Chapter 2: Move On

Mike, Tina, and Quinn had been walking through the halls of McKinley High discussing the Talent Show highlights. They thought what happened to Simon was uncalled for, but they didn't really think too much of it.

Mike and Tina had seen the show together, and Quinn tagged along since Sam was sick that day with the flu. It was no big deal. Quinn could have hung out with the cheerios, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with their drama.

Mike knew Simon. They had Chemistry class together. They didn't talk to each other much, but Mike didn't usually talk that much anyway. He remembered Simon always sat in the back of the class and never said anything to anyone.

They were rounding the corner, when they saw Simon. Holding a gun.

"You." Simon said looking directly at Quinn. Mike stepped forward putting himself in front of Tina and Quinn.

Mike grabbed Quinn's arm, "He's got a gun, let's go," He stated quietly in Quinn's ear and made sure Tina was right behind him.

"Don't turn away from me!" Simon shouted.

Quinn, Tina, and Mike all stopped moving and turned back to face Simon.

Mike slowly put himself in front of the two girls and walked forward towards Simon.

"Look, man. You don't have to do this." Mike said trying to calm Simon down. Simon was holding the gun down to his side.

"...It's too late," Simon said still keeping his entire focus on Quinn.

"It is," Simon continued, "I already shot someone."

"No," Mike whispered fearfully. He studied Simon, and it looked like he wasn't kidding. Then, out of nowhere, Simon raised the gun. It was pointed past Mike towards Quinn, the head cheerleader.

Mike was breathing deeply. The gun was right next to his head, but it was aiming for Quinn. Mike saw Simon was seconds away from pulling the trigger. He had to act quickly.

Mike grabbed Simon's arm and wrestled with the shooter to get the gun away from him.

Tina and Quinn were just watching from a few yards away as Mike was wrestling with Simon.

"Oh my God," Quinn whispered to herself. They were both frozen in place with fear.

"Mike!" Tina yelled.

All of a sudden, two shots rang out. Both Simon and Mike fell to the floor.

The ride to the hospital was scary. Finn just sat and watched while the medics did all they could to try to keep Puck stabilized until they got to the hospital. He felt so helpless. He could do nothing to help Puck.

When they had gotten to the hospital, one of the nurses had told him to wait in the waiting room. He was sitting there for a few minutes, and then Tina and Quinn walked in. Finn looked up from his spot to face them.

"Quinn, Tina. What are you guys doing here?" Finn asked.

Tina looked down to face the floor. Quinn spoke for Tina, "Mike was shot by some psychopath."

"What is he okay?" Finn asked worriedly.

"Yeah, he's fine. It was a flesh wound through his arm. They took him in to get stitches, but the kid who shot him, Simon, he died on the way to the hospital." Quinn paused in silence and looked at Finn as he just nodded his head and looked down to the floor. Something was wrong. She could tell.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

He looked up at Quinn with sad eyes, but he didn't say anything.

"What? What's wrong?" Quinn asked with worry.

"It's... It's Puck," Quinn's eyes went wide. Finn took a deep breath and continued, "he was shot through the back."

"Oh my God!" Quinn gasped. Tina was listening to the news with wide-eyes.

"He was," Finn was trying to hold himself together, "H-he looked-"

Quinn cut Finn off, "It's okay, Finn," she took a seat next to him, "Where is he?"

"H-he's in surgery," Finn rubbed a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

"Don't worry, Finn. I'm sure he'll be fine," Quinn tried to comfort Finn.

"But... what if-?" Finn couldn't complete his question.

"Finn," Quinn tried to pull Finn together, "Puck is strong. He'll pull through. It's Puck we're talking about." She looked at Finn in the eyes. He looked like he was about to cry. Finn might have been strong, but inside he was just like a kid, and like any kid; he was scared.

"...Come here," Quinn said quietly and pulled Finn in for a hug. Finn was a little startled, but he didn't hesitate to embraced Quinn. He sunk his head in her shoulder and still kept trying to fight off the tears, except this time he couldn't.

