we gotta go for it," he's talking in a hushed tone and looking around like someone's gonna jump out at any second and try and kill them or something. In reality, the worst that's gonna happen is that the hall monitor catches them without a pass and they get detention. Or, rather, Puck gets detention because Coach Sylvester would definitely get Santana out of it. Perks of being a Cheerio.
She turns around to tell him this, but the serious expression on his face is laughable, so she just stifles a giggle –which is so not Santana-like- and lifts one eyebrow. Puck takes one of her hands loosely in his and mouths one, two, three! On three, they both bolt around the corner and into the gym, the doors swinging shut behind them. They're both five years old again and playing cops and robbers with Finn and Brittany, laughing and hushing each other at the same time. When Jacob Ben Israel or Sue Sylvester doesn't break in on them, their laughter fades off into relieved sighs.
"What are you?" Santana asks walking to the middle of the floor. "Five?"
"I turned sixteen this year. Remember my birthday present?" He's staring at her and she's staring back, but this time she turns away first. She's not losing anything. She's just ending the conversation. Puck doesn't push her, just sits down on the bleachers and props his guitar on his lap. He plucks the chords to Don't Stop and looks over at her expectantly. "…which part is ours?"
Santana looks down at the music she's holding and follows the arrow from the circle around her and Puck's names. She doesn't think about how they're linked together too much because it gives her a headache. "Start from the second half of the first verse, after Hudson and Berry's train crap." Puck nods, like he knows exactly what she's talking about.
Once he gets to the top of the verse on the guitar, he starts off, voice a little rough and raspy from lack of use. "A singer in a smoky room."
She's looking at the ceiling. "The smell of wine and cheap perfume." Puck's fingers halt on the strings and she turns to look at him, lips curling back in a frown. "What?"
"You're flat. Just relax and do it like you did in that one song you sang…" Santana knows Puck's not saying y'know, the one where you and Jones almost broke into a fist fight? to preserve her feelings. She's not sure whether she thinks he's sweet or if she's pissed off because he shouldn't treat her any differently now when he didn't then.
"Start over."
He does. "A singer in a smoky room."
"The smell of wine and cheap perfume." This time, it's Santana who doesn't follow Puck into the next lines. She's fisting her hair in a hand and rolling her eyes. "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothin'," Puck says automatically, and he stops playing again. Santana looks at him long and hard for a second before stopping her anxious pacing.
"Get up."
"'scuse me?" Puck says, and he barks out a laugh. "I can do that if you want, but you were really pissed a second ago…"
"Not like that you perv." Santana clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Drop the guitar and just sing with me. It'll get me warmed up." Puck's shoulders raise and fall in a shrug and he sets down the guitar carefully in the bleachers before walking towards her. He stops a few steps away and counts out a few beats like he knows they do in cheer. He even echoes a few of the da da das before jumping into it again.
"A singer in a smoky room." He's walking towards her, kind of like Finn and Rachel's choreography for this number has them do. She's following him, too.
"The smell of wine and cheap perfume." They meet right in the middle of the gym, right over the McKinley High Titans logo. Puck gets an arm around her waist and she follows suit. "For a smile they can share the night. It goes on and on and on and on…" As their voices mix, they steal Finn and Rachel's little turn and Puck's really smiling and Santana's laughing a little when he spins her out ballroom style and pulls her back in by the arm.
She's reminded of how her Papi insisted on making a big deal out of her fifteenth birthday. Kids usually have sweet sixteens, but not Santana Lopez. She had a fucking quinceanera. After she and her father had the usual dance, there was supposed to be a boy who cut in. It was supposed to be all ceremonial, about going from being a little girl to a woman. Puck had been that boy since they'd been dating at the time. It was kind of like this, except there was actual music and he sucked at ballroom dancing.
And then, he'd kissed her. Without really thinking about it, Santana leans up to kiss him on the lips. It's soft at first, and he barely responds, clearly caught off guard. But once he eases into it, his lips curl and close over hers again and again. She parts his lips this time, and her tongue mixes with Puck's. He presses back, and when she breaks the kiss to breathe, he bites down a little on her lower lip. Santana inhales sharply and takes a step away, licking her lips a little.
He still tastes the same. It's weird.
"That was…good," Puck says, chewing his bottom lip.
"Yeah," Santana agrees, then turns her back on him. "Grab your guitar and let's go again."
She's clearly not talking about kissing. Puck looks a little disappointed as he goes to retrieve his guitar.