A Warm Embrace
They were awesome. They kicked ass. There wasn't a way they could lose at all. After that Hell of a performance at Sectionals, a win was definitely in the bag. Then it'd be, "Hello, Regionals" and soon after that "Hello, Nationals."
She was looking too far ahead, though. So she focused on the here, the now. The fact that they're on stage, getting a standing ovation from a crowd of people in Lima, of all places.
She was happy, for once. Not that temporary happiness that came and went in seconds but legitimately happy. She was happy because of numerous reasons.
Finn's shoulder squeeze is what got her out of that trance. She offered him a smile before pushing past him, walking behind the crowd of the Glee club to find Puck.
He was alone and she was alone and everyone seemed to be in their own little happy world offering each other hugs. So she walked up to him and simply wrapped her arms around him.
Shock and surprise were the first emotions that processed. He was expecting some kind of congratulations from her, but the fact that she went for that hug surprised him. No one went for that hug with him, especially in a public venue such as this.
She's got an angle with this, he first thought. But when he felt her tighten her hold a bit and stay, he couldn't help but squeeze back. She's never done this before. She's yelled at him in public, touched his shirt in public, but she's never made this kind of contact with him in public before.
(Anything that happened in private was in a whole different category.)
So he was shocked and surprised but he took it anyway because he wasn't sure when he'd get this kind of reaction from her in the future.
It's after they accept their award, after they all pack their stuff and get ready to head out (all carpooling with one another to head over to Breadstix for a celebratory dinner) that he manages to catch up with her. She still looks amazing as ever in that Goddamn outfit, while he's unbuttoned the top of his shirt and let that be that.
"Hey," he says, stopping her halfway in the parking lot. He could see Artie and Sam waiting by his truck, while Rory waited by Quinn's.
"Yeah?" she asks, turning to face him.
"You hugged me back there," he reminds her.
She can't help but laugh a bit. Not a vicious or mean laugh but one of those laughs that manage to put a smile on his face. "Pretty sure I did do that, yes. Happened less than an hour ago, Puck."
"I just...why'd you do it? In front of everyone?"
A confused expression graces her face. "Do you want me to take the hug back? I can try that but it might require another hug to cancel that one out."
It's his turn to laugh now. He shakes his head. "No, don't take the hug back. I just wanted to know why you did that. Could have hugged anyone else up there. Why'd you come to me?"
She walks over to him pretty much the same way she did earlier, mimicking her hug of before. "I wanted to thank you. For everything. Last week and this week and just being there for me when no one else was."
He returns the embrace, pretty much the same way as he had before. "You seem happy," he tells her, once they pull away.
She can't help but nod with a smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I...am, for once," she says with a small laugh. "I'm...just thank you. For being there."
"I'm always gonna be here, Fabray," he tells her, reaching out and bumping the back of his hand with hers (because it's cooler and more manlier than reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze).
She reaches out, however, and drops a kiss to his cheek. "I'll see you at Breadstix," she tells him, before turning around and rushing over to her car, ushering a too patient Rory into the vehicle before they left the parking lot.
He had a feeling he'd be around for her a little bit more after tonight. Just the thought kind of put a smile on his face, and he couldn't wipe it off, even as he made his way to Breadstix with Artie and Sam.
She was well on her way to healing and he was going to be there in any way she needed him. He actually enjoyed the sound of that.