"Shh..." Quinn comforted Finn like a mother would, "It's okay. Everything will be okay."

Puck was in so much pain when he woke up. He moaned as his eyes fluttered open. He thought he heard someone calling his name. He didn't understand what she was saying until her voice became a little more clearer.

"Puck? Are you okay?" A female voice asked.

Puck couldn't really see her. Everything was still blurry and he was trying to focus his vision.

"What? He's awake?" That was a male voice this time.

""Mmm, whathappened?" Puck slurred.

"You've been out for a couple days... You don't remember what happened?" The girl started to come into focus.

"Quinn?" Puck asked.

"Yeah, it's me. And Finn's here, too. Your mom was here earlier, but she went to go get your sister from school."

"Oh fuck," Puck said because of a mixture of pain and that he remembered why he was in the hospital in the first place, "That kid- I can't believe that kid fucking shot me."

"It was Simon, right?" Quinn asked just to make sure.

"Yeah, how did you-?" Puck asked but was cut off. Quinn knew what he was going to ask before he asked it.

"He shot Mike, too. Mike's okay. He went home yesterday, and Tina left with him. But that other kid, Simon... he died. The gun went off and shot him right through the heart." Quinn said.

"Oh God," Puck said rubbing a hand over his mohawk, "I can't- I can't believe he's dead."

"What does it matter. He tried to kill you, and he came inches away from shooting your spine and paralyzing you from the waste down." Finn said with a serious voice, "He doesn't deserve any pity."

"Jeez, Finn. But, he's just another kid. He went to school with us, for Christ's sake," Puck said.

"He's a psychopath!" Finn stood up and shouted. Finn noticed the silence in the room and realized he reacted to harshly, so he looked away and stormed out of the room.

After the door slammed shut, Quinn looked to Puck, "You know, he was really worried about you."

Puck just stared, so Quinn continued, "Finn's barely left your side since you've been in the hospital... It's hard to understand, but Finn still does really care about you. You're still his best friend, no matter how much he denies it."

Puck sat there in a moment of silence. It was good to know he had people that really did care about him.

"Have you been here this whole time?" Puck asked curiously.

"...Mostly, yes. I left to go get some food for me and Finn while we were waiting."

"Heh," Puck smirked a little to himself.

"What?" Quinn asked, wondering what Puck thought was so funny.

"You still care, too." Puck said happily.

"Well, why wouldn't I?" Quinn didn't know why Puck would think otherwise.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because ever since the new school year, you've barely talked to me, let alone had eye contact with me." Puck said sarcastically. Quinn just looked down. She wasn't going to deny Puck's accusation because, well, it was true. She had avoided him, and he was kind enough to respect that.

"I... I still care about you, Puck," Quinn didn't know how to say this, "I just- needed this year to think about myself. And you needed time for yourself. It's better this way."

"I don't mind that you need some time for yourself. Hell, I could care less if you're dating that fish-mouth, Sam," Quinn gave him an evil stare, but Puck continued, "I just want to know that there is something there. That we're not complete strangers... "

"Okay," Quinn understood what Puck meant. Puck may have been a jerk, but he had his moments. Quinn smiled, "I understand."

Right then, Finn came back in the room.

"Hey, dude," Finn said with guilt, "I didn't mean to blow up like that, it's just-"

"Don't worry about it, Finn," Puck cut Finn off, "It's all good."

Finn smiled a little as they fist bumped each other. Quinn sat in the background, smiling at their brotherly bonding.

"So, what now?" Finn asked after a moment of silence. Puck looked at Finn.

"I don't know. I guess things just keep moving on."

So, that's the end. I hope you enjoyed it. I didn't want to make this story to long, just to the point . Once again, just in case you didn't know, this was based off of the Degrassi episode "Time Stands Still, Pt.2". It's the episode where Jimmy (A.K.A. Drake) got shot. It kinda reminded me of Puck, I guess. And once again, I encourage other people to write school shooting fics, I would love to read 'em. Yay for twisted minds :)