"I really think we should do the duet assignment together. As friends." Puck said, feeling the nervousness in him swell uncomfortably. It's been a few weeks since he called Quinn. The last time was to check on her if she got home safe the day she left his house. It was almost nine and the other end of the line wasn't picking up but when he was about to hang up she picked up. Puck had his head against the wall for the last two minutes when he finally asked her about the duet assignment.
It took her about thirty seconds to answer. "What song did you have in mind?" She said slowly. Quinn was pretty skeptical about the whole idea. A side of her thought that Puck asked her about that just to get into her pants again. But the other side thought was just because he wanted to spend some time with her. Both were debatable ideas but in the end she finally went to the positive side instead. She hoped that the whole pregnant thing would knock some sense into him if he attempted at the whole getting into her pants thing. Plus, she didn't have a duet partner. There were three options, Kurt, the big mouthed new kid and Puck. But Kurt already had dibs on the big mouthed new kid and plus it'd be simply social suicide so that knocked them both out of the water. Puck on the other hand had no duet partner. He was a really good singer which surprised her and the glee club and they were friends now. So it was a viable agreement.
"Terrified." Puck said simply.
"Is that a band or am I supposed to be terrified into being your duet partner?" She asked, pacing her room.
"It's a song. By Katherine McPhee and Zachary Levi. Don't worry, the song doesn't have 'fuck' and 'shit' in every verse. I think it's pretty badass." He said with an amused smile.
"Who's Zachary Levi?"
"Chuck."
"Who?"
"He's the guy who plays Chuck on the show called Chuck."
"Oh. Okay."
"So…is it cool? The song I mean."
"I'll look it up in a few minutes." Quinn said, biting her bottom lip.
"Okay. Practice. Tomorrow. After school. Auditorium. Or the choir room. Whichever's fine with you."
It kinda surprised her that Puck called the shots. She was usually the one who did. "Auditorium. It has better acoustics."
"Practice. Tomorrow. After school. Auditorium. Got it."
"See you there."
"Yeah, okay. Bye." And with that they both hung up the phone. Quinn sat down in front of her computer and went to Youtube. She searched the song and upon hearing it, she was pleasantly surprised by Puck's song choice. It was in her range, there wasn't any incessant screaming. It was cute and plus she found the lyrical content relatable to her life. But she knew the answer. I'm not in love. I'm not in love. I'm not in love. She thought to herself over and over again and at first she started to believe it but she knew in her heart it wasn't true.
The bright lights of the auditorium filled the stage. Quinn was surprised that she was excited about going here. She passed through the aisles and went to the spotlight in the middle of the stage. She looked at the empty seats and imagined that people were there, cheering her and congratulating her for surviving a difficult teen pregnancy. Not that it happened to her every year. When she was pregnant, she felt set up. Like she was on that show, Teen Mom. She was so focused on herself and her baby that she forgot about everyone else. The stillness in the air felt stiff against her back and she called out to the empty seats, "Puck?"
"Puck, where the hell are you?" She hissed.
There was a guitar plucking sound coming from backstage. She squinted to see a figure emerging from behind her, hiding from the bright lights of the stage. It was Puck, plucking the guitar strings skillfully. He was moving toward her with a sleepy smile. He looked like he hasn't sleep for days but that didn't mean he still wasn't gorgeous.
"You're supposed to sing." He said simply, halfway toward her.
"Why?"
"It's called practice isn't it?" Puck said, still plucking without even looking at his guitar. They sang with indefinite passion. Their voices sounded like they were made for each other.
You, by the light
Is the greatest find
In a world full of wrong
You're the thing that's right
Finally made it through the lonely
to the other side
You set it again my heart's in motion
Every word feels like a shooting star
I'm at the edge of my emotions
Watching the shadows burning in the dark
And I'm in love
And I'm terrified
For the first time and the last time
in my only life
And this could be good
It's already better than that
And nothing's worse
That knowing you're holding back
I could be all that you need
If you let me try
You set it again, my heart's in motion
Every word feels like a shooting star
I'm at the edge of my emotions
Watching the shadows burning in the dark
And I'm in love
And I'm terrified
For the first time and the last time
In my only
I only said it 'cause I mean it
I only mean it 'cause it's true
So don't you doubt what I've been dreaming
'Cause it fills me up and holds me close whenever I'm without you
You set it again my heart's in motion
Every word feels like a shooting star
I'm at the edge of my emotions
Watching the shadows burning in the dark
And I'm in love
And I'm in terrified
For the first time and the last time
In my only life
Life2x
In my only life
Their bodies were so close to each other, the echo of the song in their ears. By each passing second, their faces were getting closer and closer. Quinn closed her eyes, prepared for what would come next.
