Pacific Blue: Mercedes & Puck

"I never thought I'd see this."

It's their first day in Los Angeles, and Puck had convinced Mercedes to come down to the beach with him so they could watch the sunset. His old truck is parked up on the sand just over the hill, and the area is surprisingly quiet for an early summer evening. She'll start on her album tomorrow and he already has a half-dozen cleaning appointments but for tonight, they're just two eighteen-year-olds from a small town in Ohio gazing out over the Pacific for the first time.

"It's prettier than the Atlantic," Mercedes decides as she digs her bare toes in the sand. Puck nods in agreement. "Everything seems prettier here, shinier and sparkly."

"It kinda feels like everything before California doesn't matter, huh?" he asks rhetorically. "I mean, not the important stuff like Beth but the other shit, like juvie and my crap grades and all the trouble I got into. No one knows about that stuff out here. I could be anyone I want without my dad's reputation to follow me around."

"And I'm not in Rachel Berry's shadow anymore or just Kurt's sidekick. I'm the one who gets to be the focus this time around," she adds. It's a nice thought, even if she's just a starting contract artist who has a budget of like $50 to record a demo. "But I think I don't want to lose the parts of who I was because they made me who I am. That seems to be working okay for you too."

Puck glances up at her for a moment and then out at the water. "I'm not sure I know who I am."

"I do," she declares boldly. "You're my friend. You're a talented guitarist and a surprisingly good brother and a proud father. You're a decent athlete and really funny without trying and a weirdly devout Jew when you want to be. You're Noah Puckerman, Puck most of the time and Noah to the rare few who get to use the name."

"Ma, my sister, Berry and San," he rattles off. "The four scariest chicks I'll ever know."

"Do you miss them?"

"Ma and my sister, yeah, a lot actually. More than I thought I would, it's always been the three of us," he explains. "Family's important you know. Miss Finn too, never done much without him by my side. I don't miss Berry talking all the time but I like how she always sees the best in me. And San's always been my girl but I don't have to miss her too much. She'll end up here eventually, you just watch." He pauses briefly. "What about you?"

"I miss Sam. We just started again and then I got the offer," she thinks aloud. "And I miss Kurt and Rachel and Tina. I think I'll always miss the way things were in high school because we all had something really special, you know? Doesn't mean I don't want to move on; God help me, I've been waiting my whole life. I'll just always wish that I could have a little bit of it back."

He starts to say something and then closes his mouth. "Well, I'll be around whenever you need a reminder," he promises before standing up and reaching for her hand. He pulled his friend to her feet and then slung his shoulder over her shoulder heartily. "What do you say to some cheap beer and nachos at that Mexican place down the beach? The sun's pretty much gone, and the night is young."

"Yeah, sounds good," she agrees as she slips her feet back into her sandals and follows him back toward the truck. She stops to look back at the ocean and then smiles at him over the top of the hood. "I'm really glad you're here, Puck."

"Me too, Jones," he grins. "Me too."