BY VERY DEFINITION
9. Puck's Performance
Parker didn't consider herself to be sneaky, but she figured it couldn't be too hard. She had made plans to meet Puck in the Auditorium after school on Friday, they had talked with Mr. Schue and gotten the band to be there. Before Puck got there Parker went through the entrance to the seats instead of backstage, Quinn trailing behind her.
"I don't know about this, Parker." Quinn said hesitantly and Parker gestured her to sit in the back row.
"I'm not either. But the thing is that I believe that you should just listen to what he has to say." Parker said, "I just watch too much T.V, but I've seen it there when a man can't even try to be a good father because the mother won't let him, that little girl is just as much his child and he deserves a chance."
"I'm not even keeping the kid." Quinn insisted halfheartedly.
"Why not?"
"Just...I'm not."
"Okay then, then I guess you have nothing to lose by hearing him out, right?" Parker asked, Quinn didn't reply. Parker got more serious, "And he knows that if he does anything that isn't right by you I will personally snap his legs off, okay? I stick up for people." Quinn nodded in acceptance, Parker smiled and started to move toward the stage, "Remember, just be quiet." Once again, she didn't consider herself to be sneaky, she was relying on Puck being too unobservant to notice Quinn sitting in the back. After a few minutes, Puck came from the backstage door and walked onto the stage.
"This is your plan? Singing?" He asked.
"Damn straight." Was the reply that made the singing jock sigh, "But there's structure, okay? This'll help you out more than anyone." Puck looked at her with crossed arms, waiting for her to explain this "plan" to him. "Puck, what I want you to do is stand center stage. No, a little to the left. A little more. Perfect, don't move. Now, when you think about Quinn, when you think about the baby. What do you feel? This is just to establish your place in this plan, so sing whatever's on your mind, any template you want. Whatever you ever felt about it, how you feel now, what you'd like, what you would have liked." She backed off and stood by the curtain just offstage, Puck watched her and then turned to the band, nodding for them to start. The keyboard player was the key part of his song of choice, Puck turned to face auditorium when he started singing.
"Take my hand let's go,
Somewhere we can rest our souls.
We'll sit where it's warm,
You say look we're here alone.
I was running in circles,
I hurt myself,
Just to find my purpose.
Everything was so worthless,
I didn't deserve this,
But to me you were perfect.
I'm scattered through this life.
If this is life I'll say good bye.
She's gone like an angel,
With wings let me burn tonight.
I was running in circles
I hurt myself,
Just to find my purpose.
Everything was so worthless,
I didn't deserve this,
But to me you were perfect.
I see me writin on this paper.
Prayin for some savior.
Wishin to intake her and save her.
In a world so, so godless so thoughtless,
I don't know how we wrought this,
All the love that you brought us.
It feels like I'm killin myself.
Just willin myself.
Just to pray for some help.
I'd give it all just to have, have your eternity.
Cause it's all that assures me.
It's worth all that hurts me.
I'd give you my heart,
And I'd let you just hold it.
I'd give you my soul,
But I already sold it.
On that day,
That day I walked away in December.
I will always remember.
I'll regret it forever.
I remember brown eyes,
So sad and blue skies.
Turned to darkness and night.
I'm so sick of the fight.
I won't breathe unless you breathe,
Won't bleed unless you bleed.
Won't be unless you be,
'Till I'm gone and I can sleep.
I was running in circles
I hurt myself,
Just to find my purpose.
Everything was so worthless,
I didn't deserve this,
But to me you were perfect.
I was running in circles
I hurt myself,
Just to find my purpose.
Everything was so worthless,
I didn't deserve this,
But to me you were perfect.
I've gone away,
Seen better times in yesterday I hurt myself.
It's hard to say,
That everything will be okay I hurt myself.
I've gone away,
Seen better times in yesterday I hurt myself.
It's hard to say,
That everything will be okay I hurt myself"
He turned to look at Parker, seeming a little unsure. She moved forward so that he wouldn't leave center stage and find it again later on. Parker stopped about a foot away and quickly glanced at the seats where she could barely see Quinn through the spotlights and the distance, it was impossible to tell what she thought.
"That was good." Parker said, "I could tell it meant a lot to you. So, that's what you feel about not being able to be with her. Now, if you could tell her that, and she accepted you, how would you feel then? What would you do to make her feel like she made the right choice?"
"If she made the right choice." Puck pointed out sadly, "I've been thinking about it a lot lately and maybe she's right, maybe I wouldn't be a good dad."
"Or maybe you would." Parker said stubbornly, "I don't know you, so I can't judge, but you're nipping the situation in the bud. Come on, strong guy, are you gonna just roll over and let her kick you?" That made Puck smile. Parker backed away from him again, hiding behind the heavy red curtain. "Tell Quinn how you feel now that you're together." She called out to him. Puck took a deep breath first.
"Once all alone
I was lost in a world of strangers
No one to trust
On my own, I was lonely
You suddenly appeared
It was cloudy before but now it's all clear
You took away the fear
And you brought me back to the light
You are the sun
You make me shine
Or more like the stars
That twinkle at night
You are the moon
That glows in my heart
You're my daytime my nighttime
My world
You are my life
Now I wake up everyday
With this smile upon my face
No more tears, no more pain
'Cause you love me
You help me understand
That love is the answer to all that I am
And I'm a better man
You are the sun
You make me shine
Or more like the stars
That twinkle at night
You are the moon
That glows in my heart
You're my daytime my nighttime
My world
You are my life"
"Michael Jackson?" Parker asked when she came back out onto the stage. Puck rubbed the back of his neck.
"It was the best I could come up with on such short notice." He explained, "I just wanted something to explain how...there'd be sun every day, and that we'd be together and everything would be so...complete and happy." He looked down at his shoes for a few minutes, Parker watched him patiently. Finally he looked up, "Okay, I want to try one more song, but you can't tell anyone I was singing it and..."
"It's sometimes sung by a girl?"
"Mostly, yeah."
"There's nothing wrong with that you know, you just twist it to fit you and what you're going through. But I still won't tell anyone if that's what you want."
"Hey, Parker?" Puck said as Parker once again moved toward the curtain, she looked back and he continued, "I know you're Quinn's friend and everything, but I don't think that singing to an empty room will help. I don't think anything will."
"And yet you've already sung two songs to this empty room." Parker pointed out.
"At this point I'm willing to try anything." Puck said, turning away from her and facing the auditorium for his last song.
"And she's worth it? Doing all these things that make you feel stupid?"
"Yeah. Yeah she's worth it, she's worth a lot more than that." With a smug smile Parker disappeared behind the curtain.
"Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor
Reachin' for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time
It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
Another shot of whiskey can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time"
Through the lights neither Puck nor Parker could see Quinn get to her feet and start walking toward the stage, until she was on the stairs over the covered orchestra pit and singing before Puck could,
"((It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now))"
Puck (with great difficulty) recovered himself and picked up the song again at the bridge.
"((woah woaaah.))
Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothin' at all
It's a quarter after one I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
I just need you now ((wait))
Ooo, baby, I need you now"
Quinn was center stage with Puck. They were holding hands and looking at each other, Quinn had tears in her eyes, Puck looked embarrassed but also hopeful. Quinn drew in breath to steady herself.
"You get one chance." She said, "I'm not saying anything more than you have one chance to prove that you can love and respect me and our daughter. Don't blow it."
"Wasn't planning on it." He agreed easily, "You were here the whole time?"
"Parker brought me in before you got here." She looked around him and didn't see anyone standing by the red curtain, Puck followed her gaze and noticed the same thing.
"I'll give her credit." He said at last, "She's sneaky."
"They're not together, exactly. Well, I don't think so. But she's not completely shutting him out anymore." Parker explained to Kurt and Mercedes as the three of the sat on her bed eating pizza and sipping bottled root beer.
"I want to be happy for them, but Puck is kind of a jerk." Mercedes said.
"Yeah, but we're all jerks. Let's face it, she could do worse than Puck. A lot worse, believe it or not. I think they could work it out, Quinn isn't the kind of person to put up with his crap and she'd keep him in line. Beside the fact that he feels responsible for the baby I think that he genuinely cares about her. He just needs to get over this sex-crazy teenager thing." Parker said.
"Drama drama drama." Kurt sighed into his root beer.
"Parker, phone!" Rhonda called from downstairs. Parker stood up and went to the door.
"I'll be right back."
"Don't expect this pizza to be here when you get back!" Mercedes called after her. Parker giggled as she closed the door and went down the stairs, she accepted the black telephone receiver from her foster-mother and put it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Parker? It's Puck." Puck's voice came from the other end.
"How'd it go?"
"It's going okay. I've got my chance, and that's all I asked for."
"Then what's up?" Parker perched herself on a stool next to the end table in the entrance hallway of the house.
"Just, thanks. I thought you were kind of batty when you were telling me that singing would help, but it turns out you were right. Quinn feels better and I feel better."
"I find it hard to believe that you called just to say thank you."
"Quinn wanted to say thanks, I had a question."
"Shoot."
"You were dancing the other day. And you fell and your glove slipped and no one saw. You pulled it up but..." He sounded curious more than anything, not wretchedly curious but unable to solve a mystery that bugged him like a mosquito in his ear.
"Goodbye, Puck." Parker said simply, and she disconnected.
Housekeeping: Songs in this chapter were "Circles" By Hollywood Undead, "You Are My Life" by Michael Jackson and "Need You Now" by Lady Antabellum.