"I think we killed it." Puck said. Quinn opened her eyes and saw Puck's face, amused. They both ended up smiling at each other, unable to stop.
Puck's cellphone rang. He rolled his eyes and looked at it, "Shit. I gotta run. I gotta pick up Emma." He said.
"So we're done for the day?"
"Yup. And I personally think you sounded sexy babe. We're gonna kill the competition and totally get that free dinner." Puck gave her a lingering peck on the cheek and walked off. Where Puck's lips touched her skin, the hairs stood up. She could tell she was blushing. Stop it. It was just a friendly peck. Quinn shrugged the feeling off and proceeded out the auditorium with a frown even if it was hard to contain it. On the way to her car, Rachel walked with her. "Hi Quinn!" The overly-chipper tone caught her off guard. She rolled her eyes and said coldly, "What do you want?"
"You're doing the duets assignment with Puckerman?"
"Yes. Why?" The ice in her voice sounded unnatural to her because she was such in a good mood.
Rachel fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt, "Well…you care about the glee club right?"
"Are we talking about the people in it?"
Rachel shrugged off the comment. "I…well, singing with Puckerman is going deteriorate your new reputation in the glee club."
"It's called singing Berry, not sex. I think you've confused the two of them since singing with Finn has given you a baby bump and the baby hormones have made you delusional. I would know." Quinn stopped and went to her locker and fished out her car keys.
Rachel looked pretty worried. Her tone became more intense. "Puckerman's reputation is just…it rivals with yours. His reputation is the bad boy of McKinley and goes against sweet, pure Quinn Fabray. I think people would definitely still think you're a slut since you had a baby with him and all and seeing you singing with him…people are going to think you two are hooking up again."
"We're just friends."
"You know how people are here. They'll think differently. But Sam on the other hand…"
"Who?" Quinn asked, crossing her arms.
"The new kid."
"Isn't he with Kurt?"
Rachel shook her head, "No, no. He's…he's actually available. He's not willing to sing with Kurt because if he does his reputation will go down but if you're willing to sing with him your will reputation will go up and his will too. It'll also boost club morale. It's a win-win." When Rachel usually presented help there was something in it for her. "What's in it for you? Usually when you try to help someone it sort of becomes some sort of advantage to you." Rachel's expression turned into some sort of 'insane competition' look. "To bring the competition up a notch. Since no one can rival our chemistry, song choice and virtually everything creative and intellectual in musical standards, as team captain of the glee club I felt that it was my duty to help my dear fellow glee club members. And this is one of them."
Quinn rolled her eyes. It was exhausting to look at Rachel. "Just look at it this way, Sam equals pure, pretty Quinn and Breadstix while Puck equals Quinn as a low standard girl with no free dinner at Breadstix."
"I'll think about it Berry."
Quinn did think about Rachel's proposal. It was typical of her to be brown-nosing her way into winning the free dinner at Breadstix but she was right in a way. Sam was already risking his social stature by singing with Kurt and she was risking hers by singing with Puck but if she sings with Sam it boosts their chances of going to Breadstix and boosting her and his reputation. But a bitter thought crossed her mind, Puck. He would have to sing with Kurt. And she already hurt him enough. But she thought, Is this worth it? The answer was pretty much clear in her head.
The next day, while Puck was taking out his books someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw Quinn. His whole face lit up, "Hey. What's up?" Quinn was biting her bottom lip a whole lot.
"I can't go through with the duet competition."
His face instantly fell. "What? Why? Is it the song? Do we need more choreography? Wait, do you want choreography?"
"No. The song is amazing Puck. It's just that…people are going to think we're hooking up."
"I thought I made it pretty clear that we'd do this as friends."
"I know but you know how these people think Puck."
"So…you don't want to do the duet thing with me?Who are you going to do the duet thing with?"
"Sam."
"Who?"
"The new kid. Look, be a team player Puck. It'll be good for you."
Puck scratched his head, feeling like he's just been betrayed. He threw a weak smile, feeling like crap inside. "I'm really sorry Puck."
"I've heard that line before. Whatever. Look I want you to be happy . You know that right? So go do what you do but don't expect me to act like you didn't replace me with jaws over there." Puck didn't want to look in her eyes. "And if anyone asks why you're not partners with me just say that we never were." Puck added and with that Puck slammed his locker door shut and left Quinn standing in the middle of the hall, staring after him. He felt like his heart weighed a thousand pounds and then being clenched with a fist repeatedly. Puck never felt so horrible in his life. All through school, when Puck saw Quinn, he didn't dare look at her or even attempt to talk to her. When he talked to someone he was deep in thought. He didn't attempt to get a duet partner.
By Friday at the choir room, Puck was still partner-less and the air in the choir room was all lovey-dovey and coupley like. Puck stole a glance at Quinn who was sitting next to Sam. Sam was staring at her and Quinn deep in thought. Sam had a small bruise on the cheek from when Puck punched him when he heard the rumors were true when Sam tried to kiss Quinn. Over the past few days Quinn had been calling Puck, texting him long apologies which he deleted without even looking at one word and she had been posting little Post-its inside his locker saying stuff like 'I'm sorry', which he had to admit was kind of cute. But the fact still remained. Puck was bitter to the core. Mr. Schue had a smile plastered on his face when he came in late as usual.
Mike and Tina did "Sing!", Santana and Mercedes did "River Deep - Mountain High", Finn and Rachel did "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", Brittany and Artie didn't sing anything and neither did Puck and Kurt so it was Sam and Quinn's turn. Puck's stomach tightened.
Throughout the song Puck tried his best to stop himself from beating the shit out of Sam and storm off. His hands clung to the sides of his seat and he squeezed hard. He could tell that both of them were liking it. But he wasn't, not one bit. He bit his tongue to try to keep himself from shouting but that was what he felt like doing. To see someone you love with someone else and you were forced to watch them was the most horrible feeling he had ever encountered. Out of nowhere, Mike tapped his shoulder, "Dude? You okay?"
"I'm fine." Puck said, he could taste the bitterness in his voice. "You kinda looks like you're constipated."
"I'm fine dude."
When Sam's hand curled around Quinn's by the end of the song Puck was on the edge. The song hung in the air but in his ears it felt like nails scraping against a chalkboard. Quinn was smiling but when she caught Puck's eye she blushed and her eyes dropped to the floor and so did her face and her hand. Everybody applauded except for Puck. It was time to vote and Puck had trouble on who to vote on. And Puck quickly sent a text to Quinn.
He quickly scrawled on Quinn and new kid.
"Okay, so I sorted out the votes. Kurt refused to vote and the winner is…by one vote…Sam and Quinn congratulations!" Mr. Schue said proudly.
Sam and Quinn was greeted by an uninterested crowd. When the bell rang, everyone piled out of the room Puck and Quinn stayed behind. "I thought you weren't talking to me again." Quinn said, sitting on the piano stool. "Well, you know…I've had trouble with that." Puck said, feeling his face pull up into a small smile.
"So…what?"
"I just wanted to say congratulations on the duets thing."
"Thanks."
"And…I hope you two have a good time tonight with…Sam. Plus, tell him I'm sorry about the bruise." Puck sat next to Quinn.
"I'll make sure he gets the message."
"You should be thanking me." Puck added. "I already did."
Puck smiled, "Not about the duets thing although it's part of that. I just wanted to say…that I voted for you and Sam."
"Why?"
"Because I knew it'd make you happy. Plus you freaking love Breadstix."
"Puck, that's so sweet. I'm sorry that I didn't go through with the whole duets thing with you."
"Whatever."
"Does that mean we're cool now?"
"Barely. Just because I voted for you doesn't mean we're cool. Voting means that…that I still care about you. What you did to me was…completely unexpected and totally out of line. We rehearsed and I put a lot of effort and for you to just blow me off at the last minute…it kinda feels like you just used me. I don't know what your reason was behind all of that but I don't wanna know."
"Puck it's fine that you were mad at me for that but for you to be still mad at me…what's the deal?"
"I've never felt so bad in my entire life. You don't know how bad it felt for me. It felt like my heart was left out on the street and be crushed by a moving truck. Now I don't know if you've ever felt like that but it did for me. I don't expect you to understand…so don't. What you did to me wasn't unforgivable but it's bordering on that. I don't want to say anything else to ruin your date with Sam so I'll leave." Puck stood up and grabbed his things and left Quinn in the choir room. Quinn stared at the door, not knowing what to do. She felt…dumped. Her mind raced. Quinn promised herself that she wouldn't bring herself to show weakness, even the littlest of flinches was frowned upon but she let the tears well up and stream down her cheeks. She hastily wiped them away but they kept coming back. As soon as the tears stopped her heart didn't feel like its normal self. It was just how he described the feeling. And never in her life had she ever felt like this.
That made two of